Supreme Court releases new slate of approved commandments

1. We are the Supreme Court thy God. Thou shalt not have strange courts before us (Though we can appeal to foreign courts when it suits us).
2. Thou shalt not take the names of the justices of the Supreme Court thy God in vain
3. Remember thou keep the First Monday in October.
4. Honor thy nine justices.
5. Thou shalt not kill. See Roe v. Wade.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. See penumbras and emanations protecting privacy
7. Thou shalt not steal. See Kelo et al v. City of New London
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness by falsely testifying before the court unless it matches preconceived opinions.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife. See penumbras and emanations protecting privacy
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods. See Kelo et al v. City of New London

Fidelis

WASHINGTON, June 30 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Fidelis, a new Catholic-based organization, today launched an advertising campaign in the run-up to the Senate confirmation hearings to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. Their initial round of ads are beginning in Washington, D.C. and cite the role that anti-religious bigotry has played in recent Senate confirmation battles. The newspaper ad highlights religiously intolerant remarks by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, and calls on him to keep religion out of future Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Fidelis President Joseph Cella stated: "This is the opening salvo in the Supreme Court confirmation battle that will likely commence any time in the next year. By shining a bright light on these outrageously intolerant remarks we hope to put an end to them or at lease deter others from embracing them. That's why we will be airing ads in Washington, D.C. and the home states of those who practice this vile brand of hate politics."

The first ad includes a quote from Dean referring to Conservative Christians at a June 6, 2005 press conference in San Francisco, saying: "They are not very friendly to different kinds of people...they all behave the same and they all look the same." The second round of advertising begins next week in Nevada.

The ads cite the precedent of William Pryor who faced similar bigoted attacks during his confirmation hearings. Cella added: "Bill Pryor was routinely vilified for having "deeply-held" religious beliefs, he was mocked for living those beliefs, and faced sharply abusive rhetoric before he was finally confirmed to the federal bench. Given this history, we are anticipating that when a Supreme Court vacancy occurs, the religious faith of any potential nominee will play a large role in the debate over his or her confirmation."

Cella stated: "It is vital that we expose this trend of anti-religious bigotry before it is used against any nominee. It will not go unanswered. Catholics and all people of faith must join together and defend Supreme Court nominees who will likely be attacked because of their faith and deeply-held beliefs."

"Certain members of the United States Senate have a track record of dragging nominees through the mud because they practice their faith. It is unconstitutional, and we are drawing a line in the sand. Everyone, Republican, Democrat or Independent, engaged in smearing a person's faith will be held accountable," stated Cella.

Cella said "A judicial candidate promising to uphold the law is not enough for many Senators. In order to disqualify a particular judicial candidate, some Senators have resorted to a quasi-inquisition of a candidates' personal religious beliefs, and this cannot be tolerated." [Source]

Christian Club

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that "if EU is not a Christian Club, it should admit Turkey."

``When EU admits Turkey, then EU won`t be a Christian Club, but an address where civilizations meet. If this is not the case, you can’t claim that EU is not a Christian Club,`` told Erdogan at a seminar organized by Turkey`s Religious Affairs Directorate. [Source]

If the EU was a Christian Club it wouldn't have included most of Europe. Europe is so Christian that today Spain legalized same-sex marriage.

Catholicnews.org

Funny stuff going on over at catholicnews.org. She has come up with some pretty funny satirical news stories and the last two posts were especially good.

One?

Via Extreme Catholic is this graphic of the chosen 2008 Olympics slogan for the Peoples Republic of China.

Well I think it is missing something.

There, this is more accurate.

Bride Calls Off Wedding, Throws Party For Homeless

EVERETT, Wash. -- A young woman decided to call off her wedding 12 days before the event and her parents knew they'd be stuck with the bill, so they decided to have a party anyway and invited the homeless.

Residents of the Interfaith Family Shelter, housed in a former convent across from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church where the wedding had been scheduled, attended the bash thrown by Katie Hosking, 22, a medical assistant at the Everett Clinic, and her parents, Bill and Susan Hosking of Lake Stevens.

"They had a DJ and really good music. It was a warm, friendly atmosphere. The food was delicious. It was a nice break with people not worrying about anything for one night," shelter manager Carol Oliva said. "Toward the end of the evening, they packed up all the leftover food and we got to bring it back to the shelter."

One homeless woman got her son out of a wheelchair, "took that child out on the dance floor and picked him up and danced with him. It was a beautiful sight. Our kids realized that even when something bad happens, somebody else has something worse," Susan Hosking said. "It was an eye-opener." [Source]

The Wrong Hands

From Sen. Clinton's official Senate site.

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) today called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to stop efforts to collect and to analyze personal information on high school students that go beyond data collection efforts permitted under current law. Senator Clinton also urged the Pentagon to reverse its decision to use a private marketing firm to gather and disseminate this sensitive data, given the potential for privacy violations, identity theft and other misuse.

"It is critical that we do everything we can to make sure that our most sensitive personal information stays out of the wrong hands. That's why it is so troubling that the Pentagon is using a private firm to collect and analyze sensitive personal information about high school students. Given the serious privacy concerns at stake, I urge the Pentagon to reverse its decision to use a private firm to collect this information and urge them to adhere to the data collection standards under current law." [Source]

Are military recruiters the wrong hand? Is the Pentagon now the enemy? Other government agencies such as the IRS also maintain a lot of personal data on us. This attitude is not surprising. I know that when I was a Navy recruiter trying to just get a simple list of names with phone numbers and addresses of students from the various schools was like pulling teeth. We often went by lists that were severely out of date which was a nuisance to both us and for those we would call.

It would have been great to have a list with GPAs on it. Usually when we did get a hold of somebody that was interested we would give them a very simple test in the office. The multiple choice tests composed of extremely simple word math problems and vocabulary questions. Sometimes I was amazed at the test results for some high school seniors that they were able to breath and walk on their own and invariably if I asked them if they ever did any reading - the answer was no. My time as a recruiter was a wake up call to me about how bad our public schools had become. Though I also learned about prejudging people. I had one walk in who was currently working at a Pizza Hut and who by appearance I figured wouldn't measure up. Many times walk ins don't pan out because of academic or other problems. This one though just about maxed out the ASVAB, was a math wiz, and ended up going into the Navy's nuclear field.

"We fail to see a legitimate need for the creation of a database containing such personal information and are concerned that it may be an inappropriate effort to profile students based on ethnicity and other personal factors,"

I am all for eliminating the requirement for ethnicity in such data gathering. I wonder what she has to say about forced government quotas that require this type of information. There is a push in recruitment for blacks, Hispanics, and Asians and Pacific Islanders to make sure that ethnicity goals are maintained. I remember that Navy recruiters received extra points depending on a persons ethnicity and these points go towards rewards such as automatic advancement or commendations. It is ironic for the usual supporters of race-based quotas to complain about the collection of racial data since they are the ones that drive it.

Armed with the faith

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (CNS) -- A Boston College Jesuit, Father Daniel R. Sweeney, has compiled a pocket-size book of prayers and catechism lessons specifically for men and women serving in the military.

The 64-page waterproof booklet, designed to fit in the pocket of a battle dress uniform, is actually in its third edition.

It is being distributed free of charge by the Knights of Columbus in conjunction with the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.

In a news release about the prayer book, titled "Armed With the Faith: A Catholic Handbook for Military Personnel," Father Sweeney said he hoped the book will meet demand among military personnel to better understand the teachings and traditions of the Catholic faith in a manner that directly addresses the realities of military life.

The book includes prayers, devotions, sacramental theology, catechetical information and hymns, along with a brief outline of just-war theory in the Catholic tradition. [Source]

Well that is fitting considering that St. Ignatius of Loyola had been a soldier.

CHICAGO -- A Roman Catholic priest from Chicago who is serving in Iraq has decided to become a full-time chaplain, NBC5 reported on Tuesday.

The Rev. John Barkemeyer has been overseas working as an Army chaplain since November. He will be leaving his position as pastor of St. Cajetan Church in the Morgan Park community.

The 41-year-old priest is currently stationed at Camp Bucca, which is the largest detainment facility in Iraq. [Source]

Update: Here is a recent entry from Fr. John's Journal.

China ordains Vatican-backed bishop

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican and the government-backed Chinese Catholic Church have agreed for the first time on the nomination of a bishop in a sign of warming relations after decades of strain.

The Chinese-backed Church ordained Joseph Xing Wenzhi as an auxiliary bishop of Shanghai on Tuesday in an appointment that was approved by the Holy See, according to AsiaNews, a Catholic news agency specialising in China.

China does not allow Catholics to recognise the authority of the Pope. Instead, they must belong to state-backed patriotic associations if they want to worship openly.

The communist government has repeatedly refused to allow the Vatican to appoint bishops officially, saying this would amount to interference in internal affairs.

That led to a two-tiered Catholicism in China, with pro-Vatican priests and bishops working underground while the pro-government clerics held the official posts. The Vatican officially has not recognised the pro-government church.

Asianews said Xing could eventually replace the elderly bishop of Shanghai, Aloysius Jin Luxian, the pro-government prelate who ordained the new bishop on Tuesday.

Last week, the Vatican's foreign minister suggested the chances of normalising relations with China were growing, saying there were "no insurmountable difficulties".

China has insisted the Vatican must break relations with Taiwan before it can forge diplomatic ties.

The Vatican estimates it has about 8 million followers in China, compared with about 5 million who follow the state-backed association. [Source]

Or maybe not.

SHANGHAI (AFP) - China says the appointment of an auxiliary bishop in Shanghai had not been approved by the
"He was chosen by our Shanghai Catholic community and was approved by the Chinese Catholic Bishops College," said an official with the Shanghai Religious Affairs Bureau, who refused to be named.

"It has nothing to do with the Vatican."

Xing, a 42-year-old Chinese priest, was made auxiliary bishop in a ceremony led by Shanghai Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, the representative of the government-backed Catholic church who at the age of 89 is giving up many of his duties, officials at the religious affairs bureau said.

Xing, who becomes bishop in the official Chinese church, reportedly announced during the ceremony he had been nominated by the Holy See, suggesting that he received full backing from the Pope. [Source]

National Pagan Reporter

At noon each day, a cannon shot resounds in the Eternal City. It is a reminder to Romans and all Italians of their victory over the papacy and the birth of the Italian Republic more than 150 years ago. Prego.

Closer to our own times, another secular victory approaches in a country no less Catholic than Spain. In late April the lower house of the Spanish parliament gave its preliminary approval -- 183 to 136, with six abstentions -- to a bill that would make Spain the third country in Europe to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry and adopt children. Bravo.

The proposed language of the new civil law would include the phrase: “Matrimony shall have the same requisites and effects regardless of whether the persons involved are of the same or different genders.”

A reformulation of marriage doesn’t come much simpler or clearer. It is another step forward in the global progress of human rights for gay and lesbian people. Spain has come a long way. During the Spanish Inquisition, for instance, while Jews were expelled, “sodomites” were burned at the stake as autos da fe, or “acts of faith.” Only 30 years ago, a fascist dictator ruled Spain. This Spanish turnabout to liberty, represented by the eventuality of gay marriage, is truly remarkable.

When the Spanish Senate votes to approve the measure, Spain will join the list of two other European countries, Catholic Belgium and the Netherlands, which have already legalized marriage equality.

Undoubtedly the impeding reality of Spanish gay marriage is a big defeat for Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Usually the National Catholic Reporter hides their dissident views under a verbiage that obscures a direct rejection of the magisterium of the Church. This outright hawking of same sex marriage and calling it "global progress of human rights for gay and lesbian people" just brings out to the open what they tried to hide under the guise of balance in the past. Do the readers of NCR really need to be reminded that Pope Benedict XVI is the former Joseph Ratzinger? After all they are probably still attending therapy since that event.

All this Catholic ugly talk about gays -- iniquity, virus, moral violence, deeply offensive to morality -- really should not surprise anyone. They are voices from the echo chamber of then-Cardinal Ratzinger and his Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s doctrinal enforcement agency.

Meanwhile, let the Roman cannon shot be heard and celebrated in Spain and all around the world [Source]

Of course when a referendum to liberalize IVF in Italy was soundly defeated after both the Pope and the bishop's spoke out against it, I don't remember a similar NCR editorial about a shot heard round the world. This article was written on the 16th of June. Since then the bill was voted down with a 131 to 119 vote in the Senate shortly after a week of demonstrations. You can read an account of one large demonstration by Robert Duncan here. Unfortunately Spain's Senate does not have the power to veto a law and reportedly it will be voted on in the Parliament on June 30th, the same Parliament that already overwhelmingly supported it before.

Magnifcatch Update

In a post below I made reference to the story of Rev. Mariusz Zajac who caught a record walleye while ice fishing and praying the Canticle of Mary. Fr. Zajac now known to the press as Father Walleye has started a Tsunami Fishermen Relief Fund where he has already used the sale of his famous fish to completely fund two fishing boats named Ave Maria and is also raising funds to buy more.

Haugen-Haas

You've have heard such songs a "Gather Us In" by Marty Haugen and "Blest Are They" by David Haas that are so sickly sweet that you were sure you gained a couple of pounds listening to them in your church. So sweet that you wish they were a flavor of ice cream. Well wish no more because Marty Haugen and David Haas have teamed together to do to your taste buds what they have done to your ear drums. All of are flavors include nuts in fact just like the appreciators of modern liturgical music it is chock full of nuts.

Introducing Haugen-Haas Ice Cream!

	Dissimint Will dialogue with your taste buds and argue with you all the way down your throat. The cool taste of Dissimint will cause you to want to sign petitions and protest outside your local church. So rebel against against the flavors of dogmatic ice cream makers who think that flavors should taste like they traditionally did. Note: Your hair turning gray is not a side effect of Dissimint but an aid to help you fit in with other Dissimint eaters.
	Banana Schism Split Nothing says split like a schism so like thousands of others before you why not banana split off yourself. Why should your mouth answer to an old man in Rome? Martin Luther once remarked, “Every man is born with a Pope in his belly.” so why not feed your inner pope with the finest schismatic ice cream? Whether you are a progressive or a sede vacantist you will love the sweet taste of schism.
	Easter Sundae For Easter Sundae Christians that only go to church once or twice a year. The perfect ice cream for the uncommitted ice cream eater that grew up in an ice cream eating household and doesn't want to totally break with the tradition.
	Iconoclast Vanilla Stark white ice cream just like the interior of many modern churches. No frills nothing special just plain vanilla ice cream. Nothing added - no miniature chunks of statue shaped chocolates - just one hundred percent pure watered down white ice cream.
	Heretical Caramel Cone Chunks of gnostic body hating chocolates and new age crystal sugar pieces combined to be doctrinally impure for those with a palette that rejects orthodoxy and craves doctrines to satisfy both their itching ears and tummy!
	Liturgical Dancers Licorice Imagine the flavor of liturgical dancers prancing around your tongue with whips of licorice pompoms. Just like your worship experience your ice cream experience should be all about you. So dive in with a flavor that is just tutu good.

* Blogger credit to Bryan Jerabek of Quodlibeta for suggesting that I do something with the idea of Haugen-Haas Ice Cream.

Despite the noise and distractions

But with so much noise and distraction in American culture, it can be hard for young men to hear the voice of God.

Not for the Rev. Adrian Baranyuk or the Rev. Anthony Giamello. They began their life as priests in the Diocese of Wilmington earlier this month after years of discernment and training.

