Seoul Archdiocese: Cardinal Andrea Soo-jung Ordains 20 Men to the Priesthood

Cardinal Andrea Yeom Soo-jung ordained 20 men to the priesthood for Seoul archdiocese on February 5, 2021. The ordination ceremony was held at Myeongdong Cathedral. The Catholic Church in South Korea has been growing steadily and currently 11% of the population are Catholics. Image Credits: Seoul archdiocese #Catholic #ShalomWorld #Seoul #Faith #Hope #SouthKorea #Priesthood (Source: Shalom TV)

Could it be the reason why he was gunned down?

Rest in Peace Fr. Richmond Nilo

Hindi man natuloy ang scheduled na debate niyo kay Ramil Parba, napatunayan naman ng Santa Iglesia na handa kayong mamatay alang-alang sa KATOTOHANAN sa IGLESIA KATOLIKA na sa "pasimula ay siyang Iglesia ni Cristo" (Pasugo Abril, 1966, p. 46).

Sumalangit nawa ang iyong kaluluwa padre!

Aleteia: How a radical atheist became a Catholic priest

Source: Aleteia by Philip Kosloski | Aug 14, 2017

He hated the Church until one event changed his life forever ... and his story would later impress Maximilian Kolbe.

Born into a wealthy Jewish family in France in 1814, Alphonse Ratisbonne was set to become part of his uncle’s large banking firm. At first Ratisbonne was a nominal Jew, but when his older brother converted to the Catholic faith and became a priest, a hidden rage woke within him.

Ratisbonne wrote, “When my brother became a Catholic, and a priest, I persecuted him with a more unrelenting fury than any other member of my family. We were completely sundered; I hated him with a virulent hatred, though he had fully pardoned me.”

Furthermore this hatred for his brother was broadened to include all Catholics, and Ratisbonne explained how it “made me believe all I heard of the fanaticism of the Catholics, and I held them accordingly in great horror.”

This also affected his personal beliefs and he came to no longer believe in God. Ratisbonne was too busy following worldly pursuits to worry about his Jewish faith and his deep hatred for Catholicism only pushed him further away from any type of religion.

He eventually began to feel the void in his heart, but at first sought to cure it through marriage. Ratisbonne was betrothed to his niece, but because of her young age the wedding was postponed. During this time of waiting Ratisbonne decided to travel without any singular purpose.

His trip started out by traveling to Naples, where he stayed for about a month. After that Ratisbonne wanted to go to Malta, but took the wrong boat and arrived in Rome. He stayed there, making the best of it, and ran into an old friend.

One day when visiting his friend Ratisbonne encountered a Catholic convert, Theodore de Bussieres, who knew Ratisbonne’s priest-brother. While this made Ratisbonne hate the man, he enjoyed conversing with him because of his knowledge.

Later Ratisbonne visited de Bussieres again. They had a heated discussion about Catholicism and de Bussieres made a wager with Ratisbonne.

Have you the courage to submit yourself to a very simple and innocent test? Only to wear a little something I will give you; look, it is a medal of the Blessed Virgin. It seems very ridiculous, does it not? But, I assure you, I attach great value and efficacy to this little medal. [Also] you must say every night and morning the Memorare, a very short and very efficacious prayer which St. Bernard addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

While at first Ratisbonne protested at wearing the medal (which was the Miraculous Medal), he decided to put it around his neck and say the prayer each day. He figured that it couldn’t do any harm and would prove to all the ridiculous nature of Catholicism.

Ratisbonne lived up to his side of the bargain, finding it easy to recite the Memorare. Then one day he was traveling in the city with de Bussieres and they stopped at the church Saint Andrea delle Fratte. When Ratisbonne entered the church it appeared to be engulfed in a marvelous light. He looked to an altar from where the light was coming and saw the Virgin Mary, appearing as she did on the Miraculous Medal.

He left the church in tears, clutching his Miraculous Medal. Several days later he was received into the Catholic Church. After returning to Paris his betrothed was shocked and rejected him and his new religion. Ratisbonne then entered the Jesuits and was ordained a priest.

This amazing story of conversion would later influence Saint Maximilian Kolbe to found the Militia Immaculatae and convinced him of the power of the Miraculous Medal. He firmly believed in Mary’s role in bringing the world to Christ.

