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Kennedy Abortion Flap Shows Catholic Rift Bishop Thomas Tobin on Sunday said he made the request because of the Democratic lawmaker's support for abortion rights. The news prompted debate among Catholics around the country and within the bishop's flock in the nation's most Catholic state about whether it was right for Tobin to publicly shame Kennedy for breaking with the church on what its leaders consider a paramount moral issue. Angel Madera, 20, a Marine visiting his home in Providence for Thanksgiving, said before attending Sunday evening Mass that Tobin was wrong to assail Kennedy's faith. "If they believe they're a true Catholic, who's to say that they're not?" he said. Others, like Kay Willis, of "If you're going to be a Catholic, be a Catholic," she said. The fight began escalating shortly after the death of Kennedy's father, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Tobin told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday that he's praying for the younger Kennedy, who has been in and out of treatment for substance abuse, and said Kennedy has been acting "erratically." "He attacked the church, he attacked the position of the church on health care, on abortion, on funding," Tobin said. "And that required that I respond. I don't go out looking for these guys. I don't go out picking these fights." Their dispute began in October when Kennedy criticized Catholic bishops for threatening to oppose an overhaul of the nation's health care system unless lawmakers included tighter restrictions on abortion, which have since been added to the House version of the bill. Tobin said he felt Kennedy made an unprovoked attack on the church and demanded an apology. Since then, their feud has played out in public. Tobin, who has said he might have gone into politics were he not ordained, has written sharp public letters questioning Kennedy's faith and saying his position is scandalous and unacceptable to the church. Kennedy has said his disagreement with the church hierarchy does not make him any less of a Catholic. Two weeks ago, after a planned meeting between the two fell through, Kennedy said he wanted to stop discussing his faith in public. But then he told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Tobin instructed him not to receive Communion. He also claimed the bishop had told diocesan priests not to give him Communion. Kennedy and his spokespeople did not return repeated requests from the AP seeking comment. Tobin said he wrote to Kennedy in February 2007 asking him not to receive Communion, but never formally banned Kennedy from receiving Communion or instructed any priest not to give it to him. Kennedy said this month that he receives Communion, but he did not say whether his priest is in the Diocese of Providence. Tobin only has authority over priests in The bishop said he would probably not personally give Kennedy Communion and might have "a little conversation" with any priest who regularly gave Kennedy the sacrament. Tobin would not say Sunday whether he had sent similar letters to other pro-choice Catholic politicians, including Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. Reed said in a statement that he respected Tobin's authority on matters of faith but added that "any discussions we've had are between the two of us." Catholics nationally have been spit over the issue. Michael Sean Winters, author of "Left At The Altar: How the Democrats Lost the Catholics and How the Catholics Can Save the Democrats," said he found the public dispute unseemly, even though he opposes abortion and thinks Kennedy is wrong. He said bishops are not making appropriate distinctions when penalizing people over abortion. There's "a difference between being an abortion doctor, procuring an abortion for yourself or your spouse and saying, 'I don't think abortion should be illegal,"' he said. Abortion is a major concern for the Catholic bishops because opposition to the procedure is based on the church's earliest teachings on preserving human life, which have not changed. By comparison, church teaching on the death penalty is not as definitive and has changed over time, making it difficult for church leaders to demand that Catholic lawmakers agree. A small number of prelates have publicly asked a Catholic politician to voluntarily abstain from the sacrament. Mark Silk, director of the "There's real disagreement as far as anybody can tell among the bishops, but they don't like to publicly criticize each other," Silk said. Other Catholic politicians have wrestled with the same issue Kennedy faces. In 1984, former Democratic New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, a Catholic who supported abortion rights and was at the time a potential presidential candidate, delivered a speech at the University of Notre Dame explaining that Catholic lawmakers shouldn't be pressured by church leaders to work for anti-abortion legislation. He said Sunday it's dangerous for the church to pressure politicians because of the potential for unintended consequences. "If you're required (by the church) to make everybody follow your Catholic role, then nobody would vote for Catholics because it's clear that when you get the authority, you're going to be guided by your faith," the former governor told the AP.
