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As you must have read in the NY dailies, if you did not otherwise know, our local shepherd was raised to the special rank of cardinal this past weekend. Here’s His Eminence’s own commentary, published both in the Daily News and the Post. What follows is Our Holy Father’s homily from the Mass. (The feast of the Chair of St. Peter was transferred to this past Sunday in Rome because it falls on a Sunday during Lent):

Dear Cardinals,
Brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On this solemnity of the Chair of Saint Peter, we have the joy of gathering around the altar of the Lord together with the new Cardinals whom yesterday I incorporated into the College of Cardinals. It is to them, first of all, that I offer my cordial greetings and I thank Cardinal Fernando Filoni for the gracious words he has addressed to me in the name of all. I extend my greetings to the other Cardinals and all the Bishops present, as well as to the distinguished authorities, ambassadors, priests, religious and all the faithful who have come from different parts of the world for this happy occasion, which is marked by a particular character of universality.

In the second reading that we have just heard, Saint Peter exhorts the “elders” of the Church to be zealous pastors, attentive to the flock of Christ (cf. 1 Pet 5:1-2). These words are addressed in the first instance to you, my dear venerable brothers, who have already shown great merit among the people of God through your wise and generous pastoral ministry in demanding dioceses, or through presiding over the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, or in your service to the Church through study and teaching. The new dignity that has been conferred upon you is intended to show appreciation for the faithful labour you have carried out in the Lord’s vineyard, to honour the communities and nations from which you come and which you represent so worthily in the Church, to invest you with new and more important ecclesial responsibilities and finally to ask of you an additional readiness to be of service to Christ and to the entire Christian community. This readiness to serve the Gospel is firmly founded upon the certitude of faith. We know that God is faithful to his promises and we await in hope the fulfilment of these words of Saint Peter: “And when the chief shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet 5:4).

Today’s Gospel passage presents Peter, under divine inspiration, expressing his own firm faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the promised Messiah. In response to this transparent profession of faith, which Peter makes in the name of the other Apostles as well, Christ reveals to him the mission he intends to entrust to him, namely that of being the “rock”, the visible foundation on which the entire spiritual edifice of the Church is built (cf. Mt 16:16-19). This new name of “rock” is not a reference to Peter’s personal character, but can be understood only on the basis of a deeper aspect, a mystery: through the office that Jesus confers upon him, Simon Peter will become something that, in terms of “flesh and blood”, he is not. The exegete Joachim Jeremias has shown that in the background, the symbolic language of “holy rock” is present. In this regard, it is helpful to consider a rabbinic text which states: “The Lord said, ‘How can I create the world, when these godless men will rise up in revolt against me?’ But when God saw that Abraham was to be born, he said, ‘Look, I have found a rock on which I can build and establish the world.’ Therefore he called Abraham a rock.” The prophet Isaiah makes reference to this when he calls upon the people to “look to the rock from which you were hewn … look to Abraham your father” (51:1-2). On account of his faith, Abraham, the father of believers, is seen as the rock that supports creation. Simon, the first to profess faith in Jesus as the Christ and the first witness of the resurrection, now, on the basis of his renewed faith, becomes the rock that is to prevail against the destructive forces of evil.

Dear brothers and sisters, this Gospel episode that has been proclaimed to us finds a further and more eloquent explanation in one of the most famous artistic treasures of this Vatican Basilica: the altar of the Chair. After passing through the magnificent central nave, and continuing past the transepts, the pilgrim arrives in the apse and sees before him an enormous bronze throne that seems to hover in mid air, but in reality is supported by the four statues of great Fathers of the Church from East and West. And above the throne, surrounded by triumphant angels suspended in the air, the glory of the Holy Spirit shines through the oval window. What does this sculptural composition say to us, this product of Bernini’s genius? It represents a vision of the essence of the Church and the place within the Church of the Petrine Magisterium.

