Photo from the website http://dialoguetoday.org/

I am a Catholic theologian and interreligious dialogue is my thing, so many people ask me what the Roman Catholic Church’s position is on interreligious dialogue… as if it had ONE position on this nebulous issue. I try to keep informed of current trends in this area, and one new twist almost escaped my attention until I was “fact checking” for a recent lecture: the US Bishops have once again done a 180 degree turn on the issue of Jewish-Christian dialogue, and I counld not be happier. Let me explain.

Back in 2001, Walter Cardinal Kasper, the President of the Catholic Church’s “Pontifical Commission for the Religious Relations with the Jews” gave a very forward-looking speech in which he declared that while the Catholic Church in fact has no evangelization program aimed at converting Jews, it should not, because the Jews already dwell in a salvific covenant…

Tim Townsend made a splash the other day with his story about Archbishop

credit:MiamiHerald

Carlson sending money to help fund the Maine fight against gay marriage. Townsend must have set a record for the comment board. As of this writing there are 153 comments and counting.

Most of the comments seem to be from outside our usual St. Louis Post-Dispatch Civil Religion readership, as JoeL mentioned in comment #145:

This first thing I noticed when reading though the comments to this story is that - like the archdiocese’s use of funds in this political campaign - comments don’t seem to be too local. Unless this hot-button issue fired up some local pro-gay marriage folks who don’t normally participate, it APPEARS the comments are coming from outside the typical STLToday readership. There aren’t too many familiar names, which is perfectly legitimate. The commentary on this blog has all the likings of hissy fit.

But I have a…

Jesus meets Santa: A mind-bending clash of mythologies.

As I picked up my Post-Dispatch this morning, my skeptic’s heart was gladdened by the inclusion of the Catholic Supply of St. Louis’ eight-page flier packed with a jaw-dropping assortment of religious artifacts, Christmas ornaments, nativity scenes, home decorations and more. The flier represents the tip of the Catholic knick-knack iceberg, the bulk of which can be seen online or at either of the two stores (one at Chippewa and Jamieson, the other at 2953 Highway K in O’Fallon), and includes at least a few products that strain the doctrinal envelope.

My favorite, offered in a variety of iterations, depicts Santa kneeling before the infant Jesus, “a subtle reminder to children,” the website tells us, “that Santa is not the main focus of the season.” Or, as one wag put it, that “the mythology of Jesus who saves us from our sins has not…

Frank Schubert, campaign director for Stand for Marriage Maine, claims victory for Yes on 1, Tuesday evening, Nov. 3, 2009, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Campaign finance records for a ballot measure that last week defeated a law legalizing gay marriage in Maine show that the St. Louis Archdiocese contributed $10,000 toward that effort.

Only two other dioceses in the country - Phoenix and Philadelphia - contributed more ($50,000). The dioceses of Newark, NJ and Youngstown, Ohio also contributed $10,000.

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson said in a statement to the Post-Dispatch that the money came from a “special needs” account which is tapped at his discretion, and which is funded by “private gifts.”

By 53 to 47 percent, Maine voters rejected a law Maine’s Roman Catholic governor signed in May that would have made Maine the sixth state to allow same sex partners to wed. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont allow gay marriage now, and New…

Dorothy Day facing her last arrest, photo by Bob Fitch

Dorothy Day was an anarchist and a pacifist who was arrested multiple times throughout her life (the last time when she was in her 70s).  The FBI had a 500 page file on her, and Herbert Hoover J. Edgar Hoover hoped to see her arrested for sedition.  She’s also been called “the most significant, interesting and influential person in the history of American Catholicism” (by historian David O’Brien in “Commonweal” magazine), and the Vatican has approved considering her cause for canonization.

