Sunday Newsletter
Masses Today
6.30: Bridie and Patrick Harlowe, (Anniv).11.00: Maureen Kenny (Month's Mind).
6.30: Kate Folan, (Anniv).
- Masses Sunday, April 27th: 6.30: (Vigil) Michael & Peg Molloy; 11.00: Josephine & Joseph Kelly; 6.30: Michael & Mary O'Malley.
- COLLECTION: Last Sunday's (Vocations' Sunday) collection amounted to €1,420.00.
- TABLE QUIZ: What is now an annual Table Quiz in aid of Father Sean Murphy's Salesian Missions in southern Africa will be held at the Westwood Hotel on Tuesday next, April 22nd at 8.30pm. Funds will be directed towards poverty relief projects run by Father Seán Murphy. Table of 4 for €30. Lots of table prizes and monster (i.e. very large) raffle on the night. For more information, contact Tom Murphy (the brother!) at 522125.
- SERVERS PARTING: Brothers Benedict and Dominic D'Aosta have been with us here in St. Augustine's for a couple of years now. They attend school in 'The Bish' and St. Pat's respectively. They are our two most faithful Altar Servers here. In fact both boys are accomplished artists. Both carried off First Prize in their respective categories in our annual Summer Festival children's Art Competition. Sadly, they are returning to India for an extended period, at least. In fact they have told me that the move may be more permanent. So this is their last Sunday serving here in the Augustinian. We will miss them both very, very much. But we wish them well and we hope that they will keep in contact with us and their fellow Altar Servers here.
- SATURDAY MASS: The Vigil Mass on Saturday next, April 26th will be enhanced by the singing of a Drogheda group called The Tredagh Singers. They will sing Hayden's Missa Brevis.
As I Was Saying...
Pope Benedict occupied centre stage this week. On the surface, here is the staunchly conservative face of Roman Catholicism. (What else could he be?) And his task was to take his 'conservative' message to the most liberal Catholic flock in the world. This, as so often happens in journalism today, is a gross simplification.
The Catholic Church in America is a varied and complex organism. It has a highly conservative and influential 'Roman' component. From my experience, it is the 'Roman' wing that is most prominent in the pews on Sunday morning there! (Admittedly, my experience was rather limited: three successive Summers working in a parish in the early 1980s.) The 'Romans' were always eager to take the preacher to task for perceived deviations from the Roman line! And by God, could they quote Canon Law at you! Where were the Liberal American Catholics when I needed them?
The Pope will find ample evidence of Catholic enthusiasm in the States. And this is not a new phenomenon. The Pastor I was doing 'locum' for in the early 80s was by no stretch of the imagination a dynamic man. (In fact I once heard him described as 'static'!) But the parish itself was a hive of activity. It was very highly organised and clinically efficiently. That parish had a range of ministries that I had not experienced before. (It was the first time I encountered the ministry of 'Usher', and there were over fifty of them on the rota). There was a level of lay involvement that an Irish Parish Priest would give his eye teeth for - if he still had them!
Benedict is aware of this. He does realise fully that the American Church is a very different bird to the European Church. The European Church is perceived by Rome as tired and lethargic. Benedict recognises that the Church in the US is very different indeed: it is in fact the most vital and vibrant local church in the "First World". Moreover, Benedict clearly understands that America is anything but a a post- Christian society, and that the Church in America still punches well above its weight. In fact its influence in the area of public debate would be the envy of most countries of Western Europe. (The American Church is hugely influential in the abortion debate, for example. What European Church can claim a similar influence?)
But the American Catholics are far from complacent. On the contrary, they are accustomed to the practice of rigorous self-criticism. And loads of self-criticism was required in the wake of what came to light in 2002: a pattern of clerical sexual abuse and episcopal negligence that came to a head just as the century turned. Americans are accustomed to 'naming the issue', to 'belling the cat', to a frankness we Europeans are not accustomed to. They are a 'can-do' people. Understandably then, they were very angry with the reticence and 'foot-dragging' of Rome on this issue. As they probably discovered this week, they may have found in Benedict an unlikely ally.
-Dick Lyng
PROTECTING THE POPE
Ever since 9/11, Americans are very security-conscious. Of course that 'obsession' is heightened when the guest is none other than the Pope. The most recognizable vehicle in Washington, this week was the "Popemobile". The term is affectionately applied to the protective glass enclosed Mercedes-Benz that takes the Holy Father from one event to another during his pastoral journeys.
The Popemobile originated during the pontificate of John Paul II as a manner to provide the most visibility while maintaining safety for the Pope during his apostolic visits. Of course the near-fatal shooting of the Polish Pope in May 1981 made security consideration central to any papal exposure. All future modes of papal transport had to meet stringent security standards. So the vehicle is now encased with protective glass, which has a capability of protecting the Holy Father from any attempt to harm him physically with bullets or even bombs.
The cabin of the Popemobile is climate controlled and has just one solitary seat. From this seat the Pope greets faithful crowds all over the world.
Protecting the Pope is the responsibility of the United States Secret Service while he is in the U.S. Members of the Papal Swiss Guards and Italian Cabinieri also lend support to the security detail when the Holy Father travels outside of the Vatican.
The Popemobile is actually manufactured by various auto companies. The vehicle being used during the visit to Washington, D.C. and New York is made especially for the Pope by Mercedes-Benz.
The papal fleet contains three Popemobiles and they are always shipped ahead of the Pope's foreign trips whenever he leaves Vatican City.
Pope Benedict XVI used the Popemobile three times in Washington D.C. and once in New York.
'Good Counsel Triduum'
April 23, 24 & 25
Devotions each evening at 7.30 Feast Day Mass, Saturday, April 26, at 11.00
Triduum Director:
John Hughes, OSA
Items of Great Interest!
- Annual Triduum: As indicated above, our Mother of Good Counsel begins on Wednesday evening next at 7.30. The Director and Preacher this year will be John Huges, OSA. John was born in The Neale, near Cong in 1950. He joined the Augustinian Order in 1968 and was ordained in 1974. Since then he has served in many demanding posts: teacher in Dungarvan, Parish Priest in Finglas, and Prior in John's Lane in Dublin. When Diarmuid Martin was appointed Archbishop, he asked John to serve in the archdiocese as Episcopal Vicar for Priests. It is a fulltime job and it is quite delicate and demanding at this point in the life of the Church, as you can imagine. We are delighted to have him with us for the few days. We know that he will devote his considerable energy and enthusiasm exclusively to the Triduum for those four days.
- REMOTE REMINDER: Six young people have already applied to travel on the Irish Augustinian National Youth Pilgrimage to places of Augustinian interest in Italy later this year. A wonderful experience is guaranteed. It is billed to coincide with the Halloween mid-term break at the end of October 2008. If you are interested, please contact Father Niall here in the Priory immediately. You really should be getting your names on the books now if you intend to travel.
Distribution of Priests
- Europe and North America together have 45% of the world's Catholics, and 77% of the world's priests. Latin America and the Philippines together have 45% of the world's Catholics, but have only 12% of the world's priests. That is a 6 to 1 proportion in favour of Europe and North America.
- In 1998, 52% of the world's priests were living in Europe, while the biggest growth area of Catholic population in the world is sub-Saharan Africa.
- The Third World population grew by 28% in the years 1984 to 1994. In the same period the number of priests in it grew by 7%, i.e. at a quarter of the growth rate of the population. Between 1978 and 1998, the number of people per priest in Africa rose from 3251 to 4483. In South America it increased by one third.
(The Furrow)