Global Rosary Relay aims for 1 billion Hail Marys for priests

Denver Newsroom, Jun 22, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The newly elected president of the Austrian bishops’ conference has sought to clarify his role in the publication of a book that suggests how a Church blessing of same-sex couples might be “celebrated” in Catholic churches.

Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg was elected last week to chair the Austrian bishops’ conference. He has been connected to a controversial book concerning the possibility of “official” liturgical blessings of homosexual unions.

While Lackner has been reported to have commissioned or even published the book, a spokesperson said June 18 that the archbishop put in motion a study project on same-sex liturgical blessings, but he did not oversee the publication of that particular text.

The book, “The Benediction of Same-Sex Partnerships,” is edited by Father Ewald Volgger, director of the Institute for Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology at the Catholic Private University of Linz.

In its June 16 report on Lackner’s election as head of the Austrian bishops’ conference, CNA noted that the archbishop had served as chairman of the liturgical commission that commissioned the book.

Other reports have suggested a more direct connection between Lackner and the text.

In an April interview about the book’s release with KirchenZeitung, Volgger said that “the Austrian liturgical commission, chaired by Arcbishop Lackner, asked us to deal with” liturgical issues related to homosexuality, including the question of blessings for same-sex couples, which are the topic of the book.

English newspaper The Tablet reported May 6 that the book was “initiated by the archdiocese of Salzburg,” and that “the Austrian liturgical commission, chaired by Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg had commissioned the book’s authors to address the question of an official benediction.”

New Ways Ministries, which describes itself as a “a gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian and gay Catholics,” reported May 25 that Lackner was responsible for publishing the book, because of “his desire for a more inclusive church.”

Television news program EWTN News Nightly also reported June 16 that Lackner commissioned the book. CNA and EWTN News Nightly are both services of EWTN News.

But in a June 18 email obtained by CNA, a spokesperson for the archbishop said that Lackner did not directly commission the book edited by Volgger, because his term as liturgical commission chairman ended in 2018. The archbishop did initiate the liturgical commission’s years-long study project on liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, the spokesperson explained.

While he was chairman, Lackner “asked the LKÖ to discuss the topic of liturgical offers for people in homosexual relationships in general,” the spokesperson said.

In the book’s foreword, Volgger offered more insight on the archbishop’s request.

“In the Liturgical Commission for Austria (LKÖ) on February 27th 2015 in Salzburg, the then chairman, Archbishop Franz Lackner, asked for an exchange on the question of blessings of homosexual couples. The occasion was a blessing ceremony in Switzerland, which had great media attention. In the discussion it became clear that  a moral theological clarification is needed, as well as a change in the magisterium on this point to allow for an official liturgy for same-sex couples.”

The blessing ceremony Volgger referenced was performed by a Swiss Protestant Reformed minister; the media attention Volgger referenced included an interview in which the minister, Sibylle Forrer, explained why she conferred the blessing.

According to Lackner’s spokesperson, the archbishop’s request “led to a study day in February 2016 and the LKÖ agreed, that the results of this study day should be compiled and that the topic should be further monitored.”

The 2020 text was part of the ongoing development of that project, as Volgger indicated to KirchenZeitung, as was a 2019 symposium on the topic. But since November 2018, Bishop Anton Leichtfried of St. Polten has overseen the Austrian liturgical commission. 

In his April interview, Volgger said that from his viewpoint, there are “a considerable number of bishops who would like to see a rethinking of sexual morality for the evaluation of same-sex partnerships.”

The priest also said that “a benediction,” of a same-sex couple “as it is proposed from a liturgical-theological point of view, would also have an official character, through which the Church expresses the obligation of fidelity and the exclusiveness of the relationship.”

In 2003, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”

CNA asked Lackner’s spokesperson why the archbishop was only now attempting to clarify his involvement, given that he has been reported for months to be responsible for the book. CNA also asked whether the book has the official approval of the Austrian bishops’ conference, of which Lackner is now president, or of the conference’s liturgical commission.

The archdiocese has not yet responded.

 

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CNA Staff, May 16, 2020 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- The Polish Bishops’ Conference is encouraging the faithful to participate in a social media campaign to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pope St. John Paul II on Monday.

Pope St. John Paul II was born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. In 1978, he made history as the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years. Pope St. John Paul II is credited with helping bring about the fall of communism in his native Poland. He was canonized as a saint in 2014.

Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, the president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, encouraged Catholics to share their memories and witness of how the saint had influenced their life and faith on social media using the hashtag #ThankYouJohnPaul2.

Gądecki encouraged Catholics to post photos and videos to honor the saint’s legacy.

“In this way we can express our gratitude to Pope John Paul II, for what he has brought and brings to our personal, family and social life, for all the meetings we had with him, in which we had the opportunity to participate, for his words, which we remember the most, for the inspirations he has evoked and continues to evoke in us,” Gądecki said. 

“We can also publish the memories associated with him. In this way, we will also tell about St. John Paul II to the young generation which did not have the opportunity to get to know the Pope more closely, but is so much present in social media.”

Internet users have already answered the call to create “a virtual birthday cake” for the saint, as well as honor his call for the Church to “cross this new threshold” to “put out into the deep of cyberspace” for evangelization.

Let us participate in the hashtag #ThankYouJohnPaul2 initiative.

Let’s publish in social media photos of the Pope and videos with thanks to St. John Paul II.

The 100th anniversary of Karol Wojtyla’s birth is already on May 18!