CBCP News: Priest relieved over trafficking allegations of 13-year-old girl

MANILA— A Catholic priest has been relieved of his duties pending a police investigation into human trafficking allegations involving a minor girl.

Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos was relieved from his Taytay parish after he was caught in a police entrapment operation with a 13-year-old girl he allegedly met through a pimp on social media.

Antipolo Bishop Francis De Leon also stripped the priest all his other positions in the diocese including his being the president of Cainta Catholic College.

Citing a local police report, the diocese said the entrapment was conducted supposedly to apprehend minors involved in prostitution.

Initial investigation revealed a that 16-year-old gay pimp mediated between Lagarejos and the girl.

The priest was caught when he arrived at the at the Blue Wave Mall in Marikina City on Friday evening, where the entrapment was conducted.

The involved minors are now under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The 55-year old priest, on the other hand, has been subjected to inquest proceedings and facing possible criminal violations.

In an official statement, the diocese assured it “respects the necessary procedures as provided by law in order to further investigate this matter.”

The diocese also called on the public to “refrain from issuing unnecessary comments that might worsen the situation” and instead appeal “for all the faithful to pray that the truth may come out.” CBCPNews

Official statement of the Diocese of Antipolo regarding the case of Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos.

CNA: New Iraqi priests bring joy amid years of sadness, displacement

By Elise Harris

Roni Salim Momika is ordained a priest in Erbil's Aishty camp for the displaced Aug. 5, 2016. Courtesy of Fr. Roni Momika.

Erbil, Iraq, Aug 8, 2016 / 03:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Fr. Roni Salim Momika, one of three priests ordained in an Erbil refugee camp Friday, said the event has turned the dreary mood of displaced Christians into one of joy, which he hopes will give them the strength to stay in their homeland.

“My feeling is happy, happy!” Fr. Momika told CNA after his Aug. 5 ordination, adding that he feels “something inside” that makes him deeply joyful.

He was ordained a priest of the Syriac-Catholic Church alongside his friends and fellow deacons Emad and Petros in the large, prefabricated church inside Erbil’s Aishty 2 camp for the displaced, which is home to some 5,500 people forced to flee their homes due to ISIS.

The ordination, he said, “will give hope to (the people)” in the camp, mostly Syriac Catholics from Qaraqosh, who for two years have been forced to live as refugees.

Fr. Momika, who is from Qaraqosh, noted how Aug. 6 marks the exact two-year anniversary since ISIS attacked his hometown, driving out inhabitants who didn’t meet their demands to convert to Islam, pay a hefty tax or face death.

“We left Qaraqosh during this time two years ago,” he said, explaining that it’s been “a time of challenge” and “a time of sadness” for the Christians.

However, while the anniversary could serve as a reminder of the bleak and uncertain reality for Christians in Iraq, the sight of three young men being ordained to the priesthood has instead made it “a happy time, a hopeful time, and a good time,” Fr. Momika said.

“Before it was a bad day because we became refuges and ISIS entered to Qaraqosh, but now this day became a good day because it’s our ordination and we give hope to our people,” including the hope “to stay here,” he said.

Fr. Momika, Emad, Petros and another seminarian named Paul were all forced to flee Qaraqosh when ISIS attacked in 2014.

Before being forced to leave, Momika and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.

Since the Qaraqosh seminary was closed following the 2014 attack, the then-seminarians were sent to finish their studies at the Al-Sharfa Seminary in Harissa, Lebanon. After completing their studies in Lebanon, they returned to Iraq for their deaconate ordination, which took place March 19.

Since then, Paul decided to serve in Baghdad, and was ordained there roughly 20 days ago, while Fr. Momika and the others were ordained in Erbil.

Archbishop Yohanno Petros Moshe, Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Kirkuk and Kurdistan, the priests’ bishop, was the one who celebrated their ordination Mass in the Aishty camp.

Fr. Momika, whose family fled to Erbil after leaving Qaraqosh, said that while the church only has a capacity of about 800 people, about 1,500 showed up for the ordination.

Several of his family members were able to come for the ordination, including his father, sister and many others who traveled from Baghdad, Aqrah and other cities to be there.

Until now Fr. Momika has worked with the youth and led the women’s groups inside Erbil’s refugee camps. The priest said that for now he will remain in Erbil and continue to serve in that capacity, but it’s up to Archbishop Moshe to decide “if I will stay here or not” in the long run.

