Extraordinary Mass on April 28 at St James Belvidere

 

Only 5 Million “Real” Catholics in the U.S.? | Religion Dispatches

 

lately the behavior of the Vatican and the USCCB seems just plain over the top. First there was the “new translation” of the Roman missal—ugly, wordy, Latinized, inaccurate—a ritual assault on the liturgical renewal at the heart of Vatican II. Then there was the USCCB’s attack on the work of the moderate Catholic feminist theologian, Sister Elizabeth Johnson. Next came the bishops’ “religious freedom” attack on Barack Obama in an election year when the other candidates promise to eviscerate the social safety net. And now the Vatican is going after the sisters. The pollsters had better gear up, because the number of Americans identifying with—and funding—the institutional church is definitely at risk.

Maybe the Vatican’s attack on the LCWR is part of an effort to cut back to a smaller, purer, American church. But as I said to that priest in San Francisco, sixty million seems like a lot of Catholics to dismiss.

Read the entire story, click on the following: Only 5 Million “Real” Catholics in the U.S.? | Religion Dispatches

REPOSTING--- The New St. James Church: Many Questions; Few Answers

The New St. James Church: Many Questions; Few Answers

This artistic rendering is based upon submission to Belvidere Planning department by St. James. The picture was altered to eliminate the tall trees which will not exist after construction.

Changes from October 6, 2011 in Yellow.  November 3, 2011 changes in orange.

Since January 2011 parishioners have been asked to support the campaign for a new church. However since then there have been many changes some of which only a few parishioners are aware. Just to clear things up --here is what you should be aware.

• The capacity of the new Church is now 850
• It is being planned to be located at the old convent/parking lot on Church Street and Caswell Streets. The main entrance doors will be on Caswell. [NOT on the 22 acres West of Belvidere on Town Hall Road]
• The new church will have steps at the front and at all side entrances. The church will be handicapped accessible only for the front. The handicapped ramp will be much less steep than the current ramp however it will be approximately twice as long. And it will require the walker to enter on the school side Church Street side of the church. See drawings at: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-st-james-church-will-be-very-bigyou.html
• A number of neighbors have signed formal protest requests regarding the parish’s zoning request. None of the adjacent neighbors have agreed to sell their property to the parish. Only the property owners on the side of the school parking lot have signed sales contract. See: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-much-does-bird-housecost.html
• Type of roof on the new church: Despite what the application for zoning stated and what Father Geary stated earlier, the roof apparently now is standard shingles—not a metal roof. (Metal roofs have a much longer life) Mr. Linkenheld at 8-23-2011 meeting stated that standard shingles were always planned for the roof.
• The old church will be torn down to make a parking lot. The new church will be five stories tall. There will be four inches (basically zero) set back on the Church Street side of the building. The new church is now seven feet shorter (63 feet at peak relative to ground). The baptistery is now on the parish center side approximately 12.5 feet from parish center.
• The Parish will pay all city expenses for rebuilding the 300 block of Church Street to make diagonal parking alone the new church building. for widening Church Street to accommodate fire trucks. Parking will be in the same parallel style but may have handicapped parking on the church side of street.
• The parish will now have 170 on parish premises parking spots. The rectory will be torn down and converted to parking. The parish will be buying two parcels adjacent to the school playground/parking lot to accomplish this goal--548 Caswell Street and 402 Laurel Court..
• When will Father Geary or Bishop Doran communicate with St. James Parishioners? First communication in bulletin on 8-7-2011; To see this, click on following: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/08/insert-to-parish-bulletin-8-7-2011.htmlFew of the changes (such as those listed above) have been published in the weekly bulletin or any other written source. Father Geary has orally stated many things which “the Bishop will not approve or Diocese demands” but such things have not been written nor has the pastor, the parish finance committee or the parish council disseminated the information in written form to the parish. Other than continuing to solicit funds, parish administration has little desire to communicate with the parish members concerning changes to the new church.

