The Catholic Beat

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2008-10-14T06:40:00.001-07:00

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Shakespeare, the master craftsman

2008-01-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

At this time last semester, for a course on the tragedies, I posted my first Shakespeare paper -- a commentary on how important the structure and literary devices contained therein were to the opening lines of Romeo and Juliet. In that post, I indicated that I wasn't sure how much I liked Shakespeare. Well, a semester later, I liked him enough to sign up for a course in the histories and comedies. Part of the reason I did so is the respect I've gained for what he's able to do with the English language. That first paper said a lot in terms of meter. This current paper, which is pretty much the same assignment but treating Richard II, focuses mainly on the Bard's use of rhetorical devices. And the praise I give him is genuine!

Franz S. Klein
Prof. Jane Carducci
English 514: Histories and Comedies
23 January 2008

Richard II Translation Exercise

Shakespeare’s Text:

“White beards have arm’d their thin and hairless scalps
Against thy majesty; boys, with women’s voices,
Strive to speak big, and clap their female joints
In stiff unwieldy arms against thy crown;
Thy very beadsmen learn to bend bows
Of double-fatal yew against thy state;
Yea, distaff women manage rusty bills
Against thy seat: both young and old rebel,
And all goes worse than I have power to tell.” (Richard II, 3.2.112-120)

Modern Prose “Translation”:

“Old men have covered their bald heads to defend themselves against you; youth with weak voices attempt to appear brave before you as they hold shaky knees with their stiff arms; your very own old men learn to take up hard-to-bend bows in defiance of you; Yes, weaving women hold long-unused pikes in defiance of you: both those who are old and those who are young rise against you, and the situation is more dire than I can am capable of describing.”

Textual Commentary:

Of the lesser-studied passages in Richard II, Scroop’s lines to a despairing King Richard upon his return to England make for a fair study in William Shakespeare’s expert use of the literary devices and metrical structures – a skill that makes him the foremost writer in the English language. In this passage, Richard returns from Ireland to discover that his army has abandoned him. Scroop’s words are hardly reassuring, and it is this very intimation of the utter hopelessness of the situation that breeds such a fertile ground for literary art. As this exercise will clearly demonstrate, much of this fertility would go to waste in the absence of the literary structures, and especially the literary devices, that Shakespeare employs.
Scroop’s passage consists of a warning to the king that is pure hyperbole in one sense but that elicits an otherwise unachievable, deadly serious accuracy in another. This is because, at least in part, the exaggerated elements of this passage provide the very basis of its accuracy. This becomes undeniably clear when Shakespeare’s text is compared to my modern “translation.” True, both versions convey exactly the same facts, namely, that every single person in England -- from the oldest to the youngest -- has abandoned Richard, leaving him friendless in the face of Bullingbrook’s onslaught. But at the same time, Shakespeare’s facts mean so much more.
This is because only hyperbole can truly capture the utter hopelessness of Richard’s situation. True, Shakespeare’s “[w]hite-beards” (3.2.112), are what I call “[o]ld men,” but the Bard’s attention to what makes them elderly -- their white beards -- overstates the case in a way my matter-of-fact passage can’t. The same is true for “boys, with women’s voices” (113), who are somehow far more than my “youth with weak voices,” or for the “beadsmen” (116) who have become additional “old men,” or even for the “distaff women” (118) transformed, as they are, into mere “weaving women.” The same holds true for their instruments of uprising, such as “bows/ Of double-fatal yew” (116-17) and “rusty bills” (118). In no way can “long-unused” convey the reality of “rusty” in this context. The fact that these pikes are rusty connotes an ancient hatred that has long lain unacknowledged, while “long-unused” simply states a fact about the bills. Similarly, “double-fatal” means so much more than “hard-to-bend.” The bows might be hard to bend, after all, but Richard shouldn’t be so concerned with the quality of the bows as with what they could do to him – hence Shakespeare’s “double-fatal.” These exaggerated images are undeniably powerful, and there are reasons this is so.
Chief among these reasons is the fact that Shakespeare uses hyperbole only when it really means something. His white bearded men and women-voiced boys are extremes that emphasize the totality of the king’s abandonment. England has abandoned its king, not merely from the oldest to the youngest, but from the whitest hair on the old men’s beards to the highest note of its youths’ voices. Only in this totality of abandonment does Richard’s totality of despair make sense: “Let’s talk of graves, of worms, of epitaphs...” (145). The situation is decidedly extreme, and only in imagery such as what Shakespeare utilizes can such extremity be maintained.
The Bard’s hyperbole is initially grounded in his use of synecdoche. Shakespeare takes the most identifiable part of an old man -- his white beard -- and uses it to represent the whole. Traditionally, the white beard of an old man signifies the wisdom that has come with his old age. Thus, when an old man pays his respects to someone, one knows that that person is important. Scroop reports not that the white-bearded old man have taken up arms, for they have gone even farther in arming “their thin and hairless scalps” (112). There could be no greater affront to a king than to have those who are wisest put cover their heads in his presence. Suddenly Richard’s identity crisis becomes clearer, for wisdom herself has covered her head in his presence. To have people take up arms against a king is certainly a normal occurrence, but to have those who are wisest no longer recognize him surely gives credence to the king’s doubts. And while the same idea is visible in my “translation,” the lack of synecdoche makes it less extreme, meaning that Richard’s extreme reaction would seem senseless if I “translated” further.
In a lesser way, synecdoche continues to play a role in this passage in reference to King Richard. While the white beards arm their heads against his “majesty” (113), the boys speak against his “crown” (115), the beadsmen are attacking his “state” (117), and the distaff women lay siege to his “seat” (119). All four of these terms -- majesty, crown, state, and seat -- are a part of the king’s “second body,” that of the office of God’s anointed king, for which Richard has been chosen and consecrated. “Majesty,” here, refers to the reverence due to Richard’s office, “crown” to his power to rule, “state” to the dominion he rules, and “seat” to his legislative power. Strip the king of his majesty, crown, state, and seat, and he will no longer be king in anything but his divine anointing. For each of these “parts” of Richard’s “double body,” I substituted a simple second person pronoun, which indicates that all these people are rising against the person of Richard. But what Shakespeare’s passage conveys is that they are attacking King Richard. Only Shakespeare’s use of synecdoche leaves nothing untouched in regard to the totality of an anointed Richard’s abandonment. And taken together with the other elements of synecdoche, it now makes sense that Richard is undergoing an identity crisis: “How can you say to me I am a king?” (177).
The hyperbolic imagery of this passage also gains strength through Shakespeare’s use of oxymoronic phrases. Nothing could be more paradoxical than boys with women’s voices striving to “speak big” (114). Certainly beadsmen, or elderly pensioners, would strike an odd pose in learning “to bend their bows/ Of double-fatal yew” (116-17). No less strange would be the image of distaff-women taking up “rusty bills” (118) in the battlefield. Oxymoronic on a larger scale -- in fact, infuriatingly so for Richard -- is how all these people stack up against the divine right of kings. Richard’s power is to be inviolable, but he is paradoxically falling to whitebeards, boys, beadsmen, and distaff-women. Furthermore, the instruments each takes up are those least useful for them. Boys are expected to speak big despite their inability to do so, feeble old men have bows of yew that they would be unable to bend, and women are armed for the battlefield. Certainly some vestige of these oxymorons remains in my “translated” passage, but it is no more than a faint vestige.
Containing 17 lines, missing a volta, and having no rhyme scheme apart from its concluding couplet, Scroop’s speech is certainly not a sonnet, nor any other poetical form. And given that some lines contain an extra foot (112, 113,) or syllable (120), or are missing a syllable (116), neither does Shakespeare appear overly concerned with maintaining a strict pentameter. Nor does he seem overly concerned with maintaining the iambs, as emphatic openings like “Strive” (114) and “Yea” (118) evidence. Even so, any movement from poetry to prose involves a loss of structure. Without the regularity of the passage’s structure, Scroop’s words fail to achieve a pattern and become monotonous. And Shakespeare’s exceptions to iambic openings like “Strive” and “Yea” serve a purpose in breaking up the alternative monotony that poetry could potentially convey. Likewise, the startling concluding rhyme of “rebel” (119) and “tell” (120) indicates that Scroop has finished and it is Richard’s turn to speak. Thus, there is a reason even less polished portions of Shakespeare’s plays, such as this one, appear within a metrical structure.
Certainly Scroop’s speech can’t claim the polish of some of Richard II’s other, more famous passages. But its structure and literary devices give evidence to why Shakespeare is considered a master writer. Although it contains exactly the same facts as Shakespeare’s passage, my modern prose “translation” fails to convey Richard’s utterly hopeless situation and becomes monotonous, structureless prose. Only through Shakespeare’s master use of hyperbole, synecdoche and oxymoron can the extremity of Richard’s situation be conveyed to the reader. And while anybody may be capable of using these devices, only a master writer can use them in precisely the right place and to precisely the right degree.

Work Cited:

Shakespeare, William. Richard II. The Riverside Shakespeare. 2nd ed. Eds. G. Blakemore Evans et al. Boston: Houghton, 1997.

Ovid on abortion

2008-01-22T13:22:00.000-08:00

On his blog "What Does the Prayer Really Say?"Father Zuhlsdorf had an enlightening post today where he provided a few elegies from the classical poet Ovid. While I knew there was a socially conservative strain amongst some of the thinkers of that age, like the satirist Horace, I honestly didn't know how closely it resembled today's culture. Here, of course, I'm talking about the horror of abortion.

From Father Z, Here's Ovid, Book II, Elegy XIV:

Where’s the joy in a girl being free from fighting wars,
unwilling to follow the army and their shields,
if without battle she suffers wounds from her own weapons,
and arms unsure hands to her own doom?
Whoever first taught the destruction of a tender foetus,
deserved to die by her own warlike methods.
No doubt you’d chance your arm in that dismal arena
just to keep your belly free of wrinkles with your crime?
If the same practice had pleased mothers of old,
Humanity would have been destroyed by that violation.
And we’d need a creator again for each of our peoples
to throw the stones that made us onto the empty earth.
Who would have shattered the wealth of Priam, if Thetis,
the sea goddess, had refused to carry her rightful burden?
If Ilia had murdered the twins in her swollen womb,
the founder of my mistress’s City would have been lost.
If Venus had desecrated her belly, pregnant with Aeneas,
Earth would have been bereft of future Caesars.
You too, with your beauty still to be born, would have died,
if your mother had tried what you have done:
I myself would be better to die making love
than have been denied the light of day by my mother.
Why rob the loaded vine of burgeoning grapes,
or pluck the unripe apple with cruel hand?
Let things mature themselves – grow without being forced:
life is a prize that’s worth a little waiting.
Why submit your womb to probing instruments,
or give lethal poison to what is not yet born?
Medea is blamed for sprinkling the blood of her children,
and Itys, slain by his mother, is lamented with tears:
both cruel parents, yet both had bitter reason
to shed blood, revenge on a husband.
Say, what Tereus, what Jason incites you
to pierce your troubled body with your hand?
No tiger in its Armenian lair would do it,
no lioness would dare destroy her foetus.
But tender girls do it, though not un-punished:
often she who kills her child, dies herself.
She dies, and is carried to the pyre with loosened hair,
and whoever looks on cries out: ‘She deserved it!’
But let these words vanish on the ethereal breeze,
and let my imprecations have no weight!
You gods, prosper her: let her first sin go, in safety,
and be satisfied: you can punish her second crime!

This elegy comes from someone unenlightened by Divine Revelation whose reflections are based purely on Natural Law. We know in our hearts that abortion is wrong -- that it violates our own desire for dignity. As Ovid wrote, not even a "lioness would dare destroy her foetus." The U.S. bishops have made today a day of prayer and penance for the horrible sin of abortion. Thousands have gathered in Washington D.C. to protest. Please take at least a moment today to pray that we may end this slaughter and reverse Roe v. Wade!

Franz Klein

25 years of the 1983 Code

2008-01-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

Today's VIS feed included the article posted below about hte 25th anniversary of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. I don't think Canon Law is something everyday Catholics think about very often, unless they're trying to fix an irregular marriage. But really, the Code is more than a set of arbitrary rules -- as my Canon Law professor put it when I was studying in Rome, the Church is a very real entity in the world, and it needs laws to function as such. Something I really came to appreciate about the 1983 Code was its focus -- as this article points out -- on the lay faithful. The Church isn't all about the hierarchy; rather, the hierarchy exists to proclaim the Gospel and give grace to the laity. Hearing the Gospel and receiving the sacraments are among the most fundamental rights we lay Catholics have. The Code gives us these rights. But we mustn't forget about the duties that come with these rights! While I don't envy my friends who are studying Canon Law, I do appreciate what the Code gives to our beautiful Church.

CODE OF CANON LAW PROMULGATED TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

VATICAN CITY, 22 JAN 2008 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office at midday today, a press conference was held to present a forthcoming congress on the theme: "Canon Law in the Life of the Church, research and perspectives in the context of recent Pontifical Magisterium". The event has been organised to mark the 25th anniversary of the Code of Canon Law which was promulgated on 25 January 1983.

Participating in the press conference were Archbishop Francesco Coccopalmerio and Msgr. Juan Ignacio Arrieta, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

"Twenty-five years ago, the long process of revising the 1917 Code of Canon Law came to an end", said Archbishop Coccopalmerio, explaining how the revision "had been announced by Pope John XXIII on the same day he proclaimed the celebration of Vatican Council II" and how it aimed "to re-examine the central corpus of the Church's legislative code in accordance with doctrinal aspects contained in the conciliar documents".

The archbishop then went on to consider differences between the Code of Canon Law and the legal codes of nations. The former, he said, "contains the law of the Church, just as a State code contains the laws of a particular nation. And it is called 'Canon Law' because it is made up of 'canons', which are equivalent to the 'articles' of a State code".

However the Code of Canon Law "is not just a collection of norms created by the will of ecclesiastical legislators", it "indicates the duties and rights inherent to the faithful and to the structure of the Church as instituted by Christ".

And the legislator, having identified fundamental duties and rights "also establishes a series of norms that have the aim of defining, applying and defending [those] duties and rights".

"For this reason", the archbishop went on, "the Code of Canon Law is like a large and complex painting depicting the faithful and the communities within the Church, and defining the identity and 'mission' of each. And the painter of this work of art is the ecclesiastical legislator" whose model comes "from the doctrine of the Church and from ... Vatican Council II, as Pope John Paul II taught us when he promulgated the current Code".

Turning his attention to some of the "novelties" of the 1983 Code with respect to that of 1917, Archbishop Coccopalmerio mentioned Canon 208 whence, he said, "arise many tangible consequences that concern all the faithful and especially the lay faithful: all are called to play an active role in the Church". Other novelties include "the definition of matters concerning the Roman Pontiff, the College of Bishops , the Synod of Bishops and the episcopal conferences".

The 1983 Code of Canon Law, said the archbishop, was, "like all human works, ... perfectible". Hence one of the aims of the current congress is "to identify certain points in need of a little restoration".

In closing, the president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts enumerated the functions of his dicastery: "helping the supreme legislator (the Pope) to keep Church legislation as complete and up to date as possible, ... overseeing the correct application of current laws" and "helping the Pope in the delicate process of interpreting norms".

For his part, Msgr. Arrieta affirmed that the aim of the congress is "to undertake a purposeful study ... into the progress of the application of the Code, and of all the other norms that the various offices of the Roman Curia and individual legislators have produced over the last 25 years".

The congress will begin with an "overall assessment of the development of these norms" presented by Cardinal Julian Herranz, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, who is, said Msgr. Arrieta, "the historical memory on this subject, having followed the entire process personally since Vatican Council II".

The secretary of the pontifical council highlighted how, due to the time limits of the congress, only some offices of the Roman Curia had been chosen to study the process of the Code's application over the last quarter of a century. Thus, for example, Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, will speak on the theme: "Acceptance and operation of Canon Law in the mission lands. Cultural encounters and technical limitations".

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops will deliver an address on: "Universal law and the production of norms at the level of particular Churches, episcopal conferences and particular councils", while for his part Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, will turn his attention to: "The formation of ministers of God: the teaching of Canon Law".

Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" will give a talk entitled: "Spontaneity of charity. The needs and limits of normative structures".

On Friday, 25 January, before their scheduled audience with the Pope, Cardinal Franc Rode C.M., prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, will address the gathering on: "Consecrated life and normative structures. Experience and perspectives of the relationship between general norms and particular statutes". For his part, Cardinal Peter Erdo, archbishop of Budapest , Hungary , and president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences, will speak on: "Rigidity and elasticity of normative structures in ecumenical dialogue". Following a brief debate , the congress will conclude with a contribution from Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. on the theme: "Canon Law and the pastoral government of the Church. The role of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts".

The congress, which is due to be held in the Vatican's Synod Hall on 24 and 25 January, will be attended by members of episcopal conferences, and by professors and students of Canon Law from Italy and the rest of the world.
OP/CODE CANON LAW/... VIS 080122 (980)

"Vintar" Center literary contest

2008-01-16T07:02:00.001-08:00

I've taken this information from an Italian-language announcement posted at Agenda Italiana:

ROME (The Catholic Times) – The “Vintar” Center of Studies for Culture and Communication in Rome has announced an international poetry and prose competition called “Beyond the Threshold of Hope.”
According to its press release, the competition was inspired by Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical “Spe Salvi” and a desire to pay homage to Servant of God Pope John Paul II.
“The organizers desire to promote a reflection beginning with meditation and with the teachings about hope in the pontificate of John Paul II, and continuing through the last encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI,” the release stated.
The Italian Center’s competition will accept entries in foreign languages, including English.
There are two poetry categories. Poetry of “religious inspiration” should be submitted to poesiareligiosa@email.it, while poetry “inspired by human values” should be submitted to poesiainedita@email.it. Poetry in both categories should not exceed 30 lines.
In the narrative prose category, either children’s stories or accounts “inspired by human values” not to exceed 10 pages may be submitted to narrativainedita@email.it. Scholarly works of a literary, philosophical, historical, scientific or theological nature should be submitted to tesilaurea@email.it.
Participants may submit in multiple categories, and should include a curriculum vitae that lists their educational and professional background, as well as contact information. Submissions must be received by Feb. 28.

Talking about Spe Salvi

2008-01-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

Together with Father Sam Martin of La Crosse, I'm a guest on Relevant Radio's Connecting with the Bishop program this weekend to talk about Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, "Spe Salvi." Although the program already aired on Relevant Radio already yesterday and today, it will be rebroadcast tomorrow at 9 a.m. on these stations: 1570 AM (La Crosse), 93.9 FM (Wisconsin Rapids), 92.9 FM (Wausau) and 1050 AM (Eau Claire).

I got to listen to about half the program today, and I think it went pretty well. Hopefully listening to it -- if you're in range of one of the La Crosse Diocese stations -- will encourage you to read the encyclical itself, which can be found at this link: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi_en.html

If you need more encouragement from the bishop, here's an article from the Dec. 27 issue, where Bishop Listecki urges La Crosse Diocese Catholics to read the letter:

Bishop to diocese: Pope’s new encyclical on hope was written for you
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

LA CROSSE – Between Christmas and New Year’s, people usually slow down just a little. The hectic planning and buying that preceded the holidays has come to an end, and there’s even a slight lull in activity.
Most people like to visit family and friends, and maybe even to relax and take in a little football. But Bishop Jerome E. Listecki is asking Catholics to put on their reading glasses for a few extra hours during the Christmas Octave.
“As bishop of this diocese, I would encourage people to read the encyclical ‘Spe Salvi,’” Bishop Listecki said in a recent interview.
Published Nov. 30, “Spe Salvi” (“Saved by Hope”) is the Latin title for Pope Benedict XVI’s second encyclical – a letter about an important issue and addressed to bishops, clergy, religious and all the lay faithful.
Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est,” (“God Is Love”) dealt with the theological virtue of charity, or love. Similarly, “Spe Salvi” addresses the theological virtue of hope.
But Bishop Listecki says the encyclical isn’t so much about abstract theology as it is an identification of the principal modern spiritual malady – materialism – and the pope’s proposition of hope as its remedy.
“The pope is giving us a further articulation of the crisis of our times,” Bishop Listecki said. “Today we have an overconfidence in the material world, almost to the denial of the spiritual. Modern society places great reliance on human progress, something that needs to be challenged.”
According to the bishop, there’s a reason Pope Benedict released an encyclical about the trouble with relying on the material and ignoring the spiritual at the beginning of Advent. It’s at Christmastime, after all, when people spend hours shopping but tend to forget the reason for the season. And when people forget to include Jesus in their lives, they lose hope.
“Denying the spiritual is like living a half truth where full satisfaction will never be achieved,” Bishop Listecki said.
According to the bishop, the pope is calling us to place our hope in Jesus Christ, Who took human flesh – and through Him to place our hope and trust in God the Father, Whom we cannot see. If we do so, Bishop Listecki said, we will be strengthened by hope and able to live out our faith in the world.
“This God Who has become one with us points to the ultimate trust that is manifest in our extension of self in living for others,” he said.
Bishop Listecki noted that this means no one can be a follower of Christ on his own. Rather, there is always a need for mutual support, for giving and receiving – for living out the Gospel as a member of the community. Hope, the bishop explained, is more than an idea – it’s a way of life that bears its witness of eternal realities to the world.
“Living for others is the performative utterance of the Gospel that manifests the mystery of God’s presence and our confidence or hope in its fulfillment,” the bishop said.
Containing just over 19,000 words, ”Spe Salvi” is only one-third the length of the average novel. And Bishop Listecki says it’s not too difficult to read, either. In order to better grasp the pope’s message, he suggests reading it aloud, either as a family, in a group, or even alone.

An inside look at India

2008-01-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

A member of our young Catholic group here in La Crosse embarked on an extraordinary journey a few months ago to work with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta for a year. I wasn't aware of her blog until quite recently. Havilah Krump is chronicling her work at Where Is The Gold. As you'll notice if you check out her blog, Havilah has the habit of making light of some very serious stuff, which almost makes it more heartbreaking to read. Please keep her, the MCs, and all Indians in your prayers.

Seminarians on pilgrimage

2008-01-04T06:48:00.000-08:00

Two of my very good friends, who are also seminarians at St. Paul Seminary in the Twin Cities, are currently on pilgrimage in the Holy City. Both Jon Sorensen and Deacon Gary Kasel have been posting some pictures and commentary as they travel. You can follow along on their pilgrimage on the SPS blog.

Go out to all the world...

2008-01-03T06:37:00.001-08:00

From Rocco:

Bishop Listecki on the emergency contraception legislation

2007-12-27T06:41:00.001-08:00

From today's Catholic Times:

Bishops Listecki, Morlino oppose emergency contraception bill
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

LA CROSSE, Wis. (Catholic Times) – Bishops Jerome E. Listecki of La Crosse and Robert C. Morlino of Madison have broken from the Wisconsin Catholic Conference’s neutral stance on legislation that would force hospitals to dispense potentially abortifacient drugs to rape victims.
The WCC articulated its position on Assembly Bill 377/Senate Bill 129 – “Compassionate Care for Rape Victims” – Sept. 6, 2007, in testimony by conference associate director Kim Wadas before the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and Ethics.
“Some perceive our moral and ethical principles … preclude Catholic health facilities from making contraception available to rape victims. This is not the case,” Wadas told the committee that day.
Breaking from the WCC stance, Bishop Morlino first made public his opposition to Assembly Bill 377 – “Compassionate Care for Rape Victims” – in a Dec. 17, 2007, letter to legislators reprinted in the Dec. 20 Madison Catholic Herald. After several paragraphs explaining why circumstances had led him to make the move, the letter cited Bishop Listecki as “find(ing) himself completely in accord with the sentiments that I have expressed.”
“So I urge you, by this letter, to oppose AB 377,” Bishop Morlino concluded.
While the Catholic Church believes a woman has a right to protect herself from becoming pregnant as a result of rape, the two bishops fear that potentially inadequate conscience protection could force Catholic hospitals to dispense emergency contraception without allowing them to conduct testing to determine whether pregnancy has already occurred.
The Catholic Medical Association, which is the nation’s largest association of Catholic doctors, has questioned whether testing capable of determining whether fertilization has occurred even exists.
The Assembly measure passed a preliminary vote Dec. 11 only to be stalled by a procedural objection. The final Assembly vote will now take place Jan. 16. Its companion legislation, SB 129, is making its way through the Wisconsin State Senate.
In his letter, Bishop Morlino explained that the Catholic Conference’s neutral stance had been reached to “protect women who are victims of rape, while also protecting the possible pre-born human being, by affirming the necessary conscience exemption for institutions and individuals with regard to appropriate testing, so as to avoid abortifacient emergency contraception.”
But he added that the Assembly’s rejection of an amendment that would have provided such a conscience exemption makes the Catholic Conference’s position “moot,” and has caused it to expire.
In an interview with The Catholic Times following the publication of Bishop Morlino’s letter, Bishop Listecki affirmed that the grounds that made neutrality possible were gone.
“What the neutrality position was meant to articulate has been turned around by some to see it as a confirmation for the legislation,” Bishop Listecki said.
In an earlier letter to legislators dated Oct. 24, 2007, Bishop Morlino attributed this shift in perception to “some in the mass media – in seeming collaboration with Planned Parenthood.”
“Perceptions in our world are often everything,” Bishop Listecki said in his interview. “Neither I nor any bishop in Wisconsin wants to be perceived as being for legislation that goes against the teachings of the Church.”
Bishop Morlino also acknowledged this perception, writing, “Our conference’s neutrality stance has also unintentionally provoked scandal among Catholics who have been persuaded by statements in the media that we are becoming less fervent in our defense of the dignity of pre-born human life.”
Both bishops emphatically deny that this is the case.
Contacted by The Catholic Times, WCC executive director John Huebscher said the Catholic Conference is retaining its current stance of neutrality. “We respect the concerns raised in (Bishop Morlino’s) letter,” he said. “They certainly underscore the passion of the bishops in affirming human life. At the same time, the Catholic Conference has not changed its position on the bill.”
Heubscher added that there are no plans to revisit the matter as a conference.
Heubscher said the WCC’s neutrality is based on the unanimous opinion of the state’s diocesan attorneys that a current conscience exemption contained in Wisconsin Statue 253.09 would allow Catholic hospitals and individual physicians to “opt out” of the possibly abortion-inducing treatment the legislation would require.
While Bishop Listecki shares the lawyers’ opinion, he said he was breaking from the Catholic Conference’s stance of neutrality because “even legal opinions fall to (legislative) decisions that go contrary.”
“I don’t think we can go forward on something that’s merely a legal opinion,” Bishop Listecki explained. “We don’t want to exist in a climate of maybes.”
According to Bishop Morlino, the fact that so many anti-life legislators refused to vote for an earlier version of the bill that included a conscience exemption amendment indicates that they consider the protection offered by Statute 253.09 to be inapplicable to the present situation. “If this were assured, there would be no reason why the Assembly would have rejected conscience clause exemption protection for the reasons they gave,” the bishop wrote.
Pro-Life Wisconsin legislative director Matt Sande agreed. He said in a Catholic Times interview that the current conscience clause contained in Statue 253.09 was “intended to keep physicians and hospital employees from being forced to participate in sterilizations and surgical abortions.” “It’s not going to be enough. That’s our opinion,” he said.
Thus, Sande said, pro-lifers are grateful for the courageous stand of Bishops Listecki and Morlino. “We pray that it will be effective in turning votes, in causing legislators who support the bill to reconsider,” he said.

A final pre-Christmas post

2007-12-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

Twin brothers and priests of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis., my good friends Fathers Ben and Joel Sember also blog at Holy Priesthood. While Father Ben Sember is still in Rome finishing his Canon Law Degree, Father Joel Sember is immersed in parish work.

Father Joel often posts his homilies on the blog, and I found his homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent to be particularly compelling. He notes, "We all want Jesus to be born, but we don't want him to be born to us." It's worth a listen during these final hours before we celebrate the Saviour's birth.

Merry Christmas!

Catholic Radio International

2007-12-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

I wanted to briefly put in a plug for Catholic Radio International -- a Catholic radio ministry with some excellent programs available for free on its Web site. CRI co-founder and president is Thomas Szyszkiewicz, formerly editor of the paper I write for and now based somewhere deep in the wilderness of Minnesota (although not too far in, since he seems to be connected to the Internet!).

The Catholic Times connections abound... Former CT assistent editor and current correspondent Joseph O'Brien hosts one of CRI's programs -- called "Cover to Cover," O'Brien's program airs readings from books written in the Catholic Literary Tradition.

A few more notable programs include "The Heart of the Matter," and "UltraSound," and "Thread of Grace."

Need something to listen to over Christmas? Then check out CRI!

My letter from the Minneapolis Star Tribune

2007-12-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

A couple people have written to me regarding a letter of mine that appeared in the Dec. 22 Minneapolis Star Tribune. I wrote to the paper regarding the controversy at my alma mater, the University of St. Thomas over the removal of the sitting archbishop as ex officio chairman of the school's Board of Trustees. I'll refer you to this post for the background.

And here's my letter from the "strib":

As an undergraduate student at the University of St. Thomas from 2000-2004, I can vouch for the Rev. Dennis Dease's list of Catholic-identity accolades (Opinion Exchange, Dec. 11).
St. Thomas has indeed done much to promote and preserve its Catholic identity.
But in responding to Kathleen Kersten's Dec. 6 column, neither Father Dease nor Archbishop Harry Flynn addressed her central concern: How is the university's Catholic identity preserved by a change in the bylaws that removes the sitting archbishop as chairman of the board of trustees?
Archbishop Flynn promised in his letter that the board would always include bishops or priests. But unless this promise appears in the bylaws, it's only as good as his five-year term.
As a proud graduate of St. Thomas, I am deeply concerned for the university's future as a Catholic university. Like Kersten, I believe the preservation of the university's Catholic identity is key to maintaining a true diversity in education.
No list of accolades, and certainly no word-of-mouth guarantee from an archbishop with a coadjutor, will assure me that St. Thomas won't cave in to secularization. Until I see the sitting archbishop written back into the board's bylaws, any guarantee of the university's continued Catholicity to me seems ill-founded, inaccurate and ludicrous.*
FRANZ S. KLEIN, LA CROSSE, WIS.

* Just a note on the rather strong language of "ill-founded, inaccurate and ludicrous": Here I am resonding directly to Archbishop Harry Flynn's claim that "[a]ny rumors or speculation about the 'de-Catholicization' of the University of St. Thomas are ill-founded, inaccurate and ludicrous."

Merry Christmas or something else?

2007-12-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

A tip of the hat goes to Veritatis Splendor for this one:

Just received via e-mail... had to share (slightly edited)!

To My Liberal Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To My Conservative Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

More on Bishop Listecki's stance on the emergency contraception legislation

2007-12-20T15:44:00.001-08:00

As I reported yesterday, Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison and my own shepherd, Bishop Jerome Listecki of La Crosse, have broken ranks with the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's neutral stance in regard to a bill that would force Catholic hospitals and physicians to administer potentially abortifacient drugs such as the morning after pill.

I had the opportunity to interview Bishop Listecki this afternoon for an article that will appear in the Dec. 27 La Crosse Catholic Times. I will include a brief quote from that interview below, but since this interview belongs to the paper and not to me, Catholic Times editor Dan Rossini has asked that my quote be merely a teaser and not a story prior to the article's publication in The Catholic Times. Any citation of this by news sources should cite a Catholic Times interview that will form the basis of a complete article to come on Dec. 27 .

Bishop Listecki told The Catholic Times that he, like Bishop Morlino, believes the Conference's neutrality was abrogated by the new situation brought about by the lack of a conscience clause amendment. Like the Madison bishop, he acknowledged that many Catholics had become confused by the neutrality position. "What the neutrality position was meant to articulate has been turned around by some to see it as a confirmation for the legislation," he said. "Perceptions in our world are often everything. Neither I nor any bishop in Wisconsin wants to be perceived as being for legislation that goes against the teachings of the Church."

The Dec. 27 article will be posted on this blog. It will include additional comments from Bishop Listecki as well as exclusive quotes from Wisconsin Catholic Conference executive director John Huebscher and Pro-Life Wisconsin legislative director Matt Sande.

Bishops Morlino, Listecki, come out against emergency contraception legislation

2007-12-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

It's in the Dec. 20 Madison Catholic Herald, which isn't yet available online, but Bishop Robert C. Morlino has separated himself from the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's officially neutral stance in regard to AB 377 -- legislation that would force Catholic hospitals to administer emergency contraception to victims of rape even when this could cause an abortion. The bishop's stance comes in the context of a letter to "Members of the Wisconsin Legislature" dated Dec. 17 and included in very small print on the "official" page. (Perhaps in small print due to late-breaking inclusion?) (See my article about Father Kubat's lecture on the issue in Chippewa Falls here.)

According to the letter, the bishop feels himself to be at liberty to disagree with the WCC because the state's Catholic Conference had a neutrality stance in regard to legislation that included conscience clause amendments that would have allowed Catholic hospitals to conduct "appropriate testing." The State Assembly has subsequently rejected these amendments.

"The hoped-for effect of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's earlier stance of neutrality on this bill was to protect women who are the victims of rape, while also protecting the possible pre-born human being, by affirming the necessary conscience exemption for institutions and individuals with regard to the appropriate testing, so as to avoid abortifacient emergency contraception," Bishop Morlino wrote.

The bishop adds these important lines: "It is my judgment as Bishop of Madison that the earlier position of neutrality did not have its hoped for effect, and so it is now moot, and this neutrality position has now expired. Our conference's neutrality stance has also unintentionally provoked scandal among Catholics who have been persuaded by statements in the media that we are becoming less fervent in our defense of the dignity of pre-born human life."

And of all the words in the bishop's letter, here are the most important of all: "So I urge you, by this letter, to oppose AB 377."

Praise God for the bishop's strong and courageous stance against a scandalous statement that has indeed caused confusion among Catholics. I am grateful to Bishop Morlino for these words.

Writing from La Crosse, I am additionally rejoicing given this sentence from the letter: "I might add that Bishop Jerome Listecki of LaCrosse [sic] finds himself completely in accord with the sentiments that I have expressed."

Now, putting on my reporter's hat for the Catholic Times, I have to see if there's any way to get the word out about Bishop Listecki's position before it's too late to matter.

Thank God for answered prayers and for faithful shepherds!

