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Clergy Denied Access to Dying Victims

4/27/2013

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So what has secularism given us today? Previously, I talked about government officials and public persons asking people to pray after tragedies occur. That article can be found HERE. Today I came across an article in the Wall Street Journal talking about how priests and other religious officials were refused access to the bombing scene at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. This is highlighted by the fact that one of the victims who died was young man who just received his First Communion. As a full member of the Roman Catholic Church, it was his right to receive the last rites of the Catholic Church. I understand the need to restrict the area after any major incident not just those which could be acts of terrorism. As an emergency services worker for over 20 years, I am well aware of the need to have the minimum number of personnel present so that people aren’t tripping over each other. I’m also aware, in today’s society, of the need to ensure that personnel coming onto a scene are authorized to be there. Nevertheless, the advance of secularism in our society has placed an undue burden on the members and clergy of religious organizations. It is time that action be taken so that no member of our society, regardless of religious belief, should be denied access to the leaders of his religion at the time of his death. Certainly the proper vetting of religious leaders and the issuance of appropriate credentials can be handled in such a way that this never happens again. We can no longer stand aside and watch our religious liberty be taken away piece by piece. Now is the time for action. Talk to your local priest or religious leader about this issue. Speak to your city leaders, county and state leaders to take steps now to provide for future calamities. I pray that this will be a learning experience for all of us and that that learning curve is very sharp. Religious leaders must be allowed access to their dying members.

Below I have posted the article to which I refer. My emphasis has been added. The complete article can be found on the website of the Wall Street Journal. Please feel free to share, tweet, like and email this article. Buttons for this can be found at the bottom of this article. Let us make sure that in the future, regardless of the reason, no one is denied access to the consolation of their religion at the time of their death.

By JENNIFER GRAHAM
Boston

The heart-wrenching photographs taken in the moments after the Boston Marathon bombings show the blue-and-yellow jackets of volunteers, police officers, fire fighters, emergency medical technicians, even a three-foot-high blue M&M. Conspicuously absent are any clerical collars or images of pastoral care.

This was not for lack of proximity. Close to the bombing site are Trinity Episcopal Church, Old South Church and St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine, all on Boylston Street. When the priests at St. Clement's, three blocks away, heard the explosions, they gathered sacramental oils and hurried to the scene in hopes of anointing the injured and, if necessary, administering last rites, the final of seven Catholic sacraments. But the priests, who belong to the order Oblates of the Virgin Mary, weren't allowed at the scene.

The Rev. John Wykes, director of the St. Francis Chapel at Boston's soaring Prudential Center, and the Rev. Tom Carzon, rector of Our Lady of Grace Seminary, were among the priests who were turned away right after the bombings. It was jarring for Father Wykes, who, as a hospital chaplain in Illinois a decade ago, was never denied access to crime or accident scenes.

"I was allowed to go anywhere. In Boston, I don't have that access," he says.

But Father Wykes says he has noticed a shift in the societal role of clergy over the past few decades: "In the Bing Crosby era—in the '40s, '50s, '60s—a priest with a collar could get in anywhere. That's changed. Priests are no longer considered to be emergency responders."

The Rev. Mychal Judge is a memorable exception. The New York City priest died on 9/11, when the South Tower collapsed and its debris flew into the North Tower lobby, where Father Judge was praying after giving last rites to victims lying outside. The image of the priest's body being carried from the rubble was one of the most vivid images to emerge from 9/11.

But Father Judge had been the city's fire chaplain for nine years, knew the mayor, and was beloved by the firefighting force.

For police officers securing a crime scene, and trying to prevent further injuries and loss of life, the decision to admit clergy to a bombing site is fraught with risk. Anyone can buy a clerical collar for just $10, and a modestly talented seventh-grader with a computer and printer can produce official-looking credentials.

Father Carzon, the seminary rector, said he was "disappointed" when he wasn't allowed at the scene of the bombing, but he understood the reasoning and left without protest. "Once it was clear we couldn't get inside, we came back here to St. Clement's, set up a table with water and oranges and bananas to serve people, and helped people however we could."

By that point, spectators and runners who had been unable to finish the marathon were wandering around, "frightened, disoriented, confused and cold," he said. Father Carzon was able to minister to a runner who wasn't injured but had assisted a bystander with catastrophic injuries. Two hours later, the runner, a Protestant, was still walking around the area in shock and disbelief.

"He came over, and said, 'You're a priest, I need to talk to someone, I need to talk,' and he was able to pour out some of the story of what had happened," Father Carzon said. "Then there was an off-duty firefighter who was there as a spectator, and he, too, got pushed out of the perimeter, and he ended up here to pray. There was a feeling of helplessness we had when we couldn't get close. But doing the little that we could—putting out a table with water and fruit, being there—I realize how much that 'little' was able to do."

In light of the devastation in Boston, the denial of access to clergy is a trifling thing, and it might even have been an individual's error. (The Boston Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on its policy regarding clergy at the scenes of emergencies.)