"Other Churches Are No Sisters of Ours, the Vatican Insists" The Vatican has decreed that the Catholic Church is the "mother of all churches" and banned the term "sister churches" to describe other denominations, in two new documents that could harm Vatican efforts towards unity with other believers. In a letter to bishops worldwide on Saturday, Pope John Paul II's chief theological adviser, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, said it was incorrect to call Christian churches, ranging from Protestant to Orthodox, "sister churches" of the Catholic Church. The Cardinal said the term was "sloppy terminology" and could not be used to describe Christian communities that were not actually in communion with Rome. "It must be always clear that the one, holy, catholic and apostolic universal church is not the sister, but the mother of all the churches," the cardinal said. "It's evident that it would go against the faith to consider the [Catholic] church as 'one' way of salvation 'alongside' those represented by other religions." A second document by the cardinal, which will be published tomorrow, says the term "church" may be applied to Orthodox churches, which broke away from Rome 1,000 years ago, but not to those that broke away at the time of the Protestant Reformation, because they are not "churches in the proper sense". The phrase "sister church" is already widely used in dialogue aimed at fostering closer ties among Christians of other denominations – one of the Pope's main goals in Christianity's third millennium. However, the cardinal's ban has the 80-year-old pontiff's approval. The ban is expected to arouse strong criticism among churchmen, both Catholic and Protestant, working for
Pope in Historic Plea to Pardon Church Sins VATICAN CITY, March 12 (Reuters) - In one of the most significant acts of his papacy, Pope John Paul asked forgiveness on Sunday for the many past sins of his Church, including its treatment of Jews, heretics, women and native peoples. It was the first time in the history of the Catholic Church that one of its leaders has sought such a sweeping pardon. Wearing the purple vestments of Lenten mourning and speaking at the heart of Catholicism in St Peter's Basilica, the Pope and his top cardinals listed the many past sins of their Church, grouped into seven categories. ``We forgive and we ask for forgiveness,'' the Pope said in his homily during the unprecedented ceremony, held on the Catholic Church's ``Day of Forgiveness'' for the 2000 Holy Year. There was great curosity before the ceremony about how specific the Pope would be when speaking of the Jews. The prayer for forgiveness for sins against Jews, which was read by Cardinal Edward Cassidy, said in part: ``Let us pray that, in recalling the sufferings endured by the people of Israel throughout history, Christians will acknowledge the sins committed by not a few of their number against the people of the Covenant....'' The Pope then added in his own words: ``We are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours (the Jews) to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant.'' There was no specific reference to the Holocaust, in which the Nazis killed some six million Jews. Last week Italian Jews called on the Pope, who visits Jerusalem later this month, to be as specific as possible about the Holocaust during Sunday's mass. But Rabbi David Rosen, head of the Jerusalem office of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, said expectations that the Pope would say more were perhaps ``a little unrealistic.'' Rosen, a prominent figure in Catholic-Jewish relations, told Reuters the inclusion of a request for forgiveness from Jews in a Roman Catholic liturgy in St Peter's was ``a significant step.'' In a major document in 1998, the Vatican apologised for Catholics who had failed to help Jews against Nazi persecution and acknowledged centuries of preaching of contempt for Jews. A DIRTY LAUNDRY LIST OF SINS ``We ask forgiveness for the divisions among Christians, for the use of violence that some Christians used in the service of the truth and for the behaviour of diffidence and hostility sometimes used towards followers of other religions,'' the Pope said in his homily before the prayers. The words ``violence in the service of truth'' is a much-used reference to the treatment of heretics during the Inquisition, the Crusades, and forced conversions of native peoples. ``For the role that each one of us has had, with his behaviour, in these evils, contributing to a disfigurement of the face of the Church, we humbly ask forgiveness,'' he said. The seven categories of forgiveness were general sins, sins in the service of truth, sins against Christian unity, against the Jews, against respect for love, peace and cultures, against the dignity of women and minorities, and against human rights. There was no reference to homosexuals, who had asked to be included in the list of those asked for forgiveness. The prayer for forgiveness from women and minorities said Christians had been ``guilty of attitudes of rejection and exclusion, consenting to acts of discrimination on the basis of racial and ethnic differences.'' The prayer for forgiveness for human rights abuses said Christians had not recognised Christ in the poor, the persecuted and imprisoned and had too often committed ``acts of injustice by trusting in wealth and power.'' Referring to abortion, he said Christians had not defended the defenceless ``especially in the first stages of life.'' The Pope said Christians had ``violated the rights of ethnic groups and peoples and shown contempt for their cultures and religious traditions.'' A prayer mentioned sins against gypsies. The Pope has said often that Catholics should see the start of the millennium as an ideal opportunity to seek forgiveness for past sins, including those of the Church as a community. He has called this a necessary ``purification of memory'' in order for the Church to move forward. The Pope also said Christians were ready to forgive others for the abuse suffered by Christians over the centuries. 06:28 03-12-00