Giamello turned to the faith as a young Marine, when his chaplains saw in him a man of strong devotion who has been inspired by saints such as Padre Pio.

Baranyuk grew up in the Ukraine during the Communist era, when the practice of Catholicism could mean persecution and prison. He was taught the faith in private by his family and later served as lookout for a priest who secretly celebrated Mass in graveyards.

Their commitment shows God renewing his church, says the Rev. Joseph Cocucci, director of vocations in the diocese. Both are 29 and bring a youthfulness to a diocese where the average age of priests is closer to 60 than 30. Across the nation, dioceses hope for more men like Giamello and Baranyuk. The number of diocesan priests has been in decline from almost 36,000 in 1965 to 29,000 in 2004.

"Pope John Paul put it very well: without the Eucharist there is no church," says Cocucci. "Without the priest there is no Eucharist." [Source]

A Jesuit you can love

Here is an excellent article in The Tablet on Fr. Fessio that provides a good short biography on him.

Creating a religious left

It's one of the hottest trends in politics today. Prominent Democrats are suddenly quoting from the Bible - as John Kerry said recently, "I went back and reread the whole New Testament" - but what's truly striking is the determination of liberal Christians to create an effective religious left.

That's why Tim Simpson trekked to Washington this week. A Presbyterian pastor from Tallahassee, Fla., he wants to counter the power of the religious right, which works in tandem with the Republican party, and, as he sees it, "has taken control of the language of our faith ... to promote an extreme and divisive political agenda."

As religious affairs director of the newly minted Christian Alliance for Progress (which was unveiled this week at the National Press Club), Simpson said in a subsequent interview, "We decided we could continue to sit around and grouse, or we could do something about it." So this fledgling grassroots organization, headed by a trio of devout Christians with seed money from private Florida donors, argues that progressive values mirror the teachings of the gospel.

It's a Democratic-friendly message - the same message that the bestselling liberal evangelist Jim Wallis has been imparting to Democrats in private - and it's designed to close the God gap that has increasingly plagued the party at election time. It's also a priority message for ex-Clinton White House aide John Podesta, whose think tank, Center for American Progress, has been hosting events this year for people of faith. [Source]

Proving once again that they just don't get it. Wrapping up some "values" like abortion, homosexual marriage, sex outside of marriage without consequence in religion will fool some but not all. These are the same arguments used about liberal talk radio that if only they had access to the markets and people could hear their message that they would be successful. In this case it is not the medium but the message that is the problem.

Caption Contest

A woman has been ordained as a priest in a secret ceremony in central Europe as an act of defiance against the Roman Catholic Church.

The woman who was "ordained" does not want to be identified

Three years ago, the Vatican moved decisively against an international movement for the ordination of women when it excommunicated the so-called Danube Seven.

Seven women had claimed the status of priests after a form of ordination ceremony held on a boat moored on the river Danube.

Now a similar ceremony has taken place in a private chapel in central Europe.

BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents Crossing Europe witnessed the event but only on condition the programme does not reveal the exact location or the identity of the young woman.

The unofficial ordination comes just two months after the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI who is known for his traditional views.

In the case of the Danube Seven, it was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict - who declared that since the women gave no indication of repentance "for the most serious offence they have committed, they have incurred excommunication". [Source]

I wonder why she doesn't want to be identified? Is it to keep from being formally excommunicated? If that is the reason it is rather ironic to not accept the authority of the Church that it can not ordain women and at the same time accept it's authority that you can be excommunicated.

How about a caption contest for this one? I will get it started with.

"Women ordains character from 8-bit Nintendo game"

Clothing Inquisition

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 2005--True Religion Apparel Inc. (OTCBB: TRLG) today announced that the Company has shut down a clothing retailer in the Northeast for selling counterfeit True Religion Brand Jeans. This investigation stems from the Company's aggressive stance on the selling of counterfeit or diverted True Religion Apparel, Inc. products. The Company has enlisted the help of investigators, local police and lawyers to shut down and prosecute clothing retailers, jobbers, street vendors, importers, and online vendors that sell counterfeit True Religion Apparel, Inc. products in the U.S. and abroad. [Source]

I wonder if counterfeit True Religion clothes would be considered heretical clothes? Though in this case heretical clothes instead of being tortured by putting them on the rack will be taken off the rack.

Activists challenge oath taking in North Carolina Courts

GUILFORD COUNT, NC (Roto Reuters) Last week Guilford County judges rejected an offer by the Greensboro Islamic center to donate copies of the Quran prompting The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to appeal to the state's judges. The Administrative Office of the Courts will ask the opinion of the state's judges when they meet this week at judicial conferences in Asheville and Wrightsville Beach, said Dick Ellis, a spokesman for the office.

Presently anyone who objects to using the Bible to may take an oath by raising their hand and affirm to tell the truth.

This move has prompted the American Atheist Society to ask that atheists also be allowed to take an oath on an object that meets their approval. Dee Nygod, a spokesman for AAS, has requested that North Carolina courtrooms also supply and make available objects that respect the beliefs or nonbeliefs of atheists by allowing them to take an oath on for example a bowl of primordial soup. "To us life could be called sacred and so the means of the development of life would also be sacred. A bowl of amino acids charged with electricity from an AA battery would be quite appropriate. Alternatively a small machine that simulates the type of hydrothermal vents called Black smokers would also be suitable for for those of us who follow this model of the creation of life. Or perhaps a small meteor for those who follow the Fred Hoyle hypothesis of terrestrial microbiological life being seeded from an Extraterrestrial life source."

Pill Bill

ALBANY - The state Senate passed a bill that would let New York women get so-called "morning after" pills without a prescription - sending the controversial issue to Gov. Pataki.

The Democratic-controlled Assembly already had approved the emergency contraception measure, but pro-choice advocates had been worried about the bill's fate in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Senate GOP Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer), however, allowed it on the floor, and the bill passed 34-27.

Pataki aides said the governor would study the measure. Given his generally pro-choice record, advocates said they were hopeful he'll sign it.

"This is a triumph of science over politics," said Kelly Conlin of the National Abortion Rights Action League.

The Catholic Conference, led by Edward Cardinal Egan, is vehemently opposed to the legislation, which it noted carries no age restriction for those who want to get the pills.

"The senators would authorize the use of young girls as guinea pigs," said Dennis Poust, Catholic Conference spokesman. [Source]

Surprisingly the headline for this article was "Abort pill bill heads to gov." Pray for Gov. Pataki that for once he might actually follow his Catholic faith.

Miller Time for Catholic Seminary

Acid-tongued comedian Dennis Miller will replace Bill Cosby tonight at a major Catholic fund-raiser for Detroit’s Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Catholic officials announced this afternoon.

On Tuesday, Cosby caused a stir in the Archdiocese of Detroit by telephoning local Catholics concerned by the closing of 18 Catholic schools in metro Detroit. Cosby initially asked if he could meet with a group of the people trying to keep some of those schools open, before going to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dearborn to help raise funds for Cardinal Adam Maida’s seminary.

Then, Tuesday night, Cosby canceled both appearances for personal reasons unrelated to the dispute over Detroit’s Catholic schools.

Scrambling to provide entertainment for the $250-a-plate fundraiser, seminary supporters instead booked Pittsburgh native Miller, who became nationally famous as a sarcastic anchorman on “Saturday Night Live.” Miller also appeared in several movies and starred in his own recently cancelled cable TV show.

Miller is known for mingling conservative political views into his comic monologues. However, he also is the comic whose quip in April, upon hearing news of the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, has been widely repeated. At the time, Miller said, “Usually when I see a German guy on a balcony with an adoring throng underneath him, it tends to make me a little nervous.” [Source]

I occasionally caught parts of his short lived talk show and while he is generally conservative on some issues being that he is a 9-11 conservative, he is certainly no social conservative being both pro-abortion and for gay rights. He also seemed to take every opportunity he could to snipe at the Church on the sexual abuse scandal. Not exactly the best choice to raise money for a Catholic seminary. I find him pretty funny most of the time if only he could come fully over from the dark side.

Update: Dennis Miller missed a flight and did not attend the fundraiser.

Personal Faith

Mark Shea has a great column called 'On "Personal" Faith' with some excellent insights such as "Personal things are not private; personal things are common."

When I ask what "forcing our beliefs on others" actually means, the reply generally boils down to "Talking about our beliefs in any way." The idea at work behind this notion is that personal means subjective, private, esoteric and inward.

That is exactly how the idea of personal faith has come to be understood. For a Christian this idea is antithetical to the Great Commission"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation." This is what happens when personal faith has been delinked from absolute truth and a subjective faith is not worth the effort of spreading. A personal faith that does not flow out into the common life is no faith at all because you have lost the faith that it is true and worth having.

I Love my Governor

Embryonic stem cells form during the early days after conception and can turn into any tissue in the body. Many scientists hope to one day harness them to grow replacement tissue to treat diabetes, spinal cord injuries and other diseases.

But prominent social conservatives, including President Bush and the Roman Catholic Church, are against the research because days-old embryos are destroyed. On Tuesday, the president's brother said he agreed.

"I'm opposed to it," the Florida governor told a small group of reporters. "Taking a human life to save life is a huge contradiction morally." [Source]

St. Gabriel Possenti Society

ARLINGTON, Va., June 22 /Christian Wire Service/ -- As the Nation's Roman Catholic bishops concluded their biannual meeting in Chicago this past weekend, a gathering of lay Catholic firearm rights enthusiasts celebrated Father's Day with a shooting tournament in suburban Washington, D.C., John Michael Snyder, Founder/Chairman of the St. Gabriel Possenti Society, Inc., noted here today.

Snyder joined John Aquilino and Chris Carroll, founders of the Catholic Sportsmen's Organization (CSO), and over 50 competitors for the 6th Annual Father's Day Classic Sporting Clays Tournament at the Prince George's County Trap and Skeet Center in Glenn Dale, Maryland for the CSO-sponsored event. All proceeds from the event are used to benefit local youth organizations.

The international St. Gabriel Possenti Society (www.gunsaint.com) is named for St. Gabriel Possenti, a seminarian who rescued villagers of Isola del Gran Sasso, Italy from a gang of terrorists in 1860 with a striking, one-shot, lizard-slaying demonstration of handgun marksmanship. Possenti died in 1862. Pope Benedict XV canonized him in 1920. Snyder seeks Possenti's official Vatican designation as Patron of Handgunners. He is the author of a book, GUN SAINT, a biography of Possenti published by Telum Associates, LLC that details the history of the Gun Saint movement.

The interdenominational St. Gabriel Possenti Society underscores the historical, philosophical and theological bases for the doctrine of legitimate self-defense. [Source]

Love, Honor, and Kill

From Liberty Files in response to the inscription on Terry Schiavo's tombstone that says "Departed this Earth on February 25, 1990"

I can understand if someone has an inappropriate or controversial message on their own gravestone. Sometimes people are hopelessly screwed up and want to leave stupid messages that will preserve their image as a boob into perpetuity. But doing it to someone else's gravestone when you are widely believed to have unclean hands in their treatment is grotesque.

Michael Schiavo lists her date of death as the date of her collapse on February 26, 1990, and that she finally met peace in 2005, after being "peacefully" dehydrated to death, of course. So is Michael admitting that the few years he kept her alive in order to collect on a medical malpractice verdict was a deliberate denial of peace to make some money? And just so it's clear, you get more money if the person is alive and incapacitated than if they are dead, because you can recover the future costs of care, which are exorbitant, especially when you promise that you will completely rehab the patient.

The final line on the marker states "I Kept My Promise." But to which promise is he referring? The one mentioned above that he made to the jury which was the basis for their award? The promise to remain faithful to her in sickness and in health? All that twaddle about love, honor, cherish? If anyone has a clue which one of those, or any other I may have missed, was kept, please let me know so that I can appropriately credit him.

This obscene placard is Michael's final insult to Terri and to her parents. And it confirms that Michael is truly possessed of a depraved heart, capable of singularly unfathomable acts of evil that defy comprehension. It's like allowing Scott Peterson to write the epitaph for Laci.

But it a fitting epilogue to this very sad story. Because Terri's story was never really about her. It was, like this marker, about Michael Schiavo. Terri was unloved in health, abandoned except for her financial value to Michael in sickness, a memorial to Michael's neglect in her decline, and a snicker to her family who loved her in her death.

The Schindlers need not visit the gravesite where their daughter's ashes lie and where a cruel marker mocks the open wounds of their hearts. Terri is not there. She is elsewhere. Far from the grasp of the man whom she condescended to marry.

May her soul leap with joy in the presence of her Creator. And may Michael repent. Because I'd hate to face that same Creator giggling about that barbaric inscription. He's not laughing either. [Source]

Fr. Pavone also responds:

"Michael said, 'I kept my promise,' and therefore convicts himself of having killed Terri. Moreover, to say that she 'Departed this Earth' on February 25, 1990 illustrates the dualistic philosophy that Schiavo and his attorney Mr. Felos have. That statement shows no regard for the fact that a human person is just as much a body as a soul, and this hyperspiritual way of thinking justifies all kinds of physical violence.

"Such dualism has been condemned by the Catholic Church as a heresy. Any Catholic who does not renounce the kind of thinking demonstrated by Mr. Schiavo has ceased believing as a Catholic." [Source]

Using a tombstone as a polemic against her parents and then going so far as to make the tombstone a monument not to Terri, but to himself with the "I kept my promise" is unbelievable. Anybody viewing the tombstone in the future without knowledge of this sad episode would think the phrase was in regards to the person buried there not to the person responsible for putting here there. Since when do murderers get to write the epitaph? He should hope that his own tombstone doesn't read "Here lies a *$*# Jerk."

Voice of the Parasites

SouthCoast Voice of the Faithful members say the Fall River diocese is ignoring them because the lay group refuses to back church positions on controversial issues such as birth control, women's ordination, celibacy and gay marriage.

Local representatives of the Catholic activist group formed in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse crisis say representatives of Bishop George W. Coleman have effectively stopped talking with them.

A spokesman for Bishop Coleman denied the charge but refused to answer any media questions about it.

The local Voice members say they take no position on these social issues because their membership includes a diversity of opinion on them.

They say their sole goal is to help victims of sexual abuse, support priests of integrity and increase lay participation in church administration.

" They (diocese officials) were saying that by not taking a position, you're not supporting the church's position," said J. Christopher Boyd, a member of the Voice negotiating team and a member of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee. [Source]

The longer VOTF operates the more it outs itself as an organization that is the voice for anything but faithful. As time goes on they find it harder and harder to maintain the illusion of their agenda. Not that it was ever a very good illusion, but they did try in public to walk the line and not say anything against Church teaching. The majority of the leadership are nothing more than heterodox parasites that have latched on to the sexual abuse problem to further their goals. They have become a secondary infection. All this talk about priests of integrity is so much nonsense since they are more likely to fight against a truly faithful priest. They first awarded Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, O.P their Priest of Integrity award. He was also subsequently fired as an Air Force Chaplain for disobedience in not providing daily Masses. This is just so much nonsense about diversity of opinions on controversial items. They are only controversial because there are those that don't fully accept the truth of the Catholic faith. They would seek to be controversial when people became faithful - a word VOTF throws around, but knows nothing about. I think truth in advertising laws should force them to change their name. Voice of the Heterodox, Dissidents, Secularists, etc. Or they could be allowed to retain faithful as long as it was preceded by 'un.'

Too bad that the bishop's spokesman denied the charge that VOTF was being ignored precisely because of the positions it holds. This should be readily accepted and broadcast that dissident groups will be ignored by the Church.

