Archbishop Dolan elected President of the USCCB!!

Wow... talk about upsets... at least in so far as one can be had in the world of Catholicism.

Here is the report from the American Papist:

In a stunning (and welcome) upset, the assembled bishops of the United States elected Archbishop Timothy Dolan to be the President of the USCCB for the next three years. Here is how the ballots played out…

On the first vote, Bp. Kicanas led the count with 104, Abp. Dolan – 84, Abp. Chaput – 20.

On the second vote, Abp. Chaput’s supporters went mostly for Dolan: Abp. Dolan 118 – Kicanas 111.

By the third vote, it was all over: Abp. Dolan 128 - Bp. Kicanas 111.

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville was also elected as vice president.

This is a very encouraging development and if you want to know why I am so pleased by it, read what I wrote earlier about the Kicanas conundrum. A big thank you to all who joined me in praying for the best outcome. Praise be to God and the Holy Spirit.

This is a good thing for the USCCB. (On a personal note: I think Chaput or Vigneron would have been a stronger voice, this is still a good thing.) This situation also shows us why selecting the next Pope is private. We dont need to know, nor does it do us any good to know the way the votes went down. As you can tell from this situation, all sorts of lines were drawn. 

So it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next three years. Many of us have lots of issues with the way that the USCCB conducts itself. Big issues loom large: The New Missal Translation, CCHD, etc... 

Why was this election so big? Well, because what it says about the direction of the American Catholic Church. The NY Times summarizes it as follows:

It is the first time since the 1960s that a sitting vice president was on the ballot for conference president and lost. The outcome is the latest sign that the American bishops — divided over how best to uphold Roman Catholic orthodoxy — favor a more aggressive approach.

They actually seem to be spot on. 


Cardinal George summarized the results in this fashion:

"It means the bishops have decided to opt for a confident Catholicism," George said. "They had a choice, and they chose the boldest, most outspoken bishop. You wouldn't choose him as your leader unless you thought what he was doing in the capital of the world (New York) is what we want the church to represent." [Link]

Let's hope that Dolan is the boldest Bishop that could be in there. Let's pray that the USCCB will become the staunch center of orthodoxy for American Catholics. 

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New USCCB President - Selected this week

Rocco over at Whispers in the Loggia has been doing what he does... and that is feeding us Catholic Nerds info regarding the inner workings of the Church.

That being said, the latest news is that we should have a new President of the USCCB as early as tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned to his blog... and I am sure others... for any news.

In alphabetical order, the nominees are....

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans, 60
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, 68 
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap, of Denver, 66
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, 60
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, 69
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, 64
Bishop George Murry, SJ, of Youngstown, 62
Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore, 71
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit, 61
Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, 58

Petition: Support the New Translation of the Missal

For those of you that don't know, the Missal that we currently use in english is undergoing a translation. There is resistance to it, because, well - people oppose change at any turn.

Our Missal needs change... and therefore we should support the change. Nothing is perfect and waiting won't get us a perfect translation. The proposed version has been thoughtfully and purposefully done... so we should support it. Those who support the translation are good and holy men - and I have not found anyone that I trust or look to for guidance that opposes the proposed translation.

That is why it is important to sign this petition. It is also important because it is in response to the MAJOR opposition to the translation. That group started a similar petition to show their support. This is an honorable way to show our support.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/enoughwaiting/

CCHD - What you can do...

So today the USCCB met in Baltimore again as they will for the rest of the week. USCCB Fall Meeting

During todays meetings, they briefly talked about the CCHD amidst complaints by A.L.L. and others that CCHD has contributed to groups like ACORN in the past. The statement from the USCCB was pretty basic and didn't invoke a lot of questions or discussion. The USCCB via Bishop Morin endorsed the CCHD and essentially said that all groups are vetted, and any groups not inline with Catholic teaching are de-funded. For example last year ACORN was a fund-ee. This year they are not, for obvious reasons.

A group dedicated to Reforming CCHD has sprung up and is trying to walk the line between obedience to the American Bishops and Obedience to Holy Mother Church... not always easy, especially when one finds themselves in a situation where the two are opposite. I tried to do my own research, but the Reform CCHD has done a lot of it: http://www.reformcchdnow.com/

After doing a lot of research, questioning, and praying I realized that the best thing we can do as Catholics is to avoid giving to CCHD this week and to give to another Charity. CCHD is a "funding" organization or "middle man." They operate much the way that United Way does. They intake a lot of money in a coordinated effort to maximize donations. From there they distribute the money to groups that they have awarded funding too, much the way grants are funded. Unfortunately, this type of operation requires an enormous amount of oversight, especially in the situation of the Church where the groups must meet the teachings of the church. Unfortunately the applicants are not worried about Catholic teaching and are simply seeking funding.

Questions you may ask:

• Aren't MOST of the groups GOOD - they adhere to the teaching of the Church? Yes... most are, but having just one is unacceptable. This campaign isn't necessary, and donating DIRECTLY to the groups that are loyal to the Church is more effective.
• Doesn't the CCHD defend groups that are found to have stances contrary to Catholic teaching? Yes... unfortunately defunding=closing the door after the horse is gone. One can only DEFUND a group that has already been funded... see the problem?
• Aren't we being disloyal to the Church and the Bishops by not supporting the CCHD if we were asked to give? No... you can give to the GOOD groups that CCHD funds without supporting the "2nd collection." There is no mandate or teaching of the Church that says our charity must come in the form of a "collection." We must demand better... we can easily support good charities by supporting them directly. We can also support our Church by simply doubling up on our normal collection and knowing that is going to a good cause.

I'd love feedback on this. My wife and I are planning on giving what we would have given to a more "worthy" 2nd collection with our main gift. We might include the "coupon" that is being circulated or we may simply write a letter, we haven't decided. I need to figure out in my heart if the coupon (below) is the best way of getting our feelings across or if it is abrasive and improper.

Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD): Should you give to the 2nd collection this Sunday?

Ok... I don't have a lot of info yet on this... but I wanted to at least get something out there. Last year, CCHD had some issues which mostly revolved around the fact that they funded ACORN.

This year the appeal has gone out again, with priests everywhere urging parishoners to contribute and feel "safe" about doing so because ACORN is no longer on the contribution list. Before you do so though, I suggest you research the matter a little more.
Normally I would NEVER suggest going against the teachings of a priest - but there may be enough information out there for you to make up your own mind. On top of that, I always suggest RESEARCHING the organizations you donate to; blindly funding "feeder" organizations is a great way to support things you never intended.
Here is a good jumping off point: http://reformcchdnow.com/

Another site to get info:
http://www.all.org/article.php?id=12307


I haven't figured out what I am going to do... but I sure am going to research more. You can ALWAYS give money... but once you give, you can't take it back.