Pope Benedict XVI and Greece’s Orthodox Church Archbishop Christodoulos
race to complete their entry in the first annual East/West Icon and Calligraphy contest.
A tense moment occurred later during the first East/West Dance. The Holy Father asked Archbishop Christodoulos to follow his lead. The Archbishop declined though he said he would consider him first among equals.
Via Deal W. Hudson.
On last night’s O’Reilly Factor, a young girl named "Kelly" courageously recounted the real life nightmare she endured at the hands of the late-term abortionist George Tiller of Kansas. When she was 14, she got pregnant and at twenty weeks along , her parents packed her in a car and they traveled from their home state of Maryland to Kansas since Maryland does not do late term abortions. Her graphic depiction of what occurred during the five day "procedure" under Tiller’s watch and the subsequent fallout from the experience — which included promiscuity, drug use, depression, and suicidal thoughts — was bone chilling. I recommend watching the video clip of her on last night’s Factor, which is not for the feign of heart I might add (her segment appears following a brief commercial). Lifenews.com also has a write-up on the show, if you prefer to read about it instead. This is a powerful personal testimony to the horrors of abortion and it should be replayed again and again until the barbaric practice is stopped.
Here is a transcript of the show.
There is no direct link for the video but you can go here and click on video next to the "Under Investigation" story.
Add one part Catholic Update and another part Dale Price and what do you get? Why of course another brilliant fisk.
I received a review copy of John L. Allen Jr’s All the Pope’s Men: The Inside Story of How the Vatican Really Thinks This is probably a book I would have probably never picked up due to the title. The title along with the subtitle to me seems a little off putting and possibly a very critical look at the Vatican. Though I generally do enjoy John L. Allen Jr’s coverage of the Vatican which normally is very balanced and informative.
I found the book to be a very interesting read. As a convert I have picked up little pieces of information here and there on how the Holy See operates along with the basic structure. The first chapter in and of itself is a good reason to read this book. Vatican 101 gives a broad overview of the Vatican especially the various dicasteries. An overview of the purpose and function of each of the dicasteries is discussed a long with various positions such as Secretary of State and other support offices.
The next chapter points out and discusses what he calls the Top Five Myths About the Vatican. Addressed is the fact that most reporters think of the Vatican as some cohesive whole or how they confuse a personal opinion of someone working in the Curia as "Vatican says." He also addresses who’s in charge, Vatican secrecy, Vatican Wealth, and the charges of the predominance of ladder climbing. All of this rebuttals to these are in depth and I especially found informative the section on Vatican wealth. He made the comparison that the Vatican operates at half the cost of Notre Dame here in the states and goes on to address the material worth of the churches themselves and the art within. All of the priceless pieces of art are itemized at $1.00 since they really can’t be sold.
Other chapters include Vatican psychology, sociology, and theology. The chapter on Vatican psychology covers what he classes as the Top Ten Vatican Values. I think his writing on this is very insightful on the values he picked out and a great aid in understanding how many in the Vatican see their service. There is also much discussion on the gap between how much of the Vatican sees things compared to other countries. The focus though is primarily between the Catholic Church in America and the Holy See, though much of the gap applies equally to most countries. America being on fast-food time think everything must happen at a lightning pace and think the Vatican should do the same. That whatever happens in the Church in America must become the Vatican’s priority despite the fact that the problem might not be be the same in the rest of the world. The last two chapters address the sexual abuse scandal and the war in Iraq listing detailed examples of this gap in understanding.
The book was apparently written while Pope John Paul II was still alive so some of what is in it is slightly dated. The book was reworked to mention Pope Benedict at times, but mostly this has no effect on the value of the book. One of the dated items I found funny was the mention of the fact that Pope’s don’t give interviews. True enough at least before Pope Benedict was elected.
I do wish most reporters covering the Vatican would read this book so they would have a better clue what they are reporting on. As a long-distance armchair Vatican watcher I found much worthwhile in this book as far as straight factual information and a better insight into the goings on in Vatican City. In short if you want to learn more about the Holy See and want a highly readable book to do it I can easily recommend this book.
Steven Riddle also gives this book a positive review.
