I'd Make a Crappy Bishop....Too Catholic

 

You tell he's a Bishop by his attire. Looks like a homeless guy.

 

Bishop Evaristo Pascoal Spengle

Vatican City, Oct 25, 2019 / 10:20 am (CNA).- A Brazilian bishop has called for the ordination of women to the diaconate for service in the Amazon region. The bishop said that 2009 revisions to canon law could allow for the ordination of women deacons, but a leading canon lawyer in the Vatican has disputed that idea.

Bishop Evaristo Pascoal Spengler, OFM leads the territorial prelature of Marajó in Brazil and is participating as a member of the Synod on the Pan-Amazonian region in Rome.

During a press conference on Oct. 25, Spengler said that “there is a path that is open for the ordination of women,” citing a 2009 document from Pope Benedict XVI.

While referencing the role of women leaders, saints, and teachers in the history of the Church in making, Spengler did not account for the theological and sacramental impediments to such a development.

Underdog!

Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles have started wearing dog head masks, to show their pride at always being the underdog. So a Permanent Deacon in Philadelphia put one on and spoke from the Ambro wearing it.

Father Z thought it was HILARIOUS....well, no he didn't really.

No, it’s not cute or clever.  No, the Eagles game is no excuse.
This is stupid and this is sacrilege.
The culpability of sin can be diminished due to ignorance.  However, deacons ought to know better.  Alas, some permanent deacon formation programs have in the past not been very good, to put it mildly.  Good men with good intentions were cheated of even barely adequate formation.
At the same time, there is the pastor of the parish who must be held to account.  If he signed on on this, he, too, is guilty of sacrilege.
The fact is: When you are a cleric, it is difficult to claim ignorance.  There is such a thing as culpable ignorance.
There is also such a thing as invincible ignorance.
At that point, one must wonder how the program of formation as well as those who approved them for ordination.  One must wonder about their supervision, at the level of the pastor and above.

Woe are Us! We Are All Out of Priests!

Turns out...we're not. The 2013 Pontifical Yearbook and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae (annual statistics of the church) was presented to Pope Francis recently and some of the information is surprising (the data is based on 2011 numbers).

Take priests. Ten years ago, there were 405.067 Catholic priests. Well, what do you know? There are now 413,418 of them. I credit the Clericus Cup! There are 39% more from Africa and 32% more Asian priests.

But the pool is drying up, right? Wrong. Ten years ago there were 112,244 men in formation. Today there are 120,616 (+7.5%).

Deacons. We need deacons. Well....ten years ago there were 29,000 permanent deacons. There are now 41,100. 97% of them are in the United Sates or Europe.