Diocese of Scranton

OFFICIAL NOTICE
Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion

The Eucharist is the source and summit of all Christian life. It is the sacrament of salvation, the Body and Blood of Christ offered for us on Calvary and received by us, the People of God. Regarding the Holy Eucharist, St. Paul says, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27).

The law of the Church requires each Catholic, before receiving Holy Communion, to make a careful examination of conscience, using the teachings of the Church as the examining criteria. After this private examination, each Catholic is able to determine whether he or she is prepared to receive the sacrament. Canon 916 of the Code of Canon Law states:

A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.

The above mentioned preparation is private, as the state of each Catholic’s soul is known to him or her alone. However, there are instances when a Catholic’s unworthiness to receive Holy Communion will be determined by the Church because of a person’s public conduct. This determination does not depend upon the private examination of conscience but results rather from a Catholic’s public and persistent actions in opposition to the moral law as taught by the Church. In these cases, the Church forbids members to receive the sacrament. Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law states:

Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

In recent years, the Holy See has declared that those who are unworthy to receive Holy Communion if they are “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin” include persons directly involved in lawmaking bodies. These have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life.[1] Pope John Paul II also addressed this matter when he wrote, “The judgment of one’s state of grace obviously belongs only to the person involved, since it is a question of examining one’s conscience. However, in case of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel directly involved. The Code of Canon Law refers to this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who ‘obstinately persist in manifest grave sin’ are not to be admitted to Eucharistic communion.”[2]

In 2004, the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) instructed the Bishops of the United States as follows:

Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.

This denial, the Cardinal noted in the same instruction, “is not a sanction or a penalty. Nor is the minister of Holy of Communion passing judgment on the person’s subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin.”[3]

Therefore, His Excellency, the Most Reverend Joseph F. Martino, Bishop of Scranton, reminds all ministers of Holy Communion, ordinary and extraordinary, that:

1. To administer the Sacred Body and Blood of the Lord is a serious duty which they have received from the Church, and no one having accepted this responsibility has the right to ignore the Church’s law in this regard;
   

2. Those whose unworthiness to receive Holy Communion is known publicly to the Church must be refused Holy Communion in order to prevent sacrilege and to prevent the Catholic in question from committing further grave sin through unworthy reception.

James B. Earley

Chancellor

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[1] Doctrinal Note on some questions regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life, 4, 2002

[2] On the Eucharist, 37, 2003

[3] Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s memo Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, 6

Catholic survivors attribute ‘miracle on the Hudson’ to God’s mercy

By Katie Moore

Charlotte, N.C., Feb 27, 2009 / 04:09 am (CNA).- "The odds were against us but God was with us," said Fred Berretta, a survivor of US Airways Flight 1549 that crash landed in the Hudson River Jan. 15. He was flying home that day from a business trip in New York when the plane struck a flock of birds, causing both engines to fail.

"We had a phenomenal flight crew, but God was our air traffic controller," he said.

Berretta, one of several Charlotte-area Catholics aboard the flight, is a parishioner at St. Matthew Church.

All 155 people aboard the flight survived the emergency landing.

Berretta said he believes it is "a testimony to God’s mercy."

"I believe it was miraculous that all the things came together that allowed us to survive," said Berretta, himself a pilot.

Just hours after the crash, he was asked in an interview with a national television network if he was a religious man. His answer was honest, "I try to be."

"Quite a long time ago I had a conversion type of experience back to the Catholic faith," Berretta said in an interview with The Catholic News & Herald.

He had been away from the Catholic faith since childhood, but began attending Mass again on a weekly basis during his mid-20s.

"When I look back on that part of my life, I can say that I was trying, trying but struggling to live the Catholic faith more fully," he said.

More recently, however, Berretta had experienced a deeper draw to devotional prayer.

In the weeks leading up to the plane crash, he began praying the Rosary on a daily basis.

And the day before the crash he had prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

"That was a prayer that I hadn’t said in a long time," said Berretta, as he recalled reading about a message that Jesus gave to St. Faustina Kowalska, the Polish nun who said she had a vision of Jesus in which he asked for devotions to divine mercy.

"I remember reading in that little booklet that Jesus said to Sister Faustina that the 3 p.m. hour is the hour of mercy, and whatever you ask of the Father in virtue of my passion during this hour will be granted.

"It sort of hit me as we were going into the water that it was in the 3 o’clock hour. So I asked God to be merciful to us and I said a few Hail Marys and I reconciled myself to the fact that I might not live through it," he said.

In the aftermath of the crash, Berretta said he has been "giving a lot of thought to the power of those prayers."

"When you go through an experience like this — if you have faith — you feel a profound sense of gratitude.

"I try to be very thoughtful of how fortunate I am and we all are," Berretta said. "I feel that almost obligates me to do something … to share that."

Fellow survivor Victor Warnement came away from the experience with a similar sentiment.

