What you least expect, while singing, "Come, Thou long expected Jesus"!

Dr. Edith Breburda
On your way to Christmas vigil: your motion alarm at your living room goes off, and you get a glimpse of certainly uninvited guests- thanks to modern techniques. 

While waiting for the security company to repair the home system, I decided to take refuge to my laptop and write about an incredible Christmas story. A report about illegal immigrants and spotlights, and an unintended open house- not only for police officers, who came with their dogs and rifles. In the midst of the little house, not in the best area of a Midwest metropolitan of the United States, was a Replica statue of the original image of the Madonna of Altötting (Bavaria/ Germany) with the Child Jesus. It was as if she would oversee all of what was going on this Christmas Eve, 2018. 

Of course, they all did not come for her. However, it is custom in that little neighborhood -with a lot of tiny houses- to light candles on the streets. Then, they all go out and watch the spectacle. This night, the residents have been joined by police. They rushed in grate haste with their (German) Shepherds to the side.

They focused on this house. Above two helicopters, who lit up the building properly.

Meanwhile, a TV news station arrived to report the incident. The main reason for the event were intruders, who smashed the window of the little office on the side of the house where no security camera could capture their deeds. There was an automated security warning light that went on when they climbed the wall-trespassed the property, to reach the weakest point of the house -but that didn't stop them either. This was on the north side of the house where looking out was only an orchard, holding in its midst a Catholic chapel belonging to a religious community.

The corpus delicti, the rock used to break the window, landed in the middle of the office. The computer on the desk was turned upside down and found its rest next to a small poster that bore the question, “Do you know your risk of Heart Disease?”, located in between a picture of Saint Pope John-Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Actually, Pope Emeritus was born in the vicinity of the most famous place of pilgrimage, where in a small chapel Our Lady of Altötting (the Black Madonna) stands. 

My ancestors, who had a huge farm Estate (Gutshof) not far from Altötting, admired Our Lady of Altötting tremendously. It was difficult to do so during the NAZI-regime in Germany. My Grandfather almost ended up in Dachau for being a strong Catholic, who refused to remove a huge old crucifix in his Gutshaus. However, two of my great-uncles were at the concentration camp Dachau, just for being “Catholic” Mayors, in the Sudetenland (the majority of the inhabitants were German). They had been deported immediately after the Munich Agreement outlined the terms of the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938.

I brought Our Lady of Alötting with me when I came to the United States to work as a scientist at a Midwestern University in 2001. My father, who was a refugee from the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1947, had just retired from his position as a university professor in Germany, and thus he and my mom joined me to come to America.

Actually, I never ever wanted to come to this county, and I purposely rejected previous job offers at Harvard Medical School. My research was going well, and I worked at the most renowned Trauma Surgery in Germany – until I received an offer from a world-famous scientist, which I could not turn down. After earning my Ph.D. with highest distinctions, I have never had difficulties finding a position at high-ranking research institutions, their research efforts being directly funded by the US-Government.

Unfortunately that all changed, when I applied for my green card on the basis of being classified as an outstanding scientist, nine months prior before the expiration of my H-1B visa.

Since that moment, it seems to become impossible for me to immigrate. Even more, I wound up before Immigration Court, very much to the puzzlement of the judge, because it is the law in this country that one is not to be deported as long as one has a visa application pending.

Now, for years, I am waiting in line as a legal immigrant, with no work authorization or anything else. If I leave the US, I cannot reenter the country for approximately two decades of years. It seems that even family-based immigration is blocked. Meanwhile, USCIS is so mixed up with my case that all of my expectations are very low.

Coming back to that little house, where a relative took me in- the intruder has been captured. It is unusual to arrest the burglar at the crime scene. My appreciation for the work of the police is beyond words, especially, because a policeman ended up fighting with this man. The intruder was in jail afterwards– just for a few hours. In the early morning of Christmas day, a judge decided to release the defendant. He was an illegal present man from Mexico. It seems to me that these men have nothing to fear. Catch- and release looks to me like an invitation to commit crimes.

I worried about my documents and my manuscripts for all the popular science books I have written while waiting for issuance of my already-years-ago-approved family-based permanent residence permit (green card), all of which were in the house at the time the intruder entered.

Thanks to police and to our Lady of Altötting, everything was still in place. Nothing was stolen. There was only a broken window. But maybe there was not much in the house that would have been of interest for illegally present persons? The only thing reminding me of the incident is a little bird that twittered excitedly the next morning. In its way he is expressing in his chirping sounds the two tones of the alarm siren that interrupted the peace of Christmas Eve. 

Finally, Mr. Emmanuel -the security company technician arrived at the house. He told me we had been lucky: sometimes they come and kidnap the owner of the house. Emmanuel was thinking of a particular case. It was a huge residence in a wealthy gated area. Besides the owner, the intruder took all electronic apparatus along with him as well - including the printed-circuit board for the alarm system. Fortunately for the police, this made it easy to track the victim and intruder shortly after the crime.

