Star of the Sea School in the San Francisco archdiocese has become a kind of war zone between the majority of school parents and Star of the Sea Parish's two priest leaders -- Fr. Joseph Illo, administrator, and Fr. Patrick Driscoll, associate pastor.
The priests began their assignments there last August as part of a plan to establish an oratory, or a kind of fraternity where diocesan priests live in community.
Battle was engaged in November when Illo announced that girl altar servers would be discontinued. Made without known consultation with parents or other archdiocesan priests, the decision generated parental protest, local headlines, and eventually national media coverage.
Illo's actions were also the subject of heated exchanges at an archdiocesan priests council meeting, NCR learned.
Star of the Sea generated more heat in early February when it came to light that Driscoll had distributed to even young students a pamphlet titled "Examination of Conscience and Catholic Doctrine," an extensive listing of potential sins, including adultery, masturbation, fornication, entertaining impure thoughts, and abortion -- without notifying teachers or the principal.
Parents and teachers reportedly retrieved the pamphlets as quickly as they could. Driscoll and Illo later apologized.
Parental ire increased further when Illo dropped the long-standing practice of blessing non-Catholic children who presented themselves during the Communion rite at Mass, and said he wanted to discontinue allowing non-Catholic children from Scripture reading at school Masses.
Both of those decisions have been rescinded until the end of the school year. Illo told NCR he would not be able to respond to inquiries until after the April 10-23 issue of NCR went to press.
In addition, already-trained girl altar servers now will be allowed to continue service at school liturgies, but no new female servers will be recruited.
In apparent response to a letter-writing campaign and other pleas, Auxiliary Bishop William Justice and archdiocesan vicar for clergy Fr. Raymund Reyes agreed to represent the archdiocese and meet with concerned parents and others at a March 25 forum in the school auditorium. Nearly 200 attended. Illo and Driscoll were also present, but did not speak.
Sixteen parents delivered brief statements describing the changes instituted by Illo and the impact on their children. Most of the speakers concluded, "We respectfully ask that Fr. Illo and Fr. Driscoll be removed from Star of the Sea."
Several started to cry as they spoke.
Justice told the audience he would convey the parents' concerns to Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
In addition to the school gathering, a group of parents presented their concerns to the archdiocesan Board of Education Feb. 19.
On March 30, a group of school parents announced the launch of a petition urging Cordileone to "reverse your decision to allow Fr. Illo to ban girls from being altar servers at Star of the Sea School."
The petition charges that the ban "sends our girls the wrong message and is in direct conflict with the Pope's direction to increase women's roles in the church."
A petition supportive of Illo and his leadership is also circulating at the parish and "has a long list" of signers, a parishioner told NCR.
Archbishop backs Illo
During both a Feb. 12 Council of Priests meeting and during an hourlong videotaped session Feb. 24 with the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board, Cordileone defended Illo's right to establish male-only altar servers.
"I had a long talk with Fr. Illo about a few things going on at the parish -- identified where the problems are, and we came up with a plan for moving forward," Cordileone told the Chronicle.
Cordileone then asked to speak "off the record," which the Chronicle declined.
"Let me say this then," he said. "It could have been handled better. The church does allow a pastor to use his discretion with regard to having only boys serving Mass, or boys and girls serving Mass. Apparently a lesson that Fr. Illo learned is that it takes much more sensitivity around this issue [in the San Francisco area] than in other parts of the country.
"But he was exercising a pastoral discretion that the church allows. ... We have discussed that -- and a better way forward. I am hopeful things will be able to be resolved there."
During the Feb. 12 priests' council gathering, several priests voiced concern about the altar girl issue. They noted anger, frustration and confusion surfacing in their own parishes.
According to minutes provided to NCR by a priest who asked not to be named, two appeals were made during the meeting for public statements countering Illo's ban.
According to the minutes, Auxiliary Bishop Robert McElroy called exclusion of altar girls "invidious discrimination" and suggested Cordileone issue a directive of disagreement with Illo's prohibition.
The minutes said that McElroy "mentioned the Pope recently spoke on this very theme and said 'to live by exclusion is a corrupting method of living.' "
The Vatican announced McElroy's appointment as bishop of San Diego March 3; his installation was scheduled for April 15.
Retired Sulpician Fr. Michael Strange, who lives at St. Stephen Parish in San Francisco, told council members that he found aspects of Illo's explanation of the new policy "troublesome." Strange criticized a lack of prior consultation with fellow clergy, and asked the council to pass a recommendation that Illo rescind his decision.
"Regarding calls for a policy to be implemented, the Archbishop does not want to impose a policy that would restrict a pastor from exercising pastoral discretion in situations where the Church allows such discretion," the minutes state.
Cordileone also told the council that a Congregation for Divine Worship instruction had "made clear that a pastor can have altar boys only, and highlighted the connection between altar serving and vocation," according to the minutes.
Carmelite Fr. Michael Greenwell lauded Cordileone's "policy of not micromanaging pastors, as evidenced by giving authority to Fr. Illo, even if he might disagree with the pastor," the minutes said. Greenwell described parental concerns he'd heard about potential perceptions caused by a pastor wanting "only boys in the program" in light of the "priestly pedophile scandals," the minutes also noted.
Dominican Fr. Michael Hurley, pastor of St. Francisco's St. Dominic Parish, questioned if any council members had visited with Illo about the recent issues. The minutes indicate no responses. Hurley criticized "casting aspersions and making wide sweeping generalizations and recommendations prior to actually speaking with him."
Boys-only rationale
Illo has provided rationale for his boys-only stance on altar servers on his blog site, in media interviews, and in a Feb. 11 essay in the archdiocesan newspaper, Catholic San Francisco.
In the Catholic San Francisco commentary, Illo describes the "priest's role in the Mass" as "an act of fatherhood."
He argues, "Once boys begin to realize the sacrificial dimension of the Mass, the desire to become men -- to defend their loved ones with their lives -- awakens within them. Of course, a father, including a priest who shepherds his parish, loves his daughters as well as his sons. Certainly I cherish the girls as much as the boys and the girls at Star of the Sea are being offered opportunities to serve God in ways they find exciting and satisfying."
Illo quotes the 1994 Congregation for Divine Worship letter granting permission for girls to be altar servers: "The Holy See wishes to recall that it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue."
On its website, the Star of the Sea parents group counters, "We were unable to find any data demonstrating a link" between altar service and priestly vocations. "On the contrary, the available data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University, may support the argument that there is no causal link."
Both Illo and members of the parent group concede that the school community and parish community often orbit separately.
According to the Star of the Sea School website, its enrollment of 233 students is 42 percent Catholic and "reflects the many cultures of the Bay Area: 3% African-American, 35% Asian, 38% Caucasian, 2% Latino/Hispanic and 22% multi-ethnic."
Illo told The Catholic World Report in a January online interview, "The school is thriving, but not as a Catholic school. Like Catholic universities who want to be independent of the bishops, many parish schools like to be independent of their pastors. Of its 150 families, about three attend the church."
He continued, "I must admit, the disjunction between the parish church and school and the vehemence of the school's opposition has been surprising to me. In other parishes I've served at, the school loves the parish priest. When I'd go over, they'd run over and want to talk to me, or if, say, I were walking by a basketball court they'd hand me a basketball and want me to play. It's not the case here. The priest is ignored. The school is lacking in Catholic identity."
Pulling no punches
" 'Lacking Catholic identity' and 'My vision is the archbishop's vision' are the two things that we are now repeatedly hearing from Fr. Illo," parent Christy Brooks told NCR.
