by Edwin Faust
November 9, 2009
There is good news for the many informed Catholics and scientists who have been dismayed by the Church’s seeming surrender to Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. His theory posits the gradual development and mutation of species through geological ages that span — according to his fantastic ideas — “millions of years”.
St. Pius V University in Rome is sponsoring a conference in November under the title: “The Scientific Impossibility of Evolution.”
This year marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species. This theory is arguably unequaled in the amount of harm it has worked on the general belief in God as Creator as infallibly taught by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and shared by other religions.
The notion that life formed gradually in the course of countless millennia and that species are in a continual state of evolution is opposed to the biblical account of creation in Genesis. Darwin’s idea has virtually been unchallenged in recent decades. The result has been an undermined faith in Sacred Scripture and an ever increasing tendency to exclude God from natural phenomena which are alleged to have originated and to exist independently of an intelligent Creator.
The late John Paul II gave encouragement to evolution theorists by his remark that “evolution is more than a theory.” The late pontiff adduced no evidence to support his claim, nor did he have any standing as an authority in the scientific fields that bear on the question.
Now, his unfortunate statement appears about to be redressed by a conference set to begin Nov. 9 at St. Pius V University, according to a Remnant Press release. The conference will feature presentations by an international panel of experts in the fields of geology, genetics, physics and geophysics.
Recent discoveries in geology confirm that rocks and the fossils they contain were formed in a relatively short period of time – about 10,000 years – rather than the 10 million years required by evolution theory, according to U.S. biophysicist Dr. Dean Kenyon.
Evolution theory may soon go the way of the dinosaurs, so to speak.
Catholics who have stayed the course and held to the faith during this long siege by evolution theorists can take heart. Their long wait for vindication appears to be close at hand.
Our Lady of Fatima said that in the end Her Immaculate Heart would triumph. This means that truth, in all its clarity and beauty, will soon shine like the sun that once danced in the heavens.
Link to article...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Why Australia (and Canada too) is better off with a Monarchy
This Essay was published earlier by Charles Coulombe and it contains an apologia for Monarchy. It attempts to awaken an appreciation for its deeper religious significance and therefore, it's importance for society as a whole, even a society dominated by republican sentiments and political mechanisms as the Commonwealth is.
By Charles Coulombe
The character of Kings is sacred: their persons are inviolable; they are the anointed of the Lord, if not with sacred oil, at least by virtue of their office. Their power is broad - based upon the Will of God, and not on the shifting sands of the people's Will ... They will be spoken of with becoming reverence, instead of being in public estimation fitting butts for all foul tongues. It becomes a sacrilege to violate their persons, and every indignity offered to them in word or act, becomes an indignity offered to God Himself. It is this view of Kingly rule that alone can keep alive in a scoffing and licentious age the spirit of ancient loyalty, that spirit begotten of faith, combining in itself obedience, reverence, and love for the majesty of Kings which was at once a bond of social union, an incentive to noble daring, and a salt to purify the heart from its grosser tendencies, preserving it from all that is mean, selfish, and contemptible. (P J Joyce, John Healy, pp 68-69).
Read further...
"Whereas the People of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established."
By Charles Coulombe
The character of Kings is sacred: their persons are inviolable; they are the anointed of the Lord, if not with sacred oil, at least by virtue of their office. Their power is broad - based upon the Will of God, and not on the shifting sands of the people's Will ... They will be spoken of with becoming reverence, instead of being in public estimation fitting butts for all foul tongues. It becomes a sacrilege to violate their persons, and every indignity offered to them in word or act, becomes an indignity offered to God Himself. It is this view of Kingly rule that alone can keep alive in a scoffing and licentious age the spirit of ancient loyalty, that spirit begotten of faith, combining in itself obedience, reverence, and love for the majesty of Kings which was at once a bond of social union, an incentive to noble daring, and a salt to purify the heart from its grosser tendencies, preserving it from all that is mean, selfish, and contemptible. (P J Joyce, John Healy, pp 68-69).
Read further...
Irish Bishops Conference gets Environmental
Wanting to engage the liberal politics of environmentalism, the Irish Bishops give a lending hand to the social engineering implicit in such arrangements. These environmental programs are of dubious value, but contain the seeds of increasing the power of central government and legistlating the false morality of collectivist progressivism. Just who's running these Bishop's conferences anyway?
Archbishop Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, today launched The Cry of the Earth, a pastoral reflection on climate change from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. The launch took place in St Francis of Assisi Primary School in Belmayne, Dublin, beside Father Collins Park, Ireland's first wholly sustainable park.
Launching The Cry of the Earth Archbishop Clifford said: “We are all stewards of God’s creation. As political leaders from around the globe meet in Copenhagen next month for the UN Framework Conference on Climate Change to decide on a new global climate change deal, the Bishops of Ireland wish to raise awareness of our vital responsibility toward sustaining the environment. We need to protect the environment today and on behalf of future generations. Our response needs to be at an individual, community and governmental level.
“The Cry of the Earth, with an accompanying DVD, has been sent to all parishes and is available on: www.catholicbishops.ie. It reflects on our Christian responsibility towards the environment and outlines the scientific analysis of climate change, the theological and ethical principles as to why we as Christians have a duty to respond, and practical advice as to how we can act now to sustain the environment.”
Archbishop Clifford continued: “When the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, published his encyclical Caritas in Veritate in July, he reminded us that the ‘environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole … The Church has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere.’”
Read further...
Archbishop Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, today launched The Cry of the Earth, a pastoral reflection on climate change from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. The launch took place in St Francis of Assisi Primary School in Belmayne, Dublin, beside Father Collins Park, Ireland's first wholly sustainable park.
Launching The Cry of the Earth Archbishop Clifford said: “We are all stewards of God’s creation. As political leaders from around the globe meet in Copenhagen next month for the UN Framework Conference on Climate Change to decide on a new global climate change deal, the Bishops of Ireland wish to raise awareness of our vital responsibility toward sustaining the environment. We need to protect the environment today and on behalf of future generations. Our response needs to be at an individual, community and governmental level.
“The Cry of the Earth, with an accompanying DVD, has been sent to all parishes and is available on: www.catholicbishops.ie. It reflects on our Christian responsibility towards the environment and outlines the scientific analysis of climate change, the theological and ethical principles as to why we as Christians have a duty to respond, and practical advice as to how we can act now to sustain the environment.”
Archbishop Clifford continued: “When the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, published his encyclical Caritas in Veritate in July, he reminded us that the ‘environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole … The Church has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere.’”
Read further...
Maoists Rally in Kathmandu
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's former Maoist rebels, waving hammer-and-sickle flags, blocked roads to the capital on Tuesday in protest at the reinstatement of the army chief, the first time they have taken such action since the end of the civil war three years ago.
The Maoist-led government fired the army chief, General Rookmangud Kawatal, in May saying he had refused to take orders. But the move was reversed by the president, prompting the Maoists to quit the government and plunging the country into crisis.
Maoist activists danced on the roads, or sat in front of vehicles, in a protest that may damage the tourism-dependent economy and has raised fears about Nepal's fragile peace.
Read further...
The Maoist-led government fired the army chief, General Rookmangud Kawatal, in May saying he had refused to take orders. But the move was reversed by the president, prompting the Maoists to quit the government and plunging the country into crisis.
Maoist activists danced on the roads, or sat in front of vehicles, in a protest that may damage the tourism-dependent economy and has raised fears about Nepal's fragile peace.
Read further...
Monday, November 9, 2009
A royal chapel for Roman Catholics
Christopher Howse at the Guardian is hoping against hope, perhaps, that the next King and Queen of England will be Anglicans and that the Act of Settlement 1701 will be in place.
The Queen's Chapel is a mysterious place. To be sure, it is open for services, but these take place only on Sundays between Easter and the end of July. It is locked the rest of the time.
A remarkable claim in a new book by David Baldwin is that the monarch can turn it over to the ministrations of the Roman Catholic Church for any members of the Royal family who care to receive them.
One might have thought such provisions would have been quashed by the Act of Settlement of 1701, which forbade heirs to the Crown to marry Catholics. But in Royal Prayer (Continuum, £16.99), Mr Baldwin demonstrates that the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1661 is still in force and kicking.
Read more...
More reading on the Coronation Oath, here.
The Queen's Chapel is a mysterious place. To be sure, it is open for services, but these take place only on Sundays between Easter and the end of July. It is locked the rest of the time.
A remarkable claim in a new book by David Baldwin is that the monarch can turn it over to the ministrations of the Roman Catholic Church for any members of the Royal family who care to receive them.
One might have thought such provisions would have been quashed by the Act of Settlement of 1701, which forbade heirs to the Crown to marry Catholics. But in Royal Prayer (Continuum, £16.99), Mr Baldwin demonstrates that the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1661 is still in force and kicking.
Read more...
More reading on the Coronation Oath, here.
Kennedy gets Catechism Lesson after insulting Bishop Tobin.
By Richard C. Dujardin
link...
PROVIDENCE –– Even as they agreed to postpone a planned face-to-face meeting that had been set for Thursday, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin turned up the heat Monday on U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy over his “rejection” of church teaching on abortion, calling on him to enter into a process of conversion and repentance.
In a letter to Kennedy posted Monday on the Web site of the Diocese of Providence’s weekly newspaper, the bishop disputes Kennedy’s assertion that his disagreement with the hierarchy “on some issues” including abortion did not make him any less of a Catholic.
“Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does,” the bishop said in a letter issued just two days after Kennedy was among a group of minority lawmakers who attempted to block tough new restrictions on abortion that were added Saturday to the House’s health-care reform legislation.
“Although I wouldn’t chose those particular words, when someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion,” the bishop declared.
Kennedy’s office did not respond yesterday to phone and e-mail requests for an interview on the bishop’s letter.
Bishop Tobin raised the question: What makes Kennedy think he’s Catholic? “Your baptism as an infant? Your family ties? Your cultural heritage?”
Being Catholic involves much more, he said, including acceptance of essential church teachings on matters of faith and morals, belonging to a parish community, weekly attendance at Mass and regular reception of the sacraments.
And support for abortion rights is not in the same category of those who struggle with sins of anger, pride, greed, impurity or dishonesty and then fail, the bishop declared.
“Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category — it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will, a conscious decision that you’ve reaffirmed on many occasions. [wow]
“Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to ‘an imperfect humanity.’ Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the church….
“I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God.
“But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late to repair your relationship with the church, redeem your public image and emerge as an authentic ‘profile in courage,’ especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children.”
Michael Guilfoyle, director of communications for the diocese, said the planned meeting between the bishop and congressman, originally set for Thursday, was postponed by mutual agreement after their staffs agreed that the meeting was not as urgent now that the House voted on the abortion provision in the health-care legislation. He said Bishop Tobin still looks forward to a meeting with Kennedy in the near future.
The abortion provision, which prohibits women insured under the public option or who obtain federal health insurance tax credits from purchasing abortion insurance, passed the House Saturday on a 240 to 194 vote. Rhode Island’s other Democratic congressman, U.S. Rep. James Langevin, voted for the amendment and Kennedy voted against it.
The health-care bill passed on a 220-215 vote.
rdujardi@projo.com
link...
PROVIDENCE –– Even as they agreed to postpone a planned face-to-face meeting that had been set for Thursday, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin turned up the heat Monday on U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy over his “rejection” of church teaching on abortion, calling on him to enter into a process of conversion and repentance.
In a letter to Kennedy posted Monday on the Web site of the Diocese of Providence’s weekly newspaper, the bishop disputes Kennedy’s assertion that his disagreement with the hierarchy “on some issues” including abortion did not make him any less of a Catholic.
“Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does,” the bishop said in a letter issued just two days after Kennedy was among a group of minority lawmakers who attempted to block tough new restrictions on abortion that were added Saturday to the House’s health-care reform legislation.
“Although I wouldn’t chose those particular words, when someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion,” the bishop declared.
Kennedy’s office did not respond yesterday to phone and e-mail requests for an interview on the bishop’s letter.
Bishop Tobin raised the question: What makes Kennedy think he’s Catholic? “Your baptism as an infant? Your family ties? Your cultural heritage?”
Being Catholic involves much more, he said, including acceptance of essential church teachings on matters of faith and morals, belonging to a parish community, weekly attendance at Mass and regular reception of the sacraments.
