I saw these silly headlines in the last couple of days about the Apostolic Penitentiary such as “Vatican reveals secrets of worst sins”, “Vatican Secret Confession Tribunal Opens up”, and even “Vatican body: Minnesota professor’s sin worse than genocide” in reference to P.Z. Myers. When it come to headlines and articles about the Church it seems that reporters are always in Dan Brown mode.
Fr. Z looks at one of the articles and replies.
A reader sent me this from the eulogy fort Robert Graham who made the controversial statue of Our Lady above the great bronze doors. He is known for his bronze nudes.
“It is very difficult to describe in our human words the beauty and grandeur of that lady. I remember when Robert had pretty well decided on how he wanted her to look, he invited us over to his studio; and he a small plaster image of what he had in mind and he had it covered. So before he took the cover off I closed my eyes. And he took the cover off and I opened one eye carefully, then opened both widely. And I said, Robert, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” And he said, “It isn’t finished yet. Don’t thank me. I said, “No, Robert, I’m thanking you because Mary is wearing clothes.” [laughter] [article]
I guess that would make her the Dressed Virgin Mary in this case.
I still think that statue is quite horrid. One of my commenters on first seeing it called it St. Sarek, Androgynous Vulcan Moon Goddess. I think he got it right.
Washington DC, Jan 13, 2009 / 11:53 am (CNA).- In his first lengthy article explaining his position after the election of President Barack Obama, Professor Douglas Kmiec is accusing “right wing Catholic bloggers” of distorting his position, attacking him personally, and potentially poisoning the relationship between the Holy See and the future administration of President Barack Obama. [article]
To be honest I was going to engage in character assassination of Prof Kmiec but I found his character too small of a target to be able to assassinate.
Okay cheap shot, but then again we are talking about Doug “It’s all about me” Kmiec. Recently Jay Anderson demonstrated how Prof Kmiec managed to turn a Fr. Neuhaus eulogy into a vehicle all about himself. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the Vatican poisoning Kmiec is concerned with was his chances of becoming Vatican Ambassador since the “right wing” Catholic blogosphere frequently fisked his Obamagetics (Oboma Apologetics). Here we are just a couple days away from President Obama putting pen to paper and eliminating the Mexico City Policy and poor Doug is all up in arms about us bloggers.
Now where can I get my “Member of the Vast Right Wing Catholic Blogosphere Conspiracy” bumper sticker? Surely I deserve one after my Stephen Douglas 1860 Kmiec satirical piece.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, do you have a church here in Washington?
OBAMA: Not yet. And so, one of the things that Michelle and I will be doing is probably visiting some churches and seeing what’s comfortable. It is tougher as president. You know, this is not just an issue of going to church, it’s an issue of going anywhere. You don’t want to subject your fellow church members, the rest of the congregation, to being mugged every time you go to church. And so, we’re going to try to be balancing, not being disruptive to the city, but also saying we want to be part of Washington D.C.
But one of the things that I don’t like historically about Washington is the way that you’ve got one part of Washington, which is a company town, all about government, and is generally pretty prosperous. And then, you’ve got another half of D.C. that is going through enormous challenges. I want to see if we can bring those two Washington D.C.s together. [article]
Translation: I haven’t yet found a predominantly black church where the pastor is not likely to get me into trouble.
On the other hand he seems to think that just by picking a church he can bring these two Washington D.C.’s together. Rather interesting is that his criteria is trying out churches to find which one is “comfy.” Yes the theological distinction of comfiness. Church shopping is of course a normal American pastime. To find a church where you can check off going to church on Sunday without actually being challenged in any serious way and if they have a Starbucks that’s a bonus.
Presidents not going to church services is nothing new. President Reagan said that he did not go “as regularly as I should. I suppose it’s true that a man can be religious without going to church.” His attendance before becoming president was spotty and as president very infrequent.
