There is little available at the moment regarding this story. What appears to have happened, according to the Director of the weekly publication 'El Sur', is a controversy stemming from an article published on the Sodality of Christian Life.
The Director, Valerio Andia Carreòn, notes that this recent story has to do with similar allegation against the group - their brainwashing of youth - and new allegations ranging from the strange company kept by Luis Fernando Figari to the Sodality of Christian Life being in the business of the dead (through the sale of funeral/cemetery paraphernalia).
Like the very immediate responses made by Sodality members in previous exposés (see: Agencia Peru and Careta's coverage of the Sodality), Sr. Carreón claims that the Sodality of Christian Life members have threatened the weekly paper with the following statements: 'we are going to sue you' and 'the judges are our professors (at the University of Saint Paul in Arequipa, a Sodalit-run institution)'.
The Director of Communications and Institutional Relations of the Sodality, Miguel A. Jaramillo Luján, has allegedly placed phone calls trying to attract people from the weekly publication 'El Sur' offering 'juicy contracts to work with the University/Sodalits'.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The Argentine Bishop
Taken From BBC:
The executive committee of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Argentineans to reconciliation in the wake of the life sentence imposed on Father Christian Von Wernich, accused of having contributed to the violation of human rights during the military dictatorship.
Christian Von Wernich, 69, was convicted for involvement in seven murders, 42 abductions and 31 cases of torture during the 1976-83 "Dirty War".
At the trial, several former prisoners said the former Roman Catholic priest used his office to win their trust before passing information to police torturers and killers in secret detention centres.
They say he attended several torture sessions and absolved the police of blame, telling them they were doing God's work.
"Von Wernich participated assiduously and maintained direct contacts with the detainees," the prosecution said in its indictment.
Father Von Wernich's lawyers said the case against him had more doubts than certainties and that he had been obliged to visit police detention centres as part of his duties.
The priest said he had never violated the prohibition against revealing information obtained in the sacrament of confession and accused those torture victims who gave evidence in court of being influenced by the devil.
"False testimony is of the devil, because he is responsible for malice and is the father of evil and lies," he said.
The executive committee of the Bishops’ Conference of Argentina issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Argentineans to reconciliation in the wake of the life sentence imposed on Father Christian Von Wernich, accused of having contributed to the violation of human rights during the military dictatorship.
Von Wernich, 69, was chaplain of the police force of Buenos Aires during the military dictatorship of 1976-1983 and was found guilty of “crimes against humanity” and sentenced to life in prison.
Upon news of the verdict, the bishops of Argentina immediately issued a statement saying the Church in Argentina “is shaken by the sorrow we feel over the participation by a priest in serious crimes, according to the sentence by the Federal Court.”
“We believe that the steps taken by the courts to clear these matters up should serve to renew the efforts of all citizens in the journey to reconciliation and are a call to back away from both impunity and hatred or anger,” the statement said.
The Argentinean bishops reiterated what they said in 2000: “If some member of the Church, no matter what their condition, recommended or was complicit in these acts (the violent repression), he or she was acting under their own responsibility, erring and seriously sinning against God, humanity and his or her conscience.”
Friday, June 29, 2007
Pope Benedict XVI Will Beatify Catholic Clergy Casualties from the Spanish Civil War
With all respect for the dead, this is quite political, no?
Taken from: Catholic News Agency : en español
.- On October 28 Pope Benedict XVI will raise 498 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War to the altars—perhaps the largest number of martyrs beatified in one ceremony in the history of the Church. Among the five that are not of Spanish origin will be Brother Jose Lopez Piteira, an Augustinian deacon born in Cuba.
Taken from: Catholic News Agency : en español
First native Cuban to be beatified with martyrs of Spanish Civil War
.- On October 28 Pope Benedict XVI will raise 498 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War to the altars—perhaps the largest number of martyrs beatified in one ceremony in the history of the Church. Among the five that are not of Spanish origin will be Brother Jose Lopez Piteira, an Augustinian deacon born in Cuba.
Brother Jose will become Cuba’s first blessed. He was born in Arroy Blanco, Cuba, on February 2, 1912 to Spanish immigrants. According to the family records, his family returned to Spain when Jose was four or five years old.
They settled in Partorvia in northwestern Spain. As a young man Jose entered the Augustinian order and began studies for the priesthood. He made his solemn profession in 1934 and was ordained deacon on September 8, 1935, the feast of Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of Cuba.
One of his biographers, Father Gonzalez Velasco, wrote: “It should be noted that the young Jose Lopez Piteira always felt proud that he was born in Cuba and was a Cuban citizen.
The magazine Palabra Cubana related the story of his martyrdom: “While studying at the Monastery of El Escorial, he was detained on August 6, 1936 with his Augustinian community at that monastery and imprisoned in Madrid. When he was told he could appeal to his Cuban citizenship to gain freedom, he answered: “All of you who have been my teachers and superiors are here. What I am going to do in the city? I prefer to have the same fate as everyone else, whatever God wishes that might be.”
