Let's debate
Plus: New norms on apparitions
Good morning and happy Saturday. This is a Saturday Post from the Purple Catholic. Welcome to all of you who subscribed to have Michigan Morningsā¢ delivered to your inbox each day.
Today is the feast of Pope Saint John I. Saint John I served for about three years as he leader of our Church. During his pontificate, the Arian heresy was widespread and was held by the emperor of Rome, although the accounts I have read have said the emperor was tolerant of orthodox Catholics.
In the east, rulers began to persecute Arians and Saint John I was forced by the emperor to try and calm the tensions in the east. Not much is known about these negotiations.
On his return, the emperor had Saint John I imprisoned since the emperor suspected he might be conspiring against his rule. He later died there. His body was transported back to Rome and is buried in Saint Peterās Basilica.
Tomorrow is the Solemnity of Pentecost and the end of the Easter season. At Mass, we will hear readings from Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13 or Galatians 5:16-25; and John 20:19-23. We will also hear the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, or the Come, Holy Spirit, sequence.
On Monday we begin the seventh week in Ordinary Time. In the Liturgy of the Hours, we will repeat Psalter Week III since we are returning back to the cycle during Ordinary Time. Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:
Monday, 20 May - Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church
Tuesday, 21 May - Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes and Companions, priest and martyrs (optional)
Wednesday, 22 May - Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, religious (optional)
Saturday, 25 May - Memorial of the Venerable Bede, priest and doctor (optional) or St. Gregory VII, pope (optional) or St. Mary Magdalene deāPazzi, virgin (optional) or Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary (optional)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
In the news:
Vatican issues new norms for investigating apparitions and other phenomena
This week, the Dicastery for the Doctrine published new norms and six new possible conclusions for apparitions and other phenomena. One of the new conclusions is establishing a nihil obstat on the message of the apparition which simply means there is nothing in it that contradicts Church teaching. Notably, however, it does not mean a local bishop has to rule on whether or not it actually happened. Cardinal Victor Manuel FernƔndez, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith held a press conference on Friday about the document (a notably more public and informative step than actions on other recent documents) and even touched on how the norms could affect the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje. You can read the document for yourself in English here.
Pope Francisā 60 Minutes interview airing this weekend
Pope Francis sat down for an interview with the CBS Evening Newsā Norah OāDonnell last month for the networkās flagship news magazine, 60 Minutes. In promos and highlights released by CBS News, Pope Francis appears to criticize āconservatives.ā Without laying judgment on Norah OāDonnell (Iāll leave that to the professional religion news critic Terry Mattingly), a better term for conservative might have been ārad trad.ā Pope Francis says a conservative is someone who āclings to something and does not want to see beyond that.ā Most of the conservatives I know are generally favorable of Pope Francis and are willing to look into their own hearts to see how they can change. Norah OāDonnell, for her part, said on Facebook this week she grew up Catholic and always dreamed of interviewing a pope. Lucky for her, she landed the first sit-down interview with an American television network. The interview airs tomorrow night at 7pm eastern on CBS and is streaming on Paramount+. There will also be a prime-time special on the Vatican Monday night at 10pm on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Above: A preview of the 60 Minutes interview with Pope Francis on the CBS Evening News in April.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa visits lone Catholic Church in Gaza
As the Israeli Defense Force continued its action in Rafa this week, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem visited Holy Family parish in Gaza for a pastoral visit. He said Mass at the church there. The Sovereign Order of Malta also traveled with the Cardinal as they work to bring food and medical aid to war-torn region. Previously, Cardinal Pizzaballa had offered himself up to Hamas in exchange for those kidnapped on October 7th.
Other headlines:
The false promise of keeping a loved one āaliveā with A.I. grief bots - America Magazine
Letās debate
Much was made on X and other Catholic websites this week about an NFL playerās commencement address at Benedictine University. To be totally honest with you, I donāt care about it. It was a speech that appeared to be rad trad adjacent and likely appealed to the populace of the school.
What interested me more was the break from the usual norm, this week, in presidential debates. On Wednesday, it was announced that there would be three debates held without the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump agreed to debate on CNN in June and ABC News in September. There is also a discussion in the works about a vice presidential debate.
Notably, these debates will not have audiences. They will be conducted in a TV studio with just the candidates, the moderators, and the crew. I think this is a plus. Though they might try, the candidates will be unable to try and outdo each other in applause lines. Instead, those attempts will fall into awkward silences. There is a sliver of hope in me that there might even be some policy discussed.
As the two campaigns prepare for these debates, I think it is important to remind both myself and you of the importance of civility in our election cycle. Earlier this week a House Oversight hearing devolved into name calling and attacks on one anotherās appearances:
Now, when this happens in the British House of Commons, at least you have to stand up out of your chair and address your opponent. But I digress.
Letās remind ourselves of St. Paulās instructions to the Church in Ephesus:
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29-32)
When we go to debate others or, as Pope Francis says, partake in āgenuine dialogue,ā we must remember the purpose of our engagement. Is it to āownā the other person for clicks and headlines? Or is it to discuss the best way to move forward with those with whom we disagree?
Unfortunately, our televised political debates have become more of the former. But we, the faithful on the ground, can be part of the latter.
I do not doubt that we all live with or are friends with someone with whom we disagree. Rather than avoiding tough conversations about the best way to live our lives, we ought to engage with one another.
On the political level, we certainly have some hard lines (ie. the right to live, the definition of marriage, rights for the poor, etc), but that doesnāt mean that we canāt discuss the best way to move forward or develop compromises that provide paths forward.
Even the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (fka the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) published under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) a guidance that said individuals could support measures that limited the harm done by legislative evils, while at the same time did not outlaw them due to the impossibility of outlawing them. In other words, less abortions is better than more abortions.
I hope that the new rules set by the news networks will allow for some civility in the debates this summer. I likely hope in vain, but I hope nonetheless.
Have a good weekend.
Matthew
Copyright notices:
Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Ā© 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.