McNamara named Cathedral rector

SAGINAW - Bishop Joseph R. Cistone announced Sunday that he has named Father Thomas J. McNamara as rector of the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption following the resignation of Father James W. Bessert from the same position.

Father McNamara was named as vicar general for the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw on Oct. 29. His duties as Cathedral rector begin Nov. 30.

Father Bessert's resignation and Father McNamara's appointment were announced to Cathedral parishioners at Sunday Masses through a letter written by Bishop Cistone, who was traveling to Baltimore during the weekend for this week's meetings of the United States bishops.

The text of the letter follows:

To: Parishioners of the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I wish to share with you some important information concerning Father Bessert. Recently, Father Bessert asked to meet with me and requested that he be relieved of his position as Rector of the Cathedral. Also, at his request, I have granted Father Bessert a period of time for personal health leave. I ask you to join me in prayerful support of Father Bessert.

Father Bessert has asked me to express the following words on his behalf.

“Please know my affection for you, the dear and faithful parishioners of the Cathedral Parish, as well as my deep gratitude for your many kindnesses to me personally in my ministry as Rector of the Cathedral. I am grateful to Bishop Cistone for allowing me this opportunity to take the necessary time to be renewed in body and spirit. I ask your prayers for me and assure you of a special remembrance in my Masses and prayers.”

Because of the unique importance of the Cathedral in the life of the Diocese, I did not wish to leave the position of Rector vacant for any length of time. Therefore, after consultation with diocesan staff and priests, I have appointed Father Thomas McNamara as Rector of the Cathedral effective Monday, November 30, 2009. Father McNamara is currently the Pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Beal City and was recently appointed as my Vicar General. Father McNamara brings a wealth of pastoral and administrative experience to his appointment as Rector and I look forward to working closely with him on your behalf. I ask that you extend to Father McNamara the same warm welcome which you have shown to me since my arrival as your Bishop.

I am grateful to Father Bessert for his priestly ministry here at the Cathedral and within the Office for Liturgy. Let us pray together that the days ahead will be for him a time of grace, peace and renewed priestly spirit. If you wish to convey your support to Father Bessert in writing, you may do so by sending your correspondence to him in care of my office.

May our Lord bless all of you and your loved ones and may Mary our Mother watch over you always.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Joseph R. Cistone, D.D.
Bishop of Saginaw

Cardinal George Lauds House Action to Ban Federal Funds for Abortion; Promises Vigilance as Senate Pursues Health Care Reform, Wary About Affect on Poor, Elderly

House action backs Obama's promise to not expand abortion

Senate must follow House example
Bishops still concerned for poor, elderly

WASHINGTON — Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, lauded the November 7 decision of the U.S. House of Representatives to block federal health care reform money from paying for elective abortions.

In a statement issued November 9, two days after the Saturday night decision, Cardinal George voiced thanks that “the Representatives honored President Obama’s commitment to the Congress and the nation that health care reform would not become a vehicle for expanding abortion funding or mandates.”

“The Conference will remain vigilant and involved throughout this entire process to assure that these essential provisions are maintained and included in the final legislation,” he added.

“We remain deeply concerned about other aspects of health care reform as the debate now moves to the Senate, especially as it affects the poor and vulnerable, and those at the beginning and end of life. We will continue to insist that health care reform legislation must protect conscience rights. We support measures to make health care more affordable for low-income people and the uninsured. We remain deeply concerned that immigrants be treated fairly and not lose the health care coverage that they now have,” he said also.

The full statement follows.

Over the weekend, the US House of Representatives advanced major legislation to provide adequate and affordable health care to all. The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long advocated that adequate health care be made available to everyone. In an essential step, the House voted overwhelmingly to reaffirm the longstanding and widely supported precedent that no federal funds will be used to pay for elective abortions. In doing so, the Representatives honored President Obama’s commitment to the Congress and the nation that health care reform would not become a vehicle for expanding abortion funding or mandates. The Conference will remain vigilant and involved throughout this entire process to assure that these essential provisions are maintained and included in the final legislation. We will work to persuade the Senate to follow the example of the House and include these critical safeguards in their version of health care reform legislation. We also thank the members of the House who took this courageous and principled step to oppose measures that would force Americans to pay for the destruction of unborn children, and the Democratic leadership for allowing the Representatives to vote on this amendment that protects the common good.

