Editor of Jesuit Magazine Leaving

VATICAN CITY - The editor of the Jesuit weekly America is leaving the magazine after the Vatican received complaints about articles he published on touchy issues such as same-sex marriages and stem cell research, Jesuit officials said Friday. ADVERTISEMENT

The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a widely respected expert on the Catholic Church and the Vatican who was editor for seven years, is being replaced by his deputy, the Rev. Drew Christiansen, the magazine said in a statement.

Jesuit officials in Rome and the United States, who spoke on condition they not be identified, said some American bishops had contacted the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about articles in the magazine over the years that had presented both sides of controversies over sensitive church issues.

The Vatican has had a sometimes tense relationship with the Jesuits, some of whose members in the past have questioned papal pronouncements on birth control, priestly celibacy and the ban on women priests.

The magazine had made a point of publishing broad points of view — including some that clashed with church teaching — irking some Catholics in the United States and Rome, the officials said.

Some of the hot-button issues included gay priests, stem-cell research, whether Catholic politicians can be denied communion if they support abortion rights, and same-sex unions.

The magazine also wrote about a Vatican document that outlined the idea that divine truth is most fully revealed in Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular.

The document "Dominus Iesus" was issued in 2000 by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith — the office that was headed by German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI last month.

Critics complained the document could set back Church efforts to reach out to other Christians and believers outside the Church.

Reese is based in New York where the magazine is edited. He was in Rome for the election of Benedict, who had enforced a hard line on church doctrine and silenced theologians who diverged from it in his 24 years as Pope John Paul II's orthodoxy watchdog.

While in Rome, Reese met with his superior who mentioned there had been complaints about a couple of articles, a Jesuit official in Rome said. The official said Reese had left Rome with the idea he would resign.

Any response to complaints from U.S. bishops or Vatican officials would be made by the Jesuit General in Rome, the Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, and the 11 Jesuit leaders in the United States.

In the statement from newly named editor Christiansen, he noted that under Reese, the magazine often gave two sides of the debate on sensitive church issues — and that made it more relevant.

"By inviting articles that covered different sides of disputed issues, Father Reese helped make America a forum for intelligent discussion of questions facing the church and the country today," Christiansen said.

When contacted Friday, Reese said only that his tenure ends on June 1 and that he would move immediately to California and continue in his Jesuit ministry. He referred other comment to his news release.

He said he was "proud of what my colleagues and I did with the magazine, and I am grateful to them, our readers and our benefactors for the support they gave me. I look forward to taking a sabbatical while my provincial (regional boss) and I determine the next phase of my Jesuit ministry."

An official at the Jesuit headquarters in Washington, the Rev. Albert Diulio, said Reese and his provincial supervisor had reached the decision together, and noted that Jesuits tend to rotate jobs every six or seven years.

An official with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declined to comment on the matter. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said she had no information.

The Jesuit order founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1540 is renowned for its intellectual rigor and its excellent teachers, scholars and scientists. The Vatican has at times taken aim at its independence.

In the most recent publicized incident, John Paul named a temporary replacement to lead the order after the Rev. Pedro Arrupe suffered a crippling stroke in 1981, brushing aside Arrupe's choice for an interim leader in an unprecedented change-of-command.

Arrupe, who died in 1991, had pushed for the church to move for a more socially just world while remaining faithful to papal authority. But during his tenure, some Jesuits especially in the United States and the Netherlands challenged Vatican pronouncements on birth control, priestly celibacy and the ban on women priests.

We have all watched with dismay as the Jesuit Order has slithered into the more liberal realms of church teaching. However, one star that shines brightly in the order is ....

Fr. Mitch Pacwa

Jesuit priest and popular television host of several EWTN (www.ewtn.com) television and radio programs, including EWTN Live,The Holy Rosary in the Holy Land , and currently Threshold of Hope, Fr Mitch has a dynamic and engaging presence. An accomplished biblical scholar and apologist, Fr Mitch holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Theology from University of Detroit (summa cum laude), a Master of Divinity and S.T.B. from the Jesuit School of Theology at Loyola University (magna cum laude), and Phd in Old Testament from Vanderbilt University. He speaks 12 languages, some of which include; Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Koine Greek, and has taught courses in Old Testament, New Testament in high schools, seminaries, and universities, including Loyola University (Chicago) and University of Dallas. Fr Mitch is also a seasoned world-traveler, particularly to the Holy Land , where he has visited no fewer than 44 times.

