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Giving and Receiving

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

From The Life with GQ blog.

GIVING and RECEIVING Holiday Giveaway is UNDERWAY!

GIVING: If you are able to, please consider donating a Walmart or Target eGift Card (anywhere from $5 to $20) for this holiday giveaway. To do this, leave a comment below indicating that you are “giving” and how much you are able to give. I will then send you the email address of someone in need when it becomes available.

RECEIVING: For those in need, simply leave a comment below (anonymous or not) telling something briefly about yourself and which gift card would be the most helpful for you. I will pass on your email information if there are participants on the giving end. Do not leave your email addresses in the comment section as I already have access to them.
This giveaway will run from now until Christmas. I will be “pearing” participants up (hence those pears up there) as they become available.

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News

When conversions are a threat

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

BEIJING — Chinese leaders issued an order last year quietly directing universities to root out foreigners suspected of plotting against the Communist Party by converting students to Christianity.

The 16-page notice — obtained this month by a U.S.-based Christian group — uses language from the cold war era to depict a conspiracy by “overseas hostile forces” to infiltrate Chinese campuses under the guise of academic exchanges while their real intent is to use religion in “westernizing and dividing China.”

The document suggests that despite small signs of religious tolerance in recent decades, China’s ruling officials retain strong suspicion of religion as a tool of the West and a threat to the party’s authoritarian rule. And with the country’s top leadership in transition and looking to consolidate power, Chinese religious leaders worry that the stance is unlikely to change in the near future. [source]

No surprise here and over the last year we have seen the same kind of attitude displayed with China and Vatican relations with China taking more control of even the patriotic churches to keep them firmly under government control.

So glad to be living in a country with religious freedom. Well at least more religious freedom than China — for now.

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HumorPunditry

Forcing my will on you to stop “bullying”

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Wow! How far has the world fallen? A group of parents in Missoula, Mont. are upset over the religious nature of Christmas songs performed at a local elementary school – alleging the songs about the Baby Jesus is unconstitutional and a “form of bullying.”

The parents, who declined to be identified, are threatening to sue the Missoula County Public School District unless songs like “Joy to the World” and “Good Christian Men Rejoice” are replaced with secular tunes. [Via Creative Minority Report]

I’m shocked, shocked I tell you. That there is a public school that was still singing actual Christmas carols is quite shocking. Especially how did “Good Christian Men” get past the inclusive language politically correct carols?

Although Christmas carols are quite dangerous and can have a delayed impact on the young mind. As a young atheist and throughout my life I have loved Christmas carols and specifically the traditional sacred carols. I had zero theological connection with them, but I knew their beauty musically and I reacted to that beauty. While I can enjoy the more seasonal Christmas songs that are more about climate and good feelings during this season (Christmasy songs), the traditional carols were always what I wanted to hear.

At one time you could turn on the radio and be certain to hear a good proportion of the sacred Christmas carols. As years have passed the stations that would play “Holiday” music were concentrating almost fully on the Christmasy songs. I remember once noting on a 24 hour Christmas music channel on a cable network that after a couples of days they played no traditional songs at all.

Wanting my traditional Christmas carol fix I had started to channel hop on the radio trying to find a station that played them. This led me to listening to Protestant radio and putting up with their between song messages. This in turn led me to the seeking phase of my conversion and devouring books at the library on the subject. The hit-and-run accident that had led me to question my atheist faith a couple of years priors had opened me up and of course God was providing me grace to see the world anew.

So atheist parents if you want your kids to grow up to be devout atheists please don’t let them become ritually unclean by listening to actual Christmas carols. Beauty is a devious trick of believers, sow watch out.

The above story though does remind me of a parody I did before:

hummers

PORTLAND, OR (Roto Reuters) A new children’s choir groups is getting lots of attention and bookings during the winter season. The Silent Night Seasonal Semi-Singers sidestep the problems inherent in a multi-cultural society and what has been called the “Christmas wars.” Secularists are upset with the lyrics of explicitly Christian carols and Christians become upset when these carols are left out. To solve this problem Ms. Giesel of the the Glencoe school elemenatary choir decided instead of hymns to do hums. Students are gagged while performing to ensure no actual Christian carols are ever sung. The instrumental portions of traditional Christmas carols are slightly altered to ensure no one in the audience might attempt to sing along. Silent Night is sung just as intended – totally silent. To ensure fairness winter holiday songs are also hummed.

