The following comes from a Jan. 23 story on Angelus, the L.A. archdiocese online paper.
Following nearly three decades of service, Sister Edith Prendergast, RSC, will be retiring as director of the archdiocesan Office of Religious Education, effective June 30. She will be succeeded by Father Chris Bazyouros.
Previously a parish priest, Father Bazyouros has served at several different churches in archdiocese, most recently as pastor of St. Albert the Great Church in Compton before joining the Office of Religious Education, where he has worked in the area of adult faith formation for the last year and a half.
“When I entered the office it was just such a positive experience because [Sister Edith] has created such a wonderful environment in which to do our ministry [and] gives us the freedom to try our best,” he said. “I want to continue that same positive spirit.”
As the transition date approaches, Father Bazyouros requests prayers “for all of us who work here, and for the catechists who work in their parishes, that we may continue to bring the Good News of the Gospel into the hearts of all people.”
Others joined Father Bazyouros in praising Sister Edith’s accomplished career.
“What a debt of gratitude we owe [Sister Edith] for the many years of incredible service rendered to literally thousands of people through her life and ministry,” said Msgr. Joseph Brennan, vicar general and moderator of the curia.
“She will surely continue to bring those gifts to her ministry, to us, and to her religious community, the Religious Sisters of Charity,” he said. “We pray many blessings upon her and upon Father Chris, too, as this time of change and transition begins.”
Sister Prendergast, who has served as ORE director for 27 years, describes her tenure as “a very energizing experience… It’s all been very, very positive for me….”
Another real knee-slapper: how long was the good Sister in charge of the LA Archdiocese Office of Religious Education? Certainly during the reign of the awful Cardinal Mahony, right?
And what did the students learn under the guidance of Sister Prendergast (? Is she really a sister? Looks pretty secular, doesn’t she?). What kind of vocations came out of the LA during her time in that position? Do students in LA really know much about the Catholic Church?
No, no celebration is called for. Rather, a time of mourning, and a time for repentance are called for. Plus a time for discernment, to better understand how very little Abp. Gomez has changed anything at all in LA. Compare his sorry time in the chair of power with that of, say, Abp. Cordileone.
You cannot go soon enough, “Sister”. One hopes that the new leader of that Office (?a priest?) demands more from students regarding what they know of the Faith. Pray very hard for this man and for the people of that Archdiocese.
The two archbishops (Gomez and Cordileone) are in one sense very alike. Few if any substantive changes. Abp. Cordileone does talk a better game, but I don’t know if that really counts for anything on the group.
The fact that Father Bazyouros praises Pendergast so effusively does not bode well for the Archdiocese of Lost Angels (Los Angeles)!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founding Director
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
Call me when people stop ministries and start doing the Catholic thing known as apostolate
This crazy “nun” should have been EXCOMMUNICATED, along with Cardinal Mahoney, many long years ago! The Los Angeles Archdiocese, along with their HORRIBLE, immoral, apostate, heretical, yearly “Religious Ed. Conference”— is HOPELESS!
yes that would be a big plus.
No office of Religious Education in any Diocese is worth its’ salt,
If it does not encourage all literate persons to read the 2 most important books in the Catholic Faith at home on a regular basis.
1) Sacred Scripture (Catholic Bible) which contains the speech of God in entirety (CCC 81);
and
2) “Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition” (1997; dark green cover)) which contains the Doctrine of the Faith in entirety.
“….the CATECHISM has raised throughout the world, even among non-Christians, and confirms its purpose of being presented as a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine,
enabling everyone to know what the Church professes, celebrates, lives, and prays in her daily life.” – Pope John Paul II (CCC pg xiv)
“….. let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures, studying the Catechism,
steadily approaching the Sacraments.” – Pope Francis , May 15, 2013.
For more information and quotes from Pope’s St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis on the CCC on the internet go to:
“What Catholics REALLY Believe SOURCE”
https://whatcatholicsreallybelieve.com/
(Please pass this site link on to others so that they may also know the truths of our Faith.)
