Denver Catholic

4 I OPINION JANUARY 22, 2014 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER GEORGE WEIGEL Accelerating Catholic reform Two recent books suggest that, amidst challenges and problems, the pace of authentic Catholic renewal is accelerating in these United States. Anne Hendershott and Christopher White's "Renewal" (Encounter Books) was nicely timed to coincide with Pope Francis's recently published comments on seminary reform. There, the pope stressed the imperative of integral formation, in which human development, spiritual growth, intellectual formation, and the development of pastoral skills mesh together in preparing the priests of the future. As Hendershott and White demonstrate, American seminaries, once deeply troubled by the confusions of the immediate post-Vatican II decades, are at the forefront of that renewal, in ways that might well be imitated by other countries in the West. The Long Lent of 2002, and the corruptions it exposed, made it clear that dumbing down seminary formation had had disastrous consequences for the Church's ministry and credibility. Not without difficulty, the bishops of the United States took seminary reform in hand. And today, rather than playing defense, American seminaries like Mundelein in Chicago are exploring how the Church might go on offense—not in an offensive way, but by developing new models of a 21st-century apologetics that invites disenchanted post-moderns to experience the divine mercy and come to know the truths to which that experience leads. As Hendershott and White show, the days of seminaries dominated by various forms of psychobabble are, in the main, over. Moreover, the recent increase in the number of applicants for priestly formation demonstrates both the enduring influence of John Paul II (who many 21st-century seminarians continue to identify as their role model) and the importance of a strong sense of Catholic identity in attracting and forming future pastors. That strong sense of Catholic identity will yield evangelical effectiveness if it is deepened by a man's immersion in the mystery of the Eucharist, in which the redemption wrought by the unique, salvific priesthood of Jesus Christ is extended through history sacramentally. Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, himself a reforming seminary rector when that was no easy thing, once remarked that "a man will give his life for a mystery, but not for a question mark." That is why, in the reformed American seminaries of the 21st-century, immersion in the eucharistic mystery, theological scholarship, pastoral skills, a strong sense of Catholic identity, and a commitment to evangelical mission go together. And that, Hendershott and White suggest, is true of U.S. Catholicism as a whole, especially in its pastoral leadership. Among the most effective priestly and episcopal leaders in U.S. Catholicism today, there is no antinomy between pastoral compassion and evangelical zeal, on the one hand, and robust Catholic identity, on the other. It's all of a piece. The growing ends of the Church in the United States are those that have grasped that truth and are living it in mission. Then there is Duncan Stroik's splendidly illustrated essay collection, "The Church Building as a Sacred Place: Beauty, Transcendence, and the Eternal" (Hillenbrand Books). The book's publisher takes its name from a pioneer of the Liturgical Movement in its classic period, Chicago's Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand. And it's altogether appropriate that a house named in Hillenbrand's honor should publish 23 reflections by one of the architects who is leading American Church architecture into a nobler future. If seminaries were in trouble in the immediate post-conciliar period, so was church design. Happily, the days of Pizza Hut "worship spaces" seem over. And in no small part that's because scholar-practitioners like Stroik have helped Catholicism rediscover how various classical approaches to architecture and decoration can suggest, through stone and glass and other worldly materials, something of the divine mystery at the center of Catholic worship. Beauty, Stroik knows, is a uniquely attractive path to the true and the good in a world confused about truth and goodness. Thus in the approach to church design and decoration taken by Stroik and those who share his convictions, the full richness of Catholic theology, not a spare modernism, informs the architect's vision—and the Church's worship. Identity and mission, as always, go together. BY PETER WESTHOFF Inspiring Catholic witness in Germany during Hitler's reign A quiz on Catholic things under the patronage of the "Doctor of Prayer," St. Teresa of Avila. For each question there is one right answer, but the answer for one question is "None of the Above." 