MetaFilter posts tagged with archbishop

Missionary Position: Facing West

zarq — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:50:00 -0800

Pope Benedict XVI has announced the establishment of a new Vatican department dedicated to tackling what he called 'a grave crisis in the sense of the Christian faith and the role of the Church." The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of New Evangelisation will (per Archbishop Vincent Nichols,) focus on countries "in which, even though the Christian Gospel has shaped an entire culture," secularism now reigns, in what the Pope termed an "eclipse of a sense of God." Editorial: "Catholicism, the religion that gave the world the idea of the missionary, is struggling on its historic home turf." This council is part of a larger reshuffling of the Vatican hierarchy, which may support the Pope's ongoing anti- abortion and gay marriage efforts: The first President of the new Evangelical Council will be Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, a Vatican bioethics official, whose controversial front page statement in the L’Osservatore Romano newspaper last year condoned the abortion of twins in a nine year-old Brazilian rape victim. At the time, Fisichella headed the institution that helps frame the Catholic church's "pro-life" doctrines, The Pontifical Academy for Life. A Canadian theologian and anti-abortion hardliner, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, will now head the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for Bishops, which evaluates the nomination of bishops and sets the tone for the Catholic Church hierarchy worldwide. “The head of the Congregation of Bishops is a very important nomination; it determines the ruling class of the Catholic Church for the next 20 years,” said Andrea Tornielli, a Vatican expert with the Italian daily newspaper Il Giornale. The appointment is particularly important in light of the abuse scandal, which has called into question the actions of bishops around the world. Victims have accused bishops of covering up abuse or not acting swiftly to discipline priests who have abused minors.
Ouellet has been outspoken against abort ion (calling it a 'moral crime', unjustified even in cases of rape) and gay marriage.

Isn't the Schism Overdue?

tizzie — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:24:40 -0800

How do you reward a Catholic sister for nearly 40 years of service to the cause of peace and justice? If you’re the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, you tell her to shut up. Sr. Louise Akers said she held a “very cordial” private meeting with Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk on Aug. 10 in which he asked her to retract her support for women’s ordination. “It’s not that I won’t do it — I can’t do it,” Akers said. “It would be a lie.” Sister Louise has the support of over 63% of U.S. Catholics who support women's ordination. Catholic bloggers are “…. wondering and thinking in my own conscience that there has to be a better way. In the long run I believe an action like this does far more harm than it does good.” Or not: “It's also distressing that so many women who came of age while feminism was expanding, can't understand that equality does not necessarily mean that everyone should be exactly the same. God created us differently and his plans for us are different.” And commenters: "Sister Louise should rejoice. In another age, they would have burned her at the stake." Carol Egner, a Cincinnati gynecologist and volunteer at Our Lady of Lourdes parish, wrote a letter to the editor in support of Sr. Louise. When her pastor read the letter, he asked her to write another that either renounced her position or made clear that she “yields to the wisdom of the church.” When she refused, she was told she could no longer teach her Old Testament class for sixth-graders at her parish. "The letter wasn't as much about women being priests as Sister Louise being silenced," says Egner, a lifelong Catholic. "Would I like to see women have an equal role in the church? I would. But now I think the issue is about being able to discuss it."

The Voyage of Terry Waite's Clogs

jontyjago — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 03:47:24 -0800

The Voyage of Terry Waite's Clogs I first saw this a couple of days ago and the more I think about the logistics and reasoning behind this the stranger it becomes. I like the fact this probably wouldn't happen in any other country than England, but all the same you do have to wonder why it happened. For those non-Brits Terry Waite was the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy to Beirut in the 80s and was held hostage for 5 years by a militant islamic group.