And support for abortion rights is not in the same category of those who struggle with sins of anger, pride, greed, impurity or dishonesty and then fail, the bishop declared.
“Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category — it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will, a conscious decision that you’ve reaffirmed on many occasions. [wow]
“Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to ‘an imperfect humanity.’ Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the church….
“I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God.
“But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late to repair your relationship with the church, redeem your public image and emerge as an authentic ‘profile in courage,’ especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children.”
Michael Guilfoyle, director of communications for the diocese, said the planned meeting between the bishop and congressman, originally set for Thursday, was postponed by mutual agreement after their staffs agreed that the meeting was not as urgent now that the House voted on the abortion provision in the health-care legislation. He said Bishop Tobin still looks forward to a meeting with Kennedy in the near future.
The abortion provision, which prohibits women insured under the public option or who obtain federal health insurance tax credits from purchasing abortion insurance, passed the House Saturday on a 240 to 194 vote. Rhode Island’s other Democratic congressman, U.S. Rep. James Langevin, voted for the amendment and Kennedy voted against it.
The health-care bill passed on a 220-215 vote.
rdujardi@projo.com
Archbishop Burke's Influence set to Grow (NCR)
John Allen of NCR has just commented about Archbishop Burke's appointment. He is confirming speculation elsewhere that his appointment to Rome to the Apostolic Signatura, and now, to the Congregation of Bishops as the fifth American along with the likes of Cardinals Law, Francis Stafford, Justin Rigali and Levada will put him in a position to be very influential indeed, given time, when it comes to appointing new Bishops since his confreres are not typically conservative.
We've already noticed a conservative trend in the appointments of Bishops like the failed attempt to appoint Msgr Wagner of Linz, and two other conservative appointments like Bishop Sirba of Duluth, Minnesota and Bishop Lavoir to New Ulm, Minnesota much earlier this year.
Unfortunately, Archbishop Burke will have to contend with the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Piero Sambi who has frowned himself on the Archbishop's pugnacious statements, according to Allen. Cardinal Samebi is problematic also for other reasons in that he has presided over many awful appointments in the past, relying not so much on knowledge and prudence so much as unduly trusting liberal prelates in the countries where he has worked as Nuncio, especially retarding Ecumenism in England by appointing Bishops especially hostile to an influx of conservative Anglicans by Bishop Hollis of Portmouth. (See, Bishops, Nuncios and Delators, Oxford Review) Fortunately, Arcbishop Samebi is due to submit his resignation in four years time when he reaches the age of 75.
We've already noticed a conservative trend in the appointments of Bishops like the failed attempt to appoint Msgr Wagner of Linz, and two other conservative appointments like Bishop Sirba of Duluth, Minnesota and Bishop Lavoir to New Ulm, Minnesota much earlier this year.
Unfortunately, Archbishop Burke will have to contend with the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Piero Sambi who has frowned himself on the Archbishop's pugnacious statements, according to Allen. Cardinal Samebi is problematic also for other reasons in that he has presided over many awful appointments in the past, relying not so much on knowledge and prudence so much as unduly trusting liberal prelates in the countries where he has worked as Nuncio, especially retarding Ecumenism in England by appointing Bishops especially hostile to an influx of conservative Anglicans by Bishop Hollis of Portmouth. (See, Bishops, Nuncios and Delators, Oxford Review) Fortunately, Arcbishop Samebi is due to submit his resignation in four years time when he reaches the age of 75.
ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS for Anglicans has been Published
APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS PROVIDING FOR PERSONAL ORDINARIATES FOR ANGLICANS ENTERING INTO FULL COMMUNION WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Commentary from EWTN
The Vatican: Apostolic Constitution: Anglicanorum Coetibus
Monday, November 9, 2009 • 7:41 am
Damian Thompson, here.
Virtue Online, and Anglo-Catholic voice in Union with Rome, with exhaustive commentary, here.
Thinking Anglicans, here.
Whispers in the Loggia, here.
Catholic Online, here.
And don't we just know that the New York Times will have something to say, here.
New Architectural Appeal to the Holy Father
Appeal to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the return to an authentically Catholic sacred Art
Veni, Creator Spiritus
mentes tuorum visita
Imple superna gratia
quae tu creasti pectora
Art is an inexhaustible and incredible treasure of catechesis. For us it is also a
duty to know and understand well. Not as sometimes art historians do,
interpreting it only formally, according to the artistic technique. Rather, we must
enter into the content and revive the content that inspired this great art. It seems
really a duty - also in the formation of future priests - to become familiar with
these treasures and have the ability to transform them into a living catechesis that
is present in them and speak to us today.
(Benedict XVI - Holy Father's meeting with the parish priests and
clergy of the Diocese of Rome - February 22nd 2007)
Hat tip to beloblog, Link with some commentary
The link to the proposal is here.
Veni, Creator Spiritus
mentes tuorum visita
Imple superna gratia
quae tu creasti pectora
Art is an inexhaustible and incredible treasure of catechesis. For us it is also a
duty to know and understand well. Not as sometimes art historians do,
interpreting it only formally, according to the artistic technique. Rather, we must
enter into the content and revive the content that inspired this great art. It seems
really a duty - also in the formation of future priests - to become familiar with
these treasures and have the ability to transform them into a living catechesis that
is present in them and speak to us today.
(Benedict XVI - Holy Father's meeting with the parish priests and
clergy of the Diocese of Rome - February 22nd 2007)
Hat tip to beloblog, Link with some commentary
The link to the proposal is here.
Vatican Holds Line of Celibacy for Anglican Rebels
by Ruth Gledhill
The Vatican today held the line on priestly celibacy as it published the document which opens the door for hundreds of thousands of disaffected Anglicans to become Roman Catholics.
Pope Benedict XVI has made it as easy as possible for traditional and “continuing” Anglicans to convert to Catholicism while retaining key elements of their ecclesiastical heritage, observers commented.
The Apostolic Constitution even allows for married Anglican bishops to be granted the status of retired Catholic bishops, to become members of the local Catholic bishops’ conference and to be granted permission to use the “insignia” of episcopal office, such as the mitre, pectoral cross and staff, by the Holy See in Rome.
But after a hard-fought battle within the Holy See former Catholic priests who left the Church to marry and subsequently became Anglican clergy will not be permitted to return.
Read further...
The Vatican today held the line on priestly celibacy as it published the document which opens the door for hundreds of thousands of disaffected Anglicans to become Roman Catholics.
Pope Benedict XVI has made it as easy as possible for traditional and “continuing” Anglicans to convert to Catholicism while retaining key elements of their ecclesiastical heritage, observers commented.
The Apostolic Constitution even allows for married Anglican bishops to be granted the status of retired Catholic bishops, to become members of the local Catholic bishops’ conference and to be granted permission to use the “insignia” of episcopal office, such as the mitre, pectoral cross and staff, by the Holy See in Rome.
But after a hard-fought battle within the Holy See former Catholic priests who left the Church to marry and subsequently became Anglican clergy will not be permitted to return.
Read further...
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Randall Balmer, Episcopalian, says Vatican "Opportunistic" (Poll)
| Randall Balmer, Episcopal priest, washingtonpost.com.
NO: The Vatican’s sudden overture to disaffected Anglicans strikes me as both cynical and opportunistic.
Cynical in that the concession to effectively allow congregations to continue using Anglican hymns and liturgies seems to undermine decades of ecumenical discussions. [Wow, sounds just like a Jesuit.]
The move is opportunistic in that Rome is making the overture at what might be viewed as a moment of crisis or weakness in the Anglican Communion. The Vatican apparently is seeking to harvest those disaffected by the ordination of women and gays and by support for same-sex unions. [No, they're doing their job.]
A cynical action calls for a cynical interpretation: [Sounds like projection to me. There's nothing about this that's cynical, unless you read into it things which aren't there and attribute wicked motives] Perhaps the Vatican is hoping to lure Anglican parishes — and their property — to compensate for its financial losses in the priestly pedophilia scandals. [Anglicans are actually worse on that score]
I have no doubt that some disaffected Anglicans will see this as an attractive offer. At the same time, I wasn’t aware that Christians opposed to homosexuality or to women’s ordination were underserved in the religious marketplace. [If it were a marketplace. I'm afraid you're the cynical one, sir.]
Read entire article...
NO: The Vatican’s sudden overture to disaffected Anglicans strikes me as both cynical and opportunistic.
Cynical in that the concession to effectively allow congregations to continue using Anglican hymns and liturgies seems to undermine decades of ecumenical discussions. [Wow, sounds just like a Jesuit.]
The move is opportunistic in that Rome is making the overture at what might be viewed as a moment of crisis or weakness in the Anglican Communion. The Vatican apparently is seeking to harvest those disaffected by the ordination of women and gays and by support for same-sex unions. [No, they're doing their job.]
A cynical action calls for a cynical interpretation: [Sounds like projection to me. There's nothing about this that's cynical, unless you read into it things which aren't there and attribute wicked motives] Perhaps the Vatican is hoping to lure Anglican parishes — and their property — to compensate for its financial losses in the priestly pedophilia scandals. [Anglicans are actually worse on that score]
I have no doubt that some disaffected Anglicans will see this as an attractive offer. At the same time, I wasn’t aware that Christians opposed to homosexuality or to women’s ordination were underserved in the religious marketplace. [If it were a marketplace. I'm afraid you're the cynical one, sir.]
Read entire article...
Cultural Marxist Theologian as America's Ambassador to the Vatican
An effeminate and slippery Miguel Diaz was chosen by the President to be America's ambassador to the Holy See. This was not a felicitous or friendly choice, perhaps more like sending David Duke to be our Ambassador to Israel. Miguel Diaz hails from one of the most theologically metastasizing institutions in the United States and it's a place that teaches that indeterminacy both moral and dogmatic, should reign to identify an all-inclusive, social justice Catholicism on one hand, and the neo-Marxism of the Democratic party on the other, while completely excluding the legitimate voice of Catholic tradition.
He bewails his role in dealing with conservative Catholics who have a voice in American politics over the issue of abortion, and insists, impossibly, that one can disagree or ignore the question and still call one's self a Catholic.
"As a person of faith, I am stunned by any effort that seeks to divide us," Diaz said in a phone interview from Rome with the Star Tribune. "One of the things I have embraced from this presidency is the effort to bring various persons together to engage in conversations even when we disagree."
It's part of the praxis of Marxism to engage in consensus building in order to forge an imaginary enclosure fit to include as many as possible in a misguided belief of the necessity for social engineering programs like "Health Care Reform" and "Global Warming". It's a dialogue designed to isolate dissenters and cement predesigned programs by, to borrow from Comrade Noam Chomsky, manufacturing consent, thereby undermining the significance of the individual and welding all into a slavish collectivist mentality.
George Weigel, correctly, is certain that this is an attempt to isolate conservative Catholics and drive a wedge in what he describes as the "Catholic Community" in the USA.
The Ambassador's home University at Collegeville is also the home of coven of pederasts, and is noted for the unexplained disappearance of a young, star student, Josh Guimond.
The Red Star article here...
The Scottish Bishops' New Website and Frankfurt School
Thanks to our confreres in Scotland at Catholic Truth, he invites comments on the new site of the Scotish Catholic Bishop's Conference. It's not very Catholic looking, the packaging is more redolent of car sales than of something distinctly Catholic. The content matches the packaging, unfortunately. Would that at least the content was Catholic.
In a related sense we bring you Eleison Comments, Bishop Williamson's blog which goes into the subject of the Frankfuhrt School which migrated to the United States and enjoyed a tremendous amount of sway and influence over Catholic education, eventually spilling over into things Catholic as well. We believe it's especially noticeable in the Scotish Conference's website.
In a related sense we bring you Eleison Comments, Bishop Williamson's blog which goes into the subject of the Frankfuhrt School which migrated to the United States and enjoyed a tremendous amount of sway and influence over Catholic education, eventually spilling over into things Catholic as well. We believe it's especially noticeable in the Scotish Conference's website.
By Bishop Richard Williamson
Valuable lessons for all friends or lovers of "Western civilisation" are to be culled from an analysis of the USA's leftwards lurch in the 1960's by a Californian Professor of Psychology, accessible at their website. Professor Kevin MacDonald is there reviewing the critique of mass culture in a book on "The Frankfurt School in Exile".
