THE CATHOLIC THREAD

[Del]

+JMJ+

New blood stain analysis casts doubt on authenticity of Shroud of Turin

Interesting.

The Journal of Forensic Sciences is a respected, peer-reviewed scientific journal.

In the normal course of forensic analysis, the evidence is taken as real and the analysis attempts to reconstruct the events.

This experiment was different: They presumed that the cloth neatly wrapped a man, in supine posture, who had been tortured to death according to eye-witness accounts. In the real world, the hasty burial of a bloody corpse likely resulted in some smudge stains that obscured the trails of blood.

I trust that the researchers are not biased. I would like for them to examine the Shroud again as if it were real, and see if they can reconstruct the events of the burial from the blood evidence that remains.

[Thunktank]

+JMJ+

New blood stain analysis casts doubt on authenticity of Shroud of Turin

Interesting.

The Journal of Forensic Sciences is a respected, peer-reviewed scientific journal.

In the normal course of forensic analysis, the evidence is taken as real and the analysis attempts to reconstruct the events.

This experiment was different: They presumed that the cloth neatly wrapped a man, in supine posture, who had been tortured to death according to eye-witness accounts. In the real world, the hasty burial of a bloody corpse likely resulted in some smudge stains that obscured the trails of blood.

I trust that the researchers are not biased. I would like for them to examine the Shroud again as if it were real, and see if they can reconstruct the events of the burial from the blood evidence that remains.

I remain skeptical about it’s authenticity. I usually do about many relics. However, I don’t really want to make an issue of it. Even “fake” ones have proven beneficial for many people’s faith and real experiences of faith happen around them. Frankly, I wish churches would simply refuse to participate in the science of authenticity. It detracts from the whole blessing these relics are. Even the “fake” ones become authentic in their own way.

[Hovannes]

+JMJ+

New blood stain analysis casts doubt on authenticity of Shroud of Turin

Interesting.

The Journal of Forensic Sciences is a respected, peer-reviewed scientific journal.

In the normal course of forensic analysis, the evidence is taken as real and the analysis attempts to reconstruct the events.

This experiment was different: They presumed that the cloth neatly wrapped a man, in supine posture, who had been tortured to death according to eye-witness accounts. In the real world, the hasty burial of a bloody corpse likely resulted in some smudge stains that obscured the trails of blood.

I trust that the researchers are not biased. I would like for them to examine the Shroud again as if it were real, and see if they can reconstruct the events of the burial from the blood evidence that remains.

I remain skeptical about it’s authenticity. I usually do about many relics. However, I don’t really want to make an issue of it. Even “fake” ones have proven beneficial for many people’s faith and real experiences of faith happen around them. Frankly, I wish churches would simply refuse to participate in the science of authenticity. It detracts from the whole blessing these relics are. Even the “fake” ones become authentic in their own way.

Being skeptical is good!
In this case what isn't known is the condition of the corpus before being wrapped in the shroud---what position the corpus was in on the way to where it was wrapped and the extent of the hasty preparation (cleansing?) it was given. If the corpus had already bled out on the crucifix--which seems likely if the discharge from the spear wound went from blood to water as the Bible accounts--- it is possible there wouldn't be enough blood left to create the stain the article purports should have happened. Another unknown is how long the corpus was left enshrouded. If Christ had physically descended into hell before rising, I don't think he would have been enshrouded for the duration of the trip. The longer the time the corpus was in the shroud, the more the likelihood of blood pooling as the researchers described if there was enough blood remaining.

I'm not a forensic scientist but I have worked a few gruesome crime scenes.

[sweetandsour]

I agree with Thunktank. Scientific attempts of authentication are a moot exercise, however interesting. Like gazing at a work of art, looking at the shroud's image can bring much to mind, if only to help one recognize if not visualize the severity of the crucifixion, and the cost of redemption.

[wosbald]

+JMJ+

The strength of the Church in Gaza: living hope in the midst of chaos

A humanitarian crisis

“Little things you take for granted become huge challenges” Mr. El-Yousef noticed about the daily life of Gazans and said that he was struck by the deterioration of the humanitarian situation since his last visit. In Gaza, electricity runs for only three hours per day while hygienic situation is catastrophic and only 5% of the houses have access to running water. You sometimes have to wait half an hour for the water pump to restart to rinse your hair. As for watching a football match in one go, it is like reaching for the stars. Furthermore, the traces of Israeli bombing in summer 2014 are still present: many infrastructures were not rebuilt.

