Top Ten Catholic Stories of 2006

I thought it'd be good to review 2006 and touch upon what I believe to be the top 10 Catholic stories of the year. Primarily, I am going to focus on world and U.S. Catholic events, but I also want to point out my top 5 Catholic stories of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in KS. So, here we go.

#10 THE ENCYCLICAL DEUS CARITAS EST: Benedict XVI releases his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, a reflection on the nature of divine love and the role of charity in the life of the Church.

#9 VATICAN STATEMENT ON PURIFICATION OF SACRED VESSELS: New directives issued from the Vatican state that sacred vessels can only be purified by clergy or instituted acolytes. This causes some dissention in parishes, especially those which are large or use numerous vessels. Alternately, the expected announcement of the revival of the Latin Mass does not come.

#8 POPE BENEDICT NAMES 15 NEW CARDINALS: The pope names his first group of cardinals, including the former Archbishop of San Francisco who is now the Prefect for the Doctrine of the Faith, William Joseph Levada, and the former secretary to Pope John Paul II who is now the Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, Stanislaw Dziwisz.

#7 FALL USCCB CONFERENCE ISSUES A NUMBER OF DOCUMENTS: At the fall USCCB conference, bishops issue statements on worthiness to receive Communion, on marital love and artificial contraception, and on pastoral care of those with a homosexual tendency.

#6 LOS ANGELES REACHES FIRST SETTLEMENT WITH SEX ABUSE VICTIMS: Los Angeles Archdiocese reaches $60 million settlement with 45 clergy sex abuse victims. The $60 million settlement in Los Angeles this December is just the beginning, however, as these represent less than 10 percent of the 500-plus claimants still seeking compensation.

• KCK #5: Archbishop Naumann begins podcasting his weekly Leaven article: Each week Archbishop Naumann has an article in the Leaven. Beginning in March, these articles were recorded and placed on The Leaven web site as podcasts. Each week, when the commentary written by Archbishop Naumann is printed in the archdiocesan newspaper, the archbishop also records an audio format of his article, which is then posted.

#5 SOME DIOCESES FORCED TO FILE BANKRUPTCY: Dioceses deal with financial difficulties as a result of sex abuse claims. Portland, who had filed for bankruptcy in late 2005, reached an agreement in court to pay out tens of millions of dollars to victims. The Davenport Diocese filed for bankruptcy in October. The diocese of Spokane, Wash is also in bankruptcy proceedings.

• KCK #4: Lil' old me ordained to the transitional diaconate: On May 27, 2006, I was ordained to the transitional diaconate in preparation for my priesthood ordination on May 26, 2007.

#4 MARRIAGE AMENDMENTS PASSED IN MANY STATES: Marriage amendments defining marriage as being between a man and a woman passed in numerous states in the November elections including: Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. (Typical of the liberal media, they did not focus on these states, but on Arizona where the amendment was defeated - the first state to defeat it.)

• KCK #3: Rich Warsnak and Greg Hammes ordained to the transitional diaconate: On Nov. 18, 2006, Both are 4th Year seminarians at the Mundelein Theological Seminary north of Chicago, IL. Greg Hammes and Rich Warsnak were ordained to the transitional diaconate at Cure of Ars parish by Archbishop Naumann. Both of them and I will be ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 2007.

#3 THE CULTURE OF LIFE HAS A MIXED YEAR: There were many advancements and some setbacks in the Culture of Life this year: President Bush used his first veto to halt legislation that would have expanded embryonic stem-cell research. The U.S. agreed to hear arguments on permantently banning Partial Birth Abortion. Unfortunately, Missouri Amendment 2 passed permitting any embryonic stem-cell research in the state. Lastly, voters, in November, put pro-abortion Democrats in many key positions.

• KCK #2: Anthony Ouellette and Brandon Farrar ordained to the priesthood. On June 24, 2006, Anthony and Brandon were ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Kansas City. Both are now associate pastors in the archdiocese.

#2 POPE BENEDICT SPEECH ANGERS MUSLIMS: Pope Benedict gives a controversial speech that was meant as a challenge those who used faith, specifically Islam, as a means of violence. Many Islamic leaders, however, took it as an affront to Islam. (Ironically, Muslim reactions to his speech, mainly violent attacks by Islamic zealots, actually emphasized and proved the Holy Father’s argument.)

• KCK #1: The archdiocese begins assessing parishes: At the request of Archbishop Naumann, the archdiocese began a region-by-region analysis of the pastoral needs of the region and resources available to meet those needs. Recommendations are then forwarded to the archbishop. The assessments recommend mostly assigning priest to multiple parishes, although there will be some parishes that will be combined to better meet pastoral needs.

#1 POPE BENEDICT'S TRIP TO TURKEY: Pope embarks on a four-day trip to Turkey to visit with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and seeks to improve both Catholic-Orthodox and Catholic-Muslim relations. Originally planned as an ecumenical encounter with the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, the trip took on new purpose as the fallout from the Pope's speech in Germany that stirred Islamic anger. Lastly, the trip was a chance for the government of Turkey to press for Vatican support of its bid to join the European Union.

These are my top 10 Catholic stories of 2006 and my top 5 Catholic stories of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. I want to wish my readers a happy and safe New Year's Eve. I hope everyone has a blessed and joyous New Year and a prayerful Mary, Mother of God solemnity tomorrow. Until next year...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 16:44 | link | comments |
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