The window of the apse opens the Church towards the outside, towards the whole of creation, while the image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove shows God as the source of light. But there is also another aspect to point out: the Church herself is like a window, the place where God draws near to us, where he comes towards our world. The Church does not exist for her own sake, she is not the point of arrival, but she has to point upwards, beyond herself, to the realms above. The Church is truly herself to the extent that she allows the Other, with a capital “O”, to shine through her – the One from whom she comes and to whom she leads. The Church is the place where God “reaches” us and where we “set off” towards him: she has the task of opening up, beyond itself, a world which tends to become enclosed within itself, the task of bringing to the world the light that comes from above, without which it would be uninhabitable.

The great bronze throne encloses a wooden chair from the ninth century, which was long thought to be Saint Peter’s own chair and was placed above this monumental altar because of its great symbolic value. It expresses the permanent presence of the Apostle in the Magisterium of his successors. Saint Peter’s chair, we could say, is the throne of truth which takes its origin from Christ’s commission after the confession at Caesarea Philippi. The magisterial chair also reminds us of the words spoken to Peter by the Lord during the Last Supper: “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren” (Lk 22:32).

The chair of Peter evokes another memory: the famous expression from Saint Ignatius of Antioch’s letter to the Romans, where he says of the Church of Rome that she “presides in charity” (Salutation, PG 5, 801). In truth, presiding in faith is inseparably linked to presiding in love. Faith without love would no longer be an authentic Christian faith. But the words of Saint Ignatius have another much more concrete implication: the word “charity”, in fact, was also used by the early Church to indicate the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Sacramentum caritatis Christi [the sacrament of the love of Christ] through which Christ continues to draw us all to himself, as he did when raised up on the Cross (cf. Jn 12:32). Therefore, to “preside in charity” is to draw men and women into a eucharistic embrace – the embrace of Christ – which surpasses every barrier and every division, creating communion from all manner of differences. The Petrine ministry is therefore a primacy of love in the eucharistic sense, that is to say solicitude for the universal communion of the Church in Christ. And the Eucharist is the shape and the measure of this communion, a guarantee that it will remain faithful to the criterion of the tradition of the faith.

The great Chair is supported by the Fathers of the Church. The two Eastern masters, Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Athanasius, together with the Latins, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine, represent the whole of the tradition, and hence the richness of expression of the true faith of the one Church. This aspect of the altar teaches us that love rests upon faith. Love collapses if man no longer trusts in God and disobeys him. Everything in the Church rests upon faith: the sacraments, the liturgy, evangelization, charity. Likewise the law and the Church’s authority rest upon faith. The Church is not self-regulating, she does not determine her own structure but receives it from the word of God, to which she listens in faith as she seeks to understand it and to live it. Within the ecclesial community, the Fathers of the Church fulfil the function of guaranteeing fidelity to sacred Scripture. They ensure that the Church receives reliable and solid exegesis, capable of forming with the Chair of Peter a stable and consistent whole. The sacred Scriptures, authoritatively interpreted by the Magisterium in the light of the Fathers, shed light upon the Church’s journey through time, providing her with a stable foundation amid the vicissitudes of history.

After considering the various elements of the altar of the Chair, let us take a look at it in its entirety. We see that it is characterized by a twofold movement: ascending and descending. This is the reciprocity between faith and love. The Chair is placed in a prominent position in this place, because this is where Saint Peter’s tomb is located, but this too tends towards the love of God. Indeed, faith is oriented towards love. A selfish faith would be an unreal faith. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ and enters into the dynamic of love that finds its source in the Eucharist, discovers true joy and becomes capable in turn of living according to the logic of gift. True faith is illumined by love and leads towards love, leads on high, just as the altar of the Chair points upwards towards the luminous window, the glory of the Holy Spirit, which constitutes the true focus for the pilgrim’s gaze as he crosses the threshold of the Vatican Basilica. That window is given great prominence by the triumphant angels and the great golden rays, with a sense of overflowing fulness that expresses the richness of communion with God. God is not isolation, but glorious and joyful love, spreading outwards and radiant with light.

