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#273670 - 01/17/08 09:23 AM
RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purification"!
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Jessup B.C. Deacon
Deacon Robert Behrens
Member
Registered: 03/16/06
Posts: 865
Loc: Jermyn, Pa.
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With whatever problems we may have, we don't do "smudging and purification"!
Dn. Robert
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/01/17/news/state/18-bishop_g.txt
Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings installs new bishop
By SUSAN OLPPhotos
Of the Gazette Staff
GREAT FALLS - More than 1,000 people filled Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Wednesday afternoon to see the Rev. Michael Warfel installed as bishop of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings.
About 20 bishops and archbishops and more than 70 priests joined the throngs of adults and children at the installation ceremony and Mass that lasted two hours.
Warfel came to Montana from Alaska, where he served in ministry for more than 30 years, first as parish priest and then for the past 11 years as bishop of the Diocese of Juneau.
At the start of the ceremony, clergy entered the airy sanctuary two by two as members of Montana's American Indian tribes beat on drums and sang. Tribal members also performed a smudging and purification ceremony, and the fragrant smoke from the sweet grass mingled with the incense from the Catholic censer. The installing prelate, Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland, Ore., in opening remarks, said the bishops of several Western states, including Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Alaska, often gather. Knowing Warfel through that connection, Vlazny told the people in the crowded pews, "You indeed have been blessed."
Then Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the papal nuncio from Washington, D.C., who represents Rome, stepped forward to address the crowd.
"I am truly happy to be with you this afternoon as Bishop Warfel is solemnly installed as the seventh bishop of Great Falls-Billings," he said in a heavy Italian accent.
Sambi went on to say that there are three essential aspects to serving
as a bishop. The first is the ability to model how to live a Christian life, to provide an example of holiness, charity and humility.
"Like the Lord Jesus rising early and going off on his own to pray, the bishop should be a man of prayer for himself and for his apostolic mission," Sambi said.
Second, he said, a bishop must be an authentic evangelizer, and, third, he must be a unifier of people.
Sambi thanked Bishop Anthony Milone, Warfel's predecessor, for his service to the diocese. Milone resigned in July 2006 for medical reasons.
Sambi also expressed appreciation to the Rev. Jay Peterson, who served as interim administrator for the 18 months between Milone's resignation and Warfel's appointment. Sambi then read the apostolic letter from Pope Benedict XVI announcing Warfel's appointment.
Warfel acknowledged that he was accepting the position of his own volition.
"I am here with great excitement and joy to serve the people here," Warfel said. "It is my desire to do nothing more than serve with the love of God manifested by Christ on the cross."
He then sat down in an ornate wooden chair and was handed a golden staff, signifying his installation as bishop of the Montana diocese. The room erupted in applause.
Tribal members then beat drums and sang a song of honor, and one of the singers handed a feather to Warfel.
As the Mass proceeded, Warfel injected humor when he stood to deliver the homily. Eleven years and few weeks before, he said, when he was a happy and content priest in Anchorage, Alaska, he got an early-morning phone call - "5:40 to be precise" - and was told the papal nuncio wanted to speak with him.
"What's a nuncio?" Warfel asked on the phone, garnering laughter from his audience. "Well, it was early and I'd only been awake a minute."
That's when he learned from the papal nuncio that he had been appointed the bishop of the Juneau Diocese.
"He said the Holy Father appointed you bishop of Juneau and, of course, you accept, don't you?" Warfel said, smiling. Four weeks later, Warfel was the bishop of Juneau.
Then, 11 weeks ago and a few days, he said, he was a happy and contented bishop living in Juneau when he got another call, this time inviting him to become bishop of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings.
"Not only did I know what a nuncio was," he said, "but I recognized his voice almost immediately."
It also helped that the phone call came a little later, at 7 a.m.
"I said without much of a pause, 'Of course I accept,'" Warfel said, adding that he's learned the importance of accepting a call whenever it comes.
At a retreat 11 days ago, Warfel said,he asked for grace in his new post to be a strong, loving leader.
"I want to be your shepherd," he told his audience, "to be with you in times of celebration and in time of hardship, struggle and suffering."
His focus in the coming months will be to travel and meet as many people as he can in the diocese.
"At the same time, I will continue what I've always done as a pastor and a bishop, to do the mission of the church," Warfel said.
That mission, he said, includes providing encouragement and support to help people grow in their faith; to reach out to Catholics disenfranchised from their faith; to reach out to people without a faith; and to reach out to other faiths.
"We must pray for unity and actively make the effort to achieve it," he said.
Finally, Warfel stressed the importance of fighting against poverty and injustice, and helping those caught in either situation.
"We must take concern for the poor and vulnerable utterly seriously," he said.
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#273684 - 01/17/08 10:43 AM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purification"!
[Re: Jessup B.C. Deacon]
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TonyM
Member
Registered: 01/12/07
Posts: 53
Loc: Canada
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With all the references to Native Indian "tribal" culture, you would think the man was becoming bishop of a Native Indian tribe rather than a Roman Catholic diocese.
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#273689 - 01/17/08 11:03 AM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purificatio
[Re: Jessup B.C. Deacon]
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Serge Keleher
Member
Registered: 06/22/06
Posts: 2941
Loc: Dublin
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Tribal members then beat drums and sang a song of honor, and one of the singers handed a feather to Warfel.
No doubt the feather was actually a first-class relic of the Angel of the Church of Great Falls.
Fr. Serge
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#273691 - 01/17/08 11:18 AM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purification"!
[Re: TonyM]
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Amadeus
Member
Registered: 01/30/02
Posts: 3890
Loc: Chicago
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Well, Catholicism in Montana was apparently begun by a band of Iroquois Indian tribe, who were baptized Catholic by missionaries, in the early 19th century.
