The Hermeneutic of Continuity

On Sunday 3 October 3 the Fresno Traditional Mass Society will celebrate 20 years of regular celebrations of the usus antiquior in the Diocese of Fresno, California. Fr Michael Stinson FSSP will celebrate High Mass at 3.30pm, at the Shrine of St Therese in Fresno, followed by blessings with a first class relic of St Therese. The shrine is at 855 E. Floradora Avenue and I just looked up Google Maps to find it. Above is a photo grabbed from the street view and below is a map showing the location of the shrine - over 5,300 miles from London: View Larger Map Congratulations to the Fresno Traditional Mass Society. I would also like to commend their website which has a simple and sensible answer to the routine objection " but I don't speak Latin " and a short guide on what to expect when attending the traditional Latin Mass.

Neil Addison at the Religion Law blog, has taken a look at the Supremem Court's refusal to review a decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the possibility of prosecuting the Holy See in the US courts. He concludes that it is not as important as it appears . I give his summary of the court's decision below, but the article contains further details. The Holy See is a Sovereign State under US Law The Holy See can only be sued in the US on the same basis as any Sovereign State and enjoys exactly the same immunity from suit as any other Sovereign State Catholic Diocese and Organisations in the US are not “Agents or Instrumentalities” of the Holy See and the Holy See cannot be held liable for their actions The Holy See can only be sued with respect to the Acts of its “employees” and not for the acts of Catholic Priests etc generally (Thanks to Karen for correcting my earlier version of this post.)

I wish you all a very happy Fourth of July over there in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Have a great barbecue, enjoy the fireworks, may God bless your families and ...

An article in the New York Times today reports a proposal in New York to raise the statute of limitations for crimes of child abuse so that there is a 40 year limit starting from the age of 18. The NYTasks: Should it be possible to sue the city of New York for sexual abuse by public school teachers that happened decades ago? How about doctors or hospital attendants? Police officers? Welfare workers? Playground attendants? Well yes. That's how it works. Have a chat with your local Bishop for the details. The proposal was originally an effort to expand accountability for sexual abuse by Catholic clergy but has quite rightly extended to cover abuse by people in other walks of life. In this context, the NYT story is no longer one of cover-up and denial of responsibility but of "a collision of powerful civic values". The excuses are all now tumbling out. The New York City Mayor is concerned about the potential impact for taxpayers. Welcome to the real world, Mayor. Catho...

Archbishop Chaput of Denver was speaking yesterday at the Houston Baptist University on the role of Christians in public life. His talk can be read in full at the Archdiocese of Denver website: The Vocation of Christians in American Public Life . The talk was hosted with the assistance of the John Paul II Center at the University of St Thomas. Sandro Magister has commented on the talk, and published it in full. As Fr Z comments, this is remarkable given that the speech was only given last night. See: Archbp. Chaput’s HOMERUN in Houston! The Archbishop refers to the speech given by John F Kennedy fifty years ago to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. He says of the speech: It was sincere, compelling, articulate – and wrong. Not wrong about the patriotism of Catholics, but wrong about American history and very wrong about the role of religious faith in our nation’s life. And he wasn’t merely “wrong.” His Houston remarks profoundly undermined the place not just of Catholics, ...

Thanksgiving Day is one of those things that really illustrates the difference between Britain and the USA. It also shows me each year the way that social networking can make us aware of important occasions that others celebrate: it would have passed me by completely had I not just seen various tweets about it. The Curt Jester has a good article pointing out that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in St Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565. It was the first community act of religion in the first permanent European settlement in the land: it also included both Spanish and natives. See: The actual First Thanksgiving in America Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving Day to all my readers in the USA and I hope you enjoy the turkey. God bless your families and God bless America!

St John's Valdosta has the text of a cracking letter from Bishop Thomas Tobin in response to Congressman Patrick Kennedy “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” Bishop Tobin takes the congressman to task particularly on the question of the sanctity of human life: Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church.

Bishop Sample, of Marquette MI, has written to Bishop Gumbleton to explain politely that it is the usual courtesy for a visiting Bishop to seek the approval of the local ordinary before accepting an invitation to speak in a diocese. Bishop Sample also explains that his own responsibilities would not be helped by the visit because of Bishop Gumbleton's very public positions on homosexuality and the ordination of women. Read: Bishop Sample's Statement . See also the American Papist's Commentary: Bishop Sample prevents Bishop Gumbleton from appearing in his diocese The Citizens for Peace and Social Justice are unaccountably "confused" by Bishop Sample's very clear and polite message. I think they mean that they disagree with him but it sounds better to make the passive-aggressive claim of confusion and hurt. They say Bishop Gumbleton was not told why his visit was not welcome. This is a good example of people making just any old statement in the face of the publi...

Along with many others, Fr Z has posted on the article by Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma in Eastern Oklahoma Catholic , explaining why he has returned to the practice of celebrating the Eucharistic liturgy ad orientem in his cathedral. Bishop Slattery gives a concise and readable justification of his decision. I especially liked the closing two paragraphs: This change ought not to be misconstrued as the Bishop “turning his back on the faithful,” as if I am being inconsiderate or hostile. Such an interpretation misses the point that, by facing in the same direction, the posture of the celebrant and the congregation make explicit the fact that we journey together to God. Priest and people are on this pilgrimage together. It would also be a mistaken notion to look at the recovery of this ancient tradition as a mere “turning back of the clock.” Pope Benedict has spoken repeatedly of the importance of celebrating Mass ad orientem, but his intention is not to encourage celebrants to be...