"The staff has the devotion of our entire community, and Fr. Illo and Fr. Driscoll have criticized them publicly based on inaccurate information and rumors," Brooks added. "This is one of the many things that Fr. Illo apologized for at the Parent Club meeting he attended in February. He acknowledged that two people had told him something about some of the teachers that turned out not to be true. Consistently, he judges the school community without bothering to get to know the people involved."
Parent-speakers at the March 25 forum pulled no punches in sharing their objections to Illo's interactions with the school.
Ruth Callanan, a mother of two preschoolers, said, "Our children are taught about acts of kindness, loving our neighbor and treating each other with respect. How can we have a spiritual leader, a priest, not following the same guidelines? What message does this send to our children?
"Fr. Illo has repeatedly encouraged families that disagree with his views of the church to leave. I beg to differ, I think it's Fr. Illo that needs to leave because he doesn't agree with our community culture and our views," she said.
Many parents mentioned Illo's blog, in which he described the culture of San Francisco as "savagely distorted" and said changes at the school were to effect a "purge." On his blog, Illo later apologized for his choice of words.
Scott Castro, who represented the kindergarten class at the forum, said the blog showed that "Illo has been preparing for a personal crusade for some time."
Castro, who said his family is not Catholic, talked of the pain he felt seeing "non-Catholic children sitting segregated in the pews."
"Is this really what Jesus taught?" he asked. "The answer is a resounding no."
"The particular 'church' envisioned by Fr. Illo is one steeped in what I can only characterize as a rhetoric of division and deep-rooted animus against Catholics and non-Catholics alike who do not adhere to his 'vision' of the church," Castro said.
In addition, parents say Illo had asked their children during confession how frequently their families attend Mass.
"I deeply resent the use of confessional as a polling place," said parent Stella Bialous.
The speeches of parents who spoke at the meeting are posted on the website welovestarsf.com, as is extensive documentation on the controversy and background on the genesis and development of altar girl service.
The Chronicle reported March 26 that after the meeting, Illo "acknowledged that there is a lot of tension and anxiety between himself and the school parents. He said there have been misunderstandings, but now he'll leave it to the archbishop to decide what happens next."
"It was a good forum," Illo told the newspaper. "It's important to hear their perspective."
This isn't the first time that Illo has garnered national headlines. In 2008, Illo told parishioners of St. Joseph Parish in Modesto, Calif., that voting for President Barack Obama was tantamount to voting for abortion. "It is a grave mistake and probably a grave sin," he said at the time.
"If you voted for a pro-abortion candidate on Nov. 4, and you knew what you were doing, you need to go to confession before receiving Communion," he said at Mass.
'Divisive' oratory
Illo and Driscoll were released from the Stockton, Calif., diocese and St. Louis archdiocese, respectively, to staff Star of the Sea and begin the process of establishing an oratory last August.
According to a May 2014 story in Catholic San Francisco, the priests were to be the initial residents of what is called a fraternity, "the first step toward the canonical establishment of an Oratory of St. Philip Neri" at Star of the Sea.
An oratory is a "clerical society of apostolic life of pontifical right, first begun by St. Philip in Rome in 1575," Catholic San Francisco reported. "Its members are secular priests and brothers who live in community without formal vows and carry out pastoral ministry, usually in an urban parish."
The minutes of the Feb. 12 priests' council meeting said that Strange called "the Oratory -- as it exists in our archdiocese -- a divisive force and wonders if there is an implication that the rest of us are not imparting the true Catholic faith." The minutes state that other priests expressed concerns as well.
Illo recently reported on his blog that two laymen have joined the fraternity, and will be known as brothers.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
At San Francisco school, priests stir parental ire
Dan Morris-Young
National Catholic Reporter
April 8, 2015
Star of the Sea School in the San Francisco archdiocese has become a kind of war zone between the majority of school parents and Star of the Sea Parish's two priest leaders -- Fr. Joseph Illo, administrator, and Fr. Patrick Driscoll, associate pastor.
The priests began their assignments there last August as part of a plan to establish an oratory, or a kind of fraternity where diocesan priests live in community.
Battle was engaged in November when Illo announced that girl altar servers would be discontinued. Made without known consultation with parents or other archdiocesan priests, the decision generated parental protest, local headlines, and eventually national media coverage.
Illo's actions were also the subject of heated exchanges at an archdiocesan priests council meeting, NCR learned.
Star of the Sea generated more heat in early February when it came to light that Driscoll had distributed to even young students a pamphlet titled "Examination of Conscience and Catholic Doctrine," an extensive listing of potential sins, including adultery, masturbation, fornication, entertaining impure thoughts, and abortion -- without notifying teachers or the principal.
Parents and teachers reportedly retrieved the pamphlets as quickly as they could. Driscoll and Illo later apologized.
Parental ire increased further when Illo dropped the long-standing practice of blessing non-Catholic children who presented themselves during the Communion rite at Mass, and said he wanted to discontinue allowing non-Catholic children from Scripture reading at school Masses.
Both of those decisions have been rescinded until the end of the school year. Illo told NCR he would not be able to respond to inquiries until after the April 10-23 issue of NCR went to press.
In addition, already-trained girl altar servers now will be allowed to continue service at school liturgies, but no new female servers will be recruited.
In apparent response to a letter-writing campaign and other pleas, Auxiliary Bishop William Justice and archdiocesan vicar for clergy Fr. Raymund Reyes agreed to represent the archdiocese and meet with concerned parents and others at a March 25 forum in the school auditorium. Nearly 200 attended. Illo and Driscoll were also present, but did not speak.
Sixteen parents delivered brief statements describing the changes instituted by Illo and the impact on their children. Most of the speakers concluded, "We respectfully ask that Fr. Illo and Fr. Driscoll be removed from Star of the Sea."
Several started to cry as they spoke.
Justice told the audience he would convey the parents' concerns to Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
In addition to the school gathering, a group of parents presented their concerns to the archdiocesan Board of Education Feb. 19.
On March 30, a group of school parents announced the launch of a petition urging Cordileone to "reverse your decision to allow Fr. Illo to ban girls from being altar servers at Star of the Sea School."
The petition charges that the ban "sends our girls the wrong message and is in direct conflict with the Pope's direction to increase women's roles in the church."
A petition supportive of Illo and his leadership is also circulating at the parish and "has a long list" of signers, a parishioner told NCR.
Archbishop backs Illo
During both a Feb. 12 Council of Priests meeting and during an hourlong videotaped session Feb. 24 with the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board, Cordileone defended Illo's right to establish male-only altar servers.
"I had a long talk with Fr. Illo about a few things going on at the parish -- identified where the problems are, and we came up with a plan for moving forward," Cordileone told the Chronicle.
Cordileone then asked to speak "off the record," which the Chronicle declined.
"Let me say this then," he said. "It could have been handled better. The church does allow a pastor to use his discretion with regard to having only boys serving Mass, or boys and girls serving Mass. Apparently a lesson that Fr. Illo learned is that it takes much more sensitivity around this issue [in the San Francisco area] than in other parts of the country.
"But he was exercising a pastoral discretion that the church allows. ... We have discussed that -- and a better way forward. I am hopeful things will be able to be resolved there."
During the Feb. 12 priests' council gathering, several priests voiced concern about the altar girl issue. They noted anger, frustration and confusion surfacing in their own parishes.
According to minutes provided to NCR by a priest who asked not to be named, two appeals were made during the meeting for public statements countering Illo's ban.
According to the minutes, Auxiliary Bishop Robert McElroy called exclusion of altar girls "invidious discrimination" and suggested Cordileone issue a directive of disagreement with Illo's prohibition.