  Is the Church still going to have a basement? NO, IT WILL NOT See 8-7-2011 Insert; click on following: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/08/insert-to-parish-bulletin-8-7-2011.html

  Many heard that the project was running over the $5.5 limit [maybe this is $6,000,000, see insert] and no basement was being planned even though at public meetings an unfinished basement was stated. If there is no basement St. James Parish will have even less storage. The school and organizations are already complaining about storage. Where will the old stain glass and other sacred items be stored?

  QUESTIONS that remain unanswered:
  How much money does the campaign have in the Parish DIAL account? There have been many expenses for the campaign management firm, architect, surveying and legal. The campaign needs $1,000,000 in the DIAL account. How close are we to that requirement? SEE 6-30-2011 accounting, .go to: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/10/st-james-fy-2011-financial-reports.html As of the 6-30-2011 accounting , $633,306 of new church pledges were received , $165,737 of new church building expenses were paid and $387,862 of DIAL deposits were indicated as building deposits. Apparently the remaining $79,707 was used to pay other parish debts or assessments.($633,306 minus $165,737, minus $387,862 equals $79,707)
• The “Bird House”,  534 Caswell, was purchased for $62,737 and the empty lot for $10,000.  These transactions occurred in September 2011. (See:  http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-much-did-st-james-pay-for-two.html).  It is not certain if cash was used for the transaction.
• What happens if the pledge goal of $3,000,000 is not reached? Will any funds be returned to the donors?
• Will the expenses for the campaign and pre-construction be shown in the parish’s June 30, 2011 annual statements to the parishioners?If not, what type of public accounting will parishioners receive and when? To see 6-30-2011 accounting go to: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/10/st-james-fy-2011-financial-reports.html As of the 6-30-2011 accounting , $633,306 of new church pledges were received , $165,737 of new church building expenses were paid and $387,862 of DIAL deposits were indicated as building deposits. Apparently the remaining $79,707 was used to pay other parish debts or assessments.($633,306 minus $165,737, minus $387,862 equals $79,707)
• Will St. James be a good steward of the Earth in the building of the new church?Will modern ecological/energy-savings devises and systems be employed to lessen heating, cooling and lighting bills? Can a church with 50 feet ceilings ever be consider energy efficient? Will the demolition, constructions and operations be earth friendly?
• What is the projected cost of the total project now?Rumor says the church building will cost $6.4million and if there is a basement $7.5 million. And now there is talk that the parish will be buying the houses of the landowners who have signed formal protests. Could that be another $1,000,000?                9-9-2011. A budget limit of $5.5 Million is still in effect, based upon my personal conversation with Father Geary.

  I have been told by Father Geary that he will answer questions when he deems the parish should be told.

Bishop Finn’s history

Earlier this month Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City was in the news because of his controversial handling of a child pornographic material.  (See the article below).  Bishop Finn is of quite conservative background, becoming a bishops while still in his early 50’s. Bishop Finn’s personal history  from Wikipedia beginning in red.

Bishop Finn avoids indictment by entering diversion program

By GLENN E. RICE, JUDY L. THOMAS and MARK MORRIS

The Kansas City Star

Bishop Robert Finn on Tuesday avoided a possible criminal misdemeanor indictment in his handling of a priest facing child pornography charges by agreeing to enter into a diversion program with the Clay County prosecutor.

Authorities have pledged not to prosecute Finn, the leader of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, if he lives up to the terms of a five-year diversion agreement

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/15/3267619/bishop-finn-avoids-indictment.html#ixzz1e1ka31Ng

The agreement announced on Tuesday between Bishop Finn and the prosecuting attorney of neighboring Clay County, Daniel White, leaves the bishop open to prosecution for misdemeanor charges for five years, if he does not continue to meet with the prosecutor and report all episodes. But victims’ advocates criticized the deal as cozy and ineffectual, compared with previous agreements between bishops and prosecutors.