“On November 30, 1936, Brother Jose Lopez Piteira was martyred in Paracuellos de Jarama together with 50 other Augustinian religious. At the time of his martyrdom he was 23,” the magazine reported.Monday, June 25, 2007
Figari's Bio Claims TFP Saw Him as "Disguised Communist"
According to the latest biography released from his own organization's website, Figari is apparently not connected to more extreme right-wing groups and was seen by them as a communist. A tad weak that Figari and his organization have been negatively labelling people marxists, communists, terrorists, and the new biography displays Figari "persecuted" with the same label by another right-wing group, Tradition, Family and Property (TFP).
This strongly contradicts other accounts of Figari, the founder of 'God and Country', rooted in falange ideologies (which are fairly in line with fascism), and an alleged supporter of bringing TFP from Brasil to Peru. It also strongly contradicts the close ties that Figari's movement has with people such as Cardinal Cipriani of Opus Dei, who was very much involved with the Autocratic President Fujimori, and Bishop Chaput, a fairly right-wing bishop in Denver (except for his stance on immigration). And this new account of Figari's not-so-scary ideology is being stated while Sodality Bishops continue to root out the 'communists' and 'marxists' of the Church.
Taken from Sodality of Christian Life USA
"At age 24 he found a lack of esteem towards the Social Doctrine of the Church, which since age 16 he had considered essential for a just social renewal and for respecting human's rights and dignity. Therefore, in a short time he became a herald of the Church's social teachings, which granted him the bitter animosity of institutions such as "Tradition, Family and Property" that regarded him as a "disguised communist".
For a very secretive organization rife with controversy, past and present, and with right-wing affiliations, the new 'moderate' Figari and the 'moderate' Sodality of Christian Life is hard to believe. They should be applauded for their craftiness; they are on the way to re-writing their own history. As long as they [Sodalits] deny, counter-attack and pro-actively enforce being non-extremists, they will eventually erase proof of their right-wing identity - at least until the next controversy.
This strongly contradicts other accounts of Figari, the founder of 'God and Country', rooted in falange ideologies (which are fairly in line with fascism), and an alleged supporter of bringing TFP from Brasil to Peru. It also strongly contradicts the close ties that Figari's movement has with people such as Cardinal Cipriani of Opus Dei, who was very much involved with the Autocratic President Fujimori, and Bishop Chaput, a fairly right-wing bishop in Denver (except for his stance on immigration). And this new account of Figari's not-so-scary ideology is being stated while Sodality Bishops continue to root out the 'communists' and 'marxists' of the Church.
Taken from Sodality of Christian Life USA
"At age 24 he found a lack of esteem towards the Social Doctrine of the Church, which since age 16 he had considered essential for a just social renewal and for respecting human's rights and dignity. Therefore, in a short time he became a herald of the Church's social teachings, which granted him the bitter animosity of institutions such as "Tradition, Family and Property" that regarded him as a "disguised communist".
For a very secretive organization rife with controversy, past and present, and with right-wing affiliations, the new 'moderate' Figari and the 'moderate' Sodality of Christian Life is hard to believe. They should be applauded for their craftiness; they are on the way to re-writing their own history. As long as they [Sodalits] deny, counter-attack and pro-actively enforce being non-extremists, they will eventually erase proof of their right-wing identity - at least until the next controversy.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
No a la 'iglesia india', and Papal Damage Control on the First Evangelization
Taken from CNA:
Pope insists: Gospel did not destroy native cultures in America
Holy See reminds its opposition to an “indigenous church” and to married priesthood in Latin America.
.- Through a letter sent to the Bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas (México), Bishop. Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, the Holy See decided to put an end to the so-called “Indigenous Church,” influent especially in southern parts of Mexico and throughout Latin America.
The letter is signed by Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Cult and the Discipline of Sacraments. He deplores the influence of the ideology of the "autoctonous church,” inherited by Bishop Arizmendi from his predecesor Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia and remarks that the new policy should supress the overreliance on the ordination of permanent deacons in this diocese.
Bishop Ruiz prevented many different movements and religious orders to be active in the diocese, and seriously discouraged religious vocations to celibate priesthood and above all, he promoted the massive ordination of permanent deacons, valuing that in little time the Church would end up accepting the practice of married priests, which according to him was better adapted to the vision of an "indigenous" or “autochthonous church.”
The eloquent letter written by Cardinal Arinze in the latest issue of the “Notitiae” the bulletin of the dicastery is addressed to Bishop Arizmendi, but its conclusions are extended to other regions such as Guatemala, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, where the similar “Indian theology” has been spread.
The case and constant petitions coming from San Cristóbal de las Casas, has forced the creation of a interdicasterial committee in September 1993, and which finally came to a conclusion in October during the pontificate of Benedict XVI. The Committee rejects the creation of an “autochthonous church,” inspired by the “theology of liberation.”
The letters states as follows:
“We can’t ignore that, even after five years after the retirement of H.E Samuel Ruiz of San Cristóbal de las Casas, the ideology that promotes the implementation of the project of Autochthonous Church is still latent. In that sense, the Interdicasterial meeting has pronounced himself for a suspension of eventual ordinations of permanent deacons.”
“Therefore, we ask that a proper pastoral of vocations, in the perspective of celibate priesthood might be strengthened as in other parts of Mexico, and other countries in Latin America.”