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

From time to time I have documented some whacky orders of nuns and sometimes that included some Dominicans.

These are Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, Michigan which in 1997 started with four sisters and currently has 47 sisters and 24 Novices.

No not one of those infinitely recursive pictures but a groups of novitiates going through formation. This community formed around the Eucharist, prayer, and study is busting at the seams and is currently constructing a new Motherhouse to help house the growing numbers. They could have avoided these problems by doing what so many modern orders do. Just start practicing a creation spirituality, adopt a radical feminist agenda, and build a labyrinth or two and in no time they not only would have to worry about a crowded community, but could start to rent out rooms.

Senator condemns partial birth abortion

Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an American doctor describing what Americans had done to patients in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their patients."

Sen. Dick Durbin D-Illinois (Catholic)

Oh wait - I slightly doctored his quote. Sen. Durbin was not talking about abortion because he was talking about treatment of terrorists at Gitmo. Because he:

• Voted NO on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime.
• Voted NO on banning partial birth abortions except for maternal life.
• Voted NO on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions.
• Vote on a motion to table [kill] an amendment that would repeal the ban on privately funded abortions at overseas military facilities.
• Voted NO on banning partial birth abortions.
• Voted NO on disallowing overseas military abortions.
• Durbin scores 100% by NARAL on pro-choice voting record
• Wants to expand embryonic stem cell research.

Maybe if we can pass a law to move all abortion clinics to Gitmo and for abortion to be administered by the military. Then as a result we can finally get abortion outlawed.

Now I am not trying to be a relativist and to deny that possibly some acts performed at Gitmo truly come under a Catholic definition of torture.

"Whatever is hostile to life itself, such as any kind of homicide, genocide, abortion, euthanasia and voluntary suicide; whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, physical and mental torture and attempts to coerce the spirit; whatever is offensive to human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution and trafficking in women and children; degrading conditions of work which treat labourers as mere instruments of profit, and not as free responsible persons: all these and the like are a disgrace, and so long as they infect human civilization they contaminate those who inflict them more than those who suffer injustice, and they are a negation of the honour due to the Creator" --Gaudium et Spes

If Sen. Durbin had actually addressed and argued that specific acts as truly being offensive to human dignity instead of comparing the interrogations done by our military to some of the most brutish and hellish regimes ever he might have actually had some valid points. Instead he engaged in the worse forms of moral equivalency. It is just ridiculous that he can see removing a terrorist's air conditioning as torture and vote to allow baby brains to be sucked out during the process of birth .

Now I myself could possibly consider being subjected to the music of Christine Aguilera as torture and I am tempted the next time I ride a elevator and am subjected to Musak to file an appeal to the International Criminal Court or maybe the next time a hurricane causes me to lose air conditioning for days on end I might also have a case.

Jimmy Akin partially covered the topic of torture before.

Family forms '1 kidney club'

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - Karen Bryce had endured kidney transplant surgery once, and frankly, that was enough for her.

Her body ached as if she had been mowed down by a truck, but pain was a small price to pay for saving her daddy's life. Though he survived only a short time, Bryce never regretted being a donor -- not even when she became seriously ill several years later and was stunned to learn that her remaining kidney was failing. Now she was the one in need of a kidney.

Her sister stepped up, but Bryce said no. Her kidney disease was hereditary. She didn't want to let a relative end up like her.

Bryce decided she would get by on dialysis. But the three-times-a-week treatment left her too tired to work. Her skin turned gray, her weight dropped precipitously, and her two teen-age daughters (she's a single mother) feared she would die.

That's when she agreed to a transplant.

Her kidney came courtesy of a man named Jim. He was in his late 50s -- that was all she knew at first. It was hard to grasp that someone she'd never met was making this huge sacrifice.

"I did it for someone I loved and had no reservation," she said, "but to do it for a total stranger was beyond my comprehension. I just felt this person had to be an angel."

Jim Falsey, she discovered, was a Roman Catholic priest, a skydiver and a pilot who had also navigated the wilds of Alaska.

And he happened to be part of an extraordinarily generous family: They jokingly call themselves "the one kidney club."

Five members have donated kidneys. And a sixth now waits in the wings. [Source]

The clueless leading the clueless

The bishops have named Patricia O’Donnell Ewers as the chairwomen of the National Review Board. She was already a board member and last year Wayne Laugesen of the National Catholic Register wrote:

Patricia O’Donnell Ewers, an educational consultant who served as president of Pace University in New York from 1990 to 2000. She is a lifelong Catholic who attended Catholic schools from kindergarten through college.

On abortion, euthanasia, stem-cell research, cloning and homosexual “marriage,” Ewers said: “One of the questions asked me at my interview (for the board) was where I took public stances in relation to the Church, and I think one of the wisest things for me to do is not to take public stances on issues outside of those with which I will be concerned as a member of the board.

“I would add to that list (of non-negotiables) war and capital punishment — those are all major issues of concern. I think they should be on a list of any issues that Catholics who are thoughtful about moral issues of our time should consider.”

On support of pro-abortion candidates, Ewers declined to comment.

What in the world would be wrong with a Catholic taking a public stance affirming their faith? Go out into the whole world and keep your mouth shut. I guess the martyrs had it all wrong. Though it is all to obvious that this was just a dodge since her beliefs on one or more of these subjects are probably not faithful to the Church.

Leaving the board is New York City attorney Pamela Hayes who had replied.

“I’ve contributed to a lot of pro-choice candidates, and so what? So what?” Hayes told the Register. “What are they going to do about it? If they don’t like it, then don’t put me on the board. If they’ve got a problem with that, you tell them they’ve got a problem.”

So out of the whole Catholic population of the United States they can't find twelve Catholic faithful to the Church to be on the National Review Board. There Judas ratio is not just one out of twelve. They are more worried about public stances and not whether the person is faithful and understands church teaching. There seems to be more than just a casual relationship between heterodoxy and homosexuality and those who have committed sexual abuses. By putting people on the board that don't understand the Church's teaching on sexual morality it just about guarantees that any worthwhile recommendations will never be made. Though it is pointless to argue about the composition of the National Review Board since once again it was created in the first place so that the bishops could punt and give them something to point to that they were actually doing something.

Bloggers and books

The book meme has been the meme most replicating thus far and it does make me wonder about the connection of bloggers and book reading. I have not read any posts of relatively non-book reading bloggers where even the low end was in the hundreds of books currently own where usually the caveat was that they had given some away or were predominately using the library.

The responses to the meme have been interesting. I read one by an aspiring Dominican which has the most quintessentially Dominican answer that I have seen thus far.

1. How many books have you owned?

This is difficult to gauge because my books are located in three countries...

If books on three contintents isn't enough to get you into the Dominican order I don't know what is. As a caveat of course book reading should only be a foundation to preaching as is proper for their charism.

Sorry about that Mr. Augustine

As the nation's Roman Catholic bishops gathered in Chicago Thursday for a meeting to review their sexual abuse policy, Cardinal Francis George said homosexual men should not be admitted into seminaries.

George, who is archbishop of Chicago and vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in light of the sexual abuse crisis, bishops are paying closer attention to the sexual backgrounds of men interested in entering the priesthood. Part of the commitment is that a man is celibate when he enters seminary.

"Also, anyone who has been part of a gay subculture or who has lived promiscuously as a heterosexual would not be admitted ... no matter how many years in his background that might have occurred," George said.

I don't think a policy that would have excluded St. Augustine from the priesthood would be a good policy. This is the problem with a broad policy or zero tolerance ideas that seek to be seen as fair over being discerning and prudent. That seem to make a strait line moral equivalency between homosexual activity and sinful heterosexual activity. Both are gravely sinful, though homosexual activity is also gravely disordered. This is what happens though when those accepting men to the seminaries have not been prudent in their judgments in the past forcing some fit-all-policy to be forced into place.

The 1961 Document, “Careful Selection and Training of Candidates for the States of Perfection and Sacred Orders” was promulgated by the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for Religious on February 2, 1961.

“Advancement to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers”.

There is also suppose to be in the works a Vatican document to again address this topic and reports of the draft document say that it reiterates what the 1961 documents said.

The role, if any, of sexuality in the sexual abuse scandal is being debated. Critics have charged there is no evidence that gays are more likely to engage in abuse than heterosexuals. Others have said placing attention on homosexuality is a way of deflecting attention from bishops who allowed the scandal to unfold.

I always enjoy the unnamed "critics have charged" boilerplate that so often ends up in articles. Unnamed critics with unmentioned research or evidence is thrown in to "balance" an article. The fact that the overwhelming instances of abuse was in fact predominately homosexual ephebophilia is ignored which is why so many articles on abuse work overtime to ignore or not mention the gender of abuse victims. They never seem to get around mentioning why the introduction of altar girls did not create a spike in the amount of girls being abuse.

Bishops are expected to approve a broader definition of sexual abuse that covers priests who buy or disseminate child pornography, and they will be asked to approve spending $1 million in reserve funds for an in-depth study of the "causes and contexts" of the abuse crisis. The study is expected to focus on whether abuse might be related to homosexuality, celibacy and other issues. [Source]

The bishop's conference seems to be more and more a studyarchy. Go forth among all nations and initiate studies. Bishops don't have to lead or make decisions, they just inaugurate one more study to put off actually using their common sense and acting on it. To even consider celibacy to be a factor in sexual abuse is to buy in to the culture. To ignore that the discipline of priestly celibacy has not created this amount of sexual abuse in the past. To ignore that these abuses started to spike in the sixties and seventies which is definitely not when priestly celibacy was introduced.

Magnifcatch

A priest who used the power of prayer to hook a king-sized walleye last winter is now selling the fish that made him famous.

Rev. Mariusz Zajac is hoping to receive $200,000 to $500,000 for the catch, which became an ice-fishing world record and resulted in international media attention.

"It's not an easy decision to make. But I feel I have a duty," said Zajac, who was born in Poland and is priest at the Canadian Martyrs Roman Catholic Church in Carrot River, south of Tobin Lake.

"I could keep it for myself in my cabin to look at or use it for the good of others. I have already looked at it for the past six months, so . . . "

The walleye weighed 18 pounds and was 361/2 inches in length. The world record walleye for open water was caught in 1982 in Arkansas, weighing 22 pounds, 11 ounces.

Zajac, 43, was on the verge of packing up his rod and reel after a futile evening of fishing in January. He decided to recite the Canticle of Mary, a prayer of gratitude, and jig at the same time. Within minutes, he was squeezing a 22-inch wide fish through a 10-inch hole in the ice. [Source]

Shaking hands with a murderer

South Korean stem-cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk, left, shakes hands with the leader of the Roman Catholic Church Seoul Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk

SEOUL, South Korea - The world's leading stem-cell researcher, Hwang Woo-suk, said Wednesday he would push forward with his research while maintaining respect for human dignity after confronting Catholic critics who have condemned his work as unethical.

"I will take lessons from the great teachings and guidance," Hwang told reporters after a meeting with Seoul Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk. "I will not fail to meet the Archbishop's expectations."

The debate over stem cell research was rekindled after Hwang's team created the first embryonic stem cells that genetically match injured or sick patients - a major step in the quest to grow replacement tissue to treat diseases. Last year, Hwang's team created the world's first cloned human embryos.

...However, Cheong said Wednesday he was somewhat relieved to find out Hwang's research would be "complementary" to research into adult stem cells - an area supported by many opponents of the use of embryonic stem cells as an alternative that doesn't involve destroying embryos. Researchers, however, say adult stem cells are less versatile and are sometimes damaged by the health problems of the adult.

"I will pray for God's blessing for his future research," Cheong said.

I hope they misquoted the Archbishop here. Just because you are doing ethical stem-cell research along with unethical stem-cell research it certainly doesn't make alright. This is like getting half of your cadavers for medical research donated and then go out and kill some people to provide the other half as being no problem. God certainly can't bless research that involves murder.

"We can stop, at any time, embryonic stem cell research into areas where adult stem cells have proven to provide cures," she told reporters.

The archbishop has also expressed fears Hwang and his researchers may have heightened the possibility of cloning humans. Hwang has repeatedly said human cloning is neither the aim of his research nor a possible venture. [Source]

Excuse me? The doctor who is cloning human embryo's so as to provide an exact tissue match is not going to venture into human cloning.

Catholic Tooltime

Normally people reach for their toolbox to fix a leaky kitchen faucet, but the leadership team at St. Patrick Parish in Lawrence is encouraging parishioners to reach for the toolbox to build their faith.

Members of the team present a large red plastic toolbox to each household that registers with the parish. On the outside of the box are stickers that say “St. Patrick Parish Catholic Toolbox” in three languages — English, Spanish and Vietnamese — and inside are religious items including a Bible, Catechism of the Catholic Church, a wooden crucifix with a stand and candle, rosaries for every household member, and a children’s Bible for families. Materials for different prayers are also included. All the materials are in the language appropriate for the parishioner.
Parishioners who register or re-register at St. Patrick Parish in Lawrence receive a “Catholic toolbox” including items such as a Bible, a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a rosary for every member of their family. Photo courtesy St. Patrick Parish

Parishioners are also encouraged to keep other items like their family Bible, confirmation class items or baptismal candle in the toolbox.

“In our spiritual lives God really does give us basic tools to build our faith homes, to fix up our faith homes, and expand our faith homes,” said pastor Father Paul B. O’Brien, adding that the parish wanted to make these items available in the home of every parishioner. [Source]

This is actually a pretty good idea as a very basic Catholic toolbox. I would like the Tim Allen supersized Snap-On version. A giant red toolbox with room for a small library (think ancient library of Alexandria) or at least a laptop with a library of texts stored on DVD media. A built in kneeler would also be cool and some specialty shadow-boxed drawers for my Bible, Catechism, Liturgy of the Hours, and GIRM. Another drawer to hold various color highlighters for passage highlighting and of course a Holy Water dispenser. Now I would want some real tools also for those emergency Rosary repairs and gluing back on broken parts from various statues of Saints my pets have knocked over.

Understanding the person

Interesting article from Science and Theology News.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — When you hear the words “person,” and “personality,” the field of psychology probably comes to mind immediately.

It shouldn’t.

Not according to Philip Rolnick, a professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Rolnick is author of Analogical Possibilities: How Words Refer to God and a forthcoming book on the concept of “personhood.”

Long before these words were appropriated by psychologists, these concepts of “personhood” were rooted in theology. In fact, their meanings were central to early church controversies over the meaning of the trinity and the nature of Christ, said Rolnick, who spoke last month at a meeting of the North Central Program in Science and Theology.

“Personhood” matters because it is the pivotal solution to thinking about who God is and who humans are in relation to God. “Personhood is about identity, relation and intelligent dynamism,” Rolnick said.

Rolnick called the Judeo-Christian understanding of God as a person “our greatest contribution to the global conversation.” He said that Eastern religions have contributed the practice of meditation, from which Christians can learn about listening. “We need to learn to listen,” he said, “but they listen to the oneness — not to a person. We listen for a person.”

Early church leaders distinguished the three-person trinity and unified Christ’s two natures in one person, Rolnick said. “Personhood was a new use for a new concept. Christians were not looking for what they found. They were looking for a solution to the problem of the Father-Son relationship and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” he said. “In person, they found more than they were looking for. In making the search, those who made it transcended their limits.”

