Recently in Tradition Category

I wanted to pass along a little nugget from this morning's Vatican news briefing. Pope Benedict XVI will be extending a plenary indulgence for all who are attending WYD in Sydney and a partial indulgence for all who pray for the spiritual goals and happy outcome of WYD.

To receive the partial indulgence, all you need to do is pray for the success of WYD and the three "normal" things needed for an indulgence -- confession, communion and praying for the Pope's intentions.

As the Catechism reminds us, an indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. In other words, even though our sin is forgiven, there remain temporal punishment (i.e. purgatory). An indulgence pardons us from the remaining temporal punishment. An indulgence can be "partial"--removing some of the time--or "plenary"--removing all of our temporal punishment.

This is one of those aspects of our faith that not everyone will get excited about and admittedly, it isn't the easiest concept to grasp, but one of the various options the Church gives to us to help us to become closer to God.

You can read more about the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican office whose only job is to handle matters of indulgences and issues of the "internal forum" (i.e. stuff to be talked about under the seal of confession) at their website.

Below is the news brief from the Vatican Information Service:

PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR 23RD WORLD YOUTH DAY

 

VATICAN CITY, 5 JUL 2008 (VIS) - According to a decree made public today and signed by Cardinal James Francis Stafford and Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M. Conv., respectively penitentiary major and regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Benedict XVI will grant the faithful Plenary Indulgence to faithful who "gather at Sydney, Australia, in the spirit of pilgrimage" to participate in celebrations for 23rd World Youth Day, and Partial Indulgence to "all those who, wherever they are, will pray for the spiritual goals of this meeting and for its happy outcome".

 

  The English-language decree reads: "The youth meeting held in the year 2005 in Cologne, offered the Apostolic Penitentiary an opportune occasion, with the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, to open wide to youth the spiritual treasures of the Church, with the aim of gathering singular fruits of sanctification.

 

  "Hence, this year, from 15 to 20 July, in Sydney, 'in the great southern land of the Holy Spirit' (according to the expression of John Paul II), will celebrate the 23rd World Youth Day, with the theme: 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses'.

 

  "Indeed", the decree adds, "young people gathered around the Vicar of Christ will participate in the sacred functions and above all have recourse to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. In the Sacraments received with a sincere and humble heart, they will earnestly desire to strengthen themselves in the Spirit, and, confirmed by the Chrism of salvation, will openly witness the faith before others even to the ends of the earth. May God grant that the very presence of the Supreme Pontiff among the young people gathered in Sydney express and render it such".

 

  The indulgences may be gained in the following ways:

 

  "The Plenary Indulgence is granted to the faithful who will devotedly participate at some sacred function or pious exercise taking place during the 23rd World Youth Day, including its solemn conclusion, so that, having received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and being truly repentant, they receive Holy Communion and devoutly pray according to the intentions of His Holiness.

 

  "The Partial Indulgence is granted to the faithful, wherever they are during the above-mentioned meeting, if, at least with a contrite spirit, they will raise their prayer to God the Holy Spirit, so that young people are drawn to charity and given the strength to proclaim the Gospel with their life.

 

  "So that all the faithful may more easily obtain these heavenly gifts, priests who have received legitimate approval to hear sacramental confessions, should welcome them with a ready and generous spirit and suggest public prayers to the faithful, for the success of the same World Youth Day".

PENT/DECREE INDULGENCES/WYD                                    VIS 080707 (460)

More to come later, but the Diocese of Austin officially has Chrism and the other sacred oils to be used this weekend and for the rest of the year.

ZENIT is reporting that Knights of Columbus founder Fr. Michael McGivney has been deemed "Venerable" by the Catholic Church. The decree, authorized by Pope Benedict XVI and published on Saturday, recognizes the heroic virtue of Fr. McGivney and moves up one step closer to the highest honor of the Church—sainthood.

Fr. McGivney, in the 1800's, seeing the plight of widows and children after the death of the husband, founded the Knights of Columbus as a fraternal order for Catholic men so that they can join together, enhance their spirituality and their faith, and very importantly, assist in the financial security of their families. The Knights of Columbus' insurance is one of the highest-rated products in the country and the Knights give billions of dollars to charity for everything from scholarships (one of them helped to finance my freshman year at UT) to the technical equipment and uplink to transmit papal events from the Vatican to the world.

As a card-carrying member, it gives me great pleasure to know that such a group of men exist.

US News and World Reports has an interesting article on on the return of many faiths to more traditional routes.

In Catholic circles, the Pope's letter authorizing broader use of the Mass of 1962 is one obvious sign of the trend, but also in new church architecture, the increase of popular devotion of the laity, receiving communion on the tongue instead of the hand and more.

The article describes that this trend is not isolated to the Catholic church, or even the Christian faith. It appears that society in general is wanting to return to the stability provided by ritual within one hectic and crazy world.

One challenge within campus ministry, I suppose with the church in general, is how to embrace and hold the hand of the extremely pious student, while also being open and able to connect to the student who is discerning his or her spirituality at the same time.

It has been tough not writing on here over the past week. At first, I was thinking too much about proposing to write and then, I didn't want to write a public article until a few people were notified.

Personally, I'm really excited to begin this next phase of life with a person that I love completely.

The notion of an engagement period, as best as I know, originated in 1215 during the Fourth Lateran Council by Pope Innocent III. Canon 51 of the Council says

Since the prohibition of the conjugal union in the three last degrees has been revoked, we wish that it be strictly observed in the other degrees. Whence, following in the footsteps of our predecessors, we absolutely forbid clandestine marriages; and we forbid also that a priest presume to witness such. Wherefore, extending to other localities generally the particular custom that prevails in some, we decree that when marriages are to be contracted they must be announced publicly in the churches by the priests during a suitable and fixed time, so that if legitimate impediments exist, they may be made known. Let the priests nevertheless investigate whether any impediments exist.

In other words, the original point of the engagement was to allow the public to know of the forthcoming marriage and give them ample time to state any impediments to marriage (one is already married, the couple are too close on the family tree, etc).

Traditionally, banns would be published (or proclaimed) by the parish priest in all impacted parishes (the one of the groom, the bride, and the one in which the marriage would take place) for the three holy days proceeding the rite. This was a further way to help ensure the legitimate status of the wedding, plus a nice way to foster community by helping everyone know of these events in the life of the parish. On the universal level, I know the Council of Trent promoted the use of the banns and in the United States, local councils promoted their use as late as the 1890s. They are now, as we know, not commonly done, but I'm not aware of if this was by decree or general disuse.

So, if anyone has any reason that we cannot be wed, speak up!