Fr. Mitch is author of Catholics and the New Age, Forgive Me Father, for I am Frustrated, and Some Heard Thunder, Some Heard God. He is founder of Ignatius Productions, under the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus -- a multi-media teaching apostolate that features his books, tapes, and video productions. He is contributing author to several Catholic publications, including; This Rock Magazine.

Bi-ritual in the Maronite rite, Pacwa is a frequent visitor to the homes of Lebanese parishioners in Birmingham.

The Eastern Catholic Maronite Church
It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus Christ converted by Paul and Barnabas were first called Christians [Acts 11:26]. Antioch, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem in 71 AD, became a center for Christianity. The first Bishop was St. Peter before his travels to Rome. The third Bishop was the Apostolic Father St. Ignatius of Antioch. Antioch became one of the five original Patriarchates after Constantine recognized Christianity.

Maron, a contemporary and friend of St. John Chrysostom, was a monk in the fourth century who left Antioch for the Orontes River to lead an ascetic life, following the traditions of St. Anthony of the Desert and St. Pachomius of Egypt. He soon had many followers that adopted his monastic life. Following the death of St. Maron in 410, his disciples built a monastery in his memory and formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church. ⁸
The Maronites held fast to the beliefs of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. When 350 monks were slain by the Monophysites of Antioch, the Maronites sought refuge in the mountains of Lebanon. Correspondence concerning the event brought papal recognition of the Maronites by Pope Hormisdas on February 10, 518. ⁹
The martyrdom of the Patriarch of Antioch in 602 left the Maronites without a leader, and led them to elect their first Maronite Patriarch, St. John Maron, in 685.

Little was heard from the Maronites for 400 years, as they quietly escaped the Muslim invasions in the mountains of Lebanon, until the Crusader Raymond of Toulouse discovered the Maronites in the mountains near Tripoli, Lebanon on his way to conquer Jerusalem. The Maronites again confirmed their loyalty to the Pope in 1181. The Maronites have always remained true to Rome. ^{5, 8, 9, 10}
The Maronites, because of their monastic origin, were able to withstand intense pressure and even persecution to preserve their Church, not just by the Muslims, but also by separated brethren such as the Orthodox and Churches of the East, as well as efforts at Latinization from Rome. Even today, the words at the Consecration of the Mass are said in Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
The Maronites have especially fluorished since the Second Vatican Council, and are now the third largest Eastern Catholic Church, numbering about 3,200,000 faithful throughout the world, including parishes in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Australia. We are blessed to have Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary in Washington, D. C., established in 1961.

A Roman Catholic may attend Divine Liturgy at any Eastern Catholic Church and fulfill their Sunday obligation.

The Catholic Church is both Western and Eastern. As most of us realize, the Church began in the East. Our Lord lived and died and resurrected in the Holy Land. The Church spread from Jerusalem throughout the known world. As the Church spread, it encountered different cultures and adapted, retaining from each culture what was consistent with the Gospel. In the city of Alexandria, the Church became very Egyptian; in Antioch it remained very Jewish; in Rome it took on an Italian appearance and in the Constantinople it took on the trappings of the Roman imperial court. All the churches which developed this way were Eastern, except Rome. Most Catholics in the United States have their roots in Western Europe where the Roman rite predominated. It has been said that the Eastern Catholic Churches are "the best kept secret in the Catholic Church."

The Vatican II Council declared that "all should realize it is of supreme importance to understand, venerate, preserve, and foster the exceedingly rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern churches, in order faithfully to preserve the fullness of Christian tradition" (Unitatis Redintegrato, 15). Pope John Paul II said that "the Catholic Church is both Eastern and Western."

Check your local community at the following link and look into attending an Eastern Catholic Liturgy (not to be confused with the Orthodox Church).

Eastern Catholic Churches in the U.S.

The Eastern Catholic Rites retain the rich heritage of our church, without the "novelties" introduced into the Novus Ordo liturgy. Incense is used throughout.

I attend a Maronite Catholic Church. The Consecration is in Aramaic, using the words and language of our Lord at the Last Supper. Communion is ONLY distributed by the priest. It is by intinction (the priest dips the consecrated host into the Precious Blood) and is ONLY received on the tongue. The priest administers communion with the words: "Receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the remission of sin and eternal salvation".

A Roman Catholic may attend the Divine Liturgy at any Eastern Catholic Church. You can learn more about the 22 different liturgies at this link:

CATHOLIC RITES AND CHURCHES

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