In thinking about personhood, Rolnick warned against mixing definitions. “Psychology has so dominated this discussion that we think we’re talking about temperament,” he said. “That’s not the same thing as the theological issue of person.” The task of defining personality is about “defining the indefinable because personality is not a what, but a who,” Rolnick added.

Theology cannot afford to yield the term personality to psychology, he said, because theology best conveys the meaning of personality as incommunicabilis, a Latin term for something non-transferrable. “Personality is unique and irreplaceable, and it is nontransferable, nonfungible,” he said. “The other is treasured as the other. There is a sense of destiny in its uniqueness.”

Because every aspect of human personhood — unity, freedom, dignity, will, intelligence, relationality — is more perfectly fulfilled by God than humans, Rolnick said, understanding human personhood begins with “the reminder that we are not its prime instance.”

Rolnick distinguished the Christian understanding of personality as a gift of grace that is “expansile and unified” from modernist and post-modern views that deny transcendence and, thus, deny personhood. He labeled Darwin, Nietzsche and postmodernism as “three heavy hitters against these notions.”

When you care enough to send your adulterous partner the very best

I first saw the following article over at Happy Catholic and a reader suggested that it might be something for me to parody.

A new line of greeting cards could help fan the flames of infidelity.

The Secret Lover Collection, created by Cathy Gallagher of Bethesda, Md., is made for those involved in an illicit affair, a niche she considers long ignored.

The collection speaks to the uniqueness of such relationships, giving lovers the opportunity to recognize holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, apologies, hookups and breakups.

One holiday card reads, "As we each celebrate with our families, I will be thinking of you." Another card laments: "I used to look forward to the weekends, but since we met, they seem like an eternity."

"These are for people who are in love affairs," said Gallagher, who finds inspiration in movies, songs and people she knows. "These are not sex cards. Those have been done."

Gallagher said she got the idea when she and her husband were discussing someone they know who was having an affair.

"By the time we reach our mid-30s we come into contact with someone who has had an affair," she said. "I researched it and found it was an untapped market. There were relationship cards but nothing about this kind of relationship."

The first thing you have to wonder if how this husband and wife team would feel about their own partner using one of the cards? I bet the words "untapped marked" wouldn't be used.

I have a few of my own suggestions for these cards.

Now of course adultery in and of itself is not a funny subject and cards to normalize this behavior tilts the slippery slope at a ninety degree angle. How about cards for spouses devastated to learn of their partners infidelity. How about cards for children's lives that have been traumatized from adultery and divorce. This is just sick that such a selfish act can be mainstreamed and honored by a greeting card.

Closeting Catholics

CHICAGO, June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Catholic Bishops of the United States gather in Chicago for their Spring Meeting, they will meet opposition to their pious homophobia. The Catholic Hierarchy in recent years has stepped up their attacks on the GLBT Community. The Rainbow Sash Movement stands shoulder to shoulder with our sisters and brothers in the Gay Liberation
Network as we condemn this rampant homophobia.

Rather ironic talking about attacks a week after members of the GLBT Community physically attacked a priest in the Cathedral a Notre Dame.

The Catholic Bishops have actively sought to deny GLBT their constitutional rights based on religious dogma.

Constitutional right to receive the Eucharist? Doesn't the Catholic Church have a constitutional right to have religious dogma and then act on it? For groups that are always talking about acceptance and persecution they are trying to drive faithful Catholic into the closet. Our whole society is trying to do the same thing by silencing those that believe that homosexual actively is gravely disordered. We only need to look North to see the multiple charges against Canadian Bishop Henry for his pastoral letter on homosexuality.

Mordor in the Cathedral

Clayton at The Weight of Glory has developed "Lord of the Thing."

Faster Pastor

A reader sent me a link to the following article.

JENNERSTOWN, Pa. -- Twenty-five men of the cloth will be vying for a different fabric tomorrow: a checkered flag.

Jennerstown Speedway is holding its first-ever "Faster Pastor" auto race, a novelty featuring area clergy as drivers.

"We expected that five or so members of the clergy would be willing to take part," racetrack general manager Larry Mattingly said. "We ended up having to cut off the number of interested pastors at 25."

In fact, so many clergy members signed up for the race that they'll have to share cars.

"That shouldn't be a problem with this group," Mattingly said.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. I wonder if there might be different theological driving styles. Some might believe in salvation by race alone. That all is race. They of course would not have a pit stop. The goal of most preaching is to avoid the pit.

I hadn't though of it this way before

Pope John Paul II, Catholic ChurchWhen people meet me and find out that I’m a Catholic theologian, it does not take long before they pop the question: “why doesn’t the Catholic Church have women and married priests?”

Now the fun begins. “There must be some mistake,” I respond. “The Catholic Church has had female and married priests from the very beginning.”

That is usually met with a blank, perplexed stare.

But really, it is true. In Exodus 19:6 God promises to make the chosen people “a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” The first letter of Peter 2:5-10 echoes this. And to show how seriously the Catholic Church takes this, the sacrament of confirmation offers to all Catholics an anointing with the sacred chrism that is used to confer only one other sacrament–the ordination of bishops and priests.

This is not to blur the distinction between the ministerial priesthood and the priesthood of all believers.

The rest of the article by Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio is here.

Low voter count is good news

ROME (AFP) - With a turnout of barely 13 percent, Italy appeared set to keep its tough assisted procreation law after the powerful Roman Catholic Church called on voters to boycott the two-day referendum.

The vote is seen as a first test for newly-elected Pope Benedict XVI, who backed a call by Italian cardinals for predominantly Roman Catholic Italians to abstain on moral grounds.

The appeal appeared to have its effect, with only 13.3 percent of eligible voters casting their ballots by 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) Sunday, in a vote in which turnout is key since more than 50 percent of the electorate must vote for results to be valid.

The low turnout left little hope for supporters of change. Experts say that at least 35 percent of the electorate must vote by Sunday at 10:00 pm (2000 GMT) for the quorum to be considered attainable by the close of voting on Monday at 3:00 pm (1500 GMT).

To explain their abstention, some Italians cited indifference, others referred directly to the Church's appeal.

"I am not voting because of the Church's appeal and I think many people will follow it," said Roman waiter Maurizio di Carlo, as he took a cigarette break from his busy Sunday afternoon shift.

"It's immoral," said Mario Bitonte, a 29-year-old from the Adriatic port city of Brindisi. "You can't have a referendum on life." [Source]

Amazing what can happen when bishops forcefully speak out on a subject - not to mention that the Pope also weighed in. Italians are not exactly know for voting lockstep with their Catholic faith anymore.

Oran's you glad?

Via Ignatius Insight is canon lawyer Dr. Edward Peter's article at Catholic Exchange titled "Another Look at the Orans Issue."

Orans is Latin for “praying.” In liturgy today, the “orans position” is the gesture whereby the priest extends his arms out from his sides, with hands open and facing up, during certain of his audible prayers at Mass.

The orans position (or sometimes, orante), is obviously different from the priest folding or joining his hands, and is prescribed for the celebrant at various points in Mass: for example, during the Opening Prayer, most of the Eucharistic prayer, and the Our Father. The “orans issue” is the recent practice of some lay persons in the congregation adopting this gesture as their own, notably during the Our Father, and introducing thereby, if nothing else, disunity in worship.

I remember it being widely reported before that the orans position was approved by the bishop's conference for the laity. Understandably there was a lot of confusion on this issue since the bishop's site left old information that this would be permitted with the new sacramentary. This did not happen and the information to this was not removed for a long period after the new sacramentary was approved (though it appears to be finally gone now.) There is more in depth information on this in the Nov 2003 edition of Adoremus Bulletin.

I think much of the postures used by the laity is like a game of Simon Says. They adopt or mimic what the priest is doing regardless of the posture (or lack of posture) specified in the GIRM. That in these days of radical egalitarianism that people feel left out if they are not engaging in the same posture as the priest. Like they were in an aerobics class following the instructor. More blurring of the lines between the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood. Funny how some are always talking about the priesthood of the faithful and yet are not willing to make any sacrifices. Too many have confused the call for "active participation" in the Mass by Vatican II with physical and not prayerful action.

Update: Jimmy Akin comments on the same article and makes the same observation I did.

Could it be . . . a desire to get the laity to imitate the priest and thus further blur the lines between the two?

And then goes on to quote a Vatican document that expressed the same concern. Read his post for the paragraph he quotes and what it means. There is a very powerful statement made about the non-ordained faithful to "quasi preside" at the Mass and he further comments on the weight of this document.

Interestingly he also does the same thing I do during the Our Father.

In my own case, I solve this problem by clasping my hands in front of me and closing my eyes. 99.99% of the time that takes care of the issue, though I did once experience an elderly woman using her fingers to pluck at my elbow in an attempt to pierce through my obviously meditative attitude and get me to Conform to the handholding she wanted to inflict on me.

No I don't get upset if this doesn't work since I realize the other person is simply ignorant of the fact that this is not an approved posture. Something you really can't blame most people for since it is so prevalent at many Churches (though fairly rare in my own.) But as I side effect I have found myself closing my eyes during many parts of the Mass and simply listening to be helpful for concentration.

Life in Solitary

In the photo, Agnes Long looks drop-dead gorgeous. She's on vacation at the Jersey shore with her husband. He is tall, tan and trim; she wears a zebra-stripe bikini, a floppy hat and sunglasses. The sea breeze has blown her platinum hair across her face and she is smiling. The picture says it all. In the mid-1970s, Agnes Long was a happily married, affluent, middle-aged woman with three children and a weakness for expensive clothes.

Today, Agnes Long is a Roman Catholic hermit. She lives alone in a thickly wooded section of Madeline Island, in northern Wisconsin. Her beloved husband is dead; she hasn't seen her children in years. She wakes before dawn, prays throughout the day, eats small meals, works outside, makes religious paintings, and rises in the middle of the night to pray. Although she sees people when she drives her little truck to the grocery store or to mass, she has no one you might call a friend. And though she answers her phone when it rings, she doesn't often engage in what you would call conversation. "I feel that my whole life has been in preparation for where God has me now," she says, as she slips the old photo back into the pages of her prayer book. "When you go into solitude, you find out who you really are."

Long's life may look radical, but she is following an ancient path. Christianity has a long tradition of hermits, dating back to the third and fourth centuries, when Saint Anthony and thousands like him fled the hardships of the cities for the desolation of the Middle Eastern desert. There they fasted and prayed with the sole intent of getting closer to God. They believed stringent solitude would help them glimpse heaven; the pilgrims who visited them said they looked like angels. These ascetics are known as the Desert Fathers, and there is not a contemplative monk or nun in the world who does not treasure their legacy.

In recent decades, the word "hermit" has come to mean anyone who lives off the grid, from Emily Dickinson to the Unabomber, and the hermits following the ancient Christian tradition have been found mostly living on monastery grounds. Now a tiny but growing number of Catholics—regular people like Long, with children, marriages and careers in their pasts—are embracing the hermit life as it was conceived in the desert 16 centuries ago. They are choosing solitude, celibacy and asceticism in order to focus full time on God.

To accommodate their life choices, some dioceses have recently developed guidelines where would-be hermits go through a rigorous process that involves interviews, psychological testing and counseling. In the end, after taking vows similar to those of a priest or a nun, the hermit lives in isolation but maintains an official connection with a bishop. The number of these hermits is probably in the double digits, but that's not the only route. Nine hundred people subscribe to Raven's Bread, a newsletter for people interested in the hermit life, up from 700 last year, and many of them are leading some kind of ascetic exist-ence, says Karen Fredette, who coedits the newsletter with her husband. Most subscribers are Catholic, but some are Protestant and others are Hindu, Sufi and Buddhist.

...But things haven't turned out exactly as planned. Agnes Long eats more meat than she intended, because her neighbors shoot deer and give her venison. She hasn't been East in years; she speaks to two of her three children infrequently. She still lives on her Social Security check, and gets considerable help in the way of little favors from the people of Madeline Island who pitch in when she needs to use a fax machine. It's a strange life. "The Desert Fathers say, 'Go into your cell and it will teach you everything'," she says. And for her, that everything is profound, indeed. A decade of solitude has taught her, she says, that she is as broken as anybody and that God's love is unconditional. [Source]

Pretty good article considering it is coming from Newsweek. No negative connotations about those becoming hermits. In my own diocese we have a mendicant brother who goes by the name Francis and I believe lives the life of a hermit. I often see him at Mass and I have heard from others that he will accept no money, only food. He wears a heavily patched habit made out of a rough material and he creates his sandals out of carpet fragments and carries a pack which probably contains a sleeping bag and a small tent. For me there is just something cool about seeing him at Mass or when I see him walking along the street when we are driving somewhere. A reminder of both the past and the present. A reminder also of those living a hidden life in contemplative prayer. Those that are intensely part of the Mystical Body of Christ that we don't often see.

Deliver us from ...

...At this week's gathering, the group called on God to bless the city, alleviate the smog and put an end to crime. And though the temperature was soaring close to 30 C outside, it was nothing compared with the passion heating up Committee Room 1 at City Hall.

..."We felt it was crucial to pray for those who have been chosen to lead our city," says Rev. Dexter Quinlan, a pastor of Danforth Gospel Temple, a non-denominational church. "It doesn't matter if we agree politically."

And according to Mr. Nicholson, the group's efforts have had effects, most recently on the swift passage of the municipal budget. "We prayed for quick approval of the budget because we knew how long it took the previous year," he says. Not long after, a committee chairman told him, "Your prayers must really work because the budget went through so quickly this year." [Source]

Lord save us from a prolonged budget approval? I would be more inclined to pray Lord save us from budgets period. But as for smog, "for now we see through the air dimly, but one day face to face."

I will strike the shepherd

One of my many worries is that some morning I will wake up with the urge to build a rosary of bowling balls in my front yard.

Laugh, clowns, it happened to a guy in Tennessee. Thirty-three AMF Black Beauties. Drilled. Seventy-pound-test dog chain between them.

“Jesus Christ,” said his neighbors. Exactly the reaction he was seeking. They’re lucky he didn’t do the gasoline stations of the cross. [Source]

Well that is one way to both slow down praying the rosary and to build forearm strength at the same time. Though if he drops a bead I hope he says "Hail Mary" instead of something else.

The 'A' Word

Comcast has refused to run a Catholic Social Services public service announcement on abstinence on several of its channels because the ads might be seen by children in the 6- to 9-year-old range, Comcast officials said.

A senior manager at the cable giant's New York City headquarters reviewed the Catholic agency's 30-second spot and determined that it was not appropriate for young viewers tuning into the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and the Family Channel. Comcast will allow the spot to appear on MTV, the Sci-Fi Channel, FX, the Comedy Central and E! Entertainment Channel.
The spot, entitled "Care Enough to Wait," is sponsored by ACTION, short for Abstinence Challenging Teens In Our Neighborhoods.

Arlene McNamee, executive director of Catholic Social Services, said she was rendered "a little speechless" by the cable company's decision to pull the ad from certain channels.

" Is talking about abstinence that controversial?" she asked. "We know that 9-year-olds are engaging in sexual activity. I wish I were making that up. And for the kids who are not sexually active, wouldn't it be good to reinforce that behavior?"

