Saturday, December 19, 2009

Exciting News







Wonderful news from Rome: almost "local" Saint, Blessed Andre Bessette, founder of the world famous Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal, is to be canonized. Blessed Brother Andre spent some of his summer every year in Richford, next to my old parish in Enosburg, and still has relatives in Vermont. This will be a great event for the highly secularized population of Quebec. Also, the "heroic virtue" of both Pope John Paul II and Pope Pius XII was approved - so now "Venerable John Paul II and Venerable Pius XII."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I’m not sure it is “wonderful” or “exciting” news for all (http://www1.yadvashem.org.il/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20684.pdf) …looks like many more questions should be answered…Ho’ hum…

Merry Christmas, Owl!!!

the owl of the remove said...

Falling for the hype - distressing!

the owl of the remove said...

P.S. How about the chief Rabbi of Rome calling Pius XII a hero and becoming a Catholic? Sorry, doesn't fit in with the hype.....I guess there's truth and then there's.... the hype ......don't believe the hype!

Anonymous said...

“Hype?” I fail to see how the attached document could be classified has “hype.” It is a well written, balanced summary of the moral dilemmas facing the Pope and the Church at that time. Incidentally, the story of the chief Rabbi of Rome calling Pius XII a hero is fine - not really the point of the article (or mine) though...

More relevant to my life and journey, it has me drawing parallels between the moral dilemmas facing “pro-abortion” politicians and/or even faithful voting Catholics who may be inclined to vote for them for a plethora of other reasons. Clearly the Catholic moral tradition cannot reduce complex issues to black and white – and praise be to Jesus that it doesn’t (What is the object of an act? What are the circumstances? When are the circumstances factored into the object? When shouldn’t they be?). I’m quite sure the Pius XII supporters would not want his avoidance of public statements of grave evil to jeopardize his bid for canonization, no? I’m guessing the Cardinal Newman Society could not possibly support Pius XII’s bid – could they?

I’m guessing the “hype” you must be referring to, is the “hype” that probably could be solved with full Vatican transparency and access to ALL related archives. Here is another interesting link I stumbled upon…(http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/vatrep.html) – ahh, shucks – it’s all just “hype.”

Only the truth will set us all free! Christ the Savior is Born!

the owl of the remove said...

Don't believe the hype!