Boulder, Colo., Sep 23, 2014 / 04:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Beneath the complex and violent situation in the Middle East lies a deficiency of love, said Lebanese-born Christian André Houssney at a recent talk in Boulder, Colo. “This is a ... Read more

Detroit, Mich., Sep 23, 2014 / 02:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After it was announced that Pope Francis had appointed a commission to study a reform of the process of marriage annulment, a canonist in the U.S. has suggested that dropping the requirement for mandatory appeals could preserve justice in the process. “Mandatory appeal” is the requirement that to have a supposed marriage recognized as in fact null, when one tribunal finds it to be null, the case must be sent to an appeals tribunal to affirm the decision, before it is official. Mandatory appeal “seldom results in reversing affirmative decisions made in first instance and amounts therefore in a many-month delay in completing cases for no obvious reason,” wrote Dr. Edward Peters, professor of canon law at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, in his Sept. 22 blogpost, “The annulment argument: a quick guide to the two sides.” “Besides,” he continued, “if one does not trust the officers of first instance to reach a sound result, why should one trust the officers of second? While they sit on different cases they are often the very same people.” The Vatican announced Saturday that on Aug. 27 – nearly a month ago – Pope Francis had established the commission to study reform of the annulment process. It is chaired by Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Roman Rota, a sort of appeals court of the Roman Curia, and other members are fellow tribunal members; the head of the pontifical council which interprets canon law; the rector of the Angelicum; canon law professors; the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and a Greek Catholic bishop. The commission will “focus on the preparation of a proposal for the reform of the marriage annulment process, seeking to simplify and streamline the procedure, while safeguarding the principle of the indissoluble nature of marriage,” the Holy See press office stated. The announcement comes amid preparations for the Oct. 5-19 extraordinary synod of bishops on “pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization.” As part of its preparations, Cardinal Walter Kasper of Germany has proposed that there be “other more pastoral and spiritual procedures” for determining the validity of a marriage than the use of tribunals. Several other cardinals quickly opposed Cardinal Kasper's suggestions, including Mueller, Caffarra, Brandmueller, Bagnasco, Sarah, Re, Ruini, and De Paolis. In his Monday blogpost serving as a guide to the two sides in the argument, Peters suggested that the side taken by those such as Cardinal Kasper “seeks not so much reform of the annulment process as its effective abolishment,” and that those like Cardinal Caffarra are “mistaken if (they) think the annulment problem lies in the annulment process.” Those wishing to uphold the indissolubility of marriage, he said, must remember that “nothing about current canon and special law makes declaring marriage nullity easy,” and that nullity must be proven on the basis of sworn testimony. This group, Peters suggested, may actually think that the members of marriage tribunals may be “too naive, too heterodox, or just too lazy” to be trusted in deciding nullity, but such a judgment is hasty. “Nevertheless that is essentially their claim: the process needs no major reform, processors do,” Peters wrote. Peters then said that those such as Cardinal Kasper, were they pushed “to be clear” about what they seek, would admit it “is the 'de-juridicization' of the annulment process.” “It’s their right, of course, to make such a proposal, but one should not confuse calls tantamount to elimination of a process with calls for reform of a process,” Peters noted. He added that the present aspects of the annulment process are necessary to make it a just process, though he suggested two which are not necessary: the defender of the bond, and mandatory appeal. The defender of the bond must propose and explain everything which is reasonably evidence against a marriage's nullity. Peters stated that the office was instituted by Benedict XIV, who had “decades of legal experience dealing with real human beings gained within a Church drawing on centuries of pastoral experience dealing with real human beings,” and added, “I would be loath to see that office abolished.” He did, however, object less to the abolition of mandatory appeal, though he also noted that no one “thinks that members of the second group [i.e Kasper's] would be satisfied with … such ancillary reforms.” “No, what the second group really wants, I think, is to eliminate the annulment process precisely as a juridic process.” Peters wrote that such suggestions would place the determination of nullity in the hands of the couple themselves, or their pastor, or their marriage counselor. “Inescapably, though, such a proposal requires this: dropping the canonical presumption that when people wed they marry validly, so we don’t need a canonical process to determine whether that presumption withstands objective scrutiny; alternatively … dropping the idea that Jesus meant everything he said about marriage, divorce, fornication, and adultery.” Accepting that Christ meant his teachings about marriage and divorce, Peters urged, means that “people who wed should be accorded the presumption that they are married, and – no matter what one finally calls it – a juridic process to test that presumption and, in turn, to respect those teachings, is going to be required.”   Read more