The Frankfurt School needs to be much better known. It was a small but highly influential group of non-Christian intellectuals who, when Hitler came to power, fled from Germany to the USA, where in conjunction with a like-minded group of New York Trotskyists they continued to exert an influence out of all proportion to their numbers. Feeling a profound alienation from the "traditional Anglo-American culture", says MacDonald, they made war on it by promoting the individual against the family, multi-culture against White leadership, and modernism against tradition in all domains, especially the arts. "Theodor Adorno's desire for a socialist revolution led him to favour Modernist music that left the listener feeling unsatisfied and dislocated - music that consciously avoided harmony and predictability". The Frankfurt School wanted "the end of the order that bore the sonata".
The Frankfurt School scorned the American people's lack of desire for Revolution, and they blamed it on the people's "passivity, escapism and conformism", says the Professor, and on "late capitalist" control of the mass culture by, for instance, conservative organisations imposing moral standards on Hollywood. Yet when in the 1960's they themselves gained control of the media, universities and politics, they exploited to the full the mass culture and Hollywood and the people's on-going sleep-like condition to swing them to the left. The Professor laments the resulting vicious attack upon "White interests", "White identity" and the "traditional people and culture of the West".
The Professor is right on several counts. For instance, the war is not mainly between capitalism and communism, as the leftists originally thought, and as many Americans still think. Material comfort has lulled the American people to sleep, after the 1960's as before them. Also, on or off the leash, Hollywood and culture play a huge part in moulding minds and masses (which is why "Eleison Comments" often treat of cultural topics). Also, there does exist a small group, conscious and resolute, of highly influential enemies of "traditional Western culture".
However, to defend "White interests" the Professor needs to go well beyond White interests as such. The real problem is religious. Why did White Europeans ever have so much to give ? Because for centuries and centuries they co-operated with God's grace to profit best by the Catholic Faith. Why does this small group of leftists so hate "Western culture" ? Because it is the lingering remains of that Faith. And why did the small group become so powerful from the 1960's onwards ? Because at Vatican II the same "Whites" were mainly responsible for the Catholic officials' betrayal of the Faith which took place at that Council. Today's triumph of the leftists is no more nor less than a just punishment from God.
Professor, you are not asleep. Now pick up a Rosary !
Kyrie eleison.
London, England
France's Institute of the Good Shepherd is coming to the USA
The Catholic Caveman says that the Institute of the Good Shepherd is thinking about sending priests to the United States.
According to their facebook site they say:
According to their facebook site they say:
After our third anniversary, the IGS is considering to send priests in the USA for apostolate. One of them Fr Beaugrand have made many contacts since he's frequently travelling to the USA but still looking for help!
Archbishop of Galveston thinks even less of Catholicism than of Jews
This Archbishop must think the Catholic laity is stupid and will simply keep on shelling out the contributions, supporting his liberal resolutions and even buying him dinner once in awhile for the sake of his jolly company.
Reminiscing like a battle hardened journalist, the Bishop of Galveston talks about how far we've come from those times when we actually thought the Catholic Church was important enough that we actually took the Gospels seriously when reading the Great Commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations (including the Jews). The Archbishop confidently contradicts all of this, heretically, and of course, since most people are aware that he knows his religious beliefs are tin plated but committed to the same ideas of liberalism he's committed to, they aren't going to be rude enough to point out to him that he's just contradicted the prophetic and integral portion of the Catholic religion.
We have no doubts he will never convert a Jew. Like Cardinal Cushing of Boston, he'll probably never convert anyone, because he has nothing to give.
Article here...
Reminiscing like a battle hardened journalist, the Bishop of Galveston talks about how far we've come from those times when we actually thought the Catholic Church was important enough that we actually took the Gospels seriously when reading the Great Commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations (including the Jews). The Archbishop confidently contradicts all of this, heretically, and of course, since most people are aware that he knows his religious beliefs are tin plated but committed to the same ideas of liberalism he's committed to, they aren't going to be rude enough to point out to him that he's just contradicted the prophetic and integral portion of the Catholic religion.
We have no doubts he will never convert a Jew. Like Cardinal Cushing of Boston, he'll probably never convert anyone, because he has nothing to give.
Nostra Aetate implicitly acknowledged that Israel remains in a covenant with God, and later Pope John Paul II made it explicit that Jews are “the people of God of the Old Covenant, never revoked by God.”
Article here...
Nuns Complain bitterly about Vatican Investigation
Liberal nuns make their thoughts known about the Vatican investigation. Some say that the Vatican is using it to cover up sex-abuse, another one is saying that surgery was banned by the Church.
Vatican investigation into compliance of U.S. Sisters to Catholic doctrine should not impact members of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes.
"And hopefully, it will not impact our university," said Sister Mary Mollison, acting president at Marian University.
She addressed Catholic religious women gathered Thursday at the Stayer Center about tension and rising polarization in the church.
Issues reportedly being investigated include the acceptance of gays and lesbians, the Catholic path as an exclusive path to redemption, and the return of habits. Vatican concerns have also focused on the declining numbers of religious vocations in Western cultures.
"Our freedom is part of the tension going on," Mollison confirmed.
Cardinal Franc Rode' said he requested the three-year study in response to concerns expressed by American Catholics — religious, laity, clergy and hierarchy — about the welfare of religious women and consecrated life in general, according to the National Catholic Reporter. Rhode heads the Vatican office overseeing religious orders.
Assessment of "women religious," as they are referred to in the Catholic Church, could include whether or not those speaking for an order support the idea of women priests, or gay marriage, or whether they believe there can be salvation outside the Catholic church, Mollison said.
Read further...
Vatican investigation into compliance of U.S. Sisters to Catholic doctrine should not impact members of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes.
"And hopefully, it will not impact our university," said Sister Mary Mollison, acting president at Marian University.
She addressed Catholic religious women gathered Thursday at the Stayer Center about tension and rising polarization in the church.
Issues reportedly being investigated include the acceptance of gays and lesbians, the Catholic path as an exclusive path to redemption, and the return of habits. Vatican concerns have also focused on the declining numbers of religious vocations in Western cultures.
"Our freedom is part of the tension going on," Mollison confirmed.
Cardinal Franc Rode' said he requested the three-year study in response to concerns expressed by American Catholics — religious, laity, clergy and hierarchy — about the welfare of religious women and consecrated life in general, according to the National Catholic Reporter. Rhode heads the Vatican office overseeing religious orders.
Assessment of "women religious," as they are referred to in the Catholic Church, could include whether or not those speaking for an order support the idea of women priests, or gay marriage, or whether they believe there can be salvation outside the Catholic church, Mollison said.
Read further...
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Leftists Gather to Comemorate Slain Jesuits from El Salvador
Six Jesuit priests killed in El Salvador are to be honored this November 16Th as the 20Th anniversary of their deaths at 28 Jesuit Colleges to include figures like Noam Chomsky, Liberation theologian Rodolfo Cardenal, pro-choice leftist Congressman from Massachusetts, James McGovern.
Link here...
Link here...
USCCB Endorses still more Liberal Social Change
Some are insisting that the USCCB's unfortunate love affair with collectivism is an example of Bishops being incapable of talking outside of spiritual affairs. If they actually referred to Church teachings on subsidiarity and considered the cancerous relationship they maintain as lapdogs of collectivism and the price to integrity they pay when they align themselves with liberal platforms, no doubt, they'd be well within the bounds of their spiritual and temporal authority. No doubt, many of the Bishops do appeal to a kind of backwater, Jim Jones style spirituality when they support Democratic National Committee talking points.
It's fair to say that the USCCB is in many respects politically liberal and that they've always failed to maintain an independent voice with respect to economics and politics, as when they drafted a letter against Nuclear Armament with the now disgraced perjuring embezzler Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Cardinal Bernardin or when earlier in the century, the liberal Archbishop Ireland supported American Imperialism in the Spanish American War and the temperance movement. This demonstrates a clear history [George Weigel, Wanderer] of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States historical committment to liberalism in opposition to actual Church teaching in this regard.
The opposition of the Bishops to so-called Health care Reform has hinged primarily upon the issue Abortion, and now, with some last minute concessions by their Democratic masters, many of them will acquiesce and endorse the rest of the bill. Of course, the concessions will be ineffective in the long run and will no-doubt include concerns about the health and welfare of the mother and cases of rape or incest.
The American Catholic leadership, which has always had a subservient role to American Government, have a long way to go before they cut the purse strings that make them little more than puppets of an increasingly national Catholic Church.
See Bishops Back Abortion Compromise...
According to Lifesite News, Archbishop Rigali has only praised the Stupchak amendment to the Bill, disincluding abortion coverage and supporting the unborn. However, the Secretary of the USCCB for pro-life secretariat says he still insists that they are for "Healthcare Reform".
Link here...
It's fair to say that the USCCB is in many respects politically liberal and that they've always failed to maintain an independent voice with respect to economics and politics, as when they drafted a letter against Nuclear Armament with the now disgraced perjuring embezzler Archbishop Rembert Weakland and Cardinal Bernardin or when earlier in the century, the liberal Archbishop Ireland supported American Imperialism in the Spanish American War and the temperance movement. This demonstrates a clear history [George Weigel, Wanderer] of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States historical committment to liberalism in opposition to actual Church teaching in this regard.
The opposition of the Bishops to so-called Health care Reform has hinged primarily upon the issue Abortion, and now, with some last minute concessions by their Democratic masters, many of them will acquiesce and endorse the rest of the bill. Of course, the concessions will be ineffective in the long run and will no-doubt include concerns about the health and welfare of the mother and cases of rape or incest.
The American Catholic leadership, which has always had a subservient role to American Government, have a long way to go before they cut the purse strings that make them little more than puppets of an increasingly national Catholic Church.
See Bishops Back Abortion Compromise...
According to Lifesite News, Archbishop Rigali has only praised the Stupchak amendment to the Bill, disincluding abortion coverage and supporting the unborn. However, the Secretary of the USCCB for pro-life secretariat says he still insists that they are for "Healthcare Reform".
Link here...
Arms merchant's wife, Nancy Lugosi-Pelosi wants access to your Children
Most people wouldn't trust this woman to watch their children. Don't allow the government to turn your community into a medical petri dish.
During the 90s, Harvard Medical School was using the Austian National Health Service as a source of medical experiments for proceedures as part of a study to get them approved in the United States; some patients lived, others died.
This is the kind of high-handed contempt that awaits us at the hands of mad scientists looking to patent new proceedures and make some lucre.
Link to Catholic Family News...
Increasing numbers of Traditionalist Clergy point to Restoration underway in France [Pastor in Valle]
This article on Pastor in Valle cites some of the stats for the declining number of priests in France and the increasing number of Traditional priests. He speculates that the number of Traditional seminarians would be greater if they had the benefit of Diocesan structures.
Asphyxia on its way
1. The number of French diocesan priests working in France is fewer than 9000. For a number of dioceses, (Digne, 25 priests, Nevers, 38, Auch, Saint-Claude, Gap, Digne, Viviers, Verdun, Pamiers, Langres, etc) in ten years time the number of priests in active ministry will be ten at the most. In Bishop Gueneley’s diocese of Langres, the most liberal of French dioceses, one frequently finds one sole priest for 60 churches.
2. The number of seminarians has now fallen below the mark of 750 (740 in 2008, and this number includes a good hundred seminarians from non-diocesan communities). Pamiers, Belfort, Agen, Perpignan, &c, have no seminarians.
3. The number of ordinations remains fewer than 100 (90 in 2009—Paris, which is one of the best situated, had 10, 2 for the Emmanuel Community; 7 are predicted for 2010, and 4 for 2011)
4. 120 vocations have been declared for the class beginning in 2009.
The conclusion is dramatic: a third of French dioceses will cease to exist but will have to regroup within the coming 15 years.
Yet the majority of bishops, above all Archbishop Vingt-Trois, do not despair. Despite everything, the Church remains visible; she remains alive despite appearences. Archbishop Vingt-Trois has given a marvellous example of ‘visibility’ which was heard on Radio Notre-Dame (interview of 5th November): in a parish without a priest, the laity got themselves together to say the Rosary in a village hall: there they also had the idea of cleaning the church to recite the rosary in; so, nothing is lost; this church will live again…
Entire article...
