12th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C), (23 June 2013).

1.    Readings: Zach 12: 10-11; Gal. 3: 26-29; Luke 9: 18-24.

·       The readings of today prompt us to ponder our relationship with Jesus.  We are invited to answer who Jesus is for each of us individually.  Once we recognize him, then we can follow him and love his deeds and emulate his ways.

·       Zachariah’s prophesy stimulates us not to inflict pain on just and innocent people only to satisfy our whims.  He introduces us to a just and innocent person who was persecuted. The executors of the crime came to their senses and then regretted and repented their action.  They manifested remorsefulness through a physical, symbolic action: ‘public weeping and mourning.’

·       In the letter to Galatians, Paul, gives a new image of those who have faith in Jesus. Through baptism, they put on a special dress by which they are identified as children of God. Their life is in common; as they are one in Christ, social classes should not exist. All are children of Abraham and heirs to the riches promised to him. They should never mistreat each other in any way whatsoever. Gal.3:28

·       The gospel links Jesus to ancient prophets known for their stand for truth and their defense of the Anawim (the poor) of Yahweh. The apostles are in touch with villagers and they know what impression Jesus is portraying in his visit: like John, he is calling on leaders for change of heart; like Isaiah, he calls on people to take responsibility and remove the yoke from others; like all prophets, he calls for the rich to think of the poor. Peter acknowledges Jesus and professes faith: “You are the Christ.” Jesus then teaches them the meaning and condition of true discipleship, self sacrifice, and the spirit of sharing (Lk 9:23).

2.    Yes Kenya Matters

·       The current situation in Kenya is marred by greed and insensitivity to the plight of youth, children, and the less privileged. Many Kenyans have been subjected to gross humiliation because of their status. 

·       It is persecution when leaders ignore the voice that asks them to lower their salaries so that the money can be used in other sectors.  It is persecution when people cannot afford medication and suffer in their homes awaiting only death to rescue them, while leaders pocket millions.  It is persecution when some people cannot afford decent living and turn to suicide, while others, using their position, have all their wants fulfilled. It is persecution when thousands of Kenyans butcher each other because they have been incited, while the inciters go free. Many Kenyans pray day in day out that death will come and end their suffering. 

·       Indeed, the stars of liberation, the defenders of rights and freedom, the promoters of brotherhood, peace, and solidarity are being ignored and pierced daily. 

·       We already see indications of the current parliamentarians’ seizing their chance to vet others, not on the grounds of merit, but according to tribe, relationships, competition and envy; always seeking a way to prove their power, to punish, to avenge, to intimidate, or to harass others.  Such persecution as this cries out for repentance.

·       Just as in the gospel, Kenyans want to answer the question of who Jesus is in a way that corresponds to their experiences and their needs.  They want a president, a governor, a senator, a woman rep, an MP, and county reps who because of their deeds could be identified as John the Baptist or the prophets. For the people of the Coast, Jesus is the one who comes to give a new nation; for the people in Laikipia, he is the army general who should enter all forests to cast out the enemy by destroying their weapons and forcing them to go to school; for those in Garissa, he is a detective who discovers and unveils bombs before they explode; for those Nairobi, he is an economic power who dishes out jobs and money to people.  For others, he is the one who makes the status quo remain.  Is Jesus a Messiah to respond to wants at the expense of others?  Indeed, that would be the exact opposite of the Messiah. Jesus comes to liberate and make life easy for all.

3.    Link with the Catholic Social Teaching:

·       Catholic social teaching proclaims the Christ who is Messiah and light of the nations.  He appears in order to shed light on people’s situations so that they can live well, in dignity, solidarity, peace, and love.

·       The Church calls on her members to use the modern dictates of globalization to promote living together and to reach out to needy nations or individuals “…so as to liberate the African peoples from sin and the structures of sin, in short the heavy yoke weighing them down” (Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, 32).

·       “If belonging to Jesus Christ makes us members of the same family, sharers of the same word of life and partakers of the same bread of life…then hatred, injustice and fratricidal wars should cease” (Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, 36).

* CSDC: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Paulines Publication Africa

Outlines prepared by a Consolata team and edited by a team of RSCK-JPIC.

TENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C), (9th June 2013)

11.    Readings: 1 Kings 17:17-24; Galatians 1:11-19; Luke 7:11-17

2.    Scripture Reflection

·       Through the Prophet Elijah, the widow’s son is brought back to life. This sign made the widow notice the Prophet Elijah as a man of God, and his word as truth that leads to life.

·       In the letter to the Galatians, Paul sees his preaching and conversion as a new life that was given to him by the revelation of Jesus Christ. It was the call from God who chose him, even before he was born.

·       Jesus in the Gospel is seen as a new Prophet, who gives new life to the new chosen people. He goes through various towns accompanied by many people and his disciples. He performed a miracle by raising the only son of the widow, a sign that left all his followers in awe, praising God. They saw him as a great prophet, a new Elijah who has appeared among them.

·       The raising of the son to life was a new thing to all the followers of Jesus. They saw this event as God’s salvation to his people. They started recognizing that, indeed, Jesus was more than the person they saw. He was a prophet who was able to give back life. The news spread throughout Judea and all over the countryside.

33.    Link with the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church.

·       Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life: it is in contemplating the Lord’s face that we confirm our faith and our hope in him, the one Saviour and goal of history.  The Church continues to speak to all people and all nations, for it is only in the name of Christ that salvation is given to men and women.  Salvation, which the Lord Jesus obtained ‘at a price,’ is achieved in the new life that awaits the righteous after death, but it also permeates this world in the realities of the economy and labour, of technology and communications, of society and politics, of the international community and the relations among cultures and peoples.  Jesus came to bring an integral salvation, one that embraces the whole person and all humankind and that opens up the wondrous prospect of divine filiation (CSDC 1).*

·       The love that inspires Jesus’ ministry among men and women is the love that he has experienced in his intimate union with the Father. The New Testament allows us to enter deeply into the experience that Jesus himself lives and communicates, the love of the Father, and therefore, such love permits us to enter into the very heart of divine life. Jesus announces the liberating mercy of God to those whom he meets on his way and invites us to follow him (CSDC 29).

·       Our community and society are in need of the life, love and liberating mercy of God if we are to fulfil the mission of God to everyone. We are called to be signs of hope, healing, and life-giving to many people who are in need in our community, our societies, and the world at large.

44.    Application to the Kenyan Situation (Yes, Kenya Matters!)

·       We have seen many things taking place in Kenya, and insecurity in various regions has touched the lives of many people: the mysterious death of Senator Mutula Kilonzo; the fight for high pay by the members of the Parliament; the appointment of new cabinet secretaries; etc. In all these areas, Kenyans have new expectations: they need security, the truth behind the death of the Senator, understanding from the members of Parliament, and the implementing of the promises of the Jubilee Government, as well as of the new Constitution.

·       Now we face the demands of the report of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC). It can be hoped that Kenyans will know the truth about historical injustices and then find the way forward.

·       All that Kenya needs is healing, truth, peace, and justice. This is everyone’s cry, but it will only be possible through the openness and peaceful co-existence that we strive to establish with one other.

55.    Questions for Personal Reflection

·       Apart from forgiveness and dialogue, which other avenues can be used to ensure better security in various part of Kenya?

·       Elijah and Jesus gave back life to needy widows to strengthen their hope. What can we do to ensure the protection of life, whether of individuals or of groups?

6.    African Wisdom

·       Nothing counts more than life.

·       Only after death do we know the mystery of life.

* CSDC: “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” Paulines Publication Africa

Outlines prepared by a Consolata team.                                           Edited by a team of RSCK-JPIC.

Corpus Christi Sunday (C), 2 June 2013

1.    Readings: Gen. 14:18-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Lk. 9:11-17

2.    Biblical Reflection

The readings of the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ  reflect on the meal that gives partakers a new horizon, a feast where all participants are called upon to adhere to instructions in order to reap benefit. The feast is offered without charge. Those who collaborate with the instructions given will eat their fill and even have remnants for the future.

·       The Genesis episode exalts the sharing, charity, and generosity provoked by the sight of those in need, irrespective of their origin or orientation in life.

·       Paul’s address to the community of Corinth is based on the realities he encounters: strong division, dissensions, disagreements, classism, and factionalism. Such scandals as these fostered discord in the community. However, sharing during Eucharist combats the discord and division and enhances self- giving for the benefit of others, as Jesus had modeled.