As a newly ordained priest surrounded by violent persecution, Fr. Momika said that he wants “to stand with the refugees” despite the “the danger (in their) lives.”

He said he wants to give the Christians “power, hope, and courage to continue their lives and stay with the poor people” and those who are suffering, adding that for him, the essence of his role and vocation is “to give Christ to the people.”

Q&A: Priestly Vestments, Is it Biblical?

Question: My Friend Born Again ask me. Why it is Important to Wear your Priests a Vestment?? And Where are the Biblical Verse???

Answers:

There's nothing unscriptural about vestments. God commanded that they be used in the Old Testament. Look at Exodus 28:2:

For your brother Aaron you will make sacred vestments to give dignity and magnificence. You will instruct all the skilled men, whom I have endowed with skill, to make Aaron's vestments for his consecration to my priesthood. These are the vestments which they must make: a pectoral, an ephod, a robe, an embroidered tunic, a turban, and a belt. They must make sacred vestments for your brother Aaron and his sons, for them to be priests in my service. They will use gold and violet material, red-purple and crimson, and finely woven linen.

The rest of the chapter gives details on each garment.

Nothing in the New Testament requires abolition of priestly vestments. Our Lord attacked the Jewish leaders for a number of sins, but he never condemned their priestly garb. It's true the early Church didn't use the Old Testament vestments, but this is because Christians didn't want to identify their leaders with the Jewish priesthood.

Part of the problem for Fundamentalists is that vestments set priests apart from the laity. Fundamentalists object to a ministerial priesthood in the Church. They see vestments as a way of expressing a distinction between clergy and laity.

On this they're right, but there's nothing wrong with such hierarchical distinctions. The New Testament is full of them (Acts 20:28; Eph 2:20, 4:11; Phil 1:1; 1 Tm 3:1-13; Ti 1:5).

Within Fundamentalism there's also an unhealthy opposition set up between the spiritual and the material realms. There is an anti-incarnational attitude which views the use of anything material as superstitious. The distaste for vestments is but one example of this.

Fundamentalists who say Catholic priests adopted distinctive dress in the fifth century to put themselves above the laity have got it backwards. Actually, it was the laity who changed their attire, not to distinguish themselves from priests, but to keep up with fashions.

Catholic priests simply retained their manner of liturgical dress. Priestly vestments are no more than stylized secular Roman garments which have accrued symbolic, liturgical significance over the centuries.

Source: We are Catholic Sheep

“I am a Catholic priest and I am married.”

Who says Catholic Church do not have married priests?

Marysville church's Catholic priest brings along his wife

By Julie Muhlstein
Herald Writer
Published: Saturday, May 28, 2016

Karin McMicheal with her husband, the Rev. Tom McMichael, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Marysville. McMichael converted from the Lutheran Church and has served St. Mary's for a year.

MARYSVILLE — When the Rev. Tom McMichael arrived at St. Mary Catholic Church in January, he had already introduced himself in a “Pastor's Page” letter on the parish website. In his note, he wrote of looking forward “with joy and hope” to serving at the church. And he added a surprising detail: “I am a Catholic priest and I am married.”

In his office at the Marysville parish, the 55-year-old McMichael talked Thursday about his journey, from serving 17 years as a Lutheran pastor to a time of deep spiritual discernment. That led him, along with his Lutheran wife, Karin McMichael, to convert to Roman Catholicism. On Jan. 10, 2009, he was ordained as a Catholic priest at St. James Cathedral in Seattle.

“I attribute it to the Holy Spirit,” McMichael said. “I truly felt a call to the priesthood.”

Greg Magnoni is a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Seattle, which oversees all of Western Washington's Catholic parishes. He said it's not unprecedented for married men to serve as priests. In the past, Magnoni said, several widowers have been ordained.

The first married clergy to make the transition in the United States were Episcopalian priests who petitioned Pope John Paul II about 35 years ago. McMichael is now one of about 200 Latin rite married priests in the United States. Most are former Lutheran and Episcopal clergy.

He was appointed to serve at St. Mary's after the Archdiocese of Seattle reassigned the Rev. Dwight Lewis, a popular priest administrator at the Marysville parish. McMichael said his tenure in Marysville will last at least until June 30, 2017.

