Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday, with a quotation from the Book of Wisdom.
. . . they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them . . . “
Synodality and Other Church News
There is gold in the synodality synthesis submitted and refined by the Church in Ireland. The challenges highlighted by the synodal process in Ireland and Scotland are described by the Tablet. It includes dynamite comments from Mary McAleese, the former Irish president, who described the document as “as explosive, life-altering, dogma-altering, Church-altering.” You will find so much of what the AUSCP has observed to be observed and reported in this document.
Closer to home, Louis J. Cameli, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago (whom we remember as the leader of a one-day retreat for an AUSCP Assembly) has reviewed synodal efforts in his diocese. Cameli is Cardinal Blase J. Cupich’s delegate for formation and mission, and his work is reported in America Magazine. (A subscription may be required to read the article.)
We congratulate Bishop Robert McElroy, who receives his Cardinal red hat in Rome this Saturday. The AUSCP will be with him in spirit, as he is with us! (Cardinal McElroy will welcome the AUSCP Assembly to San Diego in June 2023.)
An ironic note: The self-important sole proprietor of the Lepanto Institute who regularly complains about the values of the AUSCP has helped give the AUSCP some welcome recognition. A significant story in the Associated Press describes the new cardinal and provides a welcome news link between our association and the new cardinal favored by Pope Francis.
McElroy’s appointment was chronicled by National Catholic Reporter with its typical, comprehensive coverage. For example, back on June 30 NCR led off a list of good articles with an editorial “hoping Francis, the pope of surprises, keeps surprising us.”
The Vatican said Thursday that a preliminary church investigation into sexual assault allegations by a Canadian woman against a top cardinal, Marc Ouellet, has determined the case doesn’t warrant further investigation.
Congratulations to Cardinal Wilton Gregory (another Cardinal who welcomes the work of the AUSCP), has been named an honoree for this year’s Justice Reimagined Awards from Catholic Mobilizing Network, celebrating anti-death penalty advocacy. The event is scheduled for October 10 at the Vatican embassy in Washington DC.
Our older brothers and sisters
What is the future of Holocaust memory? Last week, Mosaic subscribers got to attend a screening of the newly restored 1984 documentary Kaddish, staring a very young Yossi Klein Halevi. After the screening, Yossi joined the writer for a brief conversation, looking to the time when there will be fewer and fewer living survivors. You can watch or read a transcript of our discussion here.
No sacramental confession for Latter-day Saints
An Arizona judge overseeing a high-profile lawsuit accusing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of conspiring to cover-up child sex abuse has ruled that the church may not refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under the state’s “clergy-penitent privilege.”
Politics – the new religion?
The Atlantic writer Helen Lewis, raised Catholic but now an atheist, says politics has raced in to fill both the good and bad bits of religion.
Formation and vows
Congratulations and best wishes to Shana Merrick, an African-American healthcare professional from Abilene, Texas, who was received into formation on August 15 with the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate, a historic congregation founded to serve African Americans in San Antonio.
Four members of the Sisters of the Holy Family professed vows in New Orleans August 15. They included a young African-American becoming a full member of the 185-year-old order of Black nuns. She is Sister Marie Elizabeth Jerry, a convert to the faith who entered full communion with the Church in 2011.
Remember your eschatology studies? Here is a new twist on that missing location: “Purgatory is a roomful of people arguing about the Latin Mass for a thousand years.”
Pagan Pride
Wiccans say they are being harassed by preachers, in a report from Religion News Service.
Facing the four last things
Thomas C. Cornell was commemorated in Commonweal. A colorful mandala by Commonweal and Catholic Worker artist Rita Corbin declared—and illustrated—“Pray, Study, Work for Peace & Justice.” Tom Cornell, who died on August 1, had done precisely that nearly every day of his eighty-eight years. (Subscription may be required.)
Happy 103rd Birthday to the Basketball Nun!
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, better known to March Madness fans simply as “Sister Jean,” is the inspiration behind a new set of bobbleheads from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. The organization released the new bobbleheads Friday, two days before the popular nun’s 103rd birthday.
Support Wisdom Wednesday
We hope you have enjoyed this roundup of recent news about faith, politics, and culture. We will return next week with another edition of Wisdom Wednesday.
If you’d like to support our continued work to bring you wisdom each week, please consider making a donation. Your support provides the breath that makes our voice heard in the U.S. and beyond.
The AUSCP is a 501c3 organization and your donation is tax-deductible.