The spot does not feature any pictures, only phrases that flash up on the screen as they are spoken by teenagers. The phrases include, "I thought she was using protection," "I thought I would feel like a man," "I thought I'd never catch anything bad," and "I thought he wouldn't tell anybody." It ends with the words "Before you decide to have sex, do some serious thinking and take ACTION. Care enough to wait." [Source]

Cain Redux

Jill Stanek a pro-life nurse who had been in the news before for blowing the whistle on infanticide at Christ Hospital has a good pro-life blog and today talks about Embryonic stem cell research's best kept secret

..."Using stem cells derived from the patient's own spinal cord, a team of Korean scientists have revived the damaged part of his brain," reported Seoul, South Korea's Chosun.com today. The article added that 64 of 74 patients treated for various arterial and bone disorders with their own spinal cord cells showed "significant improvement without any signs of side effects" (emphases mine).

That's a great story (no one will hear about), but stop. What are the side effects? ABCNews.com added that researchers reported "no side effects such as immunity rejection during the therapy" (emphasis mine).

The best kept secret of ESCR is that it will fail without human cloning. It's all about the match. We're all familiar with this concept due to the decades-old bone marrow (one type of adult stem cell) transplant program. A key to treatment is finding an exact match between donor and recipient.

All these embryonic stem cell experiments that researchers are trying to get taxpayers to fund on the premise of treating just about every disease known to humankind will rarely if ever match recipients, because embryos are unique humans who grow their own unique cells.

This is why human cloning is so closely tied to ESCR. Only cloning will result in guaranteed exact matches. Just try to get rid of cloning - excuse me, somatic cell nuclear transfer - verbiage in legislation. Go ahead, try. They'll bite your head off (and probably steal your stem cells).

This is why we're having so much trouble passing anti-cloning legislation federally and in various states. To do so would cause ESCR to die in the petri dish.

So ESCR will not only be a form of cannibalism it will also be fratricide. That you kill your own clone for some theoretical cure. Sibling rivalry elevated to a new level in a survival of the oldest. Cain and Able in a petri dish. "Where is your brother conceived in the laboratory?" "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" The modern Cain's are also running from the presence of the Lord.

I owe it all 2 my pubwick skool edumacation

Your IQ Is 120

Your Logical Intelligence is Above Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

Chicago priest no fan of pope

From Matt Abbott:

Father Pat Brennan, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Inverness, Ill., one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago, is well known in both liberal and conservative circles. He's been around for some time, and he's no stranger to controversy.

In a 1997 homily, Brennan reportedly expressed admiration for former French bishop Jacques Gaillot, who was deposed in 1995 for, among other reasons, publicly endorsing use of the abortion pill.

More recently, in a May 2005 parish bulletin, Brennan wrote the following:

The Catholic publishing world, as well as Catholic universities, are [sic] reeling this week after the ouster of Rev. Thomas Reese, the editor of 'America' magazine for the last seven years. Reese was criticized by the then Cardinal Ratzinger for years for entertaining controversial topics in the magazine, as well as directly disagreeing with the cardinal.

Reese had difficulty with Ratzinger's comments some years ago about non-Christians being in seriously deficient religions. Reese did not find these comments ecumenically sensitive. Many knowledgeable people say that Reese was forced to resign because of the pressure coming from the new pope and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Thomas Groome, a friend of mine at Boston College and a theology professor said, 'Fr. Reese's removal must be interpreted as an ominous sign against open discourse in the Catholic Church.' Another theologian, Stephen Pope, said, 'This certainly is a repressive move.'

What we are up against is more restorationism rather than refounding the Church for a new age and time. [emphasis mine]

Arlene Sawicki, a former parishioner of Holy Family, says "... the use of the word 'refounding' means questioning every known doctrine and tradition of the Church, and setting forth a new paradigm for the Church according to the community's consensus.

"That may include doctrinal and liturgical dissent, and open disrespect for the pope and Magisterium. Father Brennan often refers to the Magisterium as 'those elderly men in long robes' — apparently they are too old-fashioned for his new theology."

This is from an interview with Fr. Brennan.

Herron: How can we help people to allow the Lord to control their lives, rather than the church to control their lives?

Brennan: It is a paradoxical sort of situation. When the imagination jumps from the need to control to surrender, that is a genuine conversion experience, at least it always has been in my life. The paradox that I am alluding to, though, is I really think you need a church, or at least a community of faith, to help you make that jump.

When I have been in grief, when I have been in mourning, when I have bouts of a depression or fear, usually it has been the influence of other people around me who perhaps at that moment have a deeper prayer life than I, that help my imagination soar to the directive images of Jesus. But I think we are then into another problem.

Herron: What is that?

Brennan: Churches that, rather than serving, than mentoring, companioning, enabling ministry, really do try to control people's lives. I fear that some churches are in an addictive pattern or a paradigm paralysis. They are stuck in that control, authoritarian model.

George Gallup's research tells us that people are not looking for that any more. The days of guilt, obligation, those motivations for church attendance and church membership, are over. People are going where they are spiritually fed and where they feel that there is community, where they can belong.

Herron: Father Brennan, do you think the church is changing today to accommodate those needs?

Brennan: I do. I think the Holy Spirit is moving us back to a truly Pentecostal Acts II church, but I think there is massive resistance, massive resistance at the top for some people who want to maintain control and massive resistance on the bottom where people like to be an audience but don't really want to be responsible for their faith.

I kind of enjoy progressive gobbledygook and phrases like "paradigm paralysis" or "directive images of Jesus" much better then hearing "listening church" and "open dialogue" for the millionth time.

When I was a kid, we used to close every mass with prayers for the conversion of Russia. I guess what I am suggesting today is maybe Russia is doing okay and moving along pretty well. We ought to pray more and more for the conversion of us, for the transformation of the directive dominant images, inter-psychically, in our churches and the society in which we live.

Oh well there is always Fr. Barron Chicago with his excellent site containing mp3s of his homilies.

Archbishop Chaput says Europe is forsaking Christianity

Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput waved a red flag before an -international audience Thursday in Spain, accusing Europe of growing religious intolerance and abusing Christianity.

"Europe has given the whole world the seeds of democracy," he told government ministers from 55 nations, according to a text of his speech. "Today's growing anti-religious and often anti-Christian spirit undermines that witness."

Chaput was among nine members of a State Department delegation led by New York Gov. George Pataki. The two-day conference, "Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Intolerance," in Cordoba, Spain, was sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

In his address, Chaput traced Europe's Christian roots and decried abandonment of that heritage by the continent's prevailing culture.

Secularism has been a growing influence in Europe. The European Union's constitution makes no mention of the continent's Christian heritage. There also is momentum to extend euthanasia laws and marriage rights to gay couples.

Chaput cited legal restrictions of religious expression and open contempt of religious symbols.

"Programs like How To Cook a Crucifix (a show aired on Spanish TV last December), and sacramental confessions recorded without the confessor's knowledge are deeply contemptuous of Catholic believers," Chaput said.

"This is unworthy of Europe's moral dignity and religious heritage. Furthermore, it stands in stark contrast to OSCE commitments to promote religious freedom."

Chaput said "an equally dangerous trend" was state-encouraged ridicule and intolerance of public expressions of faith, often derided as fundamentalism. [Source]

Pope Promotes Abstinence to Fight AIDS

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI urged African bishops Friday to keep up their fight against AIDS, reiterating church teaching that abstinence is the only "fail-safe" way to prevent the spread of the virus.

Benedict met with the bishops from South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Lesotho, all of whom were making a periodic visit to the Vatican.

"It is of great concern that the fabric of African life, its very source of hope and stability, is threatened by divorce, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking and a contraceptive mentality, all of which contribute to a breakdown in sexual morality," Benedict said.

The pope said he shared the bishops' concern about the devastation caused by AIDS and that he prayed for "all those whose lives have been shattered by this cruel epidemic."

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than 60 percent of the 40 million people infected with HIV worldwide. In March, a U.N. study predicted that more than 80 million Africans may die from AIDS by 2025 and infections could soar to 90 million - or more than 10 percent of the continent's population - if more is not done to expand prevention programs and offer better access to drugs that can control the virus.

South Africa has the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world, and an estimated 600-1,000 people die of AIDS there every day.

The Vatican's opposition to condoms has been criticized by those who advocate condom use as a way to help combat the spread of the HIV virus. However, several prelates have suggested that using condoms that could prevent a death may be the lesser of evils.

The pope did not directly touch on that debate in his remarks.

He did say that "the Catholic Church has always been at the forefront both in prevention and in treatment of this illness" and that "the traditional teaching of the church has proven to be the only fail-safe way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS." [Source]

I have never understood the lesser of two evils argument when it comes to condom use. If you are going to commit adultery, fornication anyway then go ahead an use a condom. Visiting prostitutes? Then use a condom. After all you are committing a mortal sin anyway so what is one more. This is like saying if you are going to rob a bank anyway please use a stun gun and say please on the note you give the cashier. This whole attitude places care of the physical body as a higher good then care of the soul. That it is better to commit a gravely sinful act to prevent damage to the body. This totally inverts Jesus' question "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" Killing the soul is not a lesser evil then consequently killing the body.

Blaming the Pope for AIDS

Michael Cook at TechCentralStation answers charges about Pope John Paul II being responsible for AIDS deaths in Africa.

But there is something absurdly medieval about making the Pope a scapegoat, as if the clouds would break and the sun shine if we thrust enough pins through a JP2 voodoo doll. Pinning such blame for the tragedy of African AIDS on one man is one of those ideas that is, in the words of George Orwell, "so stupid that only intellectuals could believe them."

Two doubtful ideas run through all these criticisms. The first is basically this: African Catholics are so devout that if they have sex outside of marriage, dally with prostitutes or take a third wife, they will piously refrain from using condoms because the Great White Father told them not to. Ms. Toynbee darkly invokes "the Vatican's deeper power... its personal authority over 1.3 billion worshippers, which is strongest over the poorest, most helpless devotees."

But she can't have it both ways: these benighted dark-skinned Catholics can't be both too goody-two-shoes to use condoms and too wicked to resist temptation. Journalist Brendan O'Neill -- who describes himself as an ex-Catholic who has jettisoned Catholic teaching on sexual morality -- sums up this patronising argument in the on-line journal Spiked: "The only reason you could believe the fantastically simplistic idea that Vatican edict = AIDS in Africa is if you consider Africans to be little more than automatons... who do as they are told" (8).

Superimposing maps of prevalence of AIDS on prevalence of Catholicism is enough to sink the link between the Catholic Church and AIDS. In the hospice which is Swaziland nowadays, only about 5 per cent of the population is Catholic. In Botswana, where 37 per cent of the adult population is HIV infected, only 4 per cent of the population is Catholic. In South Africa, 22 per cent of the population is HIV infected, and only 6 per cent is Catholic. But in Uganda, with 43 per cent of the population Catholic, the proportion of HIV infected adults is 4 per cent (9).

In fact, without the Catholic Church the situation might be much worse. The AIDS disaster in Africa weighed heavily on the Pope. Ten years ago he appealed to "the world's scientists and political leaders, moved by the love and respect due to every human person, to use every means available in order to put an end to this scourge" (10). And Catholics have responded. [Source]

The whole article is also pretty good and even though it isn't written from a specifically Catholic prospective the author noted "These statistics suggest that the true story may be quite the opposite to the tune sung by the media: that Catholic observance may, in fact, be the best prophylactic."

Cheek Tract

Peter at Catholicae Testudines has come up with a great Jack Chick parody. Just click next on each panel to read the whole strip.

On Belief and Disobedience

Interesting post on Belief and Obedience in regards to a sermon the blogger heard where the priest had said altar rails were invented to keep the Protestants from Communion. This blog Deus Volent is new to me though it looks like it has been around for almost a year and is authored by a student at Thomas Aquinas College (an oasis of Catholic orthodoxy in California).
[Via Holy Fool (another blog well worth checking out)]

The problems with blogs

Ignatius Insight has the latest article in a series related to blogs. This time Catholic bloggers were asked "What are the problems with blogs."

Fake legislation

Here is an editorial by Fr. Alphonse de Valk, c.s.b. from Catholic Insight

The bishops of Canada are letting the Catholic community and all of Canada down. The issue is the same-sex legislation, Bill C-38, now being pushed through by the Liberal (Martin-Cotler) government.

At the time of this writing, June 7, the media are telling us that the special legislative committee will produce its foregone conclusion approving the abolition of the traditional definition of marriage between husband and wife in favour of (any) two persons, by June 14-16. Third reading will follow immediately; the Bill will be sent forthwith to a compliant Liberal-dominated Senate for approval within one or two days, and then go to the Governor-General for her signature and enactment as the law of the country. That is the plan of Justice Minister Irwin Cotler and that is what the media expect to happen.

Member of Parliament Patrick O’Brien has resigned from the Liberal Party to sit as an Independent in protest against both the process and substance of this legislation, which will destroy the recognition and needed protection of the family and marriage. His was a courageous act. What we need now is more Catholic MPs to follow him in his determination to fight this bill which, as O’Brien points out, “far supersedes any personal or partisan political consideration.”

Pope Benedict is quoted in all the June 7th Toronto newspapers (Post, Globe, Star, Sun, Metro) under the headline: “Gay marriage fake: Pope.” He is also quoted on radio and TV. So it is not as if MPs have not heard what the Church has had to say. Moreover, Canada’s bishops from coast to coast have issued pastoral letters rejecting the legislation, and defending the traditional family as the building block of society.

What did the Pope say, exactly? The news items noted that Pope Benedict, “in his first pronouncement on gay marriages yesterday (June 6), condemned same-sex unions as fake and an expression of ‘anarchic freedom’ that threatens the future of the family.” Here is the text:

“Today’s various forms of dissolution of marriage, free unions,

trial marriages, as well as the pseudo-matrimonies between people

of the same sex, are instead expressions of anarchic freedom,

which falsely tries to pass itself off as the true liberation of man.”

In other words, Canada’s Bill C-38 is fake; it is fraudulent. Those who promote this legislation indulge in moral fraud. Fraud is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “criminal deception.”

That brings us to the question of how Archbishop Marcel Gervais of Ottawa can describe the chief instigator of this fraud, Prime Minister Paul Martin, as “a faithful member of my Cathedral parish,” to whom he will not deny Holy Communion. Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary has long since said that he, in good conscience, cannot give Communion to Paul Martin and politicians like him ( See C.I., June 2005, pp. 41-42).

Here is a Catholic Prime Minister who publicly rejects Church teaching on abortion—which the Church insists is murder—and by this stand, keeps his party fully devoted to the “pro-choice” cause. Mr. Martin then extends his enthusiastic support to an all-out attack on the family by bullying politicians to possibly acting against their conscience, and ramming through a measure which two-thirds of Canadians oppose, which Pope John Paul II condemned on eight different occasions in the last two years of his life, and which the present Pope calls “an expression of anarchic and false freedom.” But his bishop declares him “a faithful member of my parish.” To continue doing so, is this not a slap in the face of every truly faithful Catholic in the country?

Meanwhile, many other bishops, including Cardinals, remain silent about the Catholic MPs in their dioceses who publicly scorn the Church by voting and speaking in favour of Bill C-38.

All this happens during the celebration of the Year of the Eucharist. If we Catholics truly emphasized the simplicity, purity, beauty and holiness of the Eucharist, we would know how to defend it against those Catholics who spurn the truths of faith.

Disastrous choices

There has been more and more speculation that the Chairman of the DNC Howard Dean is going to be replaced at some point. After his latest comments that the Republican Party was "pretty much a white, Christian party." He has been increasingly criticized by fellow Democrats including recently Sen. Barack Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. John Hawkins of Right Wing News correctly calls him the human gaffe machine. Besides the irony of his latest dumb statement coming from a white man and self-identified Christian which is pretty funny coming from a man who was a Governor of a state that pretty much always has a "white" Christmas. I find it funny that of course Dean's counterpart Ken Melman is in fact Jewish and this speech coming days before Janice Rogers Brown is finally confirmed. Really none of this is surprising coming from a party where the word Christian is more and more a pejorative.

