Comments on: Boston pilgrims in China

By: Joe from New Jersey

Joe from New Jersey — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:25:16 +0000

Fr. Tony,
Great summary of what must have been an amazing experience!
To fearlessly announce the Gospel to the far away is what is needed most in the church today.
Thank you for bringing the spirit of the pilgrimage to me, it is a great consolation for not being able to make the journey.
May God continue to bless you, Cardinal Sean and all the pilgrims
for breathing life into the church

By: Daryl Gonyon

Daryl Gonyon — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:45:12 +0000

Reply to Michael Burke: Yes, civil disobedience is a means to achieve evangelism. Please remember the efforts of Ghandi and M.L. King et al and the evangelism achieved. And it is not a stretch to consider the civil disobedience that Christ Himself was involved in! He was involved in many instances of not following the religious practices, and cultural and political practices, of that time and place. Turning over the merchants tables in the Temple is not the only thing Christ overturned!

By: Richard Williams

Richard Williams — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:54:14 +0000

Cardinal Sean,

You may be interested in knowing that the lyrics to Dolly’s popular encore song, “Jesus and Gravity,” were written by Betsy Ulmer, a young lady who is a product of Saint Richards Catholic School in Jackson, Mississippi.

By: michael j burke

michael j burke — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:55:08 +0000

Dear Cardinal,
Howevermuch I agree with the Knights of Columbus, I feel obliged to wonder if a Catholic can vote at all. It is true Obama is favored by Plan. Parenthood, and McCain is anti-abortion [not pro life as he supports all stem cell research]; but, after voting for Bush twice, however much I knew he was someone who would be indifferent to both the civil and the poor, for the one reason to stop p. b. abortions. Alas, the supreme court passed the anti p.b. abortion bill, but now the technique has changed, and late term abortions continue.
We have 5 catholics on supreme court and yet roe/wade has not been ended; I will note First Things does not believe the law will ever change abortions, and even if roe were overturned, the back street, the rich, would continue the practice.
I also note McCain will only hurt the poor, etc, more, and continue a foreign policy as blind, if better run, as Bush’s. So the quandry is to help the society as a whole, fully believing Obama will follow the church’s thinking on all social policies, and foreign policy, yet understanding he has not given thought to abortion [he has said he is open to ideas].
So does the church assert we should not vote at all, or, however much abortion tears at my very being-St. Faustina’s visons included- I just do not believe politics is the way to stop this practice. [I end with the notation of Mother Teresa’s involvement with Hillary Clinton: she pressed Hillary, after getting nowhere on her pro-abortion stance, to build ‘life clinics”
{my phrase} where someone could go there and receive any and all needed so as not to have an abortion. One such clinic was built in DC. I suggest this may be the only way to sucess: have clinics aside all 850 Planned parenthood clinics, and have the govt. fund the same 350 million$ for these clinics that it spends supporting planned parenthood————–otherwise I see nothing but an Inquisition, where the Church, in the public square, has little effect,,,or Catholics simply do not vote at all.
My conscience will not let me vote for another Bush, and, given how the disproportion of wealth has reached abomnible levels-the worst, by far of any western country- and other issues, like our outrageous prision population, will not be addressed. The public square is almost in ruin, and I can not support another who will ignore this.

By: julia

julia — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:33:32 +0000

What a great trip for these young people.
Hopefully they came home imbued with a spirit of awe for the likes of St Francis Xavier and his zeal to convert and for Pope Benedict attempting to cut through the noise of our modern world to reach youth.
I do question whether civil disobedience in a foreign country is a good evangelical move. I also wonder why the pilgrims were invited to make a general confession before leaving.
The Catechism specifies general confession is only for cases of grave necessity. Paragraph #1483 says….”the occasion of pilgrimages does not constitute grave necessity”.

By: Ana

Ana — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:29:41 +0000

Cardinal Sean -

Thank you for sticking it out with us. We are lucky to have you in Boston.

By: Betty-Ann Tavares de Medeiros Hickey

Betty-Ann Tavares de Medeiros Hickey — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:01:48 +0000

Cardinal Sean and Fr. Tony,

Thanks so much to both of you for sharing this excellent story with us. It sounds like such a wonderful experience for those 50 young people.

It is often too easy to overlook China when thinking of Catholic places. It is great to see the wonderful pilgrimage sites where the faith was first brought and continues to exist. I pray that the Catholic Church in China continues to persevere and that someday they will have true religious freedom throughout China.

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:22:24 +0000

God sure works in mysterious ways. What an inspirational story. The photos were beautiful too. Thank you all for what you do and for sharing it with us.

By: Donis Santana

Donis Santana — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:22:08 +0000

Excellent! I hope you will also write about Sydney!

By: father joe kane

father joe kane — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:06:51 +0000

fr.tony,,,i enjoyed reading your comments as well as the work that you do with the young people,,,the faith is alive and well with the work that you do in your ministry,,,,congratulations for a ministry that reflects the presence of Jesus in a world often unknown to us…a real challenge…