Q. When did confession to a priest start?

A. Confession is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ Himself in John 20:

22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven…

From the early writings of the Church fathers below you can see that the sacrament of confession has always been a practice of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.In the early Church confession was not done in private to the priest but to the whole gathered Community, in the presence of the priest. Private confession was instituted later to avoid the shame associated with public confession.

The Didache “Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure” (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).

Irenaeus

“[The Gnostic disciples of Marcus] have deluded many women. . . . Their consciences have been branded as with a hot iron. Some of these women make a public confession, but others are ashamed to do this, and in silence, as if withdrawing from themselves the hope of the life of God, they either apostatize entirely or hesitate between the two courses” (Against Heresies 1:22 [A.D. 189]).

Tertullian

“[Regarding confession, some] flee from this work as being an exposure of themselves, or they put it off from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty than of salvation, like those who contract a disease in the more shameful parts of the body and shun making themselves known to the physicians; and thus they perish along with their own bashfulness” (Repentance 10:1 [A.D. 203]).

Hippolytus

“(At the ordination of a bishop) God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Pour forth now that power which comes from you, ….. to offer to you the gifts of your holy Church, and by the Spirit of the high priesthood to have the authority to forgive sins, in accord with your command” (Apostolic Tradition 3 [A.D. 215]).

Origen

“[A final method of forgiveness of sins], albeit hard and laborious [is] the remission of sins through penance, when the sinner . . . does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who say, ‘I said, “To the Lord I will accuse myself of my iniquity”’” (Homilies on Leviticus 2:4 [A.D. 248]).

Cyprian of Carthage

“The apostle [Paul] likewise bears witness and says: ‘ . . . Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord’ [1 Cor. 11:27]. But [the impenitent] spurn and despise all these warnings; before their sins are expiated, before they have made a confession of their crime, before their conscience has been purged in the ceremony and at the hand of the priest . . . they do violence to [the Lord’s] body and blood, and with their hands and mouth they sin against the Lord more than when they denied him” (The Lapsed 15:1–3 (A.D. 251]).

“Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who . . . confess their sins to the priests of God in a straightforward manner and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience. . . . I beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin while he is still in this world, while his confession is still admissible, while the satisfaction and remission made through the priests are still pleasing before the Lord” (ibid., 28).

Aphraahat the Persian Sage

“You [priests], then, who are disciples of our illustrious physician [Christ], you ought not deny a curative to those in need of healing. And if anyone uncovers his wound before you, give him the remedy of repentance. And he that is ashamed to make known his weakness, encourage him so that he will not hide it from you. And when he has revealed it to you, do not make it public… (Treatises 7:3 [A.D. 340]).

St. Athanasius (d. 373): “As the man whom the priest baptizes is enlightened by the grace of the Holy Ghost, so does he who in penance confesses his sins, receive through the priest forgiveness in virtue of the grace of Christ” (Frag. contra Novat. in P. G., XXVI, 1315).

Basil the Great

“It is necessary to confess our sins to those to whom the dispensation of God’s mysteries is entrusted. Those doing penance of old are found to have done it before the saints. It is written in the Gospel that they confessed their sins to John the Baptist [Matt. 3:6], but in Acts [19:18] they confessed to the apostles” (Rules Briefly Treated 288 [A.D. 374]).

John Chrysostom

“it were manifest folly to condemn so great a power without which we can neither obtain heaven nor come to the fulfillment of the promises. . . . Not only when they (the priests) regenerate us (baptism), but also after our new birth, they can forgive us our sins” (De sacred., III, 5 sq.).

“Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven? ‘Whose sins you shall forgive,’ he says, ‘they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.’ What greater power is there than this? The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men [Matt. 10:40; John 20:21–23]. They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven” (The Priesthood 3:5 [A.D. 387]).

Jerome

“If the serpent, the devil, bites someone secretly, he infects that person with the venom of sin. And if the one who has been bitten keeps silence and does not do penance, and does not want to confess his wound . . . then his brother and his master, who have the word [of absolution] that will cure him, cannot very well assist him” (Commentary on Ecclesiastes 10:11 [A.D. 388]).