La Crosse Diocese: Chance to see the pope in New York

2007-12-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

The following letter was posted on the Diocese of La Crosse's Web site:

D i o c e s e o f L a C r o s s e

Office of the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia
December 5, 2007
To: The Pastors and Parochial Administrators of the Diocese of La Crosse
Re: April 20, 2008 Solemn Pontifical Mass

Dear Brothers in Christ,

In his November 20, 2007 letter to the Bishop’s of the United States, His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, proposed the tentative schedule of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, while he visits the United States (and in particular New York City) next April. As part of the itinerary, the Holy Father will visit Ground Zero on Sunday morning, April 20th to pray for the victims and heroes of the World Trade Center tragedy. Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Journey to the United States will culminate that afternoon with a Solemn Pontifical Mass at Yankee Stadium. Bishop Jerome E. Listecki has been invited to concelebrate the Pontifical Mass and, as a matter of collegiality, he desires to invite you and your parishioners to partake of this special occasion in New York City. Ever since the announcement of the Holy Father’s Apostolic Journey, many requests for tickets to attend the Solemn Pontifical Mass have been received both at the Office of the Cardinal in New York and at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. Needless to say, space is limited.

Bishop Listecki has been asked to provide no later than January 1, 2008 an indication of the number of tickets the Diocese of La Crosse would like to request. I ask you therefore to submit to me by 3:00 p.m. Friday, December 28th a fairly accurate indication of the number of tickets your parish would like to receive. Only requests submitted by the pastors and parochial administrators of the Diocese of La Crosse will be considered. The Bishop will not accept solicitations directly from your parishioners. You will not necessarily be guaranteed the number of tickets requested, but this will serve as a valued figure in determining the number of tickets the Diocese will receive in toto. Upon receiving from the Office of the Papal Visit the final allotment of tickets, I will work diligently with Bishop Listecki and the College of Deans to distribute equitably the Diocese’s allocation of available tickets.

With sentiments of fraternal esteem and wishing you a blessed Advent season, I remain Yours sincerely in Christ,

Very Rev. Msgr. Richard W. Gilles, V.G.

Talk to your pastors if you want to go to see the pope!!!

Spe Salvi condensed

2007-12-19T06:59:00.000-08:00

Here in La Crosse, Bishop Jerome Listecki is about to issue a call to Catholics to read the pope's new encyclical, "Spe Salvi." Yesterday I was hard at work on an article about the bishop's request, which will appear in our Dec. 27 issue. On Thursday Father Sam Martin, chaplain at La Crosse's Aquinas High School, and I will be guests on the bishop's radio program (this won't actually air until January) to talk about the encyclical. In preparation for the article and radio appearance, I spent part of yesterday trimming down the encyclical to my favorite parts. If you haven't had time to read it in its entirety, check out these paragraphs -- and then click here to read the whole thing!

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Selections from “Spe Salvi”

Not only informative but performative
“Only when the future is certain as a positive reality does it become possible to live the present as well. So now we can say: Christianity was not only ‘good news’ – the communication of a hitherto unknown content. In our language we would say: the Christian message was not only ‘informative’ but ‘performative.’ That means: The Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known – it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life. (n. 2)

Hope means knowing God
“To come to know God – the true God – means to receive hope. We who have always lived with the Christian concept of God, and have grown accustomed to it, have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God. (n. 3)

A gift we receive in baptism
“According to (the dialogue of baptism), the parents were seeking access to the faith for their child, communion with believers, because they saw in faith the key to ‘eternal life.’ Today as in the past, this is what being baptized, becoming Christians, is all about: It is not just an act of socialization within the community, not simply a welcome into the Church. The parents expect more for the one to be baptized: they expect that faith, which includes the corporeal nature of the Church and her sacraments, will give life to their child – eternal life. Faith is the substance of hope. But then the question arises: Do we really want this – to live eternally? Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. To continue living forever – endlessly – appears more like a curse than a gift. (n. 10)

Trying to understand heaven
"In some way we want life itself, true life, untouched even by death; yet at the same time we do not know the thing towards which we feel driven. We cannot stop reaching out for it, and yet we know that all we can experience or accomplish is not what we yearn for. … Inevitably it is an inadequate term that creates confusion (Eternal Life). ‘Eternal,’ in fact, suggests to us the idea of something interminable, and this frightens us; ‘life’ makes us think of the life that we know and love and do not want to lose… . To imagine ourselves outside the temporality that imprisons us and in some way to sense that eternity is not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction, in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality—this we can only attempt. It would be like plunging into the ocean of infinite love, a moment in which time—the before and after—no longer exists. We can only attempt to grasp the idea that such a moment is life in the full sense, a plunging ever anew into the vastness of being, in which we are simply overwhelmed with joy. (n. 12).

False hope of progress, materialism
"Francis Bacon and those who followed in the intellectual current of modernity that he inspired were wrong to believe that man would be redeemed through science. Such an expectation asks too much of science; this kind of hope is deceptive. Science can contribute greatly to making the world and mankind more human. Yet it can also destroy mankind and the world unless it is steered by forces that lie outside it. … Man's great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God – God Who has loved us and Who continues to love us ‘to the end,’ until all ‘is accomplished’ (See John 13:1 and 19:30). (nn. 25, 27)

Learn hope through prayer
“A first essential setting for learning hope is prayer. When no one listens to me any more, God still listens to me. When I can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, I can always talk to God. When there is no longer anyone to help me deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond the human capacity for hope, he can help me. (n. 32)

We don’t suffer alone
“To suffer with the other and for others; to suffer for the sake of truth and justice; to suffer out of love and in order to become a person who truly loves—these are fundamental elements of humanity, and to abandon them would destroy man himself. … Bernard of Clairvaux coined the marvellous expression: Impassibilis est Deus, sed non incompassibilis – God cannot suffer, but He can suffer with. Man is worth so much to God that he himself became man in order to suffer with man in an utterly real way. … Certainly, in our many different sufferings and trials we always need the lesser and greater hopes too – a kind visit, the healing of internal and external wounds, a favorable resolution of a crisis, and so on. In our lesser trials these kinds of hope may even be sufficient. But in truly great trials, where I must make a definitive decision to place the truth before my own welfare, career and possessions, I need the certitude of that true, great hope of which we have spoken here. For this too we need witnesses – martyrs – who have given themselves totally, so as to show us the way – day after day. … I would like to add here another brief comment with some relevance for everyday living. There used to be a form of devotion – perhaps less practiced today but quite widespread not long ago – that included the idea of ‘offering up’ the minor daily hardships that continually strike at us like irritating ‘jabs,’ thereby giving them a meaning. … Maybe we should consider whether it might be judicious to revive this practice ourselves. (n. 39-40)

Purgatory and prayer
“Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. So my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person, something external, not even after death. In the interconnectedness of Being, my gratitude to the other – my prayer for him – can play a small part in his purification. And for that there is no need to convert earthly time into God's time: in the communion of souls simple terrestrial time is superseded. It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain. In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too. As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well. (n. 48)

Now that you're inspired, read it!

Joyce and Apostasy: The Ecclesiastical Overtones of Bloom's 'Conversion'

2007-12-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

The completion of this paper comes as a relief, since with it I have completed my academic semester. I can also say, definitively, that my enthusiasm of Joycean studies also ends with the passing of this class. As I read Ulysses this past semester, I shared some of what I found in this book with my fiancee, who was understandably horrified. The reasons for her horror are the same reasons the book was banned from being printed here in the United States for many years. My own horror, however, has to do with what this paper is about. In 5,393 words, I hope to have summarized why this book is cited by so many people who have left the Church. As an expose, I hope it can be helpful as a guide for any faithful Catholic who reads Ulysses. If my professor thinks this paper is academically sound, I'm hoping to revise it for publication -- so feel free to comment.

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Franz S. Klein
Professor Chris Buttram
English 613 – James Joyce
15 December 2007

Analyzing the Ecclesiastical Overtones of Bloom’s ‘Conversion’

Some critics contend that James Joyce’s Ulysses is inaccessible to readers living outside the ethos of twentieth-century Catholic Ireland. Although any number of annotated texts and “keys” have attempted to render accessible the inaccessible, no annotation could ever convey the feelings an Irish Catholic of this era would have had upon encountering sacred scenes through the irreverent eyes of Joyce’s Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus. Helping create the ethos of Ulysses was Joyce’s use of Latin, the official language of the Catholic Church and something every believer of that era was accustomed to hearing.
Although in Ulysses Joyce almost always uses Latin in ecclesiastical contexts, his own knowledge of the language was far more advanced. Most schoolchildren learned the rudiments of Latin, but very few frequented the elite halls of Belvedere, and even fewer sat in the magnificent aule of the University College of Dublin. At Belvedere, Joyce’s daily lessons would have included rote memorization from the Latin poets (Sullivan 81). And later, at the University College of Dublin, Joyce was awarded second-class honors in Latin after demonstrating proficiency in the writings of Ovid, Cicero, Livy and Horace (159). According to Corinna Del Greco Lobner, Joyce wrote in a matriculation-year essay that Latin was “the recognized language of scholars and philosophers, and the weapon of the learned” (140). When Joyce’s abilities are added to the fact that almost all the Latin in Ulysses is the ordinary, everyday Latin of the Church, it seems that he did not include Latin simply to show off. Rather, his use of the language had a very specific purpose that practically begs for analysis. While the Latin of the classical poets would be alien to the Irish ethos, the Latin of the Church – heard every Sunday at Mass – was part of the being of every Irish Catholic. Joyce was writing for Ireland, and therefore his use of Latin in Ulysses conforms to the Latin of the Irish, which was the Latin of the Church.
In Joyce’s day, Mass was always celebrated in the Church’s official language, and was frequented at least on Sundays under pain of mortal sin. As a child, Joyce proved intensely devout. Years after Joyce had died, his older sister, Sr. Gertrude Mary Joyce,[1] recalled, “Jim was the most religious of us all. As a matter of fact, he scared the rest of us with the intensity of his faith and some of his religious practices. He was a daily Mass-goer and he used [to] spend at least one hour in thanksgiving after Holy Communion” (qtd. in McGarry 62). In James Joyce, Richard Ellmann notes that the mysterious refinements of the liturgy captured Joyce’s imagination as a young student at Belvedere:
[H]e learned precisely the order of the priest’s functions, studying the technique of benediction as closely as Stendhal’s archbishop. He took part in a procession to the little altar in the wood, wearing appropriate vestments and bearing the boat of incense. The majesty of the Church excited him and never left him…. Yet questions had begun too, fostered by his father’s mocking anticlericalism; for the moment they expressed themselves, Joyce says in A Portrait, merely as puzzlement over the fact that his holy teachers could be guilty of rage or injustice. (30)
Even as Joyce’s Catholic faith subsequently collapsed in real life, Ellmen says the author’s “faith in art… grew great” (50). Thus, in a 1917 Zurich conversation recorded by Georges Borach, a mature Joyce – merely a year away from beginning to serialize Ulysses – commented, “I profess no religion at all. Of the two religions, Protestantism and Catholicism, I prefer the latter. Both are false. The former is cold and colorless. The second-named is constantly associated with art; it is a ‘beautiful lie’ – something at least” (326).
In Ulysses, therefore, it seems Joyce was bent upon exposing that “beautiful lie” for what he saw it to be. The primary target, of course, would be the Church’s most beautiful, most sacred mystery – that which had captured Joyce’s imagination as a child and possibly continued to exert an influence over him – namely, the Mass.
Apart from Buck Mulligan’s mock “Mass” which appears in the opening chapter, Ulysses’ most thoroughly described Mass is the real one Leopold Bloom observes in the Lestrygonians chapter. Whilst digesting Martha’s latest letter, Bloom is walking down Cumberland Street. Noticing that the back door is open, he enters All Hallows Church and observes communicants at the altar rail:
The priest went along by them, murmuring, holding the thing in his hands. He stopped at each, took out a communion, shook a drop or two (are they in water?) off it and put it neatly into her mouth. Her hat and head sank. Then the next one. Her hat sank at once. Then the next one: a small old woman. The priest bend down to put it into her mouth, murmuring all the time. Latin. The next one. Shut your eyes and open your mouth. What? Corpus: body. Corpse. Good idea the Latin. Stupefies them first. Hospice for the dying. They don’t seem to chew it: only swallow it down. Rum idea: eating bits of a corpse. Why the cannibals cotton to it. (66)
Despite being baptized again as a Catholic before marrying Molly, Bloom’s thoughts express ignorance of what is taking place. He initially displays his ignorance by calling the Host a “thing,” and then by improperly placing an indefinite article in front of the word “communion.” Surely Joyce made his Irish Catholic readers laugh when Bloom ponders whether the Hosts are in water. It is only after the priest utters the Latin word Corpus[2] that Bloom expresses – or perhaps gains – the knowledge that the priest is distributing Corpus Christi, or the Body of Christ.
Joyce’s decision to show Bloom growing in knowledge is no accident, for such a pattern emerges in this scene, wherein Bloom approaches the church, comes to source of its power, is repulsed by it, and finally rejects it. His initial approach comes from curiosity. Exiting Cumberland Street, he steps onto the church’s porch, presumably to read the announcement about Father John Conmee’s sermon on St. Peter Claver and the African Mission.[3] From there, “[t]he cold smell of sacred stone called him. He trod the worn steps, pushed the swingdoor and entered softly by the rere” (66). Even as he observes and learns, Bloom’s curiosity remains, propelling him to greater and greater discovery. But his curiosity comes to an abrupt end with the utterance of that single Latin word: Corpus. With the utterance of that word, Bloom’s curiosity and mystification turn to scorn: “Good idea the Latin. Stupefies them first” (66). When Bloom hears a fragment in English a little later, he thinks, “English. Throw them a bone” (67).
With the priest’s utterance of Corpus, Joyce inverts knowledge and its possessors. While the bent hats and heads are likely more cognizant of their catechism than Bloom, none of them has the grasp of Latin he evidently possesses. Whereas previously it seems Bloom had struggled to understand the sacred mystery that captivated him, suddenly he owned the gnostic key that all these devout old women lacked – and thus was able to reject and scorn what remained mysterious to them but which he now understood. The mystery had lost its hold, its “kind of kingdom of God is within you feel” (66). Earlier, as Bloom stood on the church’s porch reading the announcement regarding Father Conmee’s sermon, he had wondered how the faith would attract the “heathen Chinee” (65). But at the end of the scene, as Bloom observes the exit of two worshippers who “dipped furtive hands in the low tide of holy water” (68), perhaps he feels his question to be satisfactorily answered in the subtle and mysterious hegemony of a single Latin word.
The answer this scene intimates for Bloom is the first stage in his struggle against authority in general. According to J. Mitchell Morse, Bloom’s journey in Ulysses isn’t simply an opportunity to point out tyranny but moreso to showcase Bloom’s ability to rise above it: “He rises by defiance, by disobedience, by standing apart from and against all its values” (1031). While Morse believes much of Bloom’s later self-assertion in the Circe chapter is already latent in his early action, “all his movements of detachment, difference, self-assertion, freedom, are interspersed with other movements of self-denial, self-abasement, false adaptability, and open defeat” (1032). Thus, he traces Bloom’s day from his initial deference to Molly and his cat, both of whom he placates with food (51, 55). But even in the midst of these capitulations, Bloom plants the earliest seeds of defiance in his scorning of Latin and rejection of the mysterious power of the Mass. At the conclusion of the Lestrygonians chapter, after Bloom has servilely capitulated to Molly and his cat, he begins to assert himself by doing something for himself – namely, taking a bath: “Enjoy the bath now: clean trough of water, cool enamel, the gentle tepid stream. This is my body” (71). Unlike the worshippers who receive the Corpus of Christ and furtively dip their hands in holy water, Bloom finds his own “stream of life” and acknowledges his own body: “He foresaw his pale body reclined in it at full, naked, in a womb of warmth, oiled by scented melting soap, softly laved” (71).
Bloom’s rejection of Church’s primacy and spiritual authority in this chapter seems to help plant the seed that will lead to open rebellion as he grows bolder throughout the book. A nominal Catholic, Bloom’s connection to the Church is much more tenuous than his connection to Molly, or even to his cat. He doesn’t risk losing much in terms of acceptance through this private, interior rebellion. For this reason, Morse writes, Bloom was able to take this first step,
since the leading motive of his life up to the day we see him has been to be accepted by the world. For one who, like Bloom, is inherently different from worldly men, the search for acceptance is as delusive as the conscious search for happiness; it has in fact led him not to acceptance but to rejection. Since he is not a creative person, he does need to be accepted; but only when he accepts himself, asserts his very real superiority, defies his rejecters and stand on his own terms does such a markedly different man become acceptable. (1031)
Interiorly Bloom is now on the way to making this self-assertion. In Joyce’s narrative, what was merely a scornful thought at Mass has become an alternative source of spiritual strength as Bloom enters the bath water and says – not shrouded in the mystery of the Church’s Latin but in plain English – “This is my body” (71).
Bloom’s fight against the mysterious spiritual hold of Latin and the Church continues at Patrick Dignam’s burial service in the Scylla and Charybdis chapter. At the service, Father Coffey prays, “Non intres in judicium cum servo tuo, Domine”[4] (85). Bloom reflects, “Makes them feel more important to be prayed over in Latin” (85). While the meaning of the Latin words is not overly important to the passage as a whole, the fact that the priest prays them in Latin is significant. Bloom’s reverie focuses once more on what he feels to be false authority on the part of the Church through the hegemony of the mysterious, which is contextualized in Latin-language ceremonies. Bloom notes that the priest balances a “little book against his toad’s belly” (85). Regarding Father Coffey he further notes that he has “a belly on him like a poisoned pup” (85). His internal monologue continues, “What swells him up that way? Molly gets swelled after cabbage. Air of the place maybe. Looks full up of bad gas. Must be an infernal lot of bad gas around the place” (85). Bloom’s comments are sandwiched between more snatches of the priest’s Latin prayers: “Et ne nos inducas in tentationem”[5] (86), and “In paradisum”[6] (86). Given Bloom’s reflections on Latin, it is perhaps significant that expelled gas and these phrases appear together. To the uneducated masses, the Latin phrases convey authority from on high and are veiled in mystery. But to Bloom they have become expelled, evil-smelling gas – something let loose by swollen-bellied priests.
Less fleshed-out references tying Latin to Church authority occur throughout Ulysses. The Nausicaa chapter, for example, begins by following Father John Conmee as he leaves his presbytery. Perspectives are reversed here, since elements of the Mass are seen through the eyes of a priest rather than an agnostic like Bloom. Father Conmee’s thoughts about the late Patrick Dignam’s son, however, show that even the Mass viewed through a priest’s eyes is going to be less than favorable: “What was the boy’s name again? Dignam. Yes. Vere dignum et iustum est”[7] (180). Although in the Mass this text indicates that lifting up one’s heart to the Lord is “worthy and just,” in this context the two words show Father Conmee to be full of himself. Father Conmee is referred to as “[t]he superior, the very reverend John Conmee S.J.” (180). This superior and reverend man cannot even remember Dignam’s name at first – and when he does remember, it is not out of compassion but because his late father was “useful at mission time” (180). Dignum here in the Nausicaa chapter refers to “worthiness,” and is intended to highlight Father Conmee’s self-perceived state of being. Father Conmee furthermore symbolizes the whole Church, which Joyce viewed through what he considered to be its ill-founded pomp. Joyce chooses the word dignum precisely because it comes from the Mass, whence Father Conmee as its officially appointed celebrant and the Church as its propagator achieve their “worthiness.”
During the Lestrygonians-chapter liturgy, Bloom watches whilst the priest purifies the chalice. “Wine,” Bloom muses. “Makes it more aristocratic than for example if he drank what they are used to Guinness’s porter or some temperance beverage…” (67).[8] Not only is the wine used at Mass aristocratic in Bloom’s eyes but equally so is the Latin language, since it similarly separates the priest from the people. In the Aeolus chapter, Stephen is present with the newspapermen when J. J. O’Molloy brings up the “Imperium romanum” (108). While disparaging reference is made to Roman law and Ireland’s political situation as a cowed subject of Britain, the subheading “KYRIE ELEISON” (110) makes this passage additionally relevant to the spiritual authority of the Church as expressed in the Mass. As O’Molloy elaborates on his comments in “THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME” (108), Judaism and imperial Rome are tied together:
What was their civilisation? Vast, I allow: but vile. Cloacae: sewers. The jews in the wilderness and on the mountaintop said: It is meet to be here. Let us build an altar to Jehovah. The Roman, like the Englishman who follows in his footsteps, brought to every new shore on which he set his foot (on our shore he never set it) only his cloacal obsession. He gazed about him in his toga and he said: It is meet to be here. Let us construct a watercloset. (108)
Although O’Molloy’s comment seems overtly political, the Church also unites Judaism and imperial Rome in her liturgy. All Joyce’s literature rebelled against what he perceived as political (British) and ecclesiastical (Catholic) imperialism. Since Pope Adrian IV conceded Ireland to Britain with his Laudabiliter bull, the two were intimately linked in the author’s mind.
Some of Joyce’s strongest condemnations of the imperialism of Britain and the Catholic Church come from a series of articles published in Italian in a Trieste evening newspaper, Il Piccolo della Sera. In the edition that appeared on May 19, 1907, for example, Joyce wrote,
Ireland, weighed down by multiple duties, has fulfilled what has hitherto been considered an impossible task – serving both God and Mammon, letting herself be milked by England and yet increasing Peter’s pence (perhaps in memory of Pope Adrian IV, who made a gift of the island to the English King Henry II about 800 years ago, in a moment of generosity. (qtd. in Mason 121)
Although Joyce’s bitterness at Britain welled up from the core of his Irish being, Ellsworth Mason says Joyce’s view of the Church “comes as a considerable surprise” (118). After all, Ireland had fought to remain faithfully Catholic as part of its struggle for self-identification in contradistinction to Anglicanized England. Mason relates this hatred not only to Pope Adrian’s Laudabiliter bull, which ceded Ireland to England, but more contemporarily to the Church’s condemnation of the illicit divorce of Charles Stewart Parnell – a condemnation that killed Parnell’s political career, and with it the hopes of a politically independent Ireland. Thus, Joyce wrote in an article that was printed on September 5, 1912, “In his final desperate appeal to his countrymen, he [Parnell] begged them not to throw him as a sop to the English wolves howling around them. It redounds to their honor that they did not fail in this appeal. They did not throw him to the English wolves; they tore him to pieces themselves” (qtd. In Mason 137).
One of the most powerful imperial hegemonies – politically or ecclesiastically – is language, something the professor harps on during his discussion of Greek and Latin in the Aeolus chapter: “We serve them. I teach the blatant Latin language. I speak the tongue of a race the acme of whose mentality is the maxim: time is money. Material domination. Domine! Lord! Where is the spirituality?” (110). To the professor, Latin represents empire, domination, and lack of imagination – both that of Britain and of the Catholic Church. But he holds out hope for the Greeks and their language, even as he acknowledges that “[t]hey went under”: “A smile of light brightened his darkrimmed eyes, lengthening his long lips. –The Greek! He said again. Kyrios! Shining word! The vowels the Semite and the Saxon know not. Kyrie! The radiance of the intellect. I ought to profess Greek, the language of the mind. Kyrie eleison!” (110).
The phrase Kyrie eleison,[9] is the only Greek that remained in the Roman Mass after it began to be celebrated in Latin following the fourth century legalization of Christianity. It is entirely possible, therefore, that Joyce was holding out hope for a Church that retained a sliver of non-imperialism in her Romanized liturgy. Mason, for one, argues that such a hope indeed remained for Joyce: “Joyce shows a distinct sympathy for Catholicism as a religion…. [H]e sees a profound truth at the heart of Catholic philosophy, and Catholicism as a constructive force in the lives of men” (118). John Peradotto is another scholar who holds out hope for Joyce and Catholicism. Peradotto’s argument is based on the liturgy as presented in Ulysses. He notes, “We know that Joyce was particularly fond, presumably on purely aesthetic grounds, of the Holy Week liturgy” (322). He cites Stanislaus Joyce’s biography, My Brother’s Keeper, wherein the author’s brother records that Joyce would attend without fail the Church’s Holy Thursday and Good Friday services: “He understood it as the drama of a man who has a perilous mission to fulfill, which he must fulfill even though he knows beforehand that those nearest to his heart will betray him” (qtd. in Peradotto 322).
As evidence that the mysterious power of the liturgy continued to have a hold on Joyce, Peradotto makes a connection between the word “tenebrosity” (322) that appears in the Oxen of the Sun chapter and the Church’s own Tenebrae service, which occurs during the Sacred Triduum that precedes Easter:
Midway in Stephen’s ‘chanson’ stands a word which provides an invaluable clue to the interpretation of the tone and construction of the entire section. That word is “tenebrosity.” The passage can be shown to be clearly fashioned after and inspired by the Tenebrae service of the Roman Catholic liturgy… This fact, as far as I have been able to investigate, has not been exploited by any of the critics or annotators of Ulysses. (322)
A particularly mysterious and ancient liturgy, the Tenebrae service involves the recitation of Matins and Lauds before a candelabrum containing fifteen lighted candles, one of which would be extinguished following the recitation of each psalm. At the completion of the service, a single lighted candle would be carried behind the altar to symbolize the death and burial of Christ. As Peradotto points out, the final word of the psalm then chanted is vitulos, or “oxen."[10]
The theme of Tenebrae, which means darkness, is indeed mentioned in the passage Peradotto cites: “This tenebrosity of the interior, he [Stephen] proceeded to say, hath not been illumined by the wit of the Septuagint nor so much as mentioned for the Orient from on high Which brake hell’s gates visited a darkness that was foraneous” (322). As Stephen proceeds, he mentions several salvation history accounts that could appear during Triduum-service lectiones, such as Moses being “saved from the waters of the Nile” (322), and Christ, who “would… not accept to die like the rest and pass away” (324). Perhaps most telling, though, are the Latin phrases that mark the otherwise bawdy passage as a religious service, such as “Orate fraters, pro memetipso” (322), and the blessing as the “service” ends: “Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, Pater et Filius” (346).
Peradotto makes a connection between the “black crack of noise in the street here” as “[l]oud on left Thor thundered: in anger awful the hammerhurler”[11] (323) and the noise of hymnals being banged against the pews at a Tenebrae service to simulate thunder (323-24). According to Ellmann, Mrs. Conway passed on a number of superstitions to the young Joyce, among them being a fear of thunder: “The thunderstorm as a vehicle of divine power and wrath moved Joyce’s imagination so profoundly that to the end of his life he trembled at the sound” (25). Of all the Church’s services, perhaps the annual Tenebrae service, in which such a thunderous affect occurred, was the liturgy that affected Joyce most and continued to have an affect on him the longest.
But though Peradotto’s argument for the presence of a Tenebrae service in the Oxen of the Sun chapter is compelling, it seems clear that Stephen (and Joyce, for that matter) is rejecting even the shackles of this liturgy’s mysterious power over him. Stephen’s apostasy is most clear in his actions. Clearheaded though he may be, Stephen exuberantly presides over a drunken party, not a religious service. The conversation deals with sex throughout – and not only sex, but sex in a manner prohibited by Church teaching: “Copulation without population!” (345). And as the Tenebrae service intensifies, so too does their party: “Burke’s! Burke’s!” (346). Although they cry “Shout salvation to Jesus” (349), this Tenebrae “service” conducted by Stephen heads towards final apostasy and not religious devotion. Stanislaus Joyce reached a similar conclusion in regard to his brother, writing, “I am convinced that there was never any crisis of belief. The vigour of life within him drove him out of the Church, that vigour of life that is packed into the seven-hundred-odd quarto pages of Ulysses” (qtd. in Benstock 417). Even so, the question of whether Joyce was haunted by his Catholic faith continues to tantalize scholars. His sister, Sister Gertrude Mary Joyce, says he was reconciled to the Church on his deathbed (McGarry 62). Bernard Benstock says that arguments like this should be set aside, with criticism focusing solely on “evaluating the ‘religious’ content of his finished work” (418).
In the finished work of Ulysses, indications in the later chapters all point towards complete apostasy – an apostasy already experienced by Stephen which, with his help, is to set Bloom free. By transitioning his focus onto Stephen, in these later chapters Joyce abandons the timidity of Bloom for a more confident rejection of the Church’s authority. In Oxen of the Sun and especially Circe, Bloom witnesses Stephen’s own blasphemy through his increasingly drunken haze. As Stephen mocks religion through his own personification of it, Bloom sees clearly what he had begun to reject privately. In this chapter, for example, Stephen is transformed into “His Eminence Simon Stephen cardinal Dedalus, primate of all Ireland” (427). What had appeared to be harmless “gas” in Father Conmee has become Cardinal Dedalus’ “bloated pomp” (427). According to Lynch, Stephen is a “cardinal’s son” (427). Stephen actually corrects him, calling himself a “[c]ardinal sin” and making reference to the dissolute “Monks of the screw.”[12] Instead of tolerating those who are useful at mission time, Cardinal Dedalus complains about the mites crawling all over him and cries, “I’m suffering the agony of the damned” (428). Even as outrageous as he appears through Bloom’s drunken blur, Cardinal Dedalus receives “Don” John Conmee’s approbation: “Now, Father Dolan! Now. I’m sure that Stephen is a very good little boy!” (458).
The strangeness of Bloom’s drunken haze in the Circe chapter makes it a true crux interpretum, but it seems that things eventually come to a head in the figurative celebration of a Black Mass as Bloom is attempting to help Stephen avoid the soldiers’ cross examination. Whereas the phrase Introibo ad altare Dei would normally introduce the Mass, here Father Malachi O’Flynn intones, “Introibo ad altare diaboli”[13] (489). Joyce’s stage directions further elucidate the contents of Stephen’s dark imagination:
On an eminence, the centre of the earth, rises the fieldaltar of Saint Barbara. Black candles rise from its gospel and epistle horns. From the high barbacans of the tower two shafts of light fall on the smokepalled altarstone. On the altarstone Mrs Mina Purefoy, goddess of unreason, lies, naked, fettered, a chalice resting on her swollen belly. Father Malachi O’Flynn in a lace petticoat and reversed chasuble, his two left feet back to the front, celebrates camp mass. The Reverend Mr Hugh C Haines Love M.A. in a plain cassock and mortarboard, his head and collar back to the front, holds over the celebrant’s head an open umbrella. (488-89)
Stephen threatens any who would oppose this new Mass: “I’ll wring the neck of any fucking bastard says a word against my bleeding fucking king” (488). And whereas Bloom merely stands by during the Lestrygonians-chapter Mass, here he desperately accosts Cissy Caffrey in his attempt to save Stephen from the soldiers: “Speak, you! Are you struck dumb” (488). But Caffrey cries, “Police!” (488). With clear overtones of Christ’s crucifixion, it seems that Bloom is enamored with Stephen and wants to prevent whatever self-sacrifice Stephen’s conjured-up Black Mass represents.
According to Catholic theology, every Mass is re-presentation of Jesus’ redemptive crucifixion and death at Calvary. It becomes necessary, therefore, to ask who Stephen’s “king” might be. From the scene that quickly escalates in Stephen’s imagination, there are several specific elements pointing to Christ’s crucifixion. Foremost among them is Bloom himself, whose desperation to save Stephen from the authorities reminds one of St. Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Simon Peter, therefore, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his ear”[14] (John 18:10). Then, with Caffrey unwilling to speak up, Stephen’s imagination takes off: “Brimestone fires spring up. Dense clouds roll past. Heavy Gatling guns boom. Pandemonium… The midnight sun is darkened. The earth trembles. The dead of Dublin from Prospect and Mount Jerome… appear to many. A chasm opens with a noiseless yawn” (488). Similarly, after the death of Jesus, St. Matthew relates,
And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two parts from the top all the way to the bottom, and the earth quaked and rocks were rent. Graves opened and many bodies of the saints who were sleeping arose and, leaving their tombs after his resurrection, they came into the city and appeared to many[15] (Matt. 27:51-53).
Despite Caffrey’s having proclaimed Stephen’s innocence (490), Private Carr accosts him all the same: “He rushes towards Stephen, fist outstretched, and strikes him in the face. Stephen totters, collapses, falls, stunned. He lies prone, his face to the sky, his hat rolling to the wall” (491). Like Caffrey in regard to Stephen, Pilate said of Jesus, “I don’t find in him a cause”[16] (John 19:6). Even so, Jesus was crucified – as is Stephen. And like Christ’s first converts, Bloom takes Stephen as his own “professor” (491), his own teacher of a new-found faith in human reason: “Bloom, holding in his hand Stephen’s hat, festooned with shavings, and ashplant, stands irresolute. Then he bends to him and shakes him by the shoulder” (496).
Like the old order, Stephen’s new order finds its driving force in the celebration of a sacred meal. During Stephen’s vision, Father Malachi O’Flynn raises a “blooddripping host” and says, “Corpus meum” (489). Connected with his passion and death was a similar action by Jesus, who told his disciples at the Last Supper, “Hoc est corpus meum”[17] (Matt. 26:26). Although Bloom had scorned in the Lestrygonians chapter Father Conmee’s utterance of Corpus – and therefore Christ’s own redemptive crucifixion and death – here he is enthralled by Father Malachi O’Flynn’s ”Corpus meum” (489). Unlike Father Conmee, though, Father O’Flynn’s version doesn’t refer to a higher power, since the Reverend Love, serving as deacon, “raises high behind the celebrant’s petticoat, revealing his grey bare hairy buttocks between which a carrot is stuck) My body” (489). Unlike the God-man Jesus, Father O’Flynn’s corpus is merely that – his disgustingly human body. The beauty, the majesty, the mystery of the Flesh of the God-man has been inverted, turned on its head. The mystery of the God-man Christ has been replaced with the worship of Stephen’s reason. As Stephen puts it, his Mass is “[t]his feast of pure reason” (490).
An analysis of the occurrences of Latin through Ulysses indicates a complete apostasy on the part of Bloom. Certainly any careful reader could follow Bloom from his initial servility through the assertiveness he possesses at the book’s completion. But an Irish Catholic of Joyce’s time would have been especially sensitive to the religious overtones Latin and liturgy contained therein. On the face of it, Bloom’s “conversion” is positive, since his current state is clearly unhealthy for both him and his interpersonal relations. But it should be clearer now that Joyce intended to convey far more than a story of self-improvement. Bloom’s character stands for freedom from religious oppression. From persecution and death to resurrection and evangelization, Stephen’s character provides for Bloom the example he needs to abandon the old order and take up a new one. Only by the redemptive power of Stephen’s sacrifice at the hands of Private Carr can Bloom disobey and defy the hegemonic influences that surround him.
The pivotal moment of disobedience, of course, comes in the form of a Black Mass – a complete inversion of everything the Church holds sacred in her own liturgy. Now Bloom no longer needs Latin and the Church, for he has a religion of reason founded upon the redemptive sacrifice of Stephen his savior, whom he takes into his own house like a zealous, new convert. Through Stephen’s influence, Bloom abandons his previous meekness and makes demands for his own corpus. Whether Bloom’s new self-assertiveness is a powerful argument for being liberated from the spiritual authority of the Church is too large a question. But it is worth noting, that Molly was impressed at least by Bloom’s request for breakfast: “Yes because he never did a thing like that before…” (608).