·       The multiplication of bread in the Gospel signifies to us Jesus’ never-ending gift, which is there for all and of which all will eat and drink their fill without finishing up others’ share. This nourishment must be received in faith in order to satisfy and heal partakers.  The implication for Christians today is that to be in communion with the gift of Christ, one must be ready to share material and share bread with others. This Eucharistic feast, this breaking of bread, is incompatible with division, wrangles, or vices.

3.    Yes, Kenya Matters

·       In Kenya today, many people go to church for various needs:

-        some only to accompany their families;

-        children mainly because they have something to present in church or to take part in;

-        a couple together because one of them is an official of the church or of some group, and they have to set the example of a good family, and so the other is forced to be present;

-        others, however, who go there for true worship, to break bread and share with other believers, to be nourished and energized, and to counteract the daily obstacles to genuine faith.

·       Kenyans are going through tough socio-political and economic times. Many would-be good Christians are forced into bearing bad Christian witness. Mistrust, infidelity, and individualism crop up fast and disintegrate social institutions, families, welfare groups, and worship groups. Grabbing from others has suddenly become the order of the day. The appetite to destroy others so that one can shine and have no competitor in the field poses a challenge to Christians. Misusing office for individual benefit and taking advantage of the powerlessness, ignorance, and inability of others have become prevalent.   Mindless personal gain at the expense of others is being promoted.

·       Today’s Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ challenges the conscience of every Kenyan to adopt the spirit of self-giving and sacrifice for the good of others and to care about the welfare of others just as Jesus did, so that all have enough and the leftovers benefit others in the community. This feast calls for the eradication of greedy and individualistic attitudes in order for Christians to be hospitable and accommodating to others, helping others to fulfill their needs. Bread and wine was offered to nourish a sojourner: to Abram by Melkisedek and to the disciples by Jesus. We are sojourners together and we need to care for each other and share the bread that we have in order to keep each other strong for the journey.

4.    Link With Catholic Social Teaching

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the reception of the body and blood of Christ nourishes and sustains believers to new life amidst all odds. It strengthens witnesses to be true disciples in order to bear true witness of faith (CCC 1396-8).[1]  In the Eucharist, the reconciling sacrifice of Christ recreates the community as a family through mutual forgiveness and acceptance. In this sacrifice set by Christ, all are invited to live a life of service and dedication to others.

·       The celebration of this feast addresses and challenges our attitudes, our way of thinking and our concrete choices. It should overhaul the old life of slavery lived only for oneself, enclosed in gain, success, and comfort, and often dominated by selfishness and insensitivity to the cry of others.

·       To share bread is to become instruments of peace, communion, and reconciliation, to break the barriers among peoples and, by making gestures of charity and service, to make common cause with those who suffer.

5.    African Wisdom

·       People are good because of their deeds to the clan.

·       One who walks with hungry friends soon learns the shame of hunger.

* CSDC: “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” Paulines Publication Africa

   CCC: Catechism of the Catholic Church.

   Outlines prepared by a Consolata team and edited by a team of RSCK-JPIC.

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[1] http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm 1396. The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church. Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism. In Baptism we have been called to form but one body. The Eucharist fulfills this call: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread…"

OPINION: Celibate and Marital Chastity are Equally Difficult: A Response to FR Musaala’s Letter to Bishops.

Fr Anthony Musaala a Ugandan Catholic priest of Kampala Archdiocese has hit headlines in both local and international media since the publication of his letter entitled: An Open Letter to Bishops, Priests and Laity: Failure of Celibate Chastity Among Diocesan Priests.  It is dated, Tuesday March 12, 2013.

It is a very controversial letter addressed not only to Bishops and priests but also to the faithful. In other words it is written to every member of the Catholic Church in Uganda and Africa as a whole!  It touches allegations of sexual abuse in the Church, and what Musaala calls the conspiracy of both clergy and laity not to go public on this matter; and above all it reveals Musaala’s unhappiness, misery and bitter regrets for having chosen a celibate way of life which unfortunately he claims is imposed on him!  He wants to get married and at the same time remain a Roman Catholic priest.  But the Catholic faithful in Uganda whom he naively thinks are ignorant and backward have totally refused to accept his position and ideas! 

In his letter Musaala claims:

That many catholic priests and some bishops in Uganda and elsewhere no longer live celibate chastity and that some of them have children. (This is a bitter remark and very difficult to swallow!  But to make things better in our Church we have to take it into consideration and take necessary steps to remedy the situation.)