In the national discussion on how to provide the best kind of health care, we bishops do not claim or present ourselves as experts on health care policy. We are not prepared to assess every provision of legislation as complex as this proposal. However, health care legislation, with all its political, technical and economic aspects, is about human beings and hence has serious moral dimensions. Our focus is the concrete realities of families with children and their access to doctors, the poor and the elderly, those with limited means and those with few or even no means, such as the mother carrying a child in her womb. Our Catholic commitment to health care picks up the pieces of our failing system in our emergency rooms, clinics, parishes and communities. This is why we believe our nation’s health care system needs reform which protects human life and dignity and serves the poor and vulnerable as a moral imperative and an urgent national priority.

We remain deeply concerned about the debate that now moves to the Senate, especially as it will affect the poor and vulnerable, and those at the beginning and end of life. We will continue to insist that health care reform legislation must protect conscience rights. We support measures to make health care more affordable for low-income people and the uninsured. We remain deeply concerned that immigrants be treated fairly and not lose the health care coverage that they now have. We will continue to raise our voices in public and in prayer; we ask our people to join us in making the moral case for genuine health care reform that protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all.

U.S. Bishops Complete Work On Translation Of Roman Missal

BALTIMORE — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted to approve the last five pieces of the English translation of the Roman Missal during the November 17 session of the annual Fall General Assembly. Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, NJ, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship, called the bishops’ completion of their years-long work on the Missal “historic.”

These items will now go to the Vatican for recognitio, or approval, which Bishop Serratelli said is expected sometime in 2010. Once the new translation is approved in its entirety, the materials for its implementation at the parish level will be ready in approximately a year.

Bishops to House: Keep Abortion Funding out of Health Care Reform, Make Health Care Avalailable to Vuneralble

WASHINGTON (USCCB) — The U.S. bishops sent an urgent message to the U.S. House of Representatives November 6, as House members steeped themselves in debate over procedures related to abortion and the health care reform bill.

Moments before meeting to discuss proposed amendments to the bill, the bishops called for “a fair process” that would permit discussion of “an amendment to keep in place current federal law on abortion funding and conscience protections.” Some in the House seek a “closed rule,” a procedure banning amendments from the bill.

The letter was signed by Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, Chairman of the bishops’ Domestic Justice Committee, Cardinal Justin Rigali, chair of the Committee on pro-life Activities; and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chair of the Committee on Migration.

The letter follows.

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), we write to strongly urge you to vote for essential changes and a fair process in the House of Representatives to ensure that needed health care reform legislation truly protects the life, dignity, health and consciences of all. Unfortunately, the legislation moving to the House floor falls fundamentally short of this essential goal. We urge members of the House to:

· support an amendment to keep in place current federal law on abortion funding and conscience protections and to oppose a closed rule that would prevent the House from voting on this crucial matter;

· oppose measures that would leave immigrants, especially legal immigrants, worse off as a result of health reform;

· support access for immigrants to the health-insurance exchange, regardless of legal status, and support removal of the five-year ban on legal immigrants accessing Medicaid and other federal health-care programs; and

· support strong provisions that would make health care more affordable and accessible, especially for the poor and vulnerable, by expanding Medicaid to adults who are living at 150 percent or lower of the Federal Poverty Level and offering adequate affordability credits for households up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.

The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long supported adequate and affordable health care for all. We believe universal coverage should be truly universal, not denying health care to those in need because of their condition, age, where they come from or when they arrive here.

Protecting Human Life and Conscience

We are concerned because the current legislation before the House of Representatives fails to keep in place the longstanding federal policy against the use of federal funds for elective abortion or for plans that include elective abortion – a policy upheld by the Hyde Amendment, Children’s Health Insurance Program, Federal Employee Health Benefits Program and other federal health initiatives. Without such protection we will have to oppose the current legislation until this fundamental flaw is remedied.

