Bishop Pilla Visits Hindu Temple

http://www.shivavishnutemple.org/events/PillaVisit.htm ^

[Diago]

Bishop Pilla visits our Temple:

On Sunday, Oct 3, 2004 the Most Reverend Bishop Anthony M. Pilla visited our Temple. Bishop Pilla is the head of The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland that provides spiritual guidance to more than 1,100,000 people in Northeast Ohio. He is a well-known leader of our community.

Over the last several thousand years, Hindu religion, philosophy and way of life have been understanding and respectful of peoples practicing other religions, faiths and spiritual living. Starting late 1960s hundreds of thousands of us moved from our old home, India to our new home, the United States of America. Our children go to schools and colleges where more than 98% of their friends are of non-Indian national and non-Hindu origins. At work places we continue to work with people of many faiths and races. And the events of September 11, 2001, have permanently altered the societal environment at both USA and abroad.
It is imperative that people from various ethnic backgrounds, faiths, and spiritual practices meet to dialogue to explore common ground and gain a stronger understanding of faith differences and work together for a common goal - that is a better community. Interfaith activity is a necessity for our families and communities.

More than 600 students from all local area colleges, many high schools, and many members of local area churches visit our Temple each year. Our Temple Manager and knowledgeable community volunteers take them around the Temple and explains our faith and rituals to the visitors. Also the Manager and community members attend many interfaith offsite meetings and activities through out the year.

Bishop Pilla's visit will strengthen our Temple's effort to foster interfaith interface between many peoples living in our community. Our Temple priests in the Vedic tradition greeted Bishop Pilla. He joined the Arati and toured the puja hall. The children performed welcoming dances.

The Bishop gave a short but important speech directly addressing the children and encouraging them to learn and maintain our tradition and values. Then the Bishop joined in taking mahaprasad (lunch). After the lunch he spent time in meeting with and speaking to the Temple devotees.

[Diago]

http://www.shivavishnutemple.org/images/Pilla2.jpg

[Diago]

More photos here:

http://www.shivavishnutemple.org/events/PillaPictures.htm

[Diago]

Also of interest:

How Bishop Pilla, as President of NCCB, Supressed Vatican's Letter on Sex Ed

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1308260/posts

[american colleen]

The Bishop gave a short but important speech directly addressing the children and encouraging them to learn and maintain our tradition and values.

A shame the bishop doesn't encourage his own flock to learn and maintain their own traditions and values. And then make it so it is possible to actually learn those traditions while maintaining the courage to live Catholic values.

[Diago]

Diocesan Posture Directives Create a Stir
- Adoremus Responds

Beginning on August 26, our e-mail inboxes began to fill with forwarded copies of an article that had just appeared in Cleveland's daily, The Plain Dealer -- and many questions from confused -- and very distressed -- Catholics.

The article, "Catholics to Change Communion Ritual", appeared on the front page of the newspaper, and detailed the changes to the Mass that the diocese of Cleveland plans to implement in the wake of the release of the US version of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM).

Among the changes announced to parish workers at a diocesan-sponsored conference were:

• the congregation using the "orans" posture during the Lord's prayer;
  
• embracing fellow worshippers during the exchange of the sign of peace;
  
• bowing before receiving the Eucharist;
  

"And undoing a lifetime of tradition by not kneeling in prayer after Communion", wrote religion writer David Briggs. "Instead, in a sign of the communal nature of the sacrament, worshippers will stand and sing until each person has received Communion.

"American Catholics are about to experience major changes in the Communion rite as dioceses begin implementing updated General Instruction of the Roman Missal", Briggs wrote. The story quoted Cleveland Pastoral Liturgy director, The Reverend J. Glenn Murray, SJ, who implicitly confirmed these directives. (Father Murray specializes in African-American worship, presents workshops on liturgy, and has taught at Saint Mary's Seminary in Cleveland and the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley.).

Adoremus responds to queries
Adoremus responded to the many e-mail inquiries. The text of our response follows:

"We read the August 25, 2003 story in The Plain Dealer, 'Catholics to change Communion ritual'.

"There seems to be some confusion about the new rules as the story describes them. Some of the changes evidently being promoted in the Cleveland diocese are not, in fact, in the new General Instruction: viz. standing after receiving Communion, and raising the hands ('orans' posture) during the Lord's Prayer. These changes were advocated by some liturgists -- notably while the US bishops were considering a proposed revision of the Missal ('Sacramentary') a few years ago -- a revision that was eventually rejected by the Holy See. But they were never approved by the bishops. And they were neither included in the new General Instruction of the Roman Missal for the universal Church, nor in the 'American adaptations' of the GIRM now in effect.

Standing throughout the Communion rite
"The US bishops, in fact, voted explicitly that people may either kneel or sit after they receive Communion. Furthermore, in an official response to a dubium (question) of Cardinal George in July 2003, Cardinal Arinze, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship, said that it was not the intention of the Holy See to prohibit the customary kneeling immediately after reception of Holy Communion.

"(Earlier, similar responses from the Vatican made it clear that changing customary kneeling to standing was not intended; indeed was 'laudably retained'.)

The gesture of reverence
"The GIRM (both old 1973 and new 2000) called for a 'gesture of reverence' before receiving Communion; but until the US bishops 'adapted' the 2000 GIRM, no particular gesture had ever been specified -- and the rule was honored in the breach. (When the bishops voted for a simple bow, the argument was that it was a gesture that everyone -- even physically impaired people -- could make).

"Another response from the Vatican made it clear that people are not to be prohibited from kneeling to receive Communion, although the US norm is standing.

