Benedict applies a gentle brake to saint-making
DESMOND O'GRADY, ROME
December 21, 2009
Mary MacKillop's canonisation will take place under Pope Benedict XVI's policy of restoring solemnity to canonisations.
His approach differs from that of his predecessor, John Paul II, who tended to cancel the distinction between beatification, in which a person's accession to heaven and ability to intercede for others is recognised, and canonisation, in which one becomes a saint.
He believed that as many nations as possible should have their saints, to correct the impression that heaven is populated by Italians, and that they should be as contemporary as possible.
He also believed that lay people and married couples should be canonised to balance the shoals of saints from religious orders.
The result was that he beatified and canonised more people than all his predecessors of the previous four centuries. Joseph Ratzinger, before becoming Benedict XVI, complained publicly that the inflation of saints was devaluing the currency.
John Paul II held many of the ceremonies in St Peter's, but Benedict XVI has encouraged beatifications at local level by bishops of the place where the person died rather than holding them in Rome.
For beatification, one cure for which no scientific explanation can be found is needed, but for canonisation the requirement is a second miracle which must occur after the beatification.
It did not seem a great difference to John Paul II but Benedict XVI has a different perspective.
He has the more traditional view that beatification is a papal concession to allow veneration of the beatified at the local level but that canonisation involves full papal authority in endorsing veneration throughout the church universal.
When Benedict XVI visits Britain early next year he is expected to beatify the 19th-century convert from Anglicanism John Henry Newman, an eloquent defender of the rights of conscience who is much admired by Benedict XVI.
Some candidates are blocked in the saint-recognition process for decades while evidence is gathered or miracles are awaited.
It is exactly a century since the archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Moran, left Mary MacKillop's deathbed expressing the conviction she was a saint.
Evidence began to be gathered in Sydney in 1925 but the case only reached Rome in 1973.
In contrast, 17th-century reformer Pope Innocent XI was on hold for 267 years. He was beatified in 1956.
Source: http://pascendi2.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=4091311
Monday, December 21, 2009
Catholic Relief Agencies Condemn Cophenhagen Climate
Caritas Internationalis-- the international consortium of Catholic relief agencies-- and CIDSE (an alliance of Catholic development agencies) are denouncing the Cophenhagen climate as “a weak and morally reprehensible deal which will spell disaster for millions of the world’s poorest people.”
“It is inconceivable that with more than 100 world leaders gathered together in one room to make a pact to solve a global problem, they have failed to commit themselves to adequate and binding obligations” said CIDSE Secretary General Bernd Nilles.
“They can call it an historical accord, a declaration, whatever they like. The reality is that leaders have failed to deliver a concrete and effective solution; they have passed up this historical opportunity to set a clear and collective pathway to a sustainable future.”
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=4973
“It is inconceivable that with more than 100 world leaders gathered together in one room to make a pact to solve a global problem, they have failed to commit themselves to adequate and binding obligations” said CIDSE Secretary General Bernd Nilles.
“They can call it an historical accord, a declaration, whatever they like. The reality is that leaders have failed to deliver a concrete and effective solution; they have passed up this historical opportunity to set a clear and collective pathway to a sustainable future.”
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=4973
Anarchist Priest Encourages Thievery in the UK
More theological error and anarchy in the CoE.
A clergyman has been criticised as 'highly irresponsible' after advising his congregation to shoplift following his Nativity sermon.
Father Tim Jones, 41, broke off from his traditional annual sermon yesterday to tell his flock that stealing from large chains is sometimes the best option for vulnerable people.
It is far better for people desperate during the recession to shoplift than turn to 'prostitution, mugging or burglary', he said.
The married father-of-two insisted his unusual advice did not break the Bible commandment 'Thou shalt not steal' - because God's love for the poor outweighs his love for the rich. [Preferential option for the poor in Liberation Theology]
But the minister's controversial sermon at St Lawrence Church in York has been slammed by police, the British Retail Consortium and a local MP, who all say that no matter what the circumstances, shoplifting is an offence.
Delivering his festive lesson, Father Jones told the congregation: 'My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift. I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.
'I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.
'I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need.
'I offer the advice with a heavy heart and wish society would recognise that bureaucratic ineptitude and systematic delay has created an invitation and incentive to crime for people struggling to cope.'
He added that he felt society had failed the needy, and said it was far better they shoplift than turn to more degrading or violent options such as prostitution, mugging or burglary.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237470/Priest-advises-congregation-shoplift.html
A clergyman has been criticised as 'highly irresponsible' after advising his congregation to shoplift following his Nativity sermon.
Father Tim Jones, 41, broke off from his traditional annual sermon yesterday to tell his flock that stealing from large chains is sometimes the best option for vulnerable people.
It is far better for people desperate during the recession to shoplift than turn to 'prostitution, mugging or burglary', he said.
The married father-of-two insisted his unusual advice did not break the Bible commandment 'Thou shalt not steal' - because God's love for the poor outweighs his love for the rich. [Preferential option for the poor in Liberation Theology]
But the minister's controversial sermon at St Lawrence Church in York has been slammed by police, the British Retail Consortium and a local MP, who all say that no matter what the circumstances, shoplifting is an offence.
Delivering his festive lesson, Father Jones told the congregation: 'My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift. I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.
'I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.
'I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need.
'I offer the advice with a heavy heart and wish society would recognise that bureaucratic ineptitude and systematic delay has created an invitation and incentive to crime for people struggling to cope.'
He added that he felt society had failed the needy, and said it was far better they shoplift than turn to more degrading or violent options such as prostitution, mugging or burglary.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237470/Priest-advises-congregation-shoplift.html
The Church of England is Waning: Islam is Rising
Church of England is dying and non-Christian faiths are growing, while Americans are just as likely as Englishmen to think that the Church should not try to influence the Government. Really?
Not even years of liberal policies and attempts to keep up with the spirit of the times can save it. Seems like the only faiths growing are those who actually stand for something and are not harmonious with the spirit of the age.
Church Executive Magazine :: Brought to you by Power Trade Media
Not even years of liberal policies and attempts to keep up with the spirit of the times can save it. Seems like the only faiths growing are those who actually stand for something and are not harmonious with the spirit of the age.
Church Executive Magazine :: Brought to you by Power Trade Media
Once in Royal David's City: Anglicanism in Trouble
This thing by Diogenes is the best depiction of the Anglican Communion's troubles as any and the funniest.
Minarets to be built at "Ground Zero"
We love it when stuff like this happens. It's especially interesting in light of the almost universal support that the cultural relativism that makes things like this conceiveable in the Jewish Community of New York City.
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Wreckage from plane that hit the twin towers fell on the same building that may serve as an Islamic cultural center.
A new Islamic mosque will open its doors just steps from Ground Zero where Muslim terrorists murdered 2,751 people in the name of Allah on Sept. 11, 2001 – and its leading imam, who conducts sensitivity training sessions for the FBI, has reportedly blamed Christians for starting mass attacks on civilians.