Dear brothers and sisters, the gift of this love has been entrusted to us, to every Christian. It is a gift to be passed on to others, through the witness of our lives. This is your task in particular, dear brother Cardinals: to bear witness to the joy of Christ’s love. We now entrust your ecclesial service to the Virgin Mary, who was present among the apostolic community as they gathered in prayer, waiting for the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14). May she, Mother of the Incarnate Word, protect the Church’s path, support the work of the pastors by her intercession and take under her mantle the entire College of Cardinals. Amen!

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Theology on Tap-NYC
Young Adult Ministry for those in their 20s, 30s and early 40s) presents:

“Suffering…Why It Matters”

On March 12, 2012, Fr Jordan Kelly OP, Pastor of our sister parish of St Catherine of Siena , will address Theology on Tap about suffering: why we hate it, why we avoid it, but why we still need it.  ToTNYC is located at Klub 45 Room-Connolly’s Bar, 121 West 45th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues.

Event begins at 7:30pm and ends around 9pm. For more info, visit www.totnyc.org

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Cardinals wear red, which is a sign of their intimate connection with the vicar of Christ as the pope’s closest advisers. The red not only symbolizes the Holy Spirit, but moreover martyrdom–the proper form of Christian witness. So, there is also the long-standing custom that the pope wears red shoes. Consider Our Savior’s words to St. Peter at the close of John 21:18-19, “You will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” This path is in the footsteps of the Crucified One: “[Jesus] said this signifying by what kind of death [Peter] would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”

Given that connection, our Archbishop’s words to us are uniquely significant:

Yes, I am honored, humbled, and grateful, …but, let’s be frank: this is not about Timothy Dolan; this is an honor from the Holy Father to the Archdiocese of New York, and to all our cherished friends and neighbors who call this great community home.

It’s as if Pope Benedict is putting the red hat on top of the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty, or on home plate at Yankee Stadium; or on the spires of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral or any of our other parish churches; this is the successor of Saint Peter saying to the clergy, sisters, brothers, lay faithful of this archdiocese, and to all of our friends and neighbors of New York…

Our frank Archbishop adds, “I sure need your prayers.”

Let us pray for him and for each other in this great City, whose significance calls us in a special way to a crimson commitment–which is indeed, a very unique and Christian kind of honor.

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Saint Luke the Evangelist is also the Patron of all who work in the health and medical field, due to his traditionally ascribed metier as a physician. He has also long been venerated as an artist.

Appropriately, our parish of St. Catherine of Siena will hold its annual White Mass tomorrow (18 October) at 12 noon, on St. Luke’s feast, in support of all medical professionals. (It is called the “White Mass” because of the white lab coats… although the liturgical vestments will be red, in honor of the martyr’s blood!) In addition, there is a concert at 2:30 pm to benefit health care providers and their patients and families. For details, call 212.988.8300.

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Our sister parish, St. Catherine of Siena, and its awesome Siena Forum, is sponsoring this event as part of its year-long series on Marriage. (Parishioners receive a discount.)

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Visit the You and Me exhibit this weekend:

St. Paul the Apostle Church, Yonkers, NY – just off I87  (602 McLean Avenue)

Sat, Oct 15^th  2-7pm and Sun, Oct 16^th  9am – 3pm 

Open to anyone age 15 years and over.

This past summer about 45 Sisters of Life attended World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain August 16-21, 2011.  The Sisters in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus hosted over 15,000 pilgrims each day at the Love and Life centre  evangelizing on the sacredness of human life and love.  Learn more about this by reading the blog or seeing video from the site here:  http://sistersoflife.org/world-youth-day-in-madrid-spain-2

Key to the site was the exhibit You & Me (called to communion).  The exhibit composed of 35 seven foot banners with beautiful visuals, mp3 players for audio, and inspiring music, profiled true testimonies in the lives of various people who made a courageous decision for life in the midst of great adversity.  Over 8,000 pilgrims visited the exhibit, including 12 Bishops.  It is a powerful tool for evangelization and very moving!