I really don't believe that Howard Dean is going to be let go though anytime soon. When he was elected he was a known quantity. There can be no really shock since he would put his foot in the mouth so many times that he has developed athlete's mouth. The Democratic party is known for sticking with disastrous choices. Terry McAuliffe headed defeat after defeat where each and every election was his Waterloo. Howard Dean is only channeling the Democratic Party and the things he says are only what many of them really believe. He view is after all no different than the editorial page of the NY Times. Democrats have embraced many losing causes and are loyal to those dragging the party down, so I really doubt that Mr. Dean we be shown the door anytime soon. Republicans of course have the opposite problem and will throw one of their members (or a judicial nominee) under a bus at the first possibility of things going awry even if not quite true.

The only caveat to what I say is concerning Deans fundraising capabilities for the DNC. So far they have been disastrous with the RNC have raised 3 to 4 times more money in the same time. Terry McAuliffe for all of his faults brought in the bucks. They might accept Mr. Dean in a tinfoil hat, but not if he bankrupts the party. I mean they have to have money to competively lose elections. Some have speculated that Howard Dean was chosen to make Hillary Clinton look moderate by comparison. I don't buy that at all. There is just no good political comparison to use of how this has ever succeeded and why anybody would think that it could. Howard Dean was chosen because many Democrats think he is brave for telling it as it is. There is no sticker shock - his quirks were already on the sticker for everyone to see.

But who am I to say. I am just a white Christian who has never worked a day in my life. Though I still think the graphic in this post explains it all.

Sacrament of Affirmation

Kathy Shaidle replies in part to Andrew Sullivan:

...Unlike pro-gay "marriage" activists, divorcees, birth control users and those living together outside of wedlock are not campaigning to have their sins magically transformed into sacraments.

Organized gangs of troublemakers have yet to storm a cathedral and demand that the priest bless their IUDs. Those whose marriages are breaking up are not insisting that the Church invent a new ceremony to affirm their ok-ness. [Source]

I do wonder what a ceremony of ok-ness would be like? The Rite of Affirmation or the sacrament of Christian cessation where one is giving the grace to continue to do whatever it is they are already doing. Choosing an applicable scriptural verse might be difficult. We couldn't have any of that "repent and ..." or "go and sin no more" stuff. Maybe we could add the Me-atitudes - Blessed is me. Instead of what happened in the the old rite for confirmation you would instead slap the bishop if he dared disagree with you. The bishop would then apply a suitable oil perhaps like Sunflower oil because it sounds so happy and self-affirming, though it would need to be maintained at a luke-warm temperature. Then of course you would take on an appropriate affirmation name like "Narcissus" or "O Kay". During the ceremony Sinatra's "I did it my way" would be played on a suitable instrument - anything but a pipe organ. The Sacrament of Affirmation would involve a special outpouring of good feeling from the person being affirmed about themselves. Instead of a Holy Card a pocket mirror could be given for remembrance of this special day. I really hope there aren't any liturgists reading this. If they are then this text is copyrighted with no permission given to reenact.

Catholic Journalism

Nancy at Flying Stars has been doing an excellent series of post's concerning Catholic journalism and specifically responds to an article by Tom Sheridan. Her latest brings up this interesting point.

As Dr. Thursday again points out, Saint Thomas Aquinas in his brilliant book Summa Theologica has a ton of errors in it. There is a tremendous amount of space in that book with errors and dissent all over the place. But St. Thomas is taking each error in it's turn, and then explaining why that particular position doesn't work. That is what a Responsible Catholic Journalist should do. Now if St. Thomas had presented the dissent and then the Catholic view, giving equal weight, or perhaps even more weight to the Catholic view, and then stepped back and said, "There you are. You decide." would that be helpful? The church has always been brave enough and bold enough to say, "We're going to give you the Truth, and the Truth is.....X" Maybe the Catholic newpapers of today aren't that brave. They think people are grown up enough to decide for themselves. People can decide things for themselves when they know what's right. But if they don't know what's right, how then can anyone decide? What feels good? What seems good? People today are longing for the Truth and no one is willing to give it to them. That's why people are drawn to the Catholic Church, if they seek answers, because the Church is basically the only place in the world brave enough to say what Truth is.

The Summa Thelogica does seem to me to be a good model for Catholic journalism in some areas. St. Thomas Aquinas would write opposing views on a subject that fully reflected the argument used to the best of his ability (which was normally better than those proposing the arguments) and then Sed Contra would answer them. Too much of what goes for Catholic journalism is missing the Sed Contra part. We need to see opposing views clearly stated and then why they are wrong.

Planned Parenthood ordered to repay state

Jefferson City — A circuit judge has ordered two Planned Parenthood branches to repay the state $668,850 in family planning grants, upholding a prohibition on state money going to the affiliates of abortion providers.

Planned Parenthood officials said the organization would appeal the ruling, issued May 25 in Cole County Circuit Court but first publicized Tuesday by the Missouri Catholic Conference.

The decision is at least the third time a circuit judge has determined Planned Parenthood was not entitled to the family planning money distributed by the state health department. The state Supreme Court overturned two previous rulings without ever addressing the merits of the case.

After Republicans gained control of both the House and Senate, they stopped funding family planning grants altogether in the 2004 budget. But the legal dispute continued over money previously awarded to Planned Parenthood. [Source]

There they go again

Nine women, including one Canadian and one American, plan to defy the Vatican and become the first female Roman Catholic priests and deacons ordained in North America.

The ceremony, which is not sanctioned by the Vatican, is to take place July 25 on the St Lawrence River near Gananoque in eastern Canada following a conference on women as priests at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Organisers consider the location for the ceremony international waters between the United States and Canada where no diocese has jurisdiction and thus cannot interfere.

"I only have my faith and my hope and what the global scene says to me that I believe it's time to take this step," said former nun Michele Birch-Conery, 65, who was ordained as a deacon last year in Europe.

She will be the first Canadian woman to be ordained as a priest next month.

"It is an immensely wounding part in our Catholic history to block women's ecclesiastical participation in orders. I think people have been closed to a deeper, fuller expression of their faith by having, in the hierarchy and levels of authority and decision-making, a male-only church," she said.

Fourteen women have already been ordained in similar river ceremonies in Europe in recent years and 65 others are planning to join their ranks soon.

The Vatican has refused to allow women to become priests and reacted by excommunicating the first seven women ordained on the Danube River between Germany and Austria in 2003 after they refused to retract their vows.

But, two of the women, Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger of Austria and Gisela Forster of Germany, were later secretly ordained as bishops by their male counterparts in the Roman Catholic church, insists Birch-Conery.

The two women bishops will perform the St Lawrence ordinations.

"This doesn't conform to the Catholic faith. Church teachings are clear: only men can be ordained," said Monseigneur Serge Poitras of the Apostolic Nunciature in Ottawa, noting that the former Pope John Paul II addressed the issue in 1994. [Source]

The really sad part is that some people will go to these pseudo-Masses given by these women and be deprived of the Eucharist as a result. They will also probably be declared excommunicated as what happened in 2002 on the last riverboat "ordinations." These women of course will not become priests. Waving your hands over a cat and pronouncing them a dog will cause no ontological change as in the case when men are validly ordained.

Dale Ahlquist

If you read Captain's Quarters or Power Line you are probably well know how bad the editorials of the Star Tribune normally are. About a month ago they hired Katherine Kersten full time who had twice-monthly written editorials there from 1995 to 2003. A couple of weeks back she was interviewed on the Northern Alliance Radio Network (made up of prominent Minnesota bloggers) and she talked about the types of columns she would be doing and mentioned one she was going to do on Dale Ahlquist who left his job as a lobbyist to found the American Chesterton Society. The article is now outand available here. If you had never had the opportunity to see Dale's show on EWTN about Chesterton called the "Apostle of Common Sense" you can hear the first season here. [Via The Seventh Age]

You can read other excellent columns by Katherine Kersten here.

Catholic Mormon Podcst

Here is another interesting Podcast by a couple named Sarah and Rob. Rob is a cradle Catholic who had fallen away and Sarah was a Mormon. They talk about their conversion story and also talk about both the Catholic Church and the Church of the Latter Day Saints. There show is very entertaining and presented casually and there is a lot of good information on what Mormons believe and contrasting that with what the Catholic Church teaches. They offer a lot of good advice especially for interfaith couples on how to deal with problems inherent in these situations.

Their site
RSS feed for podcasting

Discordant Symphony

When are they going to stop whining about Fr. Reese?

All editors come under pressure from proprietors, management, editorial boards and readers. In Tom Reese’s case, a small group of American bishops and conservative laity were not happy with the critical loyalty that characterised the magazine. As the Church’s doctrinal watchdog, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger began to take an interest, and in 2002 he wrote to the Jesuit General in Rome with a list of articles his office found offensive. If Tom Reese was to remain editor of America, the letter told Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, he must accept the establishment of a committee of three American bishops to review all material before publication.

The threat was not carried out at that time, but Reese was warned later that Rome would be watching carefully to see in particular how he dealt with the question of same-sex partnerships. When the doctrinal congregation’s observations on that subject appeared in 2003, denouncing “the legalisation of evil”, I looked to see what America would say. I could not find a single word anywhere in its pages. When I telephoned Reese in surprise, I found out what had happened. “I have to accept a huge amount of self-censorship now,” he told me.

I felt both saddened and alarmed. A restriction laid on America is chilling for all such media in the Catholic Church, including The Tablet. Lay editors are in a less vulnerable position than priest editors, but their responsibilities are not distinct.

...Only a truly pluralistic Catholic media can do justice to the symphony of voices and spiritualities, as wide as the world, that is Catholicism. Those who would prefer to have one single blast issue from all the trumpets will send many deafened concert-goers scuttling for the exits.

First off what in the world is a pluralistic Catholic media. Is this the belief by Catholic reporters that no single explanatory system or view of reality can be held? That all points of view are equally valid? A Catholic media that first and foremost does not accept the teaching authority of the Church is not really a Catholic media. Why in the world do some self-identified Catholic newspapers proudly proclaim that they are independent? Independent from the truth? When did being faithful to the Church become something to shun? I am happily dependent on both Christ's Church and its teaching authority.

Now as for the example given, a symphony is a good parallel to use. What happens when you have people playing their instruments off key or they play from a different score then everyone else? Obviously the music becomes discordant and unlistenable. A true symphony like the Mystical Body of Christ has everyone playing their own individual parts that when played together is melodic and supports the whole. We only have harmony when individual voices actually harmonize with each other. When people become their own conductors instead of following Chris's lead the orchestra becomes a bunch of individual soloists vying against everybody else to be heard.

I didn't know there was going to be a test

FOREIGN tourists requesting visas to visit Germany for the Pope’s first pilgrimage abroad are being asked searching questions about their knowledge of Christianity.

The measure by Germany is designed to prevent a wave of illegal immigration, especially from the Balkans.

More than a million young believers are expected to attend the World Youth Conference in Cologne in August, when Pope Benedict XVI will make his first papal trip.

Germans are concerned that the religious festival will be exploited by people because of their country’s fast-lane visa regulations.

The career of Joschka Fischer, the Foreign Minister, was damaged this year after he was questioned on television for 12 hours over visa rules that allowed an influx of illegal Albanian and Ukrainian immigrants, many of whom were said to have become involved in drugs and prostitution.

German embassies abroad have therefore concocted a scored questionnaire to sort out the true pilgrims from the would-be criminals.

The questions begin harmlessly enough. “Who were the first people?” and “How and when did Jesus die?” The seven deadly sins, judging by a straw poll conducted by The Times among young Germans in Berlin, are generally known, though often for the wrong reason. “I know them because of the film Seven with Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow,” a 26-year-old woman said.

For infrequent churchgoers, naming the sacraments proved more difficult, and a question asking about the types of sin baffled many. Describing God’s activity (or rather lack of it) on the seventh day of creation was regarded as a little too tricky.[Source]

And if you don't know the answer I wonder if you can just claim you went to a Catholic school during the seventies and beyond, surely they would understand. Though in this circumstance they could ask them a follow up question like how do you make a felt banner to verify that they are telling the truth.

Trying to invent a story

Barbara Nicolosi at Church of the Masses posts about an interview she had with a NY Times reporter.

James: So, in the last six months, there have been 37 pairings in the Times of the word "Christian" with words like "scary", "frightening", "theocratic" and "intimidating". My question is, what is it about Christians that makes you so scary?

Barb: (loud, snorting and sneering laughter) Are you kidding me?

James: What?

Barb: I finally get interviewed by the New York Times, and you ask me a question like that?! (more snorting and laughing)

James: (sniffs) Are you laughing because you think it's funny that people find Christians frightening?

Barb: No. I'm laughing because you want me to tell you why you and your friends are scared of Christians -- and I think you should ask your therapist!

As they say read the whole thing. It had me laughing out loud several times.

God-lite

Richmond, Va. — A new poll tells an old story: Americans are deeply religious, especially compared to Europeans. “Religious devotion sets the United States apart from some of its closest allies,” according to an AP-Ipsos survey. “Nearly all U.S. respondents said faith is important to them and only 2 percent said they do not believe in God.” Western Europeans are the “least devout” among the people surveyed (countries include the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Korea, and Spain).

I certainly found this to be true while working on my new book, Exodus: Why Americans are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity. In interviews with believers a consistent theme emerged. They believers rejected the God-lite of progressive Christianity. They desire the absolute God of tradition.

Writer Andy Ferguson encountered the lesser god while taking a class at a West Coast Episcopal seminary. Andy sometimes argued basic Christian beliefs with a professor. After one such discussion he repaired to the lunchroom, where he was approached by a fellow student. “We have finally figured out what your problem is,” the classmate said. “You are the only one here who believes in God.” Andy thought it over and concluded: This guy is right. Thus began a journey that recently took him into Catholicism. In economic terms he had switched brands. It’s highly unlikely he’ll be switching back.

Andy’s not alone. The most recent “Religious Congregations and Membership” study, published in 2000 (the study is conducted each decade) by the Glenmary Research Center, tells the statistical story. Progressive churches are progressing, it seems, ever closer to oblivion. The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (11,106 churches) has experienced a decline of 11.6 percent over the previous ten years; the United Methodist Church (35,721 churches) was down 6.7 percent; and the Episcopal Church (7,314 churches) lost 5.3 percent of its membership. Also, the United Churches of Christ (5,863 churches) declined 14.8 percent while the American Baptist Churches USA were down 5.7 percent.

The denominations showing growth included the deeply conservative Southern Baptist Convention, a collection of 41,514 churches, whose overall growth rate was 5 percent. The traditionalist Presbyterian Church in America (as opposed the mainline Presbyterian Church U.S.A.) experienced an impressive 42.4 percent increase, while the Christian and Missionary Alliance rose 21.8 percent. Meanwhile, the Evangelical Free Church was up 57.2 percent, and Pentecostal denominations also boomed. The Assemblies of God, with 11,880 churches, saw 18.5 percent growth, while the Church of God, with 5,612 churches, saw growth of 40.2 percent.