A very happy Fourth of July to all American readers. I hope you enjoy all your fireworks, barbecues and parties to celebrate "One Nation under God". God bless America! Some great pictures of American landscapes in this video and an affectionate rendering of America the Beautiful by Elvis Presley. But of course - if people need reminding - not in the liturgy .

Last August, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives made a statement dredging up the tired old nonsense about about how some theologians 500 years ago did not know about the development of the unborn child and therefore speculated on the time at which the soul was infused. As I pointed out back then, none of this has anything to do with the morality of abortion since all the said theologians were resolutely against abortion at any stage. Several US Bishops came out with statements correcting the misconceptions given by Pelosi and there followed an excellent fact sheet from the US Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities giving a concise and helpful answer to Pelosi's contention that the church's teaching on abortion has changed or is of recent origin. Today, Mrs Pelosi briefly met the Holy Father, following which the Press Office of the Holy See published this communiqué: Following the General Audience the Holy Father briefly greeted Mrs Nancy Pelosi, Spe...

President Obama has moved swiftly to assert his pro-abortion policy. Yesterday, he celebrated the anniversary of Roe v Wade, asserting that the principle was that the Government should not intrude on family matters, and offering some high-flown rhetoric about women's rights - that our daughters should have "no limits on their dreams" - provided they have managed to be born, of course. As with all pro-abortion politicians, he asserts that he is keen to reduce the need for abortion - and says that this will be accomplished by providing more contraception. (See: Obama restates his commitment to abortion rights )  The White House website has now been updated, including a section on " Reproductive Choice " Supports a Woman's Right to Choose : President Obama understands that abortion is a divisive issue, and respects those who disagree with him. However, he has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe...

Today is one of those days when I offer heartfelt prayers of thanksgiving that I do not have a television in my house. Even so, the news of Obama's inauguration is seeping through the cracks in my firewall. The Guardian's PDA digital content blog has perhaps the most superfluous sounding article of the day entitled " Obama inauguration: where to find coverage online ". I am even getting one or two emails from Government offices over here with the latest silly items that are circulating ( see below ). So I thought I should join in the hysterical euphoria balanced appraisal. The BBC's coverage is obviously going to be modelled on its coverage of World Youth Day - though in this case they will show pictures of cheering crowds of young people, drop the snide slant, and focus on the positive. In fact, they look as though they will cover all bases, including the news that Obama is in fact Scottish . To follow the action more closely, you could always try Al Jazeera...

"The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent." Outgoing US President George Bush recently issued a strong pro-life statement from the White House proclaiming 18 January 2009 as " National Sanctity of Human Life Day ."

Douglas Kmiec is a Catholic academic lawyer in the States, and a high-profile supporter of Barack Obama (he recently wrote "Can A Catholic Support Him?: Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama"). In the current issue of the US Catholic journal Commonweal, Kmiec attacked "right wing" Catholic bloggers. See A Tangled Web. The Election & the Blogosphere . Thomas Peters of American Papist has written a sensible and measured response: An open letter to Doug Kmiec (on behalf of the “right-wing Catholic blogosphere”) CNA has an article Catholic bloggers respond to Kmiec criticism which refers to the piece by Thomas Peters. It also quotes Mark Shea of Catholic and Enjoying It! : “I'm not interested in hearing Kmiec moan about how mean people from the bottom of the barrel were to him,” Shea told CNA. “I’m interested in hearing his responses to the very intelligent critiques of his position that were offered by a number of very respectable and honorable Catholics...

H/T to Fr Z for the link to this video concerning the challenge to pro-lifers in the USA especially from Obama's promise to sign the "Freedom of Choice Act" which will have the effect of compelling doctors to perform abortions or lose their job. See Fr Z's post The future and our choices for further comment.

Today I said the Mass and Office Saint Didacus of Alcalá who is more popularly known as San Diego. The saintly Franciscan lay brother died in 1463 and was canonised by Pope Sixtus V in 1588. in 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno claimed the Mission Bay and gave the area the name of San Diego. Happy Feast Day to any readers from San Diego!

Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, has an article in Public Discourse on Obama's Abortion Extremism . George argues that Obama is "the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress" and analyses his pro-abortion record in some detail.

Gerald Warner has a good post on the American election thingy that we are all dutifully trying to keep up with: Democrat attacks on Sarah Palin have backfired The squalor of the Democrat muck-raking has seriously annoyed a lot of women who do not share many of the candidate's views but recognise that the points of vulnerability where she has been attacked were precisely those arising from her role as wife and mother. Pregnant teenage daughter? There is not a hockey mom in America who does not empathise, with the private thought "There but for the grace of God"... So, her son-in-law-to-be was caught fishing for salmon out of season - that is pure Huckleberry Finn. Some American women are beginning to recognise that the Democrats talk a good game about shattering glass ceilings - provided the beneficiary is a liberal feminist who has bitched her way to the top; but if an average American wife and mother presumes to come out from behind the white picket fence she will be p...

Archbishop Raymond Burke has been appointed as prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. His departure will be a great loss for the Diocese of St Louis but a great gain for the Vatican. Archbishop Burke, who is 60 on Monday, was Bishop of La Crosse from 1995 until he was named as Archbishop of St Louis in 2003 to replace Archbishop Rigali. He has established oratories for those who attend the Traditional Latin Mass and has invited the Institute of Christ the King into his diocese. Last year, he ordained two of their priests in the traditional rite in the Cathedral Basilica of St Louis. During the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, he publicly stated that pro-abortion politicians should not receive Holy Communion (obviously intending to include John Kerry). When questioned during another controversy about his firm and uncompromising defence the sanctity of life, he said: "Is there something unusual about a bishop saying that it’s wrong to be in favor of pr...