In order to reorganize the ecclesial life, we asked from the beginning that the diocese may open itself to the proper realities of the universality of the Catholic Church, to help it overcome its ideological isolation.”
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Taken from CNA: En EspañolPope insists: Gospel did not destroy native cultures in America
.- During his weekly general audience, Pope Benedict reflected on his recent apostolic trip to Brazil and insisted that, despite the shadows in the process of announcing the Gospel in the new world, the Evangelization did not destroy but instead ennobled the native cultures.
Speaking before more than 25,000 people on a sunny day, the Pontiff said that his journey to Latin America, where he inaugurated the 5th General Conference of Latin American Bishops, "was primarily an act of praise to God for the 'wonders' worked among the people of Latin America, and for the faith that has animated their lives and culture over more than 500 years."
The Holy Father acknowledged that the "remembrance of a glorious past cannot ignore the shadows that accompanied the work of evangelization on the Latin American continent: ... the suffering and injustices inflicted by the colonizers on the indigenous peoples whose fundamental human rights were often trampled underfoot."
"But the obligatory mention of those unjustifiable crimes, condemned even at the time by missionaries like Bartolomeo de las Casas and theologians such as Francisco de Vitoria, must not prevent us from recognizing with gratitude the marvelous work achieved by divine grace among those peoples over the course of the centuries."
On the Latin American continent, the Holy Father continued, "the Gospel has become the mainstay of a dynamic synthesis that has different aspects in the different nations but everywhere expresses the identity of the Latin American people."
Finally, reflecting on the theme of the Conference, "Disciples and missionaries in Jesus Christ, that in Him our peoples may have life," Pope Benedict said that "the word 'disciple' suggests the idea of formation and of following [a master], the term 'missionary' expresses the fruit of discipleship, in other words bearing witness to and communicating a real experience: the truth known and assimilated."
"Joyfully renewing the will to be disciples of Jesus," he continued "is the fundamental condition for being His missionaries who 'start again from Christ,' to use the words of Pope John Paul II to the entire Church following the Jubilee 2000."
"With my apostolic trip," Pope Benedict concluded, "I wished to exhort people to continue along this path, presenting the unifying perspective of the Encyclical 'Deus caritas est,' a perspective that is inextricably social and theological and that can be summed up in this expression: 'it is love that gives life'."
Monday, May 14, 2007
The Pope's Account of the First Evangelization Offends Indigenous Group
From BBC.com:
Indigenous leaders in Brazil have reacted angrily to Pope Benedict's comments that their predecessors had willingly converted to Christianity.
Indigenous leaders in Brazil have reacted angrily to Pope Benedict's comments that their predecessors had willingly converted to Christianity.
One Amazon Indian leader, Jecinaldo Satere Mawe, said the Pope's remarks had been arrogant and disrespectful.
Pope Benedict XVI told Latin American bishops in Brazil that American Indians had been "silently longing" to become Christians 500 years ago.
The Pope has now returned home after his five-day trip to Brazil.
The Vatican has made no further comment.
'Wrong and indefensible'
The BBC's Emilio San Pedro said the Pope had said the Christianisation of the region had not involved an alienation of the pre-Colombian cultures.
Our correspondent said Pope Benedict also made no mention of the violent history that followed or the documented decimation of native cultures in favour of the Christian model Conquistadores and other Europeans colonisers.
He said the comments had even been criticised by the Catholic Church's Indian advocacy group in Brazil, which described the Pope's statement as wrong and indefensible.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The Pope in Latin America
Taken from BBC "The people of Latin America and the Caribbean have the right to ... conditions that are human, free from the threat of hunger and from every form of violence," the Pope said.
Taken from Catholic News Agency: "Both capitalism and Marxism promised to point out the path for the creation of just structures, and they declared that these, once established, would function by themselves."
"And this ideological promise,” he added, “has been proved false. The facts have clearly demonstrated it. The Marxist system, where it found its way into government, not only left a sad heritage of economic and ecological destruction, but also a painful destruction of the human spirit. And we can also see the same thing happening in the West, where the distance between rich and poor is growing constantly, and giving rise to a worrying degradation of personal dignity through drugs, alcohol and deceptive illusions of happiness."
"This political task is not the immediate competence of the Church," the Pontiff explained. "Respect for a healthy secularity — including the pluralism of political opinions — is essential in the authentic Christian tradition."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------CELAM in Brasil excluded Liberation Theologians. They held their own event close to CELAM as a response. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=9169
If the Pope is about pluralism, why is there censorship of Liberation Theologists via non-invites to CELAM? The likely Church response would be that there is no room for ideologies that fall outside of faith and can be harmful, such as those that try to create a 'utopia' on Earth. However, if the Church is truly upholding its values, for example, ensuring human dignity, then why did controversial bishops such as Opus Dei's Cipriani, who backed the autocrat Fujimori for some time and the Sodalicio's Eguren, who suppresses those who protest unjust conditions in the Tambogrande mines of Peru, attend CELAM? This sort of censorship makes little sense; it suppresses meaningful dialogue and brings further controversy and conflict within the Church. It also rewards some bishops with authority over others, whether 'meaningfully deserved' or not.