The "Orans" posture
"The bishops actually voted against people assuming the "orans" posture for the Lord's Prayer (this is the posture of the priest), though some liturgists have promoted it strenuously. No gesture at all is specified during the Lord's Prayer in the GIRM. (Some bishops and liturgists had objected to hand-holding, however, a gesture that originated in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and was popularized by some charismatic groups.)

Divisive variations
"The liturgy office in the Cleveland diocese (and several others) is mandating changes that are neither specified nor mandated in the norms for the universal Church or for the US Church. Far from promoting unity, the effect of mandating these deviations from the customary practice in the Catholic Church in the United States is literally divisive -- dividing one diocese from another, one parish from another, one Catholic from another.

"If you should care to check further into this rather conflicted situation concerning the norms for Holy Communion, you may want to visit the Adoremus web site 'Gestures and Postures' and 'Documents' sections".

- hhh

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[Rosary]

This Bishop needs to go talk to Moses(from the Bible) and re-think his Catholic Faith!

[Land of the Irish]

Ping

[nickcarraway]

Maybe he is thinking of converting?

[rogator]

"This Bishop needs to go talk to Moses(from the Bible) and re-think his Catholic Faith!"

Based on what I have read, referring to this "bishop" as "Catholic" is a real stretch.

[Diago]

Maybe he is thinking of converting?

Will the Hindu's let Pilla keep his Gay Pride Flag:

And pink triangles?

http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/gayandlesbianfamilyministry/images/rnbwtile.gif

http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/gayandlesbianfamilyministry/images/tooosgif.gif

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

ROFL

[Salvation]

Thanks for all this information about Pilla. We need to keep praying.

[netmilsmom]

>>the congregation using the "orans" posture during the Lord's prayer<<

Is this true?
Why is my sister still doing it in her parish in Berea?
Why was my old parish still doing it??

[Diago]

"Is this true?
Why is my sister still doing it in her parish in Berea?
Why was my old parish still doing it??"

You may have misread the article. The Cleveland Diocese supports using the "orans" postion during the Our Father.

[netmilsmom]

>>The Cleveland Diocese supports using the "orans" postion during the Our Father.<<

Oh I am so sorry. I was very excited.

[Diago]

From http://www.dailycatholic.org/issue/04Feb/feb17ed.htm on Bishop Pilla:

In promoting the lie the false witnesses will stop at nothing. As an example in Cleveland, where the notorious Bishop Anthony Pilla rules over his fiefdom of the New Order, he has issued an all points warning to be on the look-out for anti-Semitic movies based on the New Testament.

You'll note the films 'Luther' and 'The Gospel of John' got a complete pass, as did the horrendous, blasphemous 'The Last Temptation of Christ', but not so a masterpiece of unparalleled excellence that equates the actual account of the Gospels.

Who's kidding who? Catholic Citizens of Illinois reports that this warning was "not issued to the Rainbow Gay Pride banner that still flies on the Gay Catholics of Cleveland website, nor against the V-Monologues at John Carroll University, nor the heretical group Futurechurch that continues to reside on diocesan property while encouraging local Catholics to not believe in Catholicism. The warning does not concern a long overdue apology for the Cleveland diocese giving thousands of dollars (from collection plates) to an organization which had the National Abortion Rights Action League as one of its members."

The warning does not concern a know porn star signing autographs at a same function where the diocese took part nor does it concern issuing an edict to pro-abort 'Catholic' politicians that they will be refused the sacraments per 'latae sententiae' excommunication if they persist in violating God's law or warnings to any Catholic that it is a sin to vote for a known pro-abort whether that candidate be Catholic or not. Wo to those who are Catholic and still stubbornly leave their Faith at the door. They are not Catholic! No, Pilla saw no need to issue such a warning. There are very few Archbishop Raymond Burkes among the men in magenta, purple and scarlet today.

No, as the Citizen attests, "the warning concerns an upcoming movie. Sure, there are scores of movies every year that mock the Christian faith, that are crude and pornographic, that exploit women, that demean the intrinsic value of sacred human life. The diocese has not seen fit to warn about these, of course. The movie they wish to warn Catholics about is different. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted, 'The Diocese of Cleveland sent a February memo to all its parishes asking Catholics to be aware of the potential for anti-Semitism. On Friday, a trio of prominent Jewish, Catholic and Protestant leaders sent a letter to 300 of their colleagues urging them to address the issues raised by the film in their churches and synagogues'."

[murphE]

"Maybe he is thinking of converting?"

LOL!

We can only hope, after all isn't it better that he be a good Hindu rather than a bad Catholic?/sarcasm

[AlbionGirl]

Ping on pilla-ry.

[livius]

Depressing. When is that man going to go away? Something I'm asking about a lot of bishops these days...

[Diago]

"Depressing. When is that man going to go away?"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1060132/posts

In March, 2002, about two years after leaving the diocese, Charlie [the bishop's former lawyer] says he met again with Bishop Gries. “I met with Bishop Roger and I told him as a friend that he needed to tell Pilla to step down. That's all I said.”

I prod him to continue. “Because of the manner in which all of this had been handled.”

Charlie later says, “The thing that really fried me was the way the church in Cleveland has agreed to ‘infanticize' Anthony. It's like he's a child. ‘Oh, he didn't know this, he didn't know that.' Wait a minute, oh merciful God. Then what's he in charge of one million Catholics for? Yes, Quinn did crazy stuff, but he was a lieutenant, you are the general. Why didn't you stop it? "