Parents at first were hesitant to endorse the idea until they found out how enthusiastic their kids were. Now even students with no musical talent can join the choir and hum along. The provided humnal makes it very easy for kids to learn songs since they do not have to memorize any lyrics. When the audience is invited to join in and hum along nobody ever feels bad or put down since they don’t know the words or only know the first refrain.

The idea is catching on in neighborhoods where kids bundle up and go around the neighborhood from door to door humming or what some have called humoling. People are thrilled to find hummers at their door humming along to slightly familiar tunes invoking the winter season. So if you see a group of humolers approaching your door this season then open your door to the joys of holiday humoling.

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Punditry

Comparing Catholic and Geek Communities

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

As someone who is both in the Catholic world and the geek world I make comparisons and contrasts between these two communities.

When it comes to the use of technology I find that the geek community is much more invested and active.  This fact at first blush would seem rather obvious that geeks take to new technologies and platforms quicker. Yet with the sheer number of Catholics in the world the fact that technology-focused communities have a larger and stronger presence is not a good sign.

One thing I had been thinking about is that there are many daily technology news podcasts.  These types of shows usually involve a group of people and bring on guests for specific technical knowledge. Yet there is really not one daily Catholic news show in this format.  Vatican Radio comes the closest and has a nice international perspective, but I grew tired of all the climate change coverage.  Al Kresta’s radio show which is also podcasted takes a couple of subjects each day to cover and I think does a good job with bringing in knowledgable guests.  Although this show also reruns previous shows rather often and so you don’t really get daily coverage.  Catholic Answers usually has a monthly show on Catholic news.  Rome Reports does a decent job of  daily video coverage of the Vatican. EWTN’s weekly “The World Over” also covers the news along with Raymond Arroyo’s interests.  The Good Catholic life podcast does cover daily news, but it more focused (as it should be) on diocesan happenings. The Catholic Underground weekly podcast has a nice “intersection of faith and culture” with both Catholic and tech news. Catholic Weekend also covers news of the day to some extent.  There are various more long form radio shows such as the Son Rise Morning Show and others that intersect into this area.  But really there are no daily wrap-up shows in the roughly 30 minute format with multiple commentators and guests able to weigh in on specific areas.

I would love there to be a daily show of Catholic news from a panel of people along with guests.  Something in the 30 to 40 minute range.  Providing a Catholic view of what’s going on helps to give listeners a solid perspective.  In fact there should be multiple shows of this type that could focus on stories of international and national interest for Catholics.  Of course the time and money involved requires a lot of effort and Catholics as a whole really don’t support these efforts. On the other side, tech podcasts networks such as TWIT and 5by5 are making money and paying the people involved in the shows.  Leo Laporte’s TWIT network was able to even build a studio providing high quality video and audio productions.  Catholic media is always seemingly in a constant state of survival.  Pledge drives are very common or requests from EWTN to send donations.

As I noted the other day while there are some very good Catholic shows, there really should be so many more of them.  There are many more Apple related podcasts for example than Catholic podcasts.

I think it is rather embarrassing that geeks seem to support such endeavors much more than Catholics as a whole do. I like playing around with gadgets and staying abreast with the world of technology, but my faith is so much more awesome.  The treasury of the Catholic faith is so immense that in our lives we can but put a dent into it. What is more wonderful than Jesus or savior and the Church he gave us? I guess the answer is gadgets and other shiny things.

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Book Review

Christianity, Islam and Atheism

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for The Soul of The West is a new book from Ignatius Press by William Kilpatrick. This is not a light read, but I found it to be an very informative read.

There are a range of ideas about engaging Islam and whether Islamist terrorists are misusing their religion or are more faithful adherents of it.  Within Catholic circles to some extent these differing views are represented  by Robert Spenser and Peter Kreeft.  In fact these two men engaged in a debate on the subject that I thought was a great debate in both the issues and how both men respected the other.