Asphyxia on its way
1. The number of French diocesan priests working in France is fewer than 9000. For a number of dioceses, (Digne, 25 priests, Nevers, 38, Auch, Saint-Claude, Gap, Digne, Viviers, Verdun, Pamiers, Langres, etc) in ten years time the number of priests in active ministry will be ten at the most. In Bishop Gueneley’s diocese of Langres, the most liberal of French dioceses, one frequently finds one sole priest for 60 churches.
2. The number of seminarians has now fallen below the mark of 750 (740 in 2008, and this number includes a good hundred seminarians from non-diocesan communities). Pamiers, Belfort, Agen, Perpignan, &c, have no seminarians.
3. The number of ordinations remains fewer than 100 (90 in 2009—Paris, which is one of the best situated, had 10, 2 for the Emmanuel Community; 7 are predicted for 2010, and 4 for 2011)
4. 120 vocations have been declared for the class beginning in 2009.
The conclusion is dramatic: a third of French dioceses will cease to exist but will have to regroup within the coming 15 years.
Yet the majority of bishops, above all Archbishop Vingt-Trois, do not despair. Despite everything, the Church remains visible; she remains alive despite appearences. Archbishop Vingt-Trois has given a marvellous example of ‘visibility’ which was heard on Radio Notre-Dame (interview of 5th November): in a parish without a priest, the laity got themselves together to say the Rosary in a village hall: there they also had the idea of cleaning the church to recite the rosary in; so, nothing is lost; this church will live again…
Entire article...
Editor of Remnant defends Homeschooling at Argument of the Month
Our debaters for this month’s Debate will be Michael Matt and Dr. Kevin Ferdinandt
Mr. Matt’s central claim is that the Homeschool movement is “fighting back” in terms of serving both as an important alternate option to Catholic School education and as a safe-guard for depositing Catholic tradition and identity. Dr. Ferdinandt, though sympathetic toward homeschooling, provides a voice of opposition to Mr. Matt’s claim; Dr. Ferdinandt highlights the benefits of Catholic School education, and points out key liabilities of the homeschooling movement.
Link here...
Mr. Matt’s central claim is that the Homeschool movement is “fighting back” in terms of serving both as an important alternate option to Catholic School education and as a safe-guard for depositing Catholic tradition and identity. Dr. Ferdinandt, though sympathetic toward homeschooling, provides a voice of opposition to Mr. Matt’s claim; Dr. Ferdinandt highlights the benefits of Catholic School education, and points out key liabilities of the homeschooling movement.
Link here...
Archbishop Dolan tries to get Youth involved with Indifferentism
Two of New York’s most respected spiritual leaders joined hands on Nov. 5 at Fordham University, calling for an active intra-religious agenda to combat the world’s ills and to strengthen young adults’ engagement with their faiths.
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, the leader of Archdiocese of New York City, and Arnold M. Eisen, Ph.D., seventh chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, acknowledged a secular crisis that sees generations of faithful teenagers and young adults in America drifting away from the religions of their birth.
Quoting from a United States survey released last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Archbishop Dolan said the Catholic Church is retaining about 68 percent of its members, while the Jewish faith is retaining 76 percent.
Read more...
Friday, November 6, 2009
Tom Monaghan doesn't want people to know about his Pro-Abortion Benefactor
Things just keep getting deeper and deeper for him. First he fires Father Fessio SJ, from his position at Ave Maria as Chaplain, then Pizza Magnate Tom Monaghan bans Wanderer reporter from covering a $4 Million investment by pro-abortion "fiscal conservative" Tom Golisano.
See Avewatch here...
Another article by Roman Catholic World...
See Avewatch here...
Another article by Roman Catholic World...
Episcopalian Bishop Smith of Arizona talks about Pope's offer.
This response by Episcopalian Bishop Smith with commentary from Virtue On Line indicates that Bishop Smith has no leg to stand on when it comes to orthodoxy and is really banking on getting converts to his church based on the moral and doctrinal equivalency he shares with prevailing and declining mores of modern society. The salt has truly lost its savour.
Of all the commentary appearing on blogs and in Anglican cyberspace regarding the Pope's recent offer of a safe harbor to traditionalist Anglicans, none has appeared more inane, muddled and downright inaccurate than that of the Rt. Rev. Kirk S. Smith, the Episcopal Bishop of Arizona.
Here is what he said:
SMITH: I've been waiting a few days to make any comment on the recent invitation from Pope Benedict XVI to disgruntled Anglicans to become Roman Catholics.
VOL: First of all, these Anglicans are hardly "disgruntled". What they are wanting is to be faithful to Scripture, tradition and reason at a time when the Episcopal Church is unfaithful to Scripture, has virtually wiped out all tradition, and is being totally unreasonable over property issues.
SMITH: This current invitation is a bit different in that those going to Rome have been promised that they can maintain their Anglican ways (Prayer book, etc) and even have oversight by former Anglican bishops. Still those priests and bishops will be ruled by the Vatican.
VOL: That's precisely why the Pope set it up this way rather than giving them a Personal Prelature as he did Opus Dei. Anglicans would retain their Anglican identity rather than simply being absorbed like the Borg. It is exactly why they wanted their own bishops and at least one group - the Traditional Anglican Communion - has accepted the offer.
SMITH: The reason dissenting Episcopalians left our church is because they don't like control.
VOL: Nonsense. It has nothing to do with control. Episcopalians left to to go to Rome, the AC-NA and countless other Anglican jurisdictions because they no longer believe TEC upholds the faith once for all delivered to the saints. It has nothing to do with control. And speaking of control, there is no bigger control freak than Katharine Jefferts Schori who has assumed papal like powers in deposing bishops and controlling what bishops do over orthodox parishes that want to leave with their properties. She has said she would sooner sell them to saloon keepers than to faithful Anglicans. Who's controlling who here?
SMITH: I doubt many of them would be anxious to trade in their current relative independence for orders from the Chair of St Peter.
VOL: You have just contradicted yourself, Bishop. You just said that conservatives left because they didn't like control? Now you're saying that they will be trading in their "relative independence" to take "orders from the Chair of St. Peter." Which is it Bishop Smith? You can't have it both ways.
Read further...
Pernicious Maoist influence in Nepal
More news about the usual ineptitude in countries affected by communist governments or influence. The Maoists in Nepal are bent on destroying the country and we can't think of any other way of seeing it than that powers outside of the country wish to erase the national history of a people as an experiment and an imperialistic motivation.
Those who burn the country by fire but talk of New Nepal are traitors. The country can run only on the bases of causes and effects. Politics without ideology has no meaning. In Nepal, so called parties Congress, UML and Maoists have no idea how to run the Nepal. Unless and until we are honest, the country would not get anything whatever you talk on idealistic and improved constitution. None of the parities or leaders was honest to nationality and democracy since 1990 (2047 BS). They thought the movement for democracy was just to rise in power, earn money, loot the country and get more personal facilities. Globally, the state has been constructed in two ways, either by dictating the people or by self motivated participation of people. In the world, some wonderful jobs have been done even by dictating the people. However the time has passed for dictators. Nothing can be obtained by imposition in national politics. The popular movement of 2005 (2063 BS) has been converted to a betrayal. In the name of construction of constitution, Congress, UML, Maoists and Madheshis are committed to demolish all established symbols, identities and beliefs of the nation. Apart to mandate of popular movement, Nepal's existence has been made endangered.
Read further...
Archbishop Nienstedt on the new Translations of the Roman Missal
The new translations will emphasize the role of the priest in persona christi and rather than muting the prophetic, priestly and royal imperatives in the prayers which the current 1985 translation does, it will be more close to the original translations of the prayers and the mind of the Church. Rather than watering down, it becomes more declarative, forceful and instructive. Prayers accomplish what they ask, and if they're asking for vague, subjective statements, they lose their significance and power.
One of the principal goals of the Second Vatican Council was to initiate a reform of the Sacred Liturgy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archbishop John C. Nienstedt
The goal of this reform was not a matter of simply revising texts. Even less was it a matter of abandoning the treasured traditions of the past. Rather, at its heart, the liturgical reform of the council was a divinely inspired desire to foster within us, the People of God, a renewed love of the liturgy, the source and summit of our Catholic way of life.
Praying the liturgy
The goal of “active and conscious participation of the faithful” in the liturgy, so central to authentic liturgical reform, is not so much a matter of merely doing more things, but rather of actively internalizing and, in short, praying the liturgy.
Tremendous successes have been made in realizing this crucial goal, while much work remains. The church continues to invite all of her members to make her own liturgical life the source and summit of their lives, as she prays with Christ, in Christ, and through Christ in this service of love that is the liturgy.
In a matter of a few short years to come, the English-speaking church will receive a historic text that marks a special moment in the continuing implementation of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. This text is a new English Roman Missal, more commonly known as the Sacramentary.
Read further...
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Jihadist Gunman kills American Troops in Fort Hood
Ever eager to be fair minded and get all sides of the story, the New York Times is eager to deflect speculation that this is related to the man's religion and superior loyalties to Islam over those of the country which is his home. There were two interesting and incredible comments in the New York Times article covering this tragedy. Feeling bullied about one's religion is an everyday occurance for a Catholic:
"There is no evidence, however, to suggest the attack was linked to terrorism, he said."
"The New York Times reports that Hasan felt he was harassed because he was a Muslim. CNN said he was being tracked by the federal government because of inflammatory views about suicide bombings expressed on the Internet."
Link to the rest of the New York Times article.
October 1974 Scita Et Scienda: The Dwarfing of Modern Man
This timely essay on Scientism addresses the inabillity of specialists to really think outside of their disciplines and highlights on of the critical tragedies of our education system that most people are for all intents and purposes uneducated and therefore, predisposed to be irreligious.
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn was educated at the Theresianic Academy in Vienna and received his Ph.D. from the University of Budapest. He has taught history at Beaumont College (England), Georgetown University and Chestnut Hill College, was head of the department of history and sociology at St. Peter's College, and taught Japanese at Fordham University. Since 1947 he has devoted himself to writing, traveling, and further studies.
Imprimis Article here...
Ernst Junger: Anarch und Katholik
Alle wegen fuhrt nach Rom. bei Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn was educated at the Theresianic Academy in Vienna and received his Ph.D. from the University of Budapest. He has taught history at Beaumont College (England), Georgetown University and Chestnut Hill College, was head of the department of history and sociology at St. Peter's College, and taught Japanese at Fordham University. Since 1947 he has devoted himself to writing, traveling, and further studies.
Imprimis Article here...
Ernst Junger: Anarch und Katholik
Alle wegen fuhrt nach Rom. bei Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
Egyptian Security Arrests Several Christians for Praying At Home
Egypt (AINA) -- On October 24, 2009 Egyptian State Security arrested a Christian Copt in the village of Deir Samalout, Samalout, Minia province, for praying "without a license." He was held in prison for two days before being released on "compassionate grounds." Maurice Salama Sharkawy, 37 years old, had invited Pastor Elia Shafik, to conduct the sacrament of the 'Anointing of the Sick' for his sick father, who had suffered a stroke. State Security broke into his house while the prayers were ongoing, handcuffed Maurice, put him into a police car and took him to a police station for interrogation.
Read more...
Read more...
This offer was 400 years in the making
A brief overview of English History and the Relations of the English Church with Rome with surprising and accurate conclusions by Cardinal Kasper. The prayer for Christian Unity Week was actually begun in 1908.
Fr Michael Rear says that new provisions for the reception of Anglicans should not surprise those who are familiar with English history
Cardinal Kasper addressed the Anglican bishops at Lambeth, pointing out the difficulty this presents. " In several contexts, bishops are not in communion with other bishops; in some instances, Anglican provinces are no longer in full communion with each other." How can the Catholic Church maintain a dialogue for organic unity with an Anglican Communion so divided in itself? The ARCIC conversations were inevitably downgraded to cooperation and friendship, but are still most important for all that, and more so now when relations are under strain.
For there are very large numbers of Anglicans, like the allegedly 400,000 Anglicans of the Traditional Anglican Communion, and others no longer in communion with their diocesan bishops, who have separate "episcopal visitors". Many of these have earnestly requested Rome to complete the ARCIC process with them. This put Rome on the spot. Cardinal Kasper referred to the dilemma at the Lambeth Conference in 2008.
Read entire article...