The five-story building at Park Place, just two blocks north of the former World Trade Center site, was the site of a Burlington Coat Factory. But a plane's landing-gear assembly crashed through the roof on the day 19 Muslim terrorists hijacked the airliners and flew them into the Twin Towers in 2001.
Now Muslim worshippers currently occupy the building, and they plan to turn it into a major Islamic cultural center.
"The men and women stand up, raise their hands on either side of their head, murmur 'Allahu akhbar,' bow and kneel again," reports Spiegel Online.
"Only in New York City is this possible," Daisy Khan, executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, or ASMA, told the magazine. Khan is the wife of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder of ASMA.
Link to original...
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Wreckage from plane that hit the twin towers fell on the same building that may serve as an Islamic cultural center.
A new Islamic mosque will open its doors just steps from Ground Zero where Muslim terrorists murdered 2,751 people in the name of Allah on Sept. 11, 2001 – and its leading imam, who conducts sensitivity training sessions for the FBI, has reportedly blamed Christians for starting mass attacks on civilians.
The five-story building at Park Place, just two blocks north of the former World Trade Center site, was the site of a Burlington Coat Factory. But a plane's landing-gear assembly crashed through the roof on the day 19 Muslim terrorists hijacked the airliners and flew them into the Twin Towers in 2001.
Now Muslim worshippers currently occupy the building, and they plan to turn it into a major Islamic cultural center.
"The men and women stand up, raise their hands on either side of their head, murmur 'Allahu akhbar,' bow and kneel again," reports Spiegel Online.
"Only in New York City is this possible," Daisy Khan, executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, or ASMA, told the magazine. Khan is the wife of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder of ASMA.
Link to original...
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Cardinal Schönborn Allows Communist Burial Service at Vienna Cathedral
This Sunday an Austrian state-artist, Stalinist, blasphemer and pornographer Alfred Hrdlicka was buried in Vienna.
The media hungry vienese Cathedral Priest Anton Faber provided a Catholic burial for the blasphemous artist.
What followed was a cabaret act where many of Vienna's leftist politicians came to mourn in the presence of unappealing bronze statues where Father Faber in his solemn black cope read the blessing for the unrepentant Communist and blessed him with holy water as his red lacquered casket was lowered into the ground with a hammer and chisel atop it in place of the traditional crucifix; meanwhile a gypsy choir sang Communist songs predicting the victory of the Red Revolution, which had cost the lives of so many Christiains.
It should go without saying that canon law forbids the burial of non-Catholics (Hrdlika was Old Catholic) and unrepentant sinners.
The following video shows some of his hideous "artworks" which adorn the Barbara Chapel in the St. Stephens Cathedral in which his funeral service was held, where Fr. Faber announced that "we are hopeful of his eternal life". Perhaps he meant something about posterity? We want to be charitable and not take things out of context after all...
Source article from Kreuz.net...
video: http://www.gloria.tv/?media=42849
Hrdlika had previously displayed a blasphemous Last Supper in the St. Stephen's Cathedral which eventually, under some duress, Cardinal Schönborn removed it at Cathcon.
The media hungry vienese Cathedral Priest Anton Faber provided a Catholic burial for the blasphemous artist.
What followed was a cabaret act where many of Vienna's leftist politicians came to mourn in the presence of unappealing bronze statues where Father Faber in his solemn black cope read the blessing for the unrepentant Communist and blessed him with holy water as his red lacquered casket was lowered into the ground with a hammer and chisel atop it in place of the traditional crucifix; meanwhile a gypsy choir sang Communist songs predicting the victory of the Red Revolution, which had cost the lives of so many Christiains.
It should go without saying that canon law forbids the burial of non-Catholics (Hrdlika was Old Catholic) and unrepentant sinners.
The following video shows some of his hideous "artworks" which adorn the Barbara Chapel in the St. Stephens Cathedral in which his funeral service was held, where Fr. Faber announced that "we are hopeful of his eternal life". Perhaps he meant something about posterity? We want to be charitable and not take things out of context after all...
Source article from Kreuz.net...
video: http://www.gloria.tv/?media=42849
Hrdlika had previously displayed a blasphemous Last Supper in the St. Stephen's Cathedral which eventually, under some duress, Cardinal Schönborn removed it at Cathcon.
Rampaging Elephants Attack People Who Persecuted Christians in 2008
Nature definitely exacts a price for sins, but this is more dramatic, almost miraculous. It reminds us of the Ents attacking Isengard.
In July 2008 a severe persecution of Christians broke out in the Indian state of Orissa. A 22 year old nun was burnt to death when angry mobs burnt down an orphanage in Khuntpali village in Barhgarh district, another nun was gang raped in Kandhamal, mobs attacked churches, torched vehicles, houses of Christians destroyed, and Fr. Thomas Chellen, director of the pastoral center that was destroyed with a bomb, had a narrow escape after a Hindu mob nearly set him on fire. The end result saw more than 500 Christians murdered, and thousands of others injured and homeless after their houses were reduced to ashes. Recently a strange and dramatic event took place in Orissa, which has many people talking and wondering.
In recent months, herds of wild elephants have begun to storm villages that are home to some of the worst persecutors of Christians during the troubles. In one village, where in August a year ago the Christians had to run for their lives while their homes were being destroyed by rioters, a herd of elephants emerged from the surrounding jungle exactly one year later, in July 2009, at the same time of the day of the attack.
These elephants first attacked a rock crusher machine owned by a key leader of the persecution movement. They then went on to destroy his house and farms.
Hundreds of villagers have been forced to take shelter in camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by a herd of elephants.
Seven people have been killed and several others injured in attacks by a herd of 12-13 elephants over the past few weeks in Kandhamal district.
Over 2,500 people living in 45 villages have been affected by the attacks, district chief Krishen Kumar said.
Read further...
In July 2008 a severe persecution of Christians broke out in the Indian state of Orissa. A 22 year old nun was burnt to death when angry mobs burnt down an orphanage in Khuntpali village in Barhgarh district, another nun was gang raped in Kandhamal, mobs attacked churches, torched vehicles, houses of Christians destroyed, and Fr. Thomas Chellen, director of the pastoral center that was destroyed with a bomb, had a narrow escape after a Hindu mob nearly set him on fire. The end result saw more than 500 Christians murdered, and thousands of others injured and homeless after their houses were reduced to ashes. Recently a strange and dramatic event took place in Orissa, which has many people talking and wondering.
In recent months, herds of wild elephants have begun to storm villages that are home to some of the worst persecutors of Christians during the troubles. In one village, where in August a year ago the Christians had to run for their lives while their homes were being destroyed by rioters, a herd of elephants emerged from the surrounding jungle exactly one year later, in July 2009, at the same time of the day of the attack.
These elephants first attacked a rock crusher machine owned by a key leader of the persecution movement. They then went on to destroy his house and farms.