For some time now, the situation has worsened even more. Residents are running out of money because neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas are paying wages – or only part of it – for their lack of cash. Hospitals such as Al Ahli Arab Hospital are overwhelmed by the armed repression of demonstrations at the border: since the beginning of the “Great March of Return”, there has been more than a thousand Palestinian amputee cases. Israelis are reinforcing the blockade, banning the entry of new goods. In this desperate situation, tensions grow quickly, so does insecurity. Indeed, the lack of ability to make plans for the future leads to rising tensions. What will be the future? A brutal war, the continuation of the blockade or a slow deterioration of the situation? Unemployment also continues to rise. Affecting 55% of working people in the Strip and 70% of the young people, it is a social scourge that prevents young people from building their lives and starting a family that they will have to take care of. Christians, who endures the economic situation and the Gaza siege just as much as their fellow Muslims, also suffer from this blight.

Young, Christian and Gazan: it makes a lot

If there is indeed less and less Christians in Gaza – 138 Catholics out of 1000 Christians –, Graduates or even many young Christians are determined to stay with their families on their land. For them, the priority is economic stability and development. Qualified or even overqualified, after having graduated from prestigious universities, they struggle to find work in their field – increasing unemployment is the direct repercussion of the blockade. While many scholarships have enabled the emergence of a young skilled and educated generation, 90% of young people do not find a first job after leaving university. Furthermore, their condition as a Christian does not help them, quite the reverse.

[…]

Glimmers of hope in the chaos

The Christian presence somewhat softens the bitter reality. Although many Christians emigrated from the Strip, the Christian institutions remain. There are five Christian schools in the Gaza Strip, including three Catholic, that host 3000 students, including 170 Christians. The Missionaries of Charity serve the weakest, especially the disabled. The Latin Patriarchate keeps building and renovating in order to make the future possible. In the Latin School of the Holy Family, the inner courtyard and the playground are being renovated; the construction of a courtyard to shade the courtyard is forthcoming. The Missionaries of Charity have built a new building for elderly people and the Sisters of the Rosary are also expanding their premises.

[Hovannes]

Bishops attacked, Cathedral under siege
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/07/27 ... kdown.html

[Del]

Bishops attacked, Cathedral under siege
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/07/27 ... kdown.html

Have mercy, Lord.

[John-Boy]

+JMJ+
<snip>

Post removed. I don't see the relevance to the thread.

[wosbald]

+JMJ+

Indian Catholic leaders protest call to ban sacrament of reconciliation

(Credit: Didier Descouens/Wikimedia Commons.)

NEW DELHI, India — India’s Catholic Church has led a chorus of protest over a demand to ban the sacrament of reconciliation from the chairwoman of the National Commission for Women.

“This demand is absurd and it displays ignorance about the sacrament of confession,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, told Catholic News Service July 27.

“The tenor of the demand shows they do not understand the meaning nor do they have respect for religious freedom,” the cardinal said following wide media coverage of the July 26 demand from Rekha Sharma, commission chairwoman.

Sharma said that “priests pressure women into telling their secrets,” noting that the commission had heard testimony about one such case. “There must be many more such cases and what we have right now is just a tip of the iceberg,” she said in calling for the end of the Church practice of confessing sins.

[…]

The commission’s demand “betrays a total lack of understanding of the nature, meaning, sanctity and importance of this sacrament for our people; and also an ignorance of the strict laws of the Church to prevent any abuse,” Gracias said in a press statement July 27.

“Such a ban will be a direct infringement on our freedom of religion guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. … I am confident the government will totally ignore this absurd demand from the commission,” the cardinal said.

The cardinal urged the commission “to pay attention to empowerment of women, their capacity building, prevention of domestic violence, organizing rescue systems, and so on, instead of dabbling in religious matters about which it understands nothing.”

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council branded the commission’s call “unconstitutional.”

“It is an attack on the Christian faith and spiritual practice,” the council said. “We strongly feel that the recommendation is unwarranted. … We suspect communal and political motives behind this unconstitutional interference into the internal spiritual affairs of the Church.”

[…]

[wosbald]

+JMJ+

Priest attacked in church; assailant yells ‘This is for all the kids!’

(Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Creative Commons.)

MERRILLVILLE, Indiana — A Byzantine Catholic priest was attacked Aug. 20 in the altar servers’ sacristy of his church in Merrillville, near Gary in the northwestern part of the state.

The priest, Father Basil Hutsko, suffered a concussion in the attack at St. Michael Church, and was scheduled to undergo further tests to determine the extent of his injuries.

The attacker, who was still at large, jumped Hutsko from behind, according to Father Thomas Loya, director of the Respect Life Office for the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Parma, Ohio, and a member of the eparchy’s presbyteral council.