Another observation out of the CELAM visit: A martyred Liberation Theologian, murdered in a Church, is being discussed by the Pope as a man of faith first and an agent of social change second. If he were alive, he would be lumped in with other non-violent Liberation Theologists, such as Jon Sobrino and Gustavo Gutierrez, with the m-word introducing and following his name well into his likely natural and undramatic death. But, everyone loves a martyr.
Catholic News Agency: During his May 9 flight to Brazil the Pope also spoke about Archbishop Oscar Romero [see: Prominent Liberation Theologist], who was an outspoken voice for social change before he was gunned down by a right-wing "death squad" during a Mass at his cathedral in San Salvador. Commenting on a new book about the slain archbishop, the Pope said that the death of Archbishop Romero should not be seen simply as a political figure.
"He was killed during the consecration of the Eucharist," the Pope observed. "Therefore, his death is testimony of the faith.”
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Support Evangelization of the Poor Through Your Consumption
Taken from http://www.folliericapital.com/cc_overview.html
Why is the Catholic Church marrying consumer culture and the Catholic obligation of charity and benevolence via a financial product?
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Day of the Unborn in Peru
Today is the day of the unborn, celebrated in Peru thanks to the legislation of Dr. Solari, a member of the Sodality of Christian Life.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Santa Presion - Caretas No. 1967
The abortion debate in Peru has involved the collaboration of Opus Dei and the sodalicios and their political representatives (Rafael Rey, Opus Dei and Luis Solari, Sodality of Christian Life) to put pressure on the government. Some of the achievements of their work was the adoption of the 'day of the unborn' (thanks to Dr. Solari's motion five years ago), which we will all celebrate this coming March 25. There is much to be said about Rafael Rey another day.
Santa Presión
Santa Presión
15 de marzo de 2007
pp. 78-79
En la mañana del viernes 9 de marzo, el Presidente de la República recibió una visita tras la que no se ofreció ningún tipo de declaración. A Palacio de Gobierno llegaron el arzobispo de Lima, cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani; el presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal Peruana y arzobispo de Trujillo, Miguel Cabrejos, y el presidente de la Comisión Episcopal de Familia, Infancia y Vida y arzobispo de Piura, José Antonio Eguren.
La presencia de monseñor Eguren debe leerse entre líneas. Es el primer obispo ordenado del Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana. Su comisión asesora, promueve estudios y hace propuestas sobre todo lo concerniente al matrimonio y la familia. Además tiene bajo su cargo el comité de bioética de la Conferencia Episcopal.
Aunque a la reunión le prosiguió el silencio, es casi seguro que tuvo entre sus temas centrales la discusión sobre el aborto terapéutico, vuelta a poner sobre el tapete tras las revelaciones sobre el caso de Karen Llantoy, a quien el Estado le obligó a continuar con un embarazo a pesar de que el feto tenía una grave malformación, la anencefalia, que hacía imposible su subsistencia (CARETAS 1965, 1966). Naciones Unidas recomendó al Perú una serie de medidas para corregir el daño ocasionado a Llantoy y su cumplimiento se ha convertido en un dolor de cabeza para el sector Justicia.
A eso hay que añadir que se dio a conocer que el Instituto Materno Perinatal aprobó un protocolo para practicar el aborto terapéutico, que es permitido por el Código Penal cuando se pone en peligro la vida de la gestante, pero que hoy, tras casi ochenta años, sigue cubierto por un manto de vaguedad que ocasiona situaciones traumáticas como la de Llantoy.
Tras revelarse la existencia del protocolo (CARETAS 1966), que según algunas interpretaciones podía ser considerado una norma de alcance nacional por el rango de la institución que lo expidió, el Ministerio de Salud se vio obligado a encarar el tema. El ministro Carlos Vallejos anunció esta semana la creación de una comisión multisectorial –integrada por gremios médicos, sociedades científicas, sociedad civil y representantes ministeriales– para elaborar un protocolo a ser aplicado en todo el país. Al parecer, cedió a la presión para no darle ese peso al protocolo del Instituto, que solo regirá en esa entidad.
La Iglesia tiene como objetivo ocupar un asiento en aquella comisión. Representantes de una organización de defensa de los derechos reproductivos de las mujeres dijeron a CARETAS que, siendo esta institución contraria a toda forma de aborto, no sería ético que conformen una comisión que tendrá como mandato el explicitar los casos en los que se permitirá estas intervenciones.
Hace cuatro años y medio, el cardenal Cipriani y el entonces congresista Rafael Rey, declararon la guerra al intento parlamentario de reconocer el aborto terapéutico en el proyecto constitucional que entonces se discutía y quedó eventualmente truncado. La discusión motivó una cómica y “embarazosa” carátula de esta revista (edición 1749).
Rey, actual ministro de la Producción declaró entonces: “Nuestra sociedad admira a las personas que con riesgo de muerte toman acción para salvar a un amigo y no a aquel que escapa y deja al amigo en una situación difícil, o a aquel que mata para salvar su vida. Y eso es, precisamente, lo que el aborto terapéutico pretende”.
El entusiasmo con el que el Presidente recibió al cardenal el viernes pasado (ver foto) plantea interrogantes sobre el rumbo que tomará el debate. Durante la campaña, AGP se opuso a la propuesta de Ollanta Humala para legalizar el aborto. “Yo estoy a favor de la libre elección de métodos anticonceptivos, pero estoy en contra del aborto”, declaró en febrero del año pasado. Queda por verse si su negativa incluye también el aborto contemplado, esencialmente, por la ley.
