A Drunk Cordileone,
Anglican Baptisms & Sports for Girls

TIA,

Thought you would like to see the latest on the future Archbishop of San Francisco. Seems he was celebrating a bit too much over his recent promotion:

The Rev. Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, 55, of Oakland was arrested on suspicion of DUI about 12:30 a.m. Saturday [August 25, 2012] at a checkpoint in the 5100 block of College Avenue near the San Diego State University campus, according to San Diego police Officer Mark McCullough.

Cordileone – one of 11 arrested at the checkpoint – failed a field sobriety test, then consented to an optional preliminary alcohol screening device which measured a blood-alcohol level higher than the legal limit of .08 percent, McCullough said.

Cordileone was then placed under arrest and given the option of an official blood or breath test at the checkpoint. He chose a breath test that confirmed a blood-alcohol level higher than the legal limit, McCullough said.

He has apologized for his behavior, which he said brought “shame” and “Disgrace” on himself and the Church. Legal experts say, however, that the arrest is unlikely to derail his promotion. Last month he was appointed the Metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco. He is scheduled to be installed in October. Read more here.

     Keep up the good work,

     M.C.

Dear TIA,

One of the things I love most in this article is the story from Anne Catharine Emmerick, where Mary does not allow our Blessed Lord's face to be smashed with the raising of the cross. This is a very moving picture that has been etched in my mind, as I cannot imagine seeing the cross vacillate at such a sorrowful moment!

     Thank you for the hope that this article gives!

     E.S.

TIA,

I received this advertisement. I hope this is a good documentary, but I am a little suspicious since Hollywood gave it so many awards...

B.R.

We are very pleased to announce that the long-awaited documentary, "The Night of the Shroud" (La Notte della Sindone) directed by Francesca Saracino and produced by Paolo Monaci, with noted film actress Rosalinda Celentano serving as the host of the program, took three top honors at the Los Angeles Movie Awards in June. Winning awards for Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, and Best Visual Effects, the program takes the viewer behind the scenes of the 1988 radiocarbon dating of the Shroud and reveals details never before made public.

The film was given a special screening at the Valencia Shroud Congress in April, which also marked its premiere in Spain. Viewers may recognize Rosalinda from her most notable role as the devil in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

Francesca reports that, "The DVD is ready for distribution and will be released in the fall here in Italy and contains the English version as well." 

Dear Sir,

On your website (here) you state, "Leo XIII solemnly declared that the ordinations of the Anglican confession were invalid, and therefore, the sacraments ministered there are without value."

This sentence appears to assert, in Pope Leo XIII's name, the invalidity of Anglican baptisms (like all sacraments administered by Anglican ministers they are, you infer from the Pope's declaration concerning Anglican ordination, "without value").

But in the Summa theologica, part III, q. 67, a. 3, St. Thomas Aquinas states that even pagans may validly baptize, provided they do so "in forma Ecclesiae", by which he appears to mean that the baptism must be performed saying "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (or so his quotations from letters by Pope Nicolas and Pope Gregory II on this subject suggest, as do his remarks at q. 66, a. 5 and q. 66 a. 6).

Of course, not all valid baptisms are licit, but in your commentary you speak of validity, not licitness.

I thought you might like to know St. Thomas Aquinas's position on this matter; it does not (at first sight) seem to agree with yours.

     Best wishes,

     D.C.


TIA responds:

Dear D.C.,

You simplify a complex question when you attribute to us the denial of Anglican baptisms.

When we affirm generically that Leo XIII declared the sacraments of the Anglicans invalid, we are referring principally to the sacrament of orders. The other sacraments are invalid insofar as they rely on the ordination of deacons, priest and bishops, as in the cases of the sacraments of confirmation, communion (the operation of transubstantiation), confession and extreme unction.

Baptism and matrimony do not rely directly on these ordinations. The first relies on the formula said, the matter used and the intention of the minister. Baptism is valid when the heretical minister employs the Catholic formula, uses pure water and has the intention to do what the Catholic Church does. However, these conditions often are not fullfilled; this is why an analysis of each case is indispensable.

Marriage celebrated by an Anglican minister is not invalid per se, since it is essentially a contract between the two spouses. The invalidity of the minister prevents the marriage from being raised to the supernatural order, which is what the Catholic Church does, but it is normally valid in the natural order.

For more on complications regarding baptisms conferred by minister of Protestant sects, please check here; for the effects of the Catholic Sacrament in Matrimony, check here and here.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

This from New Oxford Review:

The first article is about the $5.3 million donation from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to known contraceptive & abortion promoters of CARE operating in poorer countries.

U.S. bishops’ relief agency gives $5.3 million to major contraception-providing charity

The second article reports a frenzied P.R. statement issued by CRS intending damage control over their off-guarded statements in the former press release.

No, CRS's intention is not to assist the hands that murder unborn children, but they will nurture the body that operates those hands.

CRS Disputes LifeSiteNews Article

     M.K.

Hello,

I had a question about women in sports. I have a 7-year-old daughter who is very much in need of doing some extra curricular activities. She is somewhat athletic and I think she would love some sport. I was thinking soccer, baseball, tennis, or karate.

I had my doubts about putting her into soccer and then I was blown away this summer when I met some young traditional nuns who told me they played soccer all the way through traditional catholic high school.

Your response would be most helpful since my daughter is bouncing off the walls.

     Thank you,

     J.S.


Dr. Horvat responds:

Hello J.S.,

You may find answers to your question in my article on Women in Sports.

Pope Pius XII was already seeing the egalitarian and immodest spirit in many of women’s sports, and he set out certain principles you can apply to the sports you are considering for your daughter.

Here are few questions you might ask:

• Do this sport and its apparel encourage the loss of the instinct of modesty?
• Do the dress and movements have the potential to cause temptations and falls in other?
• Does the sport promote a feminine spirit? Or does it foster the egalitarian spirit of our days, which tries to make girls as aggressive as boys?

If you answer these questions honestly, I think you will find that soccer, baseball and karate are not appropriate for girls.

Catholic Morals are absolute, not relative; therefore, the reasoning that some good girls who played soccer turned out well does not justify soccer for girls.

I hope this is of some help.

     Cordially,

     Marian T. Horvat