I just want to point out that phrases like ” in it’s entirety” do not usually occur in the original sources, but are added by posters like MIKE.
If you actually consult Catechism at paragraph 81, you will not find the claim that the Bible contains the speech of God in its entirety. Please do not silence the voice of God by engaging MIKE in his claim that the Bible is the final and entire speech of God. Clearly this is a bad quote at the least, and entirely dismissive of the role of Sacred Tradition at its worst.
YFC, (caps below are for your benefit).
You really need to stop twisting the truth to suit your homosexual lifestyle.
And stop misquoting me as well, because I never said Sacred Scripture alone, I also stated the Catechism which is from the Magisterium – Sacred Tradition.
You are truly enveloped in evil YFC.
CCC: ” 81 Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.
And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its – ENTIRETY – the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.
It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching.”
VATICAN II – Dogmatic Constitution – DEI VERBUM, Chapter III, #11, second paragraph:
” Therefore, since EVERYTHING asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers MUST be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit,
it follows that the books of Scripture MUST be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings (5) for the sake of salvation.
Therefore “ALL Scripture is divinely inspired and has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for good work of every kind ” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, Greek text). ”
https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/index.htm
MIKE the second time, you explained with clarity to a YFC who is receiving and learning the faith as we attempt to plant the seed.
YFC thanks for giving MIKE the chance to explain it better to you. I think that YFC was being honest, he misunderstood what you meant with Entirety. Its Obvious, while the rest of us get what you meant.
YFC Catholic Answers link gives more explanation: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/is-everything-in-the-bible-true
” Those things revealed by God which are contained and presented in the text of sacred scripture have been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For holy mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church itself.
The two key phrases, “whole and entire” and “with all their parts,” apply to both the inspiration of Scripture, and to God as the author of the Old and New Testaments. ”
~~~So I’m thinking this is an extension to What Mike was Talking about.
Well when it comes down to it…one can not have the faith without Holy Scritpure and Holy Church. We need both, that is why, in order for one to grow in the faith, we need to read the CCC and Holy Scruptures…which can lead to fear of God, prayer, reading of lives of the saints etc etc….So MIKE posted the truth…in order for us to not be easily be tempted to follow false prophets, false teachings, follow error etc etc…we need to guard ourselves with these precious treasures which give us the wholeness of the faith. The rest we trust in the Holy Ghost to lead.
Thanks MIKE for this charity that you have to offer here…its refreshing and its true charity. God bless you!
CCC: “133 The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures.
Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. ”
DV (Dei Verbum) Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Relvelation, Vatican II’;
Phil 3:8; St Jerome.
Amen to that MIKE!
For ease of reading, the RSV CE (REVISED STANDARD VERSION – Catholic Edition) in large print is highly recommended.
RSV was used for the CCC, and is quoted in many official Catholic documents.
A good study Bible with accurate commentary is the NAVARRE Bible.
Of course all literate Catholics must also have the “CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH, second edition” – “revised in accordance with the official Latin text promulgated by Pope John Paul II”,
of 1997, and has a dark green cover.
(Prior versions of the CCC contain English language translation errors.)
These are all available at most Catholic on-line catalogue stores including but not limited to: EWTN Catalogue, Ignatius Press, etc.
Even at Amazon – but one must be very careful since they sell incorrect and outdated books on the Catholic Faith as well.
No Catholic home should be without a Catholic Bible and the CCC.
Give them as gifts to those you love.
I have found ‘Bible Dry Highlighters’ (at Amazon) to be very helpful. They do not bleed through the pages, and allow the reader to highlight verses of particular interest to him.
Thanks for the tips. I’m checking Amazon for the dry highlighters right now.