Ambrose

Rebukes the Novatianists who “professed to show reverence for the Lord by reserving to Him alone the power of forgiving sins. Greater wrong could not be done than what they do in seeking to rescind His commands and fling back the office He bestowed. . . . The Church obeys Him in both respects, by binding sin and by loosing it; for the Lord willed that for both the power should be equal” (De poenit., I, ii,6).

“It seemed impossible that sins should be forgiven through penance; Christ granted this (power) to the Apostles and from the Apostles it has been transmitted to the office of priests” (op. cit., II, ii, 12).

“God makes no distinction; He promised mercy to all and to His priests He granted the authority to pardon without any exception” (op. cit., I, iii, 10).

“This (forgiving sins), you say, only God can do. Quite true: but what He does through His priests is the doing of His own power” (Ep. I ad Sympron, 6 in P.L., XIII, 1057)

Augustine

“Let us not listen to those who deny that the Church of God has power to forgive all sins” (De agon. Christ., iii).

“When you shall have been baptized, keep to a good life in the commandments of God so that you may preserve your baptism to the very end. I do not tell you that you will live here without sin, but they are venial sins which this life is never without. Baptism was instituted for all sins. For light sins, without which we cannot live, prayer was instituted. . . . But do not commit those sins on account of which you would have to be separated from the body of Christ. Perish the thought! For those whom you see doing penance have committed crimes, either adultery or some other enormities. That is why they are doing penance. If their sins were light, daily prayer would suffice to blot them out. . . . In the Church, therefore, there are three ways in which sins are forgiven: in baptisms, in prayer, and in the greater humility of penance” (Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed 7:15, 8:16 [A.D. 395]).

St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 447):

“Men filled with the spirit of God (i.e. priests) forgive sins in two ways, either by admitting to baptism those who are worthy or by pardoning the penitent children of the Church” (In Joan., 1, 12 in P.G., LXXIV, 722).

Penances were given by the priest after confession and is used synonomously for confession

I think that many in the Catholic World know about the martyrdom of Fr. Ragheed and Subdeacons Ghassan, Wahid, and Basman. Here are a few pictures of them. Some of the pictures are from a memorial or their funeral. I can’t read Arabic so I don’t know for sure:

It would appear that Subdeacon Basman is at Fr. Ragheed’s left (our right.)

Holy Martyrs Ragheed, Ghassan, Wahid, and Basman, pray for us!

My grandfather passed away last Tuesday. Please join me in prayers for the peaceful repose of his soul and the comfort of my family.

Joseph A. , 91, of Erie, passed away July 1, 2008 at 1:40 p.m.

Born June 8, 1917 he was the son of Eli and Susan. He married Judith Dion December 26, 1945 in Manitoba, Canada.

Joe retired in 1975 as a lineman from Consumers Energy. He served our country proudly in the United States Army during WWII. He was a member of the Erie VFW Post 3925, Erie Knights of Columbus and the Luna Pier Senior Citizens.

Joe is survived by his wife, Judith, of 62 years; 2 daughters; 7 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a daughter; 3 brothers Andrew, Enos and Francis; and 4 sisters Olive Turay, Mary Etue, Hazel Heidman and Norma.

The Rosary will be said at 7:00 p.m. Mass of Christian burial will be Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church where he will lie instate after 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow withh the local VFW Post performing military honors.

Q. After the recent church scandals, the priests should stay away from our children. Multi-generational epidemics of sanctioned and church protected pedophilia proves religion and children should not mix. The church should stay out of our bedrooms and work on correcting their own dysfunctional sexual urges. How can anyone allow children to go to confession with a priest?

A. I too am outraged by the abuse of authority exercised by our disordered priests who succumbed to EVIL. From what I have heard, these priests may have used the confessional as an opportunity to indulge their disordered lusts. Others may have used the confessions to pinpoint who might be susceptible to their overtures. Others simply abused trust. Sacrilege! Abominable! I really can’t think of words to express my indignation at the desecration of this beautiful sacrament instituted by Christ. And the spiritual and moral mutilation visited upon these trusting young people and their families.