I bring this aspect up because I find it interesting the difference between the Catholic and Protestant view in this regards. While church going is mostly emphasized in Protestantism, missing one of the services for any reason is not seen as any problem. There is no service like Mass Times for Protestants so that they can make sure they go to a service when on vacation or traveling. Though of course when speaking of Protestantism it is always hard to speak of it as a block and possibly High Anglicans or some Lutherans, etc might take the Sunday obligation more seriously. But for the most part Protestants consider it no big deal if you miss church services. For the most part you can receive all of the benefits of a Protestant service by watching a comparable one on TV. The sermon is the main focus for most Protestants since there is no sacramental component that actually requires personal attendance. So why not just listen to the best sermon on a podcast or from your favorite TV preacher?
The virtue of religion is the duty whose purpose is to render God the worship due to Him. Here is a problem that Catholics and Protestants share is that we go on Sunday often with the primary attitude of wanting something for ourselves. We want good liturgy/homily/fellowship, etc or to be entertained and actual worship of God takes a back pew. While the desire of liturgy/homily/fellowship are goods they are not the primary reason for the Sunday obligation which has it roots in third commandment. Too often we become passive in wanting to receive something instead of uniting ourselves together in worship of God. To quote Kurt Cobain “Here we are now, Entertain us” can be used to describe what many people want out of Mass/service. The key to good liturgy/homily/fellowship, etc is that it helps us to worship God.
As atheist ads hit London’s buses on Tuesday, one faith-based think tank says they will only get people thinking more about God.
The ads by the British Humanist Association carry the slogan “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” They are to appear on 30 of London’s bendy buses.
The keyword here is “probably” which makes this rather a weak argument. If a theist tells an atheist there is probably a God this certainly would be rather an unconvincing argument. Atheists often pride themselves on relying only on reason and so I am a bit surprised they picked suck a weak slogan.
If you were told there is “probably” a bridge over the canyon you might not exactly stop worrying. If you were told there is “probably” no poison in your soup by the waitress it would certainly give you pause. If you have an eternal soul and can face eternal judgment, “probably” just does not cut it. Though there is no certainty for either atheists or theists.
…both the believer and the unbeliever share, each in his own way, doubt and belief, if they do not hide from themselves and from the truth of their being. Neither can quite escape either doubt or belief; for the one, faith is present against doubt; for the other, through doubt and in the form of doubt. It is the basic pattern of man’s destiny only to be allowed to find the finality of his existence in this unceasing rivalry between doubt and belief, temptation and certainty. Perhaps in precisely this way doubt, which saves both sides from being shut up in their own worlds, could become the avenue of communication. It prevents both sides from enjoying complete self-satisfaction; it opens up the believer to the doubter and the doubter to the believer; for one, it is this share in the fate of the unbeliever; for the other, the form in which belief remains nevertheless a challenge to him. – then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger “Introduction to Christianity”
The other aspect of the slogan I found interesting was “stop worrying and enjoy your life.” I suspect many atheists think that Christians and others spend a lot of time worrying about judgment and that it cripples them in some way, especially in regards to judgment. This is kind of the Stephen King view of religious followers where religion always distorts them in some neurotic way like the mother in Carrie. There are certainly those who suffer from scrupulosity and worry too much about judgment. If anything too many Christians live their life without thinking about the last things enough.
What the atheists can not understand or explain is the saints who give themselves totally to God and are the most joyful of us. Though they would explain the saints away as deluded. It is joy not fear that marks the true believer.
Atheists like the secularists (which include many believers that often act like atheism is true) often want to cure the symptoms and not the deeper problems. They would eliminate worrying and guilt if they could and forget that the person who has successfully done so is amoral and often a monster. The message on the bus is really about not worrying, but about not feeling guilty. Their focus is not those who worry about the economy and such, but those who feel guilt for what they do and think about judgment. To stop feeling guilt is to perform a consciencectomy. But it flows out of the atheist naturally since if there is no God, there is no sin and certainly no judgment. They can also not tell Stalin why to not act as he did. With no eternal consequences for actions what Stalin did worked for him.
