Tag: Catholics

Priest and hero, born on Flag Day

Have some inspiration with our coffee or tea or beer:

One of the most highly decorated chaplains of World War II, Father Elmer W. Heindl used to joke that his decorations were simply due to him being in the wrong place at the right time.  Born on June 14, 1910 in Rochester, New York, the oldest of six children, Heindl decided at an early age that he was meant to be a priest and was ordained on June 6, 1936.  He said that being born on Flag Day indicated to him that during his life he would do something to honor the Stars and Stripes.

In March of 1942 he joined the Army as a chaplain.  Assigned to the 2nd Battalion of th 148th infantry attached to the 37th Division, he served on Guadalcanal, New Georgia and in the Philippines.  He quickly gained a reputation for utter fearlessness under fire, giving the last Rites, tending the wounded and rescuing wounded under fire.    In regard to the Last Rites, Father Heindl noted that he did not have time to check dog tags to see if a dying soldier was a Catholic.  “Every situation was an instant decision.  You didn’t have time to check his dog tag to see whether he was Catholic or not. I’d say, in Latin, ‘If you’re able and willing to receive this sacrament, I give it to you.’ And then leave it up to the Lord.”

Put the coffee etc. aside now and keep reading.  You won’t stop until the end.

Bishop Bransfield was exonerated unusually

Bishop Michael Bransfield of West Virginia has denied accusation of abuse of a high school boy in Pennsylvania in the 1970s, when he was a young priest teaching at a Catholic high school, saying he was cleared after a “full investigation” by Philadelphia archdiocesan authorities.

But the investigation, in 2008, was short-circuited by the then archbishop, Cardinal Justin Rigali, the Phildelphia Inquirer reports:

In a break from practice, the accusation against Bransfield bypassed the archdiocese’s civilian review board, according to a source briefed on the case but not authorized to publicly discuss it. The board was formed to conduct independent examinations of abuse claims and assesses priests’ suitablility for ministry.

Instead, Rigali acted after reviewing the reports of an investigator who interviewed Bransfield, his accuser and others.

After this four-month process, he pronounced Bransfield not guilty of the accusation.

And though the archdiocese routinely publicly identifies and suspends priests as it reviews allegations against them, four years passed before the complaint against Bransfield came to light, and then only in passing at the landmark clergy-sex abuse trial [just completed in Philadelphia].

The Philadelphia archdiocese has reopened the case, reporting it to local authorities, who will be investigating the matter further, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said, adding that it was “unlikely” her office would charge Bransfield over the allegations.

 

West Virginia bishop accused

Bishop Bransfield of West Virginia, reputed adversary of peremptorily ousted Jesuit president of Wheeling Jesuit University, is on a clerical-abuse hotseat:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Authorities have re-opened a 2007 fondling complaint against a priest who taught at a suburban Philadelphia high school and is now the Roman Catholic bishop of West Virginia.The complaint stems from Bishop Michael Bransfield’s days at Lansdale Catholic High School in the 1970s. The Philadelphia Archdiocese said it did not find the complaint credible at the time, and passed it on to Montgomery County authorities. But the archdiocese said last week that the complaint has been reopened.

The ousted Jesuit, Rev. Julio Giulietti, was fired after two years on the job after he and the bishop had disagreement about the fate of property that Giulietti wanted for expansion of WJU and the bishop wanted for Wheeling (Catholic) Hospital.  Giulietti has since headed Jesuit operations in Viet Nam, with health care a focus.

Hold your horses on that Pius X Society no

It’s not as simple, apparently.  Also apparently, Pope B-16 has been close to this one, and some Vatican hard-liners, relatively speaking, have been removed from the picture.

Those who think that this is the endpoint, that those in charge of the Fraternity have definitively given up on the idea of putting an end to the injustices that burden them, and of fulling restoring the Tradition of the Church to Rome, risk being disappointed in the days and weeks ahead

via RORATE CÆLI: Op-Ed (English – français) The basis for the future relations of the SSPX with Rome La base des prochaines relations de la FSSPX avec Rome.

Very interesting.

Pius X Society to Vatican: No, thanks

Looks like Pius X Society declines:

(José Manuel Vidal).- There will be no return to Rome. The Superior of the Lefebvrians for Spain and Portugal, [Fr.] Juan María Montagut, will inform the faithful, after the 11 AM Mass, that the hierarchy of the SSPX, assembled in Écône, has decided to say \”no\” to the Vatican.The followers of [Abp.] Marcel Lefebvre do not return to the Roman fold. Mainly because they are not willing to accept the Second Vatican Council in all its farthermost points.

via RORATE CÆLI: For the record: With a grain of salt.

Cat has tongue of monsignor

Bishop Edward Braxton has suspended a priest for not following the missal when saying mass. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch asked for comment, but

A spokesman for the diocese, Monsignor John Myler, did not respond to a request for an interview.

That’s a shame, passing up a teachable moment, as they say in school-ville. He represents the holy church but cat has his tongue when he’s given the chance to explain what’s going on? Lack of apostolic spirit there, I’d say.

From Thames to Tiber for six Episcopals

Ordained Roman by bp of Ft. Worth:

Under a huge dome with images of winged angels, six former Fort Worth-area Episcopal clergymen — including a father and son — lay facedown at a marble altar Saturday and were ordained as priests in the Roman Catholic Church.

In what officials called a historic moment, Fort Worth Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann and other white-robed priests in the diocese laid hands on the priests at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Keller to welcome them.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/06/30/4071150/6-former-episcopal-clergymen-are.html#storylink=cpy

The first of the new ordinariate. Their wives took part in the service. Standing ovation from 1,000 in attendance. “Catholics now with an Anglican heritage,” says one of the newly ordained, whose son was ordained too.

“The six are among 35 Episcopal priests to be ordained this summer,” said a Roman Catholic monsignor, formerly Episcopal. Sixty are to be ordained by year’s end, An ordinariate is like a diocese as to jurisdiction but territorially not: This one “stretches from Newfoundland to Hawaii and from the Rio Grande to the Arctic Circle,” said the monsignor, who heads it.

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Personal note: I dote on the Book of Common Prayer, take mine to mass for reference to the Psalms etc., though frankly the Ronald Knox translation serves best for the New Testament, in my opinion.