Oops sorry, I just went to Amazon for the Bible Dry Highlighters and found that they were sold by LDS and other Mormon suppliers…none of which were explicitly mentioned as being Mormon. Sorry but I don’t want to support Mormon identified businesses. Mormons are an enormously heretical sect and have been very successful at stealing away Catholics all across the world. They claim to be Christian, but don’t subscribe to the faith even as proclaimed by protestants, and make Lutherans look absolutely orthodox. We could learn a lot from Mormons, but I will not support their businesses.
No one can steal away Catholics YFC, if Catholics are educated properly which includes reading Sacred Scripture and the CCC.
It’s people like you who mix truth with lies that confuse the un-catechized.
You don’t like Sacred Scripture that conflicts with your homosexual lifestyle; you don’t like the Catechism of the Catholic Church which conflicts with your homosexual lifestyle;
And you hate the Mormons who helped fight against Homosexual Marriage in CA.
Prove your statements YFC about the Mormon Church owning the highlighters anyway, you purposely get things wrong most of the time to suit yourself.
Where is the official supporting link ?
;
YFC after you wrongly attacked the Bible and CCC from MIKE’s post, you have ZERO credibility left.
“….. let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures, studying the Catechism, steadily approaching the Sacraments.” – Pope Francis , May 15, 2013.
Give me a break. You argue just for the sake of being argumentative. If you really care about the markers, look them up yourself.
YFC you are right about the Mormons. I don’t particularly care about them either but I did join them to fight the good fight and defend the true definition of Marriage though.
Glad you did your research on what they believe. Its strange stuff. They believe that you become a god when you die, amongst other really heretical and even evil stuff. Just awful. I do appreciate their family values, but that does not mean that they are Judeo Christian, which they are not.
An inexpensive short book that is quite helpful is:
“Beginning Apologetics 7 ” on how to read the Bible – a Catholic Introduction to Interpreting and Defending Sacred Scripture by Fr. Frank Chacon & Jim Burnham (with the introduction by Karl Keating).
If your Parish office sells any religious articles, at the very least they must sell:
a Catholic Bible (RSV-CE) in large print, and the CCC.
If this is not the case, ask them to do so.
There are no excuses for not teaching the Faith.
And there are no excuses for keeping the Bible and CCC from the people.
(They are available in many languages.)
The same is true of any Catholic bookstore – if you do not see them, ask where they are located.
Paul, I used to live near a Paulist bookstore and loved visiting, but haven’t been in far too long. Do you know whether they carry – or anyone carries – large print versions of the Bible and Catechism, and other great books of faith? Do you have links at Amazon or other places that might carry them?
CATHOLIC BIBLE: RSV-CE (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition)
Large Print
https://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/Home+Page/BOOKS/Bibles/RSV+CATHOLIC+EDITION+BIBLE+-+LARGE+PRINT.axd
“CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH, second edition” 1997, has dark green cover.
(medium size print)
https://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/Home+Page/BOOKS/Catechism/CATECHISM+OF+THE+CATHOLIC+CHURCH+-+PAPERBACK.axd
Navarre Study Bible: https://www.ewtnreligiouscatalogue.com/Home+Page/BOOKS/Bibles/NAVARRE+BIBLE+NEW+TESTAMENT+EXPANDED+EDITION.axd
Available at many Catholic and other book stores.
Paul and ANNE,
Do you even know of the Douay Rheims Bible. If not, why not?
Check the translations of Genesis 3:15. It is She that will crush the head of the serpent and She will do so with the powers granted Her by God, Her Son!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika and His Church!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Kenneth M. Fisher, Founding Director
Concerned Roman Catholics of America, Inc.
Of course I know of the Douay Rheims version of the Bible which was written late 1500’s and early 1600’s with the language used at that time in history, and was updated in the 1700’s.
There are approx. 12 Bibles approved for Catholic use.
I do not like to use WIKI for religious purposes but here is some of the history (which is accurate) for the Douay Rheims.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douay%E2%80%93Rheims_Bible
I prefer to use the RSV (CE) since it is the same version used by the Church and is referenced in the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the copyright page.