That’s my kind of saint.  I love Dorothy Day.  In the great communion of saints, there are a handful of people that I look to as my heroes and role models, my “household saints”.  Dorothy Day is one of them, and today is her birthday.  She  was a “sign of contradiction”, “holiness not easily domesticated”, to quote Robert Ellsberg.  She managed to…

Archbishop Raymond Burke outside the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica before the 2005 Final Four. Photo by Huy Richard Mach, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

It’s always interesting when the national media “finds” a story that local hacks have been covering for years. That’s not exactly what’s happening with the American press’s recent discovery of St. Louis emeritus Archbishop Raymond Burke - after all, the archbishop began making headlines before he was even installed here in 2004 - but it’s close.

Since his move to Rome to lead the Vatican’s version of the Supreme Court, Burke’s profile has heightened. Over the last 18 months, he’s made some public statements - mostly either to gatherings of Catholics, or the the Catholic press - that have caused momentary stirs in both the Catholic and political worlds.

Amy Sullivan has written a piece for Time, called “A Tale of Two Priests,” comparing Burke to Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley, though the story is really about Burke. Sullivan’s thesis is that Burke…

On my way to China, I stopped over in Spain for some meetings. Having a few extra days, I went to Manresa, Spain where we Dominicans have a monastery of nuns. What an incredible experience!

In the archives of a medieval monastery.

This monastery has been open since the 13th century. It is just above the cave where Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, wrote his famous “Spiritual Exercises.” Ignatius used to sit outside the door of this monastery and listen to the prayers of the nuns as they sang their evening office. Their prayers are still quite inspiring, as I can attest.

On the right is a photo of some books in the monastery archives. Top left is a bundle of contracts the monastery entered into in the year 1344. Every contract they have ever signed is still preserved on these shelves. The sense of history is deep, as is…

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan addresses the 64th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York, Thursday, Oct., 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson)

St. Louis native, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York started his own blog recently. And he’s wasted no time attracting readers.

On Saturday, he teed off on the New York Times while equating the great American pastime of baseball with “another national pastime” - anti-Catholicism.

“It is not hyperbole to call prejudice against the Catholic Church a national pastime,” Dolan wrote.

Dolan was miffed about several recent stories in the Times. Mostly, he believes, the journalism is biased against Catholics, especially on the sensitive issue of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic church, a problem he blamed on “a tiny minority of priests.”

Commenting on a Times story about a priest who fathered a child (and that we blogged about here at Civil Religion), Dolan wondered what all the fuss was about,…

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Does the White House know about this?

Dr. Leroy Carhart, controversial late-term abortion doctor, was spotted at the Pelosi/Reid unveiling Thursday of the final house health care bill. Dr. Carhart, currently under investigation by the Nebraska AG for unsafe medical practices, traveled to Washington and was photographed holding a sign which read “Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice”.

He was spotted by Concerned Women for America’s Wendy Wright who also snapped the photo.

According to LifeSite News,

Carhart is currently under investigation by the Nebraska Attorney General’s office after three of his former employees came forward with sworn affidavits that told of illegal activity, unsafe conditions.

All of the women said that they did not have any medical training or licensing, yet they were instructed to perform medical duties that they were not legally qualified to do, such as starting IVs, dispensing medication, and assisting with surgeries.

They claimed that drugs often came up missing, and that…

Leftover Halloween candy languishes in its plastic pumpkin on top of the refrigerator; for the moment, the kids are satiated and I’m being good.  All the sugar brings to mind a favorite hymn, “Jesus, the very thought of thee,” a few stanzas of which are here:

Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills the breast;
But sweeter far Thy face to see,
And in Thy presence rest.

Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find
A sweeter sound than Thy blest Name,
O Savior of mankind!

O Jesus, King most wonderful
Thou Conqueror renowned,
Thou sweetness most ineffable
In Whom all joys are found!

Celestial Sweetness unalloyed,
Who eat Thee hunger still;
Who drink of Thee still feel a void
Which only Thou canst fill.

O most sweet Jesus, hear the sighs
Which unto Thee we send;
To Thee our inmost spirit cries;
To Thee our prayers ascend.

