tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201055972010-04-01T14:57:02.767-04:00Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comBlogger242125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-82858418993885089622010-04-01T14:27:00.004-04:002010-04-01T14:57:02.778-04:00

Besides regularly updating my Roman Catholic Arch / Bishops of the USA page, I have recently been improving the layout of and links offered on the page. Now, for example, USA auxiliary bishops are found on the main bishop's page (instead of being posted separately), and a graphics summary of US vacant sees and overdue retirements is provided at the bottom. I hope folks find it useful.By the way,

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-79378968153558879572010-03-25T17:11:00.012-04:002010-03-27T19:10:35.865-04:00

Some who believe that Canon 915 is meant to be enforced might yet harbor reservations about actually barring from Communion this pro-abortion Catholic politician or that one, for fear of igniting endless debates about why one does not also bar that pro-abortion Catholic politician or this one. The prospect of being criticized for "imperfectly" applying the law might cause some prelates otherwise

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-19758948945576913492010-03-18T11:24:00.011-04:002010-03-18T16:30:17.405-04:00

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City KS (no stranger to doing the right thing under difficult circumstances) has called out Sister Carol Keehan, Chief Executive of the "Catholic Health Association" for providing "cover for any member of the House who chooses to buckle under the pressure of the President and the Democratic leadership to accept government funding of abortion". Keehan's

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-17191830096277497752010-03-17T09:46:00.003-04:002010-03-17T10:09:23.998-04:00

That the general law of abstinence from meat on Fridays (c. 1251) does not bind on "solemnities" (like the Solemnity of St. Joseph, per c. 1246.1 and the Gen. Norms for the Lit. Year and Calendar) is so obvious that few commentaries bother to say "If the Solemnity of St. Joseph falls on a Friday, even in Lent, one need not abstain from meat." Nevertheless, the exemption from abstinence on

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-60435762348623422912010-03-15T21:18:00.004-04:002010-03-15T21:25:35.102-04:00

Serious discussion of Canon 915 requires access to key documents on the law and awareness of the positions taken thereon by qualified commentators. I have developed a webpage for those who wish to understand, and perhaps contribute to, the discussions on the application of Canon 915 in the life of the Church. Materials include: Part One: Relevant Canons; Part Two: Official Statements on the Law;

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-10429404459547789322010-03-12T10:19:00.005-05:002010-03-12T10:31:10.905-05:00

Archbishops Dolan of New York and Listecki of Milwaukee recently came under fire for comments they made seeming to express reluctance to withhold holy Communion from Catholic politicians under various conditions. Particularly in open-forum comment boxes (always to be taken with shovel-fulls of salt, those!), there's a lot of sky-is-falling carping against the prelates for shirking their duties,

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-1194536910636444452010-03-10T15:22:00.006-05:002010-03-10T15:59:16.017-05:00

Outsiders -- like me -- should be very cautious in commenting on the recent move by Abp. Donald Wuerl to eliminate spousal benefits to future employees (lest, by providing such benefits in accord with DC's recent legalization of "same-sex marriage", the Archdiocese of Washington come across as endorsing such unions). Wuerl is a careful thinker (I say this notwithstanding my disagreements with

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-65921206985478159642010-03-06T10:35:00.004-05:002010-03-06T11:20:16.812-05:00

The always-thoughtful Msgr. Charles Pope asks whether we need a new word for "marriage". He deftly outlines how the word "marriage" has been gutted over the last generation or two, and proposes that we (presumably, Catholics) start pushing the phrase "holy matrimony" instead.It's an attractive idea, at first glance, but it stumbles pretty quickly, I fear.First, it's not Catholics who need to find

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-33991299627225395742010-03-05T15:53:00.007-05:002010-03-06T08:58:07.815-05:00

The Spanish parliament recently approved an expansion of that nation's legalization of abortion, and it is now hoping that King Juan Carlos will sign the measure. The complexities of Spanish civil law are beyond me (so I don't know exactly what the king's role in the government is), but I do know that any signature on a piece of paper that endorses the legitimization of abortion is an objectively

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-31115232669431234502010-02-10T12:30:00.010-05:002010-02-10T14:49:18.949-05:00

I have made the case that, in authorizing a needle-exchange program, Albany's Bishop Hubbard, et al., is formally* cooperating with the evil of drug abuse. As no man can judge his own cause, however, I must leave to others to decide whether I have made the case against the bishop's decision adequately.In the meantime, some who think that my arguments are correct (or that I have at least shifted

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-40836353324684166142010-02-02T02:42:00.047-05:002010-02-15T09:37:54.123-05:00

Formal cooperation in another's evil act (that is, undertaking to help expressly another to perform an act known to be evil) is itself evil. Davis, Moral and Pastoral Theology (1938), I: 341-342. There are no exceptions to this rule; no supervening circumstances can ever render formal cooperation in evil good.The use of [illegal] drugs "inflicts very grave damage on human health and life [and] .