The minutes said that McElroy "mentioned the Pope recently spoke on this very theme and said 'to live by exclusion is a corrupting method of living.' "
The Vatican announced McElroy's appointment as bishop of San Diego March 3; his installation was scheduled for April 15.
Retired Sulpician Fr. Michael Strange, who lives at St. Stephen Parish in San Francisco, told council members that he found aspects of Illo's explanation of the new policy "troublesome." Strange criticized a lack of prior consultation with fellow clergy, and asked the council to pass a recommendation that Illo rescind his decision.
"Regarding calls for a policy to be implemented, the Archbishop does not want to impose a policy that would restrict a pastor from exercising pastoral discretion in situations where the Church allows such discretion," the minutes state.
Cordileone also told the council that a Congregation for Divine Worship instruction had "made clear that a pastor can have altar boys only, and highlighted the connection between altar serving and vocation," according to the minutes.
Carmelite Fr. Michael Greenwell lauded Cordileone's "policy of not micromanaging pastors, as evidenced by giving authority to Fr. Illo, even if he might disagree with the pastor," the minutes said. Greenwell described parental concerns he'd heard about potential perceptions caused by a pastor wanting "only boys in the program" in light of the "priestly pedophile scandals," the minutes also noted.
Dominican Fr. Michael Hurley, pastor of St. Francisco's St. Dominic Parish, questioned if any council members had visited with Illo about the recent issues. The minutes indicate no responses. Hurley criticized "casting aspersions and making wide sweeping generalizations and recommendations prior to actually speaking with him."
Boys-only rationale
Illo has provided rationale for his boys-only stance on altar servers on his blog site, in media interviews, and in a Feb. 11 essay in the archdiocesan newspaper, Catholic San Francisco.
In the Catholic San Francisco commentary, Illo describes the "priest's role in the Mass" as "an act of fatherhood."
He argues, "Once boys begin to realize the sacrificial dimension of the Mass, the desire to become men -- to defend their loved ones with their lives -- awakens within them. Of course, a father, including a priest who shepherds his parish, loves his daughters as well as his sons. Certainly I cherish the girls as much as the boys and the girls at Star of the Sea are being offered opportunities to serve God in ways they find exciting and satisfying."
Illo quotes the 1994 Congregation for Divine Worship letter granting permission for girls to be altar servers: "The Holy See wishes to recall that it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue."
On its website, the Star of the Sea parents group counters, "We were unable to find any data demonstrating a link" between altar service and priestly vocations. "On the contrary, the available data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University, may support the argument that there is no causal link."
Both Illo and members of the parent group concede that the school community and parish community often orbit separately.
According to the Star of the Sea School website, its enrollment of 233 students is 42 percent Catholic and "reflects the many cultures of the Bay Area: 3% African-American, 35% Asian, 38% Caucasian, 2% Latino/Hispanic and 22% multi-ethnic."
Illo told The Catholic World Report in a January online interview, "The school is thriving, but not as a Catholic school. Like Catholic universities who want to be independent of the bishops, many parish schools like to be independent of their pastors. Of its 150 families, about three attend the church."
He continued, "I must admit, the disjunction between the parish church and school and the vehemence of the school's opposition has been surprising to me. In other parishes I've served at, the school loves the parish priest. When I'd go over, they'd run over and want to talk to me, or if, say, I were walking by a basketball court they'd hand me a basketball and want me to play. It's not the case here. The priest is ignored. The school is lacking in Catholic identity."
Pulling no punches
" 'Lacking Catholic identity' and 'My vision is the archbishop's vision' are the two things that we are now repeatedly hearing from Fr. Illo," parent Christy Brooks told NCR.
"The staff has the devotion of our entire community, and Fr. Illo and Fr. Driscoll have criticized them publicly based on inaccurate information and rumors," Brooks added. "This is one of the many things that Fr. Illo apologized for at the Parent Club meeting he attended in February. He acknowledged that two people had told him something about some of the teachers that turned out not to be true. Consistently, he judges the school community without bothering to get to know the people involved."
Parent-speakers at the March 25 forum pulled no punches in sharing their objections to Illo's interactions with the school.
Ruth Callanan, a mother of two preschoolers, said, "Our children are taught about acts of kindness, loving our neighbor and treating each other with respect. How can we have a spiritual leader, a priest, not following the same guidelines? What message does this send to our children?
"Fr. Illo has repeatedly encouraged families that disagree with his views of the church to leave. I beg to differ, I think it's Fr. Illo that needs to leave because he doesn't agree with our community culture and our views," she said.
Many parents mentioned Illo's blog, in which he described the culture of San Francisco as "savagely distorted" and said changes at the school were to effect a "purge." On his blog, Illo later apologized for his choice of words.
Scott Castro, who represented the kindergarten class at the forum, said the blog showed that "Illo has been preparing for a personal crusade for some time."
Castro, who said his family is not Catholic, talked of the pain he felt seeing "non-Catholic children sitting segregated in the pews."
"Is this really what Jesus taught?" he asked. "The answer is a resounding no."
"The particular 'church' envisioned by Fr. Illo is one steeped in what I can only characterize as a rhetoric of division and deep-rooted animus against Catholics and non-Catholics alike who do not adhere to his 'vision' of the church," Castro said.
In addition, parents say Illo had asked their children during confession how frequently their families attend Mass.
"I deeply resent the use of confessional as a polling place," said parent Stella Bialous.
The speeches of parents who spoke at the meeting are posted on the website welovestarsf.com, as is extensive documentation on the controversy and background on the genesis and development of altar girl service.
The Chronicle reported March 26 that after the meeting, Illo "acknowledged that there is a lot of tension and anxiety between himself and the school parents. He said there have been misunderstandings, but now he'll leave it to the archbishop to decide what happens next."
"It was a good forum," Illo told the newspaper. "It's important to hear their perspective."
This isn't the first time that Illo has garnered national headlines. In 2008, Illo told parishioners of St. Joseph Parish in Modesto, Calif., that voting for President Barack Obama was tantamount to voting for abortion. "It is a grave mistake and probably a grave sin," he said at the time.
"If you voted for a pro-abortion candidate on Nov. 4, and you knew what you were doing, you need to go to confession before receiving Communion," he said at Mass.
'Divisive' oratory
Illo and Driscoll were released from the Stockton, Calif., diocese and St. Louis archdiocese, respectively, to staff Star of the Sea and begin the process of establishing an oratory last August.
According to a May 2014 story in Catholic San Francisco, the priests were to be the initial residents of what is called a fraternity, "the first step toward the canonical establishment of an Oratory of St. Philip Neri" at Star of the Sea.
An oratory is a "clerical society of apostolic life of pontifical right, first begun by St. Philip in Rome in 1575," Catholic San Francisco reported. "Its members are secular priests and brothers who live in community without formal vows and carry out pastoral ministry, usually in an urban parish."
The minutes of the Feb. 12 priests' council meeting said that Strange called "the Oratory -- as it exists in our archdiocese -- a divisive force and wonders if there is an implication that the rest of us are not imparting the true Catholic faith." The minutes state that other priests expressed concerns as well.
Illo recently reported on his blog that two laymen have joined the fraternity, and will be known as brothers.
Star of the Sea School in the San Francisco archdiocese has become a kind of war zone between the majority of school parents and Star of the Sea Parish's two priest leaders -- Fr. Joseph Illo, administrator, and Fr. Patrick Driscoll, associate pastor.
The priests began their assignments there last August as part of a plan to establish an oratory, or a kind of fraternity where diocesan priests live in community.