Works Cited

Benstock, Bernard. “The Final Apostacy: James Joyce and Finnegans Wake.” ELH 28 (1961): 417-437.
Biblia Sacra iuxta Vulgatam Clementinam. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1999.
Borach, Georges. “Conversations with James Joyce.” Trans. Joseph Prescott. College English 15 (1954): 325-327.
Ellmann, Richard. James Joyce. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1983.
Gifford, Don. Ulysses Annotated. 2nd ed. Berkley: California UP, 1988.
Joyce, James. Ulysses. Eds. Hans Walter Gabler et al. New York: Random House, 1986.
Lobner, Corinna Del Greco. “James Joyce and the Italian Language.” Italica 60 (1983): 140-153.
Mason, Ellsworth. “James Joyce’s Shrill Note. The Piccolo della Sera Articles.” TCL 2 (1956): 115-139.
McGarry, Patsy. “A Question of Faith.” Irish Times 16 June 2001: 62.
Morse, J. Mitchell. “The Disobedient Artist: Joyce and Loyola.” PMLA 72 (1957):1018-1035.
Peradotto, John. “A Liturgical Pattern in Ulysses.” MLN 75 (1960): 321-326.
Sullivan, Kevin. Joyce among the Jesuits. New York: Columbia UP, 1957.

Endnotes

[1] Joyce’s older sister entered the Sisters of Mercy missionary congregation at the suggestion of Joyce – in New Zealand, she recalled, because Joyce had suggested, “’Why not do something really heroic and witness at the uttermost ends of the earth?’ She asked where he meant. ‘The Antipodes – and New Zealand, in particular. You can’t get much further than there,’ he said. ‘And that is how I came to be here,’ she said” (McGarry 1-2).
[2] The full phrase Bloom partially overheard would have been, “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen.” (“May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ guide your soul to eternal life. Amen.”)
[3] Like many details in Ulysses, Joyce borrowed Father John Conmee from real life, where he was rector of Clongowes Wood while Joyce was a student there (Sullivan 28).
[4] “Do not enter into judgment with your servant, O Lord” (Ps. 142). According to Gifford, these words would be pronounced shortly before the coffin is lowered into the grave (118).
[5] “Lead us not into temptation” (From the Lord’s Prayer).
[6] “[May the angels lead you] into paradise” (Beginning of a popular prayer often recited or sung during the burial service).
[7] “It is truly worthy and just.” This phrase would be an altar boy’s response to one of the priest’s invocations immediately before the Liturgy of the Eucharist: “Sursum corda” (“Lift up your heart”).
[8] Wine would be connected to Britain, which was settled by the Romans, whereas Guinness could almost be considered the national Irish beverage. Gifford notes that Dublin’s brewery occupied forty acres in 1904 (95).
[9] “Lord have mercy.”
[10] The last verse of the Miserere, Ps. 50:21, reads, “Tunc acceptabis sacrificium iustitiae, oblations et holocausta; Tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos” (“You shall thereupon accept a sacrifice of justice, oblations and burnt offerings; They shall place upon your altar oxen”).
[11] In Scandinavian mythology, Thor was the god of thunder and lightening, and therefore represents thunder here (Gifford 421).
[12] “An eighteenth-century society of Irish lawyers, statesmen, and intellectuals that also called itself the Order of St. Patrick… The affectation of monkish habits was apparently a way of lending the spice of ‘violation’ to the society’s pursuit of pleasure” (Gifford 499).
[13] “I shall go up to the altar of the devil.”
[14] “Simon ergo Petrus habens gladium eduxit eum et percussit pontificis servum et abscidit eius auriculam dextram” (John 18:10).
[15] “Et ecce velum temple scissum est in duas partes a summon usque deorsum et terra mota est et petrae scissae sunt et monumenta aperta sunt et multa corpora sanctorum qui cormierant surrexerunt et exeuntes de monumentis post resurrectionem eius venerunt in sanctam civitatem et apparuerunt multis” (Matt. 27:51-53).
[16] “Ego enim non invenio in eo causam” (John 19:6).
[17] “This is my body” (Matt. 26:26).

Our Lady of Guadalupe alive in Abbotsford

2007-12-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

In the photo above, Matachines religious dancers perform Dec. 9 in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard's Parish, Abbotsford, Wis.

Many Wisconsinites haven't yet come to terms with the fact that the Hispanic community here continues to grow. Last Sunday, I was at St. Bernard's Parish in Abbotsford, where their local presence is probably stronger than anyplace else in the Diocese of La Crosse. That's why the diocese has sent them Father Enrique Castro -- their own Spanish-speaking priest. In tomorrow's paper, there will be an article on this community's vibrant celebration of the Virgin's feast day, as well as on the presence of Father Castro in the diocese.

Until then, Happy Feast Day! -- enjoy these photos and a teaser from the article:

ABBOTSFORD – Apart from the cold weather outside, many of the Abbotsford-area Hispanics who gathered at St. Bernard’s Parish Dec. 9 could have been back in the Mexican state of Durango. For inside the church building, beautifully familiar warmth, music and dancing marked, albeit a few days early, the most cherished of Hispanic feast days: that of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The church was filled to overflowing for the 1 p.m. Mass celebrated by Father Enrique Castro, a Peruvian priest who has worked hard to bring together Abbotsford’s Hispanics. Father Benjamin Franklin, pastor of St. Bernard’s, as well as Holy Rosary, Owen, and St. Louis, Dorchester, concelebrated.
“Beloved brothers and sisters, we need to say to Mary, ‘Madrecita, today I am in your hands,’” Father Castro urged in fervent Spanish.
Taking St. John the Baptist’s call to repentance from the Second Sunday of Advent as his text, Father Castro’s hard-hitting homily focused on the necessity of change, and of returning to the sacramental life of the Church. “You need to ask whether you can change a little,” he said. “If you don’t do this, what moral authority will you have in your home?”
“Ten fé en mí (have faith in me) – this was Mary’s message to St. Juan Diego,” he said.

[...]

In the photo below, Father Castro blesses images of Our Lady of Guadalupe for the homes of his parishioners.

Strange words from Cardinal Kasper

2007-12-11T12:59:00.000-08:00

More and more Anglicans and Episcopalians are joining the Catholic Church due to their churches' increasingly liberal doctrine. While several American Episcopal bishops have become Catholic recently, and an entire diocese left the Episcopal Church to join a more conservative Anglican body, perhaps nothing tops the Traditional Anglican Communion, whose representatives -- possibly representing up to 400,000 Anglicans -- recently submitted papers to Rome, asking for "full, corporate sacramental union."

Certainly such a request is cause for rejoicing. Never since the original split have so many Anglicans sought to return to the Church. According to a Catholic Online article, the pope is considering their request and brought the matter before the consistory of cardinals for discussion a few weeks ago. According to this article, the discussion was led by German Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Now Cardinal Kasper's recent interview with the British Catholic Herald has thrown ice on the matter. The first paragraph of the article reads:
One of the Vatican's most senior cardinals has dismissed the idea that a breakaway group of Anglicans might be received into the Catholic Church en masse - despite Benedict XVI's personal support for such a move. Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, told The Catholic Herald: "It's not our policy to bring that many Anglicans to Rome."

The article continues:
The cardinal said on Monday: "We are on good terms with the Archbishop of Canterbury and as much as we can we are helping him to keep the Anglican community together.
"When asked whether he felt encouraged by the TAC's request, the cardinal replied: "It's not our policy to bring that many Anglicans to Rome and I am not sure there are so many as you are speaking about.
"He added: "Of course, as a Catholic I am happy if one person joins our Catholic Church but I doubt such a big group is coming - I think there are still many questions to solve first."

Exactly where did this ice water come from??? Exactly how many Anglicans would Cardinal Kasper allow to become Catholic??? Why is the cardinal against Anglicans becoming Catholic???

I understand that it's not so simple as saying Cardinal Kasper doesn't want Anglicans to become Catholic. I think he and other professional ecumenists would like an entire denomination to grow towards a stronger sense of self-identity, and gradually to come closer to recognizing the Catholic Church as its spiritual home. But I can't see how a professional ecumenist like Cardinal Kasper can fail to recognize that the Anglican Communion isn't held together as a "church" like the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Communion under Canterbury lacks essential elements of apostolic succession and valid sacraments, and Anglicanisms sharp drift into modernism is a sure reflection of this fact.

To prevent an en masse conversion is to fail to throw a life preserver to faithful who are drowning spiritually. Giving these Anglicans the cold shoulder in a very real sense constitutes dereliction of duty. The Catholic Herald article indicates that the CDF, not Cardinal Kasper's Council, is working with these Anglicans -- something I am grateful for. But I am left with a bad feeling by the fact Cardinal Kasper addressed the Consistory regarding this matter.

A look back at Rome

2007-12-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

My fiancee Rosemary Korish and I were/are guests on La Crosse Bishop Jerome E. Listecki's "Connecting with the Bishop" program this weekend to talk about our October pilgrimage to Rome. Although the program already aired on Relevant Radio already yesterday and today, it will be rebroadcast tomorrow at 9 a.m. on these stations: 1570 AM (La Crosse), 93.9 FM (Wisconsin Rapids), 92.9 FM (Wausau) and 1050 AM (Eau Claire).

I hope to get my hands on an MP3 version that I can post here by Monday or Tuesday.

Until then, you can take a look at my October posts about our pilgrimage: On the Pope's General Audience and Attending the North American College Ordinations. There are some cool pictures in both these posts.

More controversy at St. Thomas

2007-12-08T11:49:00.000-08:00

I find myself blogging quite a bit lately on my alma mater, the University of St. Thomas. I recently posted my reflections on their choice of a controversial common text. A month ago, I also noted their choice to remove the sitting archbishop of Minneapolis/St. Paul as ex-officio chairman of the board. What this does, I wrote, is sever the official tie St. Thomas has with the Catholic Church -- certainly a scary thing if one hopes St. Thomas continues to function as a Catholic university.

A few days ago, the Minneapolis Star Tribune published a column by Katherine Kersten titled, Battle for the Soul of St. Thomas takes a Turn for the Worse. I thought Kersten did a good job of summarizing the concerns of alumni like me, who want St. Thomas to remain Catholic and see an official connection with the Church as essential.

Today, however, Archbishop Harry Flynn took issue with her column in a letter to the editor. He blasted her failure to include a part of his official statement that says the board will always include bishops or priests. He wrote, "Any rumors or speculation about the 'de-Catholicization of the University of St. Thomas are ill-founded, inaccurate and ludicrous."

While Kersten probably should have included Archbishop Flynn's claim in her column, I don't see how the archbishop can make a promise that bishops or priests will always be on the board. If you read the bylaws, it seems that this "fact" is not written in stone. Is it word of mouth? If so, it will be forgotten as quickly as the next generation or the newest anti-Catholic ideology. I don't see how an assurance that St. Thomas will be Catholic makes the university Catholic. These things have to be written in stone.

If the archbishop could present evidence that this will be the case, I would be assured. Until that happens, I feel the archbishop's letter, unfortunately, said nothing at all. Until then, any absolute guarantee that St. Thomas will remain Catholic seems ill-founded, inaccurate and ludicrous.

Diocese of La Crosse blasts the Golden Compass

2007-12-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

As far as I know, the Diocese of La Crosse is the first Catholic diocese to officially condemn the Golden Compass.

Now posted on the Diocese's website is a letter from Bishop Jerome E. Listecki, and a short q & a from Ann Lankford and the Office for Catechesis and Evangelization.

Add this to my article and my opinion piece in the most recent Catholic Times, and I think we've done a fine job as a Diocese in speaking out against this movie.

**********************************
Now Amy Welborn reports that New Line Cinema wants to advertize with Catholic papers:

Using the positive review of the film that has come to us from the USCCB film office, a review penned by Harry Forbes and John Mulderig, New Line’s advertising agency is reaching out to diocesan publications. This email was sent this morning:

New Line Cinema has expressed interest in possibly advertising The Golden Compass in the Catholic press. As I’m sure many of you are aware, there has been some controversy around this film because of the philosophy of the author and the nature of the book(s) used as the basis for the film. The film opens December 7.
We’ve spoken extensively about this film with Harry Forbes, Director of the USCCB’s Office of Film and Broadcasting. Below please find a link to Mr. Forbes’ review (he gave The Golden Compass an A II classification-Adults & Adolescents) which was posted last evening on the CNS website and which will be posted today on the USCCB’s.
According to Mr. Forbes’ review, “Whatever author Pullman’s putative motives in writing the story, writer-director Chris Weitz’s film, taken purely on its own cinematic terms, can be viewed as an exciting adventure story with, at its core, a traditional struggle between good and evil, and a generalized rejection of authoritarianism”. http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/07mv242.htm
Because of the extremely abbreviated time element, we’re only approaching those newspapers located within the top 50 television markets which publish weekly. Please get back to me by 2:00 PM EST (11:00 AM PST) to let me know if you want to be included on the quote. No budgets or ad sizes have yet been discussed. We will be suggesting Full Page and Half Page Full Color to simplify the art custom sizing process. Our goal is to issue insertion orders by end of day today with artwork delivered via e mail (PDF) as per our normal process by end of day Monday. Pleased call or e mail me immediately if you have any questions or require any additional information. Thanks very much for your immediate attention.
Regards, Bob Bugle
National Account ManagerAdvertising Media Plus

I think it's safe to say La Crosse's Catholic paper is one outlet where these ads won't appear.

Spe Salvi

2007-11-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

Our Holy Father today published his second encyclical, on hope, titled "Spe Salvi." The fulltext from Zenit can be read here.

I have just finished skimming the text, and I won't have time to take it in properly until after my school semester ends. Speaking generally, I see much more of Pope Benedict's own style of teaching coming through here than was the case in "Deus Caritas Est." The Holy Father's text is almost conversational: He tells stories to make his points, and his humble personality is completely transparent. Always the master teacher, I appreciated his grasp of languages -- his knowledge of the Greek text, especially, allowed for a fuller grasp of the biblical texts. A master scholar as well, he managed to condemn Kant, Bacon, and Marx quite politely, both citing his sources and explaining what they meant in such a way that even they couldn't have said it better.

My favorite part comes when he talks about Purgatory:

No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. So my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person, something external, not even after death. In the interconnectedness of Being, my gratitude to the other—my prayer for him—can play a small part in his purification. And for that there is no need to convert earthly time into God's time: in the communion of souls simple terrestrial time is superseded. It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain. In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too. As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well.

Bella finally comes to La Crosse!!!

2007-11-29T08:23:00.001-08:00

Hats off to Chris Ruff, head of the La Crosse Diocese's Office for Ministries and Social Concerns:

The good news keeps on coming….
“Bella” opens in La Crosse tomorrow, November 30!!!

Valley Square 64400 Hwy. 16LaCrosse , WI608-781-2335
“Bella” Showtimes: 1:00 PM; 4:00 PM; 7:00 PM; 9:30 PM

Pricing Info : Matinee : $5.75 Adult $5.25 ChildEvening : $8.50 Adult $5.25 Child Now available on 6 digital screens*plus tax where applicable **All available listings for movies and showtimes are subject to change without prior notice.

Theatre Comments: THE VALLEY SQUARE 6 NOW OFFERS SUPER BARGAIN MATINEE PRICING! THIS WILL APPLY TO ALL SHOWS STARTING FROM 4:00 PM TO 5:59 PM...ALL SEATS JUST $5.00 SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, EVEN ON HOLIDAYS!!

Golden Compass: Responding to First Things, Catholic Digest

2007-11-29T06:33:00.000-08:00

As I was in the final stages of editing my story on The Golden Compass which appears in the previous post, I received a preview copy of the December Catholic Digest, where the editor has a positive take on the movie, based on a scholarly essay in First Things. While I've never been a big fan of the Catholic Digest, I am a subscriber to First Things. I thought the First Things essay, which focused on Pullman's cosmology, was well written; but a few sentences where Moloney took things too far by saying Pullman's cosmology was so unconvincing that it wouldn't be necessary to keep children away, caused it to be misused by Catholic Digest. Since our recent survey showed 34% of Catholic Times subscribers also receive the Catholic Digest, I decided responding to their article was necessary. Thus the following short editorial was added at the last minute:

Is Pullman’s trilogy benign, after all?

In the December issue of the Catholic Digest, managing editor Julie Rattey had a rather positive take on The Golden Compass. She based her opinion in part on an influential essay that appeared in First Things, where that journal’s associate editor Daniel Moloney argued that, despite Pullman’s best efforts to the contrary, he “inadvertently develops … a powerful Christian scene.”
“As is, I can fairly characterize His Dark Materials in this fashion: Imagine if at the beginning of the world Satan’s rebellion had been successful, that he had reigned for 2,000 years, and that a messiah was necessary to conquer lust and the spirit of domination with innocence, humility, and generous love at great personal cost. Such a story is not subversive of Christianity, it is almost Christian, even if only implicitly and imperfectly. But implicit and imperfect Christianity is often our lot in life, and Pullman has unintentionally created a marvelous depiction of many of the human ideals Christians hold dear.”
Moloney is right when he points out that Pullman has failed to produce a compelling alternative cosmology to that of Christianity. But when he says, “If his alternative were more compelling, I would recommend parents keep their children away,” implying that His Dark Materials is acceptable for children, he goes astray.
Unlike properly formed adult readers, children can and will become confused by Pullman’s less-than-compelling alternative. Pullman’s books are dangerous exactly because they contain so many of the Christian ideals that we’ve worked so hard to teach our children. The problem with Pullman’s books isn’t that they contain Christian ideals, it’s that the wrong people have them.
Pullman explicitly and purposefully takes the Church of the past and present and ties it inextricably to the evil Church of his fantasy world. Ann Lankford, director of the diocesan Office of Catechesis and Evangelization, put it best when she summarized: “He’s making evil good and good evil.”
The genre of fantasy fiction is powerful because its reality doesn’t require rational assent to be believed. Instead, Christian works like The Narnia Chronicles and The Lord of the Rings create a certain ethos in our unconscious that influences us to believe in the reality of good and evil, and to be always a hero on the side of good.
Compelling or not, Pullman intentionally takes Lewis’ Narnia series and subverts its Christian cosmology. With their developing minds and incomplete faith formation, children are susceptible even to an unconvincing alternative cosmology such as Pullman’s. This alternative to everything we believe and hold dear, therefore, is not as harmless as Moloney suggests.
Moloney might be right about properly formed adult readers, but he’s dead wrong when it comes to our children.

– Franz Klein

Today's Catholic Times: The Golden Compass

2007-11-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

It's not often that a new fantasy movie is the cause of an indepth cover story, and it's too bad the first one I wrote had to blast a bad movie. I enjoy the fantasy genre, and I am often skeptical at first of those who find danger therein. But the editor asked me to look into the series, and the more I read, the more I became convinced that Pullman's books are wrong on so many levels. Below is my cover story from today's Catholic Times:

Parents cautioned about new fantasy film
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

LA CROSSE – Catholics are often forced to tolerate a certain level anti-religious sentiment in our increasingly secularized society. But even secular critics are saying that a trilogy whose first book is the basis of a new movie to be released Dec. 7 crosses the bounds of decency in its overt and deliberate attack on Catholicism and organized religion in general.
In its entry on New Line Cinema’s “The Golden Compass,” Snopes.com, a Web site respected for its no-nonsense accuracy in dispelling rumors, says the movie is clearly based on anti-religious themes. And the New York-based Catholic League says although the movie is called “The Golden Compass,” but it’s less than golden.
“The film has been watered down significantly, but a word like ‘Magisterium’ remains, something all Catholics would recognize, and the vast majority of non-Catholics as well,” the Catholic League’s Kiera McCaffrey said in a Catholic Times interview.
“We’re used to hearing arguments from atheists these days,” she added. “We’ve got Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and now Philip Pullman. The difference is, the first three gentlemen I mentioned are making arguments aimed at adults using discourse. But Pullman is aiming his argument at children, wrapping it up in a candy coating and feeding it to them at Christmastime.”

Undermining belief
Directed by Chris Weitz, the movie stars Nicole Kidman. It is based on “The Golden Compass,” the first book of “His Dark Materials,” a fantasy trilogy for children. Its author is avowed British atheist Philip Pullman, who told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003 that his books “are about killing God.”
Pullman acknowledges that his books are an attempt to subvert C.S. Lewis’ “Narnia Chronicles” and even includes a child discovering a parallel world through an academic’s wardrobe in his first novel. So while Lewis was building a Christian fantasy world, Pullman said in a 2001 Washington Post interview: “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief. Mr. Lewis would think I was doing the devil’s work.”

‘Daemons’ and ‘Dust’
A fantasy world admittedly as fun for children as that of Lewis, Pullman’s literary creation includes daemons – people’s souls manifested as animals which, when they mature, exemplify their essential personality traits. Important to the storyline, the separation of a human being from his daemon turns him into an obedient zombie.
In “The Golden Compass,” readers encounter Lyra Belacqua, an 11-year-old orphan living in a fictional Oxford college. Entrusted with a truth-telling golden compass, called an “alethiometer” (“aletheia” is Greek for “truth”), Lyra leaves the college with a visiting adventurer, Mrs. Marisa Coulter, whom she later discovers is trying to steal the alethiometer from her.
Part of the “Gobblers,” Mrs. Coulter servers on the Church’s “General Oblation Board,” which kidnaps children and performs experiments on them to find out why the “Dust” isn’t as attracted to them as it is to adults. Through a medical procedure, priests remove the children’s daemons from them, rendering them zombies rather than letting the “Dust,” or sin, influence them.
Joining an expedition to the mysterious north, Lyra discovers children imprisoned in a Church experimentation facility and rescues them with the help of the aeronaut Lee Scoresby and her own armored bear, Iorek Byrnison. Together they seek out Lord Asriel, an academic who opposes the Church and studies the Dust scientifically. The first novel ends with Lyra following Lord Asriel into the parallel world from which the Dust comes.

Terrified ‘Authority’
While the movie to be released Dec. 7 only covers the first book’s plot, the second and third installments in Pullman’s series become even more explicit in their Christian references. In “The Subtle Knife,” Lyra meets her boyfriend Will Parry, finds the “subtle” knife and discovers that the Church’s Father Gomez is trying to kill her because she is to become a second Eve.
In Pullman’s final installment, “The Amber Spyglass,” a final battle between the Church and Lord Asriel’s army commences. Accusing the priests of having sexual obsessions, Mrs. Coulter joins Lord Asriel’s side to fight against the “Authority,” which is Pullman’s version of a feeble “god” who isn’t really God.
Together, Lyra and Parry encounter the Authority encased in crystal, “terrified, crying like a baby,” and release him, causing him to dissolve into the air. The Authority, having been killed, Lyra and Parry fall in love and kiss but decide they must live apart and work for a better world.

Inverted salvation history
“He actually turns the biblical account of the Garden of Eden on its head,” McCaffrey said. “Lyra, the new Eve, is going to be the mother of the new freedom through her sin. He’s taking Christian themes and Christian belief and completely inverting it. Certainly that’s an extremely harmful message to be feeding children, especially when you dress it up with all sorts of battles and magical worlds.”
According to McCaffrey, Pullman’s books are unmistakably strewn with phrases tying the “bad guys” to the Catholic Church – references include the Magisterium, papacy, cardinals, oratories and intercessors. “It’s not just that he’s presenting an atheistic message, it’s a complete denigration of Christianity in these books,” she said. “Every Christian character is vile. All the priests try to kidnap children and to perform cruel experiments on them.”

Problem with the movie
McCaffrey acknowledged that New Line Cinema’s Weitz removed most of Pullman’s anti-Catholic rhetoric. “The film was purged of some of its worst anti-Christian elements because the filmmakers have said they want it to be financially viable, and they know parents aren’t going to take their children to see it if it remains as it appears in the books,” she said.
“Pullman is even going on the ‘Today Show’ and trying to downplay what he’s said in the past,” she added.
But Peter Vere argues that’s where the real danger lies. Together with Sandra Miesel, Vere has co-authored “Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children’s Fantasy,” a book released last week by Ignatius Press.
“If parents go to see the movie and see it as just another fantasy movie, then they’ll let their children read the books, where (Pullman) is openly attacking the Church and the existence of God,” Vere said in a Catholic Times interview. “The movie is going to create interest in the books and that’s the problem, because these books are so clearly anti-Christian.”

Killing God
Vere is himself no enemy of the fantasy genre. An aficionado of J.R.R. Tolkien and Lewis, Vere said he even enjoyed the Harry Potter series immensely.
Vere said he first saw the preview for “The Golden Compass” while at the theatre to see the fifth installment of Harry Potter. “I thought, that looks great, but when I read Pullman’s books I was horrified,” Vere said.
“The whole plot of the stories is that two 12-year-olds set out to kill God,” Vere explained. “At first they don’t realize that’s the quest, but that’s the whole plot of the books. That they’re anti-Christian isn’t just an accusation. Pullman says he wrote them as the anti-Narnia, the anti-C.S. Lewis.”

What’s a parent to do?
According to Vere, Catholics not only have a duty to stand up for their Church, but also a duty to protect their children’s faith. “We have a right and an obligation to safeguard our children’s moral, intellectual and spiritual formation,” he said.
Ann Lankford, director of the Diocese of La Crosse’s Office for Catechesis and Evangelization, agreed. Having heard from concerned parents, DREs and youth ministers, she has put together a flier about the movie that she hopes to distribute widely.
“I watched the trailer and thought, kids will want to go to this movie,” Lankford said. “It’s exciting, and the special effects are incredible. But the heart of what we believe in is being attacked.”
Lankford was most troubled by the fact that the movie makes good evil and evil good. “Do we really want that twisting going on in a young, developing mind?” she asked.
Both Lankford and Vere said the movie’s release could be a teaching moment.
“Parents are the guardians, protectors and teachers of their children,” Lankford said. “They definitely need to talk about the power of evil, because it really exists.”
Lankford added that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is an excellent reference for parents talking to their children about the existence of evil; she mentioned paragraph 391 as being a good starting point.
Vere hopes his new book will be a useful reference for a more specific conversation about the movie. “I think parents need to know what the content of the material is before they can talk to their children about it,” he said. “In many cases, I’m finding that children have already read the books, in which case it’s even more important that their parents become aware.”
While McCaffrey said the Catholic League is calling for parents to boycott the movie due to its anti-Catholic elements and its ability to corrupt young minds, Vere has another, more practical reason to avoid it: “Why should Catholics spend money to pay someone for attacking the Church?”

Editor’s note: To obtain Ann Lankford’s flier on the movie, e-mail her at alankford@dioceseoflacrosse.com or call 608-791-2656. Peter Vere’s book will be available in many Catholic bookstores, and orders can also be made by calling Ignatius Press at 800-651-1531, or by visiting http://www.ignatius.com/.

Michael Cassio: A Cinthian Character of Falsely Tragic Proportions

2007-11-20T22:43:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you're all rearing and ready to start reading my latest 4,000-word paper. But really, if you're interested, feel free to drop a comment. I'm not turning it in for a week, so I'll probably have plenty of time to improve on it. In fact, the paper's interesting if you have the time to read it, because I'm arguing that Othello isn't the perfect tragedy it's often said to be. I'm looking at poor Michael Cassio, who ends up getting the short shrift in commentary, but really does the best of just about anyone in the play -- at that's the crux of the issue: nobody's supposed to do well in a tragedy, let alone someone that I argue is a minor tragic hero who doesn't meet his fate!

Enjoy!

Franz Klein
Winona State University: English 517
Professor Jane Carducci
21 November 2007

Michael Cassio: A Cinthian Character of Falsely Tragic Proportions

Introduction:
Embracing the common practice of his age, William Shakespeare made frequent use of source material for the basis for his plays. The primary source for Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the Moor of Venice, is Giovambattista Giraldi Cinthio’s short story, “Il Moro di Venezia,” which first appeared in the Italian author’s 1565 compilation of 113 moralistic tales called De Gli Hecatommithi. One fruitful avenue of Shakespearean studies traditionally involves examining source texts like the Hecatommithi to see how the Bard crafted them into new works of art that fit his purposes in winning over an Elizabethan audience. In the case of Othello, though, the meaning of many of Shakespeare’s alterations has long puzzled the academic world. While a good deal of scholarly effort has gone into comparing and contrasting Cinthio’s Moro and Shakespeare’s Othello, or Cinthio’s Alfieri and Shakespeare’s Iago, little attention has been paid to the mysteries surrounding Shakespeare’s transformation of Cinthio’s Capo di Squadra into Othello’s lieutenant, Michael Cassio.
Given this lack of attention, an analysis of the Capo’s Shakespearean transformation into Cassio could open a previously unopened window into the Bard’s views of tragedy, which, in the case of Cassio, seem to bear a surprising similarity to Cinthio’s own disdain for the purist Aristotelian view. After providing the necessary background to Cinthio-Shakespeare studies, this paper will explore though a careful character analysis exactly how the English playwright molds the Italian author’s Capo. Although Cassio is properly plagued by a hamartic character flaw, in the end he becomes the governor of Cyprus and seemingly spoils what should be Shakespeare’s perfect tragedy. Could this be the effect of Cinthio’s literary influence, or does Shakespeare merely, that is, tragically, stumble?

The Cinthio-Shakespeare Connection:
The superabundance of Italian influence on Elizabethan writers and playwrights was mainly due to the Counter Reformation that followed the Council of Trent (1545-63), which resulted in a diaspora of freethinking Italians to protestantized countries where their radical theories were more generally tolerated. Among those countries at the dawn of the seventeenth century was newly Anglican England, where John Florio served at the court of King James I (d. 1625) and tutored Queen Anne in Italian language and culture. According to Italian-English literature studies scholar Sergio Rossi of Milan’s Università degli Studi, Florio was a familiar figure for many English writers, including Shakespeare. Rossi adds that Florio and other expatriates sought “to make England more aware of the dignity of the Italian language, and to inform Englishmen about the importance of Italian poetry, especially as represented by such poets as Petrarch, Ariosto, Tasso, Guarini” (15). While the question of whether Shakespeare was aware of Cinthio’s literary theories remains unanswered and likely – for the most part – unanswerable, the fact that he uses the Italian author’s tales for two plays (Othello and Much Ado About Nothing) leaves the Bard’s familiarity with Cinthio’s short stories beyond question.
“Cinthio”[1] was the penname of a Ferrarese professor named Giovambattista[2] Giraldi (d. 1573). In addition to literary commentary, Cinthio published an epic and nine tragedies. His major prose work, De Gli Hecatommithi, was written in imitation of his countryman Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, but with the decidedly moralistic emphasis that marked him as a Counter Reformation-era writer. Although missing completely from Shakespeare’s Othello, a dialogue on the various types of love prefaces Cinthio’s tales, the thirty-seventh of which is “Il Moro di Venezia.” Only after the discussion turns to rational love[3] are tales exemplifying the opposite presented for the reader. Such moralizing, or addition of commentary, was not only characteristic of Cinthio’s writing but of most Italian writing of that period. And just as Shakespeare would borrow from Cinthio, so, too, did the Italian author borrow from historical traditions popular in his time. According to Italian Shakespeare scholar Maria Cavalchini, it is likely that Cinthio’s own source for “Il Moro di Venezia” was the story of Cristoforo Moro, a Venetian nobleman who lost his wife at the turn of the sixteenth century while returning to Venice from Cyprus (cf. 36).[4] But the late Eugenio Musatti, an Italian expert on popular legends including Cinthio’s, cautions that the Italian author’s tales most often “derive from preceding novelists or from the writer’s imagination or invention” (47).[5]
Whatever the origins of Cinthio’s story, its presence is unmistakably discernable in Shakespeare’s Othello, which was first performed in 1604 and first published in 1622. Although there was no known English-language version of the Hecatommithi, scholars debate whether Florio or some other expatriate produced one that is no longer extant; whether Shakespeare’s source was the original Italian; or, more likely, whether Shakespeare made use of the 1583 French translation of Gabriel Chappuys published in Paris. Demonstrating the literal nature of Chappuys’ translation and the linguistic preference of Elizabethan playwrights for French versions of Italian stories, Cavalchini notes: “[W]e have few elements that could indicate for us whether Shakespeare knew the original Italian, the French version, or a derived English version” (39).[6] Drawing a similar conclusion as editor of the pertinent volume of Columbia University’s Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare, Geoffrey Bullough makes his translation from the original Italian, “since there is no certainty” (194). However Shakespeare managed to read the Hecatommithi, he clearly knew Cinthio’s fiction intimately, and the changes he made were deliberate and purposeful, not the result of relying on a poor summary or second-hand rehashing.