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has strongly defended Pope Benedict XVI's decision to extend a hand to Anglicans wishing to enter communion with Rome but maintain their identity.
Read more...
Uganda Witch Doctors Banned from Advertising on Radio in Uganda
Ugandan witch-doctors have used radio up to now to advertise their healing powers. However, this could soon be a thing of the past. The government's ethics minister, James Buturo, has said that radio stations are contravening the 1957 Witchcraft Act and "...are promoting witchcraft-related activities to the detriment of Uganda's integrity".
Witchcraft remains a major problem in Uganda and the government is keen to stamp out its promotion in the country. Radio, with its huge audiences, is key to its plans.
Link...
Witchcraft remains a major problem in Uganda and the government is keen to stamp out its promotion in the country. Radio, with its huge audiences, is key to its plans.
Link...
Scotish Gay Rights Activists Sentenced for Pederasty
EDINBURGH, Scotland, November 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An influential gay rights activist and youth group leader, and another homosexualist activist, have been jailed for life for their involvement in the largest pedophile ring ever uncovered in Scotland.
James Rennie, one time co-coordinator of the homosexual rights group LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Youth Scotland and a former teacher, and Neil Strachan, the former secretary of a Celtic boys club and campaigner on homosexual issues, were convicted in May on charges including sex attacks on children, conspiring to abuse children, and possessing and distributing child pornography.
Rennie and Strachan were the ringleaders of the pedophile network which was uncovered in 2007 after an intensive police investigation, codenamed Operation Algebra.
The investigation led to the arrest of six other men besides Rennie and Strachan, and to the seizure of over 125,000 images and videos of child abuse.
Rennie, 38, was convicted of 14 offenses, including molesting a young boy who was left occasionally under his care by friends over a period of more than four years, beginning when the child was three months old. Rennie was sentenced to life with a minimum of 13 years behind bars.
Read further...
James Rennie, one time co-coordinator of the homosexual rights group LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Youth Scotland and a former teacher, and Neil Strachan, the former secretary of a Celtic boys club and campaigner on homosexual issues, were convicted in May on charges including sex attacks on children, conspiring to abuse children, and possessing and distributing child pornography.
Rennie and Strachan were the ringleaders of the pedophile network which was uncovered in 2007 after an intensive police investigation, codenamed Operation Algebra.
The investigation led to the arrest of six other men besides Rennie and Strachan, and to the seizure of over 125,000 images and videos of child abuse.
Rennie, 38, was convicted of 14 offenses, including molesting a young boy who was left occasionally under his care by friends over a period of more than four years, beginning when the child was three months old. Rennie was sentenced to life with a minimum of 13 years behind bars.
Read further...
Grow up Canada keep the Monarchy
[Toronto Star] It has been argued that Canada will only grow up when it gets rid of the monarchy. I would turn his edict around: accepting the existing constitutional arrangements with respect to our head of state is a mark of growing up.
Even if you believe, as I do not, that a non-monarchical republican head of state would serve Canada better, think of the constitutional turmoil the country would have to go through to make this change.
Read further...
Even if you believe, as I do not, that a non-monarchical republican head of state would serve Canada better, think of the constitutional turmoil the country would have to go through to make this change.
Read further...
Former Bishop Fernando Lugo dismisses Commanders admid Coup fears
CNN) -- Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo on Wednesday ordered the replacement of top military commanders, a day after publicly dismissing rumors circulating the capital about a military coup.
The announcement came from the armed forces themselves, not the president's office.
In his capacity as commander-in-chief, Lugo named replacements for the heads of the army, air force and navy, according to a statement from the armed forces.
Read further...
The announcement came from the armed forces themselves, not the president's office.
In his capacity as commander-in-chief, Lugo named replacements for the heads of the army, air force and navy, according to a statement from the armed forces.
Read further...
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Sympathetic Film of Opus Dei's Founder: "He who Loves is Free"
British film director, Joffe, who makes claims to be politically neutral in his portrayal of Opus Dei will nevertheless make a sympathetic portrayal of the founder and organization of Opus Dei. The director is not known for historical accuracy or political neutrality in "The Mission" which was decidedly a kind of homage to liberation theology at the time it was made when Communists in Central America were attempting to wrest control of the government of El Salvador and successfully took control of Nicaragua which became a source of oppression for the Miskito Indians and openly attempted to destabilize other countries in the region as well.
Although his depiction of a selfish liberal journalist in "The Killing Fields" was interesting, it might be hard to watch this film as it will portray St. Josemaria Escriva's controversial relationship with a young Jewish girl whom he advises not to become Catholic so as not to upset her parents.
Yet the subtitle is interesting, "who loves is free", might indicate a more promising and truthful portrayal than we might have expected. It will be ready for release next fall.
LONDON (Reuters) – If Opus Dei had a rough ride in the blockbuster movie based on Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," it looks set for an altogether more sympathetic portrayal in another film that deals with the Catholic organization
British director Roland Joffe, renowned for Oscar-nominated "The Killing Fields" and "The Mission," is making "There Be Dragons," a film set during the Spanish Civil War that focuses in part on the life of Opus Dei founder Jose Maria Escriva.
Principal photography is complete, and Joffe is now in the editing room aiming to have the movie, which stars Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, ready for theatres by autumn next year.
Joffe originally intended to turn down a project which, owing to its religious theme and Opus Dei's controversial profile, promises to draw closer scrutiny than the average film.
In The Da Vinci Code, Opus Dei was cast as a secretive cult that resorted to murder to defend a fictional, 2,000-year-old Catholic cover-up. It has also been criticized by church liberals suspicious of its power and reach and by estranged members telling of coercion and corporal mortification.
But when he saw a video of Escriva addressing a large crowd, Joffe changed his mind.
The priest, who was made a saint in 2002, was asked by a Jewish girl if she should convert to Catholicism. Knowing it would upset her parents, Escriva told her that she should not.
Read further...
Although his depiction of a selfish liberal journalist in "The Killing Fields" was interesting, it might be hard to watch this film as it will portray St. Josemaria Escriva's controversial relationship with a young Jewish girl whom he advises not to become Catholic so as not to upset her parents.
Yet the subtitle is interesting, "who loves is free", might indicate a more promising and truthful portrayal than we might have expected. It will be ready for release next fall.
LONDON (Reuters) – If Opus Dei had a rough ride in the blockbuster movie based on Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," it looks set for an altogether more sympathetic portrayal in another film that deals with the Catholic organization
British director Roland Joffe, renowned for Oscar-nominated "The Killing Fields" and "The Mission," is making "There Be Dragons," a film set during the Spanish Civil War that focuses in part on the life of Opus Dei founder Jose Maria Escriva.
Principal photography is complete, and Joffe is now in the editing room aiming to have the movie, which stars Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, ready for theatres by autumn next year.
Joffe originally intended to turn down a project which, owing to its religious theme and Opus Dei's controversial profile, promises to draw closer scrutiny than the average film.
In The Da Vinci Code, Opus Dei was cast as a secretive cult that resorted to murder to defend a fictional, 2,000-year-old Catholic cover-up. It has also been criticized by church liberals suspicious of its power and reach and by estranged members telling of coercion and corporal mortification.
But when he saw a video of Escriva addressing a large crowd, Joffe changed his mind.
The priest, who was made a saint in 2002, was asked by a Jewish girl if she should convert to Catholicism. Knowing it would upset her parents, Escriva told her that she should not.
Read further...
Undaunted Dominican Communist Nun Ceases Her "Minisrty"
Nun decides to suspend activism for abortion rights after a rebuke by her order
Wed 04 Nov 2009 By Manya A. Brachear Tribune reporter
For decades, Sister Donna Quinn has championed [sic] the rights of women to use contraception, seek ordination and end unwanted pregnancies. The Dominican nun has picketed for abortion rights in Washington, petitioned the pope for a female archbishop and escorted women into abortion clinics.But as the Vatican turns up scrutiny of the nation's nuns and U.S. Roman Catholic bishops refuse to support universal health care if it covers abortion, Quinn has put her crusade on hold. "I want to be clear that this is my decision," she said in a statement Tuesday, saying she would suspend her role as a peacekeeper outside the ACU Health Clinic in Hinsdale. "Respect for women's moral agency is of critical importance to me, and I look forward to continuing to dialogue with our congregation on these matters as a way of informing my actions as well as educating the community."On Tuesday, the Wisconsin-based Sinsinawa Dominican order announced that Quinn had been reprimanded for escorting patients into a Hinsdale clinic that provides abortions."After investigating the allegation, congregation leaders have informed Sister Donna that her actions are in violation of her profession," Sister Patricia Mulcahey, head of the Sinsinawa Dominicans, said in a statement. "They regret that her actions have created controversy."Quinn said the order's announcement only served to stir more controversy. A private meeting to discuss her position had been set for later this month, she said. "I am disappointed that the process agreed upon was circumvented," she said. "As a peacekeeper, my goal is to enable women to enter a reproductive health clinic in dignity and without fear of being physically assaulted. ... I am very worried that the publicity around my presence will lead to violations of every woman's right to privacy and expose them to further violence." [Crocodile tears]The sudden rebuke highlights the tension in America's women's religious communities, now targeted by two sweeping Vatican investigations. Quinn's activism was no secret. But in years past, Dominican leaders have come to her defense.The primary example was in 1984 when the Vatican instructed religious orders to dismiss nuns who refused to retract their claim that Catholics held a range of opinions on abortion rights. Instead, the leaders talked to Vatican officials and resolved the issue with no ousters of nuns. But that was a different era, said Sister Beth Rindler, co-coordinator of the National Coalition of American Nuns, a group of nuns who push for women's ordination, gay rights, abortion rights and an end to war. [Like one of those Japanese Marines found still fighting WW2 on a desert island, she's still fighting those old battles from the 60s. She probably hasn't received real orders from her KGB handlers in years] "We're standing with her very much. We consider her one of our prophets," said Rindler, a Franciscan Sister of the Poor. "She's standing with women who she believes can make good moral decisions."But Mary-Louise Kurey, director of the Chicago archdiocese's Respect Life Office, said Quinn's efforts to shield women from abortion opponents at clinics pose harm. "I feel really sad because these are individuals who are trying to help women and those actions are profoundly misguided," Kurey said.Quinn showed no signs of changing her ways Tuesday."I take this opportunity to urge those demonstrating against women who are patients at the Hinsdale Clinic, whom I have seen emotionally as well as physically threaten women, to cease those activities," she said. "I would never have had to serve as a peacekeeper had not they created a war against women.". mbrachear@tribune.com
Wed 04 Nov 2009 By Manya A. Brachear Tribune reporter
For decades, Sister Donna Quinn has championed [sic] the rights of women to use contraception, seek ordination and end unwanted pregnancies. The Dominican nun has picketed for abortion rights in Washington, petitioned the pope for a female archbishop and escorted women into abortion clinics.But as the Vatican turns up scrutiny of the nation's nuns and U.S. Roman Catholic bishops refuse to support universal health care if it covers abortion, Quinn has put her crusade on hold. "I want to be clear that this is my decision," she said in a statement Tuesday, saying she would suspend her role as a peacekeeper outside the ACU Health Clinic in Hinsdale. "Respect for women's moral agency is of critical importance to me, and I look forward to continuing to dialogue with our congregation on these matters as a way of informing my actions as well as educating the community."On Tuesday, the Wisconsin-based Sinsinawa Dominican order announced that Quinn had been reprimanded for escorting patients into a Hinsdale clinic that provides abortions."After investigating the allegation, congregation leaders have informed Sister Donna that her actions are in violation of her profession," Sister Patricia Mulcahey, head of the Sinsinawa Dominicans, said in a statement. "They regret that her actions have created controversy."Quinn said the order's announcement only served to stir more controversy. A private meeting to discuss her position had been set for later this month, she said. "I am disappointed that the process agreed upon was circumvented," she said. "As a peacekeeper, my goal is to enable women to enter a reproductive health clinic in dignity and without fear of being physically assaulted. ... I am very worried that the publicity around my presence will lead to violations of every woman's right to privacy and expose them to further violence." [Crocodile tears]The sudden rebuke highlights the tension in America's women's religious communities, now targeted by two sweeping Vatican investigations. Quinn's activism was no secret. But in years past, Dominican leaders have come to her defense.The primary example was in 1984 when the Vatican instructed religious orders to dismiss nuns who refused to retract their claim that Catholics held a range of opinions on abortion rights. Instead, the leaders talked to Vatican officials and resolved the issue with no ousters of nuns. But that was a different era, said Sister Beth Rindler, co-coordinator of the National Coalition of American Nuns, a group of nuns who push for women's ordination, gay rights, abortion rights and an end to war. [Like one of those Japanese Marines found still fighting WW2 on a desert island, she's still fighting those old battles from the 60s. She probably hasn't received real orders from her KGB handlers in years] "We're standing with her very much. We consider her one of our prophets," said Rindler, a Franciscan Sister of the Poor. "She's standing with women who she believes can make good moral decisions."But Mary-Louise Kurey, director of the Chicago archdiocese's Respect Life Office, said Quinn's efforts to shield women from abortion opponents at clinics pose harm. "I feel really sad because these are individuals who are trying to help women and those actions are profoundly misguided," Kurey said.Quinn showed no signs of changing her ways Tuesday."I take this opportunity to urge those demonstrating against women who are patients at the Hinsdale Clinic, whom I have seen emotionally as well as physically threaten women, to cease those activities," she said. "I would never have had to serve as a peacekeeper had not they created a war against women.". mbrachear@tribune.com
Diogenes Sounds off on Highly Placed Clerical Homosexuals
Diogenes sounds off again about the issue of homosexuals in the priesthood and in this case, the episcopate. He notes the way one of Bishop of Antigonish Raymond Lahey's defenders, Archbishop James Weisgerber, who objects that Bishop Lahey shouldn't be tried in the court of "public opinion", is not being honest with us. This dodge sounds suspiciously familiar. It is an attempt to appeal to good-natured fair play all around. Bishop Weisberger thinks it's just about a man's sexual "preference", one which he doesn't seem to think will produce an "affective maturity" contrary to canon law.
