Last week, Cardinal Raymond Burke, who is second only to the Pope in judicial authority regarding Church Law, visited  Australia.

He came at the invitation of  the Australian Catholic Students Association.

Last Friday night he gave a lecture on the subject of “The Fall of the Christian West”.

The theme of his lecture was the need for strict obedience to the authentic teachings of the Church if we are to call ourselves Catholics.

He reminded his listeners that Saint Mary of the Cross (Australia’s Mother Mary MacKillop) was one example of such obedience, even when persecution resulted.

* * *

Last Sunday, Cardinal Burke celebrated traditional Catholic Mass in Latin in the form used continuously for centuries – pre-dating the introduction of the colloquial-language mass more often used since the 1970s.

This Mass celebration was packed out — standing room only — by young students.

* * *

Cardinal Burke was archbishop of St Louis, USA, before taking up his present appointment in Rome.

His uncompromising faithfulness to Church teaching made him a newsworthy, some would say “controversial”, figure.

Cardinal Burke succeeded in attracting more trainee priests than other American bishops.

He made a point of knowing every seminarian personally — going for walks with them one at a time – an opportunity for each to speak informally to him about their faith, their worries . . . anything.

Cardinal Burke made freely available the old traditional Latin Mass for all Catholics wanting it – unlike some other bishops.

Cardinal Burke criticised politicians who profess to be Catholic while voting and speaking contrary to Catholic religion on subjects like abortion, euthanasia, embryo-destroying stem cell research etc. He said that such persons should not be given Holy Communion.

Cardinal Burke called Barack Obama “an agent of death”, because of his anti-life, pro-abortion policies — and warned the Democrats Party that they were transforming themselves into “a party of death”.

Altogether quite a thought-provoking guest for the Catholic Students Association to have chosen.

Last Friday, a Pakistani cleric, Yousef Qureshi, offered a cash reward (500,000 rupees) to anyone killing a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy against Islam.

Asia Bibi, aged 45, mother of five, was sentenced to death last month for alleged blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.

Qureshi said his first demand was for the government to execute Bibi. If not, “then we appeal to . . . all those who love the Prophet to come forward and kill this woman.”

* * *

Muslim activists murdered over fifty Catholics during Sunday Mass in Baghdad on October 31.

A surviving eyewitness described how, during this attack, a three year old child cried out, “Enough, enough.”

The child was shot dead at point blank range.

Muslims commit such atrocities against Christians in many countries — including Indonesia, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria and Sudan.

Why?

Well doesn’t the Qu’ran say:  “Slay the idolators wherever you find them . . .  lie in ambush everywhere for them.  If they repent and take to prayer and pay the alms-tax, let them go.  Allah is forgiving and merciful.”  (Sura 9:5)

* * *

God will, of course, judge those killers when he is ready. We can leave that to him. We don’t have to worry about it.

What we do need to worry about is understanding what God is teaching us by letting these things happen:

* is he teaching us to realise that Islam is inherently violent, and to stop pretending otherwise?

* and that what we need is, not a “war against terror”, but a war against untruth – against non-Catholic ideologies (including Islam, but not only Islam)?

 * and that it is a lie to say that Catholics and Muslims “worship the same God”?

* * *

To win the real war, Christianity must out-perform Islam as a culture.

Nations must be persuaded to declare themselves Catholic.

The Church must reassert its right to govern — the state governing directly, the Church governing indirectly, through the state.

But today’s Catholic Church leadership shows little enthusiasm for doing this.

The 1960s Second Vatican Council taught that “together with us they (the Muslims) adore the one, merciful God.”  (Lumen Gentium, 16)

That’s a notion which we are going to have to unlearn.

Last week the Pope visited Barcelona to consecrate a partly-completed church, the Temple of the Holy Family (Familia Sagrada).

He spoke about the beauty of the building – and about its being named in honour of the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

He implored his hearers to devote themselves to holiness within their own family life.

He underlined the Catholic teaching that “generous and indissoluble love of a man and a woman is the effective context and foundation of human life . . . ” and that the Church “resists every form of denial of human life”.

These remarks enraged the media, who accused Pope Benedict of having “railed against same-sex marriage and divorce” and “criticised policies allowing for abortions.”  (Associated Press)

* * *

Anyway, Antonio Gaudi, the architect of the Familia Sagrada, has been recommended for possible sainthood. It is at the very preliminary stages. It may never happen.

The possibly miraculous healing of a man (Ramon Amargent Blanche) — who prayed to Gaudi and surprised doctors by recovering – is being investigated.

In his later life, Gaudi abandoned all projects other than the Familia Sagrada — living in a crypt under the building and dressing poorly.

When aged 73, he was struck by a tram. His ragged appearance resulted in his being left at a paupers’ hospital. When his friends found him, he declined transfer elsewhere, saying, “I belong here among the poor.” He died a few days later. That was in 1926.

Gaudi was always a bit of a loner, spending much time alone in the forests, admiring the beauties of nature, considering how to adapt them into his buildings.

He said, “Those who look for the laws of nature as a support for their new works, collaborate with the Creator.”

When asked why it was taking so long to complete his Temple, he said, “My Client is not in a hurry.” (meaning God)

* * *

The Familia Sagrada has been described as “bordering on the surreal . . . its support pillars rising up like the trunks of great trees . . . its spires looking almost like melting candles . . . an almost hallucinatory power.”

This is, perhaps, the most beautiful building in the world. There are stories of visitors converting to the Faith on the spot — overcome by the beauty of the Creator to whom it bears witness.