What is behind this traditionalist rise and progressive decline? The New York Times, in its summary of the survey, noted, "Socially conservative churches that demand high commitment from their members grew faster than other religious denominations in the last decade…." Glenmary director Ken Sanchagrin told the paper he was “astounded to see that by and large the growing churches are those that we ordinarily call conservative. And when I looked at those that were declining, most were moderate or liberal churches. And the more liberal the denomination, by most people's definition, the more they were losing."

God-lite is thin beer indeed. One group of theologians has whittled the traditional God down to 30 percent of his original power: He cannot affect the past or future and isn’t holding all that many cards in the present. This 30 percent god may not be powerful enough to fix a parking ticket. For many Americans he is certainly not worth rolling out of bed for on Sunday mornings. [Source]

God-lite indeed. I can almost see a commercial with two people arguing over God-lite. Less filling - No taste. The call to relevancy has made God irrelevant. Christianity with no commitment and no cross. A church that is but an echo of society instead of a radical call to holiness and love of God and neighbor. Instead of the rich theological banquet spiced with mystery we have received theological junk food that never quite looks like the picture it is advertised with. God-lite looks so good from the outside from the human perspective and leaves you with nothing to sink your teeth or your mind into. There was never no false advertisement with Christ who up front told us "to pick up the cross daily." The modern church advertises itself as having an "open mind" leading invariably to empty congregations.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you" -- St. Augustine.

Pope Catholic - Media Shocked

(AP) Pope Benedict XVI condemned same-sex unions as anarchic "pseudo-matrimony" Monday and reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to abortion.

Benedict repeatedly referred to marriage as a union between man and woman in an address to a conference of the Diocese of Rome on the role of the family held at St. John Lateran basilica.

He said matrimony was not just a "casual sociological construction" that changed in certain times in history but rather an institution that had its roots "in the most profound essence of the human being."

"The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man," he said.

The Vatican defines matrimony as a divine union between man and woman.

Wow that was a real helpful editorial clarification. Amazing how many times you could replace Vatican says" with "Jesus said" or "The Church has always taught" and have it be correct.

Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, spearheaded a Vatican campaign against same-sex unions in 2003, issuing guidelines for Catholic politicians to oppose laws granting legal rights to gay couples when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The former cardinal also frequently voiced the church's opposition to abortion — a message he repeated Monday.

Children, he said, were the fruit of marriage and reflected God's love for man.

"From here it becomes all the more clear how contrary it is to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman, to systematically close their union to the gift of life, and even worse to suppress or tamper with the life that is born," he said.

Here are some of the sample headlines for this "Pope Slams Gay 'Pseudo-Matrimony'", "Pope blasts gays, divorce in first speech" "First speech" since becoming Pope? Wow that must have been some speech with him slamming and blasting away. I think out of about 30 different headlines only one mentioned that he also talked about divorce and forms of heterosexual pseudo-marriage.

Here is some more information from the speech.

In a clear reference to contraception, the Pope said couples went against the nature of love itself when they "systematically shut off" the possibility of "the gift of life."

The 78-year-old Pope's wide-ranging speech, interrupted by applause several times, touched on themes such as human sexuality and freedom. It clearly showed his background as one of the Roman Catholic Church's leading theologians.

"The greatest expression of freedom is not the search for pleasure," he said, adding that society seemed to want to tear down the moral goalposts he said were needed for its future.

"Today, a particularly insidious obstacle to (moral) education is the overwhelming presence in our society and culture of a type of relativism that recognizes nothing as definitive...," he said.

Christopher has a Pope Benedict XVI roundup here.

Priest Magician

The Rev. Daniel Rolland is a magician and a Catholic priest - and he's able to do both at the same time.

" I'm a priest who uses magic to illustrate spiritual truth," said Rolland, a Dominican priest who on July 1 will begin a yearlong sabbatical from the St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center at the University of Arizona to travel the country and work on a lighthearted performance called "The Spiritual Magic of Father Daniel."

" Magic is a medium to convey a message. Reason is set aside," he said. "It touches on a deep level to remind us that things are possible."

Rolland, a 40-year-old Scottsdale native who became a Dominican priest at age 29, has been practicing magic since he was 8 and though mixing the priesthood and magic may sound like sacrilege to some, he has never found a conflict.

Rather, his magic has turned into ministry. He counts among his friends many neo-Pagans, including Druids and Wiccans.

" I thought it was just bizarre when I first heard about it," said Renee Schafer Horton, a 46-year-old Tucsonan who attends the Newman Center, 1615 E. Second St., with her husband and four children, ages 16 to 22.

" Then when I saw what he does. He does some really amazing things. He takes Christian concepts of forgiveness, redemption and new life and amazingly makes that into magic and puts it on a level that everyone can understand."

Rolland cuts ropes in half and makes them whole again. He turns on light bulbs without any electricity and has made fire appear and vanish. He asks a visitor to look at his hand, which he shakes until his solemn vows ring moves from his middle finger to his ring finger. His congregants have seen him burn articles about violence and suffering in the world and turn them into falling snowflakes.

" I like the way he is able to incorporate spirituality with magic," said 20-year-old Abraham Jimenez, a UA sophomore who also attends the Newman Center. "My favorite is the one where he uses rubber bands and talks about boundaries. I like what he has to say."

Holding two rubber bands - one inside another that he holds between his thumb and forefinger - Rolland moves the inner rubber band around, explaining that sometimes we get ourselves into situations when we think we are free but we're not. Boundaries prevent us from being all we can be, he says, showing that the inner band is is constrained by both the outer band and his hand. But then the magic happens: One rubber band appears to move right through the other and it is no longer constrained. Why? Jesus, he says, sets us free.

Rolland's Catholic faith weighs heavily on how he practices magic - he doesn't use any animals because he views any magic that makes animals disappear as a symbolic act of destroying life. Similarly, he will never saw anyone in half.

" It looks odd for a priest to be putting knives into people - it's an unsettling image," he said. "I want to be a positive influence for the church. The priesthood is part of who I am."

Indeed Rolland's magic is fun, but it's also a way to illustrate serious concepts from the Bible. The past two years, he has been performing his one-hour-and-15- minute spiritual magic show at local churches and for youth groups to a warm reception. His travel plans include a stop at the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day, which is in Germany this year. [Source]

He is not alone, there is also another priest magician Rev. Leo Goodman III and a priest ventriloquist Father Douglas Sweet.

The favorite trick of progressive magicians is "make the population of a convent disappear." Of course many modern church architects also give it a go with "make the tabernacle and kneelers disappear."

Consistency

1. Crucifix in a jar of urine - Art to be protected.
2. Elephant dung on a picture of the Madonna - Art to be protected.
3. Accidental urine over spray on a Koran via an air duct - High crime to be denounced by the major media.

The soldier who did this and who was subsequently relieved and sent to guard the gate instead should have claimed he was a performance artist.

A Legacy of Love

"Her last simple request was to pray the Memorare, take care of each other and love each other. She said that was the most important thing," said her daughter Francine Arey of Western Hills. "She was a beautiful, amazing woman."

Mrs. Perry died May 28 of heart complications at Hospice of Cincinnati in Western Hills. She was 90.

Born October 3, 1914, in Kentucky, Mrs. Perry was orphaned at the age of 4 when both parents died within months of each other.

Mrs. Perry was separated from her three siblings and sent to live in an orphanage. She lived there until around the age of 14 when she was adopted by George and Lorena Steele.

On Nov. 24, 1934, Mrs. Perry married Alfred Leonard Perry, whom she met on a roller coaster. She was in the front car by herself and Mr. Perry waited until the last minute to jump in and ride with her. They were married 55 years.

Mr. Perry and an infant son preceded her in death.

Mrs. Perry's family was her life. She raised 14 children and took care of everyone around her.

"She spent her entire life taking care of others, her husband, children, extended family, and friends that felt like a part of their family. She opened her heart to everyone," said Francine. "She spent her life working to take care of her family."

Devout Catholics, Mr. and Mrs. Perry said the rosary every night. Mrs. Perry made rosaries, too. She made one for every member of the family as well as for church missions.

She was a member of the Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Westwood.

Mrs. Perry loved butterflies, and on the day of her burial each of her 14 children released one monarch butterfly in memory of their mother.

"They all flew away and came back to the flowers on the casket," said Francine. "My butterfly wouldn't fly away; it stayed and was still there when we left the cemetery. She left us all feeling like we were the only child. She made each one of us feel special. Everything I know about love, I learned from her." [Source]

Clash at Notre Dame Cathedral

A PRIEST was slightly hurt at Paris's famed Notre-Dame Cathedral when clashes broke out between church security personnel and gay rights activists who performed a mock marriage of two lesbians.

About 20 members of the group Act Up entered the cathedral and proceeded to perform the mock marriage in front of baffled tourists and worshippers, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

One activist - dressed as a priest - pronounded the two women married, while other Act Up members chanted: "Pope Benedict XVI, homophobe, AIDS accomplice."

With security officials in pursit, they then fled the cathedral, but clashes broke out outside the Paris landmark, during which Monsignor Patrick Jacquin suffered a minor neck injury. He was treated at the scene.

The demonstration marked the first anniversary of France's first gay wedding, performed last year in the Bordeaux suburb of Begles.

The union of two men has since been declared null and void by the French courts.

Monsignor Jacquin said: "They are savages. I was pushed to the ground and trampled, kicked in the neck.

"It's a scandal for these people to lash out at me and the Pope."

He said he was considering filing charges against what he called "barbaric, odious and scandalous acts".

Surprising to see a Reuters headline that said "Priest hurt in mock gay marriage." Mock gay marriage is an exact description, of course they only intended this one circumstance. Homosexual activists often go from just saying they want to be accepted in society to trying to force their agenda on the Church. Tolerance is a one way street. It is also so ridiculous the charge about the Pope being a "AIDS accomplice." As if the Pope is really preventing these activists from buying condoms if they so choose. That people who are going against Christian teaching on the truth that homosexual activity is gravely sinful are going to pause when it comes to the Church's saying that you can't use condoms. This just doesn't apply to homosexual acts anyway since they don't become right by not using a condom. You just can't get anymore contraceptive than through homosexual acts in themselves.

In related idiocy.

Campaigners have penned an open letter to Bob Geldof in protest at his decision to invite the Pope to support Live 8.

The National Secular Society (NSS) is pointing to the Vatican's refusal to condone the use of condoms, saying it has helped spread HIV in Africa.

The society, which campaigns for religion to be taken out of public life, says it will create a counter-campaign of protest against any decision by Pope Benedict XVI to get involved.

NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood said Geldof should not have written to the Pope about attending the Hyde Park event.

He said: "Inviting the Pope to Live 8 would be a slap in the face for all those currently working to stem the spread of Aids in Africa. [Source]

DCR-100

My latest parody piece on the "Digital Conscience Recorder" is up a Spero News.

Mall Monks

The Rev. Myron Flax prepares to deliver Mass on Saturday to a packed house at the Catholic Center, a storefront drop-in site at The Citadel mall in Colorado Springs. (Special to Post / Chuck Bigger)

Colorado Springs - Just outside Mervyn's department store in The Citadel mall, a brown-robed friar bearded and smiling, waves to shoppers, with absolutely no self-consciousness that here, directly across from Corral West Ranchwear and the gum-ball machines, he is dressed like St. Francis in the year 1209.

The Rev. Matthew Gross, 69, is one of the "mall monks" - the five Capuchin brothers who staff the Catholic Center, their storefront drop-in spot at the mall. The friars are ordained priests who hear confessions, console the troubled, or simply chat.

These Capuchins are an order of Franciscan friars with a strict adherence to a vow of poverty and a tradition of contemplation. What are they doing in the cathedral of consumerism?

"We're the modern version of Francis in the marketplace," says the Rev. Curtis Carlson, 45, director of the center. He describes how the original friars of Francis' community in medieval Italy visited the plazas where people bought and sold merchandise.

The people are here indeed. The center has welcomed more than 100 visitors a day, on average, since its opening in November 2001. Many folks come for Mass - celebrated twice each weekday and once on Saturdays - in the center's 60-seat chapel. Noon liturgies are often filled to capacity.

...Poverty, obedience and chastity notwithstanding, the Franciscans maintain a spirit that appears, above all, to be joyful - playful, even.

It's a handy trait to have while moving through contemporary society in a hooded robe and sandals. Carlson laughs, recounting a time when he was pumping gas and a fellow customer called out, "Hey, did you just come from the Renaissance Fair?"

"No," answered the friar. "I'm the real thing."

"Cool," said the other fellow. "Accept no substitutes!" [Source]

I think it is pretty cool that the modern temple of materialism should have within it Capuchins with vows of poverty. I could also see some other religious orders setting up their own storefronts. Carmelites could have a shoe store called "Dark Night of the Sole", or maybe that would be too ironic for discalced (shoeless) Carmelites. Or maybe more appropriate would be Carmelite kitchen supply store since St. Teresa of Avila said "The Lord walks among the pots and pans." Contemplative nuns would make good salesmen in a kitchen store since they are used to speaking behind a grill. Dominican's of course would have a book store specializing in books 1000 pages or more. Possibly a St. Lawrence Barbeque supply store or a St. Joseph of Cupertino's store that specializes in model airplanes would also be in order.

Howard Dean Explained

This morning's NPR Morning Edition features an interview with Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean, who says he wants to reclaim evangelicals and Roman Catholics for the Democratic Party. This is possible, he says, by emphasizing that the Democratic Party is not the party of gay marriage or abortion. When pressed on this, Dean admits he doesn't want to restrict abortion or homosexual liberationism. Instead, he wants to show evangelicals and Catholics that the Party "has a soul" and respects the values of "people of faith."

In fact, Dean argues, the Democratic Party actually resonates with evangelical values because it cares for those who are "left behind." [Via Mere Comments]

With good ole Howard talking about how it "hates Republicans and everything they stand for" and recently that many Republicans 'have never made an honest living' you can understand why Republicans call him the "gift that keeps on giving." Boy is the pro-abortion PAC Emily's List confused in giving millions of dollars to the party that isn't about abortion.

I think the below is the only thing that can fully explain Howard Dean.

Ticket to Mass

I think I'm gonna be sad,
I think it's today, yeah.
The Cardinal that's driving me mad
Is not going away.

You need a ticket Mass
You need a ticket Mass
You need a ticket Mass
You need a ticket Mass
But he don't care

This is a rather strange introduction to a post, but that is what came to mind on Clayton's post that you need a ticket to go to the ordination Mass for five priests at the LA Cathedral. Closing the Cathedral to ordain five priests? Was there really going to be an unmanageable crowd for that number? Only one of the priests is a native to LA, while the other four are from other countries. In a diocese with the largest Catholic population in the US and has really such a low number of seminarians considering the demographic, why in the world would you close ordinations to the public? My charitable imagination strains at this one.

"To share the core of who you are"

At 10 a.m. this morning, Patrick Farley will don vestments, lay prone on the floor in front of the altar, and when Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted places his hands on Farley's head, he will become a Catholic priest.

The former cookie-sales manager then will embark on the path less taken as the Phoenix Diocese's first new priest in two years, a period of time that has seen close to a dozen priests retire, resign or be placed on leave.

When ordained, he will become the youngest, at 30, of the diocese's 230 priests. As many as half of them are retired or nearing retirement age. These priests serve 560,000 Catholics and an uncounted number of others who are not registered with parishes.
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"This is what I was made to do," Farley says of his decision. "I really want to be a servant of God."

"Giving back, being of service, that was always instilled in us by our parents," says Farley, the oldest of five children."

