Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 276

SNAP, Rankle, and Flop

Russell E. Saltzman, a Lutheran pastor, recounts a perplexing experience he had with SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) in 2004, and questions the real motives and goals of the group:

SNAP did as of 2009 meet all the IRS requirements for a charitable organization, but it fails examination by the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. The BBB allows board-member compensation for no more than one individual or ten percent of the board (whichever is greater). Two of eight SNAP board members receive payment for their work. Nor does SNAP provide the BBB with "effectiveness assessments" on its work or adequate information on the allocation of fund raising expenses. In the 2009 IRS filing SNAP reported $419,607 in income; $396,661 of that received in donations. Salaries, other compensation, and employee benefits were reported at $342,599.

But iffy bookkeeping is not my major problem with SNAP. Despite that one small foray into one Lutheran scandal, SNAP focuses almost exclusively on Catholic clergy, as a brief excursion through nine years of SNAP press release archives will show. The 2004 archive doesn't even mention the lone Lutheran from Texas.

SNAP has never to my knowledge examined scandals among mental health professionals. It never says anything of public school districts, where reports say children are at far greater risk of abuse. Nor has it said anything of volunteer youth organizations. The simple fact is SNAP targets Roman Catholics. If SNAP routinely seeks "donations" from settlements, well, Catholic pockets are easier to reach, for a lot of reasons starting with media bias.

Whatever genuine aid SNAP may provide victims of priestly sex abuse is well matched by the harm SNAP does by mounting little less than an anti-Catholic smear campaign and wantonly portraying every priest as a sexual predator waiting to happen and every bishop an enabler.

Read the entire post, "SNAP is No Fit Advocate for Sexual Abuse Victims", on the First Things "On The Square" blog. For much more about the dubious workings of SNAP, visit Dave Pierre's site, www.TheMediaReport.com.

Icons and the Mystery of Christ

Icons and the Mystery of Christ | The Introduction to Man, the Image of God: The Creation of Man as Good News | Christoph Cardinal Schönborn | Ignatius Insight

I start this meditation by looking at the feast of the Ascension. The angels say to those "men of Galilee" who cannot bring themselves to look away from the cloud that has hidden Jesus, carrying him away, "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

More than thirty years ago, in the first edition of my book God's Human Face: The Christ Icon, I remarked concerning what the angels said,

The prediction that he would return "in the same way" as they had seen him ascend implies the task for the disciples left behind, really the Church, to keep alive the remembrance of his face.... The icon is an expression of his living remembrance: it commemorates not merely a man from the distant past, but him who as man was glorified through suffering and the Cross, who is alive now and "intercedes for us with the Father", and whose return to us has been promised. The icon is a connecting link between the Incarnation and the return, between the first and the last coming of the Lord. The icon not only perpetuates the memory of the Incarnation, it is also a constant reminder of the promised return of Christ. This is why the Eastern Church considers the icon of Christ an indispensable element of the profession of the Christian Faith. The Eastern Church sees the icon as a condensed version of the Creed. [1]

The icon of Christ: for many Christians, the Eastern tradition of icons, their painting and their spirituality, has become something like a rallying point, a place where all Christians can meet. Icons are present more or less everywhere in the Church, both Eastern and Western. Their language, their symbolism, and their influence seem truly to touch the hearts of many of our contemporaries. People have often wondered why, in our own day, the art of the icon has now come to be seen as a special way of expressing the Christian faith.

There may be a "fashionable" side to this (the accusation some of the Orthodox make against Western Christians, under the impression that their Eastern tradition is wrongly "used" by Westerners). I think there is something deeper here. The sensus fidei recognizes in the Eastern tradition of icons a kind of "canonical" expression of our faith, an expression going beyond fashion and the cultural variations of Christian artistic language. Icons are not timeless; they do have stylistic variations, schools, "cultural colorations"· they are not static or immobile, the reproach often leveled against them. What is the secret of their attraction, then, the key to understanding their mystery? What is the reason for the great consistency in their expression?

Read the entire Introduction on Ignatius Insight...