The exhibit is now here in New York and we wanted to extend an invitation to all of you, especially groups leaders, to see it for yourselves.    It is a great opportunity that you don’t want to miss.

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For more information, please call (347) 843 – 8900

PLEASE RSVP by Friday, November 11, 2011,

please contact Daniela Adames : Daniela.Adames@archny.org

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Read this great article from this past Sunday’s Catholic New York about Generation Life’s initiatives in the City. Among others is featured Mike Lahey, a musician and now missionary of chaste love for “Gen Life.” Mike is involved with a ton of Gospel efforts in the City… and calls St. Vincent Ferrer his home.

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Event Date(s): 10/10/2011
Venue / Location Information:
Name: St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Address: Fifth Ave. at 51st St.
City: Manhattan
State: NY
Event Time / Additional Information: 9:30 a.m.
Web site: www.columbuscitizensfd.org

Archbishop Dolan will celebrate the annual Columbus Day Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral .

The Mass will mark the beginning of the 67th annual Columbus Celebration presented by the Columbus Citizens Foundation.

Cardinal Egan will be in attendance. The homilist will be Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and pastor of Little Flower parish in Bethesda, Md. He is the author of the “Pillars of Faith” series of commentaries on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. His topic will be “The New Evangelization.”

The cathedral will open at 8:30 a.m. for Mass ticket holders, and at 9:15 a.m. for general admission.

The Columbus Day Parade will step up Fifth Avenue from 47th to 72nd streets beginning at 11:30 a.m. This year’s grand marshal is Joseph J. Plumeri, chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings, a global insurance broker. He is a philanthropist.

The 2011 Columbus Day celebration marks the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.

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Tuesday 16th at 5:30pm: Conversation on Why Marriage Matters

In recent decades, scholars waged battles over marriage. Some argued that marriage was an outmoded and even destructive institution. But now, the debate is over. The scholarly evidence points to the enormous benefits of marriage to couples, children, and the society. Released by a group of 18 family scholars, Why Marriage Matters (a publication of The Institute for American Values) offers important new findings from the social sciences on the state of marriage in the United States.

The Institute for American Values cordially invites you to join them on Tuesday evening, August 16th for a Conversation on Why Marriage Matters: An Argument for the Goods of Marriage with:

- Linda Malone-Calon, Founder of the National Center on African American Marriages
and Parenting at Hampton University
- Elizabeth Marquardt, Director of the Center for Marriage and Families at the Institute for American Values, and
- W. Bradford Wilcox, Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia
- It will be hosted by Jonathan Rauch, Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Time: Opens 5:30pm with refreshments, program will begin promptly at 6, finishes at 7:30
Venue: Center for Public Conversation, 1841 Broadway, Second Floor
Seating: Limited and running out fast
RSVP: info@americanvalues.org OR 212-246-3942

For more information about this event, the panelists and host, head to:

http://www.centerforpublicconversation.org/events/invitations/2011-08-16.php

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The Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York invites all Medical Students, Residents and Medical Professionals for an informal time of fellowship. We wish to support you in your work of caring for the sick and to give you the necessary spiritual support to allow you to care for the whole person, body and soul, in a world that increasingly denies the connection between the two.

St. Catherine of Siena
68th St., btwn. 1st and York Aves.
31 July 2011
From 1-3 pm, after the Sunday Noon Mass
rsvp: jsullivan.siena@gmail.com / 212.988.8300

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The EAST VILLAGE ARTS PARTY, brought to you by Arts NYC, is looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow, Sat. July 9th for their highly anticipated event!