I tend to fall in the Robert Spenser end of the spectrum and so did this book.  There is certainly a Mark Steyn like approach in this book and Mark Steyn is quoted rather extensively in it.  The Mark Steyn view is displayed regarding demographics and how emigration of Muslims into Europe is affecting these countries.  Especially as there has been less integration into these cultures as is usual. But this goes beyond the normal political approach and into subjects relating to the Church and the Evangelization of Muslims.

The book is misnamed to some extent where atheism is really a reference to secularism and a reaction to Islam that is represented  by some agnostics, atheists, and believers of a more liberal stripe.  The second section of the book on “Islam’s Enablers” is a reference to this and how bad behavior by some Muslims are protected and covered up. The book contains multiple examples of how tolerant societies have allowed this behavior while evicting or punishing to some extent those who highlight and fight agains this. In many ways it is quite laudable when people want to prevent prejudice of one group because of the actions of a segment of that group. The problem comes in when serious problems are smoothed over and no engagement comes to label and resist these problems.  Multiculturalism is really not practiced, what we actually have is favored-culturalism and the diminishment of other cultures.  For example the book demonstrates how textbooks have come to favor Islam while demeaning Christianity.

I found the third section to be the most interesting “The Comparison.”  We often hear of the approach towards Muslims as being one of the Abrahamic religions and that there are commonalities we can build upon.  William Kilpatrick demonstrates quite well that these common foundations are either non-existent or quiet weak.  For example Jesus in the Koran is purely of sock puppet for Mohammed to deny that Jesus was the son of God.  The Koranic Jesus plays a very minor role. A Jesus who performed no miracles and was not crucified – the very Jesus you would expect if you wanted to supplant him.  The Koranic Abraham is also much difference and the different view is more likely to cause contention than to unite.  This pretty much is true of most of the comparisons that are suppose to provide a common foundation. Although this is really to be expected in comparisons of Abrahamic religions in that Islam is a heresy cobbled up from Christianity and other sources with no historical foundation to the claims that are made.  The standards of historical reliability somehow never seem to get applied to the Koran and we will not be seeing “The Real Mohammed” on the History Channel any time soon.  Still it is important to remember that however fabricated Islam is that there is always commonality with Muslims themselves.

The last section “The Cold War with Islam” expresses an idea I had not really considered before with a comparison to the cold war with Communism.  While not a perfect parallel there is much to think about here.  Things don’t have to end up in a shooting war to be addressed.  He goes over several approaches and critiques ideas such as the moderate-Mulsim strategy. A chapter in this section deals with what Christians should do. Obviously this requires a multifaceted approach  with of course Evangelization being the priority.  Too often we walk on eggshells in relating to Islam. One of the facinating things I learned about was a Coptic priest Fr. Zakaria Botros. I don’t think I had ever heard of him, but he is well versed on Islamic teachings and has a television show.  His show challenging Islam has resulted in al-Qaeda putting a $60 million bounty on his head.  He is suppose to be rather effective resulting in conversions.  Many Muslims are not use to being engaged at this level, but considering the various punishment for apostasy this is a very difficult area. Another book by Ignatius Press The Price To Pay: A Muslim Risks All to Follow Christ tells the story of a Muslim convert who was shot and left for dead by his brothers because of his conversion.  There is certainly not just one approach and the Catholic both/and applies.  There is and should be common cause with Muslims where possible and the message of the Gospel should not be left out.

Over all I found this well-worth reading and I learned a lot while also giving me much to think about.

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The Weekly Benedict

The Weekly Benedict eBook – Volume 42

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Weekly Benedict

This is the 42nd volume of The Weekly Benedict ebook which is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I post at Jimmy Akin’s The Weekly Benedict. The post at Jimmy Akin’s site contains a link to each document on the Vatican’s site and does not require an e-reader to use.

This volume covers material released during the last week for 3 December, 2012 – 12 December 2012.

The ebook contains a table of contents and the material is arranged in sections such as Angelus, Speeches, etc in date order. The full index is listed on Jimmy’s site.