Click on the following for NY TImes story on the subject: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/us/kansas-city-bishop-makes-deal-to-avoid-more-criminal-charges.html

 

 

WIKIPEDIA:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Finn_(bishop)#Bishop

Robert William Finn (born April 2, 1953, St. Louis, Missouri) is the current bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, having succeeded Raymond James Boland on May 24, 2005.

 

[edit] Early life and ordination

Bishop Finn is the second of five children of the late Theodore (Pat) and Betty Schneider Finn. His family includes three sisters—Mrs. Kathleen Fornwalt, Chesterfield, Missouri; Mrs. Patricia Bax, St. Charles, Missouri; and Mrs. Nancy Meyer, Maryland Heights, Missouri—and one brother, Richard Finn, of Keller, Texas. Bishop Finn completed his elementary education at All Souls Catholic School in Overland, Missouri.

Bishop Finn studied for the priesthood at archdiocesan seminaries and in Rome. He is a 1971 graduate of St. Louis Preparatory Seminary North, and received a B.A. in Philosophy at Cardinal Glennon College in 1975. While a seminarian at the North American College in Rome, he earned a Master's in Theology in 1979 from the Angelicum University. He served as a deacon in 1978-79 at St. Charles Borromeo Parish, in the Archdiocese of Westminster. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis at All Souls Parish Church on July 7, 1979.

[edit] Pastoral work

Father Finn's first assignments were as associate pastor of two parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He later was appointed to the faculty of St. Francis Borgia Regional High School in Washington, Missouri, where he taught from 1983 -1989. During those years, he lived in residence and served as part-time pastoral associate in area parishes.

In 1989, the future Bishop Finn received a Master's in Education Administration from St. Louis University and was appointed administrator of St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Missouri. During his tenure at St. Dominic's, he assisted the pastors of area parishes. He served the St. Dominic High School community until 1996.

In 1996, he was appointed Director of Continuing Formation of Priests and, in 1999, while continuing as CFP Director, he was named editor of The St. Louis Review, the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Then-Father Finn was named by Blessed Pope John Paul II a Chaplain to His Holiness in August 2003, upon the recommendation of the then-Archbishop of St. Louis, Justin Francis Rigali (later Cardinal and Archbishop of Philadelphia), who had named him to the posts he was then exercising (the honor was bestowed while he was still serving as CFP Director and editor of the St. Louis Review; Father Finn received the title of Reverend Monsignor). Monsignor Finn served in several other capacities including Chairman of the Archdiocesan Committee on the Diaconate.

[edit] Bishop

Having applied for membership in Opus Dei in January 2004, Monsignor Finn was named two months later as coadjutor bishop (with right of succession) of the diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. Monsignor Finn was consecrated to the episcopate on May 3, 2004, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City. He is also now a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. On May 24, 2005, the Vatican accepted Bishop Boland's request for retirement. As Coadjutor, Bishop Finn automatically succeeded him as sixth bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

In April 2005, Bishop Finn became a member of Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, which is linked to the Catholic personal prelature Opus Dei. In an interview with the Catholic Key, Bishop Finn told of how Opus Dei had helped open his heart to the work of the Holy Spirit. Bishop Finn is not technically a member of the Opus Dei prelature, as he is a diocesan priest, but he is able to receive spiritual formation from the prelature in a similar way as its members do.

Upon his arrival in the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in 2005, Bishop Finn said that vocations to the priesthood and religious life would be seen as a 'super-priority' for his diocese. Under his guidance, the diocese has continued to pour considerable spiritual, human, and financial resources into efforts to encourage vocations. Before Finn's arrival, in the 2003/2004 seminary school year, the diocese reported to have nine seminarians. For 2007/2008, the diocese reported that there were 24 men studying for diocesan priesthood. In March of 2006, Bishop Finn invited to his diocese a small order of Benedictine nuns, now titled 'Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles'. With a contemplative charism of praying and sacrificing for the sanctification of priests, in addition to operating a vestment design company called "House of Ephesus", these nuns have also seen their numbers rise very quickly in recent years.

