To the editor:
This is in regard to the recent article (January 24) by Deacon Greg Kandra on bringing back Communion rails in church. You’ve got to be kidding! Do you really think that will fix the problem mentioned and make all people more holy? I don’t think so.
Holiness begins with learning of one’s religion and what is in our hearts. It should begin with teaching children about the Church, the sacraments, and how to be respectful to others.
As news reports have indicated, Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will resign at the end of February. Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison, has offered the following statement in regards to this development:
With the rest of you, I woke this morning to learn of the shocking, but not altogether surprising, news that our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is resigning his service as the successor of St. Peter, Bishop of Rome. His announcement brings me sadness personally, as he is a hero to me and a great shepherd for the Church. I first met the Holy Father as Cardinal Ratzinger in 1983.
DODGEVILLE — A group of parents and professionals in the Dodgeville area in Iowa County is undertaking an effort to found an independent high school in the Catholic tradition.
Michael J. Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Madison, said the group has received approval from the Diocese of Madison to name the school Holy Family High School (HFHS).
“While the diocese has and will continue to provide guidance, as is the case with all schools, HFHS will receive no financial support from the diocese,” said Lancaster.
REEDSBURG — Sacred Heart Parish in Reedsburg is offering a series of meetings called “Catholic Returning Home.”
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| Esta columna es la comunicación del Obispo con los fieles de la diócesis de Madison. Cualquier circulación más amplia va más allá de la intención del Obispo. |
Queridos amigos:
En las lecturas del Evangelio del domingo pasado encontramos un momento de tremendo shock e incluso de escándalo. Con frecuencia, cuando escuchamos las palabras “escándalo” en la Iglesia estos días, nuestras mentes son arrastradas inmediatamente a los horribles travestis en que se han convertido algunos que prometieron servir a la Iglesia pero en vez de eso abusaron de los más inocentes de su grey. Además de ser un asunto de tremenda vergüenza y pena para las víctimas y la familia, la revelación del abuso por parte de ministros de la Iglesia es un recordatorio chocante de la realidad de que a esta Iglesia, fundada por Jesucristo, se le encarga el cuidado de los seres humanos y por ello está sujeta a las caídas de los seres humanos. Recordamos esto y nos arrepentimos por las veces que hemos fallado, especialmente ahora que llega el tiempo penitencial de Cuaresma.
El dolor de las víctimas es entonces experimentado (no de la misma forma) por toda la Iglesia y es compartido –así como debería ser nuestra respuesta compartida– en el amor. Sin embargo, de este dolor surgen dudas que son fáciles de comprender. ¿Cómo puede ser que esta Iglesia esté fundada realmente por Jesucristo e insuflada por el Espíritu Santo si sus miembros son tan pecadores? ¿Cómo es posible?
MADISON — On January 25, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life marking the 40th anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
St. Ambrose Academy juniors and seniors were among the throngs of pro-lifers. Several St. Ambrose marchers also were recent winners of the Knights of Columbus Respect for Life Contest at the diocesan and state levels.
MADISON — The Rite of Election of Catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for Candidates for Full Communion in the Catholic Church will be celebrated by the parishes of the Diocese of Madison on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 3 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.
Parishes from throughout the diocese will send those who will celebrate the sacraments of initiation this Easter, as well as their sponsors, family, and friends. About 800 people are expected to attend, with Bishop Robert C. Morlino presiding.
What are your plans for Lent this year? Here we are in the Year of Faith, a year that Pope Benedict XVI hopes will awaken humanity at a critical moment.
“In vast areas of the earth the faith risks being extinguished, like a flame without fuel,” the pope warned. “We are facing a profound crisis of faith, a loss of a religious sense which represents one of the greatest challenges for the Church today . . . The renewal of faith must, then, be a priority for the entire Church in our time.”
MADISON — Many students who attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison (including me) have fond memories of attending St. Paul’s University Catholic Center.
It has been a “home away from home” for thousands of Catholic students on the secular university campus since the early 1900s.
To the editor:
Tony Magliano’s reflections on Pope Benedict’s Day of Peace message in the January 10 Catholic Herald is relevant to this time and place. As noted by the pope, inequality has been increasing for decades as a result of selfish and individualistic deregulation of financial markets.
Deregulation caused the financial crisis of 2008 and recession. Millions lost their jobs, families lost their homes, and $16 trillion in household wealth evaporated. But since then, 93 percent of new wealth has accrued to the richest one percent.
A week later followed the economic column in the Catholic Herald by Anthony Esolen about some of Pope Leo XIII’s views on socialism in his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum. The pope denounced socialism because it deprives working people of the gains of their wages in the form of private property.