Battle was engaged in November when Illo announced that girl altar servers would be discontinued. Made without known consultation with parents or other archdiocesan priests, the decision generated parental protest, local headlines, and eventually national media coverage.
Illo's actions were also the subject of heated exchanges at an archdiocesan priests council meeting, NCR learned.
Star of the Sea generated more heat in early February when it came to light that Driscoll had distributed to even young students a pamphlet titled "Examination of Conscience and Catholic Doctrine," an extensive listing of potential sins, including adultery, masturbation, fornication, entertaining impure thoughts, and abortion -- without notifying teachers or the principal.
Parents and teachers reportedly retrieved the pamphlets as quickly as they could. Driscoll and Illo later apologized.
Parental ire increased further when Illo dropped the long-standing practice of blessing non-Catholic children who presented themselves during the Communion rite at Mass, and said he wanted to discontinue allowing non-Catholic children from Scripture reading at school Masses.
Both of those decisions have been rescinded until the end of the school year. Illo told NCR he would not be able to respond to inquiries until after the April 10-23 issue of NCR went to press.
In addition, already-trained girl altar servers now will be allowed to continue service at school liturgies, but no new female servers will be recruited.
In apparent response to a letter-writing campaign and other pleas, Auxiliary Bishop William Justice and archdiocesan vicar for clergy Fr. Raymund Reyes agreed to represent the archdiocese and meet with concerned parents and others at a March 25 forum in the school auditorium. Nearly 200 attended. Illo and Driscoll were also present, but did not speak.
Sixteen parents delivered brief statements describing the changes instituted by Illo and the impact on their children. Most of the speakers concluded, "We respectfully ask that Fr. Illo and Fr. Driscoll be removed from Star of the Sea."
Several started to cry as they spoke.
Justice told the audience he would convey the parents' concerns to Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.
In addition to the school gathering, a group of parents presented their concerns to the archdiocesan Board of Education Feb. 19.
On March 30, a group of school parents announced the launch of a petition urging Cordileone to "reverse your decision to allow Fr. Illo to ban girls from being altar servers at Star of the Sea School."
The petition charges that the ban "sends our girls the wrong message and is in direct conflict with the Pope's direction to increase women's roles in the church."
A petition supportive of Illo and his leadership is also circulating at the parish and "has a long list" of signers, a parishioner told NCR.
Archbishop backs Illo
During both a Feb. 12 Council of Priests meeting and during an hourlong videotaped session Feb. 24 with the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board, Cordileone defended Illo's right to establish male-only altar servers.
"I had a long talk with Fr. Illo about a few things going on at the parish -- identified where the problems are, and we came up with a plan for moving forward," Cordileone told the Chronicle.
Cordileone then asked to speak "off the record," which the Chronicle declined.
"Let me say this then," he said. "It could have been handled better. The church does allow a pastor to use his discretion with regard to having only boys serving Mass, or boys and girls serving Mass. Apparently a lesson that Fr. Illo learned is that it takes much more sensitivity around this issue [in the San Francisco area] than in other parts of the country.
"But he was exercising a pastoral discretion that the church allows. ... We have discussed that -- and a better way forward. I am hopeful things will be able to be resolved there."
During the Feb. 12 priests' council gathering, several priests voiced concern about the altar girl issue. They noted anger, frustration and confusion surfacing in their own parishes.
According to minutes provided to NCR by a priest who asked not to be named, two appeals were made during the meeting for public statements countering Illo's ban.
According to the minutes, Auxiliary Bishop Robert McElroy called exclusion of altar girls "invidious discrimination" and suggested Cordileone issue a directive of disagreement with Illo's prohibition.
The minutes said that McElroy "mentioned the Pope recently spoke on this very theme and said 'to live by exclusion is a corrupting method of living.' "
The Vatican announced McElroy's appointment as bishop of San Diego March 3; his installation was scheduled for April 15.
Retired Sulpician Fr. Michael Strange, who lives at St. Stephen Parish in San Francisco, told council members that he found aspects of Illo's explanation of the new policy "troublesome." Strange criticized a lack of prior consultation with fellow clergy, and asked the council to pass a recommendation that Illo rescind his decision.
"Regarding calls for a policy to be implemented, the Archbishop does not want to impose a policy that would restrict a pastor from exercising pastoral discretion in situations where the Church allows such discretion," the minutes state.
Cordileone also told the council that a Congregation for Divine Worship instruction had "made clear that a pastor can have altar boys only, and highlighted the connection between altar serving and vocation," according to the minutes.
Carmelite Fr. Michael Greenwell lauded Cordileone's "policy of not micromanaging pastors, as evidenced by giving authority to Fr. Illo, even if he might disagree with the pastor," the minutes said. Greenwell described parental concerns he'd heard about potential perceptions caused by a pastor wanting "only boys in the program" in light of the "priestly pedophile scandals," the minutes also noted.
Dominican Fr. Michael Hurley, pastor of St. Francisco's St. Dominic Parish, questioned if any council members had visited with Illo about the recent issues. The minutes indicate no responses. Hurley criticized "casting aspersions and making wide sweeping generalizations and recommendations prior to actually speaking with him."
Boys-only rationale
Illo has provided rationale for his boys-only stance on altar servers on his blog site, in media interviews, and in a Feb. 11 essay in the archdiocesan newspaper, Catholic San Francisco.
In the Catholic San Francisco commentary, Illo describes the "priest's role in the Mass" as "an act of fatherhood."
He argues, "Once boys begin to realize the sacrificial dimension of the Mass, the desire to become men -- to defend their loved ones with their lives -- awakens within them. Of course, a father, including a priest who shepherds his parish, loves his daughters as well as his sons. Certainly I cherish the girls as much as the boys and the girls at Star of the Sea are being offered opportunities to serve God in ways they find exciting and satisfying."
Illo quotes the 1994 Congregation for Divine Worship letter granting permission for girls to be altar servers: "The Holy See wishes to recall that it will always be very appropriate to follow the noble tradition of having boys serve at the altar. As is well known, this has led to a reassuring development of priestly vocations. Thus the obligation to support such groups of altar boys will always continue."
On its website, the Star of the Sea parents group counters, "We were unable to find any data demonstrating a link" between altar service and priestly vocations. "On the contrary, the available data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University, may support the argument that there is no causal link."
Both Illo and members of the parent group concede that the school community and parish community often orbit separately.
According to the Star of the Sea School website, its enrollment of 233 students is 42 percent Catholic and "reflects the many cultures of the Bay Area: 3% African-American, 35% Asian, 38% Caucasian, 2% Latino/Hispanic and 22% multi-ethnic."
Illo told The Catholic World Report in a January online interview, "The school is thriving, but not as a Catholic school. Like Catholic universities who want to be independent of the bishops, many parish schools like to be independent of their pastors. Of its 150 families, about three attend the church."
He continued, "I must admit, the disjunction between the parish church and school and the vehemence of the school's opposition has been surprising to me. In other parishes I've served at, the school loves the parish priest. When I'd go over, they'd run over and want to talk to me, or if, say, I were walking by a basketball court they'd hand me a basketball and want me to play. It's not the case here. The priest is ignored. The school is lacking in Catholic identity."
Pulling no punches
" 'Lacking Catholic identity' and 'My vision is the archbishop's vision' are the two things that we are now repeatedly hearing from Fr. Illo," parent Christy Brooks told NCR.
"The staff has the devotion of our entire community, and Fr. Illo and Fr. Driscoll have criticized them publicly based on inaccurate information and rumors," Brooks added. "This is one of the many things that Fr. Illo apologized for at the Parent Club meeting he attended in February. He acknowledged that two people had told him something about some of the teachers that turned out not to be true. Consistently, he judges the school community without bothering to get to know the people involved."