Come see dozens of bands, musicians, films, fine artists, and more, and mingle with hundreds of friends, old and new, for THE party of the summer!

Doors Open: 7:00 PM
Admission: $10 and drinks/food to share (21 + unless accompanied by an adult)
Proceeds to benefit: The Meatloaf Kitchen: http://meatloafkitchen.org/
Venue: Courtyard of the Immaculate Conception Church, 414 E 14th St @ 1st Ave.

Performing Artists such as:
Walking for Pennies, Mike Lahey, Paul Tabachneck, Cecilia Schwartz, and more…

Visual Art displays by:
Mary Acosta, Sean Scanlin, Alexander Ponomarenko, Daniel Somarriba, plus several others…

Classical Music performances indoors by:
Kara Vertucci, Scott Tran, Donna Nathan, Joanne Togati, Linda Garrity, Nhi Pham, Joe Shippee to name a few…

Short Film and Trailer screenings by:
Grassroots Films, Juan Reinoso, and Jennifer Cadena, and others…

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/eastvillageartsparty
Contact: eastvillageartsparty@gmail.com

And be sure to check out the website for details, schedules, and to meet the artists:

http://eastvillageartsparty.posterous.com/

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Saturday 30th April, 9pm: Divine Mercy Vigil Night of Prayer

Run by our Polish Dominican confreres, Columbia Catholic Ministry invites you to their final vigil of the year. They will gather in the grotto at Notre Dame for several hours of Eucharistic adoration, and will pray through the whole Divine Mercy Novena. The choir will lead them in a number of meditative chants, including a chanted form of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Litany of Divine Mercy. All are welcome.

Besides attracting a happy number of Columbia U’s young fold, CCM’s chanted meditations are absolutely beautiful.

Following the vigil, they will have a celebration for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II in the church’s rectory, watching the festivities live on EWTN.

Venue: Church of Notre Dame (W 114th @ Morningside Drive)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=220512871296611
Website: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/earl/ccm/

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The Archdiocese of New York with the Dioceses of Brooklyn-Queens and Rockville Center sponsored a wonderful day of Reconciliation on Monday — every church heard Confessions from 3-9 pm!

A contest to make a video about the good of the Sacrament of Penance is also being held: Here is one video; there are many, many more!

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What makes a person moral? Which principles determine whether an action is right or wrong? Which virtues are worth striving for? The Catholic and secular worldviews have long been in conflict over these questions. Yet where exactly do they diverge? And do they have anything in common?

To address these questions, the Center for Inquiry in New York City presents a forum featuring its executive director, Michael De Dora, and Father Jonathan Morris, an author and Fox News contributor. The event will be hosted and moderated by journalist Chris Jansing of “Jansing and Company” on MSNBC. The two speakers will make opening statements, then sit down with Jansing for a conversation about the disagreements and potential overlap between their religious and nonreligious moral outlooks. An audience question-and-answer session will follow.

General public admission is $5 at the door. Students (with a college ID) and paid CFI members get in free. Photo ID is required for everyone to enter the building. Tishman Auditorium is located on the first floor of NYU Law’s Vanderbilt Hall, located at 40 Washington Square South, between MacDougal and Sullivan Streets. It is one block east of the West 4th Street subway station (A/CE/B/D/F lines).

This event is part of the Voices of Reason lecture and panel discussion series that features leading thinkers on philosophy, science, and religion.

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You may be interested to know that Patrick Madrid is speaking at our sister church, St Catherine of Siena, this coming Friday night and Saturday. So….let your friends know.

The Church of Saint Catherine of Siena is pleased to host Patrick Madrid for a 2-day seminar based on his book Search and Rescue: How You Can Help People Come Home to the Church. The seminar takes place Friday and Saturday, 18-19 March 2011, at The Church of Saint Catherine of Siena, 411 E. 68th Street (bet. 1st and York).