The Weekly Benedict – Volume 42 – ePub (supports most readers)

The Weekly Benedict – Volume 42 – Kindle

There is an archive for all of The Weekly Benedict eBook volumes.  This page is available via the header of this blog or from here.

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HumorLiturgy

Liturgical Referees

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

I was asked to repost this which I did back in 2007.

 

Have you ever been a Sunday morning quarterback during Mass where you critique and liturgical abuses or experimental oddities that you have observed. You just wish at times that somebody would step in and do something about what your are observing.Well we have some good news for you! Francis Cardinal Arinze the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has introduced a new program that will surely have an effect.

The recently created position of Liturgical Referee has been instituted to help to bring uniformity to the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Liturgical Referees will travel around the world randomly attending Masses. Liturgical Referees will stand, mostly quietly, to the side of the sanctuary during Mass and call out signals if he observes any liturgical penalties according to the GIRM and other liturgical documents. Only in the case of penalties that would make the Mass itself invalid will the Liturgical Referee blow his whistle and when necessary call for any replays to correct any mistake made. Penalty markers may be thrown during the Mass to alert the celebrant to any problems that might need immediate correction.


Liturgical Referee in action

After Mass any penalties will be reviewed with the celebrant and more serious penalties will be taken to the local ordinary for determination for any fines or whether the celebrant just needs to get back to the liturgical playbook (GIRM) and/or to review films of properly celebrated Masses. In the case of penalty free liturgies the Liturgical Referee will thank the celebrant and be given the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments seal of approval.

The Liturgical Referee’s has responsibility in enforcing the liturgical rules and maintaining the order of the liturgy. During the liturgy please do not yell out or insult the Liturgical Referee. We assure you he is not blind and is doing his job to the best of his abilities and whether you feel he has missed a liturgical abuse or that he is being too hard on your pastor we ask that you act charitably on his calls.

Applicants for Liturgical Referee should be well versed in Canon Law as applies to the liturgy, the GIRM and other liturgical documents, and a familiarity with any indults and permissions as set by the local bishop’s conference and the local ordinary. The applicant should also be physically fit so that he will be able to make all off the signals that might be required at a more experimental celebration of the liturgy. Applicants should be familiar with the following liturgical signals.

Example Liturgical Signals
No Crucifix in sanctuary.
Liturgical dance detected.
Member of laity giving homily – to be evicted from lectern.
Incomplete or no consecration. Occurs when illicit matter is used, wrong formula used, only one of the two elements of bread or wine is not properly consecrated, or no validly ordained male priest/bishop is present. In case where only one element is consecrated a replay is called for.
Illegal use of hands. Normally called when the celebrant has left the sanctuary to shake everybody’s hands.
Questionable or just downright heretical theology used in homily. When detected the Liturgical Ref pulls on his lips in a downward direction.
The “What the heck am my hearing” signal is one of the most common signals and indicates syrupy banal liturgical music or the inappropriate use of secular music such as show tunes and popular music (especially from the seventies).
Disregarding the prescribed text of the Order of Mass. This is another common liturgical penalty despite the fact that no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)
Illicit Posture. Usually called when you are being asked to stand instead of kneel or any other poster adaptation not specified by the GIRM or set by your bishop’s conference or licitly specified by your local ordinary.
Illicit purification of sacred vessels. This is called when the purification of the sacred vessels is done by an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion despite the fact the the Pope revoked the indult in the U.S. for this permission.
Illicit Participation. Called when too many people are in the sanctuary. For example occurs when EMHC arrive before the fraction rite or when some members of the congregation are invited into the sanctuary to pray with the priest during the consecration.
Un-Christian Like Conduct. Can be called when elements of other religions contrary to Christianity are introduced such as new age beliefs. Un-Christian Like Conduct is also often called in the parking lot after Mass.
Illegal Pass. The celebrant is simply not allowed to make a pass at anybody.
Stole Infraction. Normally occurs when the celebrant wears his stole on top of the chasuble. Another penalty can be added if the celebrant does this and the stole is also horrendously ugly or has an seventies themes.
Illegal Receiver of Holy Communion. Those who are excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.
Clowns in the sanctuary – run for your life.
Excessive use of inclusive language. Penalty is thrown when grammatical awkwardness is detected in avoiding male pronouns and every other sentence begins brothers and sisters.