It is not though that atheists can’t be good people, very often they are. Ironically it is despite their atheism when they are good and because of the light they are given by God and the natural virtues. There have been plenty of attempts by atheists to construct a morality without God that mostly amounts to getting along and prudent ways to go about it. It was Friedrich Nietzsche who truly followed the path of atheism and saw such an attempt as folly. But I guess “Beyond good and evil” just does not work as a bus slogan.
WASHINGTON – Many people like to stop and play with newborn babies, but now some adult women are playing house with fake babies.
Some women are even going as far as taking day trips with the fake babies to the park, out to eat, and even hosting birthday parties for them.
Forty-nine-year-old Linda is married with no children of her own. Now, she says she feels like a mother because she has Reborns — dolls made to look and feel like the real thing.
“It’s not a crazy habit, like, you know, drinking, or some sort of, something that’s going to hurt you. It’s like a hobby.and it doesn’t really hurt anybody,” Linda said.
These women are paying big bucks for this hobby, from $100 to a few thousand dollars. For Reborn owner Lachelle Moore, the fake babies fill a void.
“What’s so wonderful about Reborns is that, um, they’re forever babies,” said Moore, who has grown children and grandchildren. “There’s no college tuition, no dirty diapers… just the good part of motherhood,” she added.
In her Kansas City home, Moore even has an elaborate room for the dolls. She organizes birthday parties, bakes a cake and even invites guests.
Psychologists say there could be a problem if and when these women stop interacting socially with others in their life.
Psychologists say there could be a problem if … Thus sayeth the culture of death. I must say that my reaction to this story is that it creeps me out. Our society’s view of children as an inconvenience is bad enough and when a natural instinct towards motherhood is diverted in such a way the distortion is made more evident. Children now are seen as a resource-monger, as something that takes away from what you have. The comedian Gallagher and notorious watermelon smasher use to illustrate parenthood by putting a diaper on an anchor. I thought this pretty funny at the time when I was a young father myself, but this bit of comedy is now seen a the reality of parenthood and all of the joys of such mostly ignored.
Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, in the heart of San Francisco’s gay Castro community, was vandalized over the weekend by opponents of Proposition 8, the California resolution passed by voters in November that rejected gay marriage. Swastikas were painted on the church and the names Ratzinger (referring to Pope Benedict XVI) and Niederauer (the San Francisco Archbishop) were scrawled besides the Nazi symbol.
So you pander to homosexuals and become the most gay-friendly Catholic church in San Francisco and have at least five “married” men on staff and what do you get – vandalized. Bishop Niederauer gave Communion to men in drag and members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and wrote a rather weak letter to the homosexual community almost apologizing for Prop 8 and he gets labeled a Nazi. You just can’t win when it comes to homosexual activists.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue is asking Catholics nationwide to respond to this incident:
“In the wake of Proposition 8, innocent persons have been assaulted, churches have been vandalized, a white substance resembling anthrax was sent to the Knights of Columbus and to Mormon temples, supporters of traditional marriage have been branded Nazis, African Americans have been called the ‘N-word,’ houses and cars have been trashed, etc. Unfortunately, most of those in the gay community have been silent about these acts.
“Part of the blame for the latest attack goes to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Both Newsom and the Board have shown nothing but contempt for the First Amendment rights of Catholics. When crucifixes are sold as sex toys and Catholic sensibilities are assaulted by naked men in the street at the annual Folsom Street Fair, they say nothing. When gay men dressed as nuns show up at Mass-at the same church-they say nothing. But the Board was quite vocal about condemning the Catholic Church in 2006, something which led to a lawsuit triggered by the Catholic League and the Thomas More Law Center.
“For those who love to write about ‘root causes,’ let them ponder the guilt of these public officials. Moreover, leaders in the gay community show no leadership when it comes to denouncing incivility committed in the name of gay rights. This has got to end.”