Bishop Finn currently serves on the Administrative and the Priorities and Plans Committees for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is Chairman of the Bishop's Task Force on the Life and Dignity of the Human Person.

The Board of Directors of the Institute on Religious Life (IRL) at their September annual meeting elected the Most Rev. Robert W. Finn, Bishop of Kansas City–St. Joseph as the organization’s new president. Bishop Finn succeeds the Most Rev. Thomas G. Doran, Bishop of Rockford, who served as IRL president since 1998.

Shawn Ratigan affair

Apology for lack of intervention

In May 2011, Bishop Finn apologized for his failure to act in a more timely manner in the case of a priest accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior with children. Bishop Finn told reporters that he failed to read a letter sent to the diocese a year earlier (May 2010) by a Catholic elementary school principal who was reporting numerous instances of inappropriate behavior. Bishop Finn's admission came five months after the diocese discovered questionable pictures of children on the priest's computer, and a week after the priest was arrested on child pornography charges.^[1][2]

Independent investigation

On June 9, 2011, Bishop Finn appointed former U.S. Attorney Todd P. Graves to conduct an independent investigation of diocesan policies and procedures used to address sexual misconduct by church personnel including the case of Father Shawn Ratigan, a pastor who faces charges of possession of child pornography. Graves was the national co-chairman of the U.S. Justice Department's Child Exploitation Working Group. Finn also announced the appointment of an independent public liaison and ombudsman.^[3]

In the report issued in September 2011, Graves said the key finding of the investigation was "that Diocesan leaders failed to follow their own policies and procedures for responding to reports" of sexual abuse by clergy.^[4]

Indictment

On October 14, 2011 Finn was charged with not telling police about child pornography found on a priest's computer. According to the indictment, the diocese was made aware of the incident in December 16, 2010 but did not report it to the authorities until May 11, 2011 in violation of a new state law making it mandatory for everyone, without distinction, to report any possible abuse of minors, if there is a suspicion.^[5] He pleaded not guilty to one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse.^[6] Finn is among the first bishops to be indicted in the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal in the United States.^[7]

Views

Tridentine Mass

In August 2005, he encouraged use of the traditional Tridentine Mass in his diocese in accord with Indult provisions established during Pope John Paul II's tenure, and welcomed the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest to the diocese to celebrate Mass at St. Patrick's Oratory, the city's oldest church.^[8][9]

Statements on the 2008 election

In the October 24, 2008 issue of the diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Key, Bishop Finn wrote: "Our Catholic moral principles teach that a candidate’s promise of economic prosperity is insufficient to justify their constant support of abortion laws, including partial-birth abortion, and infanticide for born-alive infants. Promotion of the Freedom of Choice Act is a pledge to eliminate every single limit on abortions achieved over the last thirty-five years. The real freedom that is ours in Jesus Christ compels us, not to take life, but to defend it...Join me in calling upon Mary in this month of the rosary. In 1571, in the midst of the Battle of Lepanto, when the future of Christian Europe was in the balance and the odds against them were overwhelming, prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary brought the decisive victory. We ask her now to watch over our country and bring us the victory of life."^[10]

Bishop Doran and the “traditionalist”

The following is taken from WIKIPEDIA:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_G._Doran

Views

Bishop Doran was one of the earliest proponents of the Tridentine Mass. Before Summorum Pontificum, Bishop Doran was singled out in an article in The Wanderer as one of the few U.S. bishops "...who have been generous in the Ecclesia Dei indult application, as requested and emphasized repeatedly by the late Pope John Paul II."^[3][4] The others being Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, Bishop Álvaro Corrada del Rio of Tyler, Texas; and Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska.