With the presence of the Liturgical Referee you can leave liturgical abuse spotting to the experts and spend your time instead trying to enter the Mass in prayer.

Update: Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP has some other liturgical hand signals not included in the examples above.

Update 2: Some have asked for a version of this they can easily print out. I have created a PDF version of this parody.

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Punditry

Theist bait

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

I started seeing noise on Twitter about an atheist billboard in Times Square.

David Silverman, President of American Atheists stated, “We know that a large population of ‘Christians’ are actually atheists who feel trapped in their family’s religion. If you know god is a myth, you do not have to lie and call yourself ‘Christian’ in order to have a festive holiday season. You can be merry without the myth, and indeed, you should.”

Mr. Silverman continued, “We encourage people to be honest with themselves and their families this year. If you don’t believe in god, tell your family—honesty is the greatest gift, and they deserve it.”

Teresa MacBain, Communications Director and a former pastor stated, “The true beauty of the season—family, friends, and love—have nothing to do with the gods of yesteryear. Indeed, the season is far more enjoyable without the religious baggage of guilt and judgmentalism. Dump the myth and have a happy holiday season.”

“Dump the myth and have a happy holiday season.” Been there done that. Would much rather enjoy the gift of faith and ponder upon the wonders of the Incarnation. I was certainly happy as an atheist, but prefer both happiness and joy.

Billboards like this are theist bait designed to get attention and so this is effective at some level. I do wonder if there really are the masses of people hiding their non-belief? Seems to me that there is now more stigma associated with faith than in agnosticism and atheism. The fundamentalist and the bible thumper has plenty of stereotype attention. While I am sure there are some people who do hide their unbelief. Are they really just waiting for a billboard in Time Square for encouragement to come out? Plus as others have noted there is the odd irony of promoting Santa while saying Jesus is a myth. Maybe campaigns like this are to create a sense of community for atheists. We all seek a sense of community and desire encouragement for the like-minded.

As The Crescat noted Atheists.org, be honest. It’s just Christians you have issue with, not religion in general…. This fact has certainly been noted before that it is almost always Christianity that is aimed at and ridiculed. It would seem that atheism should be an equal opportunity ridiculer of religion. Still it makes sense that this is so in a Christian/post-Christian society and that this would be the target.

The more interesting question is why such campaigns and efforts by atheists are more like political campaigns and attack ad based. Where are the signs/bumper stickers/reaching out efforts promoting the positive joy of atheism. For a group that constantly talks about reason the efforts are largely mockery-based. If you had a positive atheist message on a bumper sticker what would it be? Even in the realm of car magnets atheists mock the Ichtus instead of advancing their own symbol.

When I tweeted something along these lines earlier I got a bunch of joyful replies from atheists on the positive aspects of unbelief. I mean by joyful use of the F-word and assumptions made not based on what I wrote. Apparently the thing to be avoided at all costs is guilt. The sign of a working conscience is now a defect. I found a rather odd way to avoid guilt, I try to avoid sin – fancy that.

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Link

Minor Revisions

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

For those who don’t know, Jennifer Fulwiler of conversiondiary.com will be appearing in a limited run reality show called “Minor Revisions.”  A reality show featuring a former atheist now Catholic is certainly something new. Real Convert Housewives of Texas.

The first episode airs this Thursday, December 13, at 8 PM EST / 7 PM CST. The other two episodes will air on December 20 and January 10 at the same time. Anyone with an internet connection can watch it — you just have to pull up the station’s live feed at http://netny.net/watch-now/ during the time that it airs. (It won’t be archived online, so the best way to catch it is live. More details and viewing options here.)

I was given an opportunity to watch the first episode and so I did.  I quite enjoyed it.  Finally a reality show dealing with reality – a novel concept.  There was a lot to like about the format of the show and it was certainly entertaining.  I also thought the show could appeal to a wide audience going beyond just Catholics. It is also quite humorous.