That unlike in Europe and America, the laity in Africa are collaborating and conspiring with the clergy to say nothing about the sexual abuses in the Church.

That he himself at the age of sixteen was sexually abused by a brother.  (If he truly went through this bitter and devastating experience, he deserves our sympathies, pastoral and motherly care and psychological help.)

That celibacy is meaningless, an unnecessary burden and yoke imposed upon the priests. He thus writes, “I believe that in time we will be freed from this unnecessary yoke, unhelpful as it is.”

That the root cause of sexual abuses in the Church, the unhappiness and misery of priests is because they are not married.  He thus writes, ‘’I suggest that now more than at any time we must begin an open and frank dialogue about Catholic priests becoming happily married men, rather than being miserable and single.’’

We cannot deny that sexual abuses on part of the clergy have taken place in the Catholic Church in Africa.  And as Church all of us clergy and laity should work together to find ways to tackle this enormous problem.  And to offer all necessary assistance to the victims, so they can rediscover themselves, have their inner wounds healed, and go on with their lives in peace. 

And this problem demands among other things a critical look at the training of the priests.  A priest is meant to serve and relate well with all God’s people both men and women.  But unfortunately from minor to major seminaries his trained in total isolation from women!  How do we then expect such young man in the prime of life to behave properly with women after his ordination when during his entire training he had little or no time to develop the sexual dimension of his life?

But Musaala in his letter sounds a very bitter and a psychologically troubled priest totally tired of a single and a celibate life!  He gives the impression that he wants to get married!  And he naively believes that the only way he and all other catholic priests can get out of their miseries and become happy is to drop the yoke of what he calls administrative celibacy.  And be allowed to marry without being relieved of their priestly duties. 

And in his bitterness he paints a very dark and negative picture of the Church in Africa whose bishops and priests are in general a morally rotten lot! And a Church whose laity are so ignorant and blind to see that priestly celibacy is a meaningless and an unnecessary yoke from which their priests should be freed!  I would like to tell Fr. Musaala and the whole world that regardless of our many problems, there is still a lot of good in the Catholic Church in Africa.

His efforts to convince the laity that Catholic priests should be allowed to marry have so far yielded no fruits!  The laity want the catholic priests to remain celibate! He thus writes ‘’When I ask lay people whether catholic priests should have the option to marry the answer is always NO.’’  The laity know better what they believe and the values of their Christian faith than Musaala the theologian and philosopher does! Musaala does not see any meaning in Christian or Religious Celibacy.  And this is why he has decided to call it administrative celibacy, which he conceives as a tool Church authorities use to oppress the priests!  The faithful through their Christian formation are aware that Jesus lived a celibate life and that his life was meaningful!

The Church I believe might in the future allow the Roman Catholic priests the option to marry on the ground that there is no intrinsic connection between priesthood and celibacy!  And this is the case in the Orthodox Church.  It should also be remembered that St. Peter the first Roman Pontiff was a married man! (Lk.4:38-39).   But the Catholic Church would not allow its priest to marry on the ground that Christian celibacy is meaningless as Musaala would like us to believe. Celibacy just like marriage is a Christian value!

Although Fr.Anthony gives a long list of cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Uganda, cases which for sure demand investigation and appropriate action taken, the basic point he wants to make is that he himself is tired of a celibate life he claims is imposed on him!  But the naked truth is that nobody has imposed celibacy on Musaala!

I personally know Fr. Anthony Musaala.  We played football together, ate together and took walks together in the Benedictine novitiate at Nanyuki, Kenya!  

I composed luganda songs like: Tweyagale Wama (Les us enjoy life!) and Musaala who was already a musician accompanied them with a synthesiser and we entertained people! At that time both of us were young adults in our 20s!  And we knew what we were doing!  We were not small boys!  We were responsible for our choices!  Then Musaala made a choice to leave the Benedictines and eventually went back to England where he had lived for many years. 

He then joined a Major Seminary for priestly training!  He was already an adult at this time, old enough to get married!  But he chose not to marry and opted for a priestly celibate life!  How can he then claim that someone imposed celibacy on him!  Even on the very day of his ordination to the priesthood he was totally free to tell the Bishop not to ordain him!

