Jeffrey Miller

That was the case for one 24-year-old woman in San Francisco, who recently learned she has one of the high-risk types of HPV….

"I was scared, sad, disappointed and definitely ashamed. It seemed unfair that I should have it when I’ve had relatively few partners," says the young woman, who’s been sexually active for eight years and had four monogamous sexual partners, including her current boyfriend of two years.

	Jester Hat Tip:	Jill Stanek

"Monogamous sexual partners" is surely the oxymoron of the year. Serial fornication is now called monogamy. Though it makes sense since serial adultery is now called divorce and remarriage.

Wikipedia says: Monogamy is the custom or condition of having only one mate. The word monogamy comes from the Greek word monos, which means one or alone, and the Greek word gamos, which means marriage or union.

Mar. 16, 2007 (CWNews.com) – A noted Italian Church historian has denounced the opposition of the Catholic Church to the legal recognition of civil unions, and blasted Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news), saying that the current Pontiff is “worse than Pius XII.”

Giusepp Alberigo told the newspaper Corriere della Sera that Pope Benedict is afraid of modernity, “like a child who during the night is afraid of a ghost– when in reality there is no ghost, but only a shadow.”

In an article summarizing reactions to the release of the Pope’s apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, Sacramentum Caritatis, the historian charged that the Pontiff is trying to roll back the progress initiated by Vatican II. “It is a restoration that cancels a century of Church history,” he said. Alberigo argued that “it is difficult to find cohesion between magisterial documents and the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.”

I think it is pretty funny for a historian to basically charge someone for living in the past. This historian is afraid of the Holy Ghost who he would try to turn into nothing but a shadow. Because this is is what anybody who refers to the "spirit" and not the documents of Vatican II is doing. I think this historian needs The Rite of Exorcism for the Spirit of Vatican II.

Update: Fr. Seraphim Beshoner, TOR in the comments reminds me that this is the same historian who was "shocked" that the Pope would allow people to disagree on his upcoming book on Jesus and actually thought that this affected Papal Infallibility.

NEW YORK – It was a typical weekday afternoon at the Long Island Catholic Supply store in Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, N.Y. A few teenagers stopped in to get bracelets reading "WWJD?" – or "What Would Jesus Do?" – and adults hoping to sell their houses purchased miniature statues of St. Joseph, the patron saint of real estate.

What the customers weren’t buying stood out. No one stopped for a Pope Benedict XVI plaque or a Pope Benedict book, or by the cash register for a Pope Benedict commemorative coin.

"Nobody’s used to him yet," said store manager Kristine Leonard, 41, whose father runs the shop.

"He’s fresh meat out of the conclave," offered customer Hao Bui, 25, a member of the Knights of Columbus.

"You get to know them, how they imitate the Lord and you fall in love," added Maria Gonzalez, 47, who picked up the latest issue of the Catholic magazine Magnificat.

Then came a revealing answer from another store manager, Colin McQuade. "Pope John Paul II was an attractive man physically, and he was a smiling pope," said McQuade, 37, who has worked at Catholic Supply for 21 years. "Everyone sees Benedict and thinks he’s a sourpuss. But he’s not."

After John Paul II became pope in 1978, his youthful appearance and dynamic speaking style quickly won over Catholics, who gobbled up items with his likeness throughout his 26 years as pontiff. The same cannot be said for Benedict, whom many Catholics view as frail and out of touch since he was elected pope in April 2005.

Based the limited information available on religious merchandise, the poor sales of Benedict merchandise appear to be widespread.

Leonard and McQuade say Long Island Catholic Supply has sold only a few of the Benedict plaques, which cost $12.99. At the Catholic Company, the largest Catholic retail Web site, Benedict’s first encyclical – his letter explaining theological issues to bishops – does not sell nearly as well as those written by John Paul II.

Director Lester Young of the Popes Museum in New Brunswick, Canada, the only institution of its kind in the world, does not stock Benedict items in the gift shop because he’s "sure we won’t sell them."

"I’m a very small museum, so I cannot afford to just have stuff lying around," Young said. Do customers visiting the museum often inquire about Benedict merchandise? "Nobody ever mentioned anything. This tells me he’s not attaining people like John Paul did."

The comparison to John Paul is one being drawn by more and more customers. Every aspect of a pope’s personality has become fair game, from his age and physical features to his speaking style and smiling frequency. That Benedict lags behind John Paul in many Catholics’ comparisons isn’t surprising to Matthew Bunson, an author whose detailed papal portrait "We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI" remains neglected at Long Island Catholic Supply.

"He doesn’t have the kind of media presence that John Paul II did, and that doesn’t translate well into merchandise sales," Bunson said. "It’s important to remember that he is the successor to probably the most beloved pope of the last century, a pontiff who over the course of time will probably be declared a saint."

Among the clergy, Benedict’s poor merchandise sales also raise a deep theological question. Should a pope be measured by how well he markets himself, or how well he connects Catholics to the church? The Rev. Robert Imbelli, a theology professor at Boston College, said Benedict’s low-key style allows the religion’s true superstar to shine.