This seminar explains ten crucial “dos and don’ts” for Catholics who want to share, explain, and defend their Catholic beliefs. With a generous helping of humorous anecdotes, biblical examples, and practical illustrations, this talk equips lay-Catholics with the tools they need to help their family, friends, and co-workers come into (or come back to) the Catholic Church. Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop-Emeritus of New York, said: “How do you bring someone back to the Catholic Church? First you pray, then you follow Patrick Madrid’s advice in Search and Rescue.”

Event Details
When:
Friday, 18 March 2011, 7PM – 9:30PM
Saturday, 19 March 2011, 9AM – 4PM

Where:
The Church of Saint Catherine of Siena
411 E 68th Street, New York, NY 10065
Saint Dominic’s Hall (on 2nd Floor)

Cost:
Event is free. Pre-registration is requested by Monday, 14 March 2011

Lunch:
$12 for pre-orders – contact the Parish Office to pre-order lunch
$15 at the event on a first come first served basis

Registration:
Contact the Parish Office by Monday, 14 March 2011 to pre-register.
T: 212-988-8300
E: sienaforum@gmail.com

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From our Archbishop,

Unpleasant Truths

I’ve known for a long time that I should lose some weight.  So, last week, I visited my doctor, and he showed me a gross, disgusting, dripping ball of yellow wax.  “This,” he said to me, “is what ten pounds of fat looks like.  This is what you’re carrying around in your body.”  Was it upsetting?  Unnerving?  Sobering?  You bet it was.   It was also true, and it was effective, as it strengthened my resolve to get my weight under control.

Being confronted by the truth can often be unpleasant.  That’s why those who fight so hard to eradicate world hunger will show us what hunger does, with a picture of a starving child, covered with flies and sores. Does it disturb us to face that truth, an image we’d rather not see or think about?  It should, even as it spurs us to action.

It’s the same with smoking.  I’m sure you’ve seen those television commercials that graphically portray the effects of smoking.  It’s unpleasant to look at open heart surgery, or a pair of diseased lungs, or to see a person who has lost fingers, toes, or the esophagus, all due to smoking.   The ads are nauseating, even hideous, to see.  But the New York State Department of Health, among many others, sponsors these kinds of ads because they know that they can help to save lives.

Another ad has been generating some fierce reactions.  Here in New York, a billboard was recently displayed, that simply stated “The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb.” This message was accompanied by a photograph of a young, African-American girl.

Is that message unpleasant?  Is it upsetting?  Does it get our attention?

Yes!

Because the message is somberly true. The City of New York’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently released its vital statistics from a year ago which showed that 59.8% of African-American pregnancies in New York City ended in abortion. That’s even higher than the chilling city-wide average of 41% of pregnancies ending in abortion. (I joined other community leaders from a diversity of religious and ethnic backgrounds at a press conference sponsored by the Chiaroscuro Foundation about this a few weeks ago.)

So why has the billboard suddenly been taken down? What was it that moved many of our elected officials to condemn this ad and call for the gag order. Are they claiming that free speech is a right enjoyed only by those who favor abortion or their pet causes? Do they believe that unpleasant and disturbing truths should not be spoken? Or are they afraid that when people are finally confronted with the reality of the horror of abortion, and with the toll that it is taking in our city, particularly in our African-American community, that they will be moved to defend innocent, unborn, human life?

Perhaps I’m more saddened by this intolerance right now because on Monday I will be celebrating the funeral mass for Doctor Bernard Nathanson, that giant of the pro-life movement, who died earlier this week. If you don’t know Dr. Nathanson’s story, you should. At one time, he fought hard to promote and expand abortion on demand in this state and in our country. He was one of the founders of the National Abortion Rights Action League.  He ran what he called the “largest abortion clinic in the Western world,” and bragged about personally performing thousands of abortions. But, when Dr. Nathanson was confronted with the undeniable truth, when he could see the unborn baby in the womb through the use of ultrasound technology, he abandoned his support for abortion and became a crusader for the protection of the life of the baby in the womb.