Paul good comments. I have both bibles, the Douay Rheims and the one you mentioned that you prefer. I enjoy both. One I use for highlighting verses etc and the other one, is strictly for reading. I encourage people to read the bible and some do not like to read the Douay Rheims version, so I encourage them to read from the other approved Catholic. Which many do. St. Jerome said that “ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ”
I have never attended REC, but I know scores of people who have attended. Each year about 35-40 thousand people attend. They take what they learn about teaching the faith and take it to their home parish to help with faith formation. The materials are wonderful, the teachings all appropriate for the Catholic faith, etc. I realize that there are some people that believe that it is a den of heretics because they don’t agree with each and every speaker. If it were so bad, however, why would Bishops from all over the world attend? Why would parishes all over the country send their faith formation folks? Why would tens of thousands of young people work all year to raise the money so that they can attend? There must be some positive things about the REC! I suggest, for example, that folks watch the liturgies on Youtube. They are fantastic. They are very reverent, done with grace and in total conformity with GRIM, especially those presided over by the Archbishop. These are not evil people that are staging this event.
Some of the speakers from REC are good,
other invited speakers are heretics, and some are not Catholic.
One must be well catechized to know the difference.
Church definition CCC: 2089 … ” Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; ”
Staffs (and perhaps some Bishops) do not do their homework checking out each of the speakers before promoting REC (Los Angelus Religious Education Conference).
Have you not wondered why so many Catholics in the USA today are not properly catechized – lousy teachers who have been taught baloney, and then pass it on.
Many of the guest speakers for 2015 are not even Catholic. Check it out.
Rick Warren, non-Catholic; John Allen recently formerly of the heretical National Catholic Reporter for many years; etc, etc.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a Universal Catechism, used as the basic reference for the development of national catechisms and faith formation teaching materials. Publishers of Catholic teaching materials are required to use the Catechism as their guide in developing age appropriate materials. Publishers of text books for Catholic grade and high schools are required to use the Catechism as the reference work for their materials. All of those teaching materials have the approval of those responsible, usually a Bishop. Obviously at some age, maybe high school or higher, the actual Catechism is the age appropriate book to use in religion classes. It is not appropriate for early elementary schools so other learning materials must be used. Even Bibles are written in age appropriate versions. When I grew up, Catholics were not allowed to own or read Bibles, then in the 1950s everything changed and we now have many versions and nearly every home has one. So, even on these two books one shouldn’t get too dogmatic.
Usually about age 15 or 16 (10th or 11th grade) students can understand the CCC for text usage.
(If they can read and understand Harry Potter, they can read and understand the Bible and CCC together.)
Bob One, this statement of yours is heresy.- ” So, even on these two books one shouldn’t get too dogmatic.”
You are going completely against the Magisterium in both the CCC and the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum of Vatican II,
and the docs of Vatican I.
CCC: ” 81 Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.
And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its ENTIRETY the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit.
It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching.”
VATICAN II – Dogmatic Constitution – DEI VERBUM, Chapter III, #11, second paragraph:
” Therefore, since EVERYTHING asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers MUST be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit,
it follows that the books of Scripture MUST be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings (5) for the sake of salvation.
herefore “ALL Scripture is divinely inspired and has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for good work of every kind ” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, Greek text). ”
https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/index.htm
Bob One, just because you personally were not encouraged to read the Bible more than 60 years ago is unfortunate but means nothing.
The Church today not only encourages Bible reading by all the literate, they actually give a PLENARY INDULGENCE for reading the Bible for a minimum of 30 minutes and meeting the other criteria – to encourage Bible reading at home.
Get yourself a copy of “MANUAL of INDULGENCES” – Norms and Grants by the Apostolic Penitentiary (fourth edition 1999).
https://www.usccbpublishing.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=705
See pg 100,
CCC: ” 133 The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures.
Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. ”
Any Bishop or Priest who does not encourage reading of a Catholic Bible and the CCC by the literate – is simply NOT doing his job.