"Catholics Teach Evolution" Free of the constitutional restrictions that bind public schools, Catholic schools can teach the theory of evolution as a process directed by God, says a local Catholic education official. "We don't see the Bible or sacred Scriptures as really a literal account of what occurred," said the Rev. Kris Stubna, secretariat of education for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. "The Catholic Church never believed that Scriptures are a word-by-word account dictated by God." "Secondly, I think the Church has always said that there is never any contradiction between faith and science. We would see them as both supporting each other," Stubna said. In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared that evolution did not contradict Catholic doctrine. His position was reaffirmed by Pope John Paul II in a 1996 letter to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. "It is, indeed, remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers after a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge," John Paul II wrote. "The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory." Teachers in diocesan schools do not divorce science from faith, Stubna said. "God may very well have chosen to create the world through the process of evolution, but there reaches a point where God intervenes in that process because there is a difference between spiritual things and material things," he said.. "At a certain point in time, when human beings were created, the power of God intervened, because we have to talk about the human soul, the human spirit, because that could not have come about through evolution," Stubna said. Such talk likely never will be permitted in a public school classroom. But that doesn't mean religion should have no place there, said Rebecca Denova, professor of religious studies at the University of Pittsburgh and Bethany College in West Virginia. "I think it's a valuable part of any school system. It doesn't mean validating anybody's faith or anyone's belief," Denova said. Schools should at least teach students the role that religion has played in the cultural and social history of civilization, Denova said. Religious texts can teach about the people who wrote them and the cultures that followed them. "When you study Genesis, what can we discover about them (the writers)? Why did they describe the world the way they did? That's the most and probably the best that we can get out of it," Denova said. "There are reasons for why they wrote it the way they did, and they're not right or wrong. And what students can learn is that every generation can put it into a new framework."
House Speaker Appoints Catholic Priest as Chaplain WASHINGTON, March 24(RNS)--House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., appointed a Catholic priest from Chicago as the new House chaplain Thursday, simultaneously making House history and attempting to end a months-long controversy on Capitol Hill. The Rev. Daniel Coughlin, vicar for priests of the Chicago archdiocese, was sworn in on the House floor shortly after Hastert announced his decision. "Daniel Coughlin is a Catholic," Hastert said on the House floor. "That does not make him more nor less qualified for the job. But I am proud of his historic appointment. And I hope his appointment will help us heal." Coughlin, 65, succeeds the Rev. James D.Ford, a Lutheran who retired after serving in the post since 1979. Coughlin is the first Catholic House chaplain. Coughlin has served on numerous committees dealing with prayer, spirituality and liturgical renewal and contributed to a document produced by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops called "The Spiritual Renewal of the American Priesthood." The Rev. Charles Wright, a Presbyterian Church (USA) minister who was the previous nominee for the position, wrote a letter to Hastert Wednesday "regrettably" withdrawing his name from the process. "In these weeks following my appointment, anti-religious charges of the selection process caused dissension among the members and wounds between Catholics and other people of faith across our nation," Wright wrote. "I humbly ask that members put aside any misuse of religion for political advantage." Hastert, in lengthy remarks on the floor, voiced his anger at the charges by some that Wright's selection as a nominee over Catholic priest Timothy O'Brien reflected anti-Catholic bias. He said he waited four months hoping that Wright could be given an affirmative vote by the House. "Sadly, it has become clear to me that the minority will never support Charles Wright to be the House chaplain," Hastert said. "Instead of hearing the positive voice of a godly and caring man, the only voices we hear are whispered hints in dark places that his selection is the result of anti-Catholic bias." House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt said on the House floor that he had not leveled charges of bias. "I have never said, and never believed, that there was bias of any kind in the making of this selection," he said. "We will do