I especially enjoyed the conversations with her father who remains an atheist.  I had  a good deal to relate to since I was also given the love of science and other subjects from my father who also is still an atheist. Although he refers to himself as a “retired Christian.”

The Top 10 Reasons You Might Still Want to Watch Minor Revisions, Even Though It Is a No-Banana-Suit Show

Here is a recent interview regarding the show between Jennifer and Dan Lord.

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Punditry

White smoke on Twitter

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

It is interesting how the culture seems to view Catholics.  People are amused by nuns roller skating, running in a marathon in a habit, or monks refilling laser cartridges.  The view that Catholics don’t use technology or that they can’t have other interests seems to be the normal assumption.

Maybe this view can be seen also among even Catholics. The coverage of the Pope’s personal Twitter account and his seven tweets today has gotten a lot of attention even among tech blogs. Somehow they expect Catholics to have an Amish aversion to technology and that the Pope would be more likely to place Twitter on the “Index of Forbidden Social Media Applications” than to use it.

https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/278808536404852736
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/278819486377840640
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/278820239943274497
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/278861784008499201
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/278862015253061633
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/278907093065535488
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/278907314810023938

I certainly liked that he did a series of tweets after today’s General Audience. But I think the papal iPad should have been the white one. I also really want that papal iPad which could be a 2nd class relic in the future if he is ever canonized. Plus if his cause is ever introduced it means the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will have to read through his tweets. I tweeted before that maybe one day there will be a Denzinger’s list of official tweets published.

Getting back to the attitude regarding Catholics and technology. Part of this is from the false narrative of the Church vs. science which is constantly drilled in.  The fact that it was usually Catholics who were on the bleeding edge of some science is almost totally unknown and like clockwork every year we get some story on the Vatican Observatory because the novelty never wears off.

When it comes to the internet and some other media Catholics have certainly lagged behind.  I really don’t expect for example the Vatican to jump on every new social media initiative and it makes some sense to observe the scene and then enter it when there is a certain critical mass.  For example a Vatican presence on Friendster would have been rather silly or even worse myspace. Although it would be nice if they had someone in the Vatican that monitored this and did things like reserve nicknames in new platforms for future use. It would have been nice if the Pope at least have had an option to use @pope.  There was not much planning ahead before when the Vatican did not get other top level domains other than .va andI believe at one time vatican.va went to a very undesirable site.

The other day I was looking through the top “Religion & Spirituality” podcasts on iTunes and Catholics are hardly represented at all.   In a list of top podcasts in this category you don’t come to a Catholic one until #47 Catholics Answers Live.  There are more Mormon podcasts in the top 100 than Catholic ones.  There are more atheist podcasts in the top 100 than Catholic ones.  Protestants though pretty much dominate.  I listen to a good amount of Catholic podcasts and there are some high quality ones and you can find a couple of them in the iTunes “What’s hot section”. Fr. Roderick’s SQPN (Star Quest Podcast Network) was an early innovator and has expanded and continues to deliver entertaining and informative content.  Still with over a billion Catholics there should be multiple such podcast networks. I like to listen to the EWTN homilies via podcast. Though it is quite annoying that many times they don’t post them in a timely manner and never on weekends.

Catholic radio is another area that severely lagged.  While the Vatican had a radio station early on, Protestants have also dominated the air waves.  The good news is that Catholic radio is rapidly growing.  When I first came to Jacksonville, Fl 15  years ago the Catholic station here was only one of three in the country. Now there are over 200 Catholic radio stations here in the United States.

If you want to go into a technology time warp than pretty much visit any parish website.  In my diocese I have not seen on parish site that does not make me cringe either with 1990 design or bulletins last updated in a previous year.  Internet.org has a wayback machine so that you can see what an archived website looked like in the past. Unfortunately parish websites look like they had been archived sometime in the past.  In fact if you look at the 1997 version of Vatican.va there is very little difference in design compared to now.  If you do web programming like I do I am sure you would cringe at the fact that documents on the Vatican site are formatted using tables – yikes. At least news.va is not an embarrassment to look at.

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