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-88883662854858399372010-01-26T16:27:00.006-05:002010-01-26T20:19:05.392-05:00

Sooooooooo, the Women's Media Center, National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority, and other groups want to ban a commercial featuring Tim Tebow and his mother talking about the value of human life?I say . . . Go Girls, Go!Banning Tebow & Mom's spot will leave more time for sexually exploitative ads implying that women are basically bonus awards for guys drinking the right brand of

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-47345902670165257272010-01-26T14:10:00.004-05:002010-01-26T14:36:10.252-05:00

The intersections between canon and civil law in America are becoming ever busier and trickier to navigate. It's with real excitement, then, that I am giving Canon Law Blog readers a heads-up for a summer conference brimming with canonical and civil expertise.The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, WI, is hosting a Canon Law Conference for Canonists and Civil Attorneys on Tuesday and

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-43268409532348339432010-01-21T14:17:00.019-05:002010-01-22T09:43:10.094-05:00

Sometime in the year 1230, (St.) Raymond Penyafort began compiling the texts that would eventually comprise Pope Gregory IX's famous Quinque Libri Decretalium. Upon its promulgation in September of 1234 as the Church's first authentic collection of canon law (not yet a Code, but a binding collection nonetheless), the Liber Extra (as the QLD was also known) was the mechanism by which the canon law

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-37154569765821074972009-12-21T10:47:00.007-05:002009-12-21T12:08:07.536-05:00

The original press reports I saw on the HSPO statement of Dec 19 regarding the use of "figures" of the pope did not include a dicasterial attribution (besides the Press Office, of course) for the declaration, but a posting on the Vatican website confirms that it was the Secretariat of State. That answers one of my two main questions about the binding character of the assertion, and rather than

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-36066623869592337812009-12-19T13:52:00.006-05:002009-12-19T15:18:19.307-05:00

It would be nice to have Rev. Ciro Benedettini's actual words. He is the Vatican spokesman who is reported as asserting that Milingo's expulsion from the clerical state itself renders invalid any future ordinations the disgraced former archbishop might attempt. But, hmmm. What precedent is there for such a stance (well, later than St. Cyprian, anyway)?I asked day before yesterday whether anyone

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-28446129901205019882009-12-17T09:54:00.015-05:002009-12-19T15:00:58.138-05:00

Update: See also developments as of 19 December 2009, posted above.The bizarre antics of Abp. Emmanuel Milingo, suspended in 2001 for attempting marriage, and excommunicated in 2006 for ordaining to men to the episcopate without pontifical mandate, have finally resulted in his dismissal from the clerical state. This is unquestionably the right thing to do.The HSPO press release leaves only a few

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-33137831105582408732009-12-15T12:48:00.007-05:002009-12-15T13:56:39.668-05:00

Of the two changes to the 1983 Code announced today in ap. lit. Omnium in mentem, the second (that dealing with the obligation of canonical form for marriage) may be explained quickly.Ever since the 1983 Code, chiefly in Canon 1117, exempted Catholics from the requirement of observing canonical form if they had "formally defected" from the Church, there have been high-level grumblings against the

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-32947002927975995212009-11-22T12:22:00.015-05:002009-12-14T11:36:37.994-05:00

Updated Post: I read Bp. Tobin's statement released just a few minutes ago as saying that no new steps have been taken by Tobin in regard to reception of holy Communion by pro-abortion Democrat Patrick Kennedy, resident in Tobin's diocese. It appears, to the contrary, that Kennedy has -- God knoweth why -- parlayed Tobin's letter to him of February 2007, urging Kennedy to refrain from taking

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-81221848662406055912009-11-19T23:01:00.004-05:002009-11-19T23:29:32.298-05:00

As many of you know, I teach in the seminary and graduate programs at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, MI. Our Licentiate degree in Theology (STL), is affiliated with the Angelicum in Rome and specializes in the New Evangelization. It's an exciting program with (if I may so say) an amazing faculty and fascinating students from around the world.There is a new, short video (just under 9

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-60966367576811908682009-11-18T10:09:00.006-05:002009-11-18T10:34:49.816-05:00

In the December 2009 issue of the always terrific First Things, Dr. Robert George, responding (graciously and, I think, decisively) to several critics of his article "What marriage is, and what it isn't" (August-September 2009), writes: "When I lived in England in the 1980s, the Catholic Church came in for rather rough criticism by the British newspapers when a diocese declined to solemnize the

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-19085228570626741342009-11-10T19:23:00.003-05:002009-12-03T14:28:57.419-05:00

Patrick Kennedy (D) of Rhode Island has been for some time now a typical platitude-pandering, pro-abortion Catholic representative in the US House of Representatives.Well, I have just read Bp. Thomas Tobin's (Providence RI) open letter to Rep. Kennedy and all I can say is, Kennedy should thank the Good God that He sent him a bishop who cares enough about him to challenge him the way Tobin did.

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-113719899665960952009-11-05T17:21:00.005-05:002009-11-07T08:35:48.595-05:00

I got some good news today. My article, "The ordination of men bereft of speech and the celebration of sacraments in sign language", has been published in Studia Canonica 42 (2008) pp. 331-345. Here's hoping it proves useful.

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-34563807002843237822009-11-04T09:49:00.005-05:002009-11-04T11:55:57.486-05:00

I'd like to see us someday reach the point where arch/diocesan staffers learn to avoid speculating (at least in public) on canonical matters. These well-intentioned people rarely know anything about canon law, yet they frequently say things that muddy the waters for the rest of us, or are simply wrong. The recent comments on the Donna Quinn case made by Colleen Dolan, press secretary to Chicago's

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20105597.post-36145611552580167742009-11-03T10:59:00.009-05:002009-11-03T16:08:51.800-05:00

A few days ago the Holy See Press Office issued a note on whether married Anglican ministers coming into full communion would be required to observe celibacy if they sought Catholic holy orders. The statement clarifies that the obligation of celibacy for Western clerics remains in place (c. 277), but that individual exceptions to celibacy can be petitioned and granted. In other words, former

Dr. Edward Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18400623522845906237noreply@blogger.com