Mass Suffering and Televised Masses: Watch Me Eat for You! Watch ME!

Coronavirus: A Spanish bishop has hit out at the “bombardment” of the faithful with coronavirus TV broadcast and livestreamed Masses, asking:

“Aren’t we treating believers as if they don’t know how to pray, and should depend on the clergy to do so?"https://t.co/oWX8Vcu6Y2

— Novena News (@novenanews) March 26, 2020

Recommending "The List" — Commentary on Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and Its Yet to Be Fulfilled Promise to Release List of Abusive Priests

As I have noted in previous postings (a bibliography is appended at the end of this posting, covering the past several years), the diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the last dioceses in the nation to release a list of priests credibly accused of abusing minors, though its sister diocese in Raleigh long since published its list. As I've also noted (again, please see the bibliography below), Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis promised this year that he would release a list of credibly accused priests prior to the end of the year.

What We Are Now Living Through Creates a Serious Crisis of Religious Faith

In the video above, discussing the death of 16-year-old Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez in a detention center for immigrants this past May, Mika Brzezinski states that Nancy Pelosi is filling a leadership void and a moral void in this country. Joe Scarborough then states that evangelicals used to fill this moral void and no longer do so:

Father Tom Doyle's Recent Lecture, "What the Sexual Abuse Phenomenon Has Done to the Catholic Church"

I'd like to point you today to a resource Ruth Krall has told me about: as the video at the head of the posting indicates, recently, a lecture that Father Tom Doyle gave last month at Gonzaga University has come online in video format. The lecture is entitled "What the Sexual Abuse Phenomenon Has Done to the Catholic Church," and was presented under the auspices of Gonzaga's Flannery Lecture series.

Bishop Bransfield Authors "One of the Finest Pastoral Letters on Poverty" Michael Sean Winters Has Read: My Response

In an essay about the scandal that is Bishop "$182,000 for Cut Flowers" Bransfield, entitled "Lavish living by Catholic hierarchy is moral corruption," Michael Sean Winters says that Bransfield has published "one of the finest pastoral letters on poverty I have read."

Frédéric Martel on the Tragedy That Is the Pastoral Career of Joseph Ratzinger — A Tragedy for the Entire Church

From Frédéric Martel, In the Closet of the Vatican, on the tragedy of Joseph Ratzinger's (Benedict XVI's) pastoral career:

Front Page News Today in Charlotte, North Carolina: "PRIESTS ACCUSED OF SEX ABUSE — The Charlotte Diocese Has Not Released Lists"

On the front page of today's Charlotte Observer: a headline reading, "PRIESTS ACCUSED OF SEX ABUSE," with a notice that the Catholic diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, still has not released names of priests credibly accused of child sex abuse. The headline points readers to an article inside the front section of the paper that appeared several days ago in the online copy of the paper, but is being published in the print-media copy for the first time for today's Sunday edition. 

As U.S. Bishops (Some of Them) Pray Together, Twitter Comments: "Through It All, and Still Today, the Bishops Have Attempted to Deflect Blame for the Crisis Onto Others"

Demonstrators lined up outside a Catholic bishops' retreat in suburban Mundelein to protest church officials’ handling of sexual abuse allegations. https://t.co/SlIFES370u pic.twitter.com/Qvzz4sRlw8

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) January 6, 2019

Twitter keeps talking about the pray-and-repent retreat of the U.S. Catholic bishops this past week, and I keep finding tweets I think are worth sharing with you. In the thread below, I've repeated one I've already shared from Michael J. O'Loughlin, in tandem with ones from Michael Bayer and Legionary of Christ priest Father Matthew to illustrate a point one constantly encounters in discussions of Catholic matters online: where does the truth lie? When one person's set of facts appears flatly to contradict another person's set of facts — and those peddling false information almost never apologize for doing so and retract their, em, well, perhaps it's uncharitable to call them lies, but….

Tweets About the Bishops' Retreat: "Secrecy, Hypocrisy, and an Arrogant Refusal to Be Held Accountable"

Things are likely to be tense when the US Catholic bishops meet at their closed-door retreat near Chicago this week. The credibility of the president of the U.S. bishops' was just called into question with the leak of a Vatican letter. https://t.co/myU3QVCBx1

— Laurie Goodstein (@lauriegnyt) January 2, 2019

Here's a selection of tweets commenting on the U.S. Catholic bishops' retreat in Chicago — with one or two comments focusing on the state of the U.S. Catholic church in general:

German Catholic Bishops on Abuse: Church Is at "Point of No Return" and Has Been Exposed as "Perpetrator Organization" — What Now?