Blessed John XXIII and priestly celibacy

I just realized that today is the feast day of Blessed John XXIII, so am posting part of an essay, "Angelo Roncalli and Priestly Celibacy", by Fr. Brian Van Hove, S.J., that takes up the question, "Did Pope John XXIII support abolishing priestly celibacy?" Fr. Van Hove writes:

Some bishops at the Council wanted the question re-examined. The rationale for abolishing it is not new, either, because as early as the time immediately following the French Revolution the "shortage of priests" has been traditionally adduced as sufficient in itself to merit a change in what is looked upon as mere discipline.

We all know that the Second Vatican Council in the end strongly supported the spiritual tradition of priestly celibacy in Presbyterorum ordinis, #16, and that Pope Paul VI strengthened this still further with his encyclical of June 24, 1967, Sacerdotalis caelibatus. Surely along with Humanae vitae it was his most unpopular and "politically incorrect" encyclical.

Yet how often the image of "The Good Pope John" [3] is skillfully invoked by those who wish to abolish priestly celibacy. John XXIII Roncalli was the "good" pope, while Paul VI and his successor John Paul II Wojtila are "bad" popes. They are called intransigent, while he is called open. If only Roncalli had lived long enough, they insist, things might have been different, and this useless and archaic norm might have been done away with. He was open to change, while others have closed the door to change. But the historical record suggests the exact opposite in the question of priestly celibacy. We must reclaim the real Angelo Roncalli of church history.

Read the entire article on Ignatius Insight. For a good cinematic introduction to the life of Bl. John XXIII, see the film, John XXIII: Pope of Peace, for which I wrote and designed the DVD booklet, and in doing so gained a new and deeper appreciation for John XXIII.

The Good, the Bad, and the Surreal

From e-mails or comments received in the past 24 hours:

 If Insight Scoop is not the best Catholic blog there is, I can't imagine what could be better.  I am amazed daily at the inspiring, informative, critically devastating, humorous, thought-provoking items you post. 

Thank you! I can say with all honesty that Insight Scoop is the best blog I'm currently moderating, editing, and shamelessly promoting. I'll happily leave judgments about "best" to intelligent, insightful, and objective readers such as the one who wrote this kind note.

And, in response to my post about Steve Jobs:

Steve´s words were said to protect us from dogmatic persons like you.

Too which I say: I'm simply going to take Jobs' advice: "Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice." So take that, you dogma-hater, you.

And from another reader, also about the Jobs post (not to be confused with far less substantive jobs bills):

[Jobs] did not only know God (we again go back to the mention of heaven) but he loved and served God by loving the people the world through Apple/Pixar/NeXt ultimately sacrificing himself and I guess he had time to say sorry (so much loved giving people the best it caused cancer), it was a happy death, it wasn't sudden. also having mentioned going to heaven means his soul knew where he is going and reason says this is true because his love to bring joy through good design (showing humble leadership as a ceo who is a presenter and the 1$ salary, of course the humility isn't perfect).This love we now enjoy through cool tech.

Uuuuuuuuhhhhhh. Yeah. Hmmmm.

Happy (122nd) birthday, Dietrich von Hildebrand!

John Henry Crosby, Founder & Director of the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project, writes:

Today we celebrate the 122nd birthday of Dietrich von Hildebrand (b. October 12, 1889)! In honor of his legacy, let this day be cause for both rejoicing and reflecting.

I find it astonishing when reading von Hildebrand, whose ideas are always fresh and directly apropos our current needs, to think that this man was born in the 19th century! In a 20th century characterized by the cycle of innovation and obsolescence, von Hildebrand worked to promote and preserve timeless values—some might say he was old fashioned, but the truth is that he was often ahead of his time. This reminds me of something the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus once wrote in a letter to me:

"There are thinkers who are great in their time, and then there are great thinkers whose time comes and goes. It seems that the time of Dietrich von Hildebrand is coming around again. He was a man of enormous intellectual accomplishment and moral courage who can help equip another generation of Catholics to make the contribution that we owe to the world."