Hundreds of villagers have been forced to take shelter in camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by a herd of elephants.
Seven people have been killed and several others injured in attacks by a herd of 12-13 elephants over the past few weeks in Kandhamal district.
Over 2,500 people living in 45 villages have been affected by the attacks, district chief Krishen Kumar said.
Read further...
Abortion Continues to be a Dividing Issue
Wall Street Journal
By JANET ADAMY
The Senate nudged its health bill toward tighter restrictions on abortion coverage, a change that left advocates on both sides of the issue unsatisfied.
Under a deal with Sen. Ben Nelson, women who receive a new tax credit to buy insurance would write a separate check with their own money for abortion coverage, and states would explicitly have the option of barring such coverage from plans sold on new insurance exchanges. However, the language is less sweeping than that adopted by the House in November, which abortion-rights groups interpreted as the most significant setback in Congress for their cause in many years.
As it did in the House, abortion threatened to sink the health-care bill at the last minute in the Senate. Mr. Nelson, an antiabortion Democrat, vowed to withhold his vote unless the bill included more stringent requirements to ensure no federal money goes toward paying for abortion.
Link to orignal...
By JANET ADAMY
The Senate nudged its health bill toward tighter restrictions on abortion coverage, a change that left advocates on both sides of the issue unsatisfied.
Under a deal with Sen. Ben Nelson, women who receive a new tax credit to buy insurance would write a separate check with their own money for abortion coverage, and states would explicitly have the option of barring such coverage from plans sold on new insurance exchanges. However, the language is less sweeping than that adopted by the House in November, which abortion-rights groups interpreted as the most significant setback in Congress for their cause in many years.
As it did in the House, abortion threatened to sink the health-care bill at the last minute in the Senate. Mr. Nelson, an antiabortion Democrat, vowed to withhold his vote unless the bill included more stringent requirements to ensure no federal money goes toward paying for abortion.
Link to orignal...
Growing Power of Iraqi Kurdistan Could Backfire on Iran
Iran’s strategy to break Iraq into three component territories, and to dominate those territories in order to reduce regional opposition and to gain unfettered access to Syria and the Mediterranean as a result of the Western invasion of Iraq in 2004, has had profound success.
The country is now, at best, a federation, with elements of a slide toward confederacy or even the breaking away of some territory. Iran dominates, and will increasingly dominate, the Shi’a-controlled central heartland and the Government of Iraq, particularly when US and Coalition forces depart. Iraq’s northern — and predominantly Kurdish — region is now virtually an independent state. It is certainly an autonomous state.
Read Further....
The country is now, at best, a federation, with elements of a slide toward confederacy or even the breaking away of some territory. Iran dominates, and will increasingly dominate, the Shi’a-controlled central heartland and the Government of Iraq, particularly when US and Coalition forces depart. Iraq’s northern — and predominantly Kurdish — region is now virtually an independent state. It is certainly an autonomous state.
Read Further....
Bishops Prefer PR to Prayer and Orthodoxy
Claims against 70 Boston priests under the charge of Cardinal Law who paid out less than $157 Million was eclipsed by the $660 Million figure being paid out to victims in the Los Angeles Archdiocese headed by Cardinal Mahony at the same time; but Mahony is still fighting with the crimes of his youth. The numbers of victims and priestly predators involved are comparable, the only difference being that Cardinal Mahony was more friendly to homosexuals and dissidents in his See where Cardinal Law was perceived as a "conservative".
Perhaps it was Cardinal Mahony's mob connections through film moughul Lew Wasserman who engineered the box office failure, "Last Temptation of Christ", or perhaps it was the luxuriant high-profile Sitrick PR man he was able to pay for that tipped the scales? It's always seemed incredibly unfair to us elsewhere, but Cardinal Mahony, who was just as much a problem in protecting homosexual priests, never had to resign his office and go back to Rome.
The unequal treatment meted out between conservatives and liberals will no doubt continue, but even a few evil Bishops in Ireland are now being forced into retirement; one wonders if they are the only ones who deserve to be thrown out considering the lack of religious education in their country as demonstrated by three priests interviewed recently on Irish Television who either didn't seem to know their Faith, or were eager to subvert it out of malice.
Still, even if you don't know the Faith, there's still a lot of real-estate out there and it's a nice gig. So in order to protect this valuable spiritual benefice, the Bankrupt Diocese of Wilmington, like Cardinal Mahony in LA, has ordered up its own http://PR company to enable it to blunt the ire of the public in the face of the scandal caused by homosexuals and exploited by the Marxist media and government.
Perhaps PR saves the day and will save the day this Christmas as the Chicago Archdiocese shells out almost a $1 Million dollars to lure fallen away Catholics, most of whom "just drifted off" over the years, to return back to their places on Sunday, praying. If they just drifted off, perhaps it is thanks to the poor catechesis by area Lavender Dons like Cardinal Bernardine and Archbishop Weakland?
Well, if you can't get them by praying, at least you can lure them by snazzy marketing gags and hiring expensive PR firms.
We think Bishops would have better PR if they actually gave some demonstrable proof that they believed in what they taught, rather than hiring spin-doctors to make them look believeable. Unfortunately, it's hard to justify the process of PR, encouraging people to mechanical compliance to your point of view through emotional appeals is going to get anyone to heaven. We don't know, but it seems unlikely that anyone will learn the fundamentals of Catholic doctrine, and judging from recent Pew polls on Catholics who view Catholicism as a spiritual smorgasboard, it seems unlikely to change.
We also think things would change if Cardinal George were to be publicly whipped by traditional Saxon monks on public television like Peter O'Toole in his portrayal of Henry II in Beckett.
Sun Times
ELGIN -- Carrie Rauch has been active in the Catholic Church since she was a child. Her devotion continues to this day as director of evangelism at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.
Yet she understands how someone can become a lapsed Catholic. It could be due to anger, personal difficulties or a struggle with the church's teachings, she said.
Parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Hampshire hold a candlelight vigil in 2007. A new initiative is encouraging Catholics to reconnect with their local parish.
What Rauch hopes is her fellow Catholics will come back to the church and sort out those issues.
"It's in God's hands to move people. We will provide the hospitality and warmth to come back," she said.
Rauch is at the forefront of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford's new campaign, Catholics Come Home, an initiative to draw lapsed Catholics back to the church.
This week saw the launch of the initiative in northern Illinois. A series of TV commercials, which began airing last week, will run throughout the Rockford and Joliet dioceses and the Chicago archdiocese until Jan. 24.
Catholics Come Home is an invitation to people who once filled the pews but now stay home on Sunday morning. It encourages them to reconnect with their local parish and participate in a program that will re-orient them to the church and its teachings.
The number of those Catholics is high, according to a recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. One in 10 American adults is a former Catholic, the study found. There are more lapsed Catholics in America than there are affiliated Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Orthodox Christians, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Presbyterians combined, according to Pew's breakdown of religions in America.