However, we must remember that by far the majority of priests have been perfectly honorable, noble, and chaste. I have to admit that I am surprised by the prejudice of your comment. We would never lump all black people together and call them all criminal because some are, so that black people and “children should not mix.” Or lumping all Germans into the category of genocidal maniacs because Hitler and his people tried to exterminate the Jews sixty years ago, so therefore all Germans should be forbidden to have any access to Jewish people. This response to the priest scandal is not fair minded. Children have been sexually molested by their teachers. Should we ban all adults from teaching school? Of course this is absurd. Why does it only seem good and right to discriminate against priests?

The answer is because this is the influence of Our Enemy. We must remember that this life is all about where each soul will spend eternity. Our Enemy can kill the lives of many more souls by aiming his big guns at bishops and priests rather than your average men on the street. These priests will have to answer to God for their crimes but please, remember they may very well have undergone much more temptation focused upon them by the Enemy. Still they should have been prepared for these attacks and resisted unto death….but many failed. What we don’t know is how many priests have persevered  to the end against these exact same temptations.

One correction is needed here. This was not an epidemic of pedophilia. In nearly every case these victims were adolescent boys. So, it was actually an epidemic of homosexual abuse of boys. But the press wants very much to attack the church but avoid putting homosexuality in a bad light. It found a way to do this. Nearly every report characterized the priest scandal as a pedophile problem when in reality it is a homosexual problem. And still, six years later, when it is clear that the majority of victims were boys, the homosexual roots of the abuse are being covered up in the media. And even though this is true, I still do not believe that all homosexuals molest boys.

And finally, we also need to remember that the Christian religion is all about love and forgiveness. Otherwise, we suffer with the bitterness of unforgiveness. We also need to remember that Our Father loves these priests just as much as anyone else. And just like a any good father He will discipline these men through the civil government and/or Purgatory. All with the intention of bringing them to repentance so that they may save their souls and enter the embrace of their loving Heavenly Father.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, 1901-1925

SOURCE: http://saints.sqpn.com/saintp3x.htm

Fr. J in Benedict the Re-Gatherer put it best and most succinctly… Our Holy Father is making great efforts to reach out and gather the faithful. In these troubled times, now more than ever, we need it.

B16 understands and recognizes what is at stake worldwide. Islam is growing because of its continued value of fertility, and many non-Catholic baptized Christians are adrift in a sea of unknowing. What the future holds for the places they called home is uncertain. Re-gathering the ranks, and strengthening the brethren is no small task.

Can you think of anyone else on the world seen remotely close to being up for this task? Any other Church that could go toe-to-toe with Islam, secularism, the sexual revolution, the post-modern era and actually stand a chance? Is any other cohesive expression and manifestation of Christianity actually growing?

See also: Re-union of Chaldean Catholics and The Assyrian Catholic Apostolic Diocese Completed and Announced!

Institute of the Good Shepherd

TAC-Related Announcement post-Lambeth?

The Decency Gap / Eve Reinhardt Censored Version

Planned Parenthood as we can plainly see is spreading out all across the globe to promote infanticide through abortion. A few weeks ago Eve Reinhardt went to Peru and pretended to be an unbiased filmmaker wanting to interview pro-life leaders, bishops and priests. But she was unmasked by Carlos Polo.

The film of Carlos Polo confronting her deception was posted on youtube.com. Word was that Youtube removed it but it can still be found on Youtube.com. The Decency Gap website is now just a skeleton.

Carlos Polo is a real pro-life hero…HE DID NOT BACK DOWN!

GO! CARLOS!

Q. Why do Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest instead of praying straight to God?

A. In obedience to Christ.

John 20:19-23 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

After His resurrection, Jesus, appeared to His disciples on Easter Sunday evening. He conferred the power to forgive sins by breathing on them. This corresponds to God breathing life into Adam. And so, Jesus breathes life giving power to forgive sins into his disciples. Note that this is before Pentecost and the general bestowal of the Holy Spirit. This is a special and unique pouring out of the Holy Spirit for the disciples, the first priests and bishops of the Christian Church.