Of course, one of the primary ways we at the Legacy Project are working to "equip another generation" is by translating von Hildebrand's many major writings from German into English. This is an immense undertaking, made possible by the contributions of many generous and hard-working partners.

Today, I'd like to introduce our wonderful friend and translator, Fr. Brian McNeil, who is nearing completion on the monumental project of translating von Hildebrand's two-volume Aesthetics, which has never before been translated into English. We are enormously happy to be working with such a gifted and accomplished translator.

In addition to his work on von Hildebrand, Fr. McNeil has translated works by Pope Benedict XVI, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, and other major theologians, not to mention a couple volumes of Norwegian poetry! A truly international man, Fr. McNeil was born in Scotland, and by way of Norway and Italy, is currently the pastor of St. Michael's Catholic Church, the largest parish in Munich, Germany.

Read more on the Legacy Project website.

Ignatius Press has published one book by von Hildebrand, Transformation in Christ: On the Christian Attitude (also available in electronic book format) and a biography, The Soul of a Lion: The Life of Dietrich von Hildebrand, written by his wife, Alice von Hildebrand. Here is an excerpt from the first book:

Benedict XVI reflects on human history and the history of salvation

From Vatican Information Service:

VATICAN CITY, 12 OCT 2011 (VIS) - During his general audience this morning the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to Psalm 126 which, he said, "celebrates the great things which the Lord has done for His people, and which He continues to do for all believers".

The Psalm "speaks of 'restored fortunes'", the Pope explained, "in other words, fortunes restored to their original state". This was the experience of the People of Israel when they returned to their homeland after the Babylonian exile, which had been such a devastating experience not only in political and social terms but also from a religious and spiritual point of view.

"Divine intervention often takes unexpected forms which go beyond what man might expect. ... God works marvels in the history of mankind. ... He reveals Himself as the powerful and merciful Lord, the refuge of the oppressed Who does not ignore the cry of the poor. ... Thus, with the liberation of the People of Israel, everyone recognises the great and wondrous things God has done for His People and celebrates the Lord as Saviour".

However, the Holy Father went on, "the Psalm goes beyond the purely historical and opens to a broader, theological dimension". It uses images which "allude to the mysterious truth of redemption, in which the gift we have received and the gift we await, life and death, intertwine".

The watercourses of the Neg'eb symbolise divine intervention which, like water, "is capable of transforming the desert into a vast expanse of green grass and flowers", the Pope explained. Later the Psalm also uses the image of peasants cultivating their fields "to speak of salvation. The reference here is to the annual cycle of agriculture: the difficult and arduous time of sowing then the overriding joy of the harvest. ... The seed sprouts and grows".

"This is the hidden mystery of life, these are the 'great and wondrous things of salvation which the Lord achieves in the history of mankind, but the secret of which is unknown to man. Divine intervention, when fully expressed, has an overpowering dimension, like the watercourses of the Neg'eb and the grain in the fields. This latter image also evokes the disproportion typical of the things of God: disproportion between the fatigue of sowing and the immense joy of the harvest".

"The Psalmist refers to all these things to speak of salvation. ... The deportation to Babylon, like other situations of suffering and crisis, ... with its doubts and the apparent distance from God is, in reality, ... like a seedbed. In the mystery of Christ and in the light of the New Testament, the message becomes even clearer and more explicit: the believer who passes through the darkness is like the seed of grain that falls to earth and dies, but brings forth much fruit".

"This Psalm teaches us that ... we must remain hopeful and firm in our faith in God. Our history, though often marked by suffering, uncertainty and moments of crisis, is a history of salvation and 'restoration of fortunes'. In Jesus our exile ends: ... in the mystery of His cross, in death transformed into life, like the seed which splits in the earth and becomes an ear of wheat".

New: "The Song at the Scaffold: A Novel" by Gertrud von le Fort

Now available from Ignatius Press:

The Song at the Scaffold: A Novel

by Gertrud von le Fort

• Also available in Electronic Book Format

"The point of departure for my creation was not primarily the destiny of the sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne but the figure of the young Blanche. . . . Born in the profound horror of a time darkened by the signs of destiny, this figure arose before me in some way as the embodiment of the mortal agony of an era going totally to its ruin."
-Gertrud von le Fort

Set during the French Revolution, this classic novella is based on the true story of the Carmelite nuns of Compiègne, who offered their lives for the preservation of the Church in France.