Christa Pongratz-Lippitt, "Bishops must open archives to 'independent experts'":

Commentary on U.S. Bishops' Meeting: "The Moral Credibility of Catholic Bishops in the United States Is in Tatters"

Barry Blitt's "Welcome to Congress" cover for New Yorker, 9 November 2018

Now if a knock-off cover could only be produced, showing all those whited-out men in suits as the Catholic bishops at their latest meeting….

Me, Talking Back to National Catholic Reporter and Michael Sean Winters re: Resignation of Donald Wuerl

Wuerl hounded from office for becoming face of abuse crisis https://t.co/N2pHeSpgcP via @ncronline

"He has been for 30 years a force of nature in the Catholic Church in this country, a workhorse for the conference and for the Vatican and for the dioceses he served." /1

— 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙳. 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚎𝚢 (@wdlindsy) October 12, 2018

My "Final" Take on the Viganò Narrative: I Am Frankly Not Sure That Catholicism Can Be Cleansed of Hatred of Queer People

One possible explanation of Pope Francis's silence on Viganò: to respond to the accusations would require him to directly critique the conduct of his immediate predecessors.
For the record, I think that should happen. But one can see why he would want to think carefully first.

— Brian Flanagan (@BrianPFlanagan) September 2, 2018

Plus, one has been canonized as a saint, which makes it...complicated.

— Brian Flanagan (@BrianPFlanagan) September 2, 2018

I don't know about you, but I'm worn out from trying to make heads nor tails of the Viganò story — and most of all, from the cynical post-truth, fake news games being played by him and his co-conspirators, and the ugly use being made of his narrative by some very nefarious groups of people. Here are a few late-breaking tidbits for you to chew over: 

Catholics Talking, Walking: "It Is Time to Stop Waiting for More Reports to Accumulate, Hoping That Something Will Finally Be Done about This"

Colm O'Gorman to Shelagh Fogarty, "Leading Britain's Conversation" Interview, by way of Sandra Glab

Amanda Auchter, "I’m A Lifelong Catholic. Here’s Why I’ve Finally Decided To Leave The Church":

Joanna Moorhead in The Guardian on Pope's Letter re: Sexual Crimes of Clergy and Cover-up by Church Officials — "[H]ow Dare You Ask Ordinary Catholics Like Me to Atone?"

Joanna Moorhead for The Guardian on papal letter about clerical abuse crimes and their cover-up by church officials:

Anthea Butler Responds to Pope's Statement re: Clergy Sex Crimes: "Stop Passing the Buck Onto the People of God Instead of the Catholic Hierarchy"

That's not the issue. The issue is, the cycles of revelation of the malfeasance of the church and the hierarchy in protecting their own at the expense of children and families is hypocritical in light of the theology of the body and sexuality.

— ProfB (@AntheaButler) August 20, 2018

Religious studies professor Anthea Butler responds to the latest papal statement about the abuse horror show, and, as ever tells the God's truth:

"For they preach but they do not practice": An Appeal for Justice to U.S. Bishops and Pastors — Please Consider Signing

A theologian-colleague who is a friend of mine shared this letter with me today, asking me to consider signing it as a theologian. It's a letter that will be sent to the U.S. Catholic bishops, and  Catholic pastoral workers, theologians, and activists in the U.S. are being encouraged to read and sign it. If you're inclined to sign, you'll see directions at the bottom of the letter instructing you how to do so and what information to provide. Thanks for considering this very good initiative and sharing it. I believe the deadline for signing is Sunday night (August 19).

Here's the statement:

More Commentary on Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, as Vatican Sends Thoughts and Prayers

Elizabeth Bruenig, "Evil walked the earth in Pennsylvania":

That there should be mass defrockings is obvious. That there should also be a swath of criminal convictions also seems beyond question….Evil is real, and it walked the earth in Pennsylvania. It entered through our church doors.

Catholic Church and LGBTQ People: Clues, Hearsay, Spectacularly Failed Pastoral Leadership in Face of Oppression and Suffering

Jamie L. Manson, "For LGBTQ Catholics, there is little hope in hearsay":

Alan McCornick on Cardinal Marx, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship on LGBTQ Employees, Heated Debate About Progressive Evangelicals and LGBTQ Lives: News

Trump's Statement on Alleged Abuser #RobPorter: 'Him-He-Him-Him-He-He-He-He-Him-He-He-He-He-He-He-Him-Him-He-He' - https://t.co/4r5XVaIB4s It's been a "tough time" for top aide accused of domestic violence, but nothing to say about ex-wives who suffered

— Common Dreams (@commondreams) February 9, 2018

I'd like to recommend today good commentary by my friend Alan McCornick about the story of Cardinal Marx and the case of the disappearing yes (aka, My God! No! We can't possibly bless you!).  Alan's commentary, entitled "The price of a blessing," is at his Hepzibah blog. Alan speaks German fluently and has an advantage many of us lack, when it comes to reading and summing up what the German media have been saying about this story.