Local churches are hoping the marketing blitz will help them fix a problem that prayer hasn't [who says anyone's actually praying? Fasting might not hurt either.]
"It's scheduled to be on every cable system that serves northern Illinois, and it will even bleed into southern Wisconsin and the Quad Cities," Rockford Diocese Communications Director Penny Wiegert said. "We figure that the average person will see the spots 12 times."
Exposure like that costs money. The Rockford and Joliet dioceses each are paying $250,000 for the commercials. The Chicago archdiocese is paying $850,000.
Link to Chicago Sun Times article...
Perhaps it was Cardinal Mahony's mob connections through film moughul Lew Wasserman who engineered the box office failure, "Last Temptation of Christ", or perhaps it was the luxuriant high-profile Sitrick PR man he was able to pay for that tipped the scales? It's always seemed incredibly unfair to us elsewhere, but Cardinal Mahony, who was just as much a problem in protecting homosexual priests, never had to resign his office and go back to Rome.
The unequal treatment meted out between conservatives and liberals will no doubt continue, but even a few evil Bishops in Ireland are now being forced into retirement; one wonders if they are the only ones who deserve to be thrown out considering the lack of religious education in their country as demonstrated by three priests interviewed recently on Irish Television who either didn't seem to know their Faith, or were eager to subvert it out of malice.
Still, even if you don't know the Faith, there's still a lot of real-estate out there and it's a nice gig. So in order to protect this valuable spiritual benefice, the Bankrupt Diocese of Wilmington, like Cardinal Mahony in LA, has ordered up its own http://PR company to enable it to blunt the ire of the public in the face of the scandal caused by homosexuals and exploited by the Marxist media and government.
Perhaps PR saves the day and will save the day this Christmas as the Chicago Archdiocese shells out almost a $1 Million dollars to lure fallen away Catholics, most of whom "just drifted off" over the years, to return back to their places on Sunday, praying. If they just drifted off, perhaps it is thanks to the poor catechesis by area Lavender Dons like Cardinal Bernardine and Archbishop Weakland?
Well, if you can't get them by praying, at least you can lure them by snazzy marketing gags and hiring expensive PR firms.
We think Bishops would have better PR if they actually gave some demonstrable proof that they believed in what they taught, rather than hiring spin-doctors to make them look believeable. Unfortunately, it's hard to justify the process of PR, encouraging people to mechanical compliance to your point of view through emotional appeals is going to get anyone to heaven. We don't know, but it seems unlikely that anyone will learn the fundamentals of Catholic doctrine, and judging from recent Pew polls on Catholics who view Catholicism as a spiritual smorgasboard, it seems unlikely to change.
We also think things would change if Cardinal George were to be publicly whipped by traditional Saxon monks on public television like Peter O'Toole in his portrayal of Henry II in Beckett.
Sun Times
ELGIN -- Carrie Rauch has been active in the Catholic Church since she was a child. Her devotion continues to this day as director of evangelism at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.
Yet she understands how someone can become a lapsed Catholic. It could be due to anger, personal difficulties or a struggle with the church's teachings, she said.
Parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Hampshire hold a candlelight vigil in 2007. A new initiative is encouraging Catholics to reconnect with their local parish.
What Rauch hopes is her fellow Catholics will come back to the church and sort out those issues.
"It's in God's hands to move people. We will provide the hospitality and warmth to come back," she said.
Rauch is at the forefront of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford's new campaign, Catholics Come Home, an initiative to draw lapsed Catholics back to the church.
This week saw the launch of the initiative in northern Illinois. A series of TV commercials, which began airing last week, will run throughout the Rockford and Joliet dioceses and the Chicago archdiocese until Jan. 24.
Catholics Come Home is an invitation to people who once filled the pews but now stay home on Sunday morning. It encourages them to reconnect with their local parish and participate in a program that will re-orient them to the church and its teachings.
The number of those Catholics is high, according to a recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. One in 10 American adults is a former Catholic, the study found. There are more lapsed Catholics in America than there are affiliated Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Orthodox Christians, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Presbyterians combined, according to Pew's breakdown of religions in America.
Local churches are hoping the marketing blitz will help them fix a problem that prayer hasn't [who says anyone's actually praying? Fasting might not hurt either.]
"It's scheduled to be on every cable system that serves northern Illinois, and it will even bleed into southern Wisconsin and the Quad Cities," Rockford Diocese Communications Director Penny Wiegert said. "We figure that the average person will see the spots 12 times."
Exposure like that costs money. The Rockford and Joliet dioceses each are paying $250,000 for the commercials. The Chicago archdiocese is paying $850,000.
Link to Chicago Sun Times article...
"Pope" to be Trademarked
Vatican City, Dec 19, 2009 / 12:23 pm (CNA).- The Vatican made a declaration on the protection of the figure of the Pope on Saturday morning. The statement seeks to establish and safeguard the name, image and any symbols of the Pope as being expressly for official use of the Holy See unless otherwise authorized.
The statement cited a "great increase of affection and esteem for the person of the Holy Father" in recent years as contributing to a desire to use the Pontiff's name for all manner of educational and cultural institutions, civic groups and foundations.
Due to this demand, the Vatican has felt it necessary to declare that "it alone has the right to ensure the respect due to the Successors of Peter, and therefore, to protect the figure and personal identity of the Pope from the unauthorized use of his name and/or the papal coat of arms for ends and activities which have little or nothing to do with the Catholic Church."
The declaration alludes to attempts to use ecclesiastical or pontifical symbols and logos to "attribute credibility and authority to initiatives" as another reason to establish their “copyright” on the Holy Father's name, picture and coat of arms.
"Consequently, the use of anything referring directly to the person or office of the Supreme Pontiff... and/or the use of the title 'Pontifical,' must receive previous and express authorization from the Holy See," concluded the message released to the press
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/holy_see_declares_unique_copyright_on_papal_figure/
The statement cited a "great increase of affection and esteem for the person of the Holy Father" in recent years as contributing to a desire to use the Pontiff's name for all manner of educational and cultural institutions, civic groups and foundations.
Due to this demand, the Vatican has felt it necessary to declare that "it alone has the right to ensure the respect due to the Successors of Peter, and therefore, to protect the figure and personal identity of the Pope from the unauthorized use of his name and/or the papal coat of arms for ends and activities which have little or nothing to do with the Catholic Church."
The declaration alludes to attempts to use ecclesiastical or pontifical symbols and logos to "attribute credibility and authority to initiatives" as another reason to establish their “copyright” on the Holy Father's name, picture and coat of arms.
"Consequently, the use of anything referring directly to the person or office of the Supreme Pontiff... and/or the use of the title 'Pontifical,' must receive previous and express authorization from the Holy See," concluded the message released to the press
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/holy_see_declares_unique_copyright_on_papal_figure/
Federal Funding for Needle Exchange
No doubt the good folks at NPR think this is a good thing in their lemon latte world of easy virtue.
