The Rest of the Story: Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast
. . . These writers of just and merciful Catholic conscience have made me proud to be a priest, and have given meaning to the suffering inherent in 18 years of wrongful imprisonment. Our reluctant Catholic press would do well to put aside its "Father Maciel Syndrome," and follow their lead to cover this story. And then, there is you. Yes, I do mean you, for if you are reading this you have lent to your Church and faith a courageous ear, and the tools for spreading the rest of the story. If you have been reading These Stone Walls then you have demonstrated for me and the whole Body of Christ something that has been sorely lacking in this decade of scandal: hearts of courage and justice open to the whole truth, and not just the one-sided scarlet letter with which our scandal driven news media and special interest groups have labeled your Church. Fr. James Valladares and David F. Pierre have told the rest of the story. . . .
The Expendables: Our Culture's War Against Catholic Priests
. . . the woman came into the sacristy before Mass, introduced herself as a Buddhist, then introduced a woman accompanying her as her "lover." Father Guarnizo wrote that, like all priests, he presumes good faith when any person comes forward for the Eucharist, but this woman and her companion reportedly made a militant point of presenting themselves as living publicly a lifestyle that placed them in opposition to the Church. Note the word, "publicly." She made a point of divulging to Father Guarnizo before Mass the source and substance of her public separation from the Church. Then the woman went to a newspaper with her story of being denied the Eucharist by Father Guarnizo. Coming in the middle of Lent, it made just the sort of story the secular media loves to use to slam the Church. . . .
New Year's Resolutions, and a Remembrance From East of Eden
. . . So my resolution for the New Year in 2012 is to let the mourning of loss become the triumph of the Spirit. It's a tough sell to a world that measures success in the most material of terms. It's an even tougher sell within me, however, having to witness the world of grace from within prison walls, at least for now. Hence, the resolution. . . .
Why the Sordid Case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn Matters to Catholics
. . . Actually, what fell apart was the credibility of DSK's accuser. Writing for The Wall Street Journal Editorial Pages ("The DSK Lesson," July 5, 2011) columnist Bret Stephens chastised his own industry, the news media, for the sheer delight it took in the DSK charges. He wrote of how disappointed reporters were at news that the accuser had squandered her credibility on previous false claims and her recorded expectations of a financial windfall in the DSK case. Bret Stephens described the central problem with the news media's build-up of the DSK case, and what he wrote is something Catholics should pay attention to: "The media has too often been guilty of looking only for the evidence that fits a pre-existing story line. It doesn't help that in journalism you can usually find the story you're looking for . . .” Such writing is exactly why I subscribe to The Wall Street Journal, and I believe it's why the Journal is the sole American newspaper to actually expand its readership over the last few years while other papers are dying. It takes courage to take on big stories like the rape case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn or sexual abuse by Catholic priests. But it takes even greater courage to police your own industry, and to challenge your peers when the story they want takes precedence over the truth. . . .
The High Cost of Father Marcial Maciel, and Why I Resent Paying It!
. . . I can only conclude that there were agendas at work that went far beyond simply telling the truth about Father Maciel. I hope I'm not the only person to notice that all the evidence against him seemed to surface just in time to attempt to derail the Beatification of Pope John Paul II who presumed - just as he should have done - Maciel's innocence absent proof of his guilt or an admission of guilt. There was neither. But for my purposes, the cost of Father Maciel is clear. The Constitution and Church law notwithstanding, the true cost of Father Maciel is to rob any accused Catholic priest of a presumption of innocence. It is the worst possible example of the Catholic Church in America caving into the prejudices of pop culture. I witness the cost of Father Maciel every day. A number of prominent Catholics who once openly supported my defense have been silenced since post-mortem evidence surfaced of Fr. Maciel's bizarre double life and lifestyle. Some Catholics who held out a presumption of his innocence, without solid evidence to the contrary, have been burned by the stinging rebukes they've received from all corners in the Catholic media once that evidence began to surface. . . .
The Beatification of Pope John Paul II: When the Wall Fell
. . . In his 1948 book, The Gathering Storm, Winston Churchill wrote of a 1935 proposal to Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suggesting that the Soviet Union should not suppress Catholicism, but should rather encourage it in order to gain favor with the Pope. Stalin famously responded, "The Pope? How many divisions has he got?" Ironically, that conversation took place on May 13, 1935, forty-six years to the day before the Soviet Union tried to kill Pope John Paul II because he was the most feared man in all of Europe. The Pope survived. Stalin's successors in the Soviet Union learned the answer to his question far too late for their own survival. Karol Wojtyla has earned the place in history summarized by the title given to him by Father Richard John Neuhaus and other admirers. He helped rid the world of Satan's most earthly Evil Empire. Without doubt, he was - and is - Pope John Paul the Great. . . .
Pornchai Moontri: From Prison Blues to Poetic Muse!
. . . In the post, I made a brief mention of a letter from Father Neuhaus to Pornchai Moontri, and of how that letter was among the forces that caused Pornchai to become a Catholic. What surprised me was the number of comments mentioning my brief paragraph about Pornchai. He was certainly not central to that post, but lots of people mention him in their comments on several of my posts. In fact, I've noticed a pattern. It might be just my imagination, but when I mention Pornchai, readers seem to comment more. I showed the comments on that post to Pornchai and told him about my theory. He readily concurred. "If you don't mention me," he said, "no one reads it!" Well, I doubt that's true. At least, I HOPE it isn't true! . . .
And Death's Dark Shadow Put to Flight: Advent Hope for the Fall of Man
. . . Our materialistic culture has absorbed and transformed just about everything spiritual that we should associate with Christmas. I wrote a few weeks ago in "At the Twilight's Last Gleaming" that religion has been slowly stripped from the public square in our culture, and too often what remains is the intolerance of extremism used by the media to paint religion as destructive. We have a daunting challenge if future generations are to believe in anything worthy of belief, and that challenge is met within our own hearts and souls. We cannot bring into our culture that which we do not yet have in ourselves. In no time is this more true than in Advent, now reduced to the commercial selling of a "holiday spirit" that requires little more depth than an annual unprecedented spending spree. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way to the cash register, and the Season of Giving and Taking is fulfilled. . . .
At the Twilight's Last Gleaming: The Fate of Religion in America
. . . It's time for a revolution, and it should be a revolution of real faith in a modern world that values it not. It isn't going to be easy. But before we all sign up for remedial CCD classes, the bad news was offset just a bit by the reality that the United States as a whole flunked the test, and Catholics came out just three percentage points behind the national score of 50% - a solid "F." Other Christian denominations fared just slightly better than Catholics - but still flunked. Jews and Mormons both passed, though just barely, with scores slightly under the atheists. Weighing everything, my own conclusion is that the problem with religion in America isn't religion - it's America. Catholics should remember the value of being counter-cultural. . . .
Roman Polanski, Father Marcial Maciel, and the Eye of the Beholder
. . . Since his 1977 conviction for child sexual assault, Roman Polanski has won three Academy Award nominations and a 2002 Oscar for Best Director. Meanwhile in our own backyard, Catholics are now pitted against Catholics. Bishops are bullied into shunning their priests. Cardinals are sniping at each other in public, and the mere taint of association may cost one of the highest ranking Catholic Church officials his reputation and career. There is something wrong with this picture. And there is one ominous figure who is taking it all in from his place in the shadows, having the laugh of his long, dark life. . .