Lo que en realidad está en juego no es la subsistencia legal del concepto del aborto terapéutico, reconocido en el Código Penal desde 1929, sino las causas específicas por las que será permitido. El protocolo del Instituto Materno Perinatal abre considerablemente el abanico de estas causales (CARETAS 1966). Si ese documento es un referente, es de esperar que la Iglesia luche cada línea al centímetro.
Mientras tanto, el pasado martes 13, DEMUS organizó un debate, moderado por el psicoanalista Jorge Bruce, en el que se presentaron las declaraciones por vídeo que Karen Llantoy, hoy de 22 años, envió desde España. La joven se ha convertido en el caso emblemático de quienes defienden la apertura de esta opción. (E.CH.)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Jesus isn't a theo-con, nor a fascist
The Vatican has been making appointments of individuals from the 'new ecclesiastical communities' that have been promoted since the council of the Vatican II. These communities include the Sodalit Family and Opus Dei. At the same time, Pope Benedict (ex. Cardinal Ratzinger) has been promoting his own agenda to remove liberation theologists (or Marxist theology as said by the Sodalit-run Catholic News Agency). I have shown examples of this in Puno, Perú recently, and here is another example in El Salvador.
The second piece talks about how Jesus wasn't a hippy, nor a guru, nor a philosopher, nor a revolutionary, nor a socialist, etc., etc., but the Son of God.
I could agree with the things he was not, provided we also say that Jesus wasn't a neo-con/theo-con, nor a fascist, nor a market liberal either... and nor did he condemn people for disagreeing with human authority on Earth.
The author tries to explain the troubling nature of why Jesus is seen as a 'revolutionary' in Latin America. I think he should also ask why conquistadors and other colonialists are praised for 'bringing God to the Americas', since Jesus wasn't for genocide and oppression... if Jesus did support it, that would make him some sort of a fascist dictator, wouldn't it?
-------------------------------
Vatican Sanctions
Salvadoran archbishop confirms Vatican sanction of Jesuit theologian
Fr. Fernando Saenz Lacalle, S.J.
Sobrino, a Basque Jesuit who has lived in El Salvador since the 1970’s, where he has been a professor of theology at the Jose Simeon Cañas Central American University, which he founded together with several other Jesuits.
Although the sanction will be official made public on Thursday, Archbishop Saenz said during a press conference that “the Holy See tells us that the conclusions of his theological studies are not in accord with the doctrine of the Church.”
The sanction also will prohibit Jon Sobrino from teaching classes at any Catholic institution and from publishing as a Catholic author.
“For some time his writings have been under study, and for years he has been warned,” Archbishop Lacalle said, explaining that Sobrino, like many of his fellow liberationists, emphasizes the human nature of Jesus to the point of putting his divinity in doubt.
Like other authors such as Gustavo Gutierrez, Juan Luis Segundo and Pablo Richard, Sabrino contributed to creating profound division in the Church in Latin America by promoting a Marxist interpretation of theology. He has refused to make any comments until the Vatican officially publishes the sanction.
Archbishop Lacalle has requested Sobrino refrain from further controversies surrounding the activity of liberation theology proponents, especially in view of the upcoming General Conference of the Latin American Bishops’ Council, and that he “conform to the teachings of the Church.”
“I pray to the Lord for Father Jon Sobrino, that he may be docile to the teachings of the Church and will review his conclusions,” the archbishop said.
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Bishops
Jesus was no socialist, guru, or hippie, but rather the Son of God, says Venezuelan bishop
Bishop Mario Moronta
“The person of Jesus, with his actions and teachings, has always inspired amazement and admiration in many, as well as questioning and even rejection in others,” the bishop wrote in an article for the diocesan newspaper.
“In modern times as well,” Bishop Moronta said, “the question about Jesus remains. The answer given is in accord with those who do the asking: Some have claimed he is an alien who has come from who knows what planet or galaxy in order to carry out a mission. Some have claimed he is a kind of ‘guru’ who, after his death in Israel, supposedly traveled to the Far East to achieve complete wisdom. Some claim he is a great teacher of wisdom. There is even no lack of those who would say he is a myth or an invention of the first Christians,” the bishop wrote.
“In our Latin American continent, there have always been attempts to answer the troubling question about Him,” he continued. “He has been identified as a ‘revolutionary,’ a ‘guerrilla,’ to the point that he has been depicted in paintings crucified on a cross of rifles. In our own national debate, he has been presented as a ‘Socialist.’”
“In every age,” Bishop Moronta said, “to not see Jesus in his true dimension produces in many a reaction against the Church, who is Mother and Teacher.”
“Therefore,” he recommended, “more than confronting those who do not understand the Church’s reasons, what we must do is show where the source of our answers is: in the Gospel, which is the Word of God,” where we find Peter’s profession of faith: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
“Here is the authentic answer to the question about Jesus. It is the recognition of his divine mission, of his divinity, of his final objective—the salvation of humanity,” the bishop stressed.
