2009 Pallium Mass in Rome | REUTERS

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last couple of days, which have been rather eventful for me. On Friday morning I flew out of Orlando International Airport bound for Los Angeles to celebrate the coming together of my brother and his fiancé in matrimony. I flew home last evening. Needless to say, I am a bit tired but still kickin’. So, in case you have been out of the loop in recent days or weeks with your vacation plans, here is a bit of a look at the week ahead (well, at least the first couple of days of it).

This evening, the Holy Father will celebrate vespers for tomorrow’s Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul with the newly installed Metropolitan Archbishops from throughout the world. Tomorrow, a Mass will celebrated where the palliums will be conferred on the new metropolitans, all 38 of them, by Pope Benedict XVI. The pallium is a wool band about “two inches wide, worn about the neck,

Bishop-Elect F. Richard Spencer

Well, this one slipped passed me. This morning the Holy Father appointed Fr. F. Richard Spencer as Auxiliary Bishop to the Archdiocese for the Military Services in the United States. Bishop-Elect Spencer was born in Sylacauga, Alabama on June 10, 1951. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1988 by Archbishop William D. Borders, a WWII Army Chaplain and the first Bishop of this young Catholic’s home diocese.

After the appointment, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, Archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, issued the following statement:

With immense gratitude, I am pleased to communicate that His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has named Father F. Richard Spencer, a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and a chaplain in the US Army, Titular Bishop of Auzia and my Auxiliary.

Over the last several weeks, as has been covered here, there have been allegations that Diocesan and Vatican officials have neglected victims of clerical sexual abuse by allowing priests who have been accused of such atrocities to remain in pastoral ministry. Many people have been calling for the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI for his reported handling of such cases when he was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). Earlier today, the Vatican released the following guidelines that are applicable in all cases of allegations of sexual abuse.

Guide to Understanding Basic CDF Procedures concerning Sexual Abuse Allegations

The applicable law is the Motu Proprio “Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela” (MP SST) of 30 April 2001 together with the 1983 Code of Canon Law. This is an introductory guide which may be helpful to lay persons and non-canonists.

A: Preliminary Procedures

The local diocese investigates every allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric.

If the allegation has a semblance of truth the case is referred to the CDF. The local bishop transmits all the necessary information to the CDF and expresses his opinion on the procedures to be followed and the measures to be adopted in the short and long term.

Civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed.

Throughout the United States today, millions of American Catholics have begun a novena for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. The novena is an effort by the Knights of Columbus to raise prayers and support for the Supreme Pontiff who has been attacked over the last several weeks regarding clerical sexual abuse scandals within the church. Please join us in praying for our German Shepherd.

Lord, source of eternal life and truth, give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he, as successor to the Apostle Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your Church into a sacrament of unity, love and peace for all the world. Amen.

V/ Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.

R/ May the Lord preserve him, give him a long life, make him blessed upon the earth, and not hand him over to the power of his enemies.

V/ May your hand be upon your holy servant.

R/ And upon your son, whom you have anointed.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

SOURCE: Knights of Columbus

PHOTO: Knights of Columbus

This morning, Archbishop Jose Gomez issued a statement on the website for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles where he explained the tremendously overwhelming task that the Church is now asking him to undertake. Below is the statement in full:

I hope you’ll forgive me if my comments are brief. This is the kind of moment that for me, words cannot fully describe my feelings.

I’m very grateful to the Holy Father for giving me this opportunity to serve the Church with a mentor and leader like Cardinal Roger Mahony. I’m grateful to the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, for supporting the Holy Father’s confidence in me. I will try with all my strength to earn that trust.

I’m especially grateful — very deeply grateful — to Cardinal Mahony himself and to my brother bishops, priests and deacons here in Los Angeles, for the warmth and good will they’ve shown me since learning of my appointment.

After I received the news of my appointment, I went to the Chapel to spend some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. I asked for the grace to be generous and to give myself totally to God’s call. But I also asked for the strength to accept this new task, which is undoubtedly overwhelming. My only consolation is the fact that God is calling me and He is merciful and will help me to be faithful and to serve His people in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

I’ll never forget that as I finished my phone conversation with Archbishop Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, the first thing I saw was a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the hallway and, as it has happened in every moment of my ministry, I felt Her love and protection. To Mary of Guadalupe, I would like to entrust my new ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.