In August 2006, Bishop Doran denounced the rate of abortions in the United States, saying, "We shall soon outstrip the Nazis in doing human beings to death."^[5]

In late March 2009, Doran expressed his "dismay and outrage" at the decision of the University of Notre Dame to have President Barack Obama deliver its commencement speech and receive an honorary degree.^[6] He even suggested that Notre Dame change its name to "The Fighting Irish College" or "Northwestern Indiana Humanist University."^[6]

 

Indult Catholic  See:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indult_Catholic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Indult Catholic was a term used to denote a traditionalist Catholic who preferred to attend the older Tridentine form of Mass instead of the ordinary present-day form of the Roman-rite liturgy, the Mass of Paul VI, but who attended only those celebrations that had the explicit approval of the Church authorities. The term was pejorative, typically being used by traditionalists who saw no legal necessity for an indult for the Tridentine rite.

"Indult" is a term in Catholic canon law referring to a permission to do something that would otherwise be unlawful. While more than one indult was issued by the Holy See in respect of the Tridentine Mass, the particular "indult" referred to in this phrase was the general permission granted to the world's bishops by Pope John Paul II in 1984 to authorise celebrations of the Tridentine Mass in their dioceses. In 2007, this permission was superseded with Benedict XVI's promulgation of a papal motu proprio entitled Summorum Pontificum.

The indult

When the Mass of Paul VI replaced the Tridentine Mass in 1969-1970, some priests continued to be granted permission by the Holy See to celebrate the old liturgy. For example, elderly priests were not required to adopt the new form when it was introduced, and in 1971 Pope Paul VI granted the "Agatha Christie indult" that allowed occasional celebrations of the older form in England and Wales.

Under Pope John Paul II, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, in 1984, sent the circular letter Quattuor abhinc annos^[1] to the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences, granting diocesan bishops an "indult" (permission) to authorize, under certain conditions, celebrations of the Tridentine Mass as contained in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal by priests and laypeople who requested it.

Following the canonically illegal consecration of four bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Pope John Paul II issued on 2 July 1988 a motu proprio entitled Ecclesia Dei recommending a "wide and generous application of the directives of the 1984 indult.

Application of the indult

The main condition on which diocesan bishops could grant authorization under the Quattuor abhinc annos indult was: "That it be made publicly clear beyond all ambiguity that such priests and their respective faithful in no way share the positions of those who call in question the legitimacy and doctrinal exactitude of the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970."

Many diocesan bishops decided not to grant certain priests or laypeople permission to use the older form of the Roman Rite. In many cases this was because, in the opinion of the bishops in question, they did not meet this condition. Other refusals of permission were arguably more difficult to explain or justify.

Traditionalist Catholics who, like the supporters of the Society of St. Pius X, questioned the legitimacy and doctrinal exactitude of the revised liturgy, and were thus in a state of separation from the Holy See, claimed that no authorization was required for celebrating Mass in the older form. They decried those who accepted the conditions attached to the Quattuor abhinc annos indult, applying to them the term "Indult Catholics", and frequently did not recognise them as fellow traditionalists.

End of the indult

On 7 July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.^[2] By this document he replaced the conditions laid down in Quattuor abhinc annos and Ecclesia Dei for use of the 1962 Missal,^[3] and decreed that, under conditions indicated in the document, recourse need no longer be had to the bishop of the diocese for permission to use that edition of the Roman Missal, even for public celebrations of Mass.

Summorum Pontificum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  See:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summorum_Pontificum

Summorum Pontificum (English: Of the Supreme Pontiffs) is an Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued "motu proprio" (i.e. on his own initiative). The document specified the rules, for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, for celebrating Mass according to the "Missal promulgated by John XXIII in 1962" (the form known as the Tridentine Mass), and for administering most of the sacraments in the form they had before the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council.