Speaking of virtue, if such a thing can be said to exist, we have more false charity on the way and if you think you're performing a meritorious act by voting for "social change" which will extort money from you fellow taxpayers... Never mind the limousine liberals, they can protect their wealth in numerous ways. The middle class and those "rich" people with combined incomes over 90k will pay for this non-sense.
More creeping, frog soup, socialism and degradation especially provided by the inestimable power of your Federal Government.
NPR
After two decades, Congress has voted to lift a ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs. AIDS activists are cheering the move, saying it legitimizes needle exchange in the nationwide fight against HIV/AIDS.
For years, needle exchange programs in three dozen states have provided clean needles to intravenous drug users as a way to reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. But the programs have relied solely on state and local funding because of a longtime ban at the federal level. For years, some regarded needle exchange as an incentive for drug addicts to continue to use.
Link to original...
Speaking of virtue, if such a thing can be said to exist, we have more false charity on the way and if you think you're performing a meritorious act by voting for "social change" which will extort money from you fellow taxpayers... Never mind the limousine liberals, they can protect their wealth in numerous ways. The middle class and those "rich" people with combined incomes over 90k will pay for this non-sense.
More creeping, frog soup, socialism and degradation especially provided by the inestimable power of your Federal Government.
NPR
After two decades, Congress has voted to lift a ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs. AIDS activists are cheering the move, saying it legitimizes needle exchange in the nationwide fight against HIV/AIDS.
For years, needle exchange programs in three dozen states have provided clean needles to intravenous drug users as a way to reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. But the programs have relied solely on state and local funding because of a longtime ban at the federal level. For years, some regarded needle exchange as an incentive for drug addicts to continue to use.
Link to original...
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Pilgrimage to Shrine of St. Lazarus in Cuba
A pilgrimage combining two faith traditions has taken place in Cuba at the shrine of St Lazarus.
It is a religious event which has managed to continue uninterrupted, even in the face of oppression in the past.
Michael Voss reports from Havana.
See video images...
It is a religious event which has managed to continue uninterrupted, even in the face of oppression in the past.
Michael Voss reports from Havana.
See video images...
Popular Ohio Priest Has Parish Kneeling
SHILOH -- Belleville Catholic Bishop Edward Braxton has set a deadline of this weekend for all parishioners who attend Corpus Christi Church: You must kneel [It's called Consecration] during the high point of the ceremony, the Liturgy of the Eucharist.Braxton sent a letter marked "high priority" to Monsignor James Margason, pastor of Corpus Christi, who posted the information for parishioners.In the Catholic Church, the Eucharistic Prayer marks the central prayer of the Mass and is the moment when the "bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ," according to a directive from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The group advises that all should kneel at this time.
http://www.bnd.com/homepage/story/1057536.html
http://www.bnd.com/homepage/story/1057536.html
Red Basques Continue to Attack Bishop Elect
This has all the earmarks of a Marxist propaganda campaign. The priests creating this furor should be sent packing without the benefit of a severence package to fend for themselves in the streets of Barcelona with the dogs and cats.
This Bishop elect needs to stand firm against these reds like Pius XII did in Bavaria when he confronted them like Leo the Great confronted the Huns outside the gates of Rome!
SAN SEBASTIÁN, Spain, December 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The appointment of
Bishop José Ignacio Munilla to the diocese of San Sebastian in northern Spain, has been repudiated in a letter signed by a majority of priests of the diocese.
Since the rejection early in 2009 by the Austrian bishops conference of the pope's pick for bishop of Linz, some European bishops and priests have stepped up their defiance of papal wishes on appointments and Catholic teaching.
The letter said that Bishop Munilla is "not suitable" for the post and said the appointment would "discredit the ecclesiastical life of our diocese." It was signed by 131 priests, nearly 80 per cent of the diocese's complement. The letter is believed to be politically motivated, given that the Catholic Church in the Basque region is known for its "progressive" stands and its sympathy for the Basque separatist movement.
Link to original...
Revolutionary Basques here too....
This Bishop elect needs to stand firm against these reds like Pius XII did in Bavaria when he confronted them like Leo the Great confronted the Huns outside the gates of Rome!
SAN SEBASTIÁN, Spain, December 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The appointment of
Bishop José Ignacio Munilla to the diocese of San Sebastian in northern Spain, has been repudiated in a letter signed by a majority of priests of the diocese.
Since the rejection early in 2009 by the Austrian bishops conference of the pope's pick for bishop of Linz, some European bishops and priests have stepped up their defiance of papal wishes on appointments and Catholic teaching.
The letter said that Bishop Munilla is "not suitable" for the post and said the appointment would "discredit the ecclesiastical life of our diocese." It was signed by 131 priests, nearly 80 per cent of the diocese's complement. The letter is believed to be politically motivated, given that the Catholic Church in the Basque region is known for its "progressive" stands and its sympathy for the Basque separatist movement.
Link to original...
Revolutionary Basques here too....
Petulant Vatican Bureaucrat Criticizes Kreuz.net for Circulating Encyclical on Music
Kreuz circulates what spokesman Fr Lombardi says is a fake encyclical on sacred music, Musicam Sacrum Fovere conceived to please conservatives and earns the scorn of the Liberals at Radio Vatican who then proceed to make simpering accusations about their supposed association with National Socialism and the USA based server they use, "to avoid prosecution under German Law".
Link to original ...
Original PDF File of Musicam Sacram Fovere in Latin...
Even Garrison Keillor Angers Jews
YES!
NPR is going to be so angry. Perhaps Garrison wants to go out in a blaze of glory?
We can't wait till Garrison appears before a press conference to offer a contrite apology to his masters. Perhaps he couldn't take it anymore and he was off steam and what was intended as toungue in cheek showed his underlying ire.
How about a little sympathy for a man who's just suffered a stroke?
Garrison Keillor, self-appointed cultural representative of regular old Americans, ruffled some feathers yesterday with a mildly xenophobic rant about Christmas. After lambasting a Unitarian church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for “spiritual piracy and cultural elitism”—tweaking the lyrics of “Silent Night” for a singalong, in layman’s terms—he turned his ire in a different direction:
And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write ‘Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we’ll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah’? No, we didn’t. Christmas is a Christian holiday—if you’re not in the club, then buzz off.
The Baltimore Sun got some angry letters about this, and understandably so. Hating on Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” is, in a way, the same thing as the American Family Association’s boycott of the Gap for its “failure” to use the word Christmas in ads: both actions reject a dilution of Christmas by outsiders, just in slightly different ways. It certainly does not accord with the generous holiday spirit. And anyway: “Dreck?” Really? Who’s co-opting whom?
Pius XII to be Made Venerable Angers Jewish Groups
Jewish leaders expressed disgust Saturday when Pope Benedict XVI pushed a controversial predecessor one step closer to sainthood.