We'll try to add to what Diogenes has suggested by saying that one might detect a heterodox and dangerous (depending on his place in the hierarchy) individual when he attempts to drag out platitudinous emotional appeals to fair conduct, which don't stand well in the face of existing canon law. A canon law which they disingenuously attempt to sidestep and ignore with the predictable results we've seen thus far that go hand in hand with heterodoxy, declining parish enrollments, embarrassing criminal cases, divestment and a "vocations crisis".
Diogenes also points out that Homosexuals are not to be put in positions of authority as rectors of Seminaries. It's a good rule because no one normal will want to deal with an emotionally immature and obsessive man with an "affective" disorder. Is it any wonder that the crop of clerical homosexuals has procured for us such a ramshackle Church in America?
We'll try to add to what Diogenes has suggested by saying that one might detect a heterodox and dangerous (depending on his place in the hierarchy) individual when he attempts to drag out platitudinous emotional appeals to fair conduct, which don't stand well in the face of existing canon law. A canon law which they disingenuously attempt to sidestep and ignore with the predictable results we've seen thus far that go hand in hand with heterodoxy, declining parish enrollments, embarrassing criminal cases, divestment and a "vocations crisis".
Diogenes also points out that Homosexuals are not to be put in positions of authority as rectors of Seminaries. It's a good rule because no one normal will want to deal with an emotionally immature and obsessive man with an "affective" disorder. Is it any wonder that the crop of clerical homosexuals has procured for us such a ramshackle Church in America?
Anglicans Snub Lesbian Bishop’s Ordination :: EDGE Boston
Anglicans Snub Lesbian Bishop’s Ordination :: EDGE Boston
English and Irish Anglican bishops are refusing to attend the ordination of one of a Lutheran fellow cleric in Stockholm--because she is a lesbian.
Eva Brunne is slated to be ordained as the Church of Sweden’s new Stockholm bishop, reported English language Swedish news site The Local on Nov. 4
Relations between the Church of Sweden and the Anglican church have been strained since the Church of Sweden approved new church policy that officially grants gay and lesbian couples the right to enjoy church blessings.
The new policy originated in June with a petition from the governing board of the Church of Sweden, and was approved by the Lutheran Synod on Oct. 22, with a majority 176 votes out of the 249 voting members. The vote took place just three days after the thirtieth anniversary of the removal of homosexuality from the list of pathologies in Sweden.
The decision also follows in the wake of marriage equality being granted to gay and lesbian Swedish families by the Swedish government. The new law took effect last May.
Swedish GLBT leader Åsa Regnér, who heads the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education, said of the vote, "The Synod’s decision takes a stance in favor of an inclusive view of people. Regardless of whether one is religious or not, this affects the entire social climate and the view of people’s equal value."
Pastors opposed to performing marriages for same-sex couples may opt out of performing the blessing.
The Lutheran church had come under pressure by the Church of England not to approve the measure, with a letter from two Church of England bishops warning that granting equal marriage status to faithful gay and lesbian families might lead to "an impairment of the relationships between the churches."
The Local quoted Bishop Alan Harper of Armagh, Northern Ireland, as saying, "The Anglican Church has a moratorium right now concerning the ordination of bishops who live together with someone of the same sex."
The article noted that the ordination was announced less than a month after marriage equality became legal in Sweden last May. Brunne’s lfie partner is also a cleric; Gunilla Lindén is a pastor in the Church of Sweden.
The article noted that other churches had declined to send clerics to the ordination, set to take place Nov. 8, including the churches of Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, and Lithuania, but that the event would be attended by clerics from the churches of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, South Africa, and the Phillippines.
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
English and Irish Anglican bishops are refusing to attend the ordination of one of a Lutheran fellow cleric in Stockholm--because she is a lesbian.
Eva Brunne is slated to be ordained as the Church of Sweden’s new Stockholm bishop, reported English language Swedish news site The Local on Nov. 4
Relations between the Church of Sweden and the Anglican church have been strained since the Church of Sweden approved new church policy that officially grants gay and lesbian couples the right to enjoy church blessings.
The new policy originated in June with a petition from the governing board of the Church of Sweden, and was approved by the Lutheran Synod on Oct. 22, with a majority 176 votes out of the 249 voting members. The vote took place just three days after the thirtieth anniversary of the removal of homosexuality from the list of pathologies in Sweden.
The decision also follows in the wake of marriage equality being granted to gay and lesbian Swedish families by the Swedish government. The new law took effect last May.
Swedish GLBT leader Åsa Regnér, who heads the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education, said of the vote, "The Synod’s decision takes a stance in favor of an inclusive view of people. Regardless of whether one is religious or not, this affects the entire social climate and the view of people’s equal value."
Pastors opposed to performing marriages for same-sex couples may opt out of performing the blessing.
The Lutheran church had come under pressure by the Church of England not to approve the measure, with a letter from two Church of England bishops warning that granting equal marriage status to faithful gay and lesbian families might lead to "an impairment of the relationships between the churches."
The Local quoted Bishop Alan Harper of Armagh, Northern Ireland, as saying, "The Anglican Church has a moratorium right now concerning the ordination of bishops who live together with someone of the same sex."
The article noted that the ordination was announced less than a month after marriage equality became legal in Sweden last May. Brunne’s lfie partner is also a cleric; Gunilla Lindén is a pastor in the Church of Sweden.
The article noted that other churches had declined to send clerics to the ordination, set to take place Nov. 8, including the churches of Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, and Lithuania, but that the event would be attended by clerics from the churches of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, South Africa, and the Phillippines.
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
The Monarchy is still Revered in Canada: relevance of Mainstream Journalists questioned.
Not a small number of Journalists are questioning the relevance of the Monarchy during Prince Charles' visit attempting to incite a "national dialogue" about something they've already concluded.
The following article from Reuters here says that the relevance of the Monarchy should be questioned, but it seems more obvious from the actual polls that, a few journalists notwithstanding, that the majority of Canadians revere their Queen and the Institution of the Monarchy as much as Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The thing that should be questioned here is the quality of the news services offered to Canadians.
The article did manage to correctly quote the Prime Minister:
Article here...
The following article from Reuters here says that the relevance of the Monarchy should be questioned, but it seems more obvious from the actual polls that, a few journalists notwithstanding, that the majority of Canadians revere their Queen and the Institution of the Monarchy as much as Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The thing that should be questioned here is the quality of the news services offered to Canadians.
The article did manage to correctly quote the Prime Minister:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the St. John's ceremony that Canada's association with the monarchy was a "defining symbol of our unique Canadian identity."
This is Prince Charles's 15th visit to Canada, but his first since 2001. Queen Elizabeth is expected to visit the country next year.
Article here...
Vatican denounces European ruling against crucifixes in schools
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said it experienced “surprise and sorrow” when a European court ruled that the crucifixes hanging in Italian public schools violate religious freedom.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled Nov. 3 that the crucifixes hanging in every public classroom in Italy were “a violation of the freedom of parents to educate their children according to their own convictions and of the religious freedom of the students.”
Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, reacted to the decision saying, “The crucifix has always been a sign of God's offer of love and a sign of union and welcome for all humanity. It is sad that it is being considered a sign of division, exclusion or limitation of freedom. That is not what it is and that is not the common feeling of our people.”
In his statement Nov. 3, Father Lombardi said, “It also is surprising that a European court is intervening so heavily in a matter that is deeply tied to the historic, cultural and spiritual identity of the Italian people.”
Read more...
The case in question bears all the hallmarks of ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) style legal activism which is pointed to by the plaintif's suspicious Finnish heritage and the tactics employed. Finnland has a long tradition of Communism and thanks to just government persecution of Communists there, many Finns have spread to other parts of the world bringing their poisonous political beliefs with them.
More here...
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said it experienced “surprise and sorrow” when a European court ruled that the crucifixes hanging in Italian public schools violate religious freedom.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled Nov. 3 that the crucifixes hanging in every public classroom in Italy were “a violation of the freedom of parents to educate their children according to their own convictions and of the religious freedom of the students.”
Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, reacted to the decision saying, “The crucifix has always been a sign of God's offer of love and a sign of union and welcome for all humanity. It is sad that it is being considered a sign of division, exclusion or limitation of freedom. That is not what it is and that is not the common feeling of our people.”
In his statement Nov. 3, Father Lombardi said, “It also is surprising that a European court is intervening so heavily in a matter that is deeply tied to the historic, cultural and spiritual identity of the Italian people.”
Read more...
The case in question bears all the hallmarks of ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) style legal activism which is pointed to by the plaintif's suspicious Finnish heritage and the tactics employed. Finnland has a long tradition of Communism and thanks to just government persecution of Communists there, many Finns have spread to other parts of the world bringing their poisonous political beliefs with them.
More here...
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Gay Marriage Opponents are Claiming Victory in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine – Gay-marriage opponents are claiming victory in a closely watched referendum in Maine on a new state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed.
The law in question was passed by the Legislature in May but never took effect because of a petition drive by conservatives.
With more than 84 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, the side seeking to repeal the law had 53 percent of the vote. Their campaign organizer, Frank Schubert, claimed victory and declared that Maine voters had helped preserve the institution of marriage.
Article here...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_el_st_lo/us_gay_marriage_maine
The law in question was passed by the Legislature in May but never took effect because of a petition drive by conservatives.
With more than 84 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday, the side seeking to repeal the law had 53 percent of the vote. Their campaign organizer, Frank Schubert, claimed victory and declared that Maine voters had helped preserve the institution of marriage.
Article here...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_el_st_lo/us_gay_marriage_maine
7th Anniversary Of Guimond Disappearance Next Week
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (AP) ― It's been nearly seven years since St. John's University student Josh Guimond disappeared after leaving a small card party about midnight.
His friends and family will return to Collegeville next week to mark the Nov. 9 anniversary. There will be public events to remember Guimond, and to demand answers.
On Saturday the inaugural "Justice for Josh" march will be at noon near St. John's. There will also be a march at the Stearns County Sheriff's office at 2:00 p.m.
The family maintains that Guimond was taken against his will, and they're asking the sheriff's office to release all the information it has on the case.
Sheriff John Sanner says his office has spent thousands of hours on the case and he's just as frustrated as the family that it hasn't been solved.
___
Information from: WJON-AM, http://www.wjon.com
http://wcco.com/wireapnewsmn/7th.anniversary.of.2.1289916.html
His friends and family will return to Collegeville next week to mark the Nov. 9 anniversary. There will be public events to remember Guimond, and to demand answers.