If Musaala had said that the celibate life he freely chose to live was very difficult for him and that sometimes he falls, I would totally agree with him.  With all that sexual energy we have at the centre of our being, boiling and stronger than the storms of the sea, only a hypocrite could claim that celibacy is easy!  Celibacy is beyond the natural order.  It is by the help of God alone that we can live it.

And Fr. Anthony naively believes that the gate way to happiness for a miserable, single and lonely priest is marriage!  Many people forget that marital chastity or faithfulness is as difficult as celibate chastity!  Since we are attracted to a limitless number of the people of the other sex and can fall in love with different people, this makes marital chastity extremely difficult!  So just like celibacy, sticking with unwavering fidelity to one partner for life is beyond the natural order!  It is by God’s help alone that married people can do it. 

And in today’s world both celibacy and marriage are in crisis!  The rate of divorce today is shocking!  And many married people are regretting why they got married and wish they were celibates just as many celibates wish they were married! 

So Musaala should know that although in the future the Church might offer Catholic priests the option to marry, we might find ourselves having as many miserable married priests as we have miserable single priests today!  Happiness does not depend on being married or not!  But on walking the unique and difficult path God has set before each one of us!

Both celibacy and marriage are Christian values and should be appreciated.  They complement each other in the Body of Christ, the Church.  Neither celibacy nor marriage is easy!  Both are lived only by the grace of God!

Dominic Vincent Nkoyoyo

OPINION: Pope Leaves Behind Legacy Full of Ups and Downs

John Paul II used to be known as the pope of surprises, forever doing things Roman pontiffs simply hadn't done before. With the election of Benedict XVI, many believed the era of papal novelties had drawn to a close, since Benedict has always been a man of tradition and the main lines of his papacy were fairly predictable from the theological and cultural concerns he had expressed over a long public life.

In the end, however, Benedict XVI proved to be capable of a true stunner, becoming the first pope to voluntarily resign his office in centuries and the first to do in the modern media-saturated age. Acknowledging what he called his "incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me," Benedict has announced he will step down effective 8 p.m. Rome time February 28.

Immediately, Benedict's decision has both won wide praise as a responsible and humble act and raised a whole rafter of questions. Chief among them: What exactly will be the role of a retired pope? And, naturally, many have already begun to speculate about who might capture the two-thirds support in the College of Cardinals necessary to take over the church's top job.

Benedict's decision also means the debate over his legacy is now officially open, and as with all things, it's likely to draw widely different verdicts depending on who's performing the evaluation.

Regarded as among the most accomplished Catholic theologians of his generation, Benedict XVI was what church historians call a "teaching pope" as opposed to a governor. His passion was invested in his teaching documents, his speeches on foreign trips, his regular catechesis at the Vatican, and the three books on the life of Christ he published. This teaching often struck people as profound and surprisingly free of ideological edge.

Even some of the pope's fiercest critics on other fronts expressed admiration.

When Benedict released his encyclical Deus Caritas Est in 2005 on human love, applause came from Swiss theologian Hans Küng, an erstwhile colleague of Joseph Ratzinger and a leading voice for liberal Catholic dissent.

"Papa Ratzinger takes on with his inimitable theological style a richness of themes of eros and agape, of love and charity," Küng said. He called the encyclical "a good sign" and expressed hope that it would be "received warmly, with respect."

Many observers believe four cornerstone speeches delivered by Benedict XVI -- at Regensburg, Germany, in 2006; at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris in 2008; at Westminster Hall in London in 2010; and at the Bundestag in Germany in 2011 -- will be remembered as masterpieces laying out the basis for a symbiosis among faith, reason and modernity.

If Benedict never became the media darling his predecessor was, he still fared strikingly well on the public stage. His trips drew enthusiastic crowds, and turnout at his public audiences actually exceeded John Paul's numbers. He even developed a popular touch, launching his own Twitter account [1] and inspiring a children's book [2] purportedly written by his cat, Chico.

Yet for every triumph, the cerebral pontiff also ran headlong into crisis.

Early on, Benedict's Regensburg speech touched off Islamic protest because of his quotation of a Byzantine emperor who linked Muhammad with violence. Churches were firebombed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip while an Italian nun was shot death in Somalia. On the one-year anniversary, a missionary priest was killed in Turkey.