The Capo di Sqadra and Michael Cassio:
Both Cinthio and Shakespeare’s works have as their central protagonist a Moor, although only Shakespeare gives him a name: “Othello.” In fact, with the exception of Disdemona (Desdemona for Shakespeare), none of Cinthio’s characters have names. As the rehasher of a straightforward, uncomplicated narrative tale, Cinthio presents broad character sketches early on. Following the Moor and Disdemona, the third character readers encounter is the Alfieri, or Ensign, whose wickedness is immediately exposed by the story’s omniscient narrator. Only then does Cinthio introduce his readers to the character on which this paper focuses: the Capo di Squadra, or Corporal:
In the same company there was also a Capo di Squadra who was dear to the Moor. He would very often go to the Moor’s house, and eat with him and his wife. There, since the Lady knew him to be well liked by her husband, she gave him many signs of the greatest kindness. This was much appreciated by the Moor.[7]
Painted in such general terms, Cinthio’s Capo di Squadra presents few complexities. The Capo’s friendship with the Moor is presupposed. And from Cinthio’s first paragraph about the Corporal, it is clear both that he and Disdimona have their own close friendship, and that their friendship has the Moor’s approval.
Shakespeare reformulates Cinthio’s Capo di Squadra both by choice and also – given the transition from narrative story telling to theatre – by necessity. The Bard lacks the voice of an omniscient narrator, and, for this reason, readers or viewers of Othello first encounter Michael Cassio through his own words and the words of others. Shakespeare’s first dramatic choice in molding Cassio’s character is, in fact, a choice that leads to the tragedy that is Othello: The placement of the initial words about Casio in the mouth of his nemesis, Iago. Predictably, Cassio seen through Iago’s eyes seems at first to be a far less desirable character than Cinthio’s Capo. “And what is he?” Iago asks Roderigo rhetorically:
Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
One Michael Cassio, a Florentine
(A fellow almost damn’d in fair wife),[8]
That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster – unless bookish theoric,
Wherein the [togged] consuls can propose
As masterly as he. (I.,i.,18-26)
While Cinthio’s Alfieri is wicked and his Capo good, things aren’t always so clear-cut in his tale as they quickly begin to appear in Shakespeare’s play. For example, Cinthio’s Alfieri wounds the Capo, who has a woman at home, as he exits the house of a prostitute[9] – clearly a rather complicated situation for an upstanding married soldier. But here, through Iago’s own words, Shakespeare’s introduction of Cassio places him dramatically as an innocent victim standing between the inexplicable hatred of Othello’s Ancient and Othello himself, who is the play’s major tragic hero. Thus does Shakespeare establish Othello as a play with polar extremes of moral good and evil. And thus, while Iago is morally evil, the moral goodness of both Cassio and Othello become gradually clearer.
While the Lieutenant’s friendship with Othello remains unmentioned at this point in Shakespeare’s play, the Moor’s trust in Cassio should be evident by now from what we already know. For instance, we already know from Iago’s own words that Othello passed him over for the lieutenancy. We also know from the Ancient’s words that, even if Iago doesn’t appreciate Cassio’s military prowess, Othello undoubtedly does. What we don’t know yet is whether Othello’s judgment regarding Cassio is justifiable. But surely, even from Iago’s first words, the broad hint at his self-proclaimed jealously is bound to create in viewers and readers an innate dislike for the Ancient. And just as surely, an innate like for the jealous man’s foil, Cassio, could be nascent as well. Such a like for the Capo and dislike for the Alfieri are present in Cinthio’s story; but there they are plainly stated, while Shakespeare’s skill transforms this mere statement of fact into a work of art. This allows him to gradually inculcate in readers a sense of the characters’ moral evil or goodness.
As a character, Cassio himself first enters the stage in the second scene of Act I as he searches for Othello at the Duke’s request. Othello’s respect for Cassio is immediately demonstrated upon their encounter. When Cassio reports that the Duke is seeking his presence at a meeting of the Signoria, Othello asks his Lieutenant’s opinion: “What is the matter, think you?” (I.,ii.,38). Othello does not question Cassio’s conjecture that the Duke’s business is “of some heat” (40), but immediately says he will follow the Lieutenant to the Duke. And just as Othello’s trust and care for Cassio are found in the way he interacts with him, so too is Cassio’s reciprocal trust for his Captain evident. This trust is further demonstrated as the “Veronesa” ship arrives in Cyprus at the beginning of Act II, where three gentlemen discuss the Lieutenant. As a premonition of things to come, the third gentleman observes that Cassio “looks sadly” (II.,i.,32); and he adds that Cassio prays his master arrive safely after the violent tempest that separated them in their Adriatic crossing. By the beginning of Act II, therefore, Shakespeare has established a strong bond of friendship and trust between the two men.
A problem Shakespeare encounters that wasn’t present for Cinthio arises in establishing the subsequent bond of friendship between Cassio and Desdemona. While Cinthio’s story includes no explicit or implicit time constraints, Shakespeare’s action-packed drama shuttles the characters directly from the Signoria to ships bound for Cyprus. It is to his Ancient, Iago, a man “of honesty and trust,” and not his Lieutenant that Othello assigns the conveyance of Desdemona (I.,iii.,284 et cf. 295). And it seems from the fact that all three arrive separately (cf. II.,i,25-200) that Cassio and Desdemona have had no contact in the interim. Still, Cassio clearly expresses his quickly developed affection for his Captain’s wife to Montano, then-governor of Cyprus, as they together await Othello’s arrival:
She that I spake of, our great captain’s captain,
Left in the conduct of the bold Iago,
Whose footing here anticipates our thoughts
A se’nnight’s speed. Great Jove, Othello guard,
And swell his sail with thine own pow’rful breath,
That he may bless this bay with his tall ship,
Make love’s quick pants in Desdemona’s arms,
Give renew’d fire to our extincted spirits,
[And bring all Cyprus comfort!] (II.,i.,74-82)
Even if Cassio has not had the time to develop a friendship with Desdemona, therefore, he sill holds her in the highest regard given her position as the wife of his master. This is in complete contradistinction to Iago’s hatred and bitter conniving.
Not only does Cassio appear to have a proper affection for Desdemona as the wife of another man, but Desdemona’s own affection for the Lieutenant also seems quite proper. Gradually leading his readers toward the inevitable tragic conclusion of their fated friendship, though, Shakespeare makes Iago serve as the impetus for both Cassio’s hamartic fall from Othello’s favor and even for bringing Desdemona into the play’s tangled web of adulterous implication. Shakespeare takes Cassio’s hamartic drinking problem directly from Cinthio’s tale, as he does the Alfieri’s conniving to create in the Moor suspicion of Disdemona and the Capo’s relationship with her. Then Shakespeare’s Ancient similarly points Cassio to Desdemona as his ticket back to his post after the latter’s fall from favor: “Our general’s wife is now the general,” Iago says. “…Confess yourself freely to her;/ importune her help to put you in your place again” (II.,iii.,315 et 317). Despite Iago’s poisoning of Othello’s mind, Desdemona’s affection for the Lieutenent is properly expressed in her concern for his repentance. After Cassio exits, she entreats on his behalf with her husband: “For if he be not one that truly loves you,/ That errs in ignorance and not in cunning,/ I have no judgment in an honest face” (III.,iii.,48-50).
According to Cinthio’s tale, on account of the Moor’s blackness, the Alfieri cannot believe Disdemona could really be in love with her husband. So, instead, the Alfieri reasons that Disdemona is ignoring him because “she had opened herself to the Head of the Squadron.”[10] This is the driving force behind the Alfieri’s hatred, certainly more potent than Iago’s confused “Now I do love her too…” (II.,i.,292). Cinthio then adds that the Alfieri:
…decided that he wished him [the Capo di Squadra] to be lifted from her eyes, and not only did he occupy his mind with this, but the love he carried for the Lady turned into the bitterest hate, and he gave himself in study and thought to how it might come to be that the Capo di Squadra be killed, for if he would not be able to rejoice in the Lady, neither would the Moor rejoice [in her].[11] (326)
It is worth noting, however, that Cinthio’s Alfieri is inconsistent in his hatred, since he believes Disdemona to be in love with the Capo di Squadra but seeks to keep the Moor, not the Capo, from “rejoic[ing]” in the Lady. Inconsistencies aside, the Alfieri’s scheming has little to do with the Moor and more to do with the downfall of the Capo. This becomes even more evident as he and the Moor plot together not only to kill the Capo but Disdemona as well. In fact, it is the Alfieri, not the Moor, who deals Disdemona her fatal blow in Cinthio’s story (cf. 332).
Iago’s hatred in Shakespeare’s play, on the other hand, proves to be directed at both men, but ultimately at Othello. Certainly Iago hates Cassio, as his early scheming makes clear:
Cassio’s a proper man. Let me see now:
To get his place and to plum up my will
In double knaver – How? how? – Let’s see –
After some time, to abuse Othello’s [ear]
That he [Cassio] is too familiar with his wife. (I.,iii.,392-96)
But Iago’s hatred is especially directed toward Othello, whose hamartic gullibility he next lists: “He hath a person and a smooth dispose/ To be suspected – fram’d to make women false” (397-98). In this hatred, Shakespeare’s Iago proves irredeemable and unrepentant to the end – the perfect villain. In Othello, Iago alone represents wickedness. For even though Othello plots Desdemona’s death with his Ancient, he is redeemed in the end by equaling her fate with his own: “I kiss’d thee ere I kill’d thee. No way but this:/ Killing myself, to die upon a kiss” (V.,ii.,358-59).
Cinthio’s Alfieri, on the other hand, shares his vileness as if it were a communicable disease. Together, he and the Moor plot Disdemona’s death, with the Alfieri convincing his master that they ought to beat his wife with fatal blows and then make the ceiling collapse over her to conceal their crime (cf. 331). With the Alfieri in the closet, the Moor casts the first blow; he then stands by and watches as his Alfieri delivers two more blows and his wife “falling upon the floor, remained there, killed by the impious Alfieri” (Ibid.).[12] In Cinthio’s version, both men meet their just reward, as, in independent circumstances, they are tortured brutally and die. And Cinthio concludes: “Thus did God revenge the innocence of Disdemona” (334).[13] Certainly neither the Moor nor any other character in Cinthio’s story proves to be a tragic hero. Cinthio’s tale is not a tragedy.

From Cinthio to Shakespeare:
Shakespeare, on the other hand, clearly intends to produce Othello as a tragedy. But being the third part of a perverted triangle of love and suspicion surrounding an unsuspecting Desdemona, Michael Cassio stands in essential contradistinction to Iago’s hatred, even if in a lesser role than that of Othello. Without him, the triangle would be incomplete, and without his katharsis as well as that of Othello, Shakespeare’s tragedy would seem to include a character who doesn’t inspire pity or fear. After all, since he fell through his hamartia of a weakness for drinking, Cassio seems to be just as necessary a tragic hero – albeit lesser – as Othello for the play in toto. But unlike Othello, who kathartically dies, Cassio ultimately rises higher than he ever imagined when Lodovico entrusts Cyprus to him at the end of the play (cf. V.,ii.,332). So where is Cassio’s katharsis? He seems to be a “winner.” But can a tragedy have winners?
Florida State University’s Leon Golden, in fact, seems to ignore Cassio completely when he argues that, after Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, only Othello “conform [s] to the essential nature of tragedy” (142). Following the interplay between Iago’s evil and Othello’s spoudaios, or noble character, that leads to the Moor’s kathartic downfall, Golden concludes: ”The entire action of the play attests to the fact that Othello is a spoudaios hero of the type required by the Aristotelian definition of tragedy” (149). But Shakespeare’s play is more complicated than the interplay between Iago, Othello and Desdemona. The Bard has inherited from Cinthio another character, the Capo di Squadra, whose tragic hamartia he glaringly leaves unredeemed. Unlike the other characters, Shakespeare does not refashion the Capo to fit his tragic mold. True, the Capo’s end is different in “Il Moro di Venezia,” where he never learns that it was the Alfieri cut off his leg; subsequently follows the villain back to Venice; and exits the story towards the end after accusing the Moor – through the Alfieri’s devious persuasion – of cutting off his leg (cf. 330). But in neither story does the Capo, or Cassio, fulfill Aristotle’s requirement of inspiring pity or fear.
Caroline Patey of Milan’s Università degli Studi posits that Shakespeare borrowed more than Cinthio’s characters: Perhaps, even unwittingly, he imbibed through Cinthio’s stories a bit of the disregard for Aristotle that is most clearly expressed in the Italian author’s literary criticism. Patey elaborates:
The tale of Giraldi’s [Cinthio’s] tragedies or ‘novelle’ and of their impact on Shakespeare’s plays has been told on various occasions and often with great authority. But the bizarre quality of the author’s theoretical contribution to the fervid literary debate of his time, and its possible influence on Elizabethan drama, have drawn little scholarly attention. (167)
Patey acknowledges that Cinthio’s own literary criticism does not appear to have been among that translated into English by Florio and other expatriates. But she adds that others of a similar mind, including Cinthio’s protégé, Ludovico Dolce were almost the sole voice of Italian commentary on Aristotelian tragedy in the English language: “If the Italian cultural attaché in England [Florio] may be taken as a reliable source of information, it becomes evident that the seed of anti-Aristotelian ideas had traveled safely from Padua to London…” (168). Key to Cinthio’s disregard for Aristotle was his abandonment of Katharsis, or the purging of the emotions. Patey explains: “A Giraldian play is to represent life as it is and not, Aristotle wise, as it should be” (181). In life, loose ends sometimes fail to be tied up. In stories that represent life, such as Cinthio’s, characters drop out and cease to be important. Such was the case for the Capo in Cinthio’s “Il Moro di Venezia,” where he disappears shortly before the end. Such was also the case for Cassio, at least in regard to tying up all of the tragic loose ends of Shakespeare’s play.
It would certainly be too far fetched to argue that Shakespeare, too, intentionally sought to represent life merely as it is, for clearly his characters in Othello are shaped – in fact, Iago, Othello and Desdemona are undoubtedly molded tragically in a way completely absent from Cinthio’s story. But Cassio remains unaccounted for; he is, in the simplest of terms, a tragic loose end that Gorden Lee seems to ignore in praising the perfection of Othello as a tragedy. Perhaps a more tentative premise could be offered: That Shakespeare borrowedfrom Cinthio – even unintentionally – a disregard for purist Aristotelian tragedy. Surely Shakespeare intended for his play to contain kathartic elements, but a purist would tie up all the loose ends, including Cassio. Shakespeare doesn’t do this.

Conclusion:
Cinthio-Shakespeare studies have long focused the Italian author’s stories as source material for at least two of Shakespeare’s plays. As the undisputed primary source for Shakespeare’s Othello, Cinthio’s “Il Moro di Venezia” provided the Bard not only with Othello, Iago and Desdemona but also Michael Cassio. This paper’s character analysis showed Cassio to be intrinsically tied to Othello in the position of a minor tragic character, who, like Othello, suffers from a harmartic – albeit lesser – character flaw. While Shakespeare correctly modifies Othello to fit the Aristotelian definition of tragedy, the Cassio-Capo character analysis shows that Cassio, like Cinthio’s Capo, ceases at a certain point to be important – at least tragically speaking.
At the beginning of this paper a question was raised: Could Cassio’s failure as a tragic hero be the effect of Cinthio’s literary influence, or has Shakespeare stumbled? Always the master, it seems highly unlikely that Shakespeare has stumbled, at least in the absolute sense. More likely, Shakespeare achieved his intended katharsis with the events surrounding Iago, Desdemona, and the play’s major tragic hero, Othello. In this sense, Florida State’s Golden was correct: Othello’s spoudaios does lead to his downfall, perhaps even as dramatically as did Oedipus’. But only if Cassio’s hamartia has ceased to be important could Othello be considered a perfect tragedy in toto. But unlike Cinthio’s Capo, Shakespeare’s Cassio doesn’t drop out of the picture. Rather, he seems to retain his importance – in fact, as the governor of Cyprus, he finishes the play in a better place than when it began. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it seems safe to conclude that Shakespeare didn’t feel it was important to tie up the loose end of Cassio’s hamartia. But in the end, one must admit that only the Bard can truly say whether this was the result of Cinthio’s anti-Aristotelian influence. And he isn’t talking.

Works Cited:

Bullough, Geoffrey. ”Othello.” Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare. Vol. 7. Ed. Geoffrey Bullough. New York: Columbia, 1973. 193-238.

Cavalchini, Mariella. “Intorno alle fonti dell’Othello.” Revista di letterature moderne e comparate. 20 (1967). 35-44.

Cinthio, Giraldi. “The Moor of Venice.” Trans. Geoffrey Bullough. Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare. Vol. 7. Ed. Geoffrey Bullough. New York: Columbia, 1973. 239-52.

Cynthio, Giovambattista Giraldi. “Il Moro di Venezia.” De Gli Hecatommithi. Vol. 1. Vinegia: Girolamo Scotto, 1566. 324-34.

Golden, Leon. “Othello, Hamlet, and Aristotelian Tragedy.” Shakespeare Quarterly. 35:2 (Summer 1984). 142-156.

Musatti, Eugenio. Leggende Popolari. Milano: Ulrico Hoepli, 1904.

Patey, Caroline. “Beyond Aristotle: Giraldi Cinzio and Shakespeare.” Italy and the English Renaissance. Ed. Sergio Rossi. Milano: Unicopli, 1989. 167-85.

Rossi, Sergio. “Italy and the English Renaissance: An Introduction.” Italy and the English Renaissance. Ed. Sergio Rossi. Milano: Unicopli, 1989. 9-24.

Shakespeare, William. “Othello, the Moor of Venice.” The Riverside Shakespeare. 2nd ed. Eds. G. Blakemore Evans et al. Boston: Houghton, 1997.

[1] Or “Cynthio” in contemporary Italian, and “Cinzio” in current, Italian-language commentary.
[2] “Giovambattista” (John the Baptist) is a conflation of “Giovanni Battista,” as it appears in some sources.
[3] “Amore razionale” (10).
[4] Cavalchini adds that others suggest that Francesco da Sessa, called “Il Capitano Moro,” possibly of mixed ethnicity, and imprisoned on Cyprus for a “crime of passion,” served as the basis for Cinthio’s story (cf. 36).
[5] “…derivano da novellieri precedenti o dall’imaginazione e dall’invenzione dello scrittore” (47). All translations, unless otherwise noted, are my own.
[6] [A]bbiamo pochi elementi che ci possano indicare se Shakespeare conobbe l’originale italiano, la traduzione francese o una copia inglese da essa derivate” (39).
[7] “Nella medesima compagnia era anco un Capo di Squadra, carissimo al Moro. Andava spessissime volte questi a casa del Moro, et spesso mangiava con lui et con la moglie. Là onde la donna che lo conosceva così grato al suo marito, gli dava segni di grandissima benivolenza. La qual cosa era molto cara al Moro” (326).
[8] Despite this, it becomes clear later on, because of Bianca, that Cassio is unmarried.
[9] In one paragraph, Cinthio records that the Capo has a woman at home – “Haveva una donna in casa…” (331) – but, in the next, he is wounded by the Alfieri while leaving the house of a prostitute – “…uscendo … di casa di una meretrice” (Ibid.).
[10] “ella fosse accesa del Capo di Squadra” (324).
[11] “...[P]ensò volerlosi levar dinanzi a gli occhi, et pure a ciò piegò la mente, ma mutò l’amore ch’egli portava alla donna in acerbissimo odio, et si diè con ogni studio a pensare come gli potesse venir fatto, che ucciso il Capo di Squadra, se non potesse goder della donna, il Moro anco non ne godesse” (Ibid.).
[12] “…sopragiugendo la terza percossa, rimase uccisa dall’empio Alfieri” (331).
[13] “Tal fece Iddio vendetta dell’innocenza di Disdemona” (334).

Why we still have liturgical abuses

2007-11-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

Given his over-the-top style, I wouldn't normally post something from the UK Telegraph correspondent Damian Thompson. But an official letter he obtained, written by a diocesan liturgical director in the UK's Diocese of Portsmouth was just too much.

Peter Inwood, best known as a liturgical musician but also the diocese's director of liturgy, is responding to a woman wanting to know why he's resisting the reform called for by Redemptionis Sacramentum shouldn't be applied. He replies:

“The problem with the language used in the document is precisely that, although it may appear clearly written and straightforward to lay people such as ourselves, in fact this kind of document is normally intended for bishops and their advisers, and not for lay people. The language does not necessarily mean what we think it means – some of the technical terms have specific and special meanings that need to be explained.”

That explains a lot: When the Church writes a document, she doesn't mean what she said. Something's not right here!

So when Redemptionis sacramentum called for an end to the use of glass or earthenware chalices, that really meant what? That they should continue to be used? I'm just trying to decode this. Can someone help me?

...Sorry for the negative tone. Really, I saw a lot of positive implementation of JPII's Redemptionis sacramentum. I hear it cited to correct countless abuses in the liturgy, and I think it is having a wonderful effect. Thank God for this, one of the last efforts of a great pope. And pray that the document's implementation will spread to places where it's still needed.

Posture at Communion

2007-11-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's Catholic Times, I published a column on posture when receiving holy Communion, which I've pasted below.

While the general trend of irreverent expression has always bothered me, the fact that communication while kneeling is looked down on has bothered me even more. For myself, I've come to terms with making a simple bow, but I respect the witness of those who wish to kneel. I don't understand why the altar rails were removed. When I attend St. Agnes in the Twin Cities, or Mass in the extraordinary form, I find I am able to more firmly assent to Christ's Eucharistic presence through kneeling. I wish this were still the norm.

I remember, in 2002, when the American version of the GIRM came out and said the unified gesture in the United States was to be a bow of the head. At the time I was a seminarian at St. John Vianney in the Twin Cities, a very orthodox seminary. Even so, seminarians who had knelt or genuflected to receive holy Communion were told to bow instead. That never made sense to me. Neither could I understand how the nuns (a great aunt of mine among them) at a Carmelite monastery in upper Michigan could be told by the bishop at the time that they could no longer kneel to receive our Lord.

In neither case, though, was anyone ever denied holy Communion. That was something I saw happen for the first time at a wedding in October. And that's why I wrote the column that appears below:

Remember to express adoration before receiving your Eucharistic Lord
By Franz Klein
Catholic Times Columnist

The composition of the congregation at a wedding often differs from that of an ordinary Sunday. Normally there are a number of non-Catholics in attendance and, at many weddings, there are many non-practicing Catholics as well.
Given this situation, any priest or extraordinary minister of the Eucharist knows that reception of Communion poses a number of difficulties. Even though many priests announce guidelines for receiving Communion before they begin to distribute it, many people come forward nonchalantly, perhaps holding out a single hand and expecting to receive a small wafer of bread.
But the Communion line at a wedding is only an extreme example of a growing irreverence towards the Eucharist, wherein Jesus Christ is present, body, blood, soul and divinity. Even at an ordinary Sunday liturgy, the majority of people – frequent if not weekly communicants – fail to reverence the Eucharistic presence of our Lord.
In the “General Instruction of the Roman Missal” published in 2002, the Vatican sought to return greater reverence to the reception of holy Communion. With this in mind, the United States’ version of the GIRM established that “the communicant bows his or her head before the Sacrament as a gesture of reverence” before receiving either the body or blood or our Lord. A simple gesture, the bow of the head is an exterior action reflecting one’s interior disposition toward Christ’s Eucharistic presence.
In their commentary on Pope Benedict XVI’s recent motu proprio ”Summorum Pontificum,” many theologians are saying the Holy Father is hoping the reverence of the extraordinary (Tridentine) form of the Mass will positively affect the ordinary (new) form of the Mass. In the extraordinary form, as well as in the ordinary form in some other countries, the normative posture for receiving holy Communion is kneeling – a posture that connotes profound reverence.
Although in the ordinary form of the Mass the Vatican allowed the United States to make standing the norm for reception here, and the GIRM states that a common posture “is a sign of unity,” the document also states that communicants “should not be denied holy Communion because they kneel.”
Some Catholics feel standing as a norm for receiving holy Communion in the United States is part of the reason so little reverence is now paid to our Eucharistic Lord in local parishes. Thus they continue to exercise their right to kneel when receiving holy Communion. Sadly, however, some of our nation’s pastors have gone beyond the catechesis called for in the GIRM in explaining why bowing is the normative expression of reverence here and have denied kneeling communicants holy Communion.
That such a denial was widespread was clear already in 2002, when the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship wrote to a U.S. bishop that it had received the complaints of people who had been denied holy Communion for kneeling in “a number of places.” Noting that kneeling remains a legitimate form of reverence and that one of a Catholic’s fundamental rights is access to the sacraments, the letter signed by Cardinal Jorge Medina Estévez states that “there should be no such refusal to any Catholic who presents himself for holy Communion at Mass.”
Cardinal Estévez’s letter also said, “Priests should understand that the Congregation will regard future complaints of this nature with great seriousness, and if they are verified, it intends to seek disciplinary action consonant with the gravity of the pastoral abuse.”
Rather than being denied holy Communion, therefore, kneeling communicants could teach all of us a lesson – a message that has been missing, sadly, from far too many Eucharistic liturgies: Jesus Christ is truly present in the sacred Species, and proper adoration should be expressed before receiving Him, whether that adoration be expressed by kneeling or bowing.

A Day in the Life of Pope Benedict

2007-11-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

Hats off to AmericanPapist, who posted a video from a German television station that follows Pope Benedict XVI through an ordinary day. A link to the video on YouTube is here.

All I can say is, "Wow!" Pope Benedict is a far more private person than was Servant of God Pope John Paul II. There are a number of behind-the-scene shots in this video that I simply never expected to see -- everything from his dinner to watching television in the evening.

Here are a couple observations:

1. JPII's morning Mass was celebrated with a constant stream of different pilgrims attending. I know many, many people who attended Mass in the pope's private chapel. Such is not the case with Pope Benedict, whose Mass is attended normally by a core group of those who work with him, and very occasionally a small group of pilgrims. In the video, the pope celebrates in Latin ad orientem. Why aren't we doing that??? I also liked the clip of Pope Benedict in silent meditation. I've read elsewhere that this is his ordinary morning practice following Mass.
2. JPII prefered to eat with a wide variety of visiting bishops, young people, and especially visitors from Poland. Pope Benedict's meals are much more private, and even focused on work. I had to cheer when I saw Fr. Wojciech Giertych, OP, former professor of moral theology at the Angelicum and now the papal theologian, sit down with the pope for dinner. It is good to see that "papal theologian" means just that and isn't simply an honorary title.
3. More in keeping with JPII, Pope Benedict takes time to relax in nature. While JPII's activities were more strenuous -- I've been to Castel Gandolfo and seen the swimming pool the late pontiff would frequent during his summer siestas. So even if Pope Benedict merely walks instead of climbing mountains incognito and taking an afternoon dip in the pool, the two popes do share a love for time outside.
4. And lastly, the two popes both use/d modern mass media to stay informed. I honestly hadn't expected to see Pope Benedict sit down to watch the evening news, but that's what he does in the video. All those telegrams regions that have experienced disasters receive come from a pope trying to stay as intimately involved in the world as possible. At the same time, he spends supper with his theologian. How's that for staying grounded? Certainly, Pope Benedict is in the world while not being of it.

Go check out this video!!!

A Latin mystery

2007-11-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

I have no clue how he stumbled upon this, but a fellow Latin lover, Father Joel Sember of Green Bay, Wis., recently pointed out to me that when you copy and paste the text from a page on the Vatican City State's new website (http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/State_and_Government/Structure_Governorate/Organizational_Chart/Departments.htm), a hidden, somewhat Latinate warning mysteriously appears.

Here's the text of the warning:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

I can't make heads or tails out of it, so I'm almost ready to conclude that it's a bunch of nonsense words strung together. But then again, parts of it, when modified slightly, seem to make sense:

Ut enim ad minim[am] veniam,
could be...
For even as a minimal kindness,

nostr[ae] exercitation[em] ullam[...] laboris
could be...
Any exercise of our labor

Other words seem ominous, especially the repitition of dolor.

Unfortunately I don't have the time to decode it, but any other Latin lovers out there who want to tackle it, be my guest.

St. Louis Magazine on the Tridentine-rite ordinations

2007-11-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

Published in St. Louis Magazine is an excellent reflection by Jeannete Cooperman on the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest's June 15 Tridentine-rite ordination of two Americans in the St. Louis Cathedral. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, formerly La Crosse's bishop conducted the four-hour ceremony. One of the two men, Father Avis (read more about him below), is originally from the La Crosse diocese; additionally, a current member of the Institute's community near La Crosse at St. Mary's Ridge was quoted in the article.

After contemplating at length on the aesthetics of the extraordinary form of the Mass, Cooperman focuses on the division she feels the rite is causing -- both within the Church and with the Jewish community. I would call her concern overwrought, except for the fact that so many Jews and Catholics are reacting negatively to the reintroduction of the extraordinary rite.

A negative Catholic reaction from the article:
“It’s a power thing,” snaps a devout Catholic with a graduate degree in theology and strong feminist sensibilities. “Only the boys who know the language know what’s going on. They’re saying the words; if you can’t answer, so what? They’re battening down the hatches.” She takes a deep breath. “Yes, the mystique of Latin takes people to another world. But it’s a world that doesn’t exist.”

And a negative Jewish reaction (in regard to the Triduum prayer asking that the veil from the eyes of the Jews):
“The other thing that’s going on here is a dynamic that is very dangerous,” (Rabbi) Shook continues. “In the old days, pre–Vatican II, there was a sense that Christians needed to help their Jewish brothers and sisters see the truth—and the reason they did not see the truth was because they had not been instructed in the truth—so it was the Catholics’ job to instruct them. Now, what happens when Jews say, ‘I’m not interested’? Then they are being willful in their denial of the truth. And the next step is anti-Judaism. The minute you assign a defect to a community—i.e., that the community is not in a proper relationship with Christ—your relationship from that point on is one of superior to inferior.

Within these two quotes are too many issues to address with the attention they deserve. I think the Jewish reaction to this prayer is a fault of current interreligious dialogue -- our current mode of interreligious dialogue doesn't seem to include the Church's hope that all humanity embrace Jesus Christ. Why can't we pray that the Jews come to know Christ? I wish the current (ordinary) good Friday prayer were more explicit in this regard. This isn't a liturgical problem -- it's an ecclesiological problem.

As for the negative reaction from within the Church, I think a lot of it comes from ecclesiological misunderstanding ("It's a power thing") as well as liturgical misunderstanding. Someone needs to address what it means to "participate" in the liturgy. If all participation means is dialoguing with a priest celebrant, there's not much going on. But if participation means uniting one's heart, mind and senses to the mystery being re-presented, then perhaps being "taken to another world" is exactly what we want. Does that world exist? I don't know what the "devout Catholic with a graduate degree" is hopeing for, but my faith tells me this world exists!

As for Father Avis, one of the two men ordained in that ceremony, I wrote about his faith journey for the Catholic Times at the end of June:

Former Prairie du Chien resident ordained for Institute of Christ the King
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Catholic Times) – A former resident of Prairie du Chien, Wis., Father William Avis, was one of two men ordained to the priesthood June 16 by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. The newly ordained are religious of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, a society of apostolic life.
Countless priests, including Monsignor Gilles Wach, founder and general superior of the Institute, participated in the three-hour Tridentine ordination Mass – the first to be celebrated in a U.S. cathedral in over 40 years. Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., and auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry of Chicago sat in choir.
The son of Walter Avis and Roberta Cunningham, 28-year-old Father Avis said he always felt drawn to the religious life, and to the priesthood. But, raised Lutheran, he first had to become Catholic.
“It was almost like an intuition that it (Catholicism) was the true faith,” he said, explaining that the beautiful prayers he encountered in an old missal captivated his imagination as a child. “The first time I tried to become Catholic, I was in eighth grade. But, because my mother was against it, I couldn’t be received into the Church.”
Father Avis said his mother eventually came to terms with his desire to convert, and he went through the RCIA program at St. Gabriel’s Parish in Prairie du Chien.
It was during his first year at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse that Father Avis discovered the Institute of Christ the King. “I was very drawn to the charism of the Institute, especially in that it had the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales,” he explained. “I had just finished reading “An Introduction to the Devout Life, and I was captivated by Salesian spirituality.”
Father Avis said Salesian spirituality consists in “not doing the big things, but doing everything for the love of God.”
While at UW-La Crosse, Father Avis attended the Tridentine Mass celebrated by priests of the Institute at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, St. Mary’s Ridge. He then spent a year working with the Institute at their St. Mary’s Oratory in Rockford, Ill. This experience of community life, of living and praying in common, convinced Father Avis he was called to join the Institute.
After a year spent learning French – the common language for the Institute, which was founded in France in 1990 – Father Avis was accepted to the order’s international seminary in Gricigliano, Italy.
During his years in Gricigliano, Father Avis studied Salesian spirituality, and attended philosophy and theology lectures based on St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae. “Most of our professors were Benedictine monks who were living a contemplative life, and that was linked with the theology,” he said.
Father Avis said his ordination to the subdiaconate was a decisive moment. “There, the candidate for the priesthood takes a vow of celibacy and also the duty of saying the Divine Office every day,” he explained. “It’s there where you really throw yourself in the arms of God and give yourself completely. Always before I would have some hesitation. But, seeing how my life had progressed so far, I could see this is what God was calling me to do.”
Together with three other men, Father Avis was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Luciano Giovannetti, of the local Fiesole diocese, earlier this year.
And on June 16, in St. Louis, he completed a long journey by being ordained to the priesthood.
Father Avis said the fact that he was a priest first sank in as he concelebrated with Archbishop Burke later on during his ordination Mass. “I knew already that I was a priest, but when I said the words of consecration, I really felt this is what a priest does,” he said.
Father Avis has been assigned to St. Francis Oratory in St. Louis, which celebrates the Tridentine Mass for Catholics in south St. Louis. He served at that parish during his time as a deacon as well.
He said much of his time will be occupied in hearing confessions. “We’re one of the few churches in the city of St. Louis that have confessions each day, so a lot of people come specifically for that reason,” Father Avis explained.
“I’m looking forward to giving spiritual direction,” he said. “The charism of our Institute is to spread Salesian spirituality, and that’s usually done with retreats or spiritual direction.”
“Pray for me,” Father Avis added. “One of the things that strikes me about the priesthood is that God, in His providence, decides to use the instruments that we would think He would be the least likely to use.”

Reflections on university common texts

2007-11-12T09:38:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I mentioned on this blog parental opposition to the University of St. Thomas English department's 2007 "common text": Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale. The group of concerned parents has been in contact with the St. Thomas English department, and has set up a website: UST Class Action.

The parental group believes that, not only is Atwood's book sexually graphic, but it is also blatently anti-Catholic. They describe it as "vulgar, sexually offensive and anti-Catholic." Since I haven't read A Handmaid's Tale, I'm not in a good position to confirm or deny what these parents say. Certainly, from the examples they give, Atwood's book contains some very vulgar and explicit language. And from the quotations they provide, the argument that the book is intentionally anti-Catholic is also quite convincing. Refer to the link above if you want to read for yourself.

My post, though, is more of a reflection on university common texts. At most universities, English instructors of introductory classes have quite a bit of freedom regarding how they teach their course and what they assign their students to read. Among the only common elements is a "common text," which all students read. In my mind, the common text should establish a vision of sorts. It should answer the question of what English is about: it should display the basic philosophy and drive of the English department and what it hopes to accomplish in conveying knowledge and wisdom to its students.

So why would a department choose a text like Atwood's? I can't fathom the beginning of an answer to that question. To me, literature involves the exploration of the nature of man. It asks and seeks to answer, at least in part, the deepest questions: Why do we exist? Is there meaning to suffering? It is the good, the true and the beautiful as expressed by written words. Do we find this in Atwood's text. My first guess would be in the negative, but anybody who has read the text is free to chime in.

As a student of literature and a future teacher (I will probably be teaching Winona State University's common text to incoming freshmen next fall), I am deeply concerned with where the study of literature is headed. I believe the problems at St. Thomas have less to do with anti-Catholicism and more to do with a general lack of direction in the study of literature.

The first thing a department should do, in my opinion, is establish some first principles -- and here's where a Catholic college has an advantage. At St. Thomas, a Catholic university, those first principles could include the reigious affirmation of some of those deep questions. Life, and suffering, do have meaning, which is found in Jesus Christ. Shouldn't a Catholic university's common text express this clearly?