On Saturday the inaugural "Justice for Josh" march will be at noon near St. John's. There will also be a march at the Stearns County Sheriff's office at 2:00 p.m.
The family maintains that Guimond was taken against his will, and they're asking the sheriff's office to release all the information it has on the case.
Sheriff John Sanner says his office has spent thousands of hours on the case and he's just as frustrated as the family that it hasn't been solved.
___
Information from: WJON-AM, http://www.wjon.com
http://wcco.com/wireapnewsmn/7th.anniversary.of.2.1289916.html
Priestly Subordinate Insults his Boss: Mad about Same-Sex Marriage
Father Farrow is getting tough (doesn't he look tough?) and demanding that the laity hold back their contributions. We have a better idea. Why don't they become Episcopalians? He is simply beside himself that Maine's Bishop Malone is "campaigning" against same-sex marriage. He correctly indicates that clerics may not hold public office, but he is quite wrong about any prescription against campaigning against Abortion, Homosexuality or any other attempts to legitimize or approve corporately any immoral behavior. Seems to us that this issue of Church-State relations becomes a whole lot more crucial when one's personal sexual proclivities are at stake. It's not really our interest to go into the question of the seperation of the Church and State, although it is clear from Magisterial teaching that the Seperation of Church and State are condemned. (Testem Benevolentiae)
This blogging priest/social worker is interesting for other reasons, namely, that Bishop Malone is actually taking action against supporters of perversion in his ranks and removing them from their jobs. Father Farrow complains in an especially bitter and simpering tone here,
The scandal in that article is that a Catholic wrote a letter to the editor of her local newspaper. Because, her political opinion was contrary to that of her bishop she was summarily removed from parish assignments regardless of how you feel about the particular issue, consider the implications of this for Catholics. It means that the clergy will now monitor and become the final arbiters of political opinions of the faithful.
Actually, it's not that you have a mere political opinion different from the Bishop, like questions about school zoning or fire hydrant placement, or the hours the dog catcher should keep, it's actually about a central tenet of the Church's teachings which are being threatened once again by further legitimization of immorality. We know it's hard to understand, but perhaps it's not the best thing to disagree with your boss about core philosophies of how the organization is run. It's a bit like stealing.
This story is also interesting for another reason. It means that Bishops are cracking down on dissenters. We've been tired of hypocritical priests and employees of Dioceses for years who don't agree with the Church's teachings yet draw a paycheck. It's about time.
And one more thing to Father Farrow. Perhaps instead of trying to defend Homosexuality, he should actually read about the Inquisition and the question of Church and State. But once again, he should do himself, his integrity and everyone else a favor and find employment in a different communion.
P.S. Father Farrow actually has been forced out of the Church and has no faculties to say Mass or present himself in this fashion. In Italy he'd be arrested for impersonating a priest. It's not surprising that he was at a Newman Center. Back in the 70s-90s, Newman Centers were great places where people who dissented from Church teachings (particularly on sexuality) could go to express themselves. According to Per Christum Catholic Blog, Father Jeff was suspended a divinis for supporting Prop-8.
Busybody Red Finn and Activist EU Judges attack God and Italian Sovereignty
In another effort to further obsolesce national sovereignty, the EU Parliament, dominated as it is by sympathetes for sodomy and immorality, vampires that they are, want Crucifixes taken down from all Italian Schools.
No doubt, the woman who filed the complaint against the court, a woman of Finnish and likely communist origins. It remains to be seen what a foreign court, or a Red Finn, should have any say about what Italians do in their lands.
Rome - Italian state-run schools are fully entitled to hang crucifixes in their classrooms, an Italian high court ruled on Wednesday, thus rejecting a legal challenge raised by a non-Christian.
Soile Lautsi, an Italian citizen of Finnish origins whose two children frequent a school in the Veneto region, had argued that the crucifix on display there violates the principle that the state should be neutral when it comes to religious matters.
Read more...
No doubt, the woman who filed the complaint against the court, a woman of Finnish and likely communist origins. It remains to be seen what a foreign court, or a Red Finn, should have any say about what Italians do in their lands.
Rome - Italian state-run schools are fully entitled to hang crucifixes in their classrooms, an Italian high court ruled on Wednesday, thus rejecting a legal challenge raised by a non-Christian.
Soile Lautsi, an Italian citizen of Finnish origins whose two children frequent a school in the Veneto region, had argued that the crucifix on display there violates the principle that the state should be neutral when it comes to religious matters.
Read more...
FBI investigates Nun's Halloween Murder on Navajo Nation
By Debra Mayeux The Daily Times
Posted: 11/03/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
NAVAJO — Authorities believe a Roman Catholic nun was murdered on Halloween in her home at St. Bernard Convent in Navajo.
Sister Marguerite Bartz, 64, failed to show up for church Sunday morning, so a colleague went to look for her and found her body.
"Everyone is in shock in that area," said Lee Lamb, spokesman for the Diocese of Gallup, which encompasses the entire Navajo Nation.
Navajo is located on the New Mexico-Arizona state line northwest of Gallup and inside the Navajo Reservation, where federal authorities investigate crimes such as murder.
Bartz was a 40-year member of the order of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She served since 1999 in Navajo, and prior to that at the Guadalupe Indian Mission in Peña Blanca, Saint Joseph in Laguna and Saint Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe.
"She was always passionate for justice and peace," Lamb said. Lamb learned of Bartz from her superior, Patricia Suchalski, president of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, based in Bensalem, Pa.
Read more...
http://www.daily-times.com/ci_13699845
Posted: 11/03/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
NAVAJO — Authorities believe a Roman Catholic nun was murdered on Halloween in her home at St. Bernard Convent in Navajo.
Sister Marguerite Bartz, 64, failed to show up for church Sunday morning, so a colleague went to look for her and found her body.
"Everyone is in shock in that area," said Lee Lamb, spokesman for the Diocese of Gallup, which encompasses the entire Navajo Nation.
Navajo is located on the New Mexico-Arizona state line northwest of Gallup and inside the Navajo Reservation, where federal authorities investigate crimes such as murder.
Bartz was a 40-year member of the order of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She served since 1999 in Navajo, and prior to that at the Guadalupe Indian Mission in Peña Blanca, Saint Joseph in Laguna and Saint Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe.
"She was always passionate for justice and peace," Lamb said. Lamb learned of Bartz from her superior, Patricia Suchalski, president of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, based in Bensalem, Pa.
Read more...
http://www.daily-times.com/ci_13699845
Monday, November 2, 2009
Are Catholic Colleges Poisonous to Women? Or is it Just Certain Ones?
I haven't enjoyed going to church so much in ages and I mean no disrespect and I mean that most sin-cerely, [giggles] that's really what I think. Dad said he was glad that was over with, but all I could think about was that this was the beginning of the rest of my new life. After graduation, me and John were going to Europe for a month. Amsterdam here we come! Then I was going to start my new job working for Google in New York where we got this cool apartment. [stares fixedly at passing car]
I guess I'm pretty religious, but after some soul searching, I decided that I didn't get anything out of this and I actually stopped going to church in my sophomore year. Fr. X was nice and everything...
I guess the nuns were alright, but it was hard to understand why they were there.
Catholic Italian Actor says: "divorce and abortion has destroyed the family"
The famous actor Bud Spencer became 80 this last Saturday -- he identifies himself as a "conservative and active" Catholic, who has been married for 48 years -- He finds the hysteria around Obama strange, "The man is not Jesus".
Only a few know, that the Italian born Neapolitan, Carlo Pedersoli, is Catholic. He states, "today divorce and abortion has destroyed the family," he informed the Italian media.
For 48 years he has been married to Maria Amago. According to the Hamburg Morning News Spencer said in the past week, "I was married 48 years and have ever confessed to my wife, if I have ever betrayed her. She has always forgiven me. That is true love, that stands above things. Lust and suffering are really only inanities.
He otherwise describes himself as "an animal with a human face", who would like to thank God, that he has been allowed to lead such a many faceted life.
The brilliant actor, jurist and swimmer has played in many films, notably as the Praetorian in the 1967 film, "Quo Vadis" and more famously in the spaghetti western, Trinity.
Link.
Wikipedia article...
Florida Elected Official Takes Steps to Protect Public Health and is Heckled by Homosexuals
From today’s Florida Sun-Sentinel Newspaper:
Fort Lauderdale mayor issues apology, but not to gay community
FORT LAUDERDALE — Mayor Jim Naugle issued a public apology on the steps of City Hall Tuesday afternoon, but it wasn’t the apology the gay community was looking for.
Naugle apologized for underestimating the problem of men having sex with each other in public restrooms, and urged people to call police to complain when they come upon it. He also said Broward County leads the nation in the incidence of new AIDS cases involving men having sex with men, and questioned whether the county tourism office should be welcoming them here.
Naugle alerted the media that he was holding a news conference that would include “an apology.”
Gay activists and others have been calling for a public apology form the mayor, and for his resignation, since the South Florida Sun-Sentinel published Naugle’s comments earlier this month about gays. In article about a proposed self-cleaning, automatic toilet the city was going to buy for the beach, Naugle said an added benefit would be that it would deter men from using it for “homosexual activity,” which he said was a problem in public restrooms.
Press conference video...
Source: http://americansfortruth.com/
Fort Lauderdale mayor issues apology, but not to gay community
FORT LAUDERDALE — Mayor Jim Naugle issued a public apology on the steps of City Hall Tuesday afternoon, but it wasn’t the apology the gay community was looking for.
Naugle apologized for underestimating the problem of men having sex with each other in public restrooms, and urged people to call police to complain when they come upon it. He also said Broward County leads the nation in the incidence of new AIDS cases involving men having sex with men, and questioned whether the county tourism office should be welcoming them here.
Naugle alerted the media that he was holding a news conference that would include “an apology.”
Gay activists and others have been calling for a public apology form the mayor, and for his resignation, since the South Florida Sun-Sentinel published Naugle’s comments earlier this month about gays. In article about a proposed self-cleaning, automatic toilet the city was going to buy for the beach, Naugle said an added benefit would be that it would deter men from using it for “homosexual activity,” which he said was a problem in public restrooms.
Press conference video...
Source: http://americansfortruth.com/
Shocking Halloween Display at Blackfen England
When will the liturgical aberrations stop? This just in from Mulier Fortis Blog, depicting the most indescribable Halloween Liturgy ever seen.
Click Here...
Bishop DiMarzio's strange Alliance in Brooklyn
In a tit for tat arrangement the Bishop of Brooklyn, Nicholas DiMarzio, gives support to a NARAL endorsed, pro-abort, same-sex marriage candidate in a close election in return for his ruling on the statute of limmitations in clerical abuse cases.
Original article here...
Original article here...
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Time Has Come to End Lula's Monarchy in Brazil
Written by Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Monday, 02 November 2009 05:37
The downpour of odd government decisions, apparently meaningless presidential phrases and so much propaganda perhaps will lead people with common-sense to ask themselves: After all, where are we going? I use the adverb "perhaps" because some are in such a way intoxicated with "the biggest show on earth," of easy money that benefits a few, that I have my doubts.
It seems more comfortable to pretend that everything is going well and forget about the everyday transgressions, the discretionarism of the decisions, the disrespect, if not of the law, of the good moral values. It's become customary to say that the Lula government gave continuity to the good things that were achieved by the preceding government and in addition improved many things. So, why and what for question the little conduct deviations or small scratches in the law?
It happens that each small transgression, each deviation keeps on accumulating until it disfigures the original. As the renowned deranged prince used to say, there is no method to this madness. Method that probably does not come from our prince, only a victim, who knows, of verbal apotheosis. But everything that surrounds him has a DNA that, even without any conspiracy, can lead the country, nice and slowly, almost without one realizing it, to mould itself to a politics style and to a relationship manner between state, economy and society that keeps little resemblance to our democratic ideals.
It is possible to choose at random the examples of "small murders." Why make Congress swallow, without time to breathe, an ill-explained, scruffy change to the oil legislation? A change that can't even be presented as a "nationalistic" banner, because, if the current system, of concessions were a "sell out," it should have been banished, and it wasn't. It only had added to it the share system, subject to three or four political-bureaucratic instances to complicate businessmen's life and to fatten business facilitators from the public machine.