Hosea 4:6 ” My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.”
“Bob One”: You are simply crazy. No Catholic ever, during the time when you grew up, was forbidden to own a bible. What you say is pure fiction. Many Catholic people in the 1940s and 1950s owned bibles.
They were taught that reading them was a sin.
Anonymous you are correct. The reason they were taught that was because they were told that they could misinterpret the bible and that they needed a priest to read it to them instead. Well that is what the elders we know told us about those times. Even to this day, a very traditional elder refuses to open her Douay–Rheims Bible, not unless a priest was present. I tried helping her get away from that thinking but she still refuses. Keep her in your prayers…her name initials are MH.
Again, not true, never true.
“…When I grew up, Catholics were not allowed to own or read Bibles, then in the 1950s everything changed and we now have many versions and nearly every home has one.”
Then I suppose all those Catholic families with bibles at home prior to the ’50s noting the birth, marriages, and deaths of family members were all contraband of underground dissenters. Good grief, Bob One. I understand it can be painful, but taking the time to separate that which is Catholic from whatever personal family issues surrounded your childhood is a very necessary thing. Otherwise we can falsely blame the Church for that which She never taught and give credence to a lot of malarkey that causes confusion because we mistake that as being our savior.
Much like one of my sisters being told that her teenage rebellion against the Church was the Church’s fault because, back then, the Church was too medieval. Sounds good, but these fallacies don’t equip one to fight temptation when it comes to knock again.
God bless.
Catholics were not permitted to read the Bible. I do not know if some were told they could not own one. The Bible was treated with awe and reverence.
The reason for this was that the Church did not want people interpreting it by themselves. The attitude was that the Church would tell you what you needed to know.
I am sorry that you do not believe this. That does not mean it is not true.
It changed in the 1950s.
That is what the elders tell us, the ones we know who are very traditional. They even said that the sex abuse scandals also began before VII and it was kept secret so no scandal would be caused. Terrible things happened before V2 as well and the disobedience we face now are from people who were raised way before V2. The reason we have so much sin its because people have turned away from God, there is so much schism and heresies that are promoted and defended, we are dealing with moral relativism. When the SSXP broke away it strengthened the ideals of moral relativism against the church. The church still contains the truth, those who are in full communion are working hard to honor God but there are many who dissent from all directions, outside and inside the church. If everyone who have fallen away returned and humbly understood what Jesus promised in regards His church and remained in full communion, trusting in His infallible words, then the mission of His church would be stronger and more souls would be saved. But because of schism, heresy and more sin…..we will continue to have to deal with irrational, illogical and defiant attacks, persecution just like Jesus had to go through because of sin.
David V, let’s say that “So, even on these two books one shouldn’t get too dogmatic.” was a poor choice of words meant to inject a little levity into the discussion. Mea Culpa.
Thank you for your correction Bob One.
Although levity may have been intended, it most cases the printed word does not depict nuances, and posted words are taken literally as intent by most.
I believe that you personally were not encouraged to read the Bible, but the V II documents have been in effect for 50 years – which clearly encourage us to read the Bible.
All Bishops and all Priests are not equal or accurate in all their teaching – and that is why so many suffer from lack of education.
Sacred Scripture (a Catholic Bible), and the CCC are the two most important books in the Catholic Faith.
Since some Bishops, some Priests, and others do not,
we must all actively promote the reading of these books including the authenticity of these books – as part of our own duty for Evangelization which must include accurate education about our Faith.
“….. let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures, studying the Catechism, steadily approaching the Sacraments.” – Pope Francis , May 15, 2013.
“….the CATECHISM has raised throughout the world, even among non-Christians, and confirms its purpose of being presented as a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine, enabling everyone to know what the Church professes, celebrates, lives, and prays in her daily life.” – Pope John Paul II (CCC pg xiv)
These books accurately combat heresy, schism, and relativism within the Church.