Contact Mayor Gavin Newsom and ask him to finally condemn gay assaults on Catholics and other people of faith:
Using just anecdotal evidence I wonder if today’s Holy Day of Obligation is the least attended. Year after year no matter what parish I might go to on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God there is but half the people there you would see on a Sunday or some other Holy Day of Obligation.
I guess sleeping in after partying all night is preferable to actually honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary on her feast. Yeah it’s gravely sinful to miss Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation without serious reason – and a hangover is not one of them. The idea that missing Mass is gravely sinful is certainly not something you hear much anymore since it is one of those things that went-out-with-Vatican-II-but-didn’t-really-go-out-with-Vatican-II.
The parish I went to today is usually so packed on Sundays and other Holy Days of Obligation that you have to park in satellite parking and they have a couple of dedicated vehicles that can carry 40 some people to the front entrance. Today though no problem parking with plenty of empty spaces near the main entrance. I would be curious if this is something my readers have observed.
The lack of attendance only give bishop’s credence for transferring feast days to the nearest Sunday, a practice I abhor.
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 30 (UPI) — A teacher at a Roman Catholic school in San Antonio fired after she married a divorced man has filed a federal discrimination complaint.
The principal of Central Catholic High School urged Marquis LaFortune, 25, a week before her wedding in November to resign or to have her husband-to-be seek an annulment of his first marriage, options she turned down. She told the San Antonio Express-News that the firing took some of the joy out of the preparations for the marriage.
“I would have resigned if I’d felt like I’d done something wrong,” she said. “I couldn’t get out of bed. It’s just been this cloud. It was supposed to be the best week of my life, and I had to pull myself together for the ceremony.”[article]
“I would have resigned if I’d felt like I’d done something wrong,” – because how you “feel” about it is important.
LaFortune has filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Catholic Church is an equal opportunity employer and anybody who teaches in a Catholic school and tries to get remarried should be fired.
School officials learned of her fiance’s marital status from an article in The Pep, the school’s newspaper. She helped manage the paper.
Doh!
CAIRO – Egypt’s Coptic pope has banned the faithful from confessing their sins to priests over the telephone because intelligence agents might be listening in, a newspaper reported on Friday.
“Confessions over the telephone are forbidden, because there is a chance the telephones are monitored and the confessions will reach state security,” the independent Al-Masri Al-Yom quoted Pope Shenuda III as saying.
The leader of the Coptic minority also said confessions over the Internet were invalid because they might be read by websurfers.
“A confession over the Internet does not count as a confession, because everybody can look at it and it won’t be secret,” he said.
The Catholic Church’s reasons for not allowing confessions over distances is rooted in her sacramental theology. Every Sacrament is a personal encounter with the Lord in and through the person of the minister. In the Gospels every act of forgiveness was personal with the person present to him (with healing this was not always so.)
The type of reasoning above overlooks the fact that a confessional booth could be bugged and there was the case where a sacramental confession heard in prison was taped. In those cases of listening in would certainly not invalidate the confession, though it is certainly sinful and those people would be bound by the seal of confession. The same goes for an especially loud penitent when you can accidentally overhear a confession while waiting in line, in that case you would be bound to the seal of confession.
The sacrament of confession, also practiced by Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians, is normally a very private conversation between penitent and priest.
Unlike Roman Catholic confessions, Coptic confessions are done face to face.
Well actually Catholics can confess face to face also, though they always have the right to confess anonymously behind a protective screen.
Coptic Patriarch Anba Morcos said that people have begun to phone in their confessions.
“It’s a new thing; it’s been happening for the past four or five years,” he said.
That is rather odd that the question is just being addressed now. The Catholic Church answered the question shortly after the telephone was invented. Some people wondered again about this after the internet became popular, but the questions was really already answered. It is not about something being overheard or spied upon because you could use PGP encryption on both ends via email and have a higher chance of security than inside of a confessional. Confession like all of the sacraments is a personal encounter with Christ .
Morcos added that Pope Shenuda has also banned monks in Coptic monasteries from using cell phones.
Of course any personal telephone including a landline the monk used would be “cell” phone by definition.
