Reject Bad Information About the Church!

Want to know what really pushes my ecclesial buttons? 
It's spreading misinformation and misunderstanding, specifically about the Church.

I know we get a lot of it from the media.  It was especially noticeable when Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy.  Many journalists who had never said the word papal before pronounced it wrong, as if it rhymed with "apple" instead of "maple." (Credit goes to college friend John Jansen from Generations for Life who first pointed this out.)

We get a lot of misinformation from people outside the Catholic Church, too.  The world seems to have an abundance of people who have a poor understanding of the Church, and our large number of poorly catechized Catholics isn't helping.

What I can't tolerate is people who claim to be devout, sanctimonious Catholics who share wrong information about the Church with other people.  Whether they realize it or not, what they are actually doing is pushing their own agenda or version of church instead of the real Truth.

Here's a prime example of what's got me all fired up.  There's a bogus video circulating through the internet called Pope Francis Rejects Communion in the Hand.  It's edited footage from the Holy Father's liturgies at St Peter's Basilica on April 14, 2013 and on April 21, 2013.

Here's what's so misleading about it.  The video doesn't show Pope Francis rejecting or denying Holy Communion in the hand at all!  What it shows is the Holy Father administering Holy Communion to the deacons of the Mass (on the tongue, which is the norm for ministers at the altar).  It also shows one of the priests from each Mass, instructing an individual communicant to receive the Communion on the tongue, not the hand. 

What it doesn't show you is that Pope Francis usually only distributes Holy Communion to the ministers close to him at the altar at the larger pontifical celebrations. He hasn't been giving Communion to the faithful in attendance, even on the tongue. It also doesn't show the numerous priests and deacons who assist with the distribution of Holy Communion at these liturgies, with some of them administering Holy Communion in the hand.

Besides the selective editing, there's a lot that unsuspecting viewers may not realize. Receiving Holy Communion on the tongue is the norm at the Vatican (and really in the entire Church). Reception in the hand is only permitted by decree in certain countries where the bishops have asked for it (including Italy which surrounds but does not include Vatican City). Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable for a priest at St Peter's Basilica to insist that the unknowing Mass attendee receive the Eucharist on the tongue, especially if this instruction can be done with little disruption. Of course, this instruction has nothing to do with the pope supposedly eradicating Holy Communion in the hand that the video wrongly claims.

Cardinal Bergoglio (Pope Francis) giving Communion in the hand in 2004.

The end of the video is the tell all. It's a reference to a person's blog whose personal agenda is pretty apparent. This guy wants everyone to receive Holy Communion on the tongue while kneeling, to the point where he's jumping to false conclusions about the pope and then manipulating video to push his agenda on unsuspecting Christians.  Maybe some day this guy will get his wish, but if that happens, it will come by decree of the Holy Father or the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, not by a lay person's twisted video production.

St Athanasius once wrote: "In accordance with the Apostolic Faith delivered to us through the tradition of the Fathers, I have delivered the tradition without innovation, without adding anything extraneous to it."  He's referring to doctrine, but it's fair to extend this to general information about the Church, too.  All I'm asking of my fellow Catholics is to teach what the Church teaches, not your own version of it or what you think the Church should teach.

People deserve the real deal, not some cheap imitation.  Giving them anything else doesn't serve the Church, but selfishly builds your own ego. Chicago's Fr Robert Barron said in a recent homily: "When the ego takes over, the flow of grace is blocked."  That's pretty evident in the video. 

Receiving Holy Communion on the tongue is very reverent and I recommend it.  However, I don't recommend lying and saying the pope denies Holy Communion in the hand when he doesn't. Reject this video. Pray for the one who made it.

We Need TRUTH, Not Hype!

Three days ago, a Chicago Tribune reporter wrote an article: Bishop orders priests to read anti-Obama letter at Sunday sermons.  The article starts by saying: "Joining the chorus of Roman Catholic clergy in Illinois criticizing President Barack Obama before next week's election..."  Within minutes of it's online publishing, there were hundreds of comments.  Plenty of them supported Bishop Jenky of the Peoria Diocese, saying that he's done the right thing standing up for religious freedom.  Unfortunately, so many more were the extreme opposite.  A lot of angry people said that the Church's IRS tax-exemption status should be revoked for taking a position against a candidate or political party.  Many others took the opportunity to bash the Church, saying things like child abusers shouldn't tell other people how to vote, and we don't like abortion so we can abuse more kids.  If you ever wanted to see examples of misunderstanding and misplaced anger about the Church, there they are.

The worst part wasn't the comments themselves.  It was that the article didn't include a copy of the letter!  It doesn't tell you where to find it, and it wasn't easily found by a search engine.  The endless comments were written about a letter that I'm betting NO ONE EVEN READ.  So I went to the website for the Diocese of Peoria and found the actual letter that the reporter wasn't able to share. Here's the complete text:

Dear Catholic Believers,

Since the foundation of the American Republic and the adoption of the Bill of Rights, I do not think there has ever been a time more threatening to our religious liberty than the present. Neither the president of the United States nor the current majority of the Federal Senate have been willing to even consider the Catholic community’s grave objections to those HHS mandates that would require all Catholic institutions, exempting only our church buildings, to fund abortion, sterilization, and artificial contraception. This assault upon our religious freedom is simply without precedent in the American political and legal system. Contrary to the guarantees embedded in the First Amendment, the HHS mandates attempt to now narrowly define and thereby drastically limit our traditional religious works. They grossly and intentionally intrude upon the deeply held moral convictions that have always guided our Catholic schools, hospitals, and other apostolic ministries.

Nearly two thousand years ago, after our Savior had been bound, beaten, scourged, mocked, and crowned with thorns, a pagan Roman Procurator displayed Jesus to a hostile crowd by sarcastically declaring: “Behold your King.” The mob roared back: “We have no king but Caesar.” Today, Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also thereby reject Jesus as their Lord. They are objectively guilty of grave sin. For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches, after this passing instant of life on earth, God’s great mercy in time will give way to God’s perfect judgment in eternity.

I therefore call upon every practicing Catholic in this Diocese to vote. Be faithful to Christ and to your Catholic Faith. May God guide and protect His Holy Church, and may God bless America.

Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, CSC
Catholic Bishop of Peoria

As you can see, to call the letter "anti-Obama" is inaccurate.  President Obama's name isn't even mentioned.  The letter is in opposition to the HHS mandate, and appropriately shows how the mandate threatens our religious freedom.  It has absolutely no IRS implications for the tax exempt status for the Diocese of Peoria.

So why do I care what about a bunch of angry comments on the internet?  Actually, I really don't.  I just wanted to point out that as a society, we're quick to judge without having all the facts.  And what empowers us to do this?  It's all the hype from the media.  It's no secret that the media likes to report more hype than truth, and they do it because that's what society is looking for.

So the bottom line- We don't need any more hype!  We need accuracy and reality.  Most importantly, we need the Truth (notice the capital T).  I admit it- speculation, hype, and sensationalism are more fun, and it's so tempting to get caught up in it all.  But it isn't real, and it's one of the devil's tools for keeping us from heaven. 

As I've said so many times before:  We Catholics need to stand up for ourselves.  Please don't tolerate hype!  If the news you watch is more hype than news, then change the channel.  If you're reading an article where the body doesn't match the heading, then it's probably more hype than news; either stop reading it or write a comment that calls it out.  Hype and sensationalism only add to the misunderstanding and misplaced anger towards the Church that's already abundantly out there.  

Lastly, stand up for your faith.  Don't let someone say things about the Church that aren't true.  You wouldn't let someone talk about your mother that way, so don't let someone talk about Holy Mother Church that way either!