The original Latin text is by Bernard of Clairvaux,  the great religious writer and reformer of…

Ronald Knox, born into an Anglican family in Leicestershire, England,  converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1917, four years after being ordained in the Church of England. Two years later he was ordained a Catholic priest.

He soon found his new church didn’t know quite what to do with him or other converts like him. He famously observed:

“We’re like a bird who has got into a room where there is a cocktail party. Everyone is delighted we’re there, but no one knows what to do with us.”

Not much has changed since then, or so I would have said before hearing the recent news about the Anglican Apostolic Constitution.

Just last month, in fact, the National Catholic Register offered an article titled The Convert Clergy Conundrum. Telling the story of “Tom,” a former minister — whose story is a compilation of  various Christian ministers/priests who crossed the Tiber — the article begins,

…..He…

St. Louis emeritus Archbishop Raymond Burke

Pope Benedict XVI named St. Louis emeritus Archbishop Raymond Burke to the Vatican’s influential Congregation for Bishops on Saturday.

The congregation, or Vatican office, is responsible for recommending Roman Catholic bishop candidates around the world to the pope.  Over time - and Burke is only 61 - the Congregation’s members can have a significant impact on the direction of the Catholic church.

Burke will join another former St. Louis archbishop, Cardinal Justin Rigali, at the Congregation for Bishops. He’ll be the fifth American member of the office.

Burke left St. Louis to become the prefect, or leader, of the Apostolic Signatura - often described as the Vatican’s version of the Supreme Court. Burke also is a member of two other Vatican offices, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, which interprets canon law, and the Congregation for the Clergy, which regulates the formation and training of diocesan priests and deacons.

Whispers in the…

Courtesy of Pat Bond The Rev. Henry Willenborg, a Roman Catholic priest in Quincy, Ill., in 1987 performing the baptism of his son, Nathan. Courtesy of Pat Bond via The New York Times.

The New York Times ran a fascinating story on its front page today about a woman who now lives in O’Fallon, Mo. and who had a son with a Roman Catholic priest when both were living in Quincy, Ill.

That son, Nathan - now 22 - has brain cancer. And the woman, Pat Bond, has decided to come forward, according to Times religion reporter Laurie Goodstein, because she too has cancer.

Despite a confidentiality agreement Bond signed with the Franciscans, she and her son felt they had “little to lose,” and were “eager to tell their stories.”

Their story is a sad one, and, Goodstein says, not particularly uncommon. She writes:

The relationship between Ms. Bond and the priest is hardly unique.…

Sitar player Imrat Khan of India will appear at Saturday's Festival of World Sacred Music. Photo courtesy Gitana Productions.

“There is something in music that transcends and unites. This is evident in the sacred music of every community . . . music that expresses the universal yearning that is shared by people all over the globe.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Music from many of the world’s faith traditions will be played at Saturday’s St. Louis Festival of World Sacred Music,  Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Blvd. in the city’s Central West End neighborhood.

The festival begins at noon. The last performer takes the stage at 7 p.m. Artists appearing include both local favorites and musicians with worldwide followings.

“Every culture creates music that is sacred, music that
expresses universal emotions. The Festival of World
Sacred Music reflects our commitment to global healing, by bringing
together international and local musicians who represent diverse
spiritual and religious interests,”…

Statue of Damien at the Hawaii state capitol building in Honolulu

It’s a good day to be from Hawaii.  One of our state’s most beloved figures, Father Damien of Moloka’i, has been canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

In accordance with Vatican procedure for canonization, two miracles attributed to Damien since his death have been verified; what truly fascinates and inspires me, however, is the life he led here on earth.

Choosing to live according to the Gospel (to use Pope Benedict’s phrase), Father Damien knowingly and willingly endangered his own life to care for society’s outcasts.  A native of Belgium, he would have been hard-pressed to imagine any place more remote than the isolated Kalaupapa peninsula of the island of Moloka’i.  Only a few years before his arrival, the Hawaiian government had created an isolated settlement there to try to contain the spread of the disfiguring and deadly disease then known as leprosy (now more…

credit: turnbacktogod

When Kathy Nance and other new Civil Religon bloggers gathered at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the other morning, we got to talking about who we were and what religion we represented. When Kathy used the word “pagan” to describe herself, I asked her to define the word. She was good enough to do just that in her first post, A Pagan’s Primer.