Just before coming to Marysville, McMichael served five Catholic churches in Skagit County, primarily St. Charles in Burlington and Sacred Heart in La Conner.

CALLED TO THE COLLAR: WITH LISA LING OF CNN

Disclose.tv - This Is Life With Lisa Ling Season 1 Episode 8 - Called to the Collar

In an Unintended Experiment Catholic Priests are Still Seen as Respectable Holy Men of God

It was an unintended experiment by an individual who wants to investigate the power of the "UNIFORM". Surprisingly people's reaction seeing a "priest" with his cassock visiting his favorite bartender IN A BAR is unexpected. Read the story below and be amazed. Yes, after all those sensationalized "Priest Scandals" in the news, still our Catholic priests are revered, respected and loved in places where they are least expected to be seen "in a cassock". LET'S KEEP ON PRAYING for our remaining courageous holy men and women serving the Lord in the Religious and Priestly life. They need our prayers more than anything. -CD2000

What Happened When I Dressed Like a Priest
An investigation into the power of the uniform.

BY TOM CHIARELLA
AUG 24, 2015
Source: Esquire

I was a priest, standing at the bar of the Billy Goat Tavern beneath the great concrete decks that brace up downtown Chicago. Strike that. I was not a priest. I shouldn't say that. I was me, me wearing the uniform of a priest. It was 10:30 on a Friday morning, the bar a well-lit temple of Formica. I was visiting my favorite bartender, as is my wont when I am in Chicago. Priest or no: My uniform was an old-school liturgical cassock. Twenty buttons rising to a traditional clerical collar. Part tunic, part Nehru jacket, with a big open flare at my feet. That thing really kicked up in the wind when I walked the city. The thing really had some sweep.

When I walked in, my friend immediately set me up with a no-disrespect-intended pour of bourbon, with a draft beer back. My shoulders were turned to the half-full restaurant; a small circle of recent acquaintances screened me. I'd like to say I was mindful of being the most visible man in the room—me, the priest—but who was I kidding? People had been staring at me for twenty-three blocks. One hour in the uniform and I knew this much: On a bright summer's day, in a sprawling city, a priest in a cassock is a thing to behold. People draw out their eye contact with a priest. They give nods or bow just a smidge. Or they stare. Openly. Respectfully. Distantly. When walking in pairs, men wind up their cheeriest selves to blurt out suddenly, "Good morning, Father." A habit learned in high school, revisited gladly. Twenty-three blocks and the world could not take its eyes off me. A priest, striding north.

And so, in a what-the-hell moment, I lifted the glass, nodded to Jeff the barkeep, and took that long good swallow. Only as I put the glass back in its ringlet of condensation did I notice a woman who'd maneuvered herself to some pass-through window, filming the whole thing on her phone. "You're going to be on the Internet before you eat lunch," said the barfly to my left without looking up, adding, "Father."

I picked up the beer, took a sip, and told him, "I'm not a priest." He turned, narrowed his eyes, gave me a lazy up-and-down. "What is this, then?" he said. He meant the frock.

"It's a uniform," I said. That was true. This was always my plan. Be honest. And that seemed to be enough, because he went back to his box scores. A couple minutes later, he said, "One thing's for certain, some priest, somewhere, is going to get in trouble for that."

[The same TOM wore different uniforms, and HERE is the rest of his STORY.]

Catholic365: Why We Refer to Our Priests as Fathers?

Bishop Robert Barron (Photo Credit: Word On Fire)

By Sergio Garibay-Olivares
Catholic365/ 9/2/2015 11:00:10 AM

How many times are we told "Don't call your priest a Father, it is a sin"? The people that question Catholics mostly for this reason of why we refer to our Priests as Fathers, [they] tend to quote from St. Matthew 23:6-11, which says:

“Like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted respectfully in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi. ‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one Master, and you are all brothers. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant.”

First it is important to analyze this topic for we are all called to preach the truth to this world. When people tell Catholics to not refer to our priests as fathers, they tend to only quote from St. Matthew 23:9 that says, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.” Jesus is not warning us to refrain from using the words Father, Rabbi nor teacher. Jesus is actually forbidding us from the spirit of superiority:

“Whoever exalts…will be exalted” (St. Luke 14:11).

“Anyone who raises himself up will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be raised up.” (St. Matthew 23:12).