A couple suggestions for St. Thomas' 2008 common text:
1. Dante's Divine Commedy.
2. Hilaire Belloc's The Path to Rome
3. Flannery O'Connor's collected short stories
4. G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy
5. Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest
6. Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory
7. Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

There are so many more works that I could list, but what these seven share is a sacramental vision that is explicitly Catholic -- something that should be "common" to all into English courses at a Catholic university.

Foreign priests too dogmatic for the British

2007-11-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

According to an interesting news byte in the Anglican Journal, foreign Roman Catholic priests coming to work in Britain now undergo training in "Britishness," which includes an attempt to make them less dogmatic:

“Some foreign priests working in Britain tend to be too dogmatic about the church’s moral rightness on just about everything,” said Rev. Terry Drainey the president of Ushaw College. “That’s not how we do things here. This course shows how we deal with a whole range of issues affecting Catholics, including the role of women, divorce, the lay ministry and homosexuality.”It is the first course of its kind and is the brainchild of Bishop Crispian Hollis of Portsmouth. The number of foreign priests in Britain is rising as the number of home-grown priests declines. The priests undergoing training in “Britishness” come from English and Welsh parishes. "

Here in Wisconsin, we have a large number of foreign priests, mostly from India and Africa, working in our parish. I can confirm that most of these priests have a dogmatic tendency. What a wonderful thing -- having priests who know what the Church teaches and aren't afraid to say it! Thank God for these foreign priests! It shouldn't puzzle us very much why the Church is growing in India and Africa while British and American Churches suffer. I hope the foreign priests coming to Britain prove resistant!

Bad news at St. Thomas

2007-11-08T07:05:00.000-08:00

Father Dease, president of my undergraduate alma mater, the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn., recently published a report on the Board of Trustee's fall meeting. In his report, he announced that the St. Paul/Minneapolish archbishop would no longer serve as ex officio chairman of the board, but would instead be elected to five year terms.

Father Dease writes:

One very upbeat moment during the plenary session came when the board saluted Archbishop Harry Flynn for his leadership as chairman since 1995. The board presented him with a framed certificate of appreciation that said: "Champion of Catholic higher education and model of servant leadership, intellectual and moral courage, you exemplify caritas, the greatest of all Christian virtues. You do us honor, and we thank you."
Implementing a process the Board Affairs Committee began last February, the board also elected Archbishop Flynn to a five-year term as chairman of the board after making appropriate changes to the university's bylaws which heretofore had stipulated that the ordinary (head) of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis serve ex officio as chairman.
The changes were made to recognize the increasingly important role that Archbishop Flynn has at St. Thomas. He has been a very active chairman, meeting regularly with faculty, staff and students, attending campus events and serving on committees such as the one that wrote our new mission statement. More recently, he has agreed to serve as an honorary co-chair of the Opening Doors campaign. After he retires as ordinary next year, he will move into the late Monsignor Terrence Murphy's office in the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center.
The board also removed ex officio references from two other board positions. Father Kevin McDonough, vicar general of the archdiocese, will continue to serve as vice chairman and was elected to a five-year term. The board elected me to five-year terms both as a trustee and as president of St. Thomas.
These changes as well as others made previously reflect recommendations made to us five years ago by the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities when it reviewed with our board best governance practices. One AGB recommendation was to conform our bylaws to what is now the common practice among Catholic colleges and universities: to elect the board's chairman and vice chairman. (You can read Father Dease's full letter here.)

For obvious reasons, this is very troubling. What connection to the Church does St. Thomas now have? What clout can the Church exercise if the university goes astray? What if the archbishop openly criticizes the university, and the board decides not to elect him to another term?

There are so many good things happening at St. Thomas -- everything from the seminarians at St. Paul and St. John Vianney, to the Catholic Studies program, to the faithful Catholic professors I studied under in the philosophy department. But without a regulating body, there is now nothing to ensure that these good things will continue. I'm very afraid for St. Thomas' future.

Another alumna has been keeping me abreast on another situation brewing: St. Thomas' English department adopts a "common text" every year, which all incoming freshmen are required to read. Apparently this year's text is quite unsavory and even anti-Catholic. You can read about it here.

I'm trying to think positively about St. Thomas, especially since the education I received there left me a better formed Catholic, but all I can do is pray for the university's future. As much as I love to hear of new, vibrant universities like Christendom, I continue to pray for established universities like St. Thomas, because so much good could happen if they were to re-embrace their Catholic identity -- not only as individuals or programs, but as an entire university administration.

Bishop Morlino interview

2007-11-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

If you recall, a year ago Wisconsin voters went to the polls to vote on an amendment that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman. That amendment passed, and playing a role in its success were the efforts of Bishop Morlino of Madison. The bishop required all his priests to toe the line, something that caused controversy in the eyes of the secular press.

Now, a year later, the Wisconsin State Journal has published the transcript of a recent interview with the bishop about his defense of marriage, which can be read here.

Feeling sorry for the priests of Chippewa Falls...

2007-11-07T06:27:00.000-08:00

Back in July, I posted an article about a certain Alvin Coffman's habit of stealing jars of coins from the rectory of Holy Ghost Parish in Chippewa Falls. Well, it seems there's more than one person causing grief to beleagured pastors and their parishes in the small Wisconsin city of Chippewa Falls. Check out this article:

Erickson accused of harassing priest

By ELIZABETH HOCHSTEDLER
elizabeth.hochstedler@lee.net
Monday, November 5, 2007 10:31 AM CST

A Chippewa Falls man is facing criminal charges for allegedly harassing a Catholic priest over a two-year period, including recent threats to defame him with false accusations.
James E. Erickson, 59, 8811 Highway 178, was charged Friday with threatening to injure or accuse another person of a crime, defamation and stalking. Erickson was taken into custody Thursday. A $100 cash bond was set by Judge Roderick Cameron.
According to the criminal complaint:The Rev. Brian J. Jazdzewski, of Notre Dame Catholic church in Chippewa Falls, told officers that he had been receiving threatening letters and voicemails since October 2005 from Erickson.
The letters and voice messages have become more frequent and more threatening, Jazdzewski reported.
At first the letters stated that the church was staging a conspiracy against Erickson and his wife.
Letters received at the end of 2005 said that Erickson had been abused by a priest when Erickson was 10 years old, and he expected $500,000 from the church. Erickson wrote that he expected Jazdzewski to help; and if he didn’t help, Erickson could have him “kicked out of the church.”
On Oct. 24, Erickson was approached by Chippewa Falls Police Officer Mark Hanson, who told him to cease contact with Jazdzewski and the church.Erickson agreed with Hanson. However, Jazdzewski said he received threatening messages on Oct. 26 and 27.
Erickson also sent a letter to Candi L. Anderson, Jazdzewski’s administrative assistant, warning Anderson to avoid working alone with Jazdzewski.
This isn’t the first time Erickson has been involved in a harassment complaint.
In October 2005, the Chippewa County Department of Human Services obtained a restraining order against Erickson. Erickson had been sending letters to the department allegedly trying to extort money from a nurse and doctor who were working for the department.
That restraining order remains effective until Oct. 16, 2008.Erickson will return to court on Nov. 20. His bond is contingent that he has no contact with Jazdzewski, Anderson or the church.

Father Kubat on emergency contraception

2007-11-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the continued sparse posting. Part of it is due to illness, and another part to a pretty hectic schedule. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things this coming week.

Of all the articles from this past Thursday's Catholic Times, I'm most proud of the one I wrote on Father Christopher Kubat's lecture on emergency contraception, which he delivered Oct. 17 in Chippewa Falls. This talk is very notable here in Wisconsin, since our bishops have officially dropped opposition to a bill that will force Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception after the administration of a pregnancy test. For reasons Father Kubat lays out quite clearly, this legislation is unacceptable, as is the bishops' current position. I'm hoping this article's prominence in a diocesan paper will help get the ball rolling for the bishops to re-examine their position, something I've hear is in the works.
***********************************************************

‘If there’s doubt of fact you don’t act’
Doctor-priest sounds off on emergency contraception
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (Catholic Times) – “If there’s doubt of fact, you don’t act,” said Father Christopher Kubat, M.D., Oct. 17 in regard to providing the morning-after pill to victims of sexual assault.
After fertilization occurs, he said, taking the morning-after pill would induce an abortion.
Speaking at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Chippewa Falls, Father Kubat said that “reliable testing” for determining whether fertilization has occurred “does not exist.” And he added that neither pregnancy nor ovulation testing provides the absolute certainty he argues is necessary to proceed with dispensing a pill that would be lethal to an unborn child.
“There’s a moral principle: If there’s a doubt of fact, you don’t act,” he said.
Not only does the morning-after pill have the potential to induce an abortion, but Father Kubat also cited a 2003 study that showed its powerful ovulation-suppression drugs increase the rate of often-fatal ectopic pregnancies, where the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus.
Why? “Because,” Father Kubat said, even as they affect a fertilized egg’s ability to implant properly, “these agents do not reliably suppress ovulation.”
A doctor who practiced urology in Milwaukee before he became a priest, Father Kubat is a nationally recognized bioethics expert. He is also the executive director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb. Father Kubat’s Oct. 17 lecture was co-sponsored by the Chippewa Falls Knights of Columbus, Pro-Life Wisconsin and the Chippewa Falls Guild of the Catholic Medical Association.
Father Kubat said addressing the issue of providing emergency contraception to rape victims is “timely,” given that Wisconsin is currently considering legislation that would require hospitals to administer the morning-after pill, also known as Plan B, to sexual assault victims.
In early September, the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s five dioceses, dropped its opposition to SB 129/AB 377. “Catholic hospitals can and do treat victims with emergency contraception,” WCC associate director Kim Wadas said in testimony before the Assembly’s committee on judiciary and ethics. “Some perceive that our moral and ethical principles … preclude Catholic health facilities from making contraception available to rape victims. This is not the case.”
However, the Catholic Medical Association, the nation’s largest association of Catholic doctors, as well as many pro-lifers, believe the WCC testimony was problematic and constitutes cooperation in the administering of abortifacient drugs. And CMA president-elect Dr. Kathleen Raviele told Lifesite.net that the current situation requires reassessment. “In everything we err on the side of life,” she said.
The CMA points to Connecticut, where the bishops had also dropped their opposition to this portion of a similar bill but are now backpedaling. “The Church in Connecticut would have had a greater opportunity to resist” the state law if there had been definitive statements on Plan B from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and/or the Vatican, Hartford diocesan spokesman Father John Gatzak told Catholic News Service Oct. 11.
But others say, at least in regard to the morning-after pill, the Vatican has already spoken. They cite a 2000 statement from the Pontifical Academy for Life, which said: “The absolute unlawfulness of abortifacient procedures also applies to distributing, prescribing and taking the morning-after pill. All who, whether sharing the intention or not, directly co-operate with this procedure are also morally responsible for it.”
Although the Connecticut law took effect Oct. 1, Father Kubat said Oct. 17 that it’s not too late in Wisconsin, where the proposed law has yet to pass. To help guide bishops, he said the current USCCB statement’s ambiguity on what type of certainty is acceptable before dispensing the potentially fatal morning-after pill needs to be clarified.
According to the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” published by the USCCB in 2001: “If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has occurred already, (a woman) may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation, or fertilization.”
But Father Kubat emphasized that “there is no appropriate testing,” and neither would there be appropriate testing until medical science comes up with a way to determine if fertilization has occurred. He said a pregnancy or urinary test won’t show up as positive until two to three weeks after fertilization, and ovulation testing isn’t completely reliable either. “So if you give Plan B,” even if these tests have come back negative, “it could cause an abortion,” he said.
According to Wadas’ testimony, the WCC’s lack of opposition to SB 129/AB 377 is conditioned upon being able to “follow testing protocols that establish with moral certitude that a pregnancy has not occurred.” The WCC argued that pregnancy and ovulation testing can and do establish the necessary certitude that a woman is not pregnant.
But Father Kubat vehemently disagreed. “If we are morally certain about anything, it is that the risk of an abortion using these drugs is significant based on the scientific data presented,” he said. “That’s what we can be morally certain of if we want to talk about moral certainty.”
“If you take an honest look at the scientific data, reliable testing” to establish absolute certitude “does not exist,” Father Kubat added. “But now, unfortunately, most hospitals regularly dispense emergency contraception, including Catholic hospitals.”

Bishop-elect Callahan a new Milwaukee auxiliary

2007-10-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

From this mornings VIS feed: "Ha nominato il Padre William Patrick Callahan, O.F.M.Conv., Vescovo Ausiliare dell'Arcidiocesi di Milwaukee (superficie: 12.323; popolazione: 2.271.840; cattolici: 707.688; sacerdoti: 703; religiosi: 2.856; diaconi permanenti: 167), Stati Uniti d'America. Il Vescovo eletto è nato nel 1950 a Chicago (Stati Uniti d'America), ha emesso la prima professione nell'Ordine Francescano dei Frati Minori Conventuali ed ha ricevuto l'ordinazione sacerdotale nel 1977. È stato finora Direttore Spirituale al Pontificio Collegio Americano del Nord a Roma."

The gist is: Conventual Franciscan Father Patrick Callahan, a spiritual director at the North American College, has been named an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Father Callahan was the priest in charge of my corridor when I was a student at the NAC. I'm so happy for his appointment. He is an orthodox priest, formerly pastor of the magnificent St. Josaphat's Basilica in Milwaukee, where a revival in terms of liturgy and church renovation has occured. On top of his orthodoxy, I can attest to his friendly, affable nature. He is a people person, but one who has a deep spirituality and a developed prayer life -- excellent qualities in a bishop.

Congratulations to Milwaukee and to Bishop-elect Callahan!

'Bella' Mania

2007-10-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

Many of you are probably already aware of the amazing pro-life movie that's going to hit selected theatres next weekend. The blogs seem to be heating up with pre-"Bella" coverage, most of it deservedly positive. I'll point you to AmericanPapist, who has an extensive listing of links and his own review.

Below I'm posting my own story, on Eduardo Verástegui's amazing conversion story, which I wrote after viewing the movie at a screening held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse last December. I have yet to review the movie, though, and with my tight time schedule, we'll probably end up publishing a CNS review. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the movie and its positive message immensely. Not only is the message right on and one society needs to hear, but the movie is uniquely produced, and is truly a work of art. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I looked on the the official "Bella" website, and unfortunately the two closest theatres to La Crosse, Wis., will be ones in Des Moines, Iowa, and Minneapolis, Minn. Lucky you, if you're in the big cities. Make sure you go see it and invite your friends, too, so it spreads out to little towns like ours :-)

Actor’s metanoia leads to ‘Bella’
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

LA CROSSE – It is said that God brings people into a person’s life to lead him or her toward Him. Hollywood actor Eduardo Verástegui says his English teacher Jasmine was such a person.
Together with producer Leo Severino, Verástegui was at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse on Dec. 12 to promote Metanoia Film’s first full-length feature, “Bella,” which is set to be released in April after winning the “People’s Choice” at the Toronto Film Festival in September.
Previous winners include “Chariots of Fire,” “Life is Beautiful” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Together with Severino and film writer Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, Verástegui founded Metanoia Films in 2004.

Rich on the outside, but poor inside

At 33 years of age, Verástegui – one of the “50 most beautiful people in the world” according to “People en Español” – has been described as a “Mexican Brad Pitt.”
The actor was first propelled to fame as a model for designers such as Calvin Klein and Versace in Mexico City before joining the Latino pop group Kairo. In 1997 Verástegui took to soap operas, finally making his way to Hollywood, where he was chosen as the lead character in the comedy “Chasing Papi” in 2003.
That movie, Verástegui told a rapt audience at the Shrine before they previewed an uncut version of “Bella,” was a total flop, and should have served as a wake-up call.
“Before I joined (Kairo), I thought I would be the happiest person in the world,” Verástegui said. “But I was just as empty as before – actually worse, since now I had tried it. I thought I needed more fame, more money, more pleasures. Everyone in my town was saying, ‘He’s so blessed.’ But inside I felt so poor.”
Certain that his key to happiness lay in Hollywood advancment, Verástegui remained in Los Angeles, where he took English lessons while awaiting a new role. He said these lessons helped him realize that he needed to change more than his acting role.
“Jasmine questioned me on so many things,” Verástegui said about his English tutor, whom he says God placed in his life. “She asked me why I was Catholic, and why I act. I could only understand 10 percent of what she was saying, but it was enough for me to realize I needed to change.”
Explaining that “metanoia” is a Greek word meaning “change,” Verástegui said, “I had my metanoia, and that’s why the name of our company is Metanoia Films.”

Executive at Fox
The metanoia that took place in Verástegui’s life was as radical as Metanoia Film’s mission, which the actor described as enteraining and inspiring people by “telling stories that touch people’s hearts and minds.”
In an interview with The Catholic Times, “Bella” producer Leo Severino said he first met Verástegui after his conversion, when the actor started attending the daily Mass that he frequented. A few years earlier, Severino had read himself back into the faith of his childhood through C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton and the Church Fathers.
As a law student at the University of Southern California, Severino had also begun to climb Hollywood’s corporate ladder. “During my first year of law school, I had a summer associate position” at Fox Networks, he said. “While I continued (to study), everyone there rose up. I became the company’s youngest executive.”
As they got to know each other, Severino said he and Verástegui realized their shared faith convictions gave them a common mission. “Some people in Hollywood want to do good things and uplift human dignity,” he said. “We looked at each other and asked, ‘Can we make films and be faithful?’”
As an executive for Fox Networks, Severino had the Hollywood connections to make a movie promoting human dignity. And, as an immensely popular musician and actor in Mexico, Verástegui had the fan base to make it a success. The only thing missing was a good, wholesome movie to make.

Screenwriter on the scene
Then Alejandro Gomez Monteverde entered upon the scene. Monteverde had become something of a legend at the University of Texas, where his films won numerous festivals. According to Severino, the story that was to become “Bella” came to Monteverde as he pulled out of another Hollywood film because of its moral content.
Soon the budding film writer encountered Severino and Verástegui. “When the three of us met, we knew the Lord had a mission for us,” Severino said. “It was unanimous that (Monteverde’s script) was the movie we would produce.”
According to Severino, the three entrepreneurs “left everything on a wing and prayer,” hired a staff and formed Metanoia Films within the month.
With Verástegui’s bank account dwindling, however, the three men knew they had to find funding. Severino said that they were granted an audience with Pope John Paul II in 2004. Within a week they received the necessary funding through a partnership with Sean and Eustace Wolfington, two Hollywood producers. “We started (filming) on the Feast of the Assumption,” Severino said.

“Bella” means “beautiful”
Earlier in the day on Dec. 12, Severino and Verástegui visited Aquinas High School in La Crosse, where they showed the movie trailer and spoke to students.
“We asked the kids how many films they watched,” Severino said. “I wonder how many of these films had good moral content. A movie either elevates human dignity or lowers it.”
But Severino said it’s not enough for a movie to promote good morals – he said it has to be high quality if it’s going to be a success and have a chance to reach a wide audience. Western civilization “used to produce masterpieces for the Lord,” he said, explaining that Metanoia Film’s goal is to portray the good, the true and the beautiful. “John Paul II said art and morality go hand in hand,” Severino said.
Severino is fully convinced that “Bella” is a masterpiece, and critics aren’t disagreeing. What was formerly an independent blip on the Hollywood radar screen is being penciled in by major distributors after the film won the “People’s Choice” Award at the Toronto Film Festival in September. “These films go on to win Oscars,” Severino said.

Ongoing metanoia
Verástegui said that, when he first underwent his conversion, he wanted to escape the world to become a monk. “But I was told by a priest not to run away,” he said. Referring to this priest’s directives to pray the rosary daily and frequent the sacraments, he said, “He gave me the tools I needed, so I decided to stay.”
Verástegui said his own metanoia continues even as he enters into people’s lives through “Bella,” in which he plays the leading role. “The whole mission is to share our life stories, especially with young people, and bring them closer to Chrsit – to get them excited about the faith and serving the Lord,” he said, adding that young Latinos in particular lack role models in the media.
“You don’t see Latinos in films as men of faith and integrity – as heros,” Verástegui said. “That’s why we opened Metanoia Films and produced ‘Bella.’ The Lord is calling us to use the most powerful means, the media, to serve Him.”
Verástegui added that visiting the Shrine in La Crosse was an especially powerful experience, since he had been at the Mexico City Shrine just days earlier. He explained that Archbishop Raymond Burke, who founded the La Crosse Shrine, had given him a copy of the “Nican Mopohua,” which recounts the apparition of Our Lady to St. Juan Diego.
“I read it while I was in Mexico City,” Verástegui said, adding that Our Lady of Guadalupe has become increasingly important to him. “Then I came and saw the church here and was amazed. I see here my purpose. I wasn’t born to be an actor or a producer. I was born to be a saint – to know, to love God. It’s so simple.”

Why I haven't been posting: Explained in 4,989 words!

2007-10-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Franz S. Klein
English 602
Professor Chris Buttram
25 October 2007

STEPHEN AS AN AESTHETIC THEORTICIAN:
Theoretical and Practical Considerations in A Portrait and the first part of Ulysses

Introduction

Examining Stephen as an aesthetic theoretician proves to provide an interesting journey through James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and the first part of Ulysses. Always a character of contradictions, Stephen is no less so as a theoretician. Taking Thomas Aquinas as his philosophical base in A Portrait, Stephen tells his companion Lynch: “So far as this side of esthetic philosophy extends Aquinas will carry me all along the line” (477).

Whether Aquinas truly carries Stephen “all along the line” will be the central question addressed in this paper. The examination of the phrase pulchra sunt quae visa placent, and, later, the three requisites for beauty (integritas, consonantia and claritas) show Stephen’s actual knowledge of Aquinas was quite flawed. Since a careful consideration of Aquinas’ philosophy and Stephen’s theory demonstrates this deficiency, it will also be fruitful to examine Stephen’s theory in practice – in his own aesthetic experiences in A Portrait and, later, in Ulysses. Looking at these textual instances that contradict his own theory, it becomes possible to see Stephen as a flawed aesthetic theoretician, just as he is a flawed character in other ways. Examined lastly will be whether Joyce’s own break with the conventional moral order, the Jesuits, and the Church had anything to do with Stephen’s aesthetic shortcomings.

Pulchra sunt quae visa placent

Stephen is far from hesitant in expounding upon aesthetics. His conversation with Lynch follows their escape from a game of ball with Cranly and Davin. “Let us eke go, as Cranly has it” (470), Lynch says. Immediately and uninvited, Stephen begins boldly: “Aristotle has not defined pity and terror. I have. I say…” (Ibid.). Overcoming Lynch’s objections, Stephen persists in explaining his theory of kinetic versus static aesthetics:
"Beauty expressed by the artist cannot awaken in us an emotion which is kinetic or a sensation which is purely physical. It awakens, or ought to awaken, or induces, or ought to induce, an esthetic stasis, an ideal pity or an ideal terror, a stasis called forth, prolonged and at last dissolved by what I call the rhythm of beauty" (473).
Here – now at an intrigued Lynch’s request – Stephen defines art as “a human disposition of sensible or intelligible matter for an esthetic end” (474). Stephen is asserting that beauty does not excite the emotions, but awakens the intellect. As will become clearer as this paper proceeds, Stephen’s entire aesthetic theory stands upon this statement.

To anchor his theory, Stephen relies directly on Aquinas for the first time: “Aquinas, said Stephen, says that is beautiful the apprehension of which pleases… Pulcra (sic) sunt quae visa placent” (474). Stephen’s “first principal” – actually put in Lynch’s mouth here – come from Thomas Aquinas’ major work, the Summa Theologiae. Within his discussion of goodness in general (De bono in communi), Aquinas writes: “Beauty, however, depends on the cognitive faculty: for things are called beautiful which are pleasing when seen” (26).[1] Aquinas addresses beauty and its visual apprehension while responding to an objection that, since goodness is praised as beauty and beauty is related to formal causality (an aspect of the thing), the goodness of a thing must also be related to formal causality, not to the more important final causality (why the thing is what it is). On the contrary, Aquinas argues that beauty and goodness are fundamentally identical and yet logically distinct (beauty is considered a formal cause while goodness is the final cause), since goodness relates to all a person’s desires, while beauty relates only to things that a person senses and processes cognitively.

According to Stephen, Aquinas’ use of the plural noun visa (seen things) covers:
"…[E]sthetic apprehensions of all kinds, whether through sight or hearing or through any other avenue of apprehension. This word, though it is vague, is clear enough to keep away good and evil which excite desire and loathing. It means certainly a stasis and not a kinesis" (474).
Here, immediately, Stephen stumbles in his understanding of Aquinas, for whom beauty and goodness, remember, are logically identical. As Aquinas puts it: “A beautiful thing and a good thing are the same in subject” (26).[2] For Aquinas, things perceived by the senses and apprehended as beautiful by the cognitive faculty are, like anything else, good to greater or lesser degree: “Every being which is not God is a creature of God. But ‘every creature of God is good,’ as it is said in the First Letter to Timothy 4:4: God truly is the maximal good. Therefore, every being is good” (25).[3] Thus, goodness for Aquinas is something that God has and that created beings share in and desire to grow in. As Brian Davies, O.P, puts it: “…[G]oodness is what is aimed at or sought… good things are things which are wanted or attractive… a good X is an X which has whatever features are desirable in that kind of thing” (85).

While Stephen clearly admits he will make a break with Aquinas, he means for this break to come later, in regard to the manifold apprehension of beauty by “…[t]he Greek, the Turk, the Chinese, the Copt, the Hottentot,” who “all admire a different type of female beauty” (475). Aquinas would attribute these differences to the reproductive drive; but, for Stephen, Aquinas’ attribution “leads to eugenics rather than to esthetic” (Ibid.). Since his differences with Aquinas are not with perception of art but its conception, it seems that Stephen understands his stark disjunction between beauty and goodness to be within the bounds of scholastic philosophy. But as William T. Noon, S.J., has noted: “Joyce was not a professional philosopher. He was a much dedicated, gifted, and hard-working artist who took what was at hand, as often as not in secondary sources, all that was in the air where he was, in his own and if it suited him even in his younger brother’s early notebooks, all that he wanted” (355).

For Stephen in The Portrait, the complete interchangeability of aesthetic beauty and aesthetic truth calls for a truce between him and the “crude grey light, mirrored in the sluggish water, and a smell of wet branches over their heads…” (473). Remember that Joyce describes these very elements as seeming to “war against the course of Stephen’s thought” (Ibid.). But now the very truth of the adjectives “crude,” “sluggish” and “wet” transforms the ordinariness of Stephen and Lynch’s surroundings into something good and a beautiful work of art. On the other hand, however, Lynch’s failure to understand how Stephen artistically transformed their environment is illustrated through their diverse reactions to a passing dray during their conversation. When the dray appears, “covering the end of Stephen’s speech with the harsh roar of jangled and rattling metal,” “Lynch closed his ears and gave out oath after oath till the dray had passed” (476). But for Joyce ad extra writing A Portrait, the dray was part of his artistic creation of a scene of true Dublin: Its very correspondence with the true engenders its goodness, its beauty. Thus Joyce ad intra as Stephen recognizes and accepts the dray, and simply “turned also and waited for a few moments till his companion’s illhumour had had its vent” (Ibid.).

The most ordinary things become extraordinary in Ulysses, too, where ugliness made “beautiful” abounds. Buck Mulligan, whose character is variously described as having a “shaking, gurgling face” and a “plump shadowed face and sullen jowl” (3), takes on a sacred role in his mockery of the Mass. The extraordinary beauty of the Catholic Mass is transferred to the ordinariness of the apartment Stephen shares with his companions. A bowl of lather becomes a sacred censer, and Mulligan its bearer. The whole first chapter, really, is a continuation of Mulligan’s mockery: Introibo ad altare Dei[4] (Ibid.) were the sung words that accompanied the priest up the aisle as Mass started. When Mulligan asks Stephen, “Did you bring the key?” (15), Stephen presents it just as an altarboy would present the key to the tabernacle on the altar containing the Sacred Hosts. Having the key, Mulligan “slung his towel stolewise round his neck,” and speaks of a “sacred pint” (Ibid.,) much as a priest would consume the Blood of Christ from the sacred chalice. And with the key, Mulligan and Stephen leave the mockery of the Mass “sanctified,” just as the hosts would be at a real Mass. Described in all their ordinariness and ugliness, these two young men leave their tabernacle[5] and enter into the dirtiness of Dublin.

Integritas, Consonantia and Claritas

In A Portrait, even as Stephen breaks – intentionally or unintentionally – with Aquinas in regard to the relationship between the transcendentals of truth, beauty and goodness, he continues to draw material from him to further define beauty. Continuing his conversation with Lynch, he lays out three “phases” for the apprehension of beauty: “Aquinas says: ad pulcritudinem [sic] tria requiruntur, integritas, consonantia, claritas. I translate it so: Three things are needed for beauty, wholeness, harmony and radiance. Do these correspond to the phases of apprehension? Are you following?” (479). Looking to a butcher boy’s basket, Stephen illustrates integritas as “selfbounded and self-contained… You apprehend it as one thing… You apprehend its wholeness” (479-80). Consonantia, he continues, is the secondary apprehension of a thing “as complex, multiple, divisible, separable, made up of its parts, the result of its parts and their sum, harmonious” (480). Finally, claritas is related to “the scholastic quidditas, the whatness of a thing. This supreme quality is felt by the artist when the esthetic image is first conceived in his imagination” (480-81), he tells Lynch.

The quotation Stephen borrows comes from Aquinas’ description of the essential relation between the Persons of the Holy Trinity (De personis ad essentiam relatis). Reflecting on how human beings can come to know a God who is totally transcendental, Aquinas is asking whether the early Church fathers appropriately described the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Responding affirmatively, Aquinas says: “It is fitting that one first considers God according to the mode which He assumed from creatures (193).[6] Since the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son, took flesh and became a man (the “mode” apprehensible to the senses), Aquinas says the fathers related beauty (which is sensual) to Jesus Christ. In this context Aquinas provides the quotation used by Stephen: “For three things are required for beauty: First, integrity or perfection, since those things which are made lesser are ugly. Then there is due proportion or harmony. And lastly radiance: Whence those things which have a bright color are said to be beautiful” (Ibid.).[7]

In his foundational book Joyce and Aquinas, William T. Noon, S.J., asserts that Stephen here confuses the ontological and psychological aspects of beauty. Noon writes: “The integritas, consonantia, and claritas (of which Stephen speaks in Aquinas’ name) are conceived by Aquinas as qualities of things which the mind comes to know, not as ‘stages’ in the mind’s own act of knowing” (22). Noon points out that the description of beauty which Stephen borrows is found in an ontological context, regarding God’s being: God is beautiful – transcendentally speaking, He is beauty itself and the source of all beauty. On the other hand, Stephen is speaking of artistic beauty as understood psychologically by the viewer – as something sensibly apprehended and understood in stages. While he admits that these three qualities have a certain priority, Noon says that priority is ontological, not psychological – and therefore not sequential:
"Stephen interprets this ontological priority as though it were a question of temporal sequence. But ontological and temporal priority are not the same thing: one must have light before the act of vision can take place, but the light does not come first and then the act of vision. Granted that there is light, one sees both the light and the object which the light illuminates not in stages but simultaneously" (46).
As an ontological characteristic of a thing, beauty rests not in the “eye of the beholder,” but in the beholden object. Thus does Stephen’s placement of art and perception over beauty ring hollow, since a thing is beautiful even before its perception as such. As Noon puts it: “Stephen confuses, it would seem, the Scholastic analysis of the act of apprehension with this act itself” (45).

Given that Stephen misunderstands – intentionally or unintentionally – the qualities of integritas, consonantia, and claritas, Noon is not surprised to find that he misuses them as well. Unlike Stephen’s “wholeness,” Noon notes that Aquinas pairs integritas with perfectio, meaning “the completeness or perfection which a being possesses when it is all that it ought to be” (47). While Stephen’s consonantia is static (thus supporting his theory of static aesthetics), Aquinas “pays more attention to it as a dynamic principle of order operative throughout all reality” (48).[8] More difficult than integritas and consonantia, Noon believes Stephen – or Joyce – understood claritas to be identical with quidditas through the influence of the Jesuit philosopher Suarez: “Aquinas, to be sure, considers quidditas in the existential order when he talks about existent things, but even in this existential order the existent quidditas is conceived of as the nature of a thing, or the principle of operation which the thing possesses in virtue of its ‘substantial’ form” (50). In other words, quidditas does not make something different from other things, but underlies what a thing is. Claritas, on the other hand, can be had to a greater or lesser degree.

Textual Contradictions

A new vein of scholarship is asking whether Stephen’s failure as a theorist was intentional on Joyce’s part. Admitting Stephen’s theoretical shortcomings as pointed out by Noon and others, Cordell D.K. Yee writes: “His failings as a theorist are as great as, if not greater than, his failings as an artist” (68). According to Yee, Stephen’s first error was choosing Aquinas’ philosophy for his theoretical foundation, since he never wrote a tract on art. Yee argues that Joyce was aware of this and had Stephen deliberately misuse Aquinas. Not only did Stephen misuse Aquinas, Yee writes, his argument’s long-windedness and contrived nature in A Portrait additionally mar it. Thus Yee posits: “If Stephen’s theory is not actually a theory, then it must be something else” (69). While Yee analyzes Stephen’s theory through various theoretical lenses, it might be helpful here examine key textual inconsistencies in both A Portrait and Ulysses.

In A Portrait, the “bird girl” scene immediately precedes the fifth chapter and Stephen’s aesthetic theorizing. Here Stephen is described as “alone” (433), precisely in the condition Joyce expressed as being necessary for an artist. Alone and at the beach, Stephen beholds the bird girl:
"A girl stood before him in midstream, alone and still, gazing out to sea. She seemed like one whom magic had changed into the likeness of a strange and beautiful seabird. Her long slender bare legs were delicate as a crane’s and pure save where an emerald trail of seaweed had fashioned itself as a sign upon her flesh. Her thighs, fuller and softer than ivory, were bared almost to the hips where the white fringes of her drawers were like featherings of soft white down… But her long fair hair was girlish: and girlish, and touched with the wonder of mortal beauty, her face" (Ibid.)"
Stephen sees the bird girl as art in context: He beholds integritas in the wholeness of her body, consonantia in its fitted parts, and claritas in her girlish humanity. But his reaction is to cry “Heavenly God!” (434). Then “[h]is cheeks were aflame; his body was aglow; his limbs were trembling. On and on and on and on he strode, far out over the sands, singing wildly to the sea, crying to greet the advent of the life that had cried to him” (Ibid.). Even if his reaction is not specifically sexual, his flaming cheeks, glowing body and trembling limbs connote a kinetic reaction. It seems that Stephen’s own actions contradict his ethereal vision of static art.