But it is a poignant irony that Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who died on Boylston Street, was a Catholic who had received his first Communion just last year. As Martin lay dying, priests were only yards away, beyond the police tape, unable to reach him to administer last rites—a sacrament that, to Catholics, bears enormous significance.

As the Rev. Richard Cannon, a priest in Hopkinton, Mass., where the marathon begins, said in a homily on the Sunday after the bombings, "When the world can seem very dark and confusing, the presence of a priest is a presence of hope."


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Pope Francis

3/13/2013

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Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam. 
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum. Dominum Georgium Marium
 Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Bergoglio 
Qui nomen sibi imposuit Franciscum.
Viva il Papa

And with those words, the world received the news of its new Pope Francis. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen by the College of Cardinals to lead the Catholic Church. The 76 year-old Jesuit was the archbishop of Buenos Aires and that gives us a number of firsts. He is the first Jesuit ever to become pope, the first pope from the Americas (this hemisphere, Latin America, Argentina, etc) and the first pope to take the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi. What a wonderful start! What does this all mean? I would like to refer to a very respected Vatican observer, Rocco Palmo, who says this on his blog: 

By choosing the name of the founder of his community's traditional rivals, the 266th Roman pontiff – the first from the American continent, home to more than half of the 1.2 billion-member church – has signaled three things: his desire to be a force of unity in a polarized fold, a heart for the poor, and his intent to "repair God's house, which has fallen into ruin"... that is, to rebuild the church.
I am sure that the papers will be filled with his information and mis-information over the next few days. Let us remember the new pope in our prayers.

O God, who in your providential design
willed that your Church be built
upon blessed Peter, whom you set over the other apostles,
look with favor, we pray, on Francis, our Pope,
and grant that he, whom you have made Peter’s successor,
may be for your people a visible source and foundation
of unity in faith and of communion.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

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Beautiful Procession and Black Smoke

3/12/2013

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The full splendor of the Catholic Church was on display today as the Conclave began. As we know now, the first vote resulted in black smoke (no Pope), but that was expected. So now we move into the second day of the Conclave and anxiously await the decision.
If you were not able to watch the Cardinals process into the Sistine Chapel, I have embedded it below and you can also view it on my video page or on the Vatican website. It is a beautiful ceremony and well worth the time to watch. 
Let us continue to pray for our Holy Mother Church.
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ATTENZIONE, ATTENZIONE - CONCLAVE SET

3/8/2013

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Directly from Vatican City via the Vatican News Service...


Vatican City, 8 March 2013 (VIS) – The eighth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals has decided that the Conclave will begin on Tuesday, 12 March 2013. A “pro eligendo Romano Pontifice” Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica that morning. In the afternoon, the cardinals will enter into the Conclave.
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Prayer Request From...The Vatican

3/5/2013

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This just delivered from our friends at Catholic Vote:


The Vatican has called the universal church to pray tomorrow at 5 PM Rome time, for the Cardinal-Electors who will soon select a new Pope. 

That’s Wednesday, March 6th at 11 AM Eastern / 8 AM Pacific Time. 

While the official start of the Conclave has not yet been announced, the Cardinals will gather tomorrow at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica for recitation of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and then Vespers. 

…and the Vatican has called on Catholics around the world to join them in prayer. 

The latest buzz from Rome is that over 5000 media credentials have been approved from 66 nations in 24 languages. The world is watching because the world is intrigued by the mystery of the Church. 

The world is watching because the world is seeking answers that are ultimately only found in Jesus Christ and His Church. 

The Church asked for our prayers. Let's deliver them! 

Mark your calendar for tomorrow at 11 AM Eastern // 8 AM Pacific Time. 

Millions of Catholics across the globe will be joining you. 

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The Meetings Begin

3/4/2013

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**All times are Rome Time.** The General Congregation opened this morning at 9.30. This was the first daily gathering of all the cardinals including cardinals over the age of 80 and is set to run until 1.30. After a break for lunch and rest period, there will be an unusual evening session which will start at 5.30.

The latest gossip says that an announcement on a Conclave start-date is not expected today. Under the rules of the motu proprio, issued by Benedict XVI prior to his resignation, which allows the College of Cardinals to ditch the standard 15-day waiting period from the moment a vacancy is triggered, all participating cardinal-electors must be present before the College can debate and eventually set the timetable of the conclave which is decided by a majority vote. 


And just a reminder, Cardinal electors are generally forbidden to communicate with the outside world until a new pope is determined, in fact, they are sworn not to do so. So don’t believe any tweets, blogs, chirps or texts saying otherwise. Just watch the chimney for smoke. Sometimes the old way really is the best way.

In the meantime, let us all continue to pray fro the cardinals and the election of our new pope. If you are looking for some prayers, here is a wonderful novena for the election…


novena-for-the-election-of-a-pope.pdf
File Size: 6623 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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    I am a Roman Catholic Priest for the Diocese of Colorado Springs. I am currently assigned to St. Dominic Catholic Church in Security, CO.


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