So why then we refer to our Priests as Fathers?

This is because St. Paul wrote, in 1 Corinthians 4:15 “Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the Gospel.” He isn’t saying that we should make our priest feel superior (nor that he was superior to the people of the Church of Corinth). He is saying that Priest give us the spiritual food (The Eucharistic: Matthew 26:26-18). They become our fathers or parents in showing us the Word of God. They nurse us in our times of illness (darkness), and they prepare us, so we can go to the world and fly.

In Addition

St. James talks to us about how not many of us should become teachers because those who become teachers will be judged more strictly. Those who abuse the power are related (by St. James) in the good and bad use of the tongue. A Father is a person that must use good language as a fig tree it is called to produce olives, just as a river is called to give men fresh water. A Father is a guide of men. They are called to become fishermen and farmers. They must plant a seed in each of us, and cultivate it, so one day we can become a forest full of life.

*(In reference to St. James 3:1-12)

**Note: While reading St. James 3:1-12, we can see he says "not many should become teachers" if Jesus had meant to take St. Matthew 23:6-11 as many Protestants tend to understand it, then St. James would be wrong by calling himself a teacher. (In the KJV Bible the one used mostly among all Protestant, the word teacher is substitute by the word Master). However I doubt St. James misunderstood Christ’s message.

Italian Bishop: Muslims Must Condemn Islamist Violence or Leave Italy

Says Nobody Wants Enemies in Their Own Home
Rome, September 08, 2014 (Zenit.org) Staff Reporter 

An Italian bishop has called on Muslims in traditionally Christian countries in Europe to publicly denounce Islamist persecution or they should be "courageous" enough to own up to their beliefs "and leave our country," because "nobody wants enemies in their own home."

In a forceful editorial in his local diocesan newspaper this past weekend, Bishop Tommaso Ghirelli of Imola called on citizens to stop blaming foreigners en masse. “Rather we are asking the Muslims who live among us to show that they are honourable men, and publicly condemn these persecutions and acts of cruelty,” he said. “Otherwise they ought to have the courage to leave our country, because nobody wants to have enemies in their own home.”

He added: “We know that they are intimidated by fundamentalists, but the time has come to break the vicious cycle of abuse.”

He also called on politicians to fulfil their duty to protect and defend the lives and the freedom of the people, otherwise they “will pay dearly for every silence and every act of cowardice.”

Bishop Ghirelli’s words have already shaken consciences. The president of the House of Islamic Culture in Imola, Mohamed Sabir, wishes to address the bishop’s concerns during commemorations on September 11, the 13thanniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Here below is the full text of Bishop Ghirelli’s editorial:

***

THE CALIPHATE AND REFUGEES

September 7, 2014

Let’s take a look at what’s behind the influx of refugees and immigrants arriving by sea, and the vast number of youth and entire families from Africa and the Orient that have come into Europe across the “mare nostrum” [the Mediterranean Sea] in the space of one year. The number is about 150,000, by the end of the year it will be almost 200,000.

It is certain that we will see not one, but a complete series of dramatic conflicts, political problems and social tensions. This is the reason we are talking now about a third world war in progress. As well as the immediate response to the emergency, the most important thing [to do] is to look further than the sea. Which means also looking – by reflex – at our own home: not only in political spheres, not only in business affairs, but also inside our own hearts. Is there fatalism or resignation there? What is happening to me?

So, let’s look then at distinguishing first of all the refugees – those in search of asylum – and the immigrants – those in search of work.

The wars the refugees are escaping from are not natural phenomena. Who is causing them? For what reasons? Who precisely are the contenders? We must be informed and be informed by the ones who know. Also this diocesan weekly is called to play a part here.

Some dramatic warnings were launched at the end of the terrible month of August by Syrian and Iraqi bishops at the Meeting in Rimini. The proposal to have another day of prayer for Syria and the Middle East on Sunday September 7 was launched, repeating the one of a year ago at Pope Francis’ invitation. We note that in the meantime the conflict has extended and has aggravated, even if politicians have become more circumspect, by recognizing some of their grave errors. The number of victims however is rising; the persecution of Christians has spread to other religious minorities and the cruelty and arrogance of the armed bands have reached levels of bestial paroxysm. Faced with the armed actions of ISIS, the people are appealing to Governments and International Authorities.