When somebody claims something about the person of Jesus,” Bishop Moronta added, “the attitude of believers in Christ must be that which is inspired by the Gospel: a profession of faith, made without hesitation and without fear, not to condemn another, but to invite him to understand what the true meaning of the existence of the person and work of Jesus the Lord is.”
“Therefore, neither a revolutionary, nor a Socialist, nor a hippie, nor a philosopher, nor a Gnostic deity, nor an alien, nor a ghost, nor a myth: Jesus is Lord, the Son of the living God, the Savior, the Word incarnate who has made the mystery and plan of God known to us, the Beginning and the End, the faithful witness, the same today, yesterday and forever,” Bishop Moronta emphasized.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
I would have rethought the title and the picture.
Taken from the Catholic News Agency (Sodalit-run) on Sunday, March 11, 2007.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Zapatero, a tus zapatos!
Global warming
Global warming threats exaggerated, says Cardinal Pell
Claims of 'doomsdayers' and scientific evidence don't match, Pell says
(From Sodality-Run Catholic News Agency)
In his weekly Sunday Telegraph column, the cardinal-archbishop of Sydney said people have been “subjected to a lot of nonsense about climate disasters as some zealots have been painting extreme scenarios to frighten us.”
He called those who make claims about ice caps melting and ocean levels rising spectacularly “doomsdayers” and “scaremongers.”
He also called to account journalists who have called for Nuremberg-style trials for global warming skeptics and who have compared skeptics with “Holocaust deniers.” The media during the last 100 years, he also noted, has flip-flopped between promoting fears of a coming Ice Age and fears of global warming.
“What we were seeing from the doomsdayers was an induced dose of mild hysteria, semi-religious if you like, but dangerously close to superstition,” he said. “I would be surprised if industrial pollution, and carbon emissions, had no ill effect at all. But enough is enough.”
The cardinal acknowledged that enormous climate changes have occurred in world history, such as the Ice Ages and Noah’s flood. Long and terrible droughts are not infrequent in Australian history either, he pointed out.
He cited some scientific evidence to try to make sense of it and noted that the evidence on warming is, in fact, mixed.
He noted that:
• Global warming has been increasing constantly since 1975 at the rate of less than one-fifth of a degree centigrade per decade.
• The concentration of carbon dioxide increased surface temperatures more in winter than in summer and especially in mid and high latitudes over land, while there was a global cooling of the stratosphere.
• The East Anglia University climate research unit found that global temperatures did not increase between 1998 and 2005.
• A recent NASA satellite found that the Southern Hemisphere has not warmed in the past 25 years.
“The science is more complicated than the propaganda!” he concluded.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
To Laugh or to Cry?
Taken from the Catholic News Agency (Sodality Run News Agency)
The title is absolutely shameless, and the celebration of this statistic itself is intra-Church political back-patting at its best. Bolded text is added emphasis.
Spain even more generous than Latin America: 800 Spanish missionary priests
The title is absolutely shameless, and the celebration of this statistic itself is intra-Church political back-patting at its best. Bolded text is added emphasis.
Spain even more generous than Latin America: 800 Spanish missionary priests
.- According to the Spanish bishops’ Committee on Missions and Cooperation Between Churches, a total of 800 Spanish diocesan priests are currently on mission in Latin America, with most in Peru (127), the United States (88), Venezuela (82) and Brazil (74).
In a message to mark the Spanish America Day on March 4, the president of the committee, Bishop Ramon del Hoyo of Jaen said, “Rather than a decrease in the Spanish Church’s missionary concern for the work of evangelization in Latin America,” the Spanish dioceses “have always been willing to cooperate.”
He explained that the theme for Spanish America Day this year is related to the theme chosen for the 5th Conference of the Latin American Bishops’ Council (CELAM), which will take place in May in Aparecida, Brazil, and will focus especially on the missions.
“For historical reasons related to culture and to language, the missionary spirit of the Spanish Church has always focused on the sister churches” of Latin America in a special way, “Bishop del Hoyo stressed.
In a letter sent to the Bishops’ Conference of Spain, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, encouraged the Spanish Church to “live true evangelical boldness” at a time in which Latin America “needs her religiosity to be awakened and nourished with decisiveness more than ever.”
The cardinal also thanked Catholics in Spain for their pastoral concern for Latin America “during more than 500 years of evangelization” and he called on them to “continue in this great missionary commitment” in these “extensive regions where the spiritual and earthly needs are so great.”
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Friday, February 9, 2007
Opiniones del articulo en Caretas 1960: 'Ayaviri: hostias con Aji'
Trifulca Eclesiástica
Ayaviri, Puno, 28 de enero del 2007
Respecto a ‘Ayaviri: Hostias con Ají’ de CARETAS 1960, negamos abusos hacia algún sacerdote de esta prelatura. Todas nuestras acciones se han realizado con espíritu de caridad y dentro de las facultades y deberes que las normas del Código de Derecho Canónico dan al Obispo. Las actitudes individuales de sacerdotes y agentes pastorales, escudándose en supuestas incomprensiones, han hecho olvidar que para la Iglesia ambos son colaboradores del trabajo evangelizador. Nos extraña que el reportaje de Samuel Ashcallay, sesgado por recoger versiones críticas a la labor del Obispo en Ayavirí, haya ignorado el testimonio de sacerdotes y feligreses entusiasmados con el nuevo dinamismo pastoral.En relación al Templo de Macusani, Prisco Lino Navarro, quien promovió su cierre esgrimiendo calumnias contra el párroco y las hermanas de la Asociación Lumen Dei, fue obligado el día 25 de enero, en un cabildo abierto con presencia de la población, la alcaldesa y la fiscal del distrito, a entregar las llaves de la Iglesia y a retractarse. Así el templo fue abierto y se realizó un acto de desagravio al padre Gustavo Mordones.
