Oldest image of St Paul

Vatican archeologists have discovered what they believe is the oldest image of St. Paul known to date. They found it in the catacombs of St Thecla, which are near the basilica of St. Paul in Rome.

More details here

Two American journalists sentenced

Please pray for their release. They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea, for illegal entry. Laura Ling and Euna Lee are based in San Francisco and were investigating the plight of women and children trying to flee the country.


The sentence cannot be appealed. Conditions in North Korean labor camps are said to be harsh and life-threatening. Malnutrition, beatings and other rights abuses are rampant according to human rights groups.

Ms. Ling suffers from an ulcer and needs medication. Ms. Lee has a four-year-old daughter at home in California.

Full story here

Sin is an obstacle to the spiritual life

Well, that should seem obvious, shouldn't it? If we lived in a sane world, it would be. But we don't live in a sane world.
I've been thinking about this because of what happened last week in Miami with Fr Alberto Cutie. Unless you've been on a fishing trip with no outside communication, you know that this priest who had been photographed frolicking on the beach with his girlfriend left the Catholic Church and joined the Episcopal Church. Last Sunday--the feast of Pentecost--he gave his first sermon in the Episcopal Church. According to one news report he said something to the effect that the Church is all about forgiveness. I guess he forgot that repentance and conversion are supposed to come before forgiveness. Otherwise it's what Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace."

If we lived in a sane world, Cutie would be off in a monastery somewhere doing penance after the revelation of his 2-year affair with this woman. Instead, he got himself a pulpit and a church full of supporters who applauded him. He could have asked to be laicized in order to be married. The Church allows for these cases. Instead, he renounced his Catholic faith. There is something wrong with this picture!

I'm not blogging about this to criticize him, but because scandals like this can disturb the faithful people who live their baptism by striving to avoid sin and practice virtue. They do this even when it costs them a lot in terms of sacrifice and self-denial. Then they see a priest do what Cutie did, and they can be tempted to think "what's the point?" of trying to live a Christian life.

These scandals can make us go back to Christian Life 101: avoid sin. Jesus started his ministry by preaching to people that they give up sin and be converted. Nothing keeps us from God except sin. We can fool ourselves that we can lead spiritual lives and keep up some habit of sin that we like. Today, with relativism all around us, it's easy to find a justification for anything. But that doesn't change the reality that sin keeps us from God. To grow in the spiritual life, we need to give up deliberate sin. It's a struggle and it doesn't happen all at once. As long as we never give up and live in a continual conversion, we're on our way to God.

St Thomas on scandal

Recent events like the sad and strange case of Fr Albert Cutie in Miami have gotten me thinking about how to handle scandals in the Church. As Jesus said, it's inevitable that they will occur. But they needn't disturb our faith.

I looked up what St Thomas had to say about it. He treats the topic of scandal as a vice opposed to the virtue of charity. Scandal means to put a stumbling block in the way of another person (understood as a spiritual block). The word comes from the Greek word "skandalon" which literally means stumbling block. It's opposed to charity because the virtue of charity enables us to help our neighbors, not trip them up.

In question 43 of the part of the Summa on the virtues, St Thomas asks the question if holy persons are scandalized -- that is, if a holy person sees or knows about the sins of others, does that trip them up? Thomas says no, because a person who is firmly anchored in virtue looks to God alone. He emphasizes that besides active scandal (that is, actually giving scandal), there can be a passive scandal. That means to "take" the scandal, so to speak, to actually be scandalized in the sense of letting it upset us or disturb our faith. If we look to God alone, the sins of others won't shake our faith because our trust is in God, not fallible human beings. All of us can sin. Just as I know my own weaknesses, it shouldn't disturb me that others have weaknesses too. Here are Thomas' own words (from the public domain version of the Summa):