It is my view that we must be demanding of them, like the courageous mothers of the Russian soldiers.

Politicians, you have the duty to protect and defend - not supremacy, but the lives and the freedom of the people, otherwise you will pay dearly for every silence and every act of cowardice. And we the citizens must stop blaming foreigners en bloc. Rather we are asking the Muslims who live among us to show that they are honourable men, and publicly condemn these persecutions and acts of cruelty. Otherwise they ought to have the courage to leave our country, because nobody wants to have enemies in their own home. We know that they are intimidated by fundamentalists, but the time has come to break the vicious cycle of abuse.

The situation is grave, so let’s all get started without hesitation, going beyond either do-goodism or intolerance.

Bishop Tommaso Ghirelli, Bishop of Imola.

The Attack on Christians in the Middle East

By Rev. Fr. Robert Barron

Though you would never guess it from the paucity of coverage in the major news media, there is a fierce persecution of Christians going on in the Middle East. In Egypt, convents and churches are being burned to the ground and Copts, members of one of the most ancient Christian communities, are being routinely harassed, tortured, and arrested. In Iraq, the ISIS group, hoping to re-establish a “caliphate” across the northern sector of the Middle East, is brutally persecuting Christians. Just recently, an ultimatum was issued in Mosul, where Christians have been living for over 1,600 years, that believers in Jesus have to pay a stiff fine, leave the country, or be put to death. And the sheer shock of these extreme instances can allow us to overlook the fact that in Saudi Arabia Christians are not permitted to build churches or to practice their faith publicly in any way.

Moreover, Muslim persecution of Christianity is not limited to the Middle East. Islamist radicals have been attacking Christians in Indonesia, India, and Philippines for quite some time. And perhaps the most extreme examples of this persecution are the attacks launched by the Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. This terrorist sect has burned churches, wantonly killed innocent Christians at worship, and most recently, kidnapped hundreds of Christian girls whose crime was attending school.

It is easy enough to condemn these actions as deeply inhumane, but I would like to press the critique a bit further, drawing attention to the work of Pope Francis’s two immediate predecessors. Pope John Paul II was the most vocal defender of human rights in the 20th century. Across the world and in hundreds of different venues, he insisted that the respect for fundamental human rights must be the key to a just political order. And of all the human rights—to life, liberty, a just wage, access to the ballot—the most basic, he taught, was the right to religious freedom. This is because the spiritual aspiration of the human heart is what defines us as human beings. The violation of that most sacred of “spaces” is, therefore, the most offensive, the most heinous and de-humanizing. To use the threat of force to compel someone to change his religious beliefs—which we are regularly seeing in the Middle East—is not only criminal but wicked.

It is also deeply irrational—a point made by Pope Benedict XVI in his address at the University of Regensburg in September of 2006. In that controversial speech, Pope Benedict drew attention to a little-known dialogue between the 14th-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and a Muslim interlocutor. The Emperor pointed out that the idea of spreading the faith through violent conquest, which is recommended in the Qur’an, is supremely irrational, and the reasons he gives anticipate John Paul II by six centuries. Faith is a function, not of the body, but of the soul, and therefore coercion through bodily persecution cannot even in principle awaken authentic faith. One must, instead, be skilled in arguments that would appeal to the mind: “to convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death.” In a word, the idea of the holy war is not syn logon (according to the word or reason). And here is the decisive point: what is unreasonable is out of step with God’s own nature, since God, on the Christian reading, is identified with Logos: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

However, in Muslim teaching, Allah’s nature is so transcendent that it goes beyond any and all categories, including that of reason. Pope Benedict cites the noted French Islamic scholar R. Arnaldez, who points out that Allah is not even bound by his own word, so that if he so chose, he could recommend idolatry as morally praiseworthy. This elevation of the divine will over the divine mind, called “voluntarism” in the West, is, for Benedict, the source of enormous confusion and mischief. Most notably and dangerously, it opens the door to the idea of divinely sanctioned violence. Now I fully realize that many Christians over the centuries have done terrible things in the name of God and that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are peaceful and non-violent. But I think it is clear that when Christians act in such a way, they are unequivocally at odds with their own conception of God. Is the same true of Muslims? I am still waiting for a compelling answer from the Muslim camp to the question posed eight years ago by Pope Benedict. At the time, of course, Islamist radicals responded by killing a number of innocent Christians – certainly a curious way of refuting the notion that divinely sanctioned violence is irrational!