In a Facebook posting after the attack, Loya said, “The attacker choked him and slammed his head to the ground. Father Basil lost consciousness. Before going unconscious, Father Basil heard the attacker say, ‘This is for all the kids!'” — a reference to clergy sex abuse scandals that have resurfaced in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Hutsko, who is in his 60s, is not suspected of any abuse, Loya told Catholic News Service in an Aug. 21 telephone interview.

Loya said Hutsko was alone in the church after having finished the morning liturgy at the time of the attack. The assailant “must have been pretty strong, because Father Hutsko is a pretty healthy, strong guy,” he added. The attacker wore gloves, Loya noted. “He was smart enough to not leave any fingerprints.”

[…]

“When I talked to him last night, he was feeling discomfort in an area he wasn’t feeling prior,” he added. “He did spend the night elsewhere, for which I’m glad.”

Hutsko was “an innocent random victim — a random, innocent target,” Father Loya told CNS.

“All clergy now have to be vigilant. Not paranoid, but vigilant,” he added. “It’s time to witness.”

[TNLawPiper]

Today's poignant first reading:

Ez. 34:1-11

The word of the Lord came to me:
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:
Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who have been pasturing themselves!
Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?
You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,
and slaughtered the fatlings,
but the sheep you have not pastured.
You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick
nor bind up the injured.
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,
but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered for the lack of a shepherd,
and became food for all the wild beasts.
My sheep were scattered
and wandered over all the mountains and high hills;
my sheep were scattered over the whole earth,
with no one to look after them or to search for them.

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
As I live, says the Lord GOD,
because my sheep have been given over to pillage,
and because my sheep have become food for every wild beast,
for lack of a shepherd;
because my shepherds did not look after my sheep,
but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep;
because of this, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I swear I am coming against these shepherds.
I will claim my sheep from them
and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep
so that they may no longer pasture themselves.
I will save my sheep,
that they may no longer be food for their mouths.

For thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

[Hovannes]

Today's poignant first reading:

Ez. 34:1-11

The word of the Lord came to me:
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:
Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who have been pasturing themselves!
Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?
You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,
and slaughtered the fatlings,
but the sheep you have not pastured.
You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick
nor bind up the injured.
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,
but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered for the lack of a shepherd,
and became food for all the wild beasts.
My sheep were scattered
and wandered over all the mountains and high hills;
my sheep were scattered over the whole earth,
with no one to look after them or to search for them.

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
As I live, says the Lord GOD,
because my sheep have been given over to pillage,
and because my sheep have become food for every wild beast,
for lack of a shepherd;
because my shepherds did not look after my sheep,
but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep;
because of this, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I swear I am coming against these shepherds.
I will claim my sheep from them
and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep
so that they may no longer pasture themselves.
I will save my sheep,
that they may no longer be food for their mouths.

For thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

FWIW I like Ezekiel's prophecy better than Pope Francis's letter.
It's much more to the point.

In one local church, before morning mass a priest instructed the Lector to read something else as the people weren't "ready" to hear that one.
I didn't know a priest could do that

[TNLawPiper]

Today's poignant first reading:

Ez. 34:1-11

The word of the Lord came to me:
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:
Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israel
who have been pasturing themselves!
Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?
You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,
and slaughtered the fatlings,
but the sheep you have not pastured.
You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick
nor bind up the injured.
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,
but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered for the lack of a shepherd,
and became food for all the wild beasts.
My sheep were scattered
and wandered over all the mountains and high hills;
my sheep were scattered over the whole earth,
with no one to look after them or to search for them.

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
As I live, says the Lord GOD,
because my sheep have been given over to pillage,
and because my sheep have become food for every wild beast,
for lack of a shepherd;
because my shepherds did not look after my sheep,
but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep;
because of this, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I swear I am coming against these shepherds.
I will claim my sheep from them
and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep
so that they may no longer pasture themselves.
I will save my sheep,
that they may no longer be food for their mouths.

For thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

FWIW I like Ezekiel's prophecy better than Pope Francis's letter.
It's much more to the point.

In one local church, before morning mass a priest instructed the Lector to read something else as the people weren't "ready" to hear that one.
I didn't know a priest could do that

Being relatively new to the Church, I'm not always aware of cans/shoulds, but there have been times, even in the consecration, where I've been puzzled to the point of distraction by words I doubt were written in the Roman Missal.

[wosbald]

+JMJ+

Dublin sights and sounds: Crux banned, Pope not selling, and burglary alerts

Limited edition Pope dolls for sale during the World Meeting of Families at the RDS in Dublin, Ireland, Wednesday Aug. 22, 2018. (Credit: Brian Lawless/PA via AP)

As the countdown to Pope Francis's arrival in Ireland on Saturday goes on, a sampling of sights and sounds from the World Meeting of Families, including Crux being banned from a rival counter-event.