It was a harbinger of things to come. In 2011, Italian journalists Andrea Tornielli and Paolo Rodari published a 300-page book documenting the most notorious crises during the Benedict years, including:

•         The massive sexual abuse scandals, which exploded in the United States in 2002 then swept across Europe in 2010. That second wave brought critical examination of Benedict XVI's personal record, including a case when he was archbishop of Munich in the late 1970s in which a pedophile priest slipped through the cracks, and other instances on his Vatican watch when the institution dragged its heels. As pope, there was persistent criticism that Benedict's apologies and meetings with victims were not matched by action, including holding errant bishops accountable.

•         Benedict XVI's decision in 2007 to dust off the old Latin Mass, including a controversial Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews. The Vatican eventually revised the prayer to satisfy Jewish concerns, raising the question of why somebody didn't think about doing so before the tempest erupted.

•         Lifting the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops in 2009, including one who denied that the Nazis ever used gas chambers and claimed the historical evidence is "hugely against" Adolf Hitler being responsible for the death of 6 million Jews. The affair brought an anguished personal letter from Benedict to the bishops of the world apologizing for the way it was handled.

•         Comments made by Benedict aboard the papal plane to Africa in 2009 to the effect that condoms make AIDS worse. Among other things, those words brought a first censure of a pope from the parliament of a European nation (Belgium) while the Spanish government airlifted a million condoms to Africa in protest.

It's a measure of how bad things sometimes were that this is far from a complete list.

The authors also could have included Benedict's 2007 trip to Brazil, where he seemed to suggest that indigenous persons should be grateful to European colonizers; blowback to a 2009 decree moving the controversial wartime Pope Pius XII closer to sainthood; and the surreal "Boffo case" in 2010, featuring charges that senior papal aides had manufactured fake police documents to smear an Italian Catholic journalist, including the claim that he harassed the girlfriend of a man with whom he wanted to carry on a gay affair.

This pattern reached a crescendo with the notorious "Vatileaks" affair in 2012 involving a tidal wave of secret Vatican documents that appeared in the Italian media, the most serious featuring allegations of financial corruption and cronyism. An investigation ended with the arrest, trial, conviction and pardon of Paolo Gabriele, a married Italian layman who had served as Benedict's butler since 2006, for being the mole.

To many observers, the affair captured the Vatican at its most disedifying, fostering perceptions of in-fighting, cover-ups and disarray.

To be fair, Benedict's record as a manager also included some breakthroughs. For the most part, he appointed people of personal integrity to senior positions; he committed the church to several reforms on sex abuse; and he launched a sort of financial glasnost, including opening the Vatican for the first time to outside inspection of its anti-money-laundering policies. The overall narrative of dysfunction, however, made those stories hard to tell.

Benedict XVI largely steered clear of geopolitics, rarely standing on the front lines of history like John Paul II. His focus was more on the church's internal life, calling it to a stronger sense of traditional Catholic identity vis-à-vis a highly secular age. In that sense, Benedict XVI consolidated the more conservative, "evangelical" direction set by John Paul.

Benedict repeatedly denounced same-sex marriage, radical feminism and an "ideology of gender," triggering blowback from women's groups, secular liberals and the more progressive wing of his own flock. He steered liturgical practice, a special passion, in a more traditional direction. At the same time, some aspects of his teaching also irritated the right, including his critique of capitalism and a strong environmental emphasis for which he was dubbed the "Green Pope."

The pontiff could also flex disciplinary muscle. A sweeping crackdown was launched of the Leadership Conference for Women Religious [3], the main umbrella group for leaders of women's orders in the United States; liberal theologians were censured, including several high-profile Irish priests and Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley [4] in the United States; and American priest Roy Bourgeois was excommunicated [5] over his support for women's ordination.

In the end, the first draft of history perhaps boils down to this: Benedict XVI was a magnificent public intellectual, a mixed bag as CEO, withdrawn as a statesman, and a church leader whose "politics of identity" cheered some and horrified others.

Whatever else one might say, no one disputes that Benedict XVI was a keen cultural critic. He asked searching questions of both the church and the world, and offered his own provocative answers, thereby proving that institutional Catholicism still has some intellectual gas left in the tank. In that sense, British Prime Minister David Cameron may have provided the best epitaph while bidding the pontiff farewell at the Birmingham airport on September 20, 2010, after a four-day swing in Scotland and England.

"Holy Father," he said, "you made us sit up and think."