The pontiff declared Pius XII "venerable" even though he's been criticized for not doing enough to help Jews during the Holocaust.
Jewish groups had asked for the move - one step before beatification - to be postponed until they're allowed to review Vatican archives on Pius' World War II actions.
Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, called Benedict's decision "profoundly insensitive and thoughtless."
Read more:
The pontiff declared Pius XII "venerable" even though he's been criticized for not doing enough to help Jews during the Holocaust.
Jewish groups had asked for the move - one step before beatification - to be postponed until they're allowed to review Vatican archives on Pius' World War II actions.
Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, called Benedict's decision "profoundly insensitive and thoughtless."
Read more:
Copts in New York Protest Persecution
This statement is from the American Copts at http://freecopts.net/english/ who organized simultaneous rallies in several States to “express their resentment and rejection to what is taking place to their brethren in Egypt, including killings, destruction and looting of their property, displacement from their homes and the forced Islamization of their minor daughters.”
Link to "the "silent" majority no more!"...with lots of photos.
Link to "the "silent" majority no more!"...with lots of photos.
Senator Nelson will Vote for Socialized Medicine
Get ready for more for a lump of coal this Christmas as new legislation which will produce unintended and unfortunate consequences not least of which will be the stifling of business, loss of jobs and ultimately, poor medical care.
For all of the ineffectual wrangling of the USCCB, the bill is likely going to include federal funding for abortion anyway, and it should cost Nelson his Senate seat when he's up for re-election. The Bishops could conceivably have stopped the Bill in the Congress, but chose to accept the fools bargain anyhow. This seems to be playing out just as Deal Hudson predicted it would back in August.
Article in the Washington Post, here.
Pro-life advocates in the state of Nebraska have applied steady pressure, but it reamins unclear just what provisions against abortion will be in place when the Bill is voted into law before Christmas as reported by google news.
Steve Ertelt says that Stupak claims that he can still defeat the bill after all.
Here's more information from lifesite on the "compromise".
For all of the ineffectual wrangling of the USCCB, the bill is likely going to include federal funding for abortion anyway, and it should cost Nelson his Senate seat when he's up for re-election. The Bishops could conceivably have stopped the Bill in the Congress, but chose to accept the fools bargain anyhow. This seems to be playing out just as Deal Hudson predicted it would back in August.
Article in the Washington Post, here.
Pro-life advocates in the state of Nebraska have applied steady pressure, but it reamins unclear just what provisions against abortion will be in place when the Bill is voted into law before Christmas as reported by google news.
Steve Ertelt says that Stupak claims that he can still defeat the bill after all.
Here's more information from lifesite on the "compromise".
Reputedly Catholic Organizations Support Casey Proposal
Bob Casey receives endorsement from the usual suspects who lay claim to a Catholic identity that benefits them with their donors and alumni, but do not, as Cardinal DiNardo says, amount to rejecting federal funding for abortion.
Washington D.C., Dec 18, 2009 / 06:56 pm (CNA).- Sen. Bob Casey's office released a statement to CNA on Friday afternoon claiming that the senator's abortion compromise has received “widespread praise” from health groups and faith leaders around the country. However, the U.S. bishops' head of pro-life issues, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, charged that Casey's language does not address the fact that the Senate bill still fails to comply with “longstanding Hyde restrictions on federal funding of elective abortions.”
Following the defeat of the Nelson Amendment in the Senate, Sen. Casey (D-Penn.), who helped co-sponsor it, sent a new compromise proposal to Sen. Nelson that would hopefully garner enough votes to pass the Senate.
After reviewing the Casey proposal, Nelson rejected the language, saying that it “does not yet ensure that a longstanding federal standard barring public funding of abortion would be maintained in the Senate health care bill the Senate has been debating this month.”
Speaking in a press release on Friday, Sen. Casey underscored that “It is critical to maintain restrictions on federal funding of abortion. But we must also focus on the needs of vulnerable pregnant women and do all we can to assist them at a time when they may find themselves alone and without support.”
[chop]
The following is a list of individuals who support the Casey proposal:
Despite the fact that no one has actually seen the proposed language of the compromise, Sen. Casey's office released a list of religious groups who have come forward in support of the illusory language. The list includes U.S. Ambassador to Malta Douglas Kmiec, Sr. Simone Campbell of NETWORK, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, the Catholic Health Association and professors from Boston College, Fordham University, Marquette University, the University of Dayton, the Catholic University of America and the University of Notre Dame
Link to original...
Washington D.C., Dec 18, 2009 / 06:56 pm (CNA).- Sen. Bob Casey's office released a statement to CNA on Friday afternoon claiming that the senator's abortion compromise has received “widespread praise” from health groups and faith leaders around the country. However, the U.S. bishops' head of pro-life issues, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, charged that Casey's language does not address the fact that the Senate bill still fails to comply with “longstanding Hyde restrictions on federal funding of elective abortions.”
Following the defeat of the Nelson Amendment in the Senate, Sen. Casey (D-Penn.), who helped co-sponsor it, sent a new compromise proposal to Sen. Nelson that would hopefully garner enough votes to pass the Senate.
After reviewing the Casey proposal, Nelson rejected the language, saying that it “does not yet ensure that a longstanding federal standard barring public funding of abortion would be maintained in the Senate health care bill the Senate has been debating this month.”
Speaking in a press release on Friday, Sen. Casey underscored that “It is critical to maintain restrictions on federal funding of abortion. But we must also focus on the needs of vulnerable pregnant women and do all we can to assist them at a time when they may find themselves alone and without support.”
[chop]
The following is a list of individuals who support the Casey proposal:
Despite the fact that no one has actually seen the proposed language of the compromise, Sen. Casey's office released a list of religious groups who have come forward in support of the illusory language. The list includes U.S. Ambassador to Malta Douglas Kmiec, Sr. Simone Campbell of NETWORK, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, the Catholic Health Association and professors from Boston College, Fordham University, Marquette University, the University of Dayton, the Catholic University of America and the University of Notre Dame
Link to original...
EWTN's Arroyo Hosts Reform CCHD Reps Who Reveal Shocking Evidence Against USCCB Anti-Poverty Arm
From Catholic Answers:
The ALL compilation is quite instructive; it links to the USCCB list of grantees as well. Skimming through the USCCB list of grantees and descriptions, I did a word search for "empower" and got 24 hits. Is that evil? No, but it means that the grantees are often more political than charitable in nature, usually associated with a "progressive" social agenda.
Link to original...
The ALL compilation is quite instructive; it links to the USCCB list of grantees as well. Skimming through the USCCB list of grantees and descriptions, I did a word search for "empower" and got 24 hits. Is that evil? No, but it means that the grantees are often more political than charitable in nature, usually associated with a "progressive" social agenda.
Link to original...