For this reason, we ask you to vote for an amendment that will keep in place the longstanding and widely supported federal policy against government funding for elective abortions or for plans which include elective abortions. To accomplish this we also urge you to support efforts to guarantee that the House will have a clear and fair opportunity to vote on this essential matter. Please vote against a “closed rule” if necessary so the amendment can be considered. Currently, H.R. 3962 allows the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to mandate that any “public option” will include unlimited abortions. The Congressional Research Service has confirmed that all money paid out by this plan for medical procedures will be federal outlays. Federal subsidies will also be used to pay the overall costs of establishing and maintaining private health plans that cover elective abortions. Millions of purchasers will be forced to use their premium dollars for abortion coverage they do not want, through a new mandatory fee. The creation of this “abortion surcharge,” a mandatory payment requiring pro-life purchasers of many plans to pay directly and explicitly for abortion coverage, is unprecedented in federal law. Such a proposal runs counter to the principles of the longstanding “Hyde amendment.” Affirming the Hyde Amendment continues the government’s long standing policy without affecting coverage of abortion in non-subsidized health plans, and without barring anyone from purchasing a supplemental abortion policy that is funded solely by the private funds of those who choose it.

Thus far, H.R. 3962 does not meet President Obama’s commitment of barring use of federal dollars for abortion and maintaining current conscience laws. While Section 259 of the bill maintains essential nondiscrimination protections for providers who decline involvement in abortion, the legislation also requires each region of the insurance exchange to include at least one health plan with unlimited abortion, contrary to the policy of all other federal health programs; and conscience protection on issues beyond abortion have yet to be included in this bill.

Immigrants in Health Care Coverage

We support the inclusion of all immigrants, regardless of status, in the health-care exchange. Regardless of status, immigrants living in our country need to have access to health care just as any other human being. Finding ways to provide them with health care is preferable to compelling them to have access only to emergency room care which is an unfair burden on hospitals in urban and other high immigrant areas of our country.

We also support the removal on the five-year ban on legal immigrants accessing federal health benefit programs, such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Medicare. Legal immigrants, who work and pay taxes, should have access to such programs, if needed. Removing the ban would help ensure that legal immigrants, who were widely praised in past immigration debates for their many contributions and for playing by the rules, will still have access to health-care.

Accessible and Affordable Health Care

Because we support and advocate in favor of affordable and accessible health care for all, especially the poor and marginalized, we want legislation that expands Medicaid eligibility for adults living at 150 percent or lower of the federal poverty level. This will help lower-income families purchase insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Exchange. Provisions in Title I (Immediate Reforms) should be helpful in providing relief to the uninsured and underinsured. The House legislation provides reforms that will strengthen families and protect low-income and vulnerable people by eliminating denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions including pregnancy; eliminating life time caps; offering long-term disability services; and extending dependant coverage to uninsured young adults.

These are not marginal issues or special interest concerns. They are at the heart of the health care debate. Our concerns outlined in this letter reflects our longstanding commitment to health care and our centuries old experience as providers of health care to all, especially the poor and the vulnerable. In that spirit we reiterate our Catholic tradition that teaches that health care is a basic human right, essential to protecting human life and dignity.

For many months, our Bishops’ conference has been working with members of Congress, the Administration and others to fashion health care reform legislation that truly protects the life, dignity, health and consciences of all. Our message has been clear and consistent throughout. We urge the House of Representatives to permit a vote and to adopt essential changes so that, as long time advocates of health care for all, we are not compelled to oppose this flawed legislation. We hope and pray that the Congress and the country will come together around genuine reform.

U.S. Bishops Applaud Maine Vote Defending Marriage

WASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops applauded the decision of voters in Maine to repeal a state law allowing same-sex “marriage.” The position of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was stated by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage.

“Yesterday on November 3rd, the people of Maine voted to uphold the true nature of marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” Archbishop Kurtz said in a November 4 statement. “The voice of the people in this country has spoken once again on the side of justice, in favor of the truth about marriage.”

He underscored the fact that the Church “stands for the basic rights of all people, including homosexual persons” and “decries any unjust discrimination against persons who experience same-sex attraction.”

“Protecting marriage between a man and a woman has nothing to do with denying basic rights to anyone, though it is often framed in such terms,” he said.