I'm not Catholic, I'm homeless

Dr. Edith Breburda

It changed- suddenly! At least I think it did. Was it not custom that every parish has had additional confession time before Christmas? And did not the Priest today at Advent Mass complain that the world forgot the real reason for the season. He assured that in his parish it will be different. He would make sure they are celebrating Christmas as the arrival of the long-expected Savior. After Communion, he announced that his parish will be closed from the Birthday of Jesus until First of January. Not sure what he meant. Will there be no Mass in between? I travel through, so I will be only joining his little Church on the West Coast for the weekend.

I studied the bulletin. On Saturday, I am two minutes late for the usual confession time because I am traveling. The priest was gone. At home, in the old Basilica downtown, they have their usual confession time Friday, as always, after Mass. As if a surgeon would sterilize his instruments after surgery. But on that Friday, I come to the Basilica only to find five people sitting in front of the confession chair, waiting for the priest, who did not come. 

The people were confused. They told me that they drove downtown just for confession. Some went to the Parish office, but nobody seems to care. “No confession-blame the priest, not me,” said the man at the office.

But there was still a man sitting and waiting. I went to him and asked if he was waiting for confession. He said, “Confession? What is that?” 

I smiled and asked him if he was Catholic. He was in his 40s, Hispanic, with a plastic Rosary hanging around his neck. He said after a while. “I’m not Catholic, I’m homeless.” I was tempted to say “The two are not mutually exclusive.”

He asked what confession is. I thought to myself, I have to explain this sacrament in two sentences. “In confession,” I told him, you go to a Catholic priest, who will forgive you your sins in the name of Jesus.”

The man seems to remember. He nodded. “Yes,” he said. “But right now, I have no time to go to confession and to get my sins forgiven. I need to get something to eat.”

He caught me on this one. I did not have a penny with me—as usual. “I’m sorry,” I answered him. “I want to immigrate in this country and I have no work permission as legal immigrant. I haven’t earned any money for a very long time.

Now he smiled. “You don’t have to give me something,” he declared. “Even if you would have money. You certainly don’t have to give it to me.“Where do you sleep?” he asked.

“My brother took me in,” I told him.

He was obviously relieved. He sighed loudly and replied, “This is very good. I’ll pray for you, that everything goes well with your immigration.” Now we both smiled. I went to spend some more time in church. When I turned, the homeless man was gone. 

I treasure his prayers more than anything else. As it says in Psalm 34, The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor!

Merry Christmas to all of you!!

Bischof Morlino - Der Löwe von Wisconsin - RIP

Dr. Edith Breburda

Christliches Forum, 6. Dezember 2018

Am 4. Dezember 2018 trauerten viele  – zusammen mit zahlreichen staatlichen Repräsentanten der USA  –  um den katholischen Oberhirten Robert Morlino. Ihr konservativer Bischof war unerwartet am 24. November im Alter von 71 Jahren verstorben.

Die Maria Goretti-Pfarrkirche auf der Westseite der Hauptstadt Madison im Bundestaat Wisconsin war mit 1700 Trauergästen- darunter 14 Bischöfe- gefüllt. Unter ihnen befand sich der Sprecher des US-Repräsentantenhauses, Paul Ryan, sodann die Kongressabgeordneten F. James Sensenbrenner jr., Sean Duffy und Glenn Grothman; außerdem Bryan Steil, der Ryan’s Platz im US-Kongress ab Januar 2019 einnehmen wird.

Der US-Bundestaat Wisconsin ist ein Juwel des amerikanischen Katholizismus. Im Milchland der USA gibt es sehr viele deutsche Einwanderer; seinerzeit fehlte bei der Abstimmung, ob man in diesem Land Englisch oder Deutsch reden sollte, nur eine einzige Stimme für die deutsche Sprache. Es ist der Staat, in dem einst Pater Josef Kentenich, der Gründer der Schönstattbewegung, sein sogenanntes Exil verbrachte.

Kurz nachdem der dritte Bischof von Madison, seine Exzellenz William Bullock, im Jahr 2003 seinen Ruhestand einreichte, kam Bischof Morlino aus Helena in dieses Amt. Es wurde damals gemunkelt, Papst Johannes Paul II. habe bewusst einen kompetenten Bioethiker in die Stammzellmetropole der USA berufen.

Bischof Morlino liebte es, als Dozent an der Hochschule zu lehren und war wohl eher enttäuscht, als er 1999 zunächst zum Bischof von Helena in Montana berufen wurde. Seine "Nachfolgerin" am Sacred Heart Major Seminar in Detroit wurde die allgemein bekannte Frau Prof. Dr. Janet E. Smith, eine Weltexpertin für “Humanae Vitae“, der Enzyklika von Papst Paul VI., die sich mit er Weitergabe menschlichen Lebens befasst und die auf den Tag genau 10 Jahre vor der Geburt des ersten In-Vitro-Kindes veröffentlicht wurde.