"You don’t go through an experience like this without thinking, ‘How do I give more?’" he said.

Warnement, a parishioner at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, believes he and the other passengers aboard Flight 1549 were part of a miracle.

"If you look at statistics, this doesn’t happen," he said. "It’s as if we were delivered back on the wings of angels."

Printed with permission from The Catholic News & Herald, newspaper for the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Press Chided for Putting Words in Vatican Mouth

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican spokesman requested journalists to refrain from attributing positions to the Holy See that it has not taken.

A note published Saturday by the Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See's press office, claims that "it is not rare that the media attribute to the 'Vatican' -- by which they mean the Holy See -- comments and points of view that cannot automatically be attributed to it."

He explained: "The Holy See, in fact, when it intends to authoritatively express itself uses the proper means and suitable ways -- communiqués, notes, declarations. Every other pronouncement does not have the same value."

Father Lombardi concluded: "Even recently, there have been inopportune attributions.

"The Holy See, in its representative organs, shows respect for civil authorities, which in their legitimate autonomy have the right and the duty to provide for the common good."

Pope highlights primacy of Church of Rome, asks for prayers

Vatican City, Feb 22, 2009 / 11:57 am (CNA).- Before reciting the Angelus at noon today, Pope Benedict XVI explained that today, February 22, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter. He asked the tens of thousands of pilgrims to pray that he is able to bring unity to the Church and “faithfully accomplish the task Divine Providence has placed upon him as Successor to the Apostle Peter.”

The Holy Father began his remarks, delivered from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter’s Square, with a brief commentary on Sunday’s Gospel about the episode of the paralytic whom Jesus forgave and healed. This Gospel, the Pontiff said, “shows that not only did Jesus have the power to heal a sick body, but that he also had the power to forgive sins.”

“Physical healing is a sign of the spiritual healing his forgiveness produces,” the Pope continued. “In effect, sin is a sort of paralysis of the spirit from which only the power of God’s merciful love can free us, allowing us to get up and restart our journey on the path of goodness.”

Turning to the day's feast, Pope Benedict XVI explained, “The Chair of Peter symbolizes the authority of the Bishop of Rome, [who is] called to fulfill a special service for the People of God as a whole.”

“Right after the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul the Church of Rome was acknowledged as having a primatial role among Catholics, a role attested to as early as the 2nd century by Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Irenaeus of Lyons,” the Holy Father added. The Second Vatican Council, the Pope added, underscored the unique role of providing unity to the diversity of rites within the Church as well as the authority of the Bishop of Rome.

The Pontiff concluded with a prayer asking Mary to help Christians “begin Lent in the right state of mind, which starts Wednesday with its Ash ritual.” The Pope will receive ashes during an afternoon Mass that will be held in the Roman Basilica of Saint Sabina.

After the Marian prayer, Pope Benedict XVI greeted the English-speaking pilgrims present in the square: “I am pleased to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims gathered for this Angelus. In today’s liturgy, we witness Jesus healing the paralytic lowered to him through the roof because of a large crowd. This passage reminds us that the Lord has power to forgive sins, and that nothing stands in the way of his mercy when we seek him with pure and contrite hearts. Let us never hesitate to ask his pardon, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so that we may become better instruments of his love for others. God bless you all.”

Rt. Rev. Msgr. Moises Andrade, S.Th.D., S.L.L. 1948-2009

From prodeoetpatria, we post here the sad news about the passing of one of the eminent liturgists of the Philippines (who also regularly celebrates the Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form):



It is with great sadness that I share the news the passing of Rt. Rev. Monsignor Moises Andrade, STL at 4:30am after suffering a massive stroke last Thursday afternoon. Condolences to the family and close friends of our beloved spiritual father and adviser, Msgr. Andrade.

In paradisum deducant te Angeli: in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem.

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Let us pray that the Lord may welcome Him into His glory as His "good and faithful servant."

12-Year-Old Stuns Pro-Choice Teacher and School with Pro-Life Presentation

TORONTO, February 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - 12-year-old "Lia" of Toronto has become a star at her school and on Youtube with her five-minute pro-life speech, crafted for a school competition. Despite discouragement and outright opposition, Lia's presentation was so well done that she reportedly won the contest she was told she would be disqualified from, due to the "controversial" message of her speech.

The speech is available in its entirety on Youtube, where it has been viewed over 100,000 times and sparked a heated discussion. (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOR1wUqvJS4&feature=chann...)

"What if I told you that right now, someone was choosing if you were gonna live or die?" begins the charismatic seventh-grader in a practice recording of the speech posted on Youtube. "What if I told you that this choice wasn't based on what you could or couldn't do, what you'd done in the past, or what you would do in the future? And what if I told you, you could do nothing about it?