everything in our power to welcome this new chaplain and to make his service here a positive force for every member of this body." Rep. Tom Bliley, R-Va., co-chairman of the bipartisan chaplain selection committee that forwarded three names to the House leadership, reiterated to House members that he and co-chairman Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., had presented three "unranked" names for House leaders to consider. The names were O'Brien, Wright and the Rev. Robert Dvorak, a Connecticut-based leader of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The list was forwarded to Hastert, Gephardt and Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas. "Earl and I both said we personally thought that Father O'Brien was the best but...the committee clearly intended that the decision be made by the three leaders without any bias," he said. The committee's report showed a "final tally" of six semi-finalists with O'Brien receiving the most votes--14--and Wright getting the third-highest number--9.5. Friday, observers from a variety of circles commended Hastert for defusing the House chaplain controversy. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which had issued more than a dozen statements questioning why Wright was chosen over O'Brien, was among those welcoming the decision. "We raised many questions about the treatment of Father Timothy O'Brien in the selection process and were dismayed by the way the Republicans handled this matter," said Catholic League President William Donohue. "But we have no interest in fighting this fight any longer and we commend House Speaker Dennis Hastert for bringing this chapter to an end." Prison Fellowship Chairman Chuck Colson, a former Nixon aide who has been active in building relations between evangelical Protestants and Catholics, also issued a statement congratulating Hastert. "Considering the intense and emotional rhetoric from detractors, the speaker's decision reflects well on the House and its leaders, and helps to defuse attempts from many quarters to divide the nation on the basis of religion," Colson wrote. Al Menendez, associate director of Americans for Religious Liberty, told Religion News Service his organization is "delighted" that the House has broken a long tradition of solely having Protestants in the post, but still questions the need for a chaplain to serve members of Congress. "The whole process needs to be examined at some time in our national history," said Menendez, whose organization supports the separation of church and state. "ARL still believes that there's no constitutional requirement for there to be a paid House or Senate chaplaincy, but there is a constitutional requirement that the position should be chosen without reference to religious bias." Hastert defended the position in his statement on the House floor, saying the chaplain's prayers offered each day that Congress is in session are "a peaceful refuge" from partisan battles. "I think to lose the Office of the Chaplain would be a grave mistake," Hastert said. Coughlin begins work Monday and will be up for re-election at the beginning of the next session of Congress in January. John Feehery, Hastert's spokesman, said he expects Coughlin--who learned of Hastert's plans to appoint him on the same day he became chaplain--to remain in the post "until he doesn't want it anymore."
"Institute for Catholic Studies to Focus on Church, Its Culture." A group of Catholic scholars yesterday announced the founding of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, an independent venture that comes as the Vatican is urging more supervision over teaching in the name of the church. While the nation has advanced institutes of physics, social science, humanities & government, " What is conspicuously lacking is a center focused on religion," Catholic scholar John T. Noonan Jr., a law professor at the University of California at Berkley, said in announcing the new project. " Embracing so many times & places & conflicts & minds, Catholicism is a field in itself," he said in a speech at Harvard. The institute, which is being compared to the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington & the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton, like them will be governed by an independent board & separate from any university. The Catholic institute so far has a $10 million grant from an unnamed Catholic foundation in Europe, & has begun raising $60 million to open a residential facility. The list of locations has been narrowed to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Princeton, N.J., & Washington. When opened, the center will sponsor annual fellowships for 20 to 25 Catholic academics to do advanced research on the church & church culture. Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati, a former president of the U.S. bishops, endorsed the institute this week in his diocesan newspaper, particularly its proposal to include Masses, retreats & spiritual direction as part of the scholars' stay. " This will be still another assurance of maintaining the authentic Catholic identity of the Institute," the archbishop said. The center has been promoted by several scholars & officers in Catholic higher education & secular academia, & comes at a time when the Vatican, the U.S. bishops & Catholic campuses have debated the best ways to preserve an " authentic Catholic identity." That goal was set forth in Pope John Paul II's 1990 "Ex Corde Ecclesia." Last fall, the bishops adopted a way to implement it by, among other things, having theologians get a "mandate" from the bishops.