"This pope really wants to keep the focus not upon himself or even his office, but upon what the church should be about: the relationship to Jesus Christ," Imbelli said. "Quite honestly, I’ve never been a fan of papal T-shirts or mugs. That he’s not doing well in that category is not a minus, but a plus."

As dreary as the outlook is right now, many predict sales of Benedict merchandise will pick up in coming years as people become more familiar with him. In the months ahead, more Catholics may begin to appreciate Benedict the way Gonzalez does.

"He’s leading us in a way we don’t understand because he can communicate with God," she said, holding the Magnificat tightly to her chest. "He’s holy."

Some of this story does not jive with what I have read before. For example from earlier this year.

Deus Caritas Est, the first encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news), has sold millions of copies since it appeared on January 25, 2006.

The German- and Spanish-language editions of the encyclical have each been reprinted three times; the Italian version has sold almost 1.5 million copies.

For the first time in modern history, the Latin version of a papal document had to go back to press, after the first print run was sold out. Originally 1,000 copies had been printed in Latin.

Also not mentioned is that the attendance of the Pope’s Wednesday and Angeles prayers which have been on the upswing. Though how his popularity translates to merchandise sales is not really important (except for of course store operators). Another item not mentioned is that Ignatius Press had some difficulty in meeting the demand of books written by the Pope prior to his election. Several of his books were on the best sellers list of Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Pope’s first book to be released fairly soon by Doubleday will certainly also be a best seller. Surely the number of his written works sold is much more important than papal merch.

The Threshing Grain posts a letter endorsed by multiple groups of dissenters.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
00120 Via del Pellegrino
Apostolic Palace
VATICAN CITY

Your Holiness,
Every year on 25 March, the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholics around the world organize events to bring attention to the fact that Catholic women are excluded from ordination. This year will be the 14th annual World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination, and we expect that there will be over 25 events around the world.

They picked that day because their was no Feast of the Renunciation. The picking of this feast day is ironic on so many levels. Especially since one of the arguments against women’s ordination is that if Jesus had wanted women as priests than surely his mother would have been the first one selected.

In honor of this day, we invite you to lead the way in presenting a fair and equitable model of how women should be treated in our world by taking the necessary steps to open all doors to women within the Roman Catholic Church, including admission to all ordained ministries. We also ask that you work to renew church structures in order to involve all members in governance. By acting justly within our own ranks, we, the body of Christ, can affect society.

And I guess no women in the Church throughout history affected the Church or society without being ordained priestesses. I didn’t realize Teresa and Catherine were actually names of male saints.

On the same day that we celebrate Mary saying ‘yes’ to God, we are saying ‘yes’ to women’s leadership in the Church. Mary’s decision was conscious and deliberate, and it made her an active partner in bringing about the reign of God. By praying for women to be priests on this day, we embrace Mary’s spiritual power and her prophetic role in God’s plan of justice for the world.

If only they followed their own advice. Let it be done according to my will is their motto – the anti-fiat.

Because Mary is a spiritual leader and some even call her a priest, on 25 March we will pray for women’s ordination to a renewed priestly ministry. We will also pray for the difference that women in church governance would make by addressing the issues of social justice that disproportionately affect women, such as domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, HIV/AIDS, genocide and more.

Some even call her a priest? Now I have read a lot of nonsense from dissenting groups, but I never heard that one.

The exclusion of women and lay men from the full decision making and sacramental life of the Church is linked to these issues in that — while the impact has extremely different levels of intensity — the root cause is the same: male domination and sexism.

Women are not excluded from the sacramental life of the Church. Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Confession, Marriage, and the last rights are not exactly exclusion. Amazing how there are so many women saints considering that they were excluded from the sacramental life of the Church. But I guess they will argue that being denied ordination is exclusion. In that case I guess I am also excluded from the sacramental life of the Church. As I have said before just because I am married and have no vocation to the priesthood, why should the priesthood be denied to me?

As this day of prayer approaches, we urge you to open the discussion on women’s ordination and the need for change in Church structures. To bring our beloved Church closer to the gospel values that Jesus modeled for us, we need all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in women as well as in men, to be fully integrated into every aspect and ministry of the Church.

Exactly what part of no don’t they understand?

Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful. Ordinatio Sacerdotalis

Envoy Magazine once listed some future encyclicals which included.

Amen Amen Dico Vobis; Nihil Muliebrium Sacerdotum (Read My Lips: No Women Priests) Encyclical asking radical Catholic feminists what part of Pope John Paul the Great’s Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (on the reservation of holy orders to men alone) they don’t understand.

Rursus Dicam: Nullo Modo (I’ll Say It Again: No Way) Encyclical explaining the pope’s position on women priests even more plainly.

Thanking you for your time and consideration,

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Ireland

The Threshing grain also lists the names of the groups who signed the letter and details on an "inclusive Mass" (though not including orthodoxy) that will be celebrated mocked at San Jose State University.