Pope Benedict is delayed as he tries to pass through a crowd of camera hobbyists in Rome for a convention
Including their chapter from the North Pole.
A reader sent me the following story:
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Vatican City, 13 Dec. (AKI) – After a one day delay, due to a complex journey from southern Italy, a massive fir from the southern Italian region of Calabria has been hoisted into place in St Peter’s Square as the official Vatican Christmas tree. The 33-metre high white fir, a gift from the Calabrian regional government, is one of the biggest trees in the history of Vatican Christmas celebrations. Transporting the nine-tonne fir, whose trunk is nearly three metres in circumference, was no easy task. The pine stands in the middle of St Peters Square alongside a larger-than-life-size Nativity scene.
The tree, chosen from the Massicio del Garaglione Forest had to be carried down the steep mountain valley with a powerful Forest Rangers helicopter, before being loaded onto a long haul truck and carried by road to Rome. The tree took up most of the width of the Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway, where it was escorted by the forestry commission, the civil protection unit and motorway staff.
The pine procession caused intense congestion along the already difficult highway, forcing the convoy to halt regularly and allow other vehicles past. A trip which a car could cover comfortably in eight hours took a record 53 hours.
The late Pope John Paul II introduced the first Christmas tree to St Peter’s Square in 1982, four years after assuming the papacy. Each year, the tree comes from a different European country or region of Italy. Last year’s tree came from the Austrian town of Eferding.
The massive tree in the square this Christmas is not the only gift from Calabria. Another 29 pines of varying dimensions have been placed around Vatican City including one in the private apartment of Pope Benedict XVI.
That is rather interesting that it has been such a short time that the Vatican has had a Christmas Tree.
TRENTON, N.J. (BP)–A New Jersey school district violated the constitutional rights of a second grade student last year when it prevented her from performing the song "Awesome God" at a talent show, a federal district judge ruled Dec. 11.
The girl, known only as "O.T." in the lawsuit, was prevented from singing the popular contemporary Christian song at the Frenchtown (N.J.) Elementary School after-school program when the district attorney and school superintendent said the song’s religious content was inappropriate for the event. Previous talent shows had included students singing songs by Nirvana, Bon Jovi and Stevie Nicks.
Allowing "Awesome God" into the program — known as "Frenchtown Idol" — would have violated the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against government establishment of religion, the attorney asserted. But U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson disagreed, saying the school’s action amounted to viewpoint discrimination and violated the girl’s First Amendment rights.
In this day of euphemisms, maybe instead of using the word God they could say instead my significant wholly other.
Regal is giving theatergoers free popcorn and a gadget that lets them bust annoying cellphone users in the theater.
Regal is testing devices at 25 of its theater locations, handing them out to frequent customers and may roll it out nationwide in the next year if it proves successful, Campbell said. Regal operates 6,400 screens nationwide.
About the size of a pager, the gadget has four buttons. One alerts theater managers about a disruption in the audience, such as a fight over a cellphone.
A second button gives notice of faulty movie projection, a third button can be pressed if the room temperature is off and a fourth button, marked “Other” covers any other problem.
The device is part of Regal’s efforts to keep fans coming back to the box office by making sure they still enjoy the experience, even as the movie industry faces greater competition from other media such as the Internet or video games.
The blogger at Threshing Grain thought that I could adapt this story.