In recent years, backers of the Vatican's more conservative theological emphasis has set up such centers as the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage & Family & the John Paul II Cultural Center, both in Washington, where a think tank of scholars will be selected by a board of bishops. The conservative National Catholic Register Newspaper has said the new institute will be too independent from bishops & is an end-run around the restriction of "Ex Corde Ecclesia." Supporters, however, say it is squarely in the pope's vision of Catholic scholarship. A number of hierarchic figures have been extremely enthusiastic about getting this off the ground," said Monika Hellwig, a theologian & executive director of the Association of Catholic Colleges & Universities. She said Pope John Paul II has called for "centers of scholarship that can really confront the culture & make some canny assessments of whether it is moving toward, of away from the reign of God. He wants Catholic scholarship on par with the best." In his talk, Mr. Noonan said academics who are Catholics are sympathetic to the church but "have also the belief that the greatest ally is truth, & that where truth is found, they are completely bound by it's demands." Bishops Vote to Boost Authority Over Colleges ASHINGTON - Bucking warnings that it would create disaster for the church and dissent on campuses, the nation's Catholic bishops yesterday overwhelmingly approved a landmark document tightening their authority over the 236 Catholic colleges in the United States. Known as ''Ex Corde Ecclesiae,'' the document had been a decade in the making and was revised several times up until minutes before the final vote, as the bishops tried to respond to an outcry from college presidents and colleagues who said the provisions are so stringent that schools might abandon their Catholic identity. The document's most hotly debated ordinance gives the bishops the power to decide who is fit to teach Catholic theology. In voting for the document yesterday, the bishops were reacting to vigorous pressure from the Vatican, which had rejected an earlier version of the document as not strong enough. But after a year of intense controversy between them and the schools, the bishops tried yesterday to recast themselves as kindly friends, rather than overbearing parents. ''I would say to the Catholic colleges: `You have nothing to fear from us as bishops. You have nothing to fear from the church. You have nothing to fear from the implementation of `Ex Corde Ecclesiae,''' said Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles. ''On the contrary, this is a new moment of collaboration. This is an exciting new moment for the future common goal: to bring the presence and the power of Jesus Christ to a new generation of students, to help all of us to be an influence on the culture, the society we live in.'' Still, some bishops and academics worried aloud in impassioned speeches that the new rules would embolden right-wing groups to target unconventional professors, bishops, and schools in a ''destructive vigilantism.'' ''There is tremendous unrest in my heart passing this,'' said Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland of Milwaukee. ''Passing this document now will create a tremendous pastoral disaster in the United States. To move ahead now and say [to the Catholic colleges and universities], `You've got to collaborate,' they'll be extremely defensive. They'll be divided among themselves. ... There's so much distrust of us, I feel this is the wrong moment to pass this. It will only lead to a lot of public bickering, public disputes, where the church can only be harmed.'' The Vatican is expected to approve the new provisions within the next six months, and the new rules could take effect a year from then. The document came primarily out of concern about more well-known Catholic schools that have grown into more national universities, such as Georgetown, Boston College, and Notre Dame. As they have done so, they have raised more money and attracted a far more diverse faculty and student body - and, the Vatican and many bishops feared, diluted their Catholic identity. ''We cannot ignore the history of institutions of higher learning that were founded in the Protestant faith that are now secular,'' said Cardinal Bernard F. Law, archbishop of Boston. ''We are at a new moment in Catholic higher education, a moment molded by the challenges posed by a culture that is aggressively secular. `Ex Corde' is a great gift to the Catholic colleges and to bishops, as we come to live our relationship, a relationship I, as a bishop, and perhaps others, have not fully appreciated.'' Bishops and college presidents who opposed the document are most worried about its requirement that Catholic theology professors seek a mandate from the local bishop, a sort of seal of approval that what they are teaching is approved Catholic doctrine. The critics say this contradicts the essential nature of institutions