[John L. Allen Jr. is American and NCR senior correspondent. Allen is an experienced “vaticanologist”. He is the author of books on Benedict XVI, Opus Dei, etc. His e-mail address is jallen@ncronline.org.]

OPINION: Tale of Two Easters: Holy Land Catholics, Orthodox to Celebrate as One

"We had two times to celebrate and two vacations. My father's family gave us gifts on the Greek Orthodox date, and my mother's family on the Catholic," said Rafidi, the son of a Catholic mother and a Greek Orthodox father.

But today the Christian community has shrunk, and it is important that the celebrations be united, he said. Employers honor vacation on only one of the celebrations, putting pressure on families to decide which to celebrate, he said.

"The Muslims always ask us how many Jesuses we have," he said.

There are many families like Rafidi's, both in Israel and the Palestinian territories, with members belonging to the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Protestant churches.

For the past 15 years, Catholic parishes throughout the Palestinian territories and many in Israel have been celebrating Easter on the Greek Orthodox date. Now, following a directive from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, within two years all Eastern Catholics and the Latin Patriarchate in the Holy Land will officially adopt the Greek Orthodox Julian calendar date.

The Latin Patriarchate calls the move a "decisive step toward ecumenism." The official directive will take place after completion of the decree and approval by the Vatican.

"The main reason for the unification of the Easter celebration is for members of the same family, village and parish to be able to have one celebration, and one calendar, and to show the unity and enjoy the unity. We want to give a good example of unity to our non-Christian neighbors," said the Latin Patriarchate chancellor, Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali.

The Latin-rite diocese of the Holy Land includes Israel, the Palestinian territories and Cyprus. Parishes in Jerusalem and the Bethlehem, West Bank, area will be exempt this year because of the Status Quo, the 1852 agreement that preserved the division of ownership and responsibilities of various Christian holy sites. The parish in Tel Aviv has also received an exemption for this year since there are many foreign workers who are members of the parish.

The Greek Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar and did not adopt the Gregorian calendar, which was implemented by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to correct a miscalculation in the rotation of the earth.

Next year, Easter falls on the same day according to both calendars, so the change by decree will only be adopted in 2015.

The spirit of the holiday is lost if it is celebrated on separate dates, said Father Raed Abusahlia of Holy Family Parish in Ramallah, West Bank. Easter in the Eastern Church is all of Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday, and includes special prayers during the week, he said.

"The liturgy is very beautiful if done together as a family. It can't be spiritual if it is only part of the family," he said. During the week following Easter there are traditional holiday family visits as well, he added.

Father Ilario Antoniazzi of St Anthony Parish in Rameh, Israel, has been celebrating Easter with the Greek Orthodox for 15 years; he said the date is not important.

"The most important thing is to be together on the feast, to give a good example of our love and to show that we are united in our love," he said.

In the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, the change did not come easily for some parishioners, said Father Agapios Abu Saada of St Elijah Melkite Catholic Cathedral, who has been pivotal in pushing for unifying the celebration.

"My experience in seeking solidarity ... was not a smooth one," he said. "The decision was not unified even within the same congregation."

He said those initially opposed to the idea were swayed by the joint religious processions during Holy Week.

"Unifying the feast is a vivid Christian testimony in a multicultural and multi-religious society," he said. "Christians in the Holy Land are a minority that keeps dividing itself to inner minorities within the minority, creating diverse sub-communities ... which deteriorate the goal of Christians as one unrestricted community living in a multicultural and multi-religious society."

Father Abusahlia said some of his parishioners are "a little bit disturbed" because the Greek Orthodox Easter comes so late this year: May 05.

"In the past years, we celebrated it together or with a difference of one week, so they didn't feel it. Now it is very late, with a difference of 35 days. But we will celebrate together, it is good and important," said he said.

The change also involves celebrating Lent and the period between Easter and Pentecost, said Bishop Shomali.

"Christmas is just Christmas and Epiphany, but when we unify the calendar (on Easter) we are unifying 90 days of the year. It is important," he said.

He said he would be happy to see the unified celebration adopted universally by all Christians.

"The solution is to fix one Sunday in April as the date," he said.

Bishop Shomali said although the Catholics did not ask the Greek Orthodox Church to celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, he expects they will do so to unite Christians for that feast.

(Catholic News Service)