And the purpose of this special dispensation of the Holy Spirit is to empower the apostles with the authority to forgive or not forgive sins in the name of Christ. This specific action cannot mean some sort of general power such as that by the preaching of the Gospel sins are forgiven or not depending upon the hearer. Jesus says, “If you forgive….if you do not forgive…” It would be impossible for the disciples to obey Jesus without audibly hearing the confessions of men and women, boys and girls.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Now this verse can be interpreted in a Protestant way to mean salvation by the preaching of the Gospel. However, we see this verse as further proof for the sacrament of reconciliation/confession. Also, James points out

James 5:13-16 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

The Greek word for elders is presbuterous. This is the Greek etymological root from which we get our English word for priest. So, James is saying to call the priests to pray for healing both physical and spiritual. Why would James specify the calling of the elders/priests for those who are sick if they had no more authority than the average Christian?

Confession and the abuse scandal.

The Sivas Massacre - on this day, 15 years ago, in Sivas Turkey the following people were burned to death in a hotel:

• Asuman Sivri (*1977-Ankara)
• Yasemin Sivri (*1974-Ankara)
• Hasret Gültekin (*1971-Sivas)
• Yeşim Özkan (*1973-Ankara)
• Huriye Özkan (*1971-Ankara)
• Belkis Çakir (*1975-Ankara)
• Muammer Çiçek (*1967-Tokat)
• İnci Türk (*1971-Balikesir)
• Gülsün Karababa (*1971-Sivas)
• Handan Metin (*1973-Sivas)
• Sait Metin (*1970-Sivas)
• Gülender Akça (*1968-Sivas)
• Carina Cuanna(*1971-Holland)
• Mehmet Atay (*1968-Sivas)
• Murat Gündüz (*1971-Ankara)
• Özlem Şahin (*1976-Ankara)
• Nurcan Şahin (*1975-Ankara)
• Ahmet Özyurt (*1972-Ankara)
• Serkan Doğan (*1974-Ankara)
• Serpil Çanik (*1974-Ankara)
• Sehergül Ateş (*1963-Tunceli)
• Uğur Kaynar (*1956-Sivas)
• Asaf Koçak (*1957-Yozgat)
• Erdal Ayranci (*1958-Niğde)
• Behçet Aysan (*1949-Ankara)
• Metin Altiok (*1941-Izmir)
• Asim Bezirci (*1927-Erzincan)
• Nesimi Çimen (*1931-Adana)
• Muhibe Akarsu (*1958-Sivas)
• Muhlis Akarsu (*1948-Sivas)
• Edibe Sulari (*1952-Erzincan)
• Menekşe Kaya (*1977-Ankara)
• Koray Kaya (*1981-Ankara)

Why?  Well among their number was the translator of Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses…

Moderate Turkey, eh?

It was a joy to see that the Transalpine Redemptorists (that I have written about before) have announced today via their blog that they petitioned the Holy See for a lifting of sanctions against them, and have recieved an affirmative answer which now puts them in the position of having full and complete canonical relations and unimpaired communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church.

What a very happy day!

Father Michael Mary, C.SS.R. writes:

Canonical Good Standing

(Pictured with Father Mitch Pacwa, SJ after he lead a retreat for them.)

http://www.fathersofmercy.com/

The Fathers of Mercy is a Roman Catholic Congregation of Priests. Our primary Apostolate is to preach parish missions and retreats, with an emphasis on the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Confession. We are interested in solid Catholic men who are interested in a priestly and religious vocation.

Contact info:

Mission Director
Fathers of Mercy
806 Shaker Museum Rd.
Auburn, KY 42206
Phone: (270) 542-4146 x 1
Email: Mission Director

Of all items stolen from the Archbishop’s home while he was in Rome.

There must be a special place in hell for these people.