1. Polish priest St. Maximillian Kolbe volunteered to die in a starvation bunker in Auschwitz in place of a married man with children. Instead of the usual screams from the agonized men in the bunker, those with Father Kolbe could be heard singing. A worker testified that the atmosphere in the bunker was that of a church with the prisoners often deep in prayer. What was the name of the husband and father whose life was spared by Father Kolbe's heroic sacrifice and who went on to live another 51 years? A. Bernhard Lichtenberg B. Franz Jagerstatter C. Franciszek Gajowniczek 4. Erich Klausener, president of Catholic Action in Germany, was shot to death in his office during a Nazi purge of political opponents and Nazi party members no longer deemed useful. What is this purge known as? A. Night of Long Knives B. Operation Purification C. Das Kirchenkauf 5. The number of clergy sent to Dachau death camp was 2,720. What percentage of the clergy LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Grateful for mail delivery of DCR Thank you so very, very much for going back to the mailing of the Denver Catholic Register. I had received just two copies from when I first realized I was no longer receiving it (July 2013) until now. Once I received it three weeks late, all soggy and buried in my bushes, and the second copy I received after complaining to the home delivery carrier. Never again. A friend was bringing me her copy when she would come to Saturday evening Mass and then I saw the notice (about the return to mail delivery)! I am so very grateful. I know it is more expensive and trust you will find the solution as I know the Lord does not want us to go without. Again, thank you very, very much. Patricia Pugh Thornton 1. C - The other two choices are both martyrs of the Nazi era and have been beatified. 2. B, 3. A - He was handcuffed during his time in prison, which meant that he was scheduled for execution. Here is a sample of what he wrote: "…God is on the way, but he has his own style, his own ways of coming … anyone who makes his salvation dependent upon his own personal tastes is a lost man." 4. A, 5. C - The number of clergy does not include seminarians. Catholic priests were sent to all the different death camps. 6. None of the Above - The title is "The Shadow of His Wings." 7. C THE CATHOLIC DIFFERENCE were Catholic priests housed in 2. Edith Stein, a Jewish intellecthe "priest bunker" where they tual, converted in part through were victims of especially brutal her reading of Teresa of Avila and treatment? became a Carmelite nun. She A. 15 percent once wrote, "Every time I feel my B. 40 percent powerlessness and inability to influence people directly, I become C. 95 percent more keenly aware of the neces6. What is the title of the book sity of my own holocaust." What that tells the remarkable story of was she doing when the Gestapo Father Gereon Goldman's priestly came to arrest her and her sister ministry within the Nazi army? Rosa to be taken to a gas chamber A. "The Swastika and the Cross" in Auschwitz? B. "The Bronze Serpent" A. baking bread in the convent "Within C. "Faithful Under Fire" kitchen concentration 7. All daily Catholic B. praying with the other camps there were newspapers in Germanuns in the chapel some resistance move- ny were shut down C. sleeping on her ments that were orga- over a two-year pestraw mattress in her nized. Father Kolbe showedriod from 1933-1935 cloistered cell the greatest resistance by because the editors 3. Jesuit Father Alfred staying human."—Guide refused to print the Delp was martyred by at Auschwitz propaganda that the the Nazis after imprisonNazis were demanding. ment and torture. He wrote What was the nature of the reflections on Advent on tiny slips propaganda at this time? of paper that were smuggled out A. anti-Semitic cartoons during his imprisonment. What B. promotion of the superiority of additional circumstance made the Aryan race the writing of the reflections even C. promotion of sterilization and more remarkable? euthanasia A. He was handcuffed while he wrote. B. He made his own ink from clay and water. C. He wrote in a number code that only his superior could translate. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters should be no more than 250 words and should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. We rely on our readers to recognize that the opinions expressed in letters to the editor are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Archdiocese of Denver. Letters containing plainly misstated facts, misinformation or libelous statements will not be printed. Unsigned letters will not be printed. Letters may be edited. Send letters to: Editor, Denver Catholic Register, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or fax to 303-7152045. E-mail us at: editor@archden.org. ARCHBISHOP AQUILA'S SCHEDULE Jan. 22: Mass at St. Patrick Church in Washington, D.C., for March for Life participants from Bishop Machebeuf High School (9 a.m.) Jan. 24: Mass of installation of new rector, Father Tobías Rodríguez , Redemptoris Mater Seminary chapel, JPII Center (5:30 p.m.) Jan. 25: Permanent diaconate ordination, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (10 a.m.) Jan. 26: Mass with Catholic Journalists and Media Professionals, Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (10:30 a.m.) OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS Rev. Timothy J. Evans, a priest of the Archdiocese of Denver, by decree of the Holy See is dismissed ex officio et pro bono Ecclesiae from the clerical state, released from all obligations of the sacred priesthood, including that of the clerical state. He is no longer an agent of the Archdiocese of Denver. Rev. Miljenko Pavkovic, released from pastoral duties in the Archdiocese of Denver so as to minister in the Diocese of San Andres Tuxtla, Tuxtla, Ver., Mexico, effective immediately, for a three-year period.

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