“Especially in our society where we see so many marriages fail, we should work to strengthen marriage rather than redefine it,” Archbishop Kurtz said also. “Marriage must be protected and promoted today for what it is and what it is meant to be: the lifelong, exclusive union between husband and wife. There are many ways to uphold the basic human rights of all people, but sacrificing marriage can never be one of them.”

Efforts of the Ad Hoc Committee are part of an overall USCCB Marriage Initiative to strengthen marriage. Other efforts include a proposed pastoral letter on marriage set for a vote at the November USCCB in Baltimore, and a popular Web site http://www.foryourmarriage.org/.

The entire statement follows.

Statement on behalf of the

Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage

concerning the Maine November 3rd vote on marriage

Yesterday on November 3rd, the people of Maine voted to uphold the true nature of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The voice of the people in this country has spoken once again on the side of justice, in favor of the truth about marriage.

Marriage is an institution which precedes all others, whether political or religious. It deserves the state’s reinforcement and protection. The Catholic Church recognizes that this truth is contentious and difficult for some to accept. Yet it is a truth both accessible to human reason and confirmed by revelation, and the Church reasonably and compassionately urges all to respect it. The nature of marriage is written in the truth of who we are as human persons, as man and woman. One can say it is written not merely on our hearts, but in our very bodies.

The Church stands for the basic rights of all people, including homosexual persons. She decries any unjust discrimination against persons who experience same-sex attraction. Protecting marriage between a man and a woman has nothing to do with denying basic rights to anyone, though it is often framed in such terms. In fact, protecting marriage is safeguarding the rights of our most dependent and vulnerable among us — our children, who deserve to be welcomed as a gift of spousal love and not to be intentionally deprived of a mother and a father. Protecting marriage affirms the unique and indispensable roles of mothers and fathers, and recognizes the particular responsibilities that husbands and wives bear in society. Protecting marriage affirms the permanent and exclusive love between a husband and a wife as a wonderful and incomparable good in itself which also is of great social and practical consequence. Their sexual difference, man to woman and woman to man, is real and valuable — not a social construct, and not an aspect of the human person that may be disregarded at will and without cost. This difference is essential for marriage and is the relational context for the formation of the human person. Sadly, the attempts to redefine marriage today ignore or reject the unique identity and gifts of man and woman. Such a dismissal only fosters confusion about what it means to be human.

Protecting marriage between one man and one woman is a matter of justice. It is a matter of truth. Law should be at the service of truth and justice. Laws based on untruths are unjust. Working for justice presumes that we work to preserve the true meaning of marriage. Especially in our society where we see so many marriages fail, we should work to strengthen marriage rather than redefine it. Marriage must be protected and promoted today for what it is and what it is meant to be: the lifelong, exclusive union between husband and wife. There are many ways to uphold the basic human rights of all people, but sacrificing marriage can never be one of them.

On behalf of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, I express my deep gratitude to Bishop Malone and to all those organizations, individuals and voters who worked to support the truth of marriage in Maine. The Ad Hoc Committee urges all people of good will to pray that our leaders and all people of this great country will promote and protect the truth and beauty of marriage and its fundamental place in service to the dignity of every person and to the common good.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz
Archbishop of Louisville
Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage

Anglican-Catholic Theological Consultation Looks at Immigration, New Vatican Statement

WASHINGTON (USCCB)— The sixty-sixth meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Theological Consultation in the United States (ARC-USA) took place at the Washington Retreat House in Washington, October 26 and 27. Bishop Thomas Breidenthal of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio and Bishop Ronald P. Herzog of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, co-chaired the meeting. It marked the third round of the dialogue focusing the theme, “Ecclesiology and Moral Discernment: Common Ground and Divergences."

At the start of the meeting, consultation members considered the Vatican’s October 20 announcement that personal ordinariates would be created for former Anglicans who wish to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church while “preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.” The members welcomed the Catholic Church’s acknowledgement of a substantial overlap in faith and the legitimacy of many Anglican traditions, a recognition that is the fruit of over 40 years of official dialogue between the two churches. Because the Apostolic Constitution establishing the new ordinariates has not yet been published, members felt it premature to comment in detail. They said they looked forward to receiving the document to consider at their next meeting. Members also found encouragement in the firm statements by Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders that the official dialogue between the two churches will continue.