His courage and bravery should be an inspiration to us, especially when we have to face unpleasant and sobering truths.

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Go here to see the campaign’s work.

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Our Archbishop posted this statement in response to reports accusing him of gross mismanagement of money. Here it is:

I owe it to all of you — both the Catholic and wider community — to be very clear about the ridiculous and groundless gossip spread about me by a tort lawyer named Jeff Anderson.

You may have heard this man claim that, when I was Archbishop of Milwaukee, I “hid’ $130 million of archdiocesan funds so victims of clergy sexual abuse could not sue for it.

Malarkey! The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has an excellent record of fiscal integrity and transparency. I worked hard at that, and my successor, Archbishop Listecki, continues to do so. (By the way, you might also be interested to know that during my years as Archbishop of Milwaukee, and with the generous service of many dedicated people, we established a mediation process that reached settlements with almost 200 victim survivors; that mediation process has been praised by the victim survivors who have participated in the process.)

In my seven years there, the meager resources of the archdiocese were under the vigilance of a sound and respected finance council, composed of prominent and respected business leaders from the financial community; annually we were audited; and each year there was complete, published financial disclosure. You can find the audited financial statements here. To claim that, given this rigorous supervision, an archbishop could have “hidden” $130 million, is beyond ridiculous.

I do want you to know that, when I arrived as archbishop, the financials showed that parishes had $70 million of their peoples’ money on deposit with the archdiocese. This was not archdiocesan money at all, but belonged to parishes. That’s why the finance council, and our outside professional auditors, advised me that it was inappropriate for the archdiocese to hold money for parishes, and that it should be returned to the parishes to which it belonged anyway. This was done, and publicly reported in the annual audit.

So much for “hidden funds.” Far from inappropriate, this decision was virtuous, open, and in accord with the clear directives of the professionals on our finance council and outside auditors.

The archdiocese of Milwaukee has issued an enlightening statement speculating that this lawyer’s reckless charges also included “hiding” the “cemetery fund,” which, of course, by state law, is scrupulously protected, and cannot be touched or transferred by anybody.

So, these silly charges are baloney. Unfortunately, this man got the attention he wanted and has come to expect from the news, tarnishing the good name of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and of me. Some of our priests reported that people at Sunday Mass asked them “Why did Archbishop Dolan hide those funds?”

Lord knows I’ve made mistakes, but “hiding” $130 million is hardly one of them!

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On 22 January, Archbishop Dolan announced the establishment of a Pro-Life Commission to assist him in the archdiocese’s efforts to foster a greater appreciation of the sanctity of life of every human person, from conception to natural death.

Fr. Walter Wagner, O.P., our pastor, was one of the twenty-five members asked by the Archbishop to be on this Commission. Its members of various professions and states in life were selected because of work that they have already done to encourage instruction and conversation regarding the nature of human life. And this work will continue.

To read the Archbishop’s letter establishing the Commission, go here; to see the list of members and additional consultants, go here.

Congratulations, Fr. Walter.

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New York Encounter is an annual four-day public festival comprised of presentations, artistic performances, exhibits, and information booths that present a variety of charitable, cultural, and work-related initiatives.  It will take place January 14 – 17, 2011 and all the events are designed to communicate the remarkable vastness, openness, richness, and depth generated by the Catholic faith. Visit the NYE website (www.newyorkencounter.org) for details.

Among the great events scheduled, there will be a one-time reproduction of Paul Claudel’s, Tidings Brought to Mary, produced by the Blackfriars Repertory Theater and The Storm Theater.

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Tonight, our Wednesday night Adoration will extend until 1 AM. We’ll have our regular schedule of Confessions available (7:45-8:30) and Compline (Night Prayer) at 8:30. But the vigil in honor of the Feasts of the Immaculate Conception and St. Juan Diego will continue in order to pray for life.

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