The document,^[1] dated 7 July 2007 and in force since 14 September 2007, was released along with a letter in which Pope Benedict explained his reasons for issuing it.^[2]

The document replaced the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei of 1988, which allowed individual bishops to establish places where Mass could be said using the 1962 Missal. It granted greater freedom to use the Tridentine liturgy in its 1962 form, stating that all priests may freely celebrate Mass with the 1962 Missal privately, without having to ask for permission from anyone. It also provided that pastors (parish priests) and rectors of churches should willingly accept requests from stable groups who adhere to the preceding liturgical tradition ("ubi coetus fidelium traditioni liturgicae antecedenti adhaerentium continenter exsistit" - Article 5) for permission for a qualified priest to celebrate Mass for them using the 1962 Missal, and should "ensure that the welfare of these faithful harmonises with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop".

In his accompanying letter, Pope Benedict explained that his action was aimed at broadly and generously providing for the rituals which nourished the faithful for centuries and at "coming to an interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church" with Traditionalist Catholics in disagreement with the Holy See, such as the members of the Society of St. Pius X. He stated that, while it had first been thought that interest in the Tridentine Mass would disappear with the older generation that had grown up with it, some young persons too have "felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the mystery of the Eucharist particularly suited to them." In view of fears expressed while the document was in preparation, he took pains to emphasize that his decision in no way detracts from the authority of the Second Vatican Council and that, not only for juridical reasons, but also because the requisite "degree of liturgical formation and some knowledge of the Latin language" are not found very often, the Mass of Paul VI remains the "normal" or "ordinary" form of the Roman Rite Eucharistic liturgy.^[3]

St. Mary Oratory, Rockford

Canonical Erection:  St. Mary has been canonically erected into a public Oratory, which means it has been given to the entire care of the Institute, whose Prior General appoints the rector of the Oratory which has received the privilege of all the ecclesiastical records. This provision, graciously taken by Bishop Doran, renders it possible to all the faithful who wish the traditional Latin Rite not only to participate in the celebration of the Holy Mass at St. Mary but, also, to receive all the necessary sacraments by the priests of the Institute in the Traditional Rite. The consolidation of the presence of the Institute in the Rockford Diocese is due to the confidence that Bishop Doran has developed over the years and will foster greatly the positive development of the Latin Mass community at St. Mary Oratory. For the future, we foresee a continuation of the present growth of the Latin Mass Community, and we are sure that many vocations will come to the Institute from the numerous families attending Mass at our church.

Sacred Heart Classical Center in Loves Park . 1840 Winsor Rd.. Grades 6 thru 12. Contact Michael Brunner at RCMJB1@aol.com
or 815-543-1193.

BNNS Radio: Hear the Belvidere City Council Meeting regarding St James Zoning Decision

First of all click on the following and you will obtain the screen shown below:http://www.radiop1.com/mediacenter.aspx?stationid=16

 

Click on the second item as shown below, Belvidere City Council Meeting “Live”-9/6 6:55 PM –9:00PM

 

Embracing the Faith No Matter the Consequences

This is a rather weighty article regarding various priests who left their dioceses to enter churches separate from the Catholic Church.

Rockford Diocese’s Father Michael Oswald is featured with the various correspondences with Bishop Thomas Doran. In March 2009 Father Oswald was excused from his post at St. Patrick’s Church in St. Charles, Illinois and formal actions leading to excommunication was begun. Father Oswald believed in a return of the Latin Mass and a number of other items which he considered the heresies of the post-Vatican II Church or as he refer to it—the  “conciliar church”.

Embracing the Faith No Matter the Consequences

by Thomas A. Droleskey

Click on the following to read this fascinating article:  http://www.christorchaos.com/EmbracingTheFaithNoMattertheConsequences.ht

 

A radio interview with Mr. Oswald:  http://truerestoration.blogspot.com/2009/10/interview-with-fr-michael-oswalt-for.html

 

Below is a letter Mr. Oswald send to the clergy of the diocese.  To read the entire article click on the following:   http://www.cmri.org/02-oswalt-letter-to-rockford-diocese.shtml

Michael Oswald was re-ordinated by The Religious Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen on June 29, 2011