Hint: The Catholic Church is not the answer to any of them.

1) Contraception is the one sin for which the penalty is national death; a sin for which there is no atonement.

2) The abandonment of the reproductive function is the common feature of all sexual perversions. We actually describe a sexual activity as perverse if it has given up the aim of reproduction and pursues the attainment of pleasure as an aim independent of it.

3) “Contraceptive methods are like putting a premium on vice. They make men and women reckless. Nature is relentless and will have full revenge for any such violation of her laws…If contraceptive methods become the order of the day nothing but moral degradation can be the result. As it is, man has sufficiently degraded woman for his lust, and contraception, no matter how well-meaning the advocates may be, will still further degrade her.”

4) “By accepting contraception, the world is trying …to form a civilized but non-Christian, mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization and save the world from suicide.”

Prior to 1930 all of Christendom condemned the use of contraception as an evil. But, then in 1930 the Anglican Church decreed that the use of contraception was permissible when the life of the mother was in danger. What periodical ridiculed that decision? Hint: It is still published today.

5) “Carried to its logical conclusions, (contraceptives)…would sound the death knell of marriage as a holy institution by establishing degrading practices which would encourage indiscriminate immorality: The suggestion that the use of legalized contraceptives would be ‘careful and restrained’ is preposterous.”

Answers:
1) President Theodore Roosevelt
2) Freud
3) Ghandi
4) T.S. Eliot
5) The Washington Post-”Forgetting Religion” 3/22/1931

Source: The Good News About Sex and Marriage by Christopher West

Like dressing up as deacons… or something.  Nice stoles!

5 bob to Father Dwight Longenecker who writes:

Just when you thought the Anglicans didn’t have any more surprises up their sleeve, here’s today’s news: a Church of England bishop has ordained his wife. You can read all about it here.

That would be Rt. Rev. Nigel McCullough and Rev. Mrs. McCullough in the photograph.

 I wonder if they share clerical shirts.

Soon enough they may share mitres!

Anglicans, eh?

Reminds me of a bumper sticker on my neighbor’s truck: I’m the boss!  My wife said I could be!

5 bob to Overheard in the Sacristy

Now if they could just get +++Al to join them…

The Julian Calendar was invented by the Romans (I think under the reign of Julius Ceasar). It was a calendar that had 365 days a year, except every 4 years was a leap year which had 366 days.

Sounds famililar? It sounds like the calendar we use today, right? Wrong! We use the Gregorian Calendar. We don’t have a leap year every 4 years… well, we kind of do, but we really don’t.

If the year is divisible by 4 it may be a leap year; You see, if the year is divisible by 100, it must also be divisible by 400.

For example, the year 2000 was a leap year. But the year 1900 wasn’t. And neither will the year 2100 be a leap year. (But in the Julian Calendar, years like 1900 and 2100 will be leap years.)

This error was discovered In the 16th Century when they noticed that the Vernal Equinox (1st day of Spring) was 10 days later than it was back in the 4th century (which was when the Council of Nicea was held and determined a date formula for Easter). So Pope Gregory XIII authorised the use of the new calendar (hence the name, Gregorian Calendar). Basically, people went to bed on Thursday October 4th 1582, and woke up the next day on Friday October 15th 1582.

Eventually, other parts of the world would adapt the Gregorian Calendar. But the Orthodox won’t accept this new calendar.

Since the 16th Century, there have been 3 more erroneous leap years in the Julian Caledar (1700, 1800, and 1900). Hence now, the Julian Calendar is 13 days out of whack. That’s why some Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas 13 days later than us. (After the year 2100, they’ll celebrate Christmas 14 days later than us.)

(The Easter date formula has other factors involved. I’m not sure if the Orthodox use the Julian Calendar to determine Easter.)

http://forums.catholic.com/showpost.php?p=3508033&postcount=2

Thanks to Father Mark for letting us know who they were!