founded on academic inquiry and free thought. Other provisions ask that a majority of college trustees and faculty be faithful Catholics and require presidents of Catholic schools to not only be Catholic, but to take an oath of fidelity to the church. The document approved yesterday was instantly praised by Catholics United for the Faith and other conservative groups. But critics noted that the document was passed with more dissent than other votes taken at the bishops annual conference here: 233 bishops supporting it and 31 rejecting it, compared with fewer than 10 dissents on other issues. Observers who opposed the new rules said the church was wrongly blaming the universities for the number of young Catholics straying from their faith. The new strictness, they said, will only alienate young people even more. Many Catholic college presidents shun secularzation, but said the rules are too specific. Some bishops agreed yesterday. ''The angst I've heard in letters, which I continue to get today, is: `Are we going to be Big Brother? Are we going to have solutions to everything?''' said Archbishop Elden Curtiss of Omaha. ''We don't want to.'' Bishops who opposed the document said that schools had already begun considering ways to strengthen their religious identity, that their Catholic identity has become a way for colleges to distinguish themselves from other colleges. The new rules are a vote of no-confidence and unnecessary, they said. ''While we can use the Protestant universities as a wake-up call, we have the wisdom tradition, we have great resiliency in the Catholic Church,'' said Bishop John M. D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, whose diocese includes Notre Dame. ''We're not afraid of modernity. We can handle it, with faith seeking understanding. We don't have to go down that road.'' ''Ex Corde Ecclesiae,'' which translated means ''from the heart of the church,'' was originally issued by the Vatican in 1990. Bishops' conferences around the world were asked to adapt it to the tradition of higher education in their regions. But with most of the world's Catholic colleges located in the United States, bishops elsewhere have been waiting for the conference to vote on its norms before they decide how theirs will look. The US conference approved its first document by a vote of 226-4 in 1996, but the Vatican sent it back, asking for stricter language safeguarding Catholic identity and outlining bishops' supervision over schools. The document approved yesterday had been softened somewhat. The provision on trustees and faculty had been qualified to say they should be faithful Catholics ''to the extent possible.'' And Bishop John Leibrecht, the head of the committee that wrote the document, insisted that while the bishops could authorize professors to teach theology, decisions about hiring and firing would be up to the university. ''The bishops really are not interested in discipline,'' he said. ''Are there dangers? Sure there are. Can we work it out? I'm confident we can.'' This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 11/18/99. "Spirited Movement on Rise" ALTHAM - Two red signs on either side of a giant cross at the Espousal Retreat House here shout ''MORE'' and ''DEEPER,'' amplifying what the Rev. Tom DiLorenzo and the adherents who flock to his twice-weekly worship services want most out of their faith. On a recent Wednesday night, about 150 people danced to the strains of a guitar, chanting rhythmically. Some lifted their arms toward heaven, others shook tambourines. Hours later most lay on the ground, ''slain in the spirit.'' Some spoke in tongues. A few cackled or giggled uncontrollably. Others said they saw visions. This style of worship, with its extreme emotions and supernatural elements, is part and parcel of the Pentecostal movement that has swept the globe in the past century. DiLorenzo, however, is a Catholic priest. Most of his adherents are Catholics who travel from across New England for what they call a life-changing spiritual experience. While charismatic worship, as it is known, is far from the mainstream of the Roman Catholic Church, its popularity has been snowballing worldwide. In Latin America, it offers hope of competition against the explosion of Pentecostalism. In the United States, it draws individuals who find traditional Catholic liturgy dry and passive. Across the country between 250,000 and 500,000 Catholics call themselves active charismatics, according to Walter Matthews, director of the national service committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Locust Grove, Va. Thirty years ago, almost no one did. DiLorenzo is convinced it is the beginning of a movement that will transform modern society. ''I feel that we are at the foothills of revival,'' said DiLorenzo, administrator of Holy Rosary Church in Winthrop. ''Something's happening that's never happened before. There's greater ease, greater joy, greater healing.'' In the Archdiocese of Boston, about 55 