Friday, December 18, 2009
New Spanish Traditional Site: Need Translators
Última modificación: 05 de diciembre de 2009 | Descargar en formato PDF
Horloogiyn Choibalsán nació en Achit Beysiyin[1] en el Aymag Tsetsen Khan[2] de Mongolia, el 8 de febrero de 1895. Originalmente fue entrenado como monje Lamaísta. Tras huir de un monasterio a los diecisiete años, realizó una serie de trabajos mientras acudía al Colegio Ruso para Traductores en Nislel Khuree, como se llamaba Ulán Bator en ese entonces.
Hizo contacto con los revolucionarios rusos cuando viajó a Siberia. Fundó su primera organizacón revolucionaria en 1919. Mientras iba al colegio en Rusia, se unió con Damdin Sükhbaatar para formar el Partido Revolucionario Popular de Mongolia en 1921, mientras mantenía contacto con los Bolcheviques.
Después de que las fuerzas armadas de Mongolia y el Ejército Rojo soviético entraron en Urga en 1921 y establecieron un gobierno pro-soviético, Choibalsán acudió a una academia militar en Moscú y se convirtió en Comandante en Jefe del ejército mongol. Más tarde tendría varios cargos en el gobierno, desde Ministro de Exteriores hasta Vice Primer Ministro de Guerra.
Alcanzó el poder con apoyo soviético, como resultado del desagrado de Stalin con el líder comunista mongol Peljidiyn Genden. Genden había, entre otras cosas, reducido la aplicación de una economía dirigida, rehusó el permiso para que las tropas soviéticas se basaran en Mongolia, y rehusó una orden de Stalin de "liquidar" a los monjes budistas. Cuando Stalin aumentó la presión sobre Mongolia, Genden lo acusó de imperialismo. En 1936, Genden fue sacado del poder y poco después lo arrestaron y mataron. Choibalsán, que seguía las órdenes de Stalin sin cuestionar nada, pronto se hizo al poder.
Fue cabeza de estado (Presidente del Presídium del Pequeño Hural del Estado[3], 1929-1930) y cabeza de gobierno (Presidente del Consejo de Comisarios Populares, 1939-1952) y dominó el mundo político del país. Para 1940 ya no tenía rivales. En ocasiones se le ha concedido el título del rango militar de Mariscal.
Era un cercano seguidor del líder soviético Josef Stalin y emuló sus políticas de varias formas. Por ese motivo – y por su sanguinario gobierno – con frecuencia se han referido a él como el Stalin de Mongolia. Como Stalin, desarrolló un culto a la personalidad y purgó a miles de disidentes.
Pero aunque Choibalsán no podía mantener una política exterior independiente, es muy simplista considerarlo un simple títere sin ninguna voluntad propia. Él era un nacionalista mongol, y nunca abandonó la intención de unir a todos los mongoles[4] bajo la República Popular de Mongolia. Hasta 1945 alentó la insurrección étnica en Xinjiang Oriental (con apoyo de Stalin), con el objetivo de fortalecer la influencia del Partido en la región e intentando extenderlo más allá de Xinjiang, a Gansu y Qinghai.
En agosto de 1945 el PRPM declaró una guerra a Japón y participó en la invasión soviética de Mongolia Interior. Choibalsán esperaba que fuese la oportunidad de arrebatar la zona a China, pero en agosto de 1945 Stalin concluyó un trato con China que garantizaba importantes intereses soviéticos en el Lejano Oriente, así como la independencia de Mongolia Exterior. Con estas ganancias en sus manos, Stalin rechazó los sueños pan-mongoles de Choibalsán. Sin embargo, continuarían sus peticiones por Mongolia Interior hasta 1949. La mayor concesión del dictador soviético fue dejar que Choibalsán realizara actividades propagandísticas "tranquilas" en Mongolia Interior para autodeterminación nacional.
El gobierno de Choibalsán es generalmente considerado como el más tiránico que ha existido en la historia reciente de Mongolia. Bajo su mandato se condujeron muchas purgas sangrientas de "enemigos del pueblo", y la cifra más conservadora indica que al menos 30.000 personas murieron debido a sus represiones violentas, enfocadas principalmente en figuras religiosas, antigua aristocracia y disidentes políticos. Sólo en dos años tras el inicio de las purgas de 1937 unas 57.000 personas sufrieron encarcelamiento político.
Link to original...
Holy Father: Failure to Recognize Natural Law Leads to "Dictatorship of Relativism"
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - If we fail to recognize the value of natural law, or of the immutable truth, inherent in the human heart, which urges concern for the common good and rejects attacks on life, then we risk a "dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything definitive and leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self and ones own desires". This is the warning that Benedict XVI traced today from the life and thoughts of John of Salisbury, a twelfth century English theologian, the subject of his catechesis delivered to nine thousand people present in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican for the General audience.
John was born between 1100 and 1120 in Salisbury, England. According to a wealth of letters left us by the theologian, between 1136 and 1148 he devoted himself to studies by attending the lectures of the most famous masters of his time, particularly those of the theological school of Chartres. "As often was the case with the most brilliant students” he was a sought after collaborator by bishops and sovereigns of the time and between 1150 and 1161 he became secretary and chaplain to Theobald, the aging archbishop of the primary See of Canterbury. "With unflagging zeal," while he continued in his studies, he carried out an intense diplomatic activity, frequently travelling to Rome to ensure ongoing relations with the papacy. An Englishman, Adrian IV, was pope at the time. He died in 1159. In those years, there was "serious tension between church and kingdom, which sought to assert its authority, limiting freedom" in England.
Read further...
John was born between 1100 and 1120 in Salisbury, England. According to a wealth of letters left us by the theologian, between 1136 and 1148 he devoted himself to studies by attending the lectures of the most famous masters of his time, particularly those of the theological school of Chartres. "As often was the case with the most brilliant students” he was a sought after collaborator by bishops and sovereigns of the time and between 1150 and 1161 he became secretary and chaplain to Theobald, the aging archbishop of the primary See of Canterbury. "With unflagging zeal," while he continued in his studies, he carried out an intense diplomatic activity, frequently travelling to Rome to ensure ongoing relations with the papacy. An Englishman, Adrian IV, was pope at the time. He died in 1159. In those years, there was "serious tension between church and kingdom, which sought to assert its authority, limiting freedom" in England.
Read further...
More Bad Jesuits: Georgetown
As the DC City Council was getting ready to legalize same-sex "marriage" (it's in quotes because same-sex unions are NOT marriage, despite what secular governments say). Father Joseph Palacios, a Georgetown University sociology professor joined DC Clergy United for a rally in support of the messure. I refer you to the article and will note below some logical fallacies in some of his statements.
He likens his own homosexual orientation to his Latino ethnicity. That's flat wrong. The Magisterium plainly teaches that the homosexual orientation is intrinsically disordered and is sinful if one acts upon it. Father states that he is celibate. Be that as it may, he does advocate for the promulgation of the gay lifestyle. That is inherently sinful.
Link to original...