Stephen’s contradiction of his own theory continues in Ulysses, once again as he is walking on a beach, in the third chapter. Unlike the feelings aroused by the bird woman, however, Stephen’s feelings here are of loneliness. He is observing the cocklepickers as they leave, and notices the wife of one of them:
"With woman steps she followed… Spoils slung at her back. Loose sand and shellgrit crusted her bare feet. About her windraw face hair trailed… When night hides her body’s flaws calling under her brown shawl from an archway where dogs have mired…Buss her, wap in rogues’ rum lingo, foro, O, my dimber wapping dell! A shefiend’s whiteness under her rancid rags" (39).
Certainly no bird girl, the cocklepicker’s wife’s femininity, and the fact the woman’s husband – and others – enjoy it while Stephen doesn’t, still causes his lonely sexual drive to war against his theory of “applied” Aquinas: “Morose delectation Aquinas tunbelly calls this, frate porcospino” (Ibid.), he thinks bitterly.[9] Excusing himself thus, on account of Aquinas’ alleged rotundity, Stephen engages the “[i]neluctable modality of the visible” (31). He looks through and past the woman’s imperfections and finds beauty in her, and in this beauty is her truth and goodness: “Touch me. Soft eyes. Soft soft soft hand. I am lonely here. O, touch me soon, now. What is that word known to all men? I am quiet here alone. Sad too. Touch me, touch me” (41). Thus moved – kinetically – Stephen creates his art in contradiction to his own theory: “Turning his back to the sun he bent over far to a table of rock and scribbled words” (40).

Breaking from the Conventional Moral Order

Given his desire to show how the ordinariness, ugliness and even badness of Dublin could be aesthetically beautiful, it is highly likely that Joyce had reason for redefining the relationship between beauty and goodness. Returning to A Portrait, Stephen in conversation with Lynch notes that good and evil “…excite desire and loathing” (474), while “[b]eauty expressed by the artist cannot awaken in us an emotion which is kinetic…” (472). But Haskell M. Block also points out Joyce’s perceived need for complete artistic freedom: “The artistic temper, he felt, must be exercised in an atmosphere of complete freedom, and the artist as a creative agent is subject only to the laws of his art” (179-80). For Joyce as Stephen, the end result of this stark separation of beauty and goodness results in his autobiographical exodus and the famous non serviam of A Portrait:
"I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use, silence, exile and cunning" (519).
Thus, while Stephen’s non serviam seems innocuous when understood as separating beauty from goodness, it has real consequences when applied to church and state, normally the upholders of societal morals. Yet Stephen believes he is simply following Aquinas to his logical conclusion. Since both the Church and Stephen are relying on Aquinas, somebody has it wrong.

But according to Richard Ellmann in James Joyce, Joyce as an author and artist probably didn’t mean so much to separate beauty and goodness aesthetically speaking as morally speaking. Ellmann says Stephen’s argument isn’t intended to make art immoral or amoral; rather, it seeks to “…transcend conventional morality that it is better able to recognize the good as a by-product of the pursuit of the true and the beautiful” (190). Adding that this is “his only concession to the ethical aspect of art,” Ellmann restates Joyce’s reasoning: [S]ince the good is what is desirable, and since the true and the beautiful are most persistently desired, then the true and the beautiful must be good” (Ibid.). So, for Joyce-Stephen, no longer do truth and goodness engender beauty; rather, the artist’s own search for truth and beauty, in a sense, engenders goodness.

Stephen’s apprehension of goodness in Ulysses, therefore, has less to do with grace received from the Church and more to do with what humanity already has just as it is. Ineluctably pondering a previous conversation with Uncle Richie towards the beginning of chapter three, Stephen listens to the bars of Ferrando’s aria di sortita. With the music, Stephen’s mind wanders to the Mass: “A choir gives back menace and echo, assisting about the altar’s horns, the snorted Latin of jackpriests moving burly in their albs, tonsured and oiled and gelded, fat with the fat of kidneys of wheat” (33). Then his uncle torments him: “Cousin Stephen, you will never be a saint…” (34). Failing to find goodness there and deciding against going to his uncle’s, Stephen turns to the beach, where he encounters the “bloated carcass of a dog” (37). In this dog, too, Stephen sees a beach “heavy with the past” (Ibid.), bloated like the priests from his previous musings. For Stephen, goodness does not come from the past, but from the “live dog, gr[owing] into sight running across the sand” (Ibid.). Following the live dog with his eyes, he apprehends a woman and a man: He “see[s] her skirties” (38), he desires, and he thus he finds his object of goodness.

Even with Ellmann’s distinction and evidence in Ulysses that Joyce intended for an artist’s search for beauty and truth to engender goodness, that Joyce intended to break with the conventional moral order is clear, even if he didn’t feel he was breaking with Aquinas’ aesthetics. The journey of Stephen’s eyes from the dead dog to the living dog to a woman’s “skirties” certainly breaks from the search for goodness as the Church understands it. Similarly, for Stephen in A Portrait, the conventional moral order expressed by the Church takes person in the Jesuit dean he encounters in the physics classroom. It is in the context of their conversation on art that Stephen first quotes Aquinas’ famous line: Pulcra [sic] sunt quae visa placent. Like Stephen, the dean is an artist and a creator: “There is an art in lighting a fire” (448), he tells Stephen.

But as Stephen observes the dean about his craft, he thinks how his “very soul had waxed old in that service without growing toward light and beauty” (Ibid.). His eyes are “loveless,” and while he was lame like Ignatius, “in his eyes burned no spark of Ignatius’ enthusiasm” (449). Although the dean practices “a craft subtler and more secret than its fabled books of secret wisdom,” he did so “without joy in their handling” (450). As they conclude their conversation and the dean begins to greet the class,
"A desolating pity began to fall like dew upon his easily embittered heart for this faithful servingman of the knightly Loyola, for this halfbrother of the clergy, more venal than they in speech, more steadfast of soul than they, one whom he would never call his ghostly father: and he thought how this man and his companions had earned the name of worldlings at the hands not of the unworldly but of the worldly also for having pleaded, during all their history, at the bar of God’s justice for the souls of the lax and the lukewarm and the prudent" (454-55).
Here Stephen’s indictment is not of the dean’s craft; after all, in his thoughts he praises “Ignatius’ enthusiasm” (449). But doesn’t find the requisite enthusiasm in the dean. In him, Stephen sees a lack of enthusiasm; furthermore, he sees a lack of the artistic drive in all those serving “as the founder would have had him, like a staff in an old man’s hand, to be left in a corner, to be leaned on in the road at nightfall or in the stress of the weather, to lie with a lady’s nosegay on a garden seat, to be raised in menace” (450). In pleading “at the bar of God’s justice,” they have in Stephen’s eyes lost their apostolic artistry and become servingmen. Thus does Stephen the artist soon-to-be-free pity the dean as he goes about his craft.

Stephen’s rift with the Church continues in the opening chapter of Ulysses, where “[s]tately, plump Buck Mulligan” (3) begins with a mockery of the Mass. Always an observer, Stephen exits with Mulligan after the latter’s “Mass” for the creek, where his companion prepares for a bath while Stephen hesitates, afraid of the water. Just as infant baptisms would normally follow Mass, so too does Mulligan’s plunge; Stephen’s hesitation has to do with that sacrament: “I’m going, Mulligan, he said” (19).[10] Furthermore, as Stephen walks away, he is reflecting on the Liliata rutilantium, which was sung at his mother’s deathbed where he had refused to kneel. Lastly, among the “baptized” bathers, Stephen recognizes a “priest’s grey nimbus in a niche where he dressed discreetly” (Ibid.). According to Richard Ellmann in Ulysses on the Liffey, this priest’s hiddeness “display[ed] sanctified prudery, the opposite of Christ’s wholehearted offer of his body in the chalice” (10). Just as the Jesuit dean had lost Ignatius’ spirit, so this priest fails to live up to Christ, Stephen seems to reason. He concludes regarding the Church: “I will not sleep here tonight. Home also I cannot go” (Ibid.).

In constructing their Joyce biographies, most scholars accept that he once considered joining the Society of Jesus, the religious order that sponsored the most influential portion of the young man’s education, and perhaps even received an invitation from them. But J. Mitchell Morse notes that Joyce’s break with his precept-laden Catholic faith had much to do with his growing disillusionment with the Jesuits. Commenting on the Portrait scene, Morse writes: “As Joyce matured he found it increasingly difficult to admire his teachers, who lived under such discipline, for it seemed to him that by mortifying their wills they degraded or destroyed their souls” (1020). Morse points to “moral passivity” and “disavowal of personal responsibility” as being especially abhorrent to Joyce as an artist:
"The Jesuits’ freedom from self, so deceptively similar to the artist’s ideal freedom from personal involvement with the ideas and other materials he uses, inevitably appealed to the unformed artist; but since it is not at all the same thing as that freedom, he inevitably came to the appalling realization that for him at least it would be disastrous. It appealed also because it presented an alternative of order to the disorder of the child’s home; for the artist, however, order must come from within, and is not to be confused with suppression of the will or abdication of the mind" (Ibid.).

Joyce’s break was not just with the Jesuits, as is seen symbolically in the Ulysses passage just analyzed, but also with the Catholic faith the Jesuits stood for. Even as a lay Catholic, Joyce would have been bound by an exterior authority, and by the prudishness that his character Stephen Dedalus observed in the dressing priest, which asserted the authority to judge a person’s moral goodness. Such a proposition was as unacceptable for Joyce the artist as it was for Stephen the artist.

Conclusion

With Stephen having been traced herein as an aesthetic theoretician through his own theory and his experiences in A Portrait and the first part of Ulysses, a number of observations can now be made. First of all, it seems Joyce fully intended for Stephen to separate out moral goodness from the goodness his own theory espoused. As Joyce understands it, Stephen’s and his own artistic journeys demanded a complete and unconditional freedom from the constraints of the conventional moral order. An examination of Aquinas’ own understanding of beauty, however, indicates that a break with true scholasticism came earlier than Stephen intended, with this very necessary redefinition of the relationship between goodness and beauty. Aquinas, unfortunately, does not carry Stephen “all along the line.” The idea that beauty engenders truth and goodness rather than being paired with truth and goodness as transcendentals is as incompatible with Aquinas as it is with the Church Stephen came to abhor.

Still, Stephen’s very human clinging to the kinetic elements of aesthetics despite his disavowal shows his movement to a “higher” aesthetic might not have been so complete as he intended. Textual contradictions from both A Portrait and Ulysses show a sexually tormented Stephen, who remains at war with himself over the creation of an interior stasis. To paraphrase one scholar cited herein, Stephen’s failure as an aesthetic theoretician is but one of many flaws of his character. Whether Joyce intended for Stephen’s aesthetic failure seems as fair a question now as whether he intended for Stephen to be a failure as a character.

Works Cited

Block, Haskell M. “The Critical Theory of James Joyce.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 8:3 (Mar., 1950). 172-184.

Davies, O.P., Brian. The Thought of Thomas Aquinas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

de Aquino, Thoma. Summa Theologiae. Ed. Innocentio Colosio, O.P., et al. Torino: San Paolo, 1988.

Ellmann, Richard. James Joyce. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In The Portable James Joyce. Ed. Harry Levin. New York: Penguin, 1976.

Joyce, James. Ulysses. Eds. Hans Walter Gabler et al. New York: Random House, 1986.

Morse, J. Mitchell. “The Disobedient Artist: Joyce and Loyola.” PMLA. 72:5 (Dec., 1957). 1018-1035.

Noon, S.J., William T. “James Joyce: An Unfact. PMLA. 79:3 (Jun., 1964). 355.

Noon, S.J., William T. Joyce and Aquinas. New Haven: Archon, 1970.

Yee, Cordell D. K. “The Aesthetics of Stephen’s Aesthetics.” Critical Essays on James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Eds. Philip Brady and James F. Carens. New York: G. K. Hall, 1998.

Endnotes

[1] “Pulchrum autem respicit vim cognoscitivam: pulchra enim dicuntur quae visa placent” (I, qu. 5 art. 4, ad 1). All translations are mine.
[2] “…[P]ulchrum et bonum in subiecto quidem sunt idem…“ (I, qu. 5 art. 4, ad 1).
[3] “…[O]mne ens quod non est Deus, est Dei creatura. Sed omnis creatura Dei est bona, ut dicitur I ad Tim. 4, [4]: Deus vero est maxime bonus. Ergo omne ens est bonum” (I, qu. 5 art. 3, sed contra).
[4] “I shall go up to the altar of the Lord.”
[5] The Latin word tabernaculum literally means “tent” or “dwelling.”
[6] “…[O]portet quod Deum consideret secundum modum quem ex creaturis assumit” (I, qu. 39 art. 8, respondeo).
[7] “Nam ad pulchritudinem tria requiruntur. Primo quidem, integritas sive perfectio: quae enim diminuta sunt, hoc ipso turpia sunt. Et debita proportio sive consonantia. Et iterum claritas: unde quae habent colorem nitidum, pulchra esse dicuntur” (Ibid.).
[8] In another place, Noon demonstrates that Aquinas views beauty as less static and more kinetic. Noting that the apprehension of beauty is an intellective act, he writes: “The most supremely intellective act of which Thomas can conceive is the Beatific Vision, which as he thinks of it is a highly kinetic and has an abundant resonance in the affective nature” (39).
[9] “Tunbelly” (potbelly) and “porcospino” (Italian for porcupine, thus round like a porcupine) are references to Aquinas’ reported rotundity. Stephen is arguing that it is fine for him to indulge his sexual appetite if Aquinas indulged his appetite for food.
[10] Baptism, of course, leads to entry into the Church and to allegiance to her tenets – something Stephen strenuously rejected with his non serviam.

Some backbone in the Twin Cities

2007-10-21T18:33:00.001-07:00

Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Banned from Speaking at St Francis Cabrini Parish by Archdiocese!

The Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis has banned an 82-year-old “cradle Catholic” and his daughter from speaking at a Catholic parish.Robert and Carol Curoe, co-authors of the recently released book Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story, were to speak Monday at St. Frances Cabrini Church in an event organized by the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) and Catholic Rainbow Parents.Yet according to Michael Bayly, executive coordinator of CPCSM, the church was informed that due to “the number and intensity” of calls and e-mails received by the Archdiocese opposing the event, it could not be held on church property.“The Archdiocese’s decision to ban the Curoes is very sad and misguided.” Bayly said.The Curoes have been engaged in a book speaking tour of the Midwest for the last month, speaking at a range of venues and receiving overwhelmingly positive responses to their story.Their book has been described as “a testimony to the power that faith and love can play in bringing families together.”Retired Catholic bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit has endorsed the book, noting that father and daughter’s “willingness to share their journey will help break down many barriers of prejudice and discrimination facing the homosexual community.”Carol states: “Obviously, we’re disappointed, and we are still trying to understand it. Our book, Are There Closets in Heaven? talks about an 82 year-old, life-long Catholic father trying to understand and practice his faith within his Church while also loving his daughter as he does her siblings. Neither our journey, nor writing the book, was an easy task.”Despite the banning of the Curoes’ speaking engagement at St. Frances Cabrini, Monday’s event will still take place.“This whole incident has reaffirmed our commitment to help build spaces of safety and respect within the Church for gay people,” says Bayly.One of these spaces is a recently established center called The House of the Beloved Disciple, located at 2930 13th Ave. S., Minneapolis, in the building that is also home of Spirit of the Lakes United Church of Christ. The Curoes will speak at The House of the Beloved Disciple on Monday, October 22, at 8:00 p.m.“I hope this unfortunate event does not mean that CPCSM’s days of being welcomed to host educational and story sharing events in Catholic parishes are over,” said Bayly. “Though disappointing, the banning of the Curoes is not altogether surprising – especially given the climate of fear and intimidation that has steadily increased throughout the Church over the past few years.”“CPCSM has been around for 27 years, and has always been a grassroots and independent organization within the local Catholic community. It's clear that our sharing of Jesus’ message of compassion and justice is now needed more than ever within the Church,” Bayly said. The Wild Reed

Yesterday's front page

2007-10-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

Only a day late, here's the front page of the October 18, 2007, Catholic Times. It's a large issue, with mission coverage inside. The Diocese of La Crosse has always had a strong missionary outreach, evidenced by an orphanage in Peru -- Casa Hogar -- and a parish in Bolivia -- Santa Cruz -- which are staffed by our priests and run largely with diocesan money. This year's mission coverage includes the first winners of a new award: The Monsignor Wagener Award for Missions. He was a pretty intriguing priest, and a big reason La Crosse is so strong in supporting the missions, as I found out when I researched him. I've pasted the article below.

Monsignor Wagener’s missionary spirit to live on in new award
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

LA CROSSE – It has been said that the late Monsignor Anthony P. Wagener was not a man to compromise. He didn’t compromise in living his priesthood, and he didn’t compromise in his defense of life. Neither did he compromise when it came to supporting the missions.
For this reason, said Father Roger Scheckel, current director of the diocesan Office of Missions and the local chapter of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the diocesan priest who died in 1994 is the namesake of the new, annual Monsignor Anthony P. Wagener Award for Missions.
The first individual and institutional awards were given out Oct. 1 during a special luncheon at Blessed Sacrament Parish in La Crosse. The event took place in a recently dedicated pastoral center that also bears the name of the longtime Blessed Sacrament pastor.
Eulogizing Monsignor Wagener after his death in 1994, Monsignor Bernard McGarty called Father Joseph Walijewski Monsignor Wagener’s “alter ego in Peru’s barrios.” The flipside of the same coin, Monsignor Wagener was the engine that drove the missions here in the “campos” of La Crosse.
“He and Father Walijewski were the great collaborators in the missions,” explained Father Scheckel, recalling how he once complimented a brief, impassioned speech Monsignor Wagener had given to the parish PCCW in the presence of Father Walijewski. “It’s Joe Walijewski,” Monsignor Wagener had replied. “I’m always inspired when he’s here.”
Noting the number of estates the Mission Office is currently receiving from people who knew Monsignor Wagener, Father Scheckel said it was the intrepid, firm pastor who “was able to instill throughout the diocese a missionary consciousness that has born the fruit of people remembering the missions.”
“Somebody plowed that field, and it was Monsignor Wagner,” Father Scheckel said.
In 1947, Bishop John P. Treacy appointed Monsignor Wagener director of the office Father Scheckel now heads, which is responsible for the diocese’s missionary outreach. When Bishop Treacy begrudgingly released Father Walijewski to service in Bolivia soon thereafter, the bishop told him he wouldn’t be receiving a priest’s salary.
It was then-Father Wagener who prevailed upon the bishop to allow Father Walijewski to begin taking up Lenten Mite Box collections, a practice that continues to this day.
Responsible for the early development of the diocese’s missionary outreach, Monsignor Wagener continued his efforts afterwards as pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, where he was assigned in 1967. Even after Monsignor Wagener’s death, the La Crosse parish served as Father Walijewski’s base of operations in the diocese.
Speaking about Monsignor Wagener at the awards luncheon, Dave Reinders reflected on how many people the priest had inspired. “I know how perfectly he loved the missions and believed in giving to the missions,” he said in his remarks.
Reinders first came to know Monsignor Wagener several years before he was assigned to Blessed Sacrament, when the priest was building Roncalli Newman Center, the edifice that houses Catholic outreach to the students of what is now the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He and Mary Jo Reinders – currently Father Scheckel’s secretary in the Mission Office – were one of six couples for whom the monsignor played matchmaker while at the college.
He recalled how Monsignor Wagener had gotten him a job at Aquinas High School. “One day I was with monsignor and was lamenting how hard it was,” he said. “I had five days left until the end of the month and I had $10. I guess I was looking for a little sympathy. But monsignor said, ‘Get out the $10 and give it to the missions.’ I told him, ‘Monsignor, I can’t do that.’ He said, ‘That’s because you don’t have enough faith.’”
While Reinders kept his $10 that day, he said Monsignor Wagener wouldn’t have. At the end of every month, he related, the priest gave any balance in his checkbook above $1,000 to the missions. “So that’s the way he lived his life,” Reinders said.
Some members of Monsignor Wagener’s family were also among the approximately 110 people who gathered Oct. 1. A niece, Sister Judy Wagener, SSND, spoke fondly about her uncle.
Also offering a few words was the priest’s only living brother, Lars Wagener, who came all the way from Louisiana. “I want to say how proud I am of him and his memory,” he said.
Although he has passed away, another Wagener sibling, Conventual Franciscan Brother Aloysius Wagener, was a big part of Monsignor Wagener’s support for the missions, according to Father Scheckel.
Serving in Zambia while Monsignor Wagener was pastor at Blessed Sacrament, Father Scheckel said Brother Aloysius would send native artifacts to his brother, which the priest would pass on to the parish households most generous to the missions.
“There are probably no less than 30 or 40 homes around Blessed Sacrament that have a carved figure in them,” Father Scheckel said.
“I really found his giving to be a profound witness,” added Father Scheckel, who, in addition to his duties in the Mission Office, is pastor of St. James the Less, La Crosse. “He always taught me, ‘Father, when you run a parish someday, if your parishioners are generous to the missions, you will have no problem with your own finances.’”
“That’s been true for me here at St. James.” Father Scheckel added.

Finally, something closer to home!

2007-10-19T06:52:00.001-07:00

Mass using Roman Missal of 1962: Plans for celebration in Madison
By Jacek Cianciara

FOR THE CATHOLIC HERALD
(See also front-page sidebar: Bishop to celebrate Missa Pontificalis.)

MADISON -- Earlier this year, in the apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, Benedict XVI allowed for a broader use of the Roman Missal of 1962, the Mass missal revised by Blessed John XXIII.
The pope emphasized that the teachings of Vatican II must be interpreted in light of Catholic tradition within the continuity of magisterial teachings.
The Holy Father expressed hope that a broader use of the Missal of 1962, the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, would encourage "interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church" and would restore a more reverent approach to the ordinary form of the rite, celebrated according to the current missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, in his comments on the apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum (Catholic Herald, July 19, 2007), announced that he intends to celebrate Mass according to the missal of Blessed John XXIII, also known as the Roman Missal of 1962, as a "joyful act of obedience to the motu proprio of Pope Benedict and grateful to be freed from the limitation of his own judgment."
The bishop also pointed out that "every celebration, either in the ordinary form or the extraordinary form, will express the reverence proper to the truth that this celebration unites earth to heaven and joins us here in the Diocese of Madison with the great assembly of angels and saints."
Even before Summorum Pontificum was issued, a number of Catholics representing various parishes in the Diocese of Madison met to ascertain how Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 could be sanctioned in the Diocese of Madison, under the provisions of the apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei of 1988.
After several meetings and consultation with Bishop Morlino, a society in the Diocese of Madison was formally established on August 30, 2007. The purpose of the society is to facilitate the initial celebration of the Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 in the Diocese of Madison.
In addition, the society will provide ongoing support for the weekly regular celebration of the Mass and assist in providing full catechesis with regard to the liturgy based on the Roman Missal of 1962.
The next meeting of the society will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Holy Redeemer Church, 120 W Johnson St., Madison. At the meeting, additional information about the society and its various activities, including plans for the Mass of Blessed John XXIII in the Diocese of Madison, will be provided.
All individuals and families interested in Mass according to the Missal of Blessed John XXIII, also known as the Roman Missal of 1962, including Gregorian chant, are invited to participate in the meeting and to join the society. For more information, call Duane Zinkel at 608-238-4420.

New Cardinals ... Where's Wuerl???

2007-10-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

As Rocco astutely predicted, the pope announced the creation of new cardinals at today's General Audience. I missed the excitment by two weeks, apparently. In any case, the Italian version of the list is already up on the Vatican's Web page:

ANNUNCIO DI CONCISTORO PER LA CREAZIONE DI NUOVI CARDINALI
Al termine dell'Udienza Generale di oggi, il Santo Padre Benedetto XVI ha annunciato per il prossimo 24 novembre un Concistoro nel quale proceder alla nomina di alcuni nuovi Cardinali.
Queste le parole del Papa:
[...]Ecco i loro nomi:
1. Mons. Leonardo Sandri, Prefetto della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali;
2. Mons. John Patrick Foley, Pro-Gran Maestro dell?Ordine Equestre del Santo Sepolcro di Gerusalemme;
3. Mons. Giovanni Lajolo, Presidente della Pontificia Commissione e del Governatorato dello Stato della Citta' del Vaticano;
4. Mons. Paul Joseph Cordes, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio "Cor Unum";
5. Mons. Angelo Comastri, Arciprete della Basilica Vaticana, Vicario Generale per lo S.C.V. e Presidente della Fabbrica di San Pietro;
6. Mons. Stanisław Ryłko, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio per i Laici;
7. Mons. Raffaele Farina, Archivista e Bibliotecario di S.R.C.;
8. Mons. Agustin Garcia Gasco Vicente, Arcivescovo di Valencia (Spagna);
9. Mons. Sean Baptist Brady, Arcivescovo di Armagh (Irlanda);
10. Mons. Lluis ... Sistach, Arcivescovo di Barcellona (Spagna);
11. Mons. Andre Vingt-Trois, Arcivescovo di Parigi (Francia);
12. Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, Arcivescovo di Genova (Italia);
13. Mons. Theodore-Adrien Sarr, Arcivescovo di Dakar (Senegal);
14. Mons. Oswald Gracias, Arcivescovo di Bombay (India);
15. Mons. Francisco Robles Ortega, Arcivescovo di Monterrey (Messico);
16. Mons. Daniel N. DiNardo, Arcivescovo di Galveston-Houston (Stati Uniti d?America);
17. Mons. Odilio Pedro Scherer, Arcivescovo di Sao Paulo (Brasile);
18. Mons. John Njue, Arcivescovo di Nairobi (Kenya).
Desidero inoltre elevare alla dignita' cardinalizia tre venerati Presuli e due benemeriti ecclesiastici, particolarmente meritevoli per il loro impegno al servizio della Chiesa:
1. S.B. Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarca di Babilonia dei Caldei;
2. Mons. Giovanni Coppa, Nunzio Apostolico;
3. Mons. Estanislao Esteban Karlic, Arcivescovo emerito di Parana (Argentina);
4. P. Urbano Navarrete, S.I., emeritus rettore della Pontificia Universita' Gregoriana; e
5. P. Umberto Betti, O.F.M., emeritus rettore della Pontificia Universita' Lateranense.
* * *
Tra questi ultimi era stato mio desiderio elevare alla porpora anche l'anziano Vescovo Ignacy Jeż, di Koszalin-Kołobrzeg, in Polonia, benemerito Presule, che ieri improvvisamente mancato.
A lui va la nostra preghiera di suffragio.
* * *
[...]
Affidiamo i nuovi eletti alla protezione di Maria Santissima, chiedendoLe di assisterli nelle rispettive mansioni, affinche' appiano testimoniare con coraggio in ogni circostanza il loro amore per Cristo e per la Chiesa.

******************************
My question, which hasn't yet been taken up on the blogs is this: Why is Archbishop Donald Wurel, head of the Washington D.C. Archdiocese, not on the list. And where is Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, newly the head of Baltimore, and the United States' "first among equals"?

Father Solanus' La Crosse Diocese Connections

2007-10-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

It seems that Father Solanus is becoming a hot topic on the Internet, given that the case for a possible miracle is being brought to Rome this month. In conjunction with that event, the Catholic Times published a two-page spread on the Venerable Capuchin friar. Since it's not available online elsewhere, I though I would include my piece on Father Solanus and Diocese of La Crosse beginnings:

Father Solanus lives on in the people and places of our diocese
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

PRESCOTT – Pilgrims may be flocking to the chapel of Detroit’s St. Bonaventure Monastery to pray before his tomb, but the first church building the Venerable Father Solanus Casey entered was St. Joseph’s, where he was baptized in 1870.
The sixth of Bernard and Ellen Casey’s 16 children, the future Father Solanus spent the first three years of his life on his parents’ farm outside Prescott in what is now Oak Grove Heights. After that, the Caseys spent a short period as parishioners at St. Mary’s Church, Big River, before moving just outside the La Crosse Diocese’s boundaries to Hudson, where Father Solanus received first holy Communion.
From there, the future Capuchin friar was to spend time as a guard at the State Penitentiary in Stillwater, Minn., as a logger at the nearby mill, and finally as a trolley conductor in Superior. There he witnessed a brutal murder, an incident that led him to consider his faith and his vocation seriously. Soon thereafter he entered the Capuchin order.
The simple holiness of the young man won over his Capuchin superiors, who were unsure he had the mental acumen to become a priest. Ordained a simplex priest without the faculties to preach or hear confessions, Father Solanus was assigned the most menial of tasks as a sacristan and porter.
But his simple holiness began to bear fruit in the measure of miraculous healings and simple but profound advice. At St. Bonaventure in Detroit during the final years of his life, the Capuchins had to “protect” Father Solanus from the many people who sought him out.
“I have no doubt that he’s a saint,” said Capuchin Father Dan Crosby, director of St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Marathon. “No Capuchin that lived with him would tell you anything different. He was totally genuine.”
Father Dan’s novitiate, 1956-57, came at the very end of Father Solanus’ earthly life. At that time, the novices spent their first seven months at St. Bonaventure’s, where Father Solanus was living.
“When he would pray, he was obviously rapt in prayer,” Father Dan recalled. “There was no façade of holiness; it was real. His eyes were always sparkling. He was always smiling, even though he was in tremendous pain from the eczema that covered his body.”
Father Dan said the elderly priest loved to sing and to play his violin – “neither of which he could do very well.” He remembered how, his first Christmas as a Capuchin, he was on his way to community recreation when he stopped in the friars’ chapel for a minute of prayer. From the adjoining public chapel he heard a “squeaky sound.”
“I knew right away what it was,” Father Dan said, “but I opened the door to see, and there in the choir loft all by himself on Christmas night was Father Solanus playing Christmas carols on his violin to the Christ child in the crib below. It was very tender and simple.”
That Christmas would be Father Solanus’ last; he died on July 31, 1957.
But the stories of Father Solanus lived on. And the reported miracles didn’t diminish either.
In 1980, a friend of Ronald Shaub of Marathon City had given him a “badge” containing a third-class relic of Father Solanus. “She told me to carry it on me because I’d never know when I would need it,” Shaub said.
Seven years later Shaub was in the emergency room on the verge of death from a brain aneurism. “I looked in my billfold and I found this relic of Father Solanus. I thought, Lord, wouldn’t this be the perfect time to work a miracle through his intercession?”
Although the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints will overlook his recovery because medical intervention was involved, Shaub attributes his cure to Father Solanus’ miraculous intercession. “I’m very sure it was him,” he said firmly.
Joan Wilikowski, the receptionist at St. Anthony’s in Marathon, said Father Solanus’ presence has helped her care for her elderly parents, and now for an older sister. “Father Solanus seems to come to our aid all the time to help us,” Wilikowski said.
Wilikowski and Shaub are members of a Father Solanus prayer circle that meets monthly to pray for the Capuchin priest’s beatification. Pope John Paul II named him venerable in 1995. Their prayer circle is based on a model established by the Detroit-based Solanus Casey Guild.
Both Shaub and Wilikowski pointed out that similar prayer circles have been started wherever Father Solanus lived. There is such a group in Hudson, for example, where the future priest received his first holy Communion at St. Patrick’s Church.
A member of St. Michael’s Church in Stillwater, Molly Druffner heads up the Hudson-based John Paul II Sacred Art Theatre Company. A few years ago, a member of Hudson’s prayer circle asked her to write a play about Father Solanus. Since 2000, Druffner’s 25 cast members have performed the play two to three times a year. “We’ve performed it to over 7,000 people over the past seven years,” Druffner said.
According to Druffner, most of the vignettes treated in the play are from later in Father Solanus’ life, but it is especially fun for her troupe to perform the earlier scenes, especially those from Father Solanus’ Stillwater years, since most of the actors are from that town.
“Stillwater has a great devotion to him,” Druffner said. “We did a novena for his beatification just last month. People say they met him, or they prayed to him and were cured. They’re just little stories that come up.”
Sister Geralyn Misura, FSPA, who teaches at the St. Joseph Parish’s school, played a role in the foundation of Prescott’s prayer circle several years ago. Also among the founding members were Bob and Jean Bruegl, both now deceased, who bought an eight-acre property outside town in Oak Grove Heights when they moved from Edgar.
“After I learned that Father Solanus was from Oak Grove Heights, I mentioned this to Bob and Jean,” said Sister Geralyn. “We got interested and started looking through the abstracts and plat books and pinpointed (his parents’ farm) right to the property where Bob and Jean had built their house.”
Sure enough, the group discovered a sunken area on the edge of a field – the foundations of a barn and farmhouse. “That’s probably where the Caseys had their home,” Sister Geralyn said.
And thus does the future saint comes full circle back to the place of his birth.
“Hopefully he’ll be beatified soon,” said Sister Geralyn. “We’re hoping to get a statue of Father Solanus and have a small shrine at St. Joseph’s, and that’s what we’re waiting for. I’ve had so much peace from the first time I learned about him. He was such a simple man. I just took to that.”

The never ending tasks of a scholar

2007-10-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the lack of posts, but my life has been pretty hectic since arriving from Rome. Much of that business comes from my grad studies. The endless activities began last week, when I took the first half of a Shakespeare midterm; I took the second half yesterday, in addition to observing a BritLit class. Today a bibliography for my research methods class came due. Tomorrow I'll be teaching a demonstration class on Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Temple of the Holy Ghost," as well turning in a book review, a pedagogical paper, and a report on that classroom observation. Then, on Thursday, I'll lead a class discussion on the tenth chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses. Just felt like I had to vent :-)

Attending the NAC's ordinations

2007-10-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Better late than never: Here's my post on attending the Pontifical North American College's deacon ordination Mass last Thursday. As a former member of the fourth year class who discerned his vocation to be elsewhere, it was very meaningful for me to see my classmates ordained deacons. And I was honored to have the class surprise me with a request to lector at their ordination.

Although I was happy to see all my classmates ordained, I was especially happy to see Archbishop Foley lay hands on Deacon Justin Kizewski, since he and I were sent to study in Rome together. He is truly a man after God's own heart, and will be a very valuable asset to the priesthood if God wills him to be ordained a priest as scheduled -- on June 28, 2008 here in La Crosse.