[…]

Crux is banned

For the first time in Crux’s history, one of our reporters actually was banned from something this week. On Thursday, Elise Harris was kicked out of the “Conference of Catholic Families,” a sort of rival conservative event taking place just down the street from the official World Meeting of Families.

(It’s not actually termed a “rival” anything, of course, but it’s happening in the same place and at the same time as the World Meeting, and it has a clearly different tone and constituency.)

When Harris arrived Thursday morning for day two of the event, she was stopped at the entrance and informed she was “not welcome.” In the course of asking why, organizers told Harris that she had covered the event the day before under false pretenses because she hadn’t purchased a ticket like everyone else.

There was also a clear suggestion they didn’t care for her coverage, expressed in phrases such as, “It’s people like you who harm the Church.” (As a hint of the ideological alignment involved, she was also told to “go talk to James Martin and all your liberal friends.” In context, that seemed the rough equivalent of, “Go to hell.”)

We certainly regret offending anyone, no matter the reason, but let’s be clear that there was nothing “false” whatsoever about the pretenses under which Harris was present.

On July 31, I sent organizers an email inquiring about procedures for media accreditation. On August 13, I received a reply saying that tickets are available on their site, which I took to be boilerplate language not directed to us since media outlets don’t pay for access to the events they cover, and then a statement that independent videoing and recording of the event wasn’t allowed, which we didn’t do.

On the opening day, Harris introduced herself, identified herself as a reporter for Crux, and was invited in without any mention of a ticket. She conducted interviews with several participants, including Anthony Murphy, founder of the Lumen Fidei Institute that hosted the event. Obviously, those people were aware they were speaking with a reporter, especially given that Harris was wearing a credential around her neck that clearly said “Media” in large type.

If there are objections to the content of any Crux coverage, those who know us understand that we’ll take those concerns seriously and do our best to respond. One hopes, however, that there might be better solutions than leaping to the fairly extreme step of making someone “Banned in Dublin.”

[…]

[Kerdy]

I am here just to say hello! So...hello!

[wosbald]

+JMJ+

I am here just to say hello! So...hello!

[wosbald]

+JMJ+

New church on the border symbolizes God’s presence among migrants

The new Sacred Heart Church in Hidalgo, Texas.

I recently visited Hidalgo, Texas, in the diocese of Brownsville. The occasion was the dedication of a beautiful new church for the parish of Sacred Heart, a growing community just blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border. I had visited this community nearly a year earlier, when the steel girders for the new church were still under construction. Catholic Extension had made a matching grant for the new building, and the grateful community welcomed the group with whom I was traveling with a standing-room-only Mass in the church hall.

Brownsville Bishop Danny Flores was the celebrant, and he was joined by fellow bishops and priests of the diocese, deacons, Knights of Columbus, and hundreds of other lay people. The procession into the new, darkened church formed after a deacon gathered the sacred relics from the altar and walked with them out the door toward the new building. One, a relic of Saint José Sánchez del Río, would be used to consecrate the altar in the new church. Two acolytes—seminarians for the diocese—then removed the large framed painting of Jesus that would be mounted in an alcove behind the altar.

The song which accompanied the procession was Psalm 122, a psalm likely sung by Israelite pilgrims obeying the law to visit Jerusalem three times on a journey. Its refrain is apt for the occasion of consecrating a new church:

I rejoiced when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the LORD.

[…]

Listening to this community sing this psalm of ascent to the temple mount, I was struck at the juxtaposition of their story with that of ancient Israel. Hidalgo, like all the communities along the border, is a place shaped profoundly by geography. All the families in this community are touched by migration—that is, being displaced from home. Like ancient Israel, their hopes are to go to the house of the Lord, to a place God has prepared for them where their families might thrive. Yet circumstances are such that home can be difficult to find. The new church, therefore, has a similar symbolic purpose: it establishes in bricks and mortar the home for communities touched by migration, much like the temple in Jerusalem did for Israel.

Toward the end of the Mass, the community recited the U.S. bishops’ Prayer for Migrant Families, giving voice to their shared story.

Show mercy to those who travel in danger,

and lead them to a place of safety and peace.

Comfort those who are alone and afraid because

their families have been torn apart by violence and injustice.

As we reflect upon the difficult journey

that the Holy Family faced as refugees in Egypt,

help us to remember the suffering of all migrant families.