Well, what about Catholicism? Who are we and what do we believe? Every Sunday at Mass we answer that question when we stand to recite a summary of our faith, the Nicene Creed. This affirmation of faith occurs after we have heard the first reading, joined in the responsorial psalm, heard the second reading, heard the Gospel and the homily.

We stand to say the Nicene Creed.

The creed I’m introducing  below is the new translation which will come into use in 2011 or 2012. This translation is from the…

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The New York Times reported last week that young mother/history teacher Anne Marie Eakins is suing Bayer, charging that she developed blood clots in her lungs after taking their product, Yaz, the highest-selling birth control pill in the United States and by far Bayer’s highest margin and fastest-growing brand.

I was reminded, reading this, of a young couple living upstairs from me in one of the 1904 Central West End townhouses converted into apartments in the ’sixties. The young marrieds had been to windy Chicago and sure enough the bride had come down with pleurisy — or so they thought.

What she actually had were blood clots on her lungs. Her doctor immediately took her off the new, progressive, no-more-problems birth control pill. It was 1969.

There were so many similar problems with that high-dosage pill back then that soon manufacturers started fiddling with the ingredients, lowering some dosages and/or substituting new ingredients —…

Timothy Crowe. Credit: Boston Globe

There was a great story in Sunday’s Boston Globe about Timothy Crowe, an actor who was an altar boy at St. Gabriel the Archangel in south St. Louis, and later a St. Louis seminarian.

Crowe, 63, portrays Father Patrick Murphy in “The Savannah Disputation,” a play that just opened at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Crowe “attended parochial school and Catholic high school before entering a St. Louis seminary as a high school sophomore,” writes Globe religion reporter Michael Paulson. “It was another era in the church, when Mass was in Latin and Cardinal Glennon College had 400 young men studying for the priesthood.”

“This was the old days, when we studied Aquinas in Latin, had a monastic schedule and a very strict academic program,” Crowe said. “There were no newspapers, no radio, and no TV. There was silence during meals - we would be read to - and…

Culinaria manager Tom Collora, Jr. works the phones at the customer service counter on Sept. 15. Photo by Robert Cohen.

Today’s A1 story about a crucifix on display at the new downtown Schnucks, called Culinaria, is creating a lot of traffic on stltoday.com.

And I’m getting a ton of phone calls and e-mails from people supporting Tom Collora, the store’s manager. Many of those readers feel like Christianity is under attack in American society, and that newspapers are the voice of such a movement.

Many of the callers are angry - both at those who have complained about the crucifix, and at the newspaper for reporting the story.

Some have used language we wouldn’t be able to print in the newspaper. Two have said they were canceling their subscriptions. One suggested a large swatch of his fellow Americans “go back to their own countries.”

Many more have (calmly) made valid points about cherished, Constitutionally-protected American values, like…

Monsignor Vincent Bommarito - credit: UNICO-St. Louis

Last week, the Aquinas Institute of Theology named the Monsignor Vincent Bommarito, pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in the Hill as the recipient of its Great Preacher Award for 2009.

The award, given annually by the Dominican seminary, promotes “compelling and imaginative preaching that powerfully engages hearers with the Word of God,” Aquinas president, the Rev. Richard Peddicord, said in a release.

In the same release, Bommarito said, “Next to praying the words of the institution narrative, proclaiming the Living Word is critical in exciting the hearts of all to embrace the Lord - and each day graced by the Lord gives rise to hope and thanksgiving.”

The Great Preacher Award will be presented to Bommarito on Thursday, October 29, 2009, at Rose of the Hill, 2300 Edwards, in St. Louis.