Parent-speakers at the March 25 forum pulled no punches in sharing their objections to Illo's interactions with the school.
Ruth Callanan, a mother of two preschoolers, said, "Our children are taught about acts of kindness, loving our neighbor and treating each other with respect. How can we have a spiritual leader, a priest, not following the same guidelines? What message does this send to our children?
"Fr. Illo has repeatedly encouraged families that disagree with his views of the church to leave. I beg to differ, I think it's Fr. Illo that needs to leave because he doesn't agree with our community culture and our views," she said.
Many parents mentioned Illo's blog, in which he described the culture of San Francisco as "savagely distorted" and said changes at the school were to effect a "purge." On his blog, Illo later apologized for his choice of words.
Scott Castro, who represented the kindergarten class at the forum, said the blog showed that "Illo has been preparing for a personal crusade for some time."
Castro, who said his family is not Catholic, talked of the pain he felt seeing "non-Catholic children sitting segregated in the pews."
"Is this really what Jesus taught?" he asked. "The answer is a resounding no."
"The particular 'church' envisioned by Fr. Illo is one steeped in what I can only characterize as a rhetoric of division and deep-rooted animus against Catholics and non-Catholics alike who do not adhere to his 'vision' of the church," Castro said.
In addition, parents say Illo had asked their children during confession how frequently their families attend Mass.
"I deeply resent the use of confessional as a polling place," said parent Stella Bialous.
The speeches of parents who spoke at the meeting are posted on the website welovestarsf.com, as is extensive documentation on the controversy and background on the genesis and development of altar girl service.
The Chronicle reported March 26 that after the meeting, Illo "acknowledged that there is a lot of tension and anxiety between himself and the school parents. He said there have been misunderstandings, but now he'll leave it to the archbishop to decide what happens next."
"It was a good forum," Illo told the newspaper. "It's important to hear their perspective."
This isn't the first time that Illo has garnered national headlines. In 2008, Illo told parishioners of St. Joseph Parish in Modesto, Calif., that voting for President Barack Obama was tantamount to voting for abortion. "It is a grave mistake and probably a grave sin," he said at the time.
"If you voted for a pro-abortion candidate on Nov. 4, and you knew what you were doing, you need to go to confession before receiving Communion," he said at Mass.
'Divisive' oratory
Illo and Driscoll were released from the Stockton, Calif., diocese and St. Louis archdiocese, respectively, to staff Star of the Sea and begin the process of establishing an oratory last August.
According to a May 2014 story in Catholic San Francisco, the priests were to be the initial residents of what is called a fraternity, "the first step toward the canonical establishment of an Oratory of St. Philip Neri" at Star of the Sea.
An oratory is a "clerical society of apostolic life of pontifical right, first begun by St. Philip in Rome in 1575," Catholic San Francisco reported. "Its members are secular priests and brothers who live in community without formal vows and carry out pastoral ministry, usually in an urban parish."
The minutes of the Feb. 12 priests' council meeting said that Strange called "the Oratory -- as it exists in our archdiocese -- a divisive force and wonders if there is an implication that the rest of us are not imparting the true Catholic faith." The minutes state that other priests expressed concerns as well.
Illo recently reported on his blog that two laymen have joined the fraternity, and will be known as brothers.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Pope at Easter prays for killed Kenyan students, decries persecution
Philip Pullella
Reuters
April 5, 2015
Pope Francis prayed for an end to the persecution of Christians in his Easter Sunday address, commemorating the students massacred by Islamist militants at Garissa University in Kenya.
Francis, after saying Mass for thousands of people in a rainy St. Peter's Square, delivered a mostly somber and grim "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message.
Attacks on Christians in Africa and the Middle East have been the grim backdrop of all Holy Week ceremonies leading up to Easter.
"We ask Jesus, the victor over death, to lighten the sufferings of our many brothers and sisters who are persecuted for his name, and of all those who suffer injustice as a result of ongoing conflicts and violence - and there are many," he said.
The pope spoke as churches in Kenya, where al Shabaab gunmen massacred nearly 150 people, singling out Christians for point-blank executions, turned to armed guards to protect their congregations on the most important day of the Christian liturgical year.
"May constant prayer rise up from all people of goodwill for those who lost their lives – I think in particular of the young people who were killed last Thursday at Garissa University College in Kenya - for all who have been kidnapped, and for those forced to abandon their homes and their dear ones."
The 78-year-old Argentine pope, celebrating the third Easter of his pontificate, spoke from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after saying a Mass below for tens of thousands of people wearing plastic ponchos and holding umbrellas against the driving rain.
Calling for peace in Libya, where last February Islamic State militants beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, the pope called for an end to "the present absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of violence".
He prayed for peace in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, where Boko Haram Islamist militants have also targeted Christian churches.
"We ask for peace and freedom for the many men and women subject to old and new forms of enslavement on the part of criminal individuals and groups," he said.
"Peace and liberty for the victims of drug dealers, who are often allied with the powers who ought to defend peace and harmony in the human family. And we ask peace for this world subjected to arms dealers, who make their money from the blood of men and women" he said.
Just about the only positive part in the pope's address was a reference to the deal reached in Switzerland last week between Iran and the international community on a framework for a nuclear accord.
"In hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world," he said.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
On Good Friday, Christians ponder modern-day martyrdom
Ines San Martin
Crux
April 3, 2015
As Christians commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday, attacks on believers in various parts of the world are causing many pastors and other leaders to cast modern martyrdom as an extension of Christ’s agony which, they say, will also end in the resurrection.
During the Easter period, Christian churches in India have stepped up security fearing attacks from radical Hindus, a university in Kenya is recovering from a rampage by Muslim extremists that targeted Christians and left an estimated 147 people dead, and fear hangs over Church services in Iraq and Syria where Christian holy days tend to be favorite windows for ISIS assaults.
Facing those realities, Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the Christian martyrs of today, by shedding their blood, join Christ in serving the Church as witnesses to the faith.
“Even today, there are many men and women, true martyrs, who offer their lives with Jesus to confess the faith,” the pope said. “It is a service: Christian witness to the point of shedding blood.”
Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem delivered a similar message during his Holy Thursday homily, while commemorating Jesus’ Last Supper.
Every Mass, Twal said, represents the “unique sacrifice” made two thousand years ago by Jesus, calling it “a love given without limits.”
Jesus was “not afraid to give himself up to be mocked, trampled, humiliated, crucified,” Twal said.
Iraqi and Syrian Christians, Twal said, are examples today of this humiliated love. They’re forced to leave everything behind and to begin walking without knowing where to go, he said, with their only possessions the clothes on their backs, but with “an unshakable faith in their hearts.”
The Patriarch called for the world to hear the voice of Christ from these persecuted people, and to “extend our hands to help the Christians of the Middle East to come down from the Cross that individual interests and selfishness have erected for them.”
The suffering of Christians in areas under the influence of ISIS is well-documented.
For instance, a February report from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child indicates that Islamic State militants are selling abducted Iraqi children at markets as sex slaves, killing others “by crucifixion or burying them alive.”
Talking to Vatican Radio this week, a papal envoy in Iraq, Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, said the suffering of Iraqi minorities is “precious in God’s eyes because it’s united to Christ’s suffering this Holy Week.”
Filoni was dispatched to Iraq by Pope Francis to bring material and spiritual aid to the thousands of Christians and other minorities living in refugee camps all over the country.
News of fresh Christian martyrdom comes from all over the world.