"Passive scandal implies that the mind of the person who takes scandal is unsettled in its adherence to good. Now no man can be unsettled, who adheres firmly to something immovable. The elders, i.e. the perfect, adhere to God alone, Whose goodness is unchangeable, for though they adhere to their superiors, they do so only in so far as these adhere to Christ, according to 1 Corinthians 4:16: 'Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ.' Wherefore, however much others may appear to them to conduct themselves ill in word or deed, they themselves do not stray from their righteousness, according to Psalm 124:1: 'They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever that dwelleth in Jerusalem.' Therefore scandal is not found in those who adhere to God perfectly by love, according to Psalm 118:165: 'Much peace have they that love Thy law, and to them there is no stumbling-block [scandalum].' "

Fr Alberto Cutie some thoughts

Bishop Favolora's statement in the post below this one is a heartfelt expression of the grief that a good pastor feels upon losing a member of his flock. At the end he comments on the parable of the prodigal son, in the hope that Fr Cutie will return to the Catholic Church.

When I heard this news, I thought of something from the rules of St Ignatius about making discernments. A few years ago Fr Timothy Gallagher, OMV, gave an excellent workshop about St Ignatius and discernment. He said that if we were to forget everything about it except one thing, this is the one thing to remember:
Never make an important decision, especially a life-changing, vocational decision, when you are in a time of darkness and confusion. The decision will very likely be wrong-headed. Ignatius always stressed that the Holy Spirit speaks in calmness and peace.

We can pray for Fr Cutie and ask God to give him the courage and strength to come back to the Catholic Church. As Bishop Favolora says, Cutie's decision to renounce his Catholic faith is certainly a bad one, and for a priest in particular, it carries with it grave scandal and is very serious. While this is not to judge Fr Cutie's soul, since only God can do that, his external actions objectively give scandal. It seems likely that since his 2-year relationship with a woman was suddenly made public, he's probably not in the best emotional state of his life. To make a decision about changing one's church at such a time is exactly what St Ignatius was talking about. It's too bad that Fr Cutie took this action without first going away for a time of retreat, reflection and prayer.

He's going to be preaching in the Episcopal Church next Sunday. Since it's been revealed that Fr Cutie has been carrying on an affair for the past two years, to me it seems incongruous that he will now be preaching, as if he did nothing wrong.
I'm not writing this as a judgment on his state of soul, for that is not up to me. But Jesus also said, "By their fruits you will know them." I take that to mean we ought not to let ourselves be discouraged from leading a good life by the bad example of other people. The letter to the Hebrews says "Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus." If we do that, we'll never be scandalized.

Bishop Favolora's statement about Fr Alberto Cutie

Here is the text of what the Catholic bishop of Miami, Bishop Favolora, said upon hearing the news that Fr Cutiee has formally renounced his Catholic faith and entered the Episcopalian communion:

I am genuinely disappointed by the announcement made earlier this afternoon by Father Alberto Cutié that he is joining the Episcopal Church.

According to our canon law, with this very act Father Cutié is separating himself from the communion of the Roman Catholic Church (c. 1364, §1) by professing erroneous faith and morals, and refusing submission to the Holy Father (canon 751). He also is irregular for the exercise of sacred orders as a priest (canons 1041 and 1044, §1) and no longer has the faculties of the Archdiocese of Miami to celebrate the sacraments; nor may he preach or teach on Catholic faith and morals (cannon 1336, §1). His actions could lead to his dismissal from the clerical state.

This means that Father Cutié is removing himself from full communion with the Catholic Church and thereby forfeiting his rights as a cleric. Roman Catholics should not request the sacraments from Father Cuité. Any sacramental actions he attempts to perform would be illicit. Any Mass he says would be valid but illicit, meaning it does not meet a Catholic’s obligation. Father Cutié cannot validly officiate at marriages of Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Miami or anywhere.

Father Cutié is still bound by his promise to live a celibate life, which he freely embraced at ordination. Only the Holy Father can release him from that obligation.