Here's the article on Deacon Kizewski that will appear in the upcoming Catholic Times:

Kizewski ordained to the diaconate in Rome
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

VATICAN CITY (Catholic Times) – In an Oct. 4 ceremony at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica that was attended by hundreds of priests and thousands of lay faithful, Archbishop John P. Foley ordained 21 fourth-year students from the Pontifical North American College to the transitional diaconate. Among them was Justin Kizewski of the Diocese of La Crosse.
Observing that the multitude of people present made the ordination seem “almost more like a beatification,” the former head of the Vatican’s Communications Council said, “Let’s pray that these young men can live up to that challenge.”
Archbishop Foley used his homily to further explicate that challenge. Calling to mind the Gospel reading, where Jesus commanded His disciples to “love one another as I have loved you,” he said Jesus’ “love is an infinite love” that would flow from their diaconal service if they depend on the Lord.
“’What can I do for you?’ – This could be the daily prayer of a deacon,” the archbishop added.
Archbishop Foley also dwelt on the future priests’ promise of celibacy. Calling to mind Pope Paul VI’s encyclical “Sacerdotis Coelibatus,” he said their continence would allow them “to imitate Christ as closely as possible” through a total self-giving.
As deacons, Archbishop Foley said their self-giving would be “of a humbler kind.” He noted that they chose to be ordained on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, whom he called “one of the Church’s most famous deacons.” “It is recorded in the Fioretti that St. Francis served his brothers and lepers. He did this because he saw in them the image of Christ,” the archbishop said.
Vesting Deacon Kizewski was Father Joseph Carola, SJ, a professor at the Gregorian University in Rome. Father Carola also celebrated Deacon Kizewski’s Mass of Thanksgiving Oct. 5 at Chiesa Nuova, over the relics of St. Philip Neri, where the newly ordained deacon preached for the first time.
The son of James and Brenda Kizewski of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Nekoosa, Deacon Kizewski is a 1999 graduate of Assumption High School in Wisconsin Rapids. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Last spring he completed his bachelor’s in theology at the Angelicum University in Rome, where he will also begin advanced studies in dogmatic theology later this month.
God willing, Deacon Kizewski will be ordained to the priesthood in La Crosse on June 28, 2008, together with Deacons James Altman and Keith Kitzhaber.

To help pay for the trip, I freelanced articles for the Rhode Island Catholic on Deacons Jeremy Rodrigues and David Thurber and for the Sioux City Catholic Globe on Deacon Shane Deman.

And one last photo -- of me, my fiancee Rosemary Korish, and newly ordained Deacon Justin Kizewski -- following his Mass of Thanksgiving in Chiesa Nuova Oct. 5:

Update: ...I just came across this picture among those the college posted on its website. Guess who it is!

Pope's General Audience

2007-10-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

One of the things my fiancee and I got to do last week was attend Pope Benedict XVI's General Audience in St. Peter's Square. Even having studied in the Eternal City for two years, I never once attended a General Audience. We got third row seats, up on the main steps. I tried to concentrate on what the pope was saying, but I couldn't resist taking a few photos.

Here are my favorite two:

More important than seeing the pope in person, though, was what he said. He gave an excellent summary of the life and work of St. Cyril of Alexandria in defending the true Catholic faith. You can read the Zenit summary here.

St. John Vianney Seminary

2007-10-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

'Twas a pleasure to see an article on St. John Vianney Seminary's swelling enrollment in the latest edition of the Catholic Spirit. I was part of this college formation program while attending the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn., and can attest to its rigor and spirit of optimism. There's a reason why men are starting to come to seminary in record numbers, and the environment present at SJV is a big part of that. Kudos to rector Father Bill Baer and all those on fire for the faith in the Twin Cities!

Filled to overflowing
By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

They've increased their housing; they've increased their staff; they've increased the rigor.
And the men keep coming.
St. John Vianney Seminary's enrollment is at an all-time high, with 154 men from 28 dioceses, which currently gives it the largest college seminary enrollment in the United States. It has more than doubled in size in the last six years.
Seminarians at college seminaries are typically in their late teens and early 20s, studying for their bachelors degrees and gaining backgrounds in philosophy. This preceeds major seminary, which is where seminarians study theology and work toward ordination. Not all major seminarians have attended college seminary.
An attitude of adventure
"There is a strong heroic sense of calling among these young men," said Father William Baer, SJV's rector since 1998. "They have a love for the church and the Catholic faith that strikes them as a mission, a battle, an adventure."
It's no secret SJV life is challenging. The men attend a 6 a.m. holy hour daily; they fast from technology - including phones and e-mail - on Fridays until the evening; they fast from the Friday midday meal; they undergo room inspections and maintain a tightly ordered schedule. They're encouraged to embrace difficult studies with prayer, grow in fraternity with the other men, get in shape, and face their social fears.
And the men rise to the occasion, said Father Rolf Tollefson, a "formator" and spiritual director, who lives with seminarians on SJV's fifth floor. "The men don't want to live a life of mediocrity," he said.
Matt Kuettel, 19, a freshman seminarian from Maternity of Mary in St. Paul, said that seminary is an adjustment.
"They throw a lot at you at once, they expect a lot of you," he said. "A lot of times you're more busy than you think you should be. But, if I had to do this all over again, there's no doubt in my mind that I would.
"It's not that you're busy and you regret it, it's that they give you the skills and they give you the help to accomplish more," he added.
If seminary were easy, a healthy man would leave because he wasn't challenged, added Father John Klockeman, who also serves SJV.
"The initiatives and the heroism sound too strong for some, but that's exactly what young men and women want," he said. "They want a faith to die for. They want a faith for which to live. And they want a God that is real."
The local seminary's enrollment upturn mirrors national trends, which indicate an uptick in the number of Catholic seminarians in undergraduate college programs, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, based at Georgetown University.
Father Baer attributes the seminary's growth to an increase in students coming from other Midwestern dioceses. This year 35 of SJV's seminarians are from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This is the largest group of archdiocesan seminarians at SJV in at least 25 years, Father Baer said.
He credits the increased number of archdiocesan seminarians to Archbishop Harry Flynn's dedication and support, vocations director Father Tom Wilson's work, and parishes and families encouraging vocations.
"There is a renewed commitment to the Catholic faith by high school and college students," Father Baer said, attributing the phenomena to events like World Youth Day, more young people participating in eucharistic adoration and vocation directors and bishops actively promoting vocations.
A cut above
More dioceses are sending their college seminarians to SJV than ever before, Father Baer said.
Father Burke Masters, vocation director for the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., has 11 men at SJV. He said he is impressed with Father Baer's leadership and the personal attention he gives the men.
"He's able to talk about each of our 11 guys in a way that they're not just numbers," Father Masters said.
Father Jerry Vincke, the vocations director of the Diocese of Lansing, Mich., described Father Baer as dynamic, faithful and courageous, listing his leadership as one of the greatest reasons his diocese sends their 21 college seminarians to SJV.
"The seminary is centered on Christ," Father Vincke said. "Our seminarians love it there."
Their SJV graduates are well prepared to begin their theology studies in major seminary, and they are formed in the spiritual, academic, pastoral and human levels, both Father Masters and Father Vincke said.
"St. John Vianney is very well respected among the bishops," Father Masters added.
The seminary has outgrown its own building at the University of St. Thomas: 103 men live in the on-campus seminary dorms, 41 live in six rectories and houses in nearby neighborhoods and 10 men are currently studying in Rome.

Also see:

• Opening fall enrollment at SJV over the past 16 years
• Seminarians speak

Number One

2007-10-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

I'm still catching up on everything, but I was excited to come across the article about last weekend's Wisconsin Rapids Invite, where it appears my sister Gabby has moved up to become SPASH's number one runner.

From the Stevens Point Journal article:

In the girls race, aside from meet winner Claire Rindo of Berlin (14:58), the Division 1 teams flexed their muscles.

The Panther girls were paced by sophomores Gabrielle Klein and Jackie Forrest who finished seventh and ninth overall, respectively.

"It was really humid so it was hard to breathe, but everyone had to deal with the weather," Klein said. "We've been working really hard and I've noticed a more positive attitude from our team. We're excited about the big meets coming up."

................

Team scores

Division 1: SPASH 69; 2. Wausau West 99; 3. Fond du Lac 106; 4. Racine Case 164; 5. Wisconsin Rapids 170; 6. Oshkosh West 174; 7. Antigo 175; 8. Sauk Prairie 176; 9. Lakeland 207; 10. Merrill 213; 11. Waukesha South 258; 12. Manitowoc 317.

Division 2/3: 1. Sparta 35; 2. Berlin 50; 3. Nekoosa/Port Edwards 57; 4. Abbotsford-Colby 83; 5. Adams-Friendship 122.

Top 10 individuals: 1. Claire Rindo (B), 14:58; 2. Stacy Schmits (FDL), 15:42; 3. Areanna Lakowske (SPARTA), 15:46; 4. Jamie Perugini (WS), 15:59; 5. Melanie Ramsey (SAUK), 16:02; 6. Danielle Noland (MER), 16:05; 7. Gabrielle Klein (SP), 16:07; 8. Lauren Boodry (ANT), 16:15; 9. Jackie Forrest (SP), 16:20; 10. Nicole Blahnik (ANT), 16:20.

SPASH (69): 7. Gabrielle Klein, 16:07; 9. Jackie Forrest, 16:20; 14. Megan Stats, 16:27; 16. Marlena Sniadajewski, 16:33; 38. Karlee Simkowski, 17:14.

Back from Rome

2007-10-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

I probably should have posted an annoucement before I left, since I haven't posted in more than a week, but I got back from the Eternal City early this morning after more than 30 hours of travel. I was there with my fiancee to attend the diaconate ordinations of my former classmates at the Pontifical North American College.

It was a wonderful event, taking place Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis, in St. Peter's Basilica. The ordaining prelate, Archbishop John Foley, said, with the thousands in attendence, it seemed a beatification ceremony rather than an ordination -- and he challenged the 21 men from the United States and Australia to live up to that challenge.

I'll write more, and post some of my many photos, tomorrow.

Until then, check out the new blog of twin brother priests Father Joel and Father Ben Sember. I received an email from Father Joel earlier today, in which he announced this new collaborative effort, which should be a lot of fun to follow: Holy Priesthood.

New bishop for Crookston

2007-09-28T06:39:00.001-07:00

CITTA' DEL VATICANO, 28 SET. 2007 (VIS). Il Santo Padre ha nominato il Monsignore Michael J. Hoeppner, Vescovo di Crookston (superficie: 44.574; popolazione: 250.941; cattolici: 35.780; sacerdoti: 45; religiosi: 123; diaconi permanenti: 13), Stati Uniti d'America. Il Vescovo eletto è nato a Winona (Stati Uniti d'America), nel 1949 ed è stato ordinato sacerdote nel 1975. Finora Vicario Generale della Diocesi di Winona (Stati Uniti d'America), succede al Vescovo Victor H. Balke, del quale il Santo Padre ha accettato la rinuncia al governo pastorale della medesima Diocesi, presentata in conformità al canone 401, paragrafo 2, del Codice di Diritto Canonico.
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The gist of it is that Monsignor Michael J. Hoeppner, vicar general of the Diocese of Winona, Minn., has been named bishop of Crookston, Minn. He replaces Bishop Victor H. Balke, whom I read elsewhere has hitherto been the longest-serving bishop in the nation.

Check out Rocco Palmo's blog for more information.

Justice and Peace vs. Ministry and Social Concern

2007-09-25T06:39:00.001-07:00

What follows is a letter from Ray Stroik that appeared in today's Stevens Point Journal:

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Council of Churches to gather
CNN's "God's Warriors," reported by Christiane Amanpour, is an historic achievement. Two-hour studies each of Jewish, Muslim and Christian warriors question the existence of civilization.
As coincidence (providence) and fate (faith) has it, as this writer viewed "God's Warriors," he found himself reading a book on the aftermath of the religious wars of 1618-1648 (Christians killing one another), Ian Hunter's "Rival Enlightenments." Its 399 pages repetitious - nuance build nuance - my reading became prayerful.

"Rival Enlightenments" deals with the birth of secularism, the separation of church and state, the state necessarily obliging persons of religious faith to tolerate one another's beliefs. The dominant enlightenment is metaphysical, faith in pure reason resulting in the privatization of religious faith, contemplating God's perfections. The other enlightenment is civil, citizens practicing civility, pursuing the arduous tasks of peacemaking.

Paradoxically, all war is civil, obliterating the possibility of civilization itself, it being much easier to make war than to make peace. If CNN were to do another study, this time of "God's Peacemakers," would they find any good news?

One place to look might be the Country Springs Hotel in Stevens Point on Friday and Saturday, the 12th and 13th of October. There and then the Wisconsin Council of Churches (www.wichurches.org) is sponsoring a conference entitled "Saving Christianity From Empire," the title of a book by its featured speaker, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. Does Christianity support an American Empire? If so, might Christians, as citizens, challenge it?

As a "roamin' catholic," I am very grateful for the witness of Popes John XXIII and Paul VI. While Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have, in principle, continued their legacy of being among God's peacemakers, in practice, they are historic failures. For, during their papacies, infrastructures for doing the ministries of social justice and global peace have been dismantled. Thus in the Diocese of La Crosse, Bishops Raymond Burke and Jerome Listecki have been unable and unwilling to continue the remarkable legacy of Bishops Frederick Freking and John Paul.

Who will be among God's peacemakers at the Country Springs Hotel, the 12th and 13th of October?

Ray Stroik
Stevens Point

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Given that Ray's writing style is more than a little "around the bush," I have put the relevant paragraph in bold type. Ray has a long history with the Diocese of La Crosse as a founding member of its former Justice and Peace Commission. Following its "decommissioning," he has unsuccessfully advocated for years to have it"recomissioned." Instead, two years ago, the Diocese went so far as to combine the Office of Justice and Peace with the Office for Ministries, with the new office called the Office for Ministries and Social Concerns.

Nothing could be so frustrating for someone like Ray than combining things he wants to see distinctly separate. For Ray, it seems, social justice issues can be separated from Christian charity. This is a hallmark, after all, of modern social justice, especially liberation theology. Not so, says Pope Benedict's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, which takes the work of his predecessors -- mentioned by Ray -- and ups the ante. And not so says the Diocese of La Crosse, which, at least partially in response to this encyclical, combined the offices and tied social justice to action inspired by faith.

I believe the abandonment of the justice and peace model and the combination of ministry and social outreach is among the best things La Crosse has going for it. The place where this is clearest is in our diocesan Faith Alive project, headed by Chris Ruff, director of the combined office. In this program, people gather to pray, and challenge and support each other in community outreach. Here's what Ruff had to say in a recent column in the Catholic Times, which serves also as a good response to Ray:

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Faith Alive to launch diocese-wide in October
By Christopher Ruff
Lead, Kindly Light

In 19 years working in the Church, I’ve not seen anything as exciting and encouraging as what I see happening in the Diocese of La Crosse right now. I’m talking about the response to the Faith Alive faith-sharing program, which started with a successful pilot program last Lent and will be launched diocese-wide in October.
What is Faith Alive? It is a parish-based program with four main components:
Prayer
Reflection
Fellowship
Service
Small groups (6-12 people, typically) gather in each other’s homes or at the parish once a month to go over four or five pages of material in a resource booklet and to pray together.
The reading for each session includes a passage from Scripture (usually the Gospels), a brief reflection, a real-life story that illustrates the theme of that Gospel in an inspiring way, a quote or two from the Catechism, and a set of discussion questions that connect the theme with our everyday lives. A typical meeting lasts about 90 minutes.
Anybody who has been part of a Bible study or similar small group will recognize this kind of format with its components of prayer, reflection and fellowship. But what makes Faith Alive striking and unique is the service component. As part of the program, each member of a group makes a commitment to some modest service. It has to be manageable; something the person can realistically make time for in the busyness of life.
A classic example could be making a visit to a nursing home once a month or to someone from the parish who is homebound. But it could be almost anything under the sun that involves giving of oneself.
The beauty of it is that the members of the small group take the joy and deepening of faith that they experience together and carry it to others as true disciples of Christ. The service can be done individually or as a group.
When we launched Faith Alive last Lent as a six-week pilot program, we thought we might have four or five parishes involved, with 50-60 people participating. But when word got out, the response grew to more than 30 parishes and we kept reprinting resource booklets (titled “Deepening Our Life in Christ”) until over 1,000 were distributed.
When it was over, we surveyed the participants to see how they liked it. They found it very enriching and, remarkably, a full 95 percent wrote that they wanted to continue in Faith Alive when it was launched diocese-wide this fall.
We were inspired by the many testimonials we received – unsolicited – about what Faith Alive meant to people’s lives. Here are a few of them:
“The faith-sharing groups at St. Joachim's have been such a blessing. Many have grown in the Lord and the conversations have opened many doors.”
“I have been facilitating a group of seven parishioners, and speaking for myself it has been wonderful. We are planning to provide a meal at a local meal location. This will be a new experience for nearly all members of the group, and we plan on having our children assist in the experience.”
“I am getting lots of good feedback on the faith-sharing material. A few of us made a visit to the Place of Grace (Catholic Worker House) ... and found it to be a very worthwhile project and I am sure that we will repeat the service in the future. Just getting us out of our comfort zone – (being one of the older crowd) has been very interesting.”
“I just want you to know that we have had the best sessions we've ever had. This week I had the flu and I still couldn't stay home. I went and sat off by myself in the corner so that I could be part of the session.”
Bishop Listecki has promoted Faith Alive enthusiastically, speaking about it to the priests at Priest Unity Days, writing letters endorsing it to pastors and to the group facilitators from the Lenten pilot program, and devoting his August 9 Catholic Times column to it.
He has even spoken about Faith Alive to his brother bishops of the state of Wisconsin, who responded with interest and a request for more information. In fact, interest has been expressed from as far away as the Archdiocese of Denver, where I will be conducting several workshops on the concept in mid-September.
Faith Alive got its start through a discussion I had with Bishop Listecki a little over a year ago when the Office of Justice and Peace was merged with the Office of Ministries. I had been wondering how the work of charitable outreach so central to an Office of Justice and Peace could become part of the life of all the faithful, and not be limited to parish social concerns committees.
Reflecting on 13 years’ experience writing resources and organizing faith-sharing groups at a Twin Cities parish before coming to the Diocese of La Crosse, it occurred to me that such prayerful, faith-filled groups would provide the ideal foundation for acts of loving service. Bishop Listecki was immediately receptive to the concept and shared his vision in the September 2006 Chancery Bulletin, where he wrote:
“The goal is to foster praying, catechized, loving communities that put their faith in action in an intentional and consistent way. This coincides with an aspiration that saw a large degree of fulfillment in the early Church, as witnessed by the words of the surrounding pagans: ‘See how they love one another.’”
I composed the first booklet, “Deepening Our Life in Christ,” as an adaptation of a resource I had written for another Twin Cities parish, and I will have completed the second resource by the first week of September so it will be ready for the October launch. A diocesan Faith Alive committee, consisting of several other curia directors and the executive director of our diocesan Catholic Charities, has been instrumental in developing ideas and reviewing the texts, as well as moving the program forward with all of its promotional and practical demands.
Our committee has in fact “prayed through” the material as our own faith-sharing exercise and taken seriously the commitment to service, so that we are sure to do ourselves what we are proposing to others. Not surprisingly, it has drawn us closer as a group.
Watch for more information on Faith Alive in the next few weeks through bulletin and pulpit announcements and on Relevant Radio. Consider speaking to your pastor about becoming involved and inviting others to join you. You may also contact the Office of Ministries and Social Concerns at 608-791-2667 or cruff@dioceseoflacrosse.com. Together let us grow in faith, prayer, fellowship and service. May the ancient cry be echoed throughout the diocese: “See how they love one another!”

Bishop Christensen comes to Superior

2007-09-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

Our northern neighbors have a new shepherd in Bishop Peter Christensen, who was installed as the new bishop of the Diocese of Superior, Wis., this past weekend. You can read about the ordination of this priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to the episcopate in that archdiocese's Catholic Spirit, or Superior's Catholic Herald.

And here's the Superior Daily Telegram's article about his Saturday installation in Superior:

Superior diocese welcomes 10th bishop into the fold
Maria Lockwood The Daily TelegramPublished Sunday, September 23, 2007

“It's an honor,” said Virginia Zyla, minister and parishioner from St. Isaac Jogues and Companions Church in Mercer who attended the installation ceremony. “I cried.”
Christensen, 54, takes the mantle from retiring Bishop Raphael M. Fliss, who has been with the Superior Diocese for 28 years. The new bishop’s first words to the gathered parishioners, “It’s good to be here,” were met with thunderous applause.
“I think he’s awesome,” said Kathy Kaderlik, secretary for St. Isaac Jogues. She said she was very touched by his uplifting, hopeful message.
He told those assembled his working mission statement is: “Show particular affection to all priests and deacons," and to all the faithful.
“I will stand with you to build strong families in faith,” he said.
The installation marks a new beginning.
“For almost two years, we have waited, hoped, prayed in earnest and speculated with abandon as to my successor,” Fliss told the gathered crowd.
In his final act as bishop, Fliss entrusted the diocese to Christensen.
“I trust you will be as inspired by their lives and enriched by their commitment as I have been,” Fliss said.
Christensen comes to Superior with 22 years of pastoral experience, most recently as pastor of Nativity of Our Lord Parish in St. Paul. Three months ago, he got a call from Rome asking him to become Bishop. He recalled he was struck speechless and the Pope's spokesperson had to ask if it was the right church.
“It’s been a tremendous experience for the whole family,” Christensen’s nephew, David Johnson said. He remembers watching his uncle’s ordination 22 years ago.
Johnson said the move to bishop has “been shocking, but very humbling” for his uncle. But, he said, Christensen is “very, very solid in his faith.”
Gene McGillis has seen four bishops installed in Superior.
“Every one was different,” said the former Superior resident who now splits his time between Lake Nebagamon and Florida. He said with Christensen's background as a pastor, he should be a very down-to-earth, pastoral leader.
“He seemed very kind, easy to talk to,” said Tim Kuehn, deacon for St. Anthony's in Superior, who met Christensen once. “A servant-leader -- that was my impression.”
Johnson said his uncle is also very diplomatic: “He deals with conflict well.”
One thing the new bishop showed Sunday is a sense of humor. As the pomp and ceremony unfolded, his hat slipped off his lap once; he forgot to reach for the crozier at the end of the event; and twice he was forced to turn down his screeching microphone.
“This is all new to me,” he said with a smile just before the final processional.
The installation included pomp and ceremony -- from a colorful, Knights of Columbus honor guard and a group of American Indian dancers, to the Mass itself with dozens of priests and bishops attending. It also included dedication.
“I’m on the journey with you,” Christensen said. “I look forward to years ahead.”

Where's Waldo, err... Franz???

2007-09-24T06:40:00.001-07:00

Nearly two weeks ago, I posted photos from the SPASH CC Meet. My sister Gabby just came across a picture of me taking photos. Usually a photographer is supposed to be invisible, but here's a fun look at a photo of a photographer and his photo :-)

And the finished product:

Did Jesus deny sinners communion?

2007-09-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

Remember my article on Archbishop Burke's study on denying communion to public sinners? Well, it was published yesterday, and I have already received a response. This kind letter writer asked my if Jesus denied Judas communion. This is how I responded:

Dear ----,

In looking at the Scriptures, I would say it's a little unclear whether Jesus gave first Holy Communion to Judas. Remember that the first Mass took place during a Seder meal, meaning that, in addition to the elements consecrated by Jesus as His Body and Blood, other alimentary elements were also consumed (i.e., Mk. 14:18 -- "And while they were at table eating...").

St. Mark and St. Matthew clearly separate out Judas' betrayal as prior to the words of consecration (see Mtt. 26:20-39 and Mk. 14:17-31). It is true, however, that in St. Luke's Gospel -- but only in this Gospel -- the mention of Judas' betrayal of Jesus takes place after the celebration of the first Mass. But since St. Luke is considered more of a compiler of prior sources, whereas Ss. Matthew and Mark are the very prior sources on which St. Luke may have relied, I believe the chronology expressed in these first two Gospels would more closely adhere to what took place. When these considerations are added to the fact that, in St. John's Gospel, Judas leaves after taking the dipped morsal (see Jn. 13:30) but before what is traditionally considered the first Eucharistic prayer (see Jn. 17), it seems quite clear that Judas was present for the Seder meal but made his exit before the first Mass took place.

A more troubling question is this: Why are you attempting to be a literal, Bible-quoting Christian in this instance when there are other instances (such as the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality) where you would likely hesitate to take biblical passages literally? This seems to me a rather selective approach.

I think it is far safer to draw one's general principles from the Bible and trace them as they've been taught and explained by our shepherds, the first of whom Christ consecrated at that same first Holy Mass. Archbishop Burke is among those successors to the apostles. Here's one general biblical principle he started with: "And Jesus said to His disciples, 'It is impossible that scandals should not come; but woe to him through whom they come! It were better for him if a millstone were hung about his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin" (Lk. 17:1-2).

In Christ,

Franz Klein
Staff Writer, The Catholic Times
(608) 788-1524, ext. 5

Which newspaper to you read?

2007-09-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

From David Alexander:

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.

3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country — if they could find the time — and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.

6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a poor job of it , thank you very much.

7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who’s running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.

10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure there is a country or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy, provided of course, that they are not Republicans.

11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

12. The Oregonian is read by people who have recently caught a fish and need something in which to wrap it.

Rice Denied Audience with Pope

2007-09-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

From the Corriere della Sera:

Rice Denied Audience with Pope
Disagreements over foreign policy behind refusal.

US Secretary of State requested meeting in August. Told that Benedict XVI was “on holiday”.
The latest request was made during the summer. The US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice indicated to the Vatican that she urgently needed to meet Benedict XVI. She was on her way back into the viper’s nest of the Middle East and it would have been no bad thing to meet her counterparts with the credentials of a papal audience. Ms Rice had hoped that the audience could be fixed for early August at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer residence, when Benedict XVI returned from Lorenzago in the Dolomites, but she was told the Pope was on holiday. She insisted but to no avail. Vatican diplomats were adamant and “Benedict XVI is on holiday” continued to be the official reply.

As far as we know, Ms Rice was able to discuss the Middle East, and Lebanon in particular, during a telephone conversation with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. In early August, the Vatican secretary of state was on a visit to America for the annual meeting of the Knights of Columbus in Nashville. But the failure to arrange a meeting between Benedict XVI and Ms Rice has taken on a significance perhaps beyond the intentions of the Holy See. It has been seen as confirming the divergence of views on the Bush administration’s Middle East initiatives and growing friction on Iraq and relations with Iran. The Vatican believes that the United States may be taking too lightly the issue of guarantees for religious minorities in the new Iraqi constitution and has said so to the government in Baghdad. In reply, it was told that threats and violence against Christians are no more severe than those experienced by other minorities. The Americans were also approached but they replied that troops were unable to maintain full control of the territory and had difficulty in protecting non-Muslims.

On Iran, the Vatican is known to detest the truculent anti-Semitism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but regards another preventive war as a disaster. Despite all this, US-Vatican relations continue to be very good. Information and assessments on hot zones is exchanged all the time, even though the strategies remain different, and moral issues continue to bring the Catholic Church and the Bush administration together. The problem is that foreign policy is an constant source of discord and Ms Rice is not one of the Vatican’s favourite interlocutors. When contacts were first made for her abortive encounter with the Pope, it was explained that President Bush was also pressing for the meeting. His talks in the Vatican on 9 June with Benedict XVI had gone well and the US secretary of state’s encounter could have been a continuation. In fact, for Ms Rice to have obtained an audience on the lake at Castelgandolfo would have required willingness on the Vatican’s part, which was not the case. In August, the Pope tends to shun talks with politicians, with very few exceptions. A papal vacation, it was thought, was a good excuse for avoiding a meeting that was seen as not essential and could have created confusion or misunderstanding in international public opinion, above all in the Middle East.

No one will say so officially but the refusal may also have been prompted by Ms Rice’s stance in 2003, when she was Mr Bush’s national security adviser. On the eve of the Iraqi conflict, it was Ms Rice who said bluntly that she did not understand the Vatican’s anti-war stance. She treated John Paul II’s envoy, Cardinal Pio Laghi, with a coolness that bordered on disrespect when he was sent to Washington on 2 March 2003 on a desperate mission to avert military intervention. Clearly, the incident has not been forgotten.

Article in Italian
Massimo Franco English translation by Giles Watson www.watson.it

A September Photo Review

2007-09-20T06:47:00.001-07:00

The first three weeks of September have been full of local Catholic news, so I thought it would be fun to take a quick look at some photo highlights (all photos were taken by me unless marked otherwise):

(Photo by Joe O'Brien, Catholic Times Correspondent)

Flood Relief: This is one of the photos that went with Joe's Sept. 6 story on flood relief in Gays Mills, the hardest hit town on the Wisconsin side. A good portion of the town was still under water when Joe was on the scene to interview affected families.

Monsignor Edwin Knauf: He turned 100 years old on Sept. 9. The oldest diocesan priest in the whole state of Wisconsin, Monisgnor Knauf was ordained a priest the year Pope Benedict was a six year old boy. He was featured on the Back Pew page of our current edition after I spent a day with him at his River Falls apartment.

Wirkus Family: The Wirkus family, which farms near Edgar, won this year's Strangers and Guests Award, given annually to a Catholic farming family. I spent last Saturday hanging out on their farm. They are also highlighted in this week's paper. They will receive their award at the Rural Life Day conference next Wednesday, at Holy Rosary Parish in Lima, Wis.

Chimney Destruction: The Holy Cross Center, which hosts the diocesan offices in La Crosse, such as the office of yours truly, was originally built for a coal-fired furnace, and thus had a tall chimney. That chimney has become dangerous, and went through a "lowering" last week.

Father Lee donation: I took this photo this summer actually, but it's just now entered the public domain that Father Henry Lee, a retired priest of the La Crosse Diocese, has donated $1 million to the same diocese with no strings attached. The gift really is a generous one, and certainly substantial and needed!

Sept. 20, 2007, front page

2007-09-20T06:40:00.001-07:00

Here's today's Catholic Times front page. The issue is chock-full of good stories. International events like the pope's visit to Austria are here, but the inside is full of local exclusives. Monsignor Knauf, the oldest priest in Wisconsin, turned 100 and is profiled on the last page. We have a two page spread on Father Solanus Casey inside. My front page story highlights the difficulties of a Hmong family in adjusting to life in the United States. If you're not already, you should be a subscriber!

Procedure a success

2007-09-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

As of last night, Bishop Listecki was out of the hospital, his procedure to remove gallstones having been declared a success. He should resume his normal schedule shortly. According to our vicar general Monsignor Richard Gilles, the bishop is thankful for all those who were praying for him. Please keep his complete recovery among your prayer intentions.