In Kenya on Holy Thursday, 147 people are believed to have been killed when at least four gunmen of the Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group al-Shabab burst into a local university before dawn, shooting Christian students during morning prayer services.
“If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot,” student Collins Wetangula told the Associated Press. “With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die.”
The students were reportedly divided by their faith, and those who could recite the Quran were set free. Those who couldn’t were either killed or abducted.
By Friday morning, more than 300 students were still unaccounted for.
Pope Francis condemned the attack as an act of “senseless brutality” and called for those responsible to change their violent ways. In a telegram of condolence Friday, Francis also urged Kenyan authorities to work to bring an end to such attacks and “hasten the dawn of a new era of brotherhood, justice and peace.”
In India, after a series of attacks on churches in the capital, New Delhi, the local police enlisted more than 10,000 officers to guard the services during Holy Week.
The Indian Express reported on Wednesday that churches are being barricaded along a half-mile radius, fearing terrorist attacks from extremist Hindus.
Last month, a nun in her 70s was gang-raped by a group of men in India. The men who attacked the Convent of Jesus and Mary School also ransacked the chapel and destroyed holy items, police said.
Last Friday in Egypt, while locals were celebrating a Mass to mark 40 days since the death of the 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS in Libya, a church that was being built in their memory was attacked with petrol bombs by Muslims protesting its proposed location.
On the same day, a mob identified by witnesses as composed of members of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked the home of a family of one of the martyrs.
British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, presided over a prayer vigil in Rome this Tuesday, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a movement that specializes in inter-faith dialogue.
During his sermon, Gallagher strongly condemned terrorism, saying that a martyr is someone who gives his or her life for the love of God, not who sheds it. A martyr is the victim, he said, not the victimizer.
The common thread of all martyrs, he said, is their great love for Christ. Every martyr makes the choice of following Jesus, Gallagher said, adding that this choice has its consequences.
“As we know, living the Christian faith with integrity inevitably leads to sacrifice,” he said.
During the prayer service, all the Christians martyred during the past year were remembered. Organizers said all were killed in odium fidei, meaning “hatred of the faith,” but not all fell victim to religious extremists.
From the Americas, five Mexican priests and clerics working in various locales were killed for condemning organized crime, drug trafficking, and poverty; they, too, were commemorated.
During the ceremony, organizers said that the new martyrs draw inspiration from the example of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, a champion of human rights and the poor who was shot to death while saying Mass in 1980.
Romero, they said, was as “unforgettable shepherd” and a “witness of peace.” The late archbishop is set to be beatified in a San Salvador ceremony on May 23.
For those who live comfortably in the West, Gallagher said, the important thing is to remember that on the other side of the world, people suffer for their faith, especially Christians and other minorities, such as a Shiite recently killed in Yemen by Sunni Muslims.
“It’s only right to commemorate them,” Gallagher added. “We believe that now they share Christ’s fate in the resurrection.”
In a CNN column on Good Friday signed by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, along with two producers of a Bible documentary, the authors launch an examination of conscience about anti-Christian violence.
“When history writes of our time, will we be able to say that we tried everything in our power to cease this attempt to eliminate 2,000 years of Christianity from the Middle East and to stop this threat before it spreads to other nations?” they ask.
The producers are Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, creators of “A.D. The Bible Continues.”
“These communities need our love and support like never before,” the writers said, “and they also need security and protection from the world like never before.”
As Christians commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday, attacks on believers in various parts of the world are causing many pastors and other leaders to cast modern martyrdom as an extension of Christ’s agony which, they say, will also end in the resurrection.
During the Easter period, Christian churches in India have stepped up security fearing attacks from radical Hindus, a university in Kenya is recovering from a rampage by Muslim extremists that targeted Christians and left an estimated 147 people dead, and fear hangs over Church services in Iraq and Syria where Christian holy days tend to be favorite windows for ISIS assaults.
Facing those realities, Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the Christian martyrs of today, by shedding their blood, join Christ in serving the Church as witnesses to the faith.
“Even today, there are many men and women, true martyrs, who offer their lives with Jesus to confess the faith,” the pope said. “It is a service: Christian witness to the point of shedding blood.”
Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem delivered a similar message during his Holy Thursday homily, while commemorating Jesus’ Last Supper.
Every Mass, Twal said, represents the “unique sacrifice” made two thousand years ago by Jesus, calling it “a love given without limits.”
Jesus was “not afraid to give himself up to be mocked, trampled, humiliated, crucified,” Twal said.
Iraqi and Syrian Christians, Twal said, are examples today of this humiliated love. They’re forced to leave everything behind and to begin walking without knowing where to go, he said, with their only possessions the clothes on their backs, but with “an unshakable faith in their hearts.”
The Patriarch called for the world to hear the voice of Christ from these persecuted people, and to “extend our hands to help the Christians of the Middle East to come down from the Cross that individual interests and selfishness have erected for them.”
The suffering of Christians in areas under the influence of ISIS is well-documented.
For instance, a February report from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child indicates that Islamic State militants are selling abducted Iraqi children at markets as sex slaves, killing others “by crucifixion or burying them alive.”
Talking to Vatican Radio this week, a papal envoy in Iraq, Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, said the suffering of Iraqi minorities is “precious in God’s eyes because it’s united to Christ’s suffering this Holy Week.”
Filoni was dispatched to Iraq by Pope Francis to bring material and spiritual aid to the thousands of Christians and other minorities living in refugee camps all over the country.
News of fresh Christian martyrdom comes from all over the world.
In Kenya on Holy Thursday, 147 people are believed to have been killed when at least four gunmen of the Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group al-Shabab burst into a local university before dawn, shooting Christian students during morning prayer services.
“If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot,” student Collins Wetangula told the Associated Press. “With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die.”
The students were reportedly divided by their faith, and those who could recite the Quran were set free. Those who couldn’t were either killed or abducted.
By Friday morning, more than 300 students were still unaccounted for.
Pope Francis condemned the attack as an act of “senseless brutality” and called for those responsible to change their violent ways. In a telegram of condolence Friday, Francis also urged Kenyan authorities to work to bring an end to such attacks and “hasten the dawn of a new era of brotherhood, justice and peace.”
In India, after a series of attacks on churches in the capital, New Delhi, the local police enlisted more than 10,000 officers to guard the services during Holy Week.
The Indian Express reported on Wednesday that churches are being barricaded along a half-mile radius, fearing terrorist attacks from extremist Hindus.
Last month, a nun in her 70s was gang-raped by a group of men in India. The men who attacked the Convent of Jesus and Mary School also ransacked the chapel and destroyed holy items, police said.
Last Friday in Egypt, while locals were celebrating a Mass to mark 40 days since the death of the 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS in Libya, a church that was being built in their memory was attacked with petrol bombs by Muslims protesting its proposed location.
On the same day, a mob identified by witnesses as composed of members of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked the home of a family of one of the martyrs.
British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, presided over a prayer vigil in Rome this Tuesday, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a movement that specializes in inter-faith dialogue.
During his sermon, Gallagher strongly condemned terrorism, saying that a martyr is someone who gives his or her life for the love of God, not who sheds it. A martyr is the victim, he said, not the victimizer.
The common thread of all martyrs, he said, is their great love for Christ. Every martyr makes the choice of following Jesus, Gallagher said, adding that this choice has its consequences.
“As we know, living the Christian faith with integrity inevitably leads to sacrifice,” he said.
During the prayer service, all the Christians martyred during the past year were remembered. Organizers said all were killed in odium fidei, meaning “hatred of the faith,” but not all fell victim to religious extremists.