[…]

[wosbald]

+JMJ+

Crisis pregnancy center opens in Argentina shanty town

Woman and baby in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Credit: Simon Mayer/Shutterstock via CNA)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A new crisis pregnancy center in Buenos Aires will welcome women facing difficult pregnancies, offering resources, counseling, and medical support.

The “Home of the Motherly Embrace” is being opened in response to a July proposal by a group of priests who work in the poorest areas of the cities. The goal is to meet the needs of pregnant women living in shanty towns without basic utilities such as electricity or running water.

Creators of the home hope to show the Church’s committed response to defend both the mother and the unborn child. They hope to open up additional homes in the future.

The Home of the Motherly Embrace is located in the former catechetical center of the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish and in the Don Orione Neighborhood. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and will be served by volunteers, who will welcome women in crisis pregnancies as well as those who have had an abortion.

Women will be offered food, healthcare, psychological support, legal aid, and counseling during their pregnancy and their babies’ first years, up to the start of early childhood education.

The home will also seek to facilitate access to government maternity policies and programs and if needed, the process of adoption through the legal system.

The plan for the crisis pregnancy center arose amid a legislative push to legalize on-demand abortion up to 14 weeks gestation, and through the ninth month of pregnancy on the grounds of rape, if doctors deem the mother’s life or health to be endangered, or if the baby receives a diagnosis of non-viability.

Although the bill was ultimately rejected by the nation’s senate, the fierce debate surrounding it divided Argentinian society and highlighted the need to offer additional resources to women facing difficult pregnancies.

[…]

[Thunktank]

+JMJ+

Crisis pregnancy center opens in Argentina shanty town

Woman and baby in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Credit: Simon Mayer/Shutterstock via CNA)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A new crisis pregnancy center in Buenos Aires will welcome women facing difficult pregnancies, offering resources, counseling, and medical support.

The “Home of the Motherly Embrace” is being opened in response to a July proposal by a group of priests who work in the poorest areas of the cities. The goal is to meet the needs of pregnant women living in shanty towns without basic utilities such as electricity or running water.

Creators of the home hope to show the Church’s committed response to defend both the mother and the unborn child. They hope to open up additional homes in the future.

The Home of the Motherly Embrace is located in the former catechetical center of the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish and in the Don Orione Neighborhood. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and will be served by volunteers, who will welcome women in crisis pregnancies as well as those who have had an abortion.

Women will be offered food, healthcare, psychological support, legal aid, and counseling during their pregnancy and their babies’ first years, up to the start of early childhood education.

The home will also seek to facilitate access to government maternity policies and programs and if needed, the process of adoption through the legal system.

The plan for the crisis pregnancy center arose amid a legislative push to legalize on-demand abortion up to 14 weeks gestation, and through the ninth month of pregnancy on the grounds of rape, if doctors deem the mother’s life or health to be endangered, or if the baby receives a diagnosis of non-viability.

Although the bill was ultimately rejected by the nation’s senate, the fierce debate surrounding it divided Argentinian society and highlighted the need to offer additional resources to women facing difficult pregnancies.

[…]

More news like this.

[wosbald]

+JMJ+

Satan is attacking bishops; they must fight with prayer, pope says

]
Pope Francis gives the homily as he celebrates morning Mass in the chapel of his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, at the Vatican Sept. 11. (Credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media)

ROME — Bishops must remember, particularly when under attack, that their role is to pray, be humble in knowing God chose them and remain close to the people, Pope Francis said in his morning homily.

In fact, a bishop “does not seek refuge from the powerful, the elite, no. It will be the elite who criticize the bishop,” while the people show love toward their bishop and confirm him in his vocation, the pope said Sept. 11.

In these times, Francis said, it seems like the devil, “the great accuser, has been let loose and he’s got it in for the bishops. True, there are, we are all sinners, we bishops.”

The great accuser “seeks to reveal sins, which people can see, in order to scandalize the people” of God, he said in his homily during morning Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae.

[…]

Since the apostles were chosen by Jesus — not the disciples themselves — “the faithful bishop knows that he did not choose,” the pope said. “The bishop who loves Jesus is not a climber who moves up with his vocation as if it were a job.”

Instead, a bishop opens a humble dialogue with the Lord saying, “You chose me, and I am not much, I am a sinner.” Knowing that God did the choosing and watches over his elect, gives a person strength, he said.

And finally, he said, the fact that Jesus goes down from the mountain to teach and heal the people shows that a bishop is “a man who is not afraid to come down to level ground and be close to the people.”

The great accuser, the pope said, “roams the world seeking how to blame. The strength of the bishop against the great accuser is prayer — his own and Jesus’, the humility to feel chosen and staying close to the people of God without heading toward an aristocratic life.”