"Fellow students and teachers, thousands of children are right now in that very situation. Someone is choosing without even knowing them whether they are going to live or die. That someone is their mother. And that choice is abortion."

Lia, speaking easily and with sunny enthusiasm, fires off answers to several common objections in the brief speech.

"Why do we think that just because a fetus can't talk or do what we do, it isn't a human being yet?" She asks. "Some babies are born after only five months. Is this baby not human?

"We would never say that. Yet abortions are performed on 5-month-old fetuses all the time. Or do we only call them humans if they're wanted?

"Think about the child's rights, that were never given to it. No matter what rights the mother has, it doesn't mean we can deny the rights of the fetus," she said. "We must remember that with our rights and our choices come responsibilities, and we can't take someone else's rights away to avoid our responsibilities."

Lia's mother says that the topic was of her own choosing, and that she was determined not to back down, even after teachers told her it was "too mature" and "too controversial."

"She was also told that if she went ahead with that topic, she would not be allowed to continue on in the speech competition," Lia's mother wrote in the email to the Moral Outcry blog. "Initially, I tried helping her find other topics to speak on, but, in the end, she was adamant. She just felt she wanted to continue with the topic of abortion. So she forfeited her chance to compete in order to speak on something she was passionate about."

The mother told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that the girl's homeroom teacher was supportive of Lia's speech even though she was pro-choice. "After helping Lia do the speech she said, 'It really got me thinking,'" the mom noted.

At the schoolwide competition, the mom said one pro-choice teacher on the judge's panel "didn't even want to hear" the speech, and stepped down from the panel before Lia began. After the speech, which Lia's family said was well-received by both students and teachers, the judges initially told Lia she had indeed been disqualified. But controversy among the judges eventually led to a reversal, and Lia's family learned the next day that the panel agreed the girl deserved to win the competition.

"There was a big stink about it, and we volunteered to step down ... but her teacher said 'No, she won fair and square, so she'll keep going on," said her mom. Lia is expected to present her speech at a regional competition tomorrow night, representing her school.

When asked what inspired Lia to pursue the topic so adamantly, her mother said it was "a little mystery."

While the family espouses pro-life Christian values, "it's not like we're out every weekend picketing," she said. "It was just something really deep in her heart, and she just felt really passionate about it." She added: "I kind of snicker when I see people on the Youtube video [comment box] saying 'Oh, her mother forced her to do this' - I'm like, 'No, I'm on the other end, trying to make her pick another topic!'

"But she was just really passionate about it, and she has her research on it," said the mother. "I really believe it's just something that God put in her heart."

FSSP: Appeal for Novena for the Pope Feb. 14 - 22

A message from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter - www.fssp.com

Many of the faithful are aware of the opposition which the Holy Father has faced in his efforts to reconcile the Society of Pius X. The current pressure from the media and others seems to not only threaten Pope Benedict’s work with SSPX. It also seems as though some would like to see it work as a means to undermine his very teaching and governing authority for his pontificate.

Given these oppositions which the Holy Father faces; given the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter's particular role in working as a bridge for those who have grown apart from the Church in the last forty years; finally, given that we hold St. Peter as our patron and have a particular attachment to his successor, the Fraterniy of St. Peter has asked all of its the members to offer increased prayers at this time for strength for Pope Benedict XVI.

A good number of priests and seminarians have contacted the General House to ask if the Fraternity could have particular prayers offered for this intention. All the members of the Fraternity are being asked to offer the following novena beginning on February 14 and concluding on the feast of the Chair of St. Peter. All the faithful in the Apostolates are encouraged to join in these prayers and that the Masses on that Sunday (Quinquagesima) would be offered for this intention as well.

Novena for the Pope:

Pater Noster, 3 Ave Maria, Gloria Patri		Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory be.
V. Orémus pro Pontífice nostro Benedícto. R. Dóminus consérvet eum, et vivíficet eum, et beátum fáciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in ánimam inimicórum eius.		V: Let us pray for our Pope Benedict. R: May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.
V. Tu es Petrus. R. Et super hanc petram ædificábo Ecclésiam meam.		V. Thou art Peter, R. And upon this Rock, I will build My Church.
Orémus. Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, miserére fámulo tuo Pontífici nostro Benedícto : et dírige eum secúndum tuam cleméntiam in viam salútis ætérnæ : ut, te donánte, tibi plácita cúpiat, et tota virtúte perfíciat. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. R. Amen.		Let us Pray, Almighty and everlasting God, have mercy upon your servant, Benedict, our Sovereign Pontiff, and guide him in your goodness on the way of eternal salvation; so that, with the prompting of your grace, he may desire what pleases you and accomplish it with all his strength. Through Christ Our Lord. R. Amen.
Mater Ecclésiæ, ora pro nobis. Sancte Petre, ora pro nobis.		V. Mother of the Church. R. Pray for us V. St. Peter. R. Pray for us