From the Americas, five Mexican priests and clerics working in various locales were killed for condemning organized crime, drug trafficking, and poverty; they, too, were commemorated.
During the ceremony, organizers said that the new martyrs draw inspiration from the example of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, a champion of human rights and the poor who was shot to death while saying Mass in 1980.
Romero, they said, was as “unforgettable shepherd” and a “witness of peace.” The late archbishop is set to be beatified in a San Salvador ceremony on May 23.
For those who live comfortably in the West, Gallagher said, the important thing is to remember that on the other side of the world, people suffer for their faith, especially Christians and other minorities, such as a Shiite recently killed in Yemen by Sunni Muslims.
“It’s only right to commemorate them,” Gallagher added. “We believe that now they share Christ’s fate in the resurrection.”
In a CNN column on Good Friday signed by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, along with two producers of a Bible documentary, the authors launch an examination of conscience about anti-Christian violence.
“When history writes of our time, will we be able to say that we tried everything in our power to cease this attempt to eliminate 2,000 years of Christianity from the Middle East and to stop this threat before it spreads to other nations?” they ask.
The producers are Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, creators of “A.D. The Bible Continues.”
“These communities need our love and support like never before,” the writers said, “and they also need security and protection from the world like never before.”
Friday, April 3, 2015
Kenya: group of Christian students are massacred on Good Friday
Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
April 3, 2015
Good Friday came a day early for Christian students studying at Kenya’s Garissa University. A group of Somali al-Shabab militants penetrated the campus at 5.30 am killing two security guards and made their way to the dormitories armed with assault rifles. The campus’ 815 students were thrown out of bed, gathered in large halls and split into groups according to their faith: Muslims who managed to recite verses from the Quran were set free, Christians who were not able to were either killed or taken hostage. According to the first official estimates 147 confirmed deaths have been recorded. Around 500 students have been traced but there are 300 whose whereablouts are unknown.
Some witnesses spoke of decapitated corpses: “As we were escaping we saw many bodies without heads, they killed a lot of people,” witnesses told African media. Al-Shabab spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage telephoned AFP news agency about the attack on the North-Eastern Garissa University, confirming that “Muslims were separated from others and released”. He justified the raid by saying that “Kenya is at war with Somalia and so our people have a mission to kill anyone who is against al-Shabab”. The Somalia-based jihadist militant group is part of the Al-Qaeda network in East Africa.
“Even today,” Pope Francis said at Wednesday’s General Audience, “there are many men and women, true martyrs who offer their life with Jesus to confess the faith, only for that reason.” This evening’s Way of the Cross will commemorate their sacrifice.
Good Friday came a day early for Christian students studying at Kenya’s Garissa University. A group of Somali al-Shabab militants penetrated the campus at 5.30 am killing two security guards and made their way to the dormitories armed with assault rifles. The campus’ 815 students were thrown out of bed, gathered in large halls and split into groups according to their faith: Muslims who managed to recite verses from the Quran were set free, Christians who were not able to were either killed or taken hostage. According to the first official estimates 147 confirmed deaths have been recorded. Around 500 students have been traced but there are 300 whose whereablouts are unknown.
Some witnesses spoke of decapitated corpses: “As we were escaping we saw many bodies without heads, they killed a lot of people,” witnesses told African media. Al-Shabab spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage telephoned AFP news agency about the attack on the North-Eastern Garissa University, confirming that “Muslims were separated from others and released”. He justified the raid by saying that “Kenya is at war with Somalia and so our people have a mission to kill anyone who is against al-Shabab”. The Somalia-based jihadist militant group is part of the Al-Qaeda network in East Africa.
“Even today,” Pope Francis said at Wednesday’s General Audience, “there are many men and women, true martyrs who offer their life with Jesus to confess the faith, only for that reason.” This evening’s Way of the Cross will commemorate their sacrifice.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Kenya attack targets Christians, putting new pressure on religious leaders
Ariel Zirulnick
Christian Science Monitor
April 2, 2015
NAIROBI, KENYA — Christians gunned down on the spot. Muslims left alive, saved by their ability to prove their faith.
It's increasingly the pattern of the militant Islamist group Al Shabab, which on Thursday attacked a majority Christian university in the eastern Kenyan town of Garissa, killing at least 147 people just ahead of the Easter holiday. And it's straining communities that have long lived in relative harmony.
“The overall goal here is not only to make the government look bad, but ultimately to drive a wedge between the Christian and Muslim communities in Kenya,” says Abdullahi Boru, Nairobi-based East Africa researcher with Amnesty International.
Religious leaders throughout Kenya who deal with growing Christian-Muslim tensions say they aren’t sure how much longer communities that have lived side by side for years can withstand the pressure.
“We feel targeted, we feel scared…. It is becoming more and more difficult to tell Christians to be patient. Some of them are saying time has come to react and defend ourselves,” says Father Willybard Lagho, the vicar general at the Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa and the head of the county’s interfaith council.
For some pastors, that means getting permission to carry guns. “To arm pastors – it means we are moving into the militarization of our society,” he says.
The separation tactic first emerged during the 2013 attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall when attackers from Al Shabab, which is based in neighboring Somalia, demanded that shoppers declare the shahada, an Islamic creed. It was employed again, twice, in the northeast county of Mandera in late 2014, with 28 Christian bus passengers left dead on the side of the road at the end of one attack.
Today’s raid made it clear that the pattern is now entrenched.
"When our men arrived, they released the Muslims," said Al Shabab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, according to local media reports. They held the remaining students hostage for 13 hours before the four fighters holding them were killed.
Survivors told The Associated Press that Christian students were “gunned down without mercy.”
Student Collins Wetangula said that the attackers went door to door asking if the students hiding inside were Christian or Muslim.
"If you were a Christian, you were shot on the spot," he said. "With each blast of the gun, I thought I was going to die.”
Pulling away
Along Kenya's eastern flank, many are worried about the effects the attacks will have on their communities.
Mr. Lagho says that churches in the coastal city of Mombasa, where Muslim and Christian leaders have been killed, have beefed up their security, arranging for police protection during services.
“Christians are scared, yes, but we are trying to encourage them not to give up, not to revenge,” he says. “Some individuals call Muslims terrorists. The line is becoming a bit blurred now.”
A recent break in attacks and killings has helped tamp down the anger that could have motivated revenge attacks, he says, but still, he adds, the city has turned a corner toward distrust. And extremists have intimidated Muslim leaders into not publicly condemning such attacks – exactly the message the Christian community wants to hear.
Khalef Khalifa, chairman of the Mombasa-based Muslims for Human Rights, is emphatic that Al Shabab won’t succeed.
“People here understand this is the work of Al Shabab. They know it’s not the work of Muslims in Kenya,” he says. “The killing does not affect the Christians alone. It even affects us. I was at home here with my wife and she’s so pissed off. [She’s asking] ‘Why are they killing innocent people?’ ”
In Wajir, the next county north of Garissa that also borders Somalia, suspicion already runs deep. The indigenous population is almost entirely Kenyan Somali and Muslim. Most of the Christians – few in number – are civil servants or businessmen from other parts of Kenya who come for at most a few years for work.
Earlier this year, Sunday worshipers at the local Roman Catholic church spoke of deep distrust of their neighbors. Their church was attacked the year before, and the statue of Jesus on the crucifix in the courtyard is now behind glass, gaping holes in its torso from the attack.
Wajir Deputy County Commissioner Peter Mgeleiyo Lotulia says a Somali couldn’t be trusted to guard the church because “suspicion is creeping in. You don’t know the difference between a friend and an enemy.”