Héctor Cruz Mercado
Canciller de la Prelatura de Ayaviri
Los cambios en una prelatura son potestad del obispo, pero existen maneras más cristianas de ejecutarlas. Cuando el obispo Kay Schmalhausen expulsó el padre Francisco Fritsch de la prelatura de Ayaviri, 15 sacerdotes, 5 religiosas y 11 responsables de la pastoral social le pidieron por escrito que reconsidere su decisión. Durante dos semanas CARETAS intentó entrevistar al obispo Schmalhausen pero éste sólo respondió preguntas por teléfono y sin entrar en la materia. El templo de Macusani fue tomado por unas 130 personas protestando contra el padre Gustavo Mordones. Días después fue abierta por los propios pobladores y no por obligación. El vicepresidente del consejo parroquial, Prisco Lino, niega que le pidieran retractarse y el acto de desagravio al sacerdote Mordones.
Lima, 30 de enero del 2007
El artículo sobre las Iglesias del sur no le hace favor a la objetividad periodística. El autor de la nota ha generalizado la queja de un par de sacerdotes y algunas cartas. El reportaje sugiere que todo lo que hacen los obispos es abusivo. Si lo que se pretendía era cuestionar a los monseñores Kay Schmalhausen y José María Ortega, el asunto les salió al revés. Los Obispos del Perú, a través de un comunicado, han expresado su apoyo al trabajo que se viene realizando en las respectivas iglesias de Ayaviri y Juli.Carlos Bisso
DNI 07882714
CARETAS entrevistó a 4 sacerdotes del sur andino y recibió la opinión de otros 17 a través de dos cartas, además de la declaración de 2 religiosas y 11 laicos que trabajan en esta región. Todos coincidieron en señalar abusos por parte de los obispos de Ayaviri y Juli. El padre Francisco Fritsch, expulsado de Ayaviri, ha recibido unas 300 cartas de solidaridad de sacerdotes, religiosas y laicos vinculados a la labor de la Iglesia. El escueto comunicado de los obispos no desmiente el reportaje. Sorprende que los prelados respalden despidos –sin dar explicaciones– a religiosos que trabajaron más de tres décadas en esta región durante la época del terrorismo. O que no objeten la discriminación de un seminarista por ser jorobado.
Intolerancia Clerical
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Obispo de Juli: cuando hay defectos es mejor no ordenarse de sacerdote. |
Lima, 29 de enero de 2007
Respecto a ‘Capilla Ardiente de CARETAS 1960, el obispo José María Ortega no tiene reparo en decir que expulsó a un seminarista por ser jorobado. Debería saber que el padre Gustavo Gutiérrez también tiene una limitación física que no le ha impedido llegar a ser el sacerdote más ilustre del Perú. Este acto lo pinta como lo que es: un intolerante que discrimina.Héctor Velásquez Chafloque
DNI 06994867
Esa es la confesión más franca y menos religiosa que ha publicado CARETAS. El Obispo merece ser despeñado por el propio Cuasimodo.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
The Dangers of Rewriting History and the New Evangelization
The Sodality-run news agency "Catholic News Agency" had produced this article recently, which is a disturbing rewriting of the realities of the Americas.
Christians Called to Fearlessly Evangelize Culture, says Archbishop Gomez
“From their earliest settlement, these lands were Catholic, Christian. And these lands were, from the start, immigrant lands, meeting places of cultures,” he said. “Long before America had a name, the Gospel was being preached in these lands and the Holy Mass was being celebrated. Jesus Christ was here first -- in Word and sacrament -- changing lives and destinies, sowing the seeds of a civilization of love.”
Archbishop Gomez is an Opus Dei member, whose consecration was witnessed by Archbishop Chaput of Denver.
Christians Called to Fearlessly Evangelize Culture, says Archbishop Gomez
“From their earliest settlement, these lands were Catholic, Christian. And these lands were, from the start, immigrant lands, meeting places of cultures,” he said. “Long before America had a name, the Gospel was being preached in these lands and the Holy Mass was being celebrated. Jesus Christ was here first -- in Word and sacrament -- changing lives and destinies, sowing the seeds of a civilization of love.”
Archbishop Gomez is an Opus Dei member, whose consecration was witnessed by Archbishop Chaput of Denver.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Fuentes de la información - New Links Found
Ahora se han encontrado más 'blogs' que se trata de este conflicto en Ayaviri, el cual es debido de la presencia de los Sodalicios en el Sur Andino.