English-speaking charismatic groups meet regularly, according to David Thorp of the archdiocese's office of charismatic renewal services. There are also some three dozen Spanish-speaking groups, a handful of Haitian groups, and at least one Portuguese group, he said. (Unlike DiLorenzo's group, most are organized by lay people rather than priests.) Anne Marie Kent, who works in public relations at a local university, spends all week looking forward to DiLorenzo's Wednesday night services. ''A lot of healing comes from being in the presence of the Lord,'' said Kent, the mother of a 4- year-old. ''I feel it. It's not an intellectual thing. And it's changed my life.'' Charismatic worship ''may be very helpful to people who need to be more expressive,'' said the Rev. Joseph Nolan, a Boston College theology professor who teaches Catholicism. ''We need more of that in our parishes. We could use a little more expressive joy.'' The Roman Catholic ''charismatic renewal'' officially began in the United States in 1967 with retreats and conferences. While such practices as speaking in tongues and ''baptism in the spirit'' strike many Catholics as odd, they are derived from the New Testament and enjoy a stamp of approval from church leaders. Every US archdiocese has a liaison to charismatic groups. In 1997, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a report stating that charismatic renewal has brought alienated Catholics back to the church, inspired men to become priests, and encouraged religious commitment among young people. DiLorenzo said his charismatic services are just another form of Catholic worship, no better than Sunday Mass or Bible study. What they add to more traditional prayer, he said, is inspiration to people seeking participatory religion or those moved by what they believe are supernatural experiences. Past midnight at one recent service, after five hours of exuberant prayer, worshipers gathered under a reading light to exclaim over the gold-colored dust they believe God sprinkled on the hands of a few worshipers. They told of smelling roses when there were no roses, of hearing flutes when there were no flutes. And, DiLorenzo said, he sensed that a worshiper's injured knee had been healed. (He believes his services have also cured broken bones and even cancer.) ''It's not about the gold, it's not even about healing,'' DiLorenzo said. ''God casts out a net. People might come to see the gold, and the Lord touches their heart and changes their whole life.'' There are, of course, skeptics. Even as Nolan says singing and dancing can be powerful forms of prayer, he scoffs at the notion of gold dust. He adds that the physical healing of ailments has been extremely rare in Catholic history. Moreover, Nolan does not believe it is God who causes worshipers to buckle and fall to the ground, ''slain in the spirit,'' when DiLorenzo lays his hands on their heads. ''I consider that an emotional overload,'' Nolan said. ''You do strange things when you're in an emotional state.'' Underlying charismatic worship is a belief that God has a physical presence that lay people can experience directly. DiLorenzo's adherents say that presence has transformed them. Kent, 32, of Braintree, says she has spent years grieving over a difficult childhood and an absent father. Neither faith nor conventional therapy helped her the way DiLorenzo's style of prayer did. When she started attending two years ago, she often cried through the service. Now she dances joyfully for hours. ''It's a wonderful feeling of just immense love,'' Kent said. ''Catholics don't realize what they have. They don't realize that there's more.'' DiLorenzo has been leading charismatic prayer for about four years, since his ''lifeless'' Bible study group began experimenting, hoping for divine inspiration. It's grown from just a few people to a few hundred who go to Holy Rosary on Sunday nights or the Espousal Retreat House on Wednesday. He is proud to have attracted worshipers of all ages, saying the church especially needs young men. One is Craig Johnson, 23, of Norton. Johnson, a fan of the bands Phish and the Grateful Dead before he became religious, is now considering the priesthood. For him, ''crying out and speaking in tongues is a way of expression, pouring out my heart in a way that goes beyond words.'' Charismatic worship has cured Ellen O'Leary of her addiction to soap operas, she says, and inspired her to give up alcohol. She believes these self-improvements come from an openness to God not found in most church pews. ''Most church people are very rigid. They're not happy, They're closed up,'' said O'Leary, 58, of Bridgewater. And that, DiLorenzo says, is a shame. ''We are passionate. We have a passionate God,'' DiLorenzo said. ''You go to a basketball or hockey game and people are passionate. But if we're passionate in church they think we're out of our minds.'' And, the priest added: ''Spare me from being lukewarm!'' |
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