Desperate times
Muslims, too, are on edge, and the suspicion of them could exacerbate the tensions. They are stuck between a government that sees them as Al Shabab sympathizers and the actual militants who have, in some cases, killed them as easily as Christians, says Mr. Boru of Amnesty International.
Mass arrests, like the March 2014 operation in the Nairobi neighborhood of Eastleigh that culminated in the arrest of thousands, mostly Somali men, isolate them.
Kenyans are “still saying ‘We are all Kenyans.’ I don’t know how long that will hold,” Boru says.
Al Shabab's use of religious division is a sign of its desperation, he argues. With the militants losing territory to African Union forces and its leadership getting picked off by drones, the shock value of the tactic helps the group maintain relevance.
“This is the lowest in terms of their capacity that they have had in ages,” he says.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Rogue Catholic bishops plan to grow schismatic challenge to Rome
Stephen Eisenhammer
Reuters
March 30, 2015
Two renegade Catholic bishops plan to consecrate a new generation of bishops to spread their ultra-traditionalist movement called “The Resistance” in defiance of the Vatican, one of them said at a remote monastery in Brazil.
French Bishop Jean-Michel Faure, himself consecrated only two weeks ago by the Holocaust-denying British Bishop Richard Williamson, said the new group rejected Pope Francis and what it called his “new religion” and would not engage in a dialogue with Rome until the Vatican turned back the clock.
Williamson and Faure, who were both excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church when the former made the latter a bishop without Vatican approval, are ex-members of a larger dissenting group that has been a thorn in Rome’s side for years.
Their splinter movement is tiny – Faure did not give an estimate of followers – but the fact they plan to consecrate bishops is important because it means their schism can continue as a rebel form of Catholicism.
“We follow the popes of the past, not the current one,” Faure, 73, told reporters on Saturday at Santa Cruz Monastery in Nova Friburgo, in the mountain jungle 140 km (87 miles) inland from Rio de Janeiro.
“It is likely that in maybe one or two years we will have more consecrations,” he said, adding there were already two candidates to be promoted to bishop’s rank.
The monastery had said Williamson would ordain a priest there at the weekend but he was not seen by reporters, and clergy said it was impossible to talk to him. Faure ordained the priest himself.
Asked what the new group called itself, Faure said: “I think we can call ourselves Roman Catholic first, secondly St Pius X, and now … the Resistance.”
SPLINTER OFF THE SSPX
The Society of St Pius X (SSPX) is a larger ultra-traditionalist group that was excommunicated in 1988 when its founder consecrated four new bishops, including Williamson, despite warnings from the Vatican not to do so.
It rejected the modernizing reforms of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council and stuck with Catholicism’s old Latin Mass after the Church switched to simpler liturgy in local languages.
Former Pope Benedict readmitted the four SSPX bishops to the Catholic fold in 2009, but the SSPX soon expelled Williamson because of an uproar over his Holocaust denial.
In contrast to Benedict, Pope Francis pays little attention to the SSPX ultra-traditionalists, who claim to have a million followers around the world and a growing number of new priests at a time that Rome faces priest shortages. Their remaining three bishops have no official status in the Catholic Church.
Faure said the Resistance group would not engage in dialogue with Rome, as the SSPX has done. “We resist capitulation, we resist conciliation of St Pius X with Rome,” he said.
Faure said he was not sure what it would take for Rome to return to its old traditions but conflict could be a catalyst.
“If there is another World War … maybe the Church will go back to the way it was before,” he said.
The prior of the monastery, Brother Thomas Aquinas OSB, explained the split simply: “The Pope is less Catholic than us.”
Under Catholic law, Williamson and Faure are excommunicated from the Church but remain validly consecrated bishops. That means they can ordain priests into their schismatic group and claim to be Catholic, albeit without Vatican approval.
By contrast, women supposedly made priests by dissident Catholic bishops are not validly ordained because Catholic law reserves the priesthood only for men.
Two renegade Catholic bishops plan to consecrate a new generation of bishops to spread their ultra-traditionalist movement called “The Resistance” in defiance of the Vatican, one of them said at a remote monastery in Brazil.
French Bishop Jean-Michel Faure, himself consecrated only two weeks ago by the Holocaust-denying British Bishop Richard Williamson, said the new group rejected Pope Francis and what it called his “new religion” and would not engage in a dialogue with Rome until the Vatican turned back the clock.
Williamson and Faure, who were both excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church when the former made the latter a bishop without Vatican approval, are ex-members of a larger dissenting group that has been a thorn in Rome’s side for years.
Their splinter movement is tiny – Faure did not give an estimate of followers – but the fact they plan to consecrate bishops is important because it means their schism can continue as a rebel form of Catholicism.
“We follow the popes of the past, not the current one,” Faure, 73, told reporters on Saturday at Santa Cruz Monastery in Nova Friburgo, in the mountain jungle 140 km (87 miles) inland from Rio de Janeiro.
“It is likely that in maybe one or two years we will have more consecrations,” he said, adding there were already two candidates to be promoted to bishop’s rank.
The monastery had said Williamson would ordain a priest there at the weekend but he was not seen by reporters, and clergy said it was impossible to talk to him. Faure ordained the priest himself.
Asked what the new group called itself, Faure said: “I think we can call ourselves Roman Catholic first, secondly St Pius X, and now … the Resistance.”
SPLINTER OFF THE SSPX
The Society of St Pius X (SSPX) is a larger ultra-traditionalist group that was excommunicated in 1988 when its founder consecrated four new bishops, including Williamson, despite warnings from the Vatican not to do so.
It rejected the modernizing reforms of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council and stuck with Catholicism’s old Latin Mass after the Church switched to simpler liturgy in local languages.
Former Pope Benedict readmitted the four SSPX bishops to the Catholic fold in 2009, but the SSPX soon expelled Williamson because of an uproar over his Holocaust denial.
In contrast to Benedict, Pope Francis pays little attention to the SSPX ultra-traditionalists, who claim to have a million followers around the world and a growing number of new priests at a time that Rome faces priest shortages. Their remaining three bishops have no official status in the Catholic Church.
Faure said the Resistance group would not engage in dialogue with Rome, as the SSPX has done. “We resist capitulation, we resist conciliation of St Pius X with Rome,” he said.
Faure said he was not sure what it would take for Rome to return to its old traditions but conflict could be a catalyst.
“If there is another World War … maybe the Church will go back to the way it was before,” he said.
The prior of the monastery, Brother Thomas Aquinas OSB, explained the split simply: “The Pope is less Catholic than us.”
Under Catholic law, Williamson and Faure are excommunicated from the Church but remain validly consecrated bishops. That means they can ordain priests into their schismatic group and claim to be Catholic, albeit without Vatican approval.
By contrast, women supposedly made priests by dissident Catholic bishops are not validly ordained because Catholic law reserves the priesthood only for men.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Vatican stands by bishop accused of covering up abuse
Abigail Frymann Rouch
The Tablet
March 31, 2015
The Holy See has defended its decision to appoint as bishop a Chilean prelate accused of covering-up child abuse.
The appointment of Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid as bishop of Osorno has been questioned by two members of Pope Francis' safeguarding board and a third, Peter Saunders, has said he may have to quit unless Pope Francis withdraws the appointment. The bishop’s installation Mass on 21 March was cut short amid loud protests by crowds who were angry at his handling of allegations regarding abuser Fr Fernando Karadima, 84.
In a brief statement on Wednesday the Vatican said: “Prior to the recent appointment of His Excellency Msgr. Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid as bishop of Osorno, Chile, the Congregation for Bishops carefully examined the prelate’s candidature and did not find objective reasons to preclude the appointment.”
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