To the Catholic faithful of Saint Francis de Sales Parish, Radio Paz and the entire Archdiocese of Miami, I again say that Father Cutié’s actions cannot be justified, despite his good works as a priest (statement of May 5, 2009). This is all the more true in light of today’s announcement. Father Cutié may have abandoned the Catholic Church; he may have abandoned you. But I tell you that the Catholic Church will never abandon you; the Archdiocese of Miami is here for you.

Father Cutié’s actions have caused grave scandal within the Catholic Church, harmed the Archdiocese of Miami − especially our priests – and led to division within the ecumenical community and the community at large. Today’s announcement only deepens those wounds.

When Father Cutié met with me on May 5th, he requested and I granted a leave of absence from the exercise of the priesthood. Because of this, he could no longer be the administrator of St Francis de Sales Parish or the General Director of Radio Paz. For the good of the Church and to avoid the media frenzy, I chose not to impose publicly an ecclesiastical penalty, although his admitted actions clearly warranted it. Since that meeting, I have not heard from Father Cutié nor has he requested to meet with me. He has never told me that he was considering joining the Episcopal Church.

I must also express my sincere disappointment with how Bishop Leo Frade of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida has handled this situation. Bishop Frade has never spoken to me about his position on this delicate matter or what actions he was contemplating. I have only heard from him through the local media. This truly is a serious setback for ecumenical relations and cooperation between us. The Archdiocese of Miami has never made a public display when for doctrinal reasons Episcopal priests have joined the Catholic Church and sought ordination. In fact, to do so would violate the principles of the Catholic Church governing ecumenical relations. I regret that Bishop Frade has not afforded me or the Catholic community the same courtesy and respect.

In my nearly 50 years as a priest, I have often preached on Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son – which really should be called the parable of the Forgiving Father (Luke 15, 11-32). Perhaps the story told by the Lord so long ago is applicable to our discussions this afternoon.

A father had two sons. One of them took his inheritance early and left home, spending his money wantonly. The father waited patiently for the return of his prodigal son, who after he had seen the error of his ways, repented and returned home. Upon his return, the father lovingly embraced him and called him his son. I pray that Father Cutié will “come to his senses” (Luke 15, 17) and return home. The Catholic Church seeks the conversion and salvation of sinners, not their condemnation. The same is my attitude toward Father Cutié.

We must not forget, however, that there were two sons in the Lord’s story. The other son, who never left home, was angry that his erring brother was welcomed home by the father. To all faithful Catholics, I say what the father said to this second son: “You are with me always and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice. This brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost, and is found” (Luke 15, 31-32).

In this beautiful parable Jesus teaches us that God is a loving and forgiving Father. Each of us has experienced that love, each of us needs that forgiveness; for we are all sinners. If our brother comes home, let us celebrate with the Father.

In conclusion, I commend and salute the priests of the Archdiocese of Miami and all priests who faithfully live and fulfill their promise of celibacy. By their fidelity to their promise they reflect more clearly to the world the Christ whose total gift of himself to the Father was pure and chaste love for his brothers and sisters. In our times so pre-occupied with sex, the gift of celibacy is all the more a sign of the Kingdom of Heaven where, as scripture says, there will be “no marrying or giving in marriage” (Matthew 22, 30). I encourage all Catholics to pray for and support our dedicated priests.

Great review of one of our new books

Check this out for a great review of our new children's book, Beginnings, about the treasure of each human life.

About the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano

In this article George Weigel has some good information about the authoritativeness of articles that appear in L'Osservatore Romano. The gist of it is that basically, the articles and editorials in the Vatican newspaper have no special authority, but they just reflect the opinions and insights of the various writers.
However, he mentioned something that I didn't know. When an editorial is followed by three dots, that's a sign that the editorial in question came from someone of high rank in the Vatican. That doesn't make it an official church teaching, of course, but could reflect the thinking of Vatican "higher-ups".