Whatever they put in the water at the last bishop’s meeting I hope they keep using it. Spinal-fluoride to prevent truth decay.
I had a good laugh when I saw that Karen Hall had written "Nancy Pelosi’s bishop threatening her with a "conversation.""
Though maybe she isn’t aware of some translations of Matthew 18:15 that say.
"If your brother sins against you, go and invite him to a conversation, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen then take it to the next level a dialogue. If he refuses to listen then perhaps a listening session is in order."
Since I had previously referenced Archbishop Niederauer lack of response to Nancy Pelosi, it is nice to see the actual column that was promised. The column is mostly quite good, though I agree with the comments Father Z made in his look at the document.
I especially liked:
Authentic moral teaching is based on objective truth, not polling. For instance, in 1861, as the Civil War began, a majority of the residents of Massachusetts opposed slavery, a majority of the residents of South Carolina approved of slavery, and in Missouri people were sharply divided on the issue. Does that mean that, in 1861, slavery was immoral in Massachusetts, moral in South Carolina, and something of a moral "wash" in Missouri? Sound moral teaching demands much more good sense than that.
Abortion is all about moral relativism so this is a great point. Morality by vote should be mocked.
I regret the necessity of addressing these issues in so public a forum, but the widespread consternation among Catholics made it unavoidable. Speaker Pelosi has often said how highly she values her Catholic faith, and how much it is a source of joy for her. Accordingly, as her pastor, I am writing to invite her into a conversation with me about these matters. It is my obligation to teach forthrightly and to shepherd caringly, and that is my intent. Let us pray together that the Holy Spirit will guide us all toward a more profound understanding and appreciation for human life, and toward a resolution of these differences in truth and charity and peace.
While I am rather skeptical such a meeting will take place, but you never know about the paths of grace so we should pray that not only does it happen but that their is a change of heart involved.
And while the Archbishop is inviting people for conversations may I recommend Gavin Newome.
San Francisco’s “Catholic” mayor will join tomorrow in the official launching of the “No on 8 – Equality for All Campaign” at the old Tower Records store on Market Street.
In early January, on the occasion of his inauguration to a second term, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his family attended a Mass at the historic Mission Dolores Basilica. And to this day he continues to describe himself as Catholic.
Newsom, said to have his eyes on the governorship, will be acting in open defiance of California’s bishops, who have officially endorsed Proposition 8 and have urged Catholics to support it.
But Newsom is no stranger to defiance of Church teachings or to thumbing his nose at prelates. It was Newsom who provoked a constitutional crisis in 2004 by granting marriage licenses to 4,000 same-sex couples in a case that eventually led to the May 15 California Supreme Court decision upholding same-sex marriages. Proposition 8 would undo that 4-3 ruling by amending the state constitution.
In 2006, the divorced San Francisco mayor, who describes himself as a “lifelong Catholic,” abruptly canceled a trip to Rome for the installation of former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Newsom said at the time that he decided to boycott Levada’s installation in protest over the Church’s prohibition on homosexuals adopting children.
In a February 2008 interview with The Santa Clara, the magazine of his Jesuit-run alma mater, Santa Clara University, Newsom said he “still has tremendous admiration for the Church and very strong faith.”
Joining Newsom at the Northern California headquarters of the No on 8 Campaign tomorrow at 10 a.m. will be Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, also a San Francisco Democrat, as well as County Supervisor Tom Ammiano, Equality California executive director Geoff Kors, and National Center for Lesbian Rights executive director Kate Kendell, according to a flier announcing the event.
"With only 59 days to go, everyone needs to work to protect equality for all!" said a flier announcing the event. "We have come too far to let it slip away."
I find it rather interesting that it is progressive Catholics and the liberal news media that are bringing up that Sarah Palin was baptized as a Catholic.
The America Magazine blog has two posts on this today with one asking is "Is Palin an Apostate?" Though that is rather silly claim since apostasy is the total rejection by a baptized person of the Christian faith he once professed. Maybe he meant that she was in schism.
As canonist Ed Peters notes:
Sarah Palin’s probable Roman Catholic baptism and her life spent outside the Church is of little import in assessing her character. Unlike the case of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who seems to have left the Church as an adult, Palin’s parents apparently took her out of the practice of the Faith while she was yet a child, so Palin cannot be said to have decided against her Catholic identity, nor can anything be concluded about her remaining outside of full communion. Her "re-baptism" at age 12 or so, if that’s what it was, would not however be recognized by the Church (1983 CIC 845.1)
On the question as to whether she can be considered as making a formal act of defection he goes on to say.
Ironically, the only thing that Palin’s Catholic baptism and her life-time spent in good faith outside the Church does, I must say, is underscore again how unsustainable is the interpretation of "formal act of defection" that was handed down in April 2006. How so? Well, if "formal defection" per 1983 CIC 1117 can only be accomplished in writing (a completely new requirement, and one unattested, as far as I can tell, in canonical history!), then Palin never formally defected, which means that she is still bound by canonical form per 1983 CIC 1108, and that therefore her marriage cannot recognized by the Church!
Don’t get me wrong: I think that Palin’s marriage (based on what is publically known about it at this time, of course) is valid (and sacramental if Todd is baptized), and that it is this novel interpretation of "formal defection" that needs urgently to be corrected, not Palin’s matrimonial status. It’s just that I don’t like it when law and life seem to be out of step with each other and, for a change, it looks like the law’s fault.
But even beyond the question of "formal defection", the continued requirement of canonical form for the validity of marriage needs reexamination. There’s nothing new in my saying that: many canonists of the first order have been suggesting for 50 years now.
So this makes for a very interesting canonical questions, but certainly not one that would affect the votes of Catholics as liberals intend it should. It is also rather ironic that they bring this up and yet not to have any problem with Sen. Joe Biden as a culture of death Catholic politician whose voting record at times supports intrinsic evils.
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — In an amazing admission, pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told a feminist group that the basis for legalized abortion should be changed from the so-called right to privacy to the anti-slavery provisions found in the Constitution.
I think she made a mistake. Surely she means the pro-slavery precedence from the Supreme Court such as the Dred Scott decision which is so much like Roe v. Wade.
- Declaring a person a non-person – check.
- Declaring that the non-person is property and that the owner can use their property as they please – check.
So-called abortion rights are all about dehumanization just as slavery was. Turn a person into a "tissue mass" or "product of conception" and you can do with them as you please. Just as the Dred Scott said "and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” The Supreme Courts problem with knowing who is a person is nothing new.
Of course there is one big difference between the evils of abortion and slavery. Slaves can be freed, aborted babies stay aborted.
But on other levels Justice Ginsburg idea is just plain wrong. She is basically saying that babies are slave owners who make pregnant women their slaves. So I guess abortion is just a slave revolt.
I am almost starting to feel sorry for Nancy Pelosi as not only more bishops speak up but that the USCCB has now issued an excellent fact sheet Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church’s Constant Teaching.
Pray that she comes to know the truth and act on it.
The best McCain ad so far.
Obama’s new radio ad, airing widely in at least seven swing states, tells voters McCain “will make abortion illegal.”
I really hope Obama is telling the truth in this hopefully prophetic ad.
If Obama thinks that abortion is such a winning issue I hope he incorporates it in his stump speech instead of just when speaking in front of pro-abortion groups. Yeah abortion is such a winning issue in the Democratic party that the last congressional elections were dominated by pro-life (or somewhat pro-life ) Democrats. Pres Clinton was able to win by not appearing as radical on abortion and his "safe, legal, rare" line (a line removed from the Democratic Platform this time around).
I do wonder though about the lack of ads by the McCain campaign going after Sen. Obama on abortion. The commercials just about write themselves considering that he is the most radically pro-abortion presidential candidate ever. How about an ad with Obama calling the NRLC liars about the born alive infant protection act, and then his campaign saying he misspoke? Sen. Obama has more than just an Achilles’ heel on this issue. So I do hope they respond to the Obama ad with a pro-life ad of their own.
The Sarah Palin pick revitalized his campaign for a number of reasons, but really it gave hope to pro-lifers and social conservatives who were so weary of Sen. McCain and now are coming out of the closets and willing to support him. Myself included along with some of my blog friends in St. Blogs. Still though Obama’s radical record on abortion and other issues is not as known as they should be and the so-called Catholic vote has shifted away from Obama the more it has become known. So while some of the McCain ads have been quite good in poking fun at Obama, it is time to make better known that he would rather let children die who were born alive than allow in any way a challenge to abortion laws.
President Clinton committing adultery and having sex with an intern – Media says move along.
Presidential Candidate John Edwards committing adultery while his wife has cancer – Media says move along.
Sarah Palin’s 17 year old daughter committing fornication and keeping the baby – Media says what a moral outrage and front page story!
Earlier today driving around Savannah, Georgia I saw a Protestant Church called “Christ Church” with a sign advertising the use of Gregorian Chant. I wonder if this is a quirk or a new trend? Certainly would like to see it catch on in actual Catholic churches.
Melbourne, Aug 30 (ANI): A catholic priest, who claims that his back yard full of cannabis plants is a gift from God, has been placed under constant surveillance by police.
Father Cyril Papudov, of Petrich, Bulgaria, has been arrested seven times but police have never caught him actually cultivating the crop.
He insists that the cannabis seeded by itself and is part of God’s gift of nature and nothing to do with him.
"There has been a great deal of suspicion over the years about what is going on with these plants," Daily Telegraph quoted police, as saying.
"He is a man of the cloth and so a lot of people don’t want to think badly of him but frankly if someone has a huge crop of cannabis in their back garden it’s highly unlikely they are just sitting there admiring its horticultural properties," the police added.