Reasonably Catholic: Keeping the Faith

Listen to the episode about being Catholic at Wesleyan:

[Erin Chase, ’15, who restarted the Catholic Student Organization at Wesleyan University, shown here about to dig into “Brian’s Breakfast” at O’Rourke’s Diner in Middletown.

Christian Lalonde, Will Thomas, and Julian Theseira, members of the Catholic Student Organization.

The altar and cross are portable, brought in and out for Mass at Wesleyan’s nondenominational Memorial Chapel, which is dominated by an enormous pipe organ (but Erin plays guitar and, along with two friends, sings at Mass.) The Catholic Student Organization meets on Mondays at 9 p.m. in the Office of Religion and Spiritual Life.

And now, may I pass the basket?

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Judy and Dave Lorenz of Bowie, Maryland, lead CITI Ministries (Community is the Intent), which works toward the Catholic Church’s acceptance of married priests, in keeping with the Church’s own canon laws.

This is a link to a song Judy wrote on the subject, “Rebuild My Church”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf_nJXPeysM&list=UUGh3NQy-vs_6URZoWrMnZTw&index=1

Jack Wentland of Glastonbury, Connecticut, is a married priest who performs wedding ceremonies for couples who, for various reasons, cannot be married in the church.

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Caravaggio’s hot temper and propensity to wind up in drunken brawls didn’t stop him from creating some of the world’s most beautiful religious art.

From top: Ottavia Leoni’s ‘Drawing of the Portrait of Caravaggio’ (Florence, Biblioteca Marucelliana); St. Francis in Ecstasy by Caravaggio; exterior of the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford; at the doorway to the Caravaggio exhibit, up until June 16; University of Hartford’s Hillyer College art professor Fran Altvater, who serves as Reasonably Catholic‘s Sister Wendy on today’s episode.

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Passionist Father John Baptist Pesce of West Hartford, CT

In support of his point that the Church requires us to be guided by our conscience, Father John quotes former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger:

“Over the pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority there still stands one’s own conscience, which must be obeyed before all else, if necessary evern against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority. This emphasis on the individual, whose conscience confronts him with a supreme and ultimate tribunal, and one which in the last resort is beyond the claim of external social groups, even of the official Church, also establishes a principle in opposition to increaing totalitarianism. Genuine ecclesiastical obedience is distinguished from any totalitarian claim which cannot accept any ultimate obligation of this kind beyond the reach of its dominating will.”

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Three expert Vatican watchers weigh in on the future under our new pope:

Hofstra Prof. Phyllis Zagano, an expert in the history of women deacons, believes women may make some gains under our new pope.

She will be speaking at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 21, at St. Joseph College on Long Island on “Women in Ministry,” as part of the college’s Institute for the Study of Religion in Community Life’s “Vatican II — 50 Years Later” lecture series. For information, call 631-687-1496 or email S. Suzanne Franck at sfranck@sjcny.edu.

College of the Holy Cross Prof. Mat Schmalz hopes Francis’s papacy will bring together Franciscan and Jesuit approaches to spirituality.

 Nice face. Choice of name bodes well, perhaps. Request for silent prayer: a moving moment. Too soon to tell what’s ahead. We live in hope. Yes, Pope Francis, you are in our prayers!

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Dare we hope for a more progressive pontiff? Cardinals, pay attention! This is your moment to show your sensitivity to the movements of the Spirit!

To quote Abigail Adams’s 1776 letter to her husband John: “I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors….Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

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Dr. Nancy Cappello, champion of Connecticut legislation that has become a model for other states.

The law requires that women with “dense breasts” be told about it so they can opt for an ultrasound or MRI, which would be paid for by insurers. Tumors in dense breasts can go undetected by mammography. Forty-percent of women have dense breasts; they carry an increased risk of breast cancer, even more than having two first-degree relatives — a mother and a sister — with breast cancer.

Nancy, who grew up Catholic and now worships in an Assembly of God church, drew strength from her spirituality when, nine years ago, shortly after having had two “normal” mammograms, she was diagnosed with late-stage breast-cancer.

In our interview, Nancy mentions some favorite music, snippets of which punctuate the show:

Gregorian chant (from the CD Eternal Chant: An Overview of Gregorian Chant); a version of the song “Count Your Blessings,” by Amy Grant ; and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir singing at President Obama’s Second Inaugural.

Here are links to Nancy’s websites, http://www.areyoudense.org and http://www.areyoudenseadvocacy.org.