...The celibacy requirement for priests is often blamed for the clergy shortage. But Farley doesn't view it as a hardship. He dated before his "calling," but nothing clicked, he said.

"Everyone needs intimacy," he said. "That doesn't have to mean sex. To share the core of who you are, that is what intimacy is all about."

He said celibacy is "a gift" to the individual priest and his congregation, one that will help him do his part to reach out to the next generation of priests. [Source]

Interesting also that this diocese that was one plagued by scandals and was previously headed by the infamous hit-and-run Bishop Thomas O'Brien now has eight seminarians entering in the fall.

Holy Ordering

The Meandering Mind of a Seminarian is now "White around the Collar" as St. Blogs welcomes its latest priest. Congrats!

And a slightly belated congratulations to Seeker of the Way who was recently accepted as a seminarian.

Remind me never to get on Dale's bad side

Dale Price once again levels his considerable wit fisking article from the National Catholic Reporter. This time on Benedictine Arnold Sr. Joan Chittister. No small animals were harmed in this fisking, but I warn you not to read it if you have stitches anywhere on your body that you don't want to have pop out. It is also interesting how Sr. Chittister seems to have the understanding of some anti-Catholics since she repeat so many canards that you would think she was a disciple of James White.

Actresses fight Pope over fertility

IN ONE corner the Pope, in the other, a pair of stunning Italian actresses. It sounds like the start of a risqué joke, but what is at stake is the highly serious — and highly contentious — issue of Italian restrictions on fertility treatment.

This week Pope Benedict XVI stepped into politics for the first time since his election six weeks ago, endorsing calls to voters from Italy’s Roman Catholic bishops to boycott a referendum on the country’s fertility laws.

Addressing the bishops, the Pope said that easing restrictions on assisted fertility treatments would pose a threat to life and the family. The present law, passed last year, restricts the provision of fertility treatment to stable heterosexual couples and excludes single women or same-sex couples.

It also restricts surrogacy and research using human embryos, forbids sperm and egg donation, and limits the number of embryos created with in-vitro techniques to three.

The referendum, the work of liberals who regard the law as oppressive and fundamentalist, seeks to lift the ban on embryo research, remove limits on the number of eggs that can be fertilised, lift the ban on egg and sperm donors and remove language giving fertilised eggs full legal rights.

With a week to go to the vote, the walls of Italian cities are plastered with posters for the “yes” campaign, backed by the actresses Monica Bellucci and Sabrina Ferilli.

I guess Monica Bellucci who played Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ is now playing the pre-conversion Mary Magdalene.

Signora Bellucci added: “If I asked a priest or a politician how my body is made, how my ovaries are made or how ovulation works, he wouldn’t know what I was talking about . . . this is an issue for scientists and women.”

Well actually if you ask how your body is made you ask not scientists but God. They can for the most part tell you how some of it works, but not how it was made.

As for the Church, Signora Ferilli said that it had “no business interfering in private griefs and dramas, and certainly does not have the right to impose its rules on an entire country. [Source]

But of course actresses can.

Biology and the Priesthood

Sometime commenter on my blog Dr. Thursday started his own blog a little over a week ago and besides being chock full of Chesterton also covers aspects of science. Interesting also is that he mentions Frances Blogg the wife of G.K. Chesterton and I wonder how the Catholic blogosphere ever missed that great pun connection. Earlier this week he had an excellent post "GKC about the INTERNET" and today has a very interesting biology-theology-reflection on hemopoietic centers and the priesthood.

Assisted Suicide Bill Killed

An aggressive attempt to make assisted suicide the law in California is down for the count for this state legislative session and a key strategist predicts it may well founder even if proponents bring it to the voters in an initiative.

This was one of the strongest attempts to legalize assisted suicide this year and its apparent defeat heartened Catholics, disability rights activists, and advocates for poor and uninsured people.

"At the end of the day the proponents couldn’t find even twenty votes to publicly support this bill," Tim Rosales, spokesman for Californians Against Assisted Suicide, said of the eighty-person Assembly. "We had an overwhelming amount of the Assembly oppose this bill. As soon as they realized this was not about the right to die but about doctors killing people, support for this legislation evaporated as it always has."

The bill’s sponsors plan to use a parliamentary maneuver to bring the bill to the Senate but Rosales predicted that is a losing proposition.

"Through the good lobbying efforts of lots of grassroots folks, we have definitely convinced them they do not have the votes to bring it up," said Ned Dolesji, executive director of the California Catholic Conference. [Source Ignatius Insight]

Ratzinger's Rottweilers

Check out this new club at a fairly new blog "For Lack of a Better Term."

Hands-on Homilies

VATICAN CITY - No ghostwriter needed here. By most accounts, Pope Benedict XVI has been busy writing his own speeches as he grows into his new role as pastor of the world's Roman Catholics.

That hands-on approach by the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was a theology lecturer at German universities before becoming a

Vatican insider, sharply contrasts with his predecessor, John Paul II, who gave so many speeches he needed an assembly line of wordsmiths to produce them. [Source] [Via "Open wide the doors to Christ!"]

Well that is interesting. I would have thought based on yesterday's beautiful reflection that "Mary's visitation to her cousin Elizabeth was in a certain sense the first Eucharistic procession in history" that his speeches were ghostwritten. Holy Ghostwritten that is.

Speaking of the Holy Spirit, The Anchoress again has a great post. This one called The Holy Spirit stirs, then ravishes.

Drive-thru Church

Via Musings of an Expagan comes this "not a parody" alert.

This Sunday church service will take five minutes and you don’t even have to get out of the car.

The Metropolitan Church of the Quad Cities, 3019 N. Harrison St., Davenport, is sponsoring “Drive-Thru Church” from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday.

“ Just pull up in our parking lot,” the Rev. Rich Hendricks suggests.

He promises some humor in the offerings. Congregants, for example, will be dressed like anglers in tune with a fish theme.

“ This is a way to try and reach out to people who might not otherwise approach the doors of the church,” he said. “Some people don’t relate to traditional church services at all.”

The Harrison Street location prompted Metropolitan Church to choose Memorial Day weekend for the event, said Loretta Gamble of Davenport.

“ People will be busy doing any number of activities but we want to allow folks to have a moment or two, if that’s what they can spare, to think about worship,” she said.

Clowns stationed on Harrison Street will attract cars to the church parking lot located on West 31st Street. Drivers will be greeted by a team of three “anglers” and supplied with the daily scripture and a take-home homily. Prayer requests will be honored.

Everyone will be given communion, but this will be specially delivered in a tackle box, the minister said, in a clean bait cup.

A station will be set up for an informal church choir, and those interested may exit their vehicles and sing. Participants also will take home a special gift in the form of brightly-colored fish key chains or other accoutrements.

No cost is involved but a free-will offering will be collected with part of the proceeds going to AIDS Project Quad Cities.

While a drive-thru service is unusual for this area, Hendricks said his church is not the first in the world to do one. Congregations on both coasts have established drive-thru services and received national attention for it. The non-denominational World of Faith Family Worship Center in Suffolk, Va., relocated to a former bank building in 2001 and began the practice, according to Jet magazine.

The Los Angeles Times reported in 2003 that the Main Place Christian Fellowship, a Southern Baptist congregation south of Los Angeles, established a drive-thru facility in a former photo kiosk across the street from the main church. It was especially valued by unattached Christians, the newspaper said.

Gamble believes the drive-thru event is a creative way to disperse information about the congregation she’s belonged to for more than 10 years.

“ In our church, we believe that God created each and every one of us as good, and we celebrate that,” she said. [Source]

Make sure you also read John's comments on the story.

Just the though of a drive-thru service is bad enough and to combine it with clowns to attract "customers" is just bizarre. The road to horrific liturgy is paved with good intentions. It does make me ponder about a Catholic version of this and I have previously covered one aspect of this in my Jiffy Shriven post - which coincidentally was sparked by another of John's posts. First thing though is that Catholics would need to get their cars fitted with those hydraulic lifts used commonly by low-riders to raise and lower a car at will. By lowering and then raising the front you could simulate a genuflection. Mabye rewire the windshield wipers to wipe in the movement of the sign of the cross. I would think that saying Amen instead of honking would still be appropriate. Would they have an "Eternal Happiness Meal" for those kids not old enough to receive Communion or a simple blessing? I kind of like the idea of something like a St. Francis action figure being included with it or a St. Dominic action figure with reinforced knees for doing theology on. Or possibly a St. Catherine of Sienna action figure with removable head for veneration*. After receiving Communion would the priest ask "Do you want grace with that?" Would a more traditional drive-in Mass require a setup like a 1950's hamburger drive-ins where cars would park on a communion parking rail and the priest would rollerskate to each car bringing Communion? Besides since speakers at drive thru are so bad you would never know if it was in Latin or the vernacular so that would remove one contentious problem. Of course many Catholics are already selecting their theology like off a menu as it is now so for them it would not be too much to adapt to. So for cafeteria Catholics for ease you could have special Combos for common pairings "I'll have the #1 Social Justice special. That does come without condemnation of abortion - right?" It would be nice to be able to supersize grace.

*Lauren of Cnytr in an email exchange once suggested something along that line to me before.

Tobit or not Tobit, that is the question

TSO has an insightful post up called Knocking in the Dark.

Digging Joseph

Jimmy Akin the other day commented on the practice of burying St. Joseph upside down in order to speed up intercession in selling of your house. Matthew at Shrine of the Holy Whapping concurred that he "always found this one a little too much even for my appetite." I also find this practice to be a little bit annoying (if not downright superstitious) as if St. Joseph needed to be coerced into intercession. I mean if you feel that this tactic would really work then why not threaten to break of a finger each week until the house is sold? Or perhaps suspend him in a vat of hot Wesson oil or attach tiny electrodes to the statue. Wouldn't the Church's prohibition against torture also apply to the threat of burying statues upside down to elicit selling of your house?

The Internet and the Mystical Body

LONDON (Reuters) - British telecoms operator BT Group Plc has wired up a church in Wales to allow the congregation to hook onto local high-speed Internet connections when they want a break from the sermon. Britain’s largest fixed-line telecoms operator said on Tuesday it had installed a Wi-Fi wireless network access point, known as a hotspot, in Reverend Keith Kimber’s St John’s Rectory church in the city of Cardiff.

"The church has to move with the times and I wanted to make St John’s a sanctuary for everyone, including business people with laptops and mobiles," Kimber said in a statement issued by BT. "I have no problem with people quietly sending an email or surfing the Internet in church, as long as they respect the church."

Wi-Fi — a medium-range wireless network that is often rolled out in coffee shops and airport lounges — allows users of laptop computers and other gadgets to access fast Internet connections without having to struggle with wires and mismatched phone plugs. [Source][Via Musings of an Expagan]

Personally I go to church to help to avoid a hotspot, in fact a really really hotspot if you know what I mean. In fact the WWW that I am interested in at Mass is Worship, Worship, Worship.

In some ways I have thought about the internet in relation to the Mystical Body of the Church. We can see the saints in the role as routers that amplify and pass on our prayers. We can ping a saint for a special request. Everywhere we go we can log on via an IP address (Intercessory Prayer) and be confident that our prayers never bounce or get returned as undeliverable. Though maybe it would be cool to pray for someone in Purgatory and then have it bounce back with a forwarding address when they have moved on to the Beatific Vision. If only we realized how much grace that can be downloaded. The only problem with grace bandwidth is our own disposition which can serve as a bottleneck. In fact I find it quite annoying about myself that when receiving the Most Holy Eucharist that instead of opening up a Transubstantiation 1 (T1) line to Christ I am more like to get a bad dial-up connection especially if distractions are considered as loss of connection. Perseverance in prayer can be seen as continuing to try to log on despite connection problems.

One good thing is that God never spams us, though sometimes he sends things our way that we try to filter or delete like in the case of the rich young man in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. And the only thing he wants to enlarge is our life of faith.

I also wonder if lesser know saints have referral logs like Sitemeter where they can check to see how many intercessory hits they have had in the last hour. That they would rejoice in a spike of traffic since it means they get to help lend a hand in intercessory prayer. Though I also wonder if St. Anthony gets annoyed when the subject line again and again reads "Find something for me." I mean maybe he would like to pray for a special intention every now and again.

Bill requires ultrasound prior to an abortion

LANSING -- All women seeking abortions would be required to submit to ultrasound procedures under legislation being taken up this week in the state Senate.

The bill, pushed by abortion opponents, is the latest test of lawmakers' personal beliefs on the sensitive issue. It passed the House on a 69-37 vote last week.

Ultrasound would become an additional mandate in Michigan's informed consent law, which requires women considering abortions to receive medically accurate information before ending their pregnancies. A diagnostic technique, ultrasound produces a fuzzy, TV-like image of the fetus inside the mother's womb.

Doctors and nurses would have to offer abortion seekers the opportunity to view these images. The expectant mothers, however, would not be required to look at them.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose signature would be required to make the bill law, doesn't support it as passed by the House.

"It places government in the middle of people's most personal and intimate medical decisions, a highly inappropriate place for politicians to be," said the governor's spokeswoman, Liz Boyd. [Source][Via Chateau du Meau]

Well we can't have people seeing the reality of what they intend to do in an intimate medical decisions can we? A tissue mass can't be allowed to have identifiable human features. The rhetoric must never be allowed to be balanced by reality. Though even in unlikely event that (Culture of Death Catholic) Gov Granholm signed the bill you can bill you know a judge would rule it unconstitutional faster than you can say "undue burden". Though of course it would be a good idea to send some prayers her way.

Seattle Seminarians

Unlike other Roman Catholic seminarians, Bryan Dolejsi didn't grow up an altar boy or go to Catholic schools. He didn't throw himself into church youth groups. He didn't hear the call to priesthood his entire life, but rather, one routine day in college as he studied Chinese history in the library.

"It was definitely a very clear moment. It was just (God saying), 'I want you to be a priest.' I thought, 'Oh, that's weird. That didn't come from me,' " said Dolejsi, who had always assumed he'd get married and have kids. He had a girlfriend at the time, to whom he had to explain God's request of him to "love in a different way."

This summer, after a nine-year journey of prayer and self-analysis, Dolejsi will start his last year of graduate-level theological studies, at a time when the numbers of American priests and seminary enrollments have plunged to all-time lows.

Definitely not a factually correct statement about American seminary enrollments being at an all time low and the next paragraph says that Seattle's case bucks the national trend.

Dolejsi is part of a local trend bucking the national drift. He's part of a bumper crop of seminarians sponsored by the Seattle Archdiocese -- the highest number the local church has had in decades. At 30, Dolejsi -- a fan of ultimate Frisbee and mountain biking -- is also part of a new generation of younger men interested in wearing the collar.

...Soon after Dolejsi heard his calling, he told a woman at a party about his plans. "She said, 'You seem really normal to be doing that.' I thought, is that a compliment, or not?" he said, laughing.

"That summarizes the contemporary mind-set in general; it's seen as something that's odd, or a novelty."

...Rich Shively, the archdiocese's vocations director, attributes those changes to two factors: an increased local focus in encouraging young men to consider the priesthood, and a growing orthodoxy among young Catholics influenced by the long papacy of John Paul II.

"Our approach to vocations has been intentionally low-key and invitational," he said. [Source]

Wow I wouldn't think that anybody would boast that there vocations program was low key and invitational. I wonder just how many of the currently 35 (almost a triple increase in the last 12 years) seminarians considered their vocation because of low-key program Though it might be that in the case of Bryan Dolejsi that God was definitely not low key in informing him of his vocation.