The story unfolds around the fictional character of Blanche de la Force, an excessively fearful aristocrat who enters the Carmelite convent in order to flee the dangers of the world. As the Reign of Terror begins, Blanche is no safer in the convent than in the streets of Paris, and some of the sisters begin to doubt her ability to endure persecution and possibly martyrdom.

The fates of Blanche and the other Carmelites take several unexpected turns, leaving the reader with an inspiring witness not only of martyrdom but of God's power being glorified in human weakness.  

"One of the great Christian classics of all time."
-Michael O'Brien, Author, Father Elijah

"A poignant reminder that, for the Christian, fearlessness lies on the far side of Gethsemane and the Cross."
-George Weigel, Author, Witness to Hope

Gertrud von le Fort, a convert to Catholicism, attended the universities of Heidelberg, Berlin and Marburg. She was a prolific writer whose poetry and novels, which have been translated into many languages, won her acclaim throughout Europe. She also wrote The Eternal Woman, published by Ignatius Press.

Now available: "Methodical Realism" by Étienne Gilson

New from Ignatius Press:

Methodical Realism: A Handbook for Beginning Realists

by Étienne Gilson

This short book is a work of one of the 20th century's greatest philosophers and historians of philosophy, Étienne Gilson. The book's title, taken from the first chapter, may sound esoteric but it reflects a common-sense outlook on the world, applied in a "methodical" way. That approach, known as realism, consists in emphasizing the fact that what is real precedes our concepts about it.  In contrast to realism stands idealism, which refers to the philosophical outlook that begins with ideas and tries to move from them to things. 

Gilson shows how the common-sense notion of realism, though denied by many thinkers, is indispensible for a correct understanding of things-of what is and how we know what is. He shows the flaws of idealism and he critiques efforts to introduce elements of idealism into realist philosophy ("immediate realism"). At the same time, the author criticizes failures of certain realist philosophers-including Aristotle-to be consistent in their own principles and to begin from sound starting points. To these problems, Gilson traces medieval philosophy's failure in the realm of science, which led early modern scientific thinkers of the 17th century unnecessarily to reject even the best of medieval scholastic philosophy. 

He concludes with "The Realist Beginner's Handbook", a summary of key points for thinking clearly about reality and about the knowledge of it. 

Étienne Gilson (1884-1978) was a renowned French philosopher and historian of philosophy, and a member of the prestigious French Academy. He was a prominent leader in the twentieth-century resurgence of the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Among his books are From Aristotle to Darwin and Back Again, The Unity of Philosophical Experience, The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy, and The History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages.

Joseph Pearce will be giving a talk this Friday evening...

... October 14th, in Portland, Oregon, at Holy Rosary Church, at 7:00 pm. From the parish bulletin:

Internationally recognized author Joseph Pearce will be at Holy Rosary this Friday evening, October 14, at 7 pm in Siena Hall. Don't miss this opportunity to hear him speak about his new book, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile, a biography based on exclusive, personal interviews with this towering literary and political figure. There is no admission charge for this event; a free-will offering will be taken.

For more about Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile, see my recent interview with Joseph about it:

Fr. Thomas Kocik will be giving a talk this Friday...

... October 14th, at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire, at 7:00 pm. Fr. Kocik, the author of The Reform of the Reform? A Liturgical Debate: Reform or Return (Ignatius Press, 2003), will be

presenting an overview of the Liturgical Movement originating with Dom Guéranger and culminating with Sacrosanctum Concilium – its aims, principles, and leading proponents (without getting too involved in detail).  He will discuss the good and bad fruits of the post-Vatican II liturgical reform, to provide the necessary background for the New Liturgical Movement now underway.

Read more on David Clayton's site, The Way of Beauty. And read more about Fr. Kocik in this 2007 Ignatius Insight interview: