The Anchoress posts on this election and our response to it regardless of the outcome.
I know that I need to constantly remind myself of the words of Saint Teresa of Avila
“Nada te turbe.”
Let nothing upset you,
let nothing startle you.
All things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins
all it seeks.
Whoever has God
lacks nothing:
God alone is enough.
ROME — Catholic women seeking to become priests denounced the church’s ban on female ordination as sexist and unjust, bringing their campaign close to the Vatican on Wednesday during a worldwide gathering of bishops.
The small group of women representing Catholic organizations from around the world marched across the Tiber River close to St. Peter’s Square, some wearing signs with the names of prominent women in the early days of the Roman Catholic Church.
“Ordain Women! Ordain Women!” the woman chanted. They later tried to deliver a petition to the Swiss Guards at the Vatican, but nobody came to pick it up.
Aisha Taylor, the executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference in the United States, said the women wanted to call attention to the issue during the synod, a meeting of 253 bishops under way. [article]
Reminds me of the hilarious Envoy Magazine piece that had the names for some future encyclicals including:
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.
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See has approved three alternatives to “Ite, missa est,” the final words said by the priest at Mass.Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, today notified the participants in the synod of bishops on the word of God about the new alternatives. The final message is currently rendered in English: “The Mass is ended, go in peace.”
Benedict XVI has approved the alternatives, which were requested at the 2005 synod on the Eucharist to express the missionary spirit that should follow from the celebration of Mass.
According to Cardinal Arinze, the Pope had asked for suggestions to be presented. The congregation received 72, from which they prepared nine proposals. The Holy Father has chosen three.
The alternatives are in the revised third “editio typica” of the Roman Missal, which was printed last week, the cardinal said.
The alternatives are:
–“Ite ad Evangelium Domini nuntiandum”
–“Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum”
–“Ite in pace” with “alleluia, alleluia” added during Easter season.
In English, these could be rendered along the lines of “go to announce the Gospel of the Lord”; “go in peace, glorifying the Lord with your lives”; and simply, “go in peace (alleluia, alleluia).” [artcle]
Other considerations are:
The Synod of Bishops on the Bible heard an unusual suggestion Tuesday morning when a Hong Kong observer asked Pope Benedict to start up his own daily blog on Scripture.
Agnes Kam Leng Lam, president of the Catholic Biblical Association of Hong Kong, said people need to experience Scripture in small but significant doses.
“To put it in a nutshell, I’d like to suggest to you Holy Father to start a multi-language blog to shepherd today’s world by scriptural verses, daily verses,” she said on the synod floor. The pope’s blog should include simple reflections that relate Scripture to real-life situations, she said.
Lam included advice that’s probably good for any blogger: “Remember, brief texts, Holy Father, and plentiful images, and this will be very attractive to the young generation and to today’s people.”
The talk apparently provoked a positive reaction and some laughter, but the pope, who was presiding over the Oct. 5-26 assembly, didn’t say whether he’d be blogging anytime soon.
[Via American Papist]
Please Holy Father, I want my Pope Blog! I want my daily minimum recommended requirement of B16! Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Province of Rome, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God, and blogger.
All I know is I want so much to be on the Pope’s blogroll!
Now Pontifications is already take up by a couple of bloggers so what would be the name of the Pope’s blog?
Denzingers would have to start compiling official papal blog posts.
Now what type of syndication would the blog use? RSS 2.0 or ATOM and Eve?
What Content Management System (CMS) would he use. Now Movable Type could be appropriate since the first thing printed on a movable type press was the Bible. Though a scripture blog might use WordPress or WordOfGodPress.
Commenting, now that is another story. Probablly not a good idea unless they can incorporate automatic excommunication for trolls in the commenting template. Or maybe a CAPCHA where you have to answer correctly basic questions on the faith to submit the comment. Though that might keep out many graduates of Catholics schools. Maybe a CAPCHA with felt banner images for them.
The pope could ask for donations to Peter’s Pence safely and securely via PaPal..
Now what platform would his blog be run on? I guess he would need White Hat Linux (or is that Linus after our 2nd Pope) instead of:.
Though he might need to run a disclaimer that only blog posts that defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal Church are infallible. Otherwise he is speaking ex blogthedra.
The wonderful Robert P. George on Obama’s Abortion Extremism
George Weigel also has an excellent article on the arguments used by Obama Catholics.
I now have reports from four different dioceses in various parts of the country on how the bishops’ document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” is being used to clear the way for Catholics to support Obama.
The most egregious “teaching” of the document goes like this: Democrats agree with 90% of the Church’s social teaching, Republican’s 10%. So the fact that the GOP is pro-life is offset by the weight of the many other issues –minimum wage, national health insurance, etc. — supported by the Democrats.
Conclusion: Catholics can ignore the pro-life and marriage issues.
Another way the document is being taught is to line up a long list of “intrinsic evils.” Yes, the Republicans hold the line on one or two intrinsic evils, but the Democrats care about measures to eliminate a longer list of “intrinsic evils.” It won’t be mentioned that the latter group of “evils” are not intrinsically evil in the same way as killing unborn life; the former must be opposed in any and all ways, including legislation; the latter opposed by prudential means.
But the conclusion is the same: Catholics can ignore the differences between Republicans and Democrats on the life and marriage issues.
Those who have been tasked to teach “Forming Consciences” in parishes around the country include staff from the local chanceries and the USCCB. Often those staff will have “peace and justice” attached to the description of their employment or their association with Catholic institutions.
I have yet to hear anyone associated with the “peace and justice” crowd accurately describe the proper priority of the life issues in “faithful citizenship.” [article]
No surprise here that the same people who turned the documents of Vatican II into some nebulous Spirit of Vatican II would do the same to the USCCB’s document. When you use the hermeneutic of “I am going to vote for Sen. Obama anyway” it is amazing what documents can then yield. Kind of like National Catholic Reporter’s new editor who wrote this year that he would rather have the bishops go to Hell than for him not to vote Democrat.
These stories corroborate my thesis that most of the damage to the Catholic Church is being done at the middle management level. The bishops should be paying more attention to what is being taught by their staff, both at the conference and the chanceries.
Totally agree with that assessment. The parish and diocesan spin doctors are hard at work all over the place.
Some North Texas Catholics are upset with a letter written and distributed by their local bishops, saying it amounts to an endorsement of GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.
The letter by Bishop Kevin Farrell of the Diocese of Dallas and Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Fort Worth says in part: “To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or `abortion rights’ when there is morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil – and, therefore, morally impermissible.”
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, supports abortion rights. Sen. McCain favors overturning Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that protects the right to an abortion.
The bishops’ letter was distributed or read at parishes across the Diocese of Dallas this weekend. The Fort Worth diocese is distributing the letter through its newspaper, which is being mailed to all registered Catholic families in the diocese.
Nicole LeBlanc said several people walked out of Dallas’ Holy Trinity Catholic Church during the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass, when the letter was read at the time usually reserved for a homily.
Ms. LeBlanc, an Obama supporter, said she, too, was upset.
“As a Catholic, we’re taught about being independent moral agents with free will,” she said. “That letter from the bishops is basically telling us that if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled.” [article]
Yes another Catholic that has no idea about the Church’s teaching on having an informed conscience, not a conscience independent from Church teaching. We should never be independent from the truth. It is not the Church’s fault that one candidate is so radically pro-abortion along with supporting other intrinsic evils. The bishops saying this is not telling people who to vote for, but by what grounds you would eliminate a candidate from consideration. Just because you can’t vote for Sen. Obama, doesn’t mean you are forced to vote for Sen. McCain. That is still the prudential decision of the voter who could chose a third party candidate. But Obama Catholics will overlook a lot to support their candidate. What is support of five intrinsic evils among friends. After all he will bring us socialized medicine. Though unfortunately for the unborn the first bit of health care they might receive from a doctor will be with a scalpel or other device trying to cut them up. I suspect Catholics who supported Hitler were also upset by Mit Brennender Sorge.. It is long past time for Catholic Democrats to stop putting up with pro-abortion candidates and demand ones that will support a true culture of life. The Democratic Party has gotten away with this because a large block of Catholic Democrats allowed it to happen with hardly an outcry.
The Bishop’s letter was as clear as could be, for example:
To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or “abortion rights” where there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in evil – and, therefore morally impermissible.
You can read their whole letter here. PDF
At a homily I heard yesterday the priest reminded people about the 6 million people between the ages of 18 and 21 who would have been voting if they hadn’t been aborted. Those are six million people who can’t vote for hope and change this election cycle or any other.
Another priest has broken ranks with California’s bishops on the Protect Marriage initiative, telling his parishioners in the church’s weekly bulletin, “I cannot in conscience unequivocally support Proposition 8.”
The remarks came in a “dear parishioners” letter published Oct. 5. by Claretian Fr. Steve Niskanen, pastor of San Gabriel Mission in the Los Angeles archdiocese.
The same day that Fr. Niskanen expressed his opinion in San Gabriel, Fr. Geoffrey Farrow told parishioners at the St. Paul Newman Center in Fresno following his Sunday morning homily that he opposed the marriage initiative – and admitted during a television interview before the Mass that he was a homosexual.
In his “dear parishioners” letter at San Gabriel Mission, Fr. Niskanen went through each of the ballot measures endorsed by the Catholic bishops of California one by one. He said he supports Proposition 4 – the family notification before a minor’s abortion initiative, and that he opposes Proposition 6 – the “Safe Neighborhoods Act,” which would add new crimes and tougher penalties to state law. Fr. Niskanen’s positions on Props 4 and 6 are in line with the recommendations of the bishops.
But when it came to Proposition 8, which would amend the state constitution to outlaw same-sex marriages, Fr. Niskanen disagreed. After reprinting a portion of the bishops’ arguments in favor of the proposition, he wrote: “I deeply respect and submit to the authority of our bishops and the force of traditional Catholic teaching limiting sexual relations to the love and life-giving commitment of heterosexual marriage. But I cannot in conscience unequivocally support Proposition 8 because I cannot in my heart of hearts say with certainty, at this time, that God would not call His gay and lesbian children into a faithful and life-long covenant with one another.” [article]
Plus there are all those examples of same-sex couples in the Old and New Testament living a life-long covenant with one another. Oh wait, funny how the Holy Spirit inspired no one to mention this if homosexual relations are approved by God. Apologists for homosexuality constantly say 5 to 10 percent of the population has same-sex attraction, so it is rather strange for scripture to not even mention that “faithful” homosexual relations were always part of God’s plan. Go forth and be fruitful except this segment.
LA JUNTA, Colo. (AP) – Colorado voters will soon decide if life begins at conception. And lots of people hoping to defeat the measure are those you’d think would support it.
The amendment would change the state constitution to say the word “person” is applied to everyone “from the moment of fertilization.” Passage wouldn’t immediately outlaw abortion in Colorado, but would likely spawn several costly legal battles.
Pretty doubtful prognosis as long as Roe V. Wade is the unjust law of the land. If only.
Doctors worry they could face murder charges for helping a couple conceive a child using in-vitro methods that often require disposal of fertilized eggs.
You mean they would actually be held accountable for the murders they commit towards the innocents?
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, who opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, predicts a legal nightmare, with the state piling up legal bills having to defend the amendment.
Yeah a legal nightmare is much worse than a real nightmare of killing the unborn
The executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference says Catholics fear that the amendment’s passage would ultimately lead to judicial reaffirmation of abortion rights.
No doubt passage of such a law is a prudential matter as to any negative effects that could result. But as long as the judiciary is ruling the country on this matter instead of the legislature, it is a valid concern.