From the Diocese's website, the area now known as the State of Montana, was home to many Indian tribes:
The Beginning of Catholicism in Montana
The Catholic faith came to Montana through a band of Iroquois Indians who had been instructed and baptized by Father Isaac Jogues. Arriving in the early 19th century in what is now known as the Bitterroot Valley, they were well received by the Flathead tribe. The Iroquois intermarried and became members of the Flatheads, sharing their Catholic faith in a way that prompted the Flatheads to send several delegations to St. Louis asking for a “blackrobe” to come and minister to them. Finally, the third group was successful in reaching St. Louis where Bishop Rosati promised to send Father DeSmet to them.
On June 30, 1840 Father DeSmet, SJ was met by 1,600 Indians at Green River, Wyoming to accompany him as he journeyed toward the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. Father DeSmet celebrated the first Mass in what is now Montana on July 26, 1840 near what is known today as Three Forks. When he saw the zeal of the Flatheads and the need for missionaries, Father DeSmet returned to St. Louis and brought back two other priests and two Jesuit lay missionaries.
On September 24, 1841 the missionaries arrived in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, the home of the Flatheads, about 50 miles south of Missoula. Over the next half century several missions were established : St. Mary’s for the Flatheads in 1841, St. Xavier among the Crows south of Billings, St. Ignatius, founded in 1846 by Father DeSmet, St. Peter, south of Great Falls, for the Blackfeet in 1858, St. Labre’ in 1885, south of Miles City to serve the Cheyennes, St. Paul’s Mission south of Chinook for the Gros Ventres and Assinaboines in1886, Holy Family Mission in 1886 for the Blackfeet, and the Fort Peck Indian school in 1907 for the Northern Sioux.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings is home to more than 51,000 Catholics, Native Americans included. The other Roman Catholic diocese in Montana is the Diocese of Helena.
Amado
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#273696 - 01/17/08 11:26 AM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purificatio
[Re: Michael_Thoma]
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Amadeus
Member
Registered: 01/30/02
Posts: 3890
Loc: Chicago
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Is it possible that this is a cultural ceremony that was retained by the Native American Catholics?
Yes, Roman Catholic evangelization, here and in other parts of the world, notably in Asia and in Africa, has always used
"enculturation!"
Inclusive versus exclusive.
Its success is borne out by the hordes of Catholic converts in Africa and in Asia today.
Amado
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#273709 - 01/17/08 12:13 PM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purificatio
[Re: Jessup B.C. Deacon]
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Amadeus
Member
Registered: 01/30/02
Posts: 3890
Loc: Chicago
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The USCCB's Ad Hoc Committee on Native American Catholics,
in its most recent study entitled "Native American Catholics at the Millenium" (2003), cited the following:
(1) Of the 4.1 million Native Americans identifying themselves as such in the 2000 U.S. Cnesus, about 12% are Catholics, or around 500,000. There are uncounted Native American Catholics who have opted to live in cities and urban areas.
(2) The inculturation of liturgy, that is including Native symbols and rituals appropriately in the celebration of the sacraments and other liturgical prayer, plays an important role in modern Native Catholic ministry. Inculturated liturgies are allowed and encouraged in fifty-one (51) dioceses.
(3) According to the study there are currently:
--27 Native American priests;
--8 Native American seminarians;
--74 Native American deacons;
--34 Native women religious; and
--65 Native ecclesial ministers.
Is there any other Church more actively ministering to Native Americans?
Amado
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#273721 - 01/17/08 12:45 PM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purificatio
[Re: Michael_Thoma]
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Amadeus
Member
Registered: 01/30/02
Posts: 3890
Loc: Chicago
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Yes, his maternal grandmother was a Potawatomi!
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#275503 - 01/27/08 07:00 AM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purificatio
[Re: Serge Keleher]
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Dandelion
BANNED
Member
Registered: 11/20/07
Posts: 113
Loc: Henderson, NV, U.S.A.
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That reminds me of a church blessing I went to, a "big 'ol bowl" of incense was used on the altar, and I all I thought was "What in the hell is going on here?'
if they want to combine all "faiths" by honoring each is own rituals, then why don't they "RCC" church come right out & say it?
Hold a press conference and make it public/common knowledge instead of springing it upon the little lambs.
Dandelion
Edited by Dandelion (01/27/08 07:17 AM)
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#275530 - 01/27/08 11:45 AM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purificatio
[Re: Stephanos I]
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Dandelion
BANNED
Member
Registered: 11/20/07
Posts: 113
Loc: Henderson, NV, U.S.A.
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Stephanos I,
Thank You again,
How does the church pick and choose what to adapt, and what not to adapt from other "societies"
my grandmother & her friends used to perform their own rituals using water& oil in a dish, and other have used a deck of cards to tell fortunes (old ritual).
anyway, Thank You the suggested reading can be helpful.
Deanna
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#275554 - 01/27/08 02:18 PM
Re: RC Bishop Installed-Ceremony Includes "Smudging & Purificatio
[Re: Dandelion]
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Alice
Moderator
Member
Registered: 01/12/03
Posts: 6212
Loc: New York
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Dear Deanna,
Such a pretty name--why would you want to be a dandelion green!  (just teasing...)
Anyway, many Christian people are ignorant, and they mix the occult and magic with Christian religion. This is very dangerous for their souls. Santeria is a perfect example.
The Church has the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and would NEVER chose anything which is remotely connected to putting faith in demons, and magic fortune telling--which, ofcourse, belongs to demons and is never of God.
In Christ,
Alice
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Moderator: Father Anthony
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