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 Begin Lent marked with the Sign of the Cross. The blessing with ashes will be included at all Masses and prayer services this Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, February 6. At the Masses, the blessing will be given after the homily. Masses are scheduled at 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00am when the Frances Xavier Warde School’s students will be present; at 12:10pm when Cardinal George will offer Mass and will preach before an anticipated full Cathedral; and at 5:15pm. At prayer services, the blessing with ashes will be given at the conclusion of the 10-minute prayer. Prayer services are scheduled for 10:00 & 11:00am and 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, & 7:00pm. Please join us at the Cathedral on Ash Wednesday.

 Lent regulations regarding FAST & ABSTINENCE are the following: ABSTINENCE FROM MEAT should be observed by Catholics 14 and older on Ash Wednesday and on all Lent Fridays. FASTING is observed on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday. For those at least 18 but not yet 59, fasting means eating just one full meal. Two smaller meals are permitted. Those on medically directed diets should ignore the rules of fast & abstinence and look for another penitential practice. Do not get sick!

Sunday afternoon Holy Name will open the Cathedral doors to RCIA candidates from all over the Archdiocese as the Cardinal celebrates the first of five Rites of Election welcoming thousands to the final stages of preparation for full entrance into our Catholic Church. Cardinal George will offer the joyful prayers. The Cathedral’s own RCIA candidates will be among those welcomed.

January 14-17, I attended the semi-annual Cathedral Ministries Conference, a gathering of pastors and other pastoral and administrative personnel from the Cathedrals of the United States. Sixty-three Cathedrals were represented this year in St. Augustine, Florida. Last week, I wrote about the Cathedral of St. Augustine itself. This week I would like to comment on two of the more valuable presentations that were offered. 

The first of the four “keynote” addresses was delivered by the most entertaining Father Gerald Fogarty, a Jesuit professor at the University of Virginia where he teaches courses on the History of American Catholicism. He focused on American Cathedrals as reflective of American Catholic theology over our nation’s 231-plus years. In 75 minutes, Father Fogarty examined many examples of a particular Cathedral reflecting something about the prevalent tilt in theology at the time of its construction. For example, thoroughly American Baltimore Bishop John Carroll’s Cathedral in our first diocese was designed by Benjamin Latrobe, the same architect who designed the U.S. Capitol. Patrick Keely was the architect responsible for Holy Cross in Boston, St. John the Baptist in Charleston, and Holy Name in Chicago among others. In Chicago’s choice of Keely, according to Fr. Fogarty, our diocese was reverting to a style that would be familiar to the European immigrants in the re-building Chicago. A very American design remains obvious on the banks of the Mississippi, the Basilica of St. Louis, that diocese’s first Cathedral. Bishop Peter Kenrick, St. Louis’ second bishop inherited the Cathedral with its neo-classical columns. He and his brother, Bishop Francis Kenrick of Baltimore, at one time were the complete American hierarchy! They certainly shared theological accommodation of democracy; Peter supported his brother Francis in opposing Papal Infallibility, a doctrine later defined by Vatican I in 1870, seven years after the Baltimore bishop’s death. Consider, however, that the bishop-brothers corresponded with each other in Latin! The country could be united by architectural styles. The expansive Cathedrals in both Seattle and Washington, D.C., were designed by Christopher LaFarge. When St. Augustine became a diocese in 1870, the architect chosen for their bell tower was James Renwick, the same neo-Gothic artist who designed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Our Catholic East Coast was linked. With his spotlight on history, Father Fogarty talked my language!

John Allen, author, National Catholic Reporter Vatican correspondent, and CNN Vatican commentator, gave the final talk – “Mega-trends Shaping 21^st Century Catholicism.” In a fact-packed speech, Allen chose 4 of 10 included in his future book and related them to Cathedral ministry. (1) WORLD CHURCH. Whereas 25% of the Catholic population lived below the equator in 1900, 75% will live in the south in 2025 when only 20% of the world’s Catholics will be white people. Allen told us that our Cathedrals must look, sound, feel, and act more globally. (2) EVANGELICAL CATHOLICISM. In the present century, Catholicism will emphasize traditional Catholic identity; deal in strong proclamation; and will see faith as a matter of personal choice rather than cultural influence. The new Catholic Church will stay clear of kneeling before the world. Allen urged Cathedrals to tie Catholics together. He suggested a simple solution: hold Corpus Christi devotions. Holy Name Cathedral already is there. (3) NEW DEMOGRAPHY. Not one country in Europe has a fertility rate that will increase its population by 2050. Still, the world population is increasing, not because of a baby boom, but because people live longer. He joked that in 50 years, the most popular sect in Iran will be AARP. In the USA, there’s a “Gray-by Boom.” In 2050, 75.9% of the American population will be over 65. American Cathedrals should take care of the elderly. We will have an elevator and accessible bathrooms in Holy Name Cathedral by this time next year. (4) BIOTECH EVOLUTION. How do we define “Human”? Cloning, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem-cell research, definition of death, end-of-life care, genetic engineering, justice in health care, body parts commerce, and chimeras (organisms carrying more than one set of DNA) raise the question. Allen asks American Cathedrals to foster scientific dialog; to promote science ministry; and to resist saying “I don’t understand.”

Above all, considering mega-trends, this dynamic scholar encouraged Cathedrals to supply the courage to be globally Catholic in the 21^st Century. I will have a few more thoughts on the Cathedral Ministries Conference in this space next week.

I will be at work on February 6, Ash Wednesday, usually my midweek day off. Therefore, I will disappear this week on Thursday, February 7. If you need me on Thursday, wait to phone until Friday. 

Fr. Dan Mayall