Obama-ND controversy on Vatican radar?

Catholic News Service's Vatican reporter John Thavis writes an interesting post on the CNS blog about whether or not the walls of the Vatican are stirring over the controversy on this side of the Atlantic surrounding President Obama's impending graduation speech to (and honoray law degree from) the University of Notre Dame. Thavis' analysis: So far, not much noise. If anything is being said, it seems to be out of the public view there. The event is not scheduled to happen until May 17 (and I'll bet he gets a standing ovation), so there is still time for the press there to corner a U.S. prelate or two and get a few comments to stir things up even more.

Bishop meets red hats

... OK, not those red hats. On a day when Pope Benedict was busy, Bishop Sheridan ran into the Red Hat Society of Divine Redeemer Parish during his Bishop's Guild luncheon yesterday. Thanks to Esperanza Griffith for the photo.

New cardinals, red hat in Texas

Photo from Catholic News Service.

I have to say, today's Vatican news of the first cardinal appointed for Texas didn't come as a complete shock to me, but it did happen a little sooner than I thought. While working for Texas Catholic in Dallas, editor Bronson Havard and I often talked about how the south (or more appropriately the southwest) was ready for a cardinal appointment. The creation of the Houston/Galveston Archdiocese at the end of 2004 made me think that a red hat was imminent in Texas. With the immigration (and Catholic) explosion in Texas over the last decade, it became clear that the Vatican needed to keep that part of the country on its radar. Pope Benedict XVI apparently felt the same way.

What did surprise me is how St. Louis and New Orleans continue to be ignored in the appointments, and that neither of the new archbishops in Baltimore (O'Brien) or Washington, D.C. (Wuerl) were elevated. But I think the latter two will happen at the next consistory, which seem to take place every 2-3 years.

And it's nice to see Archbishop Foley get elevated. I met him several times at Catholic Press Association conventions when he was the head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He is a fascinating person to talk to and a holy man, and I would love to find a way to get him here to give a talk in our diocese.

Tridentine Mass on EWTN

From EWTN headquarters in Irondale, Ala...

EWTN Global Catholic Network will broadcast a Solemn High Mass in the extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, live from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama, on Friday, September 14th, at 8 AM.

In our Sept. 21 issue, the Herald will look at the launching of the motu proprio (which goes into effect on Sept. 14) and what it may mean for our diocese. Also, around that time, a special 30-minute interview with Bishop Sheridan on this topic will start airing on KFEL-970 AM.

Vocations talk

I was reading a wire article in the Gazette Sunday morning (this link is to a lengthier version of the story on another site) on how religious orders are trying to use Web tools like blogs, YouTube and Facebook to recruit vocations. Nice to see the New Evangelization in action. The Gazette version came with this text pulled out into a sidebar:

The Catholic Church is desperate to reverse a decades-long decline in religious vocations. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, the number of Catholic nuns in the United States has plunged from 179,954 in 1965 to 67,773 in 2006. For priests, the figures are only slightly better: a decline from 58,632 to 41,794. During the same period, the number of men being ordained priests annually fell by half, from 994 to 431.

The reasons for the downturn are varied: more secular lifestyles; more career options, especially for women; and family pressure not to join a religious order.

Yes, there is a sense of desperation these days about vocations, but amid that there is some encouraging news. Of course, you never hear the good news (unless it comes from the Catholic press) because, in the secular media, no sane man or woman would consider giving his or her life to Christ as a priest or nun. That, of course, would mean celibacy (at least in the Roman Catholic Church) and you'd have to be crazy to give up sexual intimacy. Ahh, I digress. That's a theology of the body discussion for another time (or you can read this link). Remind me to mention two awesome TOB-related talks coming to the diocese later this year. Anyhow, that same CARA survey shows that the number of seminarians in the U.S. in 1995 at 3,172 and actually growing -- even if it is slightly -- to 3,306 in 2006. That was only two less seminarians than in 2005, so we may be seeing some stability in new vocation numbers. In the Diocese of Colorado Springs, the number of seminarians has slowly increased in recent years. One, Father Rafael Torres-Rico, was ordained this summer and two more -- Bob Newbury and Kirk Slattery -- are scheduled to be ordained priests over the next year.

On a related note, here's a very intersting CARA breakdown of seminarians in 2007.

Pope reminds that Catholic Church is the one, true Christian church

This will no doubt be criticized as "triumphalistic," but isn't part of being Catholic believing that your church holds the fullness of the faith? I would expect followers of other faiths to believe the same, so for the pope to remind Catholics that the Catholic Church is the one, true Christian church really shouldn't be news.

The Vatican text of the statement is here. Just scroll down to the English version.