Es dauerte nicht lange, bis Bischof Morlino seine moralische Autorität den "Madisonitern" kundtat. Im Wisconsin State Journal stand mit großen Lettern auf der ersten Seite: „Hey Bishop don’t call my City unmoral.“ (Hey Bischof, bezeichne meine Stadt nicht als unmoralisch). Der Bischof trat offensichtlich mit seiner Aussage ins Fettnäpfchen, dass Abtreibung viel schlimmer sei, als sich darüber aufzuregen, wo und ob man ein Spielkasino am Stadtrand aufmachen sollte.

Schon bei der Amtseinführung von Bischof Morlino am 1. August 2003 warnte ihn sein Freund, der jetzige Kardinal Dolan von New York, dass in so einem Bischofsstuhl viele Splitter sind, auf die man sich unweigerlich setzt. Es erinnerte an das, was einst Bischof Dyba aus Fulda sagte: „Bischofsein ist kein Honigschlecken.“

Als ein Tag nach dem Passionssonntag 2005 die Kathedrale von Madison in Flammen stand und bis auf die Grundmauern abbrannte, war dies einer der ersten Rückschläge, die den Bischof schwer trafen. Zu Schaden kam zwar niemand und sein Generalvikar Monsignor Paul Swain, der spätere Bischof von Sioux Falls, rettete sich, nur mit Pyjama bekleidet, aus dem angrenzenden Rektorat des Gebäudes.

Der tief enttäuschte Bischof betrachtete den Verlust des Gebäudes als sein persönliches „9.11“ , als er kurz danach am Prayer-Breakfast in Washington mit Präsident Busch sprach. Nach einer kostspieligen Umfrage unter allen seinen Priestern entschied sich Bischof Morlino dafür, den Bau seiner Kathedrale seinem Nachfolger zu überlassen.

Stattdessen konzentrierte er sich auf die jungen Katholiken seiner Diözese und baute ihnen ein wunderschönes Studentenheim im Herzen der Universität, die einst von Deutschen gegründet wurde; ihre Ausbildung lag ihm sehr nahe.

Mit den entsprechenden Verbindungen von seinen treuen Katholiken dauerte es nicht lange, und die Universität- aber auch die in Madison ansässigen Pharmafirmen die Stammzellforschung betreiben- luden den Kirchenmann zu Podiumsdiskussionen ein.

Der Bischof versuchte, die Lehre der Kirche für den Lebensschutz unter bekannten Stammzellforschern plausibel zu machen –  genau dort also, wo man sie eigentlich gar nicht hören wollte. Schließlich hatte ihm Papst Benedikt XVI. nahegelegt, etwas gegen humane embryonale Stammzellforschung zu unternehmen. Schon davor hegte der Bischof den Gendanken, ein katholisches bioethisches Institut in Madison zu eröffnen.

Leider kam er nicht so schnell dazu, denn Vorrang hatte es, junge Männer für das Priestertum zu begeistern. Als Bischof Morlino nach Madison kam, gab es nur sechs Seminaristen, was sich bald besserte. Nach einiger Zeit wurde er von anderen Bischöfen ob der Anzahl der vielen Neupriester beneidet. 

Viele der jungen Geistlichen begannen damit, ihrem Bischof nachzufolgen, auch dadurch, dass sie die hl. Messe so wie er im alten bzw. "überlieferten Ritus" feierten.

Natürlich gibt es auch in der St. Raphaels-Diözese von Madison die traditionelle Priesterbruderschaft St. Pius X, die sich mitsamt ihrem Bischof Marcel Lefebvre 1988 vom Vatikan trennten. Erzbischof Fellay, der nicht ganz unschuldig an dem Scheitern einer Verständigung mit Rom unter Papst Benedikt XVI. war, kam oft nach Madison, um dort die Sonntagsmesse zu lesen.

Bischof Morlino löste diese Situation dadurch, dass er rund um diese Kapelle der Piusbruderschaft seine eigenen Priester platzierte, die ebenfalls eine hl. Messe im alten Ritus zelebrierten. So machte er es traditionell orientierten Gläubigen einfach, die überlieferte Liturgie zu feiern, ohne dabei auf die Messen der Piuspriester angewiesen zu sein.

Bischof Morlino lehnte es ab, Beerdigungen mit ständigen Lobreden gleichsam in Heiligsprechungen umzuwandeln. Er selbst sagte oft etwas scherzhaft,  dass der hl. Petrus ihm wohl den Schlüssel zum Fegefeuer zuwerfen würde, damit er es zuschließen könne, wenn alle anderen Seelen diese Stätte der Läuterung verlassen haben. 

Doch wir wollen hoffen und darum beten, dass Bischof Morlino recht bald im Himmel ankommt. Desto mehr kann er durch seine Fürsprache für die Kirche auf Erden wirken; und sich eventuell für einen baldige Versöhnung der Piusbruderschaft mit dem Vatikan einsetzten.