In the meantime, I believe that all people of good will ought to pray for both the victims and their persecutors, for the best way to honor God is through an act of compassion. The same God who is identified with Logos is, according to the first letter of John, also identified with Love.

— Father Robert Barron is rector of Mundelein Seminary and founder of Word on Fire.

The Average Salary of a Catholic Priest

If you're looking for a career that provides an opportunity to stack up worldly wealth, any job in the clergy probably isn't your best option. If you've heard the call, however, you may be curious about your ability to support yourself should you become a Catholic priest, as you're bound to have expenses like any member of the laity. Before you dedicate your life to the church, investigate the financial impact of your decision.

Read more: The Average Salary of a Catholic Priest | eHow.com

Jew defends Catholic Church

Posted on Jojo's Blog

On Thursday, March 6, 2008, prominent Cleveland businessman Sam Miller (a Jew) gave a speech defending Catholicism from media bias at the City Club of Cleveland (Ohio). The text of the speech was published in the May-June issue of the Buckeye Bulletin. Several Catholic blogs, including this one, posted the speech.

“Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?

Do you know – the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to that Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. The graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%.

The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students.

The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people – not just Catholics – in the United States today.

But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage.

Let me give you some figures that Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact in a study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8% of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually

harassed. Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic problem.

A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have probably been totally weeded out by now..

Walk with your shoulders high and your head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States.

Then remember what Jeremiah said: ‘Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls’. Be proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions.

Thank you Sam Miller, God love you!

CATHOLICISM! Let's Celebrate it!

The Catholic Priest (Official Promotion)

CNA: Irish broadcaster faces penalties after falsely accusing priest of rape

With the prayers of the Church, the light of Christ is now illuminating the whole Church and exposing those institutions and individuals who are preying for Catholics priests of falsehood. Praise God! Fr. Kevin Reynolds finally found Truth to be on his side... of course with our prayers with him and for many priests who are facing the same ordeal. Pray for our priests. They need it more than we do.

Fr. Kevin Reynolds, falsely accused by RTE

Dublin, Ireland,(CNA/EWTN News).- Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ is likely to face charges of anti-Catholic bias following a soon-to-be-published report into why it falsely accused a priest of raping a minor and fathering a child.

“The report must ascertain what misjudgments were made that caused Fr. Kevin Reynolds to be so badly libeled and who made the key decisions?” Irish social commentator David Quinn of the Dublin-based Iona Institute told CNA April 2.

The independent inquiry was launched after RTÉ’s current affairs series “Prime Time” broadcast an episode titled “Mission to Prey” in May 2011. The program wrongly accused County Galway priest Father Kevin Reynolds of raping and impregnating a minor while working in Kenya as a missionary 30 years ago. It also falsely alleged that Fr. Reynolds secretly provided financial support for the baby over many years.

Prior to broadcast, Fr. Reynolds had volunteered to undergo a DNA test to prove his innocence but RTÉ refused. He was subsequently removed from his home and parish ministry. His innocence was later proven however by two separate and independent DNA tests.

McLean: Beware of the celebrity priesthood

Written by Dorothy Cummings McLean

Dorothy Cummings McLean is a Canadian writer living abroad. She recently published her book "Seraphic Singles".

Dorothy has an MA in English literature from the University of Toronto, an M.Div./STB from Regis College and spent two years in doctoral studies in theology at Boston College.

Checking the headlines of Catholic Internet media every day has its down side. The stories are often sad. Catholic journalists, paid and unpaid, professional or amateur, report everything that might be of interest to other Catholics, and thus not a week goes by in which some scandal, minor or major, is presented to the public worldwide. These scandals, I hasten to add, rarely have anything to do with the Gospel. These scandals, more often than not, detail sins of commission or omission committed by priests, bishops or other Catholic leaders. Not only do they disgust and depress Catholics, they erode our trust in God’s ministers and messengers.

Three cases in particular have troubled my thoughts in recent months. One, coming out of Australia, is so vile I dare not discuss it in a family newspaper. The others are merely distasteful and disappointing, so I will confine my thoughts to them.

Be at Peace: Medley Minute with Fr Sam

Visit his Fr. Sam's blog at Medley Minute