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The Mass Communicator is the latest in OLED technology with pictures on each of the six selectable buttons to guide you in reporting what you have witnessed at Mass. Simply select one of the buttons such as Liturgical Dancers, Stole Fashion Alert, GIRM, Guitar Mass, Homilies that have nothing to do with the readings, etc and follow the list of options till you find the one to report. Once all infractions have been entered simply select Send and the information is sent to us over the cellular network. We maintain a massive internet databases containing parishes and we track all the information reported by our subscribers. The Mass Communicator is not just for gripes though. You can report positive things also. Have you heard a homily that actually talks about the sin of contraception? If so click on the Homily picture and scroll down about 30 pages and select “Sin of contraception.” Common options are placed near the top and least used options are placed towards the bottom of optimal efficiency. Does you church actually have a tabernacle that you can easily find without requiring a hunting party? If so file a positive report. Each month our website gives reports of each parish with members that have the Mass Communicator. If several reports of the same type of problems are reported from a specific parish one of our representatives is sent to talk to the parish priest, liturgist, or music director. If this does not solicit results we will send one or two others (in the case of liturgists backup is always required and a special team dedicated to fasting and prayer). If again problems persist a respectful letter is automatically sent to the diocesan Bishop for you with specific references to liturgical documents. Our company follows Matthew 18 guidelines for you. If the parish receives a majority of positive reports then a thank you letter is sent to the parish. The Mass Communicator is a multimedia device with the latest in advanced technology to help you accurately provide reports and to help us determine how valid a positive/negative report is. For example do you think the choir is singing Kumbaya style dreck? If so select the Music button and select record. The device will then capture the sound via the onboard microphone in the internal flash memory card. When you send the report a special algorithm will evaluate the sound clip and rate it from one to ten on the Haugen-Haas-Joncas scale of musical sappiness. If you see a vestment that you don’t think you can describe or that nobody will believe you if you did – activate the built-in 2 megapixel camera to send a photo along with your report. Each month you can log into our website and see how your parish compares. Whether you think you are in a parish with liturgical riches or liturgical wackiness you can see where you sit on the EWTN Televised Mass-St. Joan’s Gymnasium Mass Scale. You might find yourself relatively lucky after all. So instead of letting your blood pressure to rise each month with unresolved rants – report it with The Mass Communicator. Subscribe to our service for only $9.99 a month and with a one year contract we will send you The Mass Communicator free! Each month our graphics and menu items are updated to reflect the latest trends in liturgical experimentation and are used to update the firmware of your device for ease of use. If you live in diocese such as Los Angeles or Orange let us know and we will send you are 24 button device because you will need it. Act now and we will also send you a free gift of your choice such as knee pads for kneeler-less parishes. |
Roman Catholic nuns in Poland who mounted an occupation of their convent in a protest against the appointment of a new mother superior are refusing to leave the building, despite being expelled from their order by the Vatican – writes Jonathan Luxmoore for Ecumenical News International.
The dispute erupted in August 2005 at the Kazimierz mother-house of the Sisters of the Family of Bethany, when the superior, Mother Jadwiga Ligocka, was dismissed by a Vatican delegate but she occupied the convent with other nuns.
"Let us pray for these lacerated, lost and highly strung sisters," Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin told Poland’s Catholic information agency KAI on 6 December 2006. "There are no private religious orders in the Catholic Church where everyone can set their own rules."
Under a decree from the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life, dated 28 October, the nuns were expelled from the order, which was founded in 1930 and has about 100 members.
Somehow I don’t think "Let us pray for these lacerated, lost and highly strung sisters," came across very well in translation from Polish.
LONDON (CNS) – A priest from the Diocese of East Anglia, England, has decided to replace a live Nativity scene for a replica of the wall encircling Bethlehem in protest of the Israeli separation barrier.
Each year hundreds of people come to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in St. Ives in Cambridgeshire to see the live sheep, a cow and donkey, and actors who occasionally have brought their newborn babies to play the role of Jesus for the Nativity scene.
But this year visitors will be staring up at an imposing gray replica of a portion of the wall built by the Israeli government in 2002 to keep Palestinian suicide bombers at bay.
Father Paul Maddison, the parish priest, made the decision to cancel because he wants to highlight the plight of the Palestinian people suffering as a result of the wall.
In place of the manger crib will be a grim assemblage, 24 feet high and 7 feet wide, of painted polystyrene stuffed with floor insulation materials. The wall will be flanked by protest banners and "stark photographs" to show how "desperate and ugly the situation is in the Holy Land," said a Dec. 11 statement by the priest.
Not to mention depriving Israelis the opportunity of being blown up by suicide bombers. Though I do understand why a good case can be made that the wall does more than just inconvenience some and will lead to a further reductions of Christians in Israel and other problems. The idea though of replacing a Nativity scene with a polystyrene wall is ridiculous. Symbolism over substance as if this will lend anything towards peace in the Holy Lands.
I also don’t understand why he went to so much work to create this instead of simply going to Wallmart.
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