Done With Donne

2007-09-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

I find myself almost ready for my big presentation on analyzing prose tomorrow. Together with a classmate, I will teach a book on rhetoric to the class. I posted my summary of that book a few days ago. Then she'll analyize a selection from Hemmingway, while I'll discuss a sermon excerpt from John Donne. Yes, that famous Catholic apostate Donne. All the same, I found a few good things to say about his sermon, as you'll see:

Franz Klein
Professor Jane Carducci
English 613
19 September 2007

Analyzing John Donne’s Prose

In his analysis, “Logic and Paradox in the Structure of Donne’s Sermons,” Jerome Dees decries what he terms “[o]ne of the more persistent of the received notions about Donne’s sermons,” namely, that they devalue “logical arrangement in favor of associative, metaphorical connections” (78). Denying the claims of Joan Webber, Winfreid Schleiner, Janel Mueller and Stanley Fish, Dees instead argues that the Rev. John Donne’s sermons obey “simultaneously two separate logical principles, one cumulative and processive, the other disjunctive or bifurcative” (79). And while Dees does not deny the importance of the metaphorical connections in Donne’s writing, he argues that they are not divorced from a certain rhetorical logic. Nowhere is this clearer than in an excerpt from Donne’s “The Second of My Prebend Sermons upon My Five Psalmes.”
As with any literary analysis, why Donne composed this sermon is of tantamount importance to discovering their inner logic. If we acknowledge that Donne had a certain message to get across to a specific audience, then his rhetorical devices will begin to come to light. As a preacher, Donne’s primary concern was the salvation of the members of his congregation – as he writes, not “…the body of all, the substance of all…” but their souls, since “The body of all, the substance of all is safe, as long as the soule is safe” (29). With this fact, underlined by the epiphoric repetitions of “of all” and “safe,” serving as our pivot, the logic of Donne’s first, 123-word sentence moves quite smoothly.
The first two subjunctive, anaphoric “Let me” clauses build one upon the other: It is one thing to waste away in a “penurious prison,” but the amplificatio of withering “in a spittle under sharpe, and foule, and infamous diseases” is that much worse. Having built to his climax, however, Donne presents his listeners with a way out when he says “yet.” Parallel and once again presenting amplificatio is a double protasis: first, if God withdraw not – he enumerates – his blessings, grace and patience; and secondly, if Donne’s suffering is God’s action. Then we hear the implied apodosis: then his sufferings are but “temporall.” If we apply Dees’ thesis to this passage, the two metaphors that follow – the “caterpillar got into one corner” and the “mill-dew fallen upon one acre” – are not metaphors serving as a replacement for logic, but metaphors precisely because logical syntax calls them to be there. For, if we have followed Donne’s syntactical logic thus far, we should know the sufferings he described in his first two clauses are not physically real: They metaphorically represent the potential sufferings of his soul. Now his logic comes full circle, and his first two metaphors within the overarching metaphor are met equally with two more. Even so, logical progress is made, since the overarching metaphor of bodily suffering for spiritual suffering has been extrapolated. As Dees would put it, Donne’s “processive” logic has been at work.
Although, grammatically speaking, the remaining 343 words of this excerpt are a single sentence, they logically consist of three units split in the middle by a change in the person addressed. Just as the first sentence builds to a climax with its anaphoric “Let me,” so too do the first six clauses of the second sentence – the first unit – begin with the phrase “when I shall.” Once again, these phrases build one upon the other as Donne lays out in the apodosis, namely, what happens to the person who trusts “that, which wee call a good spirit” instead of trusting God: First his or her constancy is destroyed, then health, good opinion and, finally, peace. But here Donne the preacher, who needs to exude a pathos that will convert his hearers, sets to work. God doesn’t merely destroy the sinner’s constancy, he says; rather, God shall “shake, and enfeeble, and enervate, destroy and demolish” it. Then Donne plays with an extended metaphor: As God “shall call up the damps” on the “sweet air of a good conscience,” the very “vapours of hell it selfe,” which shall “spread a cloud of diffidence,” in turn hardening into “an impenetrable crust of desperation” (29-31). The metaphor’s placement is perfect; the congregation is chilled. Thus, to ring true for the listeners that “health shall flie” needs nothing more than to be linked by diacope to the fact that “riches shall flie.”
With the proper ethos established, Donne feels his hearers are ready for prayer. Thus he no longer speaks of God but instead directly to the Deity: “there is none but thou, O Lord, that should stand for me,” he says. Thus his physical and mental wounds return to the world of metaphor to find the instrument by which they were really caused: arrows having come “from thy quiver.” The divisio, or, as Dees would have it, “bifurcation,” is paradoxical, bridging the world of reality and metaphorical divinity. On one hand Donne gives us the real, mental action of trusting “a good spirit” instead of relying on God, which seemingly leads to his horrible state; but in his sermon the effect is paradoxically “bifurcated,” predicated instead to a spiritual, rather than its original, mental cause. The central paradox here is that God, not the sinner, is causing the sinner’s woes: “When it comes to this height… mine enemy is… The Lord of Hosts himselfe…” Donne writes. Far from illogical, Donne’s rhetoric is instead spiritual, which Dees, among others, would argue follows a paradoxically appropriate logic: As Dees puts it, “The structural tensions in Donne’s sermons embody the paradoxes inherent in… a set of conditions in which the preacher must be heard… as the spokesman for a divine agency” (90).
Like Dees, Herbert Umbach emphatically denies that Donne’s sermons lack a rigorous rhetorical methodology. He instead traces Donne’s rhetorical logic and its accompanying syntactical tools, which he says are “richer and more varied in his sermons than elsewhere” (357), to Augustinian preaching methodology. Umbach especially points to Donne’s use of cumulative paragraphs, such as those found in the present sermon. He writes, “In total effect such cumulative paragraphs, which remind one of an organ’s crescendo or the inrushing waves of the tide because they are unified and coherent, are not at all to Donne’s discredit” (358). Given the association Umbach made between the styles of Augustine of Hippo and Donne, a look at the former writer could be helpful in understanding better the latter.
The style of Augustine’s Confessions is eerily similar to the Donne sermon excerpt currently in question. In what is probably the most quoted passage from his work, Augustine says:
Too late did I love thee, O Fairness, so ancient, and yet so new! Too late did I love thee! … Thou calledst, and criedst aloud, and forcedst open my deafness. Thou didst gleam and shine, and chase away my blindness. Thou didst exhale odours, and I drew in my breath and do pant after thee. I tasted and do hunger and thirst. Thou didst touch me, and I burned for thy peace. (212)

Unlike Donne’s anguished address of prayer to God, Augustine’s supplication is one of praise. But his climax, like Donne’s, is metaphorical: Call, exhale, taste and touch are meant spiritually. As with Donne, Augustine’s metaphorical causes have spiritual, not physical effects.
Textually, Donne borrows much from Augustine. The alliteration of “calledst” and “criedst,” as well as the internal rhyme of these two words with “forcedst,” evoke Donne’s syntax. Internal rhyme is found in Donne, for example, when he says, “If I can call my suffering his Doing, my passion his Action” (29), and, “…because I am all evill towards thee, therefore thou hast given over being good towards me” (31). As another similarity, alliteration is a syntactic tool holding thoughts together throughout Donne’s sermon: for example, Donne begins, “Let me whither and weare,” and toward the end says, “…with his owne hand.” Finally, something that comes out more clearly in Augustine’s original Latin – which Donne would have been reading – is Augustine’s use of homoioteleuton – easier for Augustine since verbs and declined nouns end similarly in that language. Donne’s use of homoioteleuton, however, is employed mainly by means of adverbs, as seen in how he ends his sermon: “we are swallowed up, irreparably, irrevocably, irrecoverably, irremediably.”
The rhetorical logic Dees argued for in Donne finds its roots, therefore, in the Augustinian backbone of the preacher’s methodology. Based on classical rhetoric, this methodology involved the use of paradox because it addressed spiritual topics that could only be addressed analogously. Donne understood well that only metaphors and figures of speech could accomplish his purpose of winning souls, and thus he moved decisively and logically from reality to metaphor and back again, artfully utilizing all the rhetorical devices at his disposal to weave his powerful syntactical web. Nowhere is this clearer than the sermon excerpt examined herein.

Works Cited

Augustinus, Aurelius. The Confessions of St. Augustine. Trans. J.G. Pilkington. New York:
Collector’s Library, n.d.

Dees, Jerome S. “Logic and Paradox in the Structure of Donne’s Sermons.” South Central
Review 4.2 (1987): 78-92.

Donne, John. “’Salvation or Damnation’: from a Sermon.” Found in Styles and Structures:
Alternative Approaches to College Writing. Ed. Charles Kay Smith. New York: Norton,
1974.

Umbach, Herbert. “The Rhetoric of Donne’s Sermons.” PMLA 52.2 (1937): 354-358.

Procedure involved removing gallstones

2007-09-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently Bishop Listecki's procedure this afternoon involved the removal of gallstones, which are being removed via his esophagus from various ducts. There is no word yet on the outcome of this procedure.

Bishop Listecki spent Thursday night at Franciscan Skemp and Friday night at the Mayo Clinic before being released prior to today's procedure. Although gallstone removal is less dangerous than many other procedures I had imagined, the fact the bishop has had problems with his pancreas in the past makes for possible related issues.

Once again, please keep the bishop in your prayers. I will update readers on the procedure's outcome when the information becomes available.

Bishop Listecki to undergo 'procedure' this afternoon

2007-09-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

I reported on Thursday that Bishop Listecki had admitted himself to Franciscan Skemp Hospital. Although what ails him is not yet public knowledge, this is: Bishop Listecki will undergo a medical procedure at 1:15 p.m. (CST) today at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Led by Father Joe Hirsch, director of vocations and vicar for priests, the Curia will be gathering at that time to pray the rosary. I will keep readers up to date if any more information comes to me. Please keep our bishop in your prayers this afternoon.

Analyzing Prose

2007-09-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Do you think about how you write, or do you just do it? Wednesday night, I'll be presenting on a book called "Analyzing Prose," which has really got me thinking about how I write, and how much I have to learn. Wow! In any case, here's my summary of about half the book:

Franz S. Klein
Professor Jane Carducci
English 613
19 September 2007

Richard Lanham: Prose Analysis

Introduction, Chapters 1 & 2
Professor Richard Lanham begins his discussion on rhetoric by questioning the “three central values of Clarity, Brevity, and Sincerity, the ‘C-B-S’ theory of prose” (1). He argues that “The C-B-S theory of prose style seems not only unhelpful but a violation of our common sense” (2), and that it “seems to contradict all that we say is good in literature…” (3). Like the hard sciences did years ago, rhetoric must abandon the Newtonian “neutral exchange of information” concept of prose composition and embrace “the full tripartite range of human motive, play and competition as well as purpose…” (6).
In his first chapter, Lanham explores the difference between active, verb-based writing (Caesar’s veni, vidi, vici) and static, noun-based writing (noun + “is” + prepositional phrase), whose monotony “makes the action disappear into the nouns” (13). Both styles engender a characteristic syntax, he writes. But while the verb-based style’s isocolon (phrases/clauses of equal length and structure) and alliteration are pleasing to the ears, to read noun-based writing with its use of homoioteleuton (using words with similar endings) and general lack of stylistic polish “we must turn off our ears” (19). “Concentrate on verbs,” Lanham advises, “and the strings of prepositional phrases vanish” (17).
In his second chapter, Lanhan points out the difference between the “syntactic democracy” (29) of parataxis and hypotaxis, where inferences are made for the reader in subordinate clauses. While taxis indicates the way troops line up for battle, hypo (beneath) refers to subordinate phrases and para (beside) refers to the equality of the phrases. In addition to being verb-based, Caesar’s veni, vidi, vici was paratactal. In his analysis of Hemmingway’s writing, Lanham shows how his paratactic style encourages anaphora (similar sentence openings), and seems “emotionally charged, deliberately held in check” (32). In turn, paratactic writing encourages either asyndeton (no connectors) and polysyndeton (many connectors). Polysyndetic patterns are helpful to dramatists, and are more common in hypotactic writing, since that utilizes more complex sentences. Given its complexity, hypotactic writing brings with it a host of tools, such as the protasis (if) and apodosis (then). Often good writers can combine parataxis and hypotaxis – O.W. Holmes, for example, “sets up a hypotactic framework and then, within it, he embeds layers of parataxis” (41). While Lanham says parataxis has its place, “complex issues … demand subordination” (46).

Chapters 6, 7 (pp. 151-159) & 8
According to Lanham, “[s]ome social situations seem to carry within themselves a kind of natural persuasiveness, to suggest by their very shape a ‘logical’ or ‘just’ outcome” (119). Resembling bargaining patterns, such “shapes” appear in writing as well as in life. Lanham notes, for example, the many symmetrical patters that exist in prose: “A great deal of persuasion occurs in this way and most of it remains tacit, unacknowledged” (120). Among the tools writers utilize are polyptoton (words with the same root but different meanings) and paronomasia (homonymic puns), both of which can be strengthened by alliteration. Lanham says “[t]his powerful glue can connect elements without logical relationship” (122). They often highlight tacit persuasion patterns, which include chiasmus (“ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”), climax and isocolon. Such patterns are powerful because they “become templates for our thinking; they both frame thinking and, by their formal ‘logic’ of sight and sound, urge certain thoughts upon us” (125).
Among other pieces of prose, Lanham analyzes the “lemon squeezer” of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in Chapter 7. Among the devices Lincoln uses are diacope (repeating a word with a few words in-between), polyptoton, hypozeuxis (clauses with different subjects/verbs but the same object), antistrophe (same closing word/s at the end of successive clauses/sentences) and homoioteleuton. As a chorographia (description of a nation), Lanham notes the address depends on anamnesis (recalling the past). Here Lanham is showing how rhetorical analysis is more than “an excuse for parading all the terms” and more a methodology for “expos[ing] a pattern which then allows us to use the terminology in specific and specifically useful way…” (159).
In Chapter 8, Lanham shows how high, middle and low styles of writing prove difficult to define. Ordinarily, high style is characterized by being rhetorical, emotional, persuasive, hypotactic, Latinate and literary, while a low style is logical, rational, informational, paratactic, Anglo-Saxon and conversational. With these two “extremes” chosen, middle style would be found in the middle. But Lanham says defining styles “is a game anyone can play” (164). To clarify he notes two different, opposed distinctions: public/private life and emotion/reason. While Logos pros tous akroōmenous is “aimed at the audience, logos pros ta pragmata is directed “aims at the events themselves,” and has been applauded “from Aristotle onward” (165). Paradoxically, logos pros ta pragmata became the low style, while logos pros tous akroōmenous has been the style “discussed, analyzed [and] marveled at” (Ibid.). As Lanham demonstrates with Winston Churchhill’s speech (166-169) and an article on the 427 Cobra (183), “facts feel,” and the whole range of styles is bridged. Thus, while he argues that stylistic definitions have value in “point[ing] to real and demonstrable stylistic particularities, …they change as society changes … So when we call a style ‘high,’ ‘middle,’ or ‘low’ we ought to remember what criteria we are using to do so” (175).

Works Cited

Lanham, Richard A. Analyzing Prose. 2nd edition. New York: Continuum, 2003.

Bishop Listecki in the hospital

2007-09-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

It has just come to my attention that Bishop Jerome E. Listecki, our bishop here in La Crosse, has admitted himself to Franciscan-Skemp Hospital as what was described as a "precautionary measure."

This is quite literally all that I know. He could simply have been feeling under the weather. Even if that's all that's wrong, please keep our bishop in your prayers. Let's pray for his health and recovery from whatever ails him.

I promise to post more tomorrow if the information is forthcoming.

Archbishop Burke's statement rehashed

2007-09-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted a link to Archbishop Burke's recent academic study on denying communion to politicials who support abortion. I've just finished a short article on it, which will hopefully appear in the upcoming paper. I've pasted it here:

Archbishop publishes study on denying communion
By Franz Klein
Staff Writer

ROME (Catholic Times) – In the latest edition of Periodica de Re Canonica, the academic Canon Law journal the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he both earned his doctorate and taught classes while serving on the Apostolic Signatura, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke has published an study titled, “Canon 915: The Discipline regarding the Denial of Holy Communion to those Obstinately Persevering in Manifest Grave Sin.”
During the 2004 election year, “some bishops found themselves under question by other bishops” for choosing to deny anti-life politicians communion, the archbishop wrote.
Archbishop Burke’s study comes as a measured, academic response to the official stance taken by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops during the election year, according to which “Bishops can legitimately make different judgments on the most prudent course of pastoral action.”
But the archbishop responds, “… the question regarding the objective state of Catholic politicians who knowingly and willingly hold opinions contrary to the natural moral law would hardly seem to change from place to place.” And, “The question of the scandal involved does not seem to be addressed by the (bishops’) statement.”
Beginning with Scripture as interpreted by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical “Ecclesia de Eucharistia,” Archbishop Burke’s study seeks to “understand the Church’s constant practice“ in regard to worthiness to receive communion.
He examines examples of denying communion as found in the fathers of the Church, early Church law, the practice of the Eastern Churches, Vatican statements, the 1917 Code of Canon Law and, finally, the present law of the Church as established in 1983.
From his historical study, Archbishop Burke draws forth five conclusions.
First, the law of the Church only permits a person who is “properly disposed externally” to receive communion, while no judgment is made regarding “their internal disposition, which cannot be known with certainty.”
Secondly, the Church is entitled to presume that a person obstinately remaining in “public and grievous sin” lacks “the interior bond of communion, the state of grace, required to approach worthily the reception of the holy Eucharist.”
Thirdly, the archbishop notes that denying communion is not a punishment, but is done to “safeguard” the Eucharist, to prevent the possibility of someone committing a serious sin by receiving the Eucharist unworthily, and to keep the other faithful from being led astray by this being done publicly.
Fourthly, Archbishop Burke concludes that the Church’s constant practice of denying communion applies to “the public support of policies and laws which, in the teaching of the Magisterium, are in grave violation of the natural moral law.”
Fifthly, the archbishop says the denial of communion should always take place within the context of a “pastoral conversation,” so that “the distribution of holy Communion does not become an occasion of conflict.”
Archbishop Burke concludes by acknowledging the difficulty involved in implementing the law of the Church regarding denying communion, but he adds that to fail to do so would be to fail “to avoid serious scandal, for example, the erroneous acceptance of procured abortion against the constant teaching of the moral law.”
“No matter how often a bishop or priest repeats the teaching of the Church regarding procured abortion, if he stands by and does nothing to discipline a Catholic who publicly supports legislation permitting the gravest of injustices and, at the same time presents himself to receive holy Communion, then his teaching rings hollow,” the archbishop concludes.

Burke on denying communion

2007-09-12T06:47:00.001-07:00

I haven't yet read it, but Archbishop Raymond Burke had an article in the most recent edition of Periodica de Re Canonica, published by his alma mater the Gregorian University, titled "The Discipline Regarding the Denial of HolyCommunion to Those Obstinately Persevering in Manifest Grave Sin." From my quick purview of the artice, available online in its entirety here, I notice he is defending himself against canonical arguments made by his brother bishops. He cites recent Church teaching, then moves through the Church fathers and theologians, then finally to Church law and liturgical discipline. He also touches on Eastern Church practices and even informal correspondence and statements by Pope Benedict. He's thorough!

In his conclusion the archbishop states:

I am deeply aware of the difficulty which is involved in applying the discipline of can. 915. I am not surprised by it and do not believe that anyone should be surprised. Surely, the discipline has never been easy to apply. But what is at stake for the Church demands the wisdom and courage of shepherds who will apply it.
The United States of America is a thoroughly secularized society which canonizes radical individualism and relativism, even before the natural moral law. The application, therefore, is more necessary than ever, lest the faithful, led astray by the strong cultural trends of relativism, be deceived concerning the supreme good of the Holy Eucharist and the gravity of supporting publicly the commission of intrinsically evil acts. Catholics in public office bear an especially heavy burden of responsibility to uphold the moral law in the exercise of their office which is exercised for the common good, especially the good of the innocent and defenseless. When they fail, they lead others, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, to be deceived regarding the evils of procured abortion and other attacks on innocent and defenseless human life, on the integrity of human procreation, and on the family.
As Pope John Paul II reminded us, referring to the teaching of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, the Holy Eucharist contains the entire good of our salvation [91]. There is no responsibility of the Church's shepherds which is greater than that of teaching the truth about the Holy Eucharist, celebrating worthily the Holy Eucharist, and directing the flock in the worship and care of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Can. 915 of the Code of Canon Law and can. 712 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches articulate an essential element of the shepherds' responsibility, namely, the perennial discipline of the Church by which the minister of Holy Communion is to deny the Sacrament to those who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin.

Go Archbishop Burke!

Movin' up

2007-09-12T06:38:00.000-07:00

SPASH boys cross country dominates DCE Invite
Journal staff

WESTON -- John Pliska captured the individual championship to help the Stevens Point Area Senior High boys turn the D.C. Everest Invitational into a highlight reel en route to leaving the rest of the Division 1 field in its dust Tuesday.

Pliska covered the 5,000-meter course at Nine-Mile Forest in a time of 16 minutes, 24 seconds as the Panthers placed all eight of their runners in the top 15 overall to post a dominating team score of 17. Rhinelander was the nearest competition at 114.

Rosholt claimed the Division 2 title with 127 points behind a fourth-place showing from Jon Trzebiatowski (16:48). Marathon wound up a close second in the race at 135.

On the girls side, D.C. Everest's Rachel McNally won the individual title while Candice Todryk and Amanda Whipple picked up a 2-3 finish as Marshfield took top honors on the team front in Division 1 with a total of 31.

SPASH finished a close second to the Tigers with 44 as Marlena Sniadajewski, who finished fourth overall, was joined in the top 10 by Gabrielle Klein and Megan Stats, who finished sixth and ninth, respectively.

McNally finished in a winning time of 20:14, but her nearest teammate was Katlyn Reimann who placed 17th overall.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood edged out Rosholt for the Division 2 championship by a score of 162-168.

D.C. Everest Invitational

Boys

Division 1 standings: 1. SPASH 17; 2. Rhinelander 114; 3. D.C. Everest 144; 4. Menasha 150; 5. Marshfield 157; 6. Wisconsin Rapids 199.

Division 2 standings: 1. Rosholt 127; 2. Marathon 135; 3. Wittenberg-Birnamwood 231; 4. Laona-Wabeno 277; 5. Clintonville 308; 6. Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 327.

Top individuals: 1. John Pliska (SPASH), 16:24; 2. Jordan King (SPASH), 16:26; 3. Nate Hatton (SPASH), 16:40; 4. Jon Trzebiatowski (Rosholt), 16:48; 5. Paul Przybelski (SPASH), 16:56; 6. Jack Senefeld (SPASH), 17:10; 7. Aaron Easker (W-B), 17:15; 8. Jordon Theiler (DCE), 17:22; 9. Cal Joey (SPASH), 17:23; 10. Andy Bognar (Rhine), 17:24.

SPASH (17): 1. John Pliska, 16:24; 2. Jordan King, 16:26; 3. Nate Hatton, 16:40; 5. Paul Przybelski, 16:56; 6. Jack Senefeld, 17:10; 9. Cal Joey, 17:23; 11. Trevor Koziczkowski, 17:24; 15. Nick Orlikowski, 17:44.

Rosholt (127): 4. Jon Trzebiatowski, 16:48; 16. Evan Ferg, 17:44; 21. Anthony Rekowski, 18:25; 42. Ryan Barber, 19:30; 44. Chase Nelson, 19:36; 75. James Shatters, 22:10; 76. Mike Mansheim, 22:20.

Girls

Division 1 standings: 1. Marshfield 31; 2. SPASH 44; 3. D.C. Everest 79; 4. Wisconsin Rapids 149; 5. Rhinelander 163.

Division 2 standings: 1. Wittenberg-Birnamwood 162; 2. Rosholt 168; 3. Marathon 261; 4. Laona-Wabeno 308; 5. Clintonville 308; 6. Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 311; 7. Crandon 331.

Top individuals: 1. Rachel McNally (DCE), 20:14; 2. Candice Todryk (Marsh), 20:18; 3. Amanda Whipple (Marsh), 20:20; 4. Marlena Sniadajewski (SPASH), 20:28; 5. Amy Pawleko (Marsh), 20:36; 6. Gabrielle Klein (SPASH), 20:43; 7. April Sadogierski (Rosholt), 20:59; 8. Kristine Amundson (W-B), 20:59; 9. Megan Stats (SPASH), 21:05; 10. Nikki Bruhn (Marsh), 21:17.

SPASH (44): 4. Marlena Sniadajewski, 20:28; 6. Gabrielle Klein (SPASH), 20:43; 9. Megan Stats, 21:05; 12. Karlee Simkowski, 21:20; 13. Jackie Forrest, 21:20; 21. Randi Timerman, 22:03; 24. Brooke Piotrowski, 22:12; 39. Alicia Lang, 22:58.

Rosholt (168): 7. April Sadogierski, 20:59; 23. Margaret Hintz, 22:11; 31. Suzanne Schulist, 22:48; 54. Leah Wierzba, 25:06; 58. Nina Lauritzen, 25:33.

Cross Country photos

2007-09-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

On the way to an interview near Edgar last weekend, I was able to stop at home and watch a few of my siblings compete in Stevens Point Area Senior High's cross country invite. My little brother Zeb is homeschooled, but runs for St. Peter Middle School, while my sister Gabby is running for the SPASH team, which won the girls' title. Here are some photo highlights:

Here's Zeb running:

Here's the start to the girls' race:

My sister is immediately behind the front runners on the right in the red uniform:

Here's Gabby turning a corner. I think she placed 14th in 16:30:

And runners from my alma mater, Pacelli High School, run by a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the part of the course that passes through St. Joseph's Convent property:

Taking the heat for Harry

2007-09-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

I received today the first negative response to what I felt was an even-handed but ultimately positive in a qualified sense review of Nancy Carpentier Brown's book on Harry Potter. I'm sticking to my guns, though. Pasted below is my emailed response to this kind letter writer:

Dear T-----,

Thank you for your e-mail. I appreciate and respect your comments regarding my review of Nancy Carpentier Brown's book. As I said in the review, and as Brown said in her book, good people are of many minds when it comes to Harry Potter. Given this fact, I tried to be as even-handed as possible in my review. Please note that I didn't agree completely with Brown. In fact, at the end of my review, I strongly reject her thesis that the books are a Christian morality tale. Thus, it would be incorrect to say I put my unqualified stamp of approval on her books or on the Harry Potter series. In an attempt to be even-handed, in fact, I spent half the review not only mentioning, but actually giving quotations from people who feel strongly that the books are harmful. Thus, I feel I gave plenty of space to those who disagree with my view that, as Brown put it, "...there are still truths in it to be discovered, and no reason why you can't discover them."

Your email, though, deals with the view of Father Machado that the books are dangerous for their elements of witchcraft. As I wrote in the last paragraph, good people are of many minds. In his even-handed treatment of the books -- in fact the best analysis I've seen to date -- in the most recent edition of the National Catholic Register, Father Alfonso Aguilar, LC, cites another well-known exorcist, Father Jose Antonio Fortea as saying, "They are merely literary fantasies in the manner of stories that have existed in Europe since the Middle Ages. I am neither in favor of condemning nor prohibiting them. To me, they are just unobjectionable stories." Father Aguilar's full article can be found here: http://ncregister.com/site/article/3663/ Father Macado's insistence that the incantations are real seems a little overwrought to me. Like Rowling, I earned my degree in classics; I enjoy the simple, silly Latin phrases that take the place of real incantations. "Expecto patronum," for example, simply means "Come, friend," while "Lumos" comes from the word for light, and therefore conjurs up light. Just because magic is used doesn't mean Wicca is promoted. As I wrote in my review, are we to throw out Jack and the Magic Beanstalk as well? Note that the one magical element most condemned by the Church, divination, is ridiculed throughout the book.

However, the one thing you said in your email that bothered me most was your questioning of whether a Presbyterian author has anything of value to say to Catholics. Why can't a Protestant say something of value? While I am certainly not equating Rowling with them, Protestant authors from Milton to Lewis have said things of lasting value and are worthy of our attention. I choose to review books not because they are written by Catholics, but for one of two reasons: (1) I find them of excellent literary or religious merit with the potential to be spiritually uplifting to the paper's readers; or (2) they have impacted our culture in such a way that to ignore them would be to live in a box. I chose to review Brown's book for the latter reason. To ignore the Harry Potter phenomenon, in my opinion, would be living in a box.

In Christ,

Franz Klein
Staff Writer, The Catholic Times
(608) 788-1524, ext. 5

Shakespeare, anybody?

2007-09-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

Given my previous lack of affinity for the Bard, some readers of this blog will find great satisfaction in the fact that I'm taking a class on Shakepeare's tragedies right now. I must admit, after a careful reading of King Richard III to start the class, I'm getting closer to converting. We'll see... He might have been Catholic, after all. Check out the Catholic Encyclopedia article here.

In any case, I've finished my first paper for the class -- basically an explanation on why reading Shakespeare in the original is important. Apparently this is a pretty standard way to begin one's study of the Bard. My paper, pasted below, is due Wednesday, so let me know if you find any mistakes!
****************************************************

Franz Klein
Professor Jane Carducci
English 517
12 September 2007

Translating Shakespeare into Modern English: Romeo and Juliet

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. (Romeo and Juliet, Prologue, 1-14)

Modern prose “translation”

We begin our play in fair Verona, where fighting is arising anew from an old disagreement between two families of the same social class, and where the resulting bloodshed is legally implicating those involved. Coming from the progeny of these two families, a pair of lovers – joined by fate – commits suicide; but, by dying, their heartbreaking action brings their parents’ fighting to an end. Now, over the course of the next two hours, the tale of their fated love and their parents’ fighting, which only their children’s death could bring to an end, will be told here on this stage. If you listen attentively and patiently, our acting should give you what this prologue left out.

Commentary on the “translation”

In an essay defending the value of lyric poetry from what he termed a “prose culture,” Charles Altieri sought “how we might describe the basic values lyrics make available or reinforce for cultural life” (259). Extending the philosophy of Spinoza to his fellow pedagogues as an excellent paradigm, he said teachers must show their students how poems bind “…the forms of syntax to the possibilities of feeling” (277). According to Altieri, the lyrics themselves have value, a certain inherent dynamism, meaning the reader must adapt him or herself “…to particular affective configurations and com[e] to the self-reflexive appreciation of those powers” (Ibid.).
The inherent dynamism that Altieri attributes to lyric poetry is as clear in the prologue to Romeo and Juliet as anywhere else in the Shakespearean canon. While a prose translation like the one given above might render clearer the meanings of the words and phrases Shakespeare utilized, the resulting passage is undeniably lethargic, robbed of its power to captivate the attention of an audience – the very purpose for which the prologue was scripted and performed. And though the reasons behind this loss of power and its resulting lethargy are manifold, they begin with the most basic elements of lyric poetry.
As is the Shakespearean norm, the prologue is a sonnet, composed in iambic pentameter, which in this case is virtually flawless, allowing the play’s narrator to establish a powerful cadence when delivering its opening lines. Even the division of certain words between iambic feet seems to deepen the intonation: The division of the syllables in “Households” (1) and “Verona” (2) between two iambs, for instance, leaves listeners no opportunity to miss where the story takes place. Additionally split is the word “civil” (4) – caught between feet not once but twice, such that the phrase “Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean” (Ibid.) takes on an emphasis that would otherwise be absent. Similarly, the alliteration of “Doth” and “death” (8) builds as the accent falls on “death” after missing “Doth” at the beginning of the line. The “d” alliteration continues, as the word “death” is repeated and accented a second time in the following line. In the second line of the concluding couplet, with the narrator having reached his or her fever pitch, “miss” and “mend” (14) are both accented.
Another structural element sacrificed in the prose translation is the prologue’s rhyme scheme. As is almost always the case with Shakespearean sonnets, the prologue consists of three quatrains and a concluding couplet, which follow an abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme. As with the iambic structure, the rhyme scheme helps the narrator to structure his or her delivery. Even the one flaw that seems to present itself serves a purpose, since the dissonance of “love” (9) being followed two lines later by “remove” (11) prepares the listener for the coming couplet, and then, finally, for the prologue’s conclusion.
When these metrical structures and rhyme schemes are sacrificed, the prologue loses the basic structure which aids the narrator in bringing it to life. As opposed to poetry, a sensible prose translation begins not dramatically and ominously with “Two households, both alike in dignity” (1), but with the locale of the action: Verona. No longer does the listener move fluidly with the narrator’s cadence; no longer does his or her blood pound at the mention of “household” or “Verona,” or stop to wonder at the repetition of “civil”; being absent, even the alliterations of the letter “d” fail to add their dynamic. Likewise, the missing sonnet rhyme scheme leaves the listener to make his or her own divisions of the text, which in turn makes the prologue more difficult to comprehend and therefore open to erroneous interpretation. As Altieri succinctly put it, the “possibilities of meaning” are no longer bound to “the forms of syntax.” And thus, Altieri would add, the prologue loses much of its dynamism.
Troublingly, there is something more fundamental missing whenever an author’s own words are replaced by those of an interpreter, as is the case with the prose “translation” of the prologue. In his essay on the translation of philosophy, Jonathan Ree wrote that “…complete faithfulness in translation is an obvious impossibility. As everyone knows, any text can be interpreted in innumerable ways” (224). And while Ree addressed specifically the translation of academic philosophy, the fact that lyric poetry, like philosophy, contains ideas inhering to the structure of the text and the author’s own word choice makes his comments applicable here as well. In fact, Ree’s comments are especially apropos, since several phonaesthetically or philosophically important phrases, as well as the ideas they engender, are sacrificed when the prologue is converted to prose.
Among Shakespeare’s word choices in the prologue, for example, are several metonymical phrases that add meaning no translation quite captures. Are “star-cross’d lovers” (6) the same as lovers “joined by fate”? Technically one’s fate might be read in the stars; but something seems lost when fate, described metonymically by the crossing of stars, is reduced to mere fate: The absence here of what philosophers describe as a “word picture” means the listener has no visual image in his or her mind to which fate can be related. Similarly metonymical are phrases like the cacophonic “forth the fatal loins” (5) describing Romeo and Juliet as born from their parents’ unions only destined to die, and “civil blood” and “civil hands” (4) recounting respectively a killing legally punishable as a homicide and those implicated by the law as murderers. Without the aura of mystery surrounding these metonymical phrases and their inherent euphony or cacophony, little is left to the imagination to work on, meaning any attempt at suspense promptly fails.
No image can replace “star-cross’d” without something of the sense of being star-crossed being lost. No other descriptor but “death-mark’d” (9) can explain what Shakespeare means to convey about how Romeo and Juliet’s love would end. In terms of expressing complex ideas, the translation of lyric poetry rises to the difficulty of translating philosophical writing. Each change, be it to structure, word choice or phrase, affects the meaning intended by the author, since each change represents a translator’s interpretative choice. Translating lyric poetry might even surpass the difficulty of translating philosophy, since the ideas expressed by the author – known or unknown to the translator – inhere to the very structure of the poem. Suffice it to say, much is missing in any prose “translation” of the prologue to Romeo and Juliet. Just as Juliet asks of Romeo, the reader of a prose prologue could ask: “Meaning, meaning: Wherefore art thou meaning?”

Works Cited

Altieri, Charles. “Taking Lyrics Literally: Teaching Poetry in a Prose Culture.” New Literary History 32.2 (2001): 259-281.

Ree, Jonathan. “The Translation of Philosophy.” New Literary History 32.2 (2001): 223-257.

Dutch Dominicans publish heretical booklet

2007-09-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have always been proud of my theological education by the Dominican friars who teach at the Angelicum University in Rome. While the following article from the Tablet doesn't diminish the esteem I have for my professors, it does withdraw that esteem from the Dutch branch of the Dominican order, which just published a booklet calling for the laity to celebrate the Eucharist in the absence of a priest.

I can understand a single priest's temptation to ignore Church teaching when confronted with an overwhelming pastoral situation (though I could never countenance his heresy), but I can't see how the entire Dutch branch of the Dominican order can forget how the Eucharist is confected. Wow.

Dutch Dominicans call for laity to celebrate Mass
William Jurgensen

THE DOMINICAN Order in the Netherlands has issued a radical recommendation that lay ministers chosen by their congregations should be allowed to celebrate the Eucharist if no ordained priests are available.
In a booklet posted to all 1,300 parishes in the country, it says that the Church should drop its priest-centred model of the Mass in favour of one built around a community sharing bread and wine in prayer.
"Whether they are women or men, homo- or heterosexual, married or single, makes no difference. What is important is an infectious attitude of faith," said the brochure, which has been approved by the Dutch order's leaders. However, the Dutch bishops' conference promptly said that the booklet appeared to be "in conflict with the faith of the Roman Catholic Church". It said it had no prior knowledge of the project and needed to study the text further before issuing a full reaction.
The 38-page booklet, Kerk en Ambt ("Church and Ministry"), reflects the thinking of the Belgian-born Dominican theologian Fr Edward Schillebeeckx. In 1986 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger warned Fr Schillebeeckx that his views on the Eucharist and lay ministry were "erroneous" but took no action against him. The booklet was written by four Dominicans including Fr André Lascaris, a theologian at the Dominican Study Centre for Theology and Society in Nijmegen. Fr Lascaris was involved in peace work for Northern Ireland from 1973 until 1992 and has published numerous articles and books on conflict, violence, forgiveness and reconciliation. The other authors are Fr Jan Nieuwenhuis, retired head of the Dominicus ecumenical centre in Amsterdam, Fr Harrie Salemans, a parish priest in Utrecht, and Fr Ad Willems, retired theology lecturer at Radboud University, Nijmegen.
The booklet says that many Dutch Catholics are frustrated that combining parishes and closing churches is the main response to the challenge of a dwindling clergy. "The Church is organised around priests and actually finds the priesthood more important than local faith communities," said Fr Salemans in an interview posted on the order's Dutch website. "This is deadly for local congregations."
Using the early Church as its model, the booklet said a congregation could choose its own lay minister to lead services. The minister and the congregation would speak the words of consecration together. "Speaking these words is not the exclusive right or power of the priest," the booklet said. "It is the conscious expression of faith by the whole congregation."
The ranks of Dutch Dominicans have thinned along with those of other clergy, and now number only 90 men. Since 2000 around 200 parishes in the Netherlands have been closed due to the lack of priests and the fall in church attendance