90034 - Mykolay Charneckyj, Vescovo, 2 aprile
90656 - Hryhorij Khomysyn, Vescovo, 28 dicembre
90654 - Josafat Kocylovskyj, Vescovo, 17 novembre
92942 - Symeon Lukac, Vescovo, 22 agosto
90036 - Vasyl Velyckovskyj, Vescovo, 30 giugno
92932 - Ivan Slezyuk, Vescovo, 2 dicembre
92937 - Mykyta Budka, Vescovo, 28 settembre
92931 - Hryhorij Lakota, Vescovo, 5 novembre
92946 - Leonid Fedorov, Sacerdote, 7 marzo
92938 - Mykola Konrad, Sacerdote, 26 giugno
92945 - Andrij Iscak, Sacerdote, 26 giugno
92941 - Roman Lysko, Sacerdote, 14 ottobre
92936 - Mykola Cehelskyj, Sacerdote, 25 maggio
92940 - Petro Verhun, Sacerdote, 7 febbraio
92939 - Oleksa Zaryckyj, Sacerdote, 30 ottobre
92934 - Klymentij Septyckyj, Sacerdote, 1 maggio
92933 - Severijan Baranyk, Sacerdote, 28 giugno
92933 - Jakym Senkivskyj, Sacerdote, 28 giugno
90035 - Zynovij Kovalyk, Sacerdote, 30 giugno
92944 - Vitalij Volodymyr Bajrak, Sacerdote, 16 maggio
90037 - Ivan Ziatyk, Sacerdote, 17 maggio
92943 - Tarsykia (Olha) Mackiv, Suora, 18 luglio
90655 - Olympia (Olha) Bidà, Suora, 28 gennaio
92935 - Laurentia (Leukadia) Harasymiv, Suora, 26 agosto
92938 - Volodymyr Pryjma, Laico, 26 giugno

2005: Blessed Andrés Solá Molist
2005: Blessed Antonio Pérez Lários
2005: Blessed Anacleto González Flores
2005: Blessed Clemens August von Galen
2005: Blessed Eurosia Fabris
2005: Blessed Florentina Nicol Goni
2005: Blessed Francisco Castells Brenuy
2005: Blessed José Boher Foix
2005: Blessed José Juan Perot Juanmarti
2005: Blessed Jose Tàpies Sirvant
2005: Blessed Ladislaus Findysz
2005: Blessed Maria Crucified 2005: Blessed Marianne Cope
2005: Blessed María De Los Ángeles Ginard Martí
2005: Blessed Teresa Maria Mastena 2005: Blessed Pascual Araguàs Guàrdia
2005: Blessed Pedro Martret Molet
2005: Blessed Silvestre Arnau Pascuet
2006: Blessed Margarita de Maturana
2006: Blessed Augustine Thevarparampil
2006: Blessed Eustáquio van Lieshout
2006: Blessed Eufrasia of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Eluvathingal
2006: Blessed Luigi Monza
2006: Blessed Luigi Biraghi
2006: Blessed Marie Therese of Saint Joseph
2006: Blessed Mosè Tovini
2006: Blessed Margarita de Maturana
2006: Blessed Maria Teresa of Jesus
2006: Blessed Mariano de la Mata Aparicio
2006: Blessed Maria Grazia Tarallo
2006: Blessed Paul Josef Nardini
2006: Blessed Rita Amada de Jesus
2006: Blessed Sára Salkaházi
2007: Blessed Francesco Spoto 2007: Blessed Luigi Boccardo

One hopes the Pope of Rome can be found Catholic enough!

Over at A Conservative Blog for Peace, an interesting discussion has been in process. Namely, on the recent phenomena of the Orthodox “Western Rite“. The combox discussion can be found here.

The Western Rite Orthodox concept has been around for about 100 years. Not to be confused with the Eastern notion that the west “used to be” Orthodox prior to 1054 (but no longer is) when I speak of WRO, I mean to discuss the movement to create parishes worshipping according to traditional western styles under Eastern Orthodox bishops.

Like Eastern Catholics who are Easterners in communion with the Roman See, the broad idea here was that these folks would be Latins in communion with Orthodoxy. The main reason and focus for this sort of effort