October 31 was HALLOWEEN. Of interest mainly to shopkeepers selling masks etc. to children.

November 2 will be MELBOURNE CUP DAY. Of interest to millions of Australian gamblers and lovers of flamboyant female hats as worn to horse-racing events

Sandwiched in between comes November 1 – ALL SAINTS DAY – a day to remember and to pray to the Saints in heaven.

November 1 has been All Saints Day for over 1000 years.

But one particular All Saints Day stands out as having unique, superlative and supreme importance.

* * *

In the late 1960’s the Second Vatican Council was over.

The Old Catholic Mass was being replaced by protestant-influenced substitutes.

The seminaries where priests train were – especially in Europe, North America and Australia – abandoning all discipline.

Seminarians often weren’t made to wear cassocks; they watched television, went out at nights, had girlfriends (or boyfriends?) and skipped the regular round-the-clock traditional set prayers.

Did those seminarians delight in all this “freedom”?

Some perhaps. Others hated it — wanting discipline and order, and distressed by the non-Catholic slackness.

Some seminarians approached a recently-retired bishop, asking him to recommend somewhere they could go to be taught properly.

It was Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre – by then aged 64 — exhausted after decades of missionary-work in Africa.

He gave the seminarians some suggestions — but they were soon back. The modernism was everywhere. If they were to receive traditional Catholic training, a new Order within the Church must be started.

Archbishop Lefebvre drew up the necessary application to found a new Order and presented it to the local bishop – Francois Charriere, Bishop of Fribourg – who gave it his approbation.

So it came about that the Society of Saint Pius the Tenth began.

The date was 1 November 1970.

Forty years ago today.

* * *

From a single Seminary, the Society has grown — now having 6 seminaries, 500 priests, 700 mass centres, 2 universities and 88 schools.

Society priests use only the original Old Mass liturgy (in Latin).

Some Catholics wish it didn’t exist. A bit of name-calling goes on.

The Society is quite influential with the Pope.

It is obviously not going away.

Let’s thank God for that.

Especially today on this happy Fortieth Anniversary.

About 140 Josephite sisters travelled to Rome for the canonisation a couple of weeks ago.

The ages of those travelling sisters ranged from 26 to 86.

There are now about 970 Josephite Order nuns worldwide – only half as many as there were 40 years ago.

Their average age now is about 70.

So the sisters are hoping the publicity about the canonisation will bring in lots of new young recruits.

Time will tell.

* * *

The travelling sisters each took a teal scarf to wear — specially made for the event.

They seem not to have a regular habit or uniform these days.

That’s odd, considering how vital Mary MacKillop thought it was to have one.

When Bishop Sheil excommunicated her, one of the worst aspects, she said, was having to return to wearing ordinary clothes instead of their habit.

She wrote to Father Woods, “It was hard, very hard to put on secular dress.”

Yet today’s Josephites wear secular dress by choice.

It’s a funny world.

* * *

Another funny thing is the modern Josephites’ willingness to defy the Pope.

In May 1994, Pope John Paul II issued a statement (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis) saying that there are never going to be women priests —  and that he didn’t want the matter discussed.

The heads of a few orders of nuns signed a public document criticising the Pope’s ruling.

One who signed was Sister Mary Cresp, then Congregational Leader of the Josephites.

* * *

Everybody knows that Mary MacKillop was once — briefly and for invalid reasons — excommunicated from the Church.

If Sister Cresp had been excommunicated for defying Pope JPII, she’d have had no valid cause to complain.

She was just lucky.

* * *

So will Mary MacKillop’s canonisation attract new Josephite recruits?

Who knows?

Anyway, would the Josephites be a good order to join?

Do the Josephites still feel free to make feminist noises and contradict Church teaching?

Serious questions.

What the world needs is not more rebellious, self-assertive, people – but more SAINTS.

Let’s pray that, by God’s grace, new saints will turn up in big numbers.

Yesterday the Western Australian government formally apologised to women whose babies were taken from them from the 1940s to the 1980s because they were unmarried.

All this week the media have printed stories of such women – who describe being handcuffed, drugged, forbidden to hold their baby, forced to sign away their children for adoption etc.

One said, “The trauma is so deep, so complex, that over 40 percent of us never risked having another child. Children have suffered believing their own mothers callously gave them away. Until a trauma is acknowledged and validated it can’t begin to heal.”

WA Minister for Health, Kim Hames, said, “There was an enormous stigma about having a child out of wedlock and those mothers were strongly encouraged, if not coerced, into giving up their babies. When you look back at those practices of the day . . . they were wrong.”

Were they?

* * *

Nobody wants to justify the handcuffing etc.

But was it wrong in principal to adopt out babies of unmarried mothers?

Human history shows that a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman — as in traditional marriage — is the normal way to provide a secure environment for growing children.

Current experience bears this out.

Today in Australia, the marriage break-up rate is bad — 47 percent eventually split. But unmarried couples do even worse.  Over 90 percent of de facto couples separate within ten years.

Children of unmarried parents are known to suffer increased risk of child abuse, drug abuse and other bad outcomes.

Marriage is better for everyone — especially children.

* * *

Interestingly, Mother Mary MacKillop had strong views on this.

In an 1882 interview with journalist, Stanley James, she defended her Order running “refuges” for the children of unmarried mothers:

“It is far better that we take these children and bring them up properly, than that their mothers should neglect them and leave them to be reared in misery and vice.”

That’s why Saint Mary of the Cross is a saint.

No, not because she defied bishops– or dobbed in a paedophile.

She was a saint because she adhered to Catholic teachings on all subjects – including marriage and family – whether they were fashionable or not.

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