Perú ¿una iglesia rota? Sodalicio y Sur Andino
Un analisís hecho por un Puñeño
Copía de un nuevo articulo en Caretas (27 de Enero, 2007) que se trata de la politica en el la Iglesía del Sur Andino
Blog que habla de este tema
El Articulo en el Diario El Mercurio (Chileno) - 25 de Enero, 2007
Perú ¿una iglesia rota? Sodalicio y Sur Andino
Un analisís hecho por un Puñeño
Copía de un nuevo articulo en Caretas (27 de Enero, 2007) que se trata de la politica en el la Iglesía del Sur Andino
Blog que habla de este tema
El Articulo en el Diario El Mercurio (Chileno) - 25 de Enero, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
In Ayaviri (Puno), Peru
This is happening in real-time, which makes it all the more interesting.
The introduction of the Sodalits to Ayaviri, through SVC Schmalhausen, who was consecrated by Cipriani has caused a significant amount of conflict with the older pastoral groups in the region (see Liberation Theologists). It is no surprise that conservative groups Lumen Dei and Opus Dei joined Schmalhausen and the Sodalits on the second evangelization (or more softly worded, "new evangelization") of Ayaviri.
Aside, there is a strong propensity to deny the Sodalit's alignment with Opus Dei (you can see this in Caretas Letters to the Editor Re: Congressman Rafael Rey); this is in the face of documentation of such bonds for over two decades, and current documentation that they are still well-aligned with this movement.
There have been lots of interesting allegations, such as that the Sodalits and Opus Dei have been abusive in the reformation process (abusive of their powers?), the Opus Dei appointed bishop retired a parish member who was part of the South Andean Church (Iglesia del Sur Andino) for having a hump (or lump). There are some other interesting removals of pastoral workers that are conveniently part of the Iglesia del Sur Andino and in conflict with the Sodalits, including the transfer of a 68 year old pastoral worker to a very remote area in the Andes (one that, say, may require at least an hour of walking or to have a horse so that he could arrive to that location).
What this appears to be is the continued reform of the church to fully remove liberation theologists and, get rid of Ayamaran and Quechuan pride and the 'backwards culture' (see: non-western) that has been supported by 'those marxists' (see: Liberation Theologists) for the past 39 years.
Some links in Spanish:
La República has published a column on it (against the Sodalit's arrival)
Another agency that is keeping track of this ordeal
Here's a blog from someone in the area
Written at the time of the SVC movement to Ayaviri
Sodalicio News on the events
The Instituto de Pastoral Andina, which has been functioning in the region for many years
El Comercio has published a fairly short, but pro-Sodalit message, as they usually do.
(Other recent pro-sodalit examples here and here)
This Church reformation in the region appears with conservative sects taking the lead and yet again the people of Ayaviri are being put in the middle of this obviously political struggle within the Church (although it is denied by conservative members - SVC and Opus Dei - that following the Church Doctrine isn't political).
The only differences that I can note between the two sides is that the Sodalits have demonstrated disdain for Indigenous culture and have arrived in Ayaviri without showing any real interest to respect the culture of the region.
The introduction of the Sodalits to Ayaviri, through SVC Schmalhausen, who was consecrated by Cipriani has caused a significant amount of conflict with the older pastoral groups in the region (see Liberation Theologists). It is no surprise that conservative groups Lumen Dei and Opus Dei joined Schmalhausen and the Sodalits on the second evangelization (or more softly worded, "new evangelization") of Ayaviri.
Aside, there is a strong propensity to deny the Sodalit's alignment with Opus Dei (you can see this in Caretas Letters to the Editor Re: Congressman Rafael Rey); this is in the face of documentation of such bonds for over two decades, and current documentation that they are still well-aligned with this movement.
There have been lots of interesting allegations, such as that the Sodalits and Opus Dei have been abusive in the reformation process (abusive of their powers?), the Opus Dei appointed bishop retired a parish member who was part of the South Andean Church (Iglesia del Sur Andino) for having a hump (or lump). There are some other interesting removals of pastoral workers that are conveniently part of the Iglesia del Sur Andino and in conflict with the Sodalits, including the transfer of a 68 year old pastoral worker to a very remote area in the Andes (one that, say, may require at least an hour of walking or to have a horse so that he could arrive to that location).
What this appears to be is the continued reform of the church to fully remove liberation theologists and, get rid of Ayamaran and Quechuan pride and the 'backwards culture' (see: non-western) that has been supported by 'those marxists' (see: Liberation Theologists) for the past 39 years.
Some links in Spanish:
La República has published a column on it (against the Sodalit's arrival)
Another agency that is keeping track of this ordeal
Here's a blog from someone in the area
Written at the time of the SVC movement to Ayaviri
Sodalicio News on the events
The Instituto de Pastoral Andina, which has been functioning in the region for many years
El Comercio has published a fairly short, but pro-Sodalit message, as they usually do.
(Other recent pro-sodalit examples here and here)
This Church reformation in the region appears with conservative sects taking the lead and yet again the people of Ayaviri are being put in the middle of this obviously political struggle within the Church (although it is denied by conservative members - SVC and Opus Dei - that following the Church Doctrine isn't political).
The only differences that I can note between the two sides is that the Sodalits have demonstrated disdain for Indigenous culture and have arrived in Ayaviri without showing any real interest to respect the culture of the region.
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