Why announce who won the competition to purchase military planes, if the selection process hasn't finished yet? Why so much noise and so much government interference in a company (Vale) that, if not totally private, has mixed capital and is governed by the statute of private companies? Why anticipate the electoral campaign and, without any embarrassment, stroll throughout Brazil at the expense of the Treasury (taking money from your, my, our pocket...) parading a claudicating candidate? Why, in foreign policy, forget that there are democratic forces in Iran, even Muslim ones, who fight against Ahmadinejad and instead bow to those who are not concerned with peace or human rights?
Little by little, behind what can seem isolated and not-so-serious gestures, the DNA of the "popular authoritarianism" keeps undermining the spirit of the constitutional democracy. This supposes rules, information, participation, representation and conscious deliberation. In the countercurrent of all this, we are getting back to political forms from the military authoritarianism time, when the "impact projects" (some of which became "skeletons", which were put on tick in the Treasury unpayable debts) livened up contractors and inflated the hearts of those deceived: "Brazil, love it or leave it."
At issue we have the Transnordestina (Transnortheastern road), the bullet train, the North-South, the San Francisco river's transposition and the hundreds of PAC's (Growth Acceleration Program) small projects, which, some good, others not so much, gush out in the budget and dwindle away for lack of operational capacity or for misappropriations barred by the Union's Audit Court. It doesn't matter, in the advertising outcry, it is as if the people were already enjoying the benefits: "My House, My Life"; castor bean biodiesel, family agriculture redemption; ethanol for the world and, in the new slogans maelstrom, pre-salt for all.
Unlike what occurred with the military authoritarianism, the current one does not send anyone to jail. But from the presidential mouth itself we can hear insults to morally kill businessmen, politicians, journalists or whoever dares to disagree with the "Brazil power" style.
Even the atomic bomb defense as instrument for us to get to the UN's Security Council - against the clear text of the Constitution - once in a while is supported by top executives, without asking the citizenry what is the best course for Brazil. And we should be reminded that the president has already declared that when it comes to strategic objective matters (as the fighter planes' purchase) he decides all by himself. It's a shame that he forgot to add: "L'État c'est moi." But he didn't forget to mention the reasons that led him to such strategic decision: he saw there were pirates in Somalia and, therefore, we need fighter planes to defend "our pre-salt". That's OK, everything's pretty logical.
It can be serious, but, realists will say, time goes by and what is left are the results. Among these, however, there are some worrisome ones. If there is logic in the foolishnesses, it's only one: the one of power without limits. Presidential power with popular applause, as in all good authoritarian situation, and bureaucratic-corporative power, that's not funny it all for the people. This last one has method. State and unions, State and social movements are more and more smelted in the Treasury's high-temperature ovens.
The parties are demoralized. It was by the "dedaço" (big finger) that Lula chose the PT candidate to succeed him, as the Mexican presidents used to do when the PRI controlled. With the parties devastated, if Dilma wins the elections will be left only a subPeronism (Lulism) infecting the docile party fragments, a union bureaucracy nested in the State and, as foundation for the block of power, the might of the pension funds. These are "nova stars," They came up in the firmament, changed their trajectory and our voracious, but naive capitalists get from them the death embrace. With a little help from the BNDES (National Bank of Economic and Social Development) everything becomes perfect: we have the alliance between state, the unions, the pension funds and the lucky fellows from big companies that join them.
Now, they will say (since I've talked about stars), the pension funds represent the spur of the modern economy. That's right. It happens that our funds belong to public companies' workers. Now, in these places, the PT, that was already controlling the employees' representation, now also controls the employers' one (the government). With that the funds have become instruments of political power, not exactly of a party, but of the union-corporative segment that controls it.
In Brazil the pension funds are not only stockholders - with the freedom of selling and buying in the stock markets -, but managers: they take part in the oversight blocks or in the private or "privatized companies" committees. Weak parties, strong unions, pension funds converging with the interests of a party in the government and drawing to them privileged private partners, there is the block from which the Lulist subPeronism will get its sustenance in the future, if it wins the elections. I started with where are we going? I will close saying that time is ripe to put a brake to perpetuation in power, before it's too late.
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, sociologist, was President of Brazil from January 1st, 1995 to January 1st, 2003.
Translated from the Portuguese by Arlindo Silva.
Monday, 02 November 2009 05:37
The downpour of odd government decisions, apparently meaningless presidential phrases and so much propaganda perhaps will lead people with common-sense to ask themselves: After all, where are we going? I use the adverb "perhaps" because some are in such a way intoxicated with "the biggest show on earth," of easy money that benefits a few, that I have my doubts.
It seems more comfortable to pretend that everything is going well and forget about the everyday transgressions, the discretionarism of the decisions, the disrespect, if not of the law, of the good moral values. It's become customary to say that the Lula government gave continuity to the good things that were achieved by the preceding government and in addition improved many things. So, why and what for question the little conduct deviations or small scratches in the law?
It happens that each small transgression, each deviation keeps on accumulating until it disfigures the original. As the renowned deranged prince used to say, there is no method to this madness. Method that probably does not come from our prince, only a victim, who knows, of verbal apotheosis. But everything that surrounds him has a DNA that, even without any conspiracy, can lead the country, nice and slowly, almost without one realizing it, to mould itself to a politics style and to a relationship manner between state, economy and society that keeps little resemblance to our democratic ideals.
It is possible to choose at random the examples of "small murders." Why make Congress swallow, without time to breathe, an ill-explained, scruffy change to the oil legislation? A change that can't even be presented as a "nationalistic" banner, because, if the current system, of concessions were a "sell out," it should have been banished, and it wasn't. It only had added to it the share system, subject to three or four political-bureaucratic instances to complicate businessmen's life and to fatten business facilitators from the public machine.
Why announce who won the competition to purchase military planes, if the selection process hasn't finished yet? Why so much noise and so much government interference in a company (Vale) that, if not totally private, has mixed capital and is governed by the statute of private companies? Why anticipate the electoral campaign and, without any embarrassment, stroll throughout Brazil at the expense of the Treasury (taking money from your, my, our pocket...) parading a claudicating candidate? Why, in foreign policy, forget that there are democratic forces in Iran, even Muslim ones, who fight against Ahmadinejad and instead bow to those who are not concerned with peace or human rights?
Little by little, behind what can seem isolated and not-so-serious gestures, the DNA of the "popular authoritarianism" keeps undermining the spirit of the constitutional democracy. This supposes rules, information, participation, representation and conscious deliberation. In the countercurrent of all this, we are getting back to political forms from the military authoritarianism time, when the "impact projects" (some of which became "skeletons", which were put on tick in the Treasury unpayable debts) livened up contractors and inflated the hearts of those deceived: "Brazil, love it or leave it."
At issue we have the Transnordestina (Transnortheastern road), the bullet train, the North-South, the San Francisco river's transposition and the hundreds of PAC's (Growth Acceleration Program) small projects, which, some good, others not so much, gush out in the budget and dwindle away for lack of operational capacity or for misappropriations barred by the Union's Audit Court. It doesn't matter, in the advertising outcry, it is as if the people were already enjoying the benefits: "My House, My Life"; castor bean biodiesel, family agriculture redemption; ethanol for the world and, in the new slogans maelstrom, pre-salt for all.
Unlike what occurred with the military authoritarianism, the current one does not send anyone to jail. But from the presidential mouth itself we can hear insults to morally kill businessmen, politicians, journalists or whoever dares to disagree with the "Brazil power" style.
Even the atomic bomb defense as instrument for us to get to the UN's Security Council - against the clear text of the Constitution - once in a while is supported by top executives, without asking the citizenry what is the best course for Brazil. And we should be reminded that the president has already declared that when it comes to strategic objective matters (as the fighter planes' purchase) he decides all by himself. It's a shame that he forgot to add: "L'État c'est moi." But he didn't forget to mention the reasons that led him to such strategic decision: he saw there were pirates in Somalia and, therefore, we need fighter planes to defend "our pre-salt". That's OK, everything's pretty logical.
It can be serious, but, realists will say, time goes by and what is left are the results. Among these, however, there are some worrisome ones. If there is logic in the foolishnesses, it's only one: the one of power without limits. Presidential power with popular applause, as in all good authoritarian situation, and bureaucratic-corporative power, that's not funny it all for the people. This last one has method. State and unions, State and social movements are more and more smelted in the Treasury's high-temperature ovens.
The parties are demoralized. It was by the "dedaço" (big finger) that Lula chose the PT candidate to succeed him, as the Mexican presidents used to do when the PRI controlled. With the parties devastated, if Dilma wins the elections will be left only a subPeronism (Lulism) infecting the docile party fragments, a union bureaucracy nested in the State and, as foundation for the block of power, the might of the pension funds. These are "nova stars," They came up in the firmament, changed their trajectory and our voracious, but naive capitalists get from them the death embrace. With a little help from the BNDES (National Bank of Economic and Social Development) everything becomes perfect: we have the alliance between state, the unions, the pension funds and the lucky fellows from big companies that join them.
Now, they will say (since I've talked about stars), the pension funds represent the spur of the modern economy. That's right. It happens that our funds belong to public companies' workers. Now, in these places, the PT, that was already controlling the employees' representation, now also controls the employers' one (the government). With that the funds have become instruments of political power, not exactly of a party, but of the union-corporative segment that controls it.
In Brazil the pension funds are not only stockholders - with the freedom of selling and buying in the stock markets -, but managers: they take part in the oversight blocks or in the private or "privatized companies" committees. Weak parties, strong unions, pension funds converging with the interests of a party in the government and drawing to them privileged private partners, there is the block from which the Lulist subPeronism will get its sustenance in the future, if it wins the elections. I started with where are we going? I will close saying that time is ripe to put a brake to perpetuation in power, before it's too late.
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, sociologist, was President of Brazil from January 1st, 1995 to January 1st, 2003.
Translated from the Portuguese by Arlindo Silva.
The Queen is as Popular as Ever in Canada despite Media Distortions
Significant increase in popularity for the Queen in Canada in New Zealand at BBC which they say is even up from 2001, but this Wikipedia poll says 78% favor the Monarchy.
But there are others, pre-emptively predicting the abolition of the Monarchy in Canada, primarily from strange outlets like ths politically dubious report from Yahoo.
The Queen generally stays out of political frays, but it's hard not to imagine that the leftists want to belittle her importance to Canada prior to her visit in 2010 for political advantage, so no doubt, there will be those wanting to "dialogue" about her irrelavence to Canada when it's clear from the massive jiggerng of the polls that the majority of Canadians actually do favor the Monarchy and look forward to welcoming her Majesty next year.
Politicizing Prelates and New York
The last few days have gotten us to thinking about politicising prelates and here we have a case of one who uses his mitre and authority to prop up his leftist political causes. Generally abortion isn't negotiable, most of the time, but sometimes (most of the time) you support the DNC talking points and candidates when your Diocese's schools, hospitals or "charitable" organizations or the semnary where conservative candidates get weeded out, need support.
A bishop’s flexibility
November 1, 2009, 5:11 pm Posted by Paul Moses
As chairman of the bishops’ committee that drafted the statement “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” Brooklyn’s Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has had an important role in interpreting what it actually means. In the heat of the 2008 presidential campaign, he wrote in a letter to The New York Times that the newspaper had erred in a story on Joseph Biden and the Catholic vote in reporting the statement would “explicitly allow Catholics to vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights if they do so for other reasons.”
Read more...
A bishop’s flexibility
November 1, 2009, 5:11 pm Posted by Paul Moses
As chairman of the bishops’ committee that drafted the statement “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” Brooklyn’s Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has had an important role in interpreting what it actually means. In the heat of the 2008 presidential campaign, he wrote in a letter to The New York Times that the newspaper had erred in a story on Joseph Biden and the Catholic vote in reporting the statement would “explicitly allow Catholics to vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights if they do so for other reasons.”
Read more...
Cardinal Pell Welcomes Gay Ban in Australia
CHARITIES and religious groups could discriminate against gay people or anyone else who might offend their values after a landmark decision quashed a finding in favour of a gay couple who wanted to become foster parents.
Both the Catholic and Anglican churches have praised the ruling and Cardinal George Pell said anti-discrimination cases threatened churches' ability to do charity work
Read more...
Both the Catholic and Anglican churches have praised the ruling and Cardinal George Pell said anti-discrimination cases threatened churches' ability to do charity work
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