The theological consultation examined immigration reform as its first issue. Jesuit Father Thomas Rausch, Ph.D., of the Department of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, presented the Catholic viewpoint on this question and focused on the 2003 document of the Conferences of Catholic Bishops of the United States and Mexico, “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope.” Bishop Thomas Breidenthal then presented his paper, “Immigration Reform: An Anglican Approach.” The members noted substantial convergence based on common sources, including the tradition of Roman Catholic social teaching.

The second discussion looked at the 1993 encyclical by Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor, which outlined fundamental elements of Catholic moral teaching. Father Charles Caccavale of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, in Huntington, New York, summarized the contents of the encyclical and emphasized that it presents the moral life as deeply connected to the life of faith and to eternal life. Professor Timothy Sedgwick, Ph.D., Professor of Christian Ethics at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, offered reflections on the document from an Anglican perspective, noting areas of agreement and others that require further exploration, including the encyclical’s understanding of “intrinsically evil acts.”

During the meeting members prayed the Roman Catholic and Anglican Liturgy of the Hours together, and celebrated the Eucharist in both traditions, with the members participating to the extent allowed by the discipline of their respective churches. On October 27, they toured the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. That evening Bishop Breidenthal hosted a dinner in honor of Bishop Christopher Epting, who will be retiring as ecumenical officer of The Episcopal Church in December, after nine years of service to the dialogue.

The next meeting is slated for March 15 and 16, 2010, in Delray Beach, Fla.

In addition to the co-chair, Catholic members of the dialogue are Msgr. David A. Bohr, Rector of St. Peter's Cathedral in Scranton, Pennsylvania; Father Caccavale, M. Therese Lysaught, Ph.D., Department of Theology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Theresa Notare, Ph.D., of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; Father Rausch, and Paulist Father Ronald G. Roberson, Ph.D., Associate Director of the USCCB's Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and staff to the dialogue.

Representatives of The Episcopal Church, in addition to Bishop Breidenthal, include the Rev. Dr. Ellen Wondra, Professor of Theology and Ethics at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary; the Rev. Matthew S. C. Olver, Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, Texas; Mary Reath, governor of the Anglican Center in Rome and author of "Rome and Canterbury: The Elusive Search for Unity" (2007); Sedgwick; the Rev. Canon. J. Robert Wright, Ph.D, Professor of Church History at the General Theological Seminary in New York, New York; and the Right Reverend Christopher Epting, ecumenical officer of The Episcopal Church and staff to the dialogue.

A complete list of the agreed statements released by the consultation as well as links to earlier press releases can be found on the USCCB website at http://www.usccb.org/seia/anglican.shtml

Bishops to Hear Report about Defense of Marriage

WASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops will hear a report highlighting U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) efforts to promote and protect marriage as the exclusive and permanent union between a man and a woman at their November 16-19 meeting in Baltimore.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, who chairs the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, will deliver the report. Report items include an update on the Committee’s work in catechesis/education and public policy. A key effort includes development of five seven-nine minute videos, to be rolled out with accompanying pamphlets and a related Web site in 2010.

The videos and pamphlets will treat several themes, including the beauty of sexual difference between man and woman, the gift of a child, the unique roles of mothers and fathers, the dignity of the human person, and the fact that marriage and family are fundamental to the common good and important for religious liberty. Key target audiences include Catholic young adults and priests/deacons.

Focus groups conducted in 2009 confirmed that basic catechesis on these topics is needed. Archbishop Kurtz’s report also will emphasize the connection between protecting the truth of marriage and serving the common good of all.

The defense of marriage effort is one part of the bishops’ broad initiative to strengthen marriage that is one of five USCCB goals for 2009-2011. The initiative also includes development of a pastoral statement, “Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan,” and For Your Marriage, a popular Web and public service effort found at http://www.foryourmarriage.org/.

The other four priority issues of the USCCB center on faith formation and sacramental practice, vocations to the priesthood and religious life, the life and dignity of the human person, and cultural diversity—with particular emphasis on Hispanics.