He likens his own homosexual orientation to his Latino ethnicity. That's flat wrong. The Magisterium plainly teaches that the homosexual orientation is intrinsically disordered and is sinful if one acts upon it. Father states that he is celibate. Be that as it may, he does advocate for the promulgation of the gay lifestyle. That is inherently sinful.
Link to original...
Useful Catholic Organizations Promote Global Warming
Anyone who advocates in favor of climate change is at best a useful idiot in the service of Marxism, including the Alaskan Bishops, the Irish Bishop's Conference and the USCCB. The fact that so many Catholic organizations have been so compliant for this false agenda is a sure indication of just how far the cancer has progressed now destroying the Catholic Faith wherever it has its nest and networks of mutually supporting individuals bent on destroying the Church.
As world-wide support for these initiatives which will only cost jobs and retard economic development and provide new avenues for oppression and social engineering, the propaganda organs of the Globalists, like George Soros who exploits Catholic organizations, will increase their rancour.
December 17, 2009
Frustrated by sputtering climate talks, Caritas Internationalis-- the international consortium of Catholic relief agencies-- and CISDE (an alliance of Catholic development agencies)-- are calling upon heads of state to act decisively during the Copenhagen climate summit’s final days.
“We must be clear what is causing the current deadlock: developed country commitments on emission reductions and support to developing countries fall far short of what science and justice requires,” said CIDSE Secretary General Bernd Nilles. “Developed countries hold the historical responsibility for climate change, which is impacting profoundly already on developing countries. They simply cannot shirk their responsibilities.”
“Heads of State must feel the weight of the public and moral outpouring over the last months and during this last week in Copenhagen and around the world,” he added. “The people are ready, we need our leaders to move.”
Link to original....
As world-wide support for these initiatives which will only cost jobs and retard economic development and provide new avenues for oppression and social engineering, the propaganda organs of the Globalists, like George Soros who exploits Catholic organizations, will increase their rancour.
December 17, 2009
Frustrated by sputtering climate talks, Caritas Internationalis-- the international consortium of Catholic relief agencies-- and CISDE (an alliance of Catholic development agencies)-- are calling upon heads of state to act decisively during the Copenhagen climate summit’s final days.
“We must be clear what is causing the current deadlock: developed country commitments on emission reductions and support to developing countries fall far short of what science and justice requires,” said CIDSE Secretary General Bernd Nilles. “Developed countries hold the historical responsibility for climate change, which is impacting profoundly already on developing countries. They simply cannot shirk their responsibilities.”
“Heads of State must feel the weight of the public and moral outpouring over the last months and during this last week in Copenhagen and around the world,” he added. “The people are ready, we need our leaders to move.”
Link to original....
Modernist Abbey Gives Money Back
A Modernist Monastery in Central Minnesota decides to return the tainted money and avoid more bad publicity. Meanwhile, they're being sued by still another individual for their negligence and promotion of homosexuality.
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — The monks of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville have decided to the return $2 million from convicted businessman Tom Petters.
The abbey received the donation from the Tom Petters Foundation for the construction of the Petters Pavilion in May 2007. The pavilion is an expansion of the Abbey Chapter House.
The monks have also decided to rename the building, but haven’t picked a new name yet. The monks made their decisions Tuesday, but they were first reported today.
The abbey will work with a court overseer of Petter’s assets to return the money.
Earlier this month, a jury convicted Petters on 20 counts in a $3.5 billion fraud scheme. Petters’ lawyers have said they plan to appeal.
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — The monks of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville have decided to the return $2 million from convicted businessman Tom Petters.
The abbey received the donation from the Tom Petters Foundation for the construction of the Petters Pavilion in May 2007. The pavilion is an expansion of the Abbey Chapter House.
The monks have also decided to rename the building, but haven’t picked a new name yet. The monks made their decisions Tuesday, but they were first reported today.
The abbey will work with a court overseer of Petter’s assets to return the money.
Earlier this month, a jury convicted Petters on 20 counts in a $3.5 billion fraud scheme. Petters’ lawyers have said they plan to appeal.
Another Sign of the Times: Liberal Minnesota Archbishop
Back in June of 2008 Bill Donahue of the Catholic League recently gave a glowing report of Archbishop Nienstedt's efforts to curtail the promotion of Homosexuality at the parish of St. Joan of Arc. Despite his timely intervention, the parish's administration and problematic direction remained. It's as though a surgeon only treated the symptoms of a cancer destroying his patient's immune system, leaving the root cause of the disease untreated. So, two weeks ago, the Parish of St. Joan of Arc hosted the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus to "celebrate the inner child".
It is becoming more clear as his administration continues that Archbishop Nienstedt is erecting a Potemkin Archdiocese to appease local and vocal conservative voices, and Rome, while attempting to avoid at the same time alienating big liberal donors like the Pohlads. He previously permitted a pro-homosexual speaker, organized by Terri Griep, facillitator of CCCR and a writer at the Archdioces' paper, the Catholic Spirit, to speak at Our Lady of Grace Parish.
Celebrating their Inner Child
There was no outcry when the Gay Men's Chorus used St. Joan of Arc Parish and Archdiocesan property, promoting homosexuality against the Archdiocese's speaker policy, Bill Donahue's posturing notwithstanding a year ago, nothing has been done.
Here's what was said then, so much for those empty words; the same problems are well in place:
It is becoming more clear as his administration continues that Archbishop Nienstedt is erecting a Potemkin Archdiocese to appease local and vocal conservative voices, and Rome, while attempting to avoid at the same time alienating big liberal donors like the Pohlads. He previously permitted a pro-homosexual speaker, organized by Terri Griep, facillitator of CCCR and a writer at the Archdioces' paper, the Catholic Spirit, to speak at Our Lady of Grace Parish.
Celebrating their Inner Child
There was no outcry when the Gay Men's Chorus used St. Joan of Arc Parish and Archdiocesan property, promoting homosexuality against the Archdiocese's speaker policy, Bill Donahue's posturing notwithstanding a year ago, nothing has been done.
Here's what was said then, so much for those empty words; the same problems are well in place:
Catholic League president Bill Donohue supports Archbishop Nienstedt [to maintain the sole appearances of Catholicism]:
“The annual prayer service at St. Joan of Arc was never held to honor gays as equal members of the Catholic community, rather it was held to celebrate the LGBT lifestyle. That’s not a small difference. The Catholic Church welcomes people of all sexual orientations, but it is not obligated to celebrate sodomy anymore than it is obligated to celebrate fornication.
“The attacks on Archbishop Nienstedt are vicious. One local gay Catholic leader, David McCaffrey, has said that Nienstedt is guilty of ‘yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at LGBT persons and their families under [his] reign of homophobic hatred.’ This is a remarkable comment given that Nienstedt didn’t take over as archbishop until last month.
Columbia's Biggest Communist Groups Unite
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's two biggest rebel groups said on Wednesday they may join forces against the state after years of being pushed onto