More: https://t.co/mkGiG16qFV pic.twitter.com/aJEi6nkri9

— Church in Poland (@ChurchInPoland) May 11, 2020

 

 

“Love is a task that God constantly sets for us, perhaps to give us courage to stand up to fate.” (St. John Paul II Meeting with youth, Gdansk, 1987)#ThankYouJohnPaul2#SaintJohnPaul2_100YearsBirthday pic.twitter.com/LIRSJOVMLI

— John (@John02119846) May 14, 2020

 

 

#ThankYouJohnPaul2 #DziękujęCiJaniePawle2 my Mom in in the white shirt. 1990’s in ROME. pic.twitter.com/ZYNtgml4Jm

— Chris. J. Wądołowski (@cjwadolowski) May 13, 2020

 

 

Today, 39 years have passed since the attack of Saint John Paul II. Let us have the courage to testify of Christ in our daily lives and forgive our brothers #ThankYouJohnPaul2 @ChurchInPoland @EpiskopatNews pic.twitter.com/KJdE4l1NBc

— Kamil Wojciechowski (@wojciechowski58) May 13, 2020

 

 

Dziękuję św. #JPII, że dane mi było dorastać, odkrywać powołanie, kształtować umysł i serce podczas Jego pontyfikatu. Dziękuję za świadectwo, każde słowo powiedziane i napisane oraz za spotkania w Ojczyźnie i w Rzymie #ThankYouJohnPaul2 pic.twitter.com/1AuqTAQ4YP

— ks. Janusz Chyła ?? (@Janusz1967) May 11, 2020

 

 

#ThankYouJohnPaul2 I couldn’t imagine another pope at that times. Vatican was like little Poland. I turned on TV and heard Polish. Always couldn’t wait for his next pilgrimage to PL.
Here something personal: visit to my city. Incredible storm, strong words… I was a baby then… pic.twitter.com/Utg2QuHGZ5

— nienawidzę obłudy#❤??!???????‍? (@patkon1701) May 12, 2020

 

 

#ThankYouJohnPaul2
Amor e gratidão, Centenario de nascimento de São João Paulo II. pic.twitter.com/aVmXmrAp8R

— Helena Prim Janning (@JanningPrim) May 14, 2020

 

 

Za to, że jesteś z nami cały czas. Że modlisz się za naszą biedną Polskę!#ThankYouJohnPaul2 ?? pic.twitter.com/XciuhYEuEb

— Patrick Czajkus (@patrickCzajkus7) May 12, 2020

 

 

Za piękny przykład trwania na modlitwie #ThankYouJohnPaul2 pic.twitter.com/4fH32j9H2T

— ks. Mateusz Wyrobkiewicz ?? (@M_Wyrobkiewicz) May 12, 2020

 

 

#ThankYouJohnPaul2 pic.twitter.com/haVC6ua2Ia

— Witold Narwojsz (@Witold_Narwojsz) May 11, 2020

 

 

JAN PAWEŁ II WIELKI. LIST BENEDYKTA XVI [PEŁNA TREŚĆ]

W liście Benedykta XVI można dostrzec miłość i podziw dla Jana Pawła II. List pozwala jeszcze lepiej zrozumieć historię życia i działalność Wielkiego Papieża #JanPawełII #ThankYouJohnPaul2 #Wojtylahttps://t.co/teTlvUxOnb

— EWTN Polska (@EWTNPL) May 15, 2020

[…]

Santander, Spain, Jul 18, 2018 / 05:17 pm (ACI Prensa).- How do you go from being a bartender who has not attended Mass for 15 years to becoming a priest?

For Fr. Juan de Cáceres, the answer is that God was persistent in pursing his heart and revealing his call.

Today, Fr. Juan is a priest of the Diocese of Santander in Spain. But he had been away from the sacraments for 15 years when he had a conversion that allowed him to hear God’s call in his life.

After finishing his undergraduate studies, Juan enrolled in law school. However, he was not a good student, and in 2006, at the age of 28, he decided to quit law school to open a trendy bar in Santander.

However, with the onset of the economic crisis in Spain, what had initially promised to be a successful business became the focus of his financial problems, compounded by the crisis of turning 30 and feeling a lack of direction in his life.

“I was really lost, drowning in debt and with the [economic] crisis, there were almost no customers. In addition, my friends quit going out like they used to. They began to get married and stopped dating. I found myself all alone,” he said in an interview with the El Diario Montañés news.

While Juan had stopped going to Mass 15 years ago, a friend invited him to some talks on prayer, which became the turning point that changed his life.

At first, he went to the talks to spend time with his friend. But something within him changed little-by-little: he began to go to Mass again, returned to confession, and re-enrolled in school.

His life started to come together again, until two years after that new beginning, he “felt the call” to the priesthood.

But his first reaction was “to say no.”

“I came up with all kinds of objections: my work, my debts, my life. I thought what I needed to do was to settle down, meet a woman who would make me very happy and have a family. But God is very insistent! And from then on, he would not let that thought out of my heart or mind,” he told El Diario Montañés.

When he decided to discern a vocation, he asked then-Bishop Vicente Jiménez of Santander if he could enter seminary in another city, because “had to keep his distance” from his past life. He entered a seminary in Pamplona, about 120 miles away.

“I was working at the bar up to the day before going to Pamplona, where I spent three fantastic years,” he recalled. During that time, Fr. Juan also worked with the Chinese Catholic community.

He was ordained a priest last January and was assigned to serve four parishes in Santander. He also teaches religion classes three days a week to teenagers.

The experience of being a bartender ended up having value for the priest, who noted that during those years, “I was sort of a confessor to everyone.”

He also helps foster vocations in the diocese because as he explains, “a lot of people have felt the same way I did, but they haven’t figured out how to follow up…I’m here to listen and guide.”

 

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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