Washington D.C., Sep 23, 2014 / 12:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pro-life Republicans and Democrats alike have voiced condemnation for the findings of a recent report showing that federal subsidies are funding abortion coverage in the Affordable Care Act. ... Read more

Oklahoma City, Okla., Sep 22, 2014 / 04:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Thousands of Catholics across Oklahoma responded to a sparsely attended black mass in Oklahoma City with prayers, Eucharistic processions, and demonstrations, as the city’s archbishop emphasized God's love and mercy. “We are gathered as witnesses to hope at a time when darkness seems to be gaining ground both here and around the world,” Archbishop Paul Coakley said in a homily for a Holy Hour at Oklahoma City’s St. Francis of Assisi parish on the afternoon of Sept. 21 attended by more than 2,000. “We know that Christ is victorious! He has conquered Satan. He has destroyed the reign of sin and the power of death through his holy Cross and glorious Resurrection.” Archbishop Coakley said the black mass is a “blasphemous and sacrilegious ritual”, “a mockery of the Catholic Mass”, and that it requires “the corruption and desecration of the Eucharist” because “Satanists, and their master, know who is present.” “They acknowledge the Real Presence of the Lord Jesus, not to adore him, but only to mock and to scorn in hatred.” “We are not here, however, to protest,” he added. “Let us put aside, for the moment, our outrage. We are here to praise and to adore. We are here to give thanks for the gift of our faith and the priceless treasure of the Lord’s abiding presence with us in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.” Archbishop Coakley said that Catholics gather before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament “to listen to his holy Word and open ourselves to the promptings of his Spirit so that we might become more faithful and authentic witnesses of his love and mercy in the midst of our broken and suffering human family.” He and many other Catholics took part in a Eucharistic procession following the Holy Hour. Just two miles away and a few hours later, thousands of Catholics and other citizens stood outside the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall to protest the black mass. Some held crucifixes, while others held statues of the Virgin Mary. Many held pre-printed signs saying “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church”; some protesters had taken buses from Kansas. “(It is) shocking to think that they worship the devil instead of God,” protester Estefani Martinez told the Oklahoma City television station News 9. In Tulsa, Bishop Edward Slattery led a Eucharistic procession, as well as exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at Holy Family Cathedral in reparation for blasphemy. “We’re doing this to strengthen the faith of our people, and to give them an opportunity to react in a very positive way to the announcement of the black mass,” Bishop Slattery told the Tulsa World. “This is a way of exercising their faith and an opportunity to pray together in a reaction to what is really a curse and blasphemous because we believe the Blessed Sacrament is God himself.” The bishop said that black mass organizers “embrace evil and anger and revenge” while Catholics preach “God loving humanity. Forgiveness, love, mercy and peace.” “We counteract hate by forgiveness, by love and by showing what is beautiful.” Michael Ortega, who attended the Tulsa event, told the Tulsa World he came “because of the love and support of my Church, and the love and devotion that I have for our Lord Jesus Christ.” The occult group Dakhma of Angra Mainyu had scheduled a black mass at the city-run music hall. A black mass is a sacrilegious ceremony that invokes Satan and mocks the Mass, involving the desecration of the Eucharist, generally by stealing a consecrated Host from a parish and using it in a profane, sexual ritual. Adam Daniels, who organized the event, had claimed to have in his possession a consecrated Host mailed to him by a friend. However, on Aug. 21 his attorney gave the reputed Host to a priest of the Oklahoma City archdiocese after a facing a lawsuit that charged the Host was stolen property. The lawyer whose California firm filed the lawsuit said that the return of the Host “gutted” the intended event and that the approach can limit similar publicized black masses in the future. The tickets for the black mass, which cost $15 each, had sold out. However, only about 40 people attended the black mass itself, though the theater in which it was held has capacity for about 100 persons. The event began at 7 p.m. with a three-member music band. Daniels came on stage dressed in a black and red robe to talk about the ritual. He said its purpose was to destroy fear of the Church by mocking the items it uses, News 9 reports. Some demonstrators outside the civic hall supported the black mass, saying it expressed freedom of religion. Read more