Letter #34, 2023 Thursday, January 26: Top Ten 2022, #4: Archbishop Timothy Broglio

    For our #4 “Person of the Year” we chose American Archbishop Timothy Broglio, 71, who in November was elected by his brother bishops the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

    We chose Broglio in part because of the terrific swirl of criticism and denunciation he faced upon his election, simply because of his faithfulness to Catholic teaching.

    He bore these attacks with calm, dignity and courage.

    So we honor Timothy Broglio as one of our “Top Ten” people of 2022.

    ***

    The “abomination of desolation” and the “end of the world”: a new, very brief video

    We have just posted a very brief video I did a few minutes ago.

    It concerns a topic of a certain interest: “The end of the world?”

    Here again is a link to this video.

    The video speaks of the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Jesus himself in the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 24, verse 15).

    Jesus says he is citing the prophet Daniel (Chapter 9, verse 27).

    And the video speaks of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò‘s words on January 21 that this prophecy is in the process of being fulfilled, when Viganò wrote:

    “We will soon understand the meaning of the terrible words of the Gospel (Mt 24:15), in which the Lord speaks of the abomination of desolation in the temple: the abominable horror of seeing the treasure of the Mass proscribed, our altars stripped, our churches closed, and our liturgical ceremonies forced into clandestinity.

    “This is the abomination of desolation: the end of the Apostolic Mass.”

    (The words cited above appear in the second letter posted at this link, entitled “The Thread on which the Council hangs,” in the 4th and 3rd paragraphs from the end of the letter, link).

    The new video ends with my own interpretation of a the possible meaning of the “abomination of desolation” — which does not contradict, and perhaps reinforces, the archbishop’s interpretation.

    I would be happy to receive comments, and I will publish as many of them as seem helpful at this important moment in time.—RM

    ***

    Note: If you would like to support this letter with even a small gift, it would be quite helpful and much appreciated. Here is a link.

Ten Who Shine

Catholics who showed us the good and beautiful in 2022

    In this issue, we spotlight 10 Catholic individuals who “made a difference” in 2022 –– and beyond. Five of them are members of the Catholic clergy, men whose ordination has deepened and broadened a life-long desire to serve Christ and their fellow men by offering their entire lives to Him. Their life’s work has been infused with the grace of the Gospel, transforming them to love and serve others because they were first “captured,” falling in love with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

    Five of them are lay people who, like most of us, must struggle every day in between “the world” and “the Church,” to keep that love burning. Each of us desires to shine a light on something good and beautiful that God has given us in this time, and that modern man in all his troubles and sorrows and confusion needs. The lay people we have chosen have done that. Join us in saluting our “Top Ten” of 2022.

    Archbishop Timothy Broglio

    Courageous New Head of US Bishops

    A “culture warrior” to critics, he seeks to “insert the Gospel into all aspects of life”

    Archbishop Timothy Broglio, JCD, 71, is the newly-elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

    He was elected on November 15 in Baltimore.

    He comes to the job after a career which took him from a brief stint as a parish priest in South Euclid, Ohio, to nunciature posts in Ivory Coast, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic, to the office of Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican Secretary of State under Pope John Paul II.

    Along the way he also earned a degree in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He is fluent in four languages.

    His current (since 2008) post is as head of the Archdiocese for Military Services of the U.S.

    During Archbishop Broglio’s tenure there, he’s attracted criticism from the secular media on a variety of occasions, most notably on questions of sexual morality, contraception and public policy. He’s been a reliable voice for the Catholic understanding of human anthropology and the moral teachings that flow from it.

    For example, he was criticized for objecting in 2013 to the military’s benefits to same-sex “spouses” of military service members. He said, “This new policy under the guise of ‘equal benefits’ undermines marriage as the union of one man and one woman because it treats two persons of the same sex as spouses.”

    He also registered his objection to the “contraceptive mandate” of Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

    Archbishop Broglio supported the August 2017 Presidential Memorandum issued by President Trump which prevented so-called “transgender” persons from serving in the military (immediately overturned by new President Joe Biden).

    In 2018, Archbishop Broglio’s email to a service member saying, “There is no question that the crisis of sexual abuse by priests in the USA is directly related to homosexuality; 90% of those abused were boys aged 12 and over. That is no longer pedophilia,” drew LGBT activists’ ire. Critics also panned his opposition to the 2021 repeal of the Clinton-era “Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell” policy on regulating “LGBT” members of the military, accomplished under Biden.

    Archbishop Broglio dealt with a particularly hot military topic during the COVID pandemic: vaccine mandates.

    Although the Vatican approved and even endorsed them, Broglio fully supported religious exemptions for military service members “if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience.”

Archbishop Broglio washes the feet of a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan at Shindand Air Base, Holy Thursday 2014. (CNS photo/ courtesy of the Archdiocese for the U.S. Military Services)

    Called by some a “culture warrior,” in his first press conference as USCCB President, Archbishop Broglio was asked about Catholic, pro-abortion politicians like Joe Biden. “I don’t see my role as primarily political, but if there is any way to insert the Gospel into all aspects of life in our country, I certainly will not miss any occasion to do that,” Broglio told reporters.

    But perhaps the most urgent subject that Archbishop Broglio has addressed — one that holds the key to addressing all other social and spiritual ills — is that of Jesus, present in the tabernacle.

    In a 2013 keynote address, Archbishop Broglio revealed his convictions on the importance of the Eucharist for unity, for healing, for salvation — and why he might be the perfect choice for his new post.

    “The Church tells us that this Eucharistic Presence in the tabernacle is a prolonging of the Sacrifice of the Altar,” he said.

    “This Jesus, who is interceding for us in heaven, wants to do the same sacramentally from the tabernacle. He consecrates all human activity, gathering all that happens in the universe and presenting it to the Father.

    “For this reason He is present in the midst of every parish and every community, to make palpable His mission to unify what is divided, to heal what is sinful, sweeten the bitter, and give eternity to our joys and sorrows…”

    “There is nothing wrong with these good things in life,” he continued, “which are also a gift from God. However, we are created in the image and likeness of God. Our goal should be elevated and noble. It must be eternal life.

    “The Eucharist puts us in contact with that life; it allows us to taste the union with Christ and the whole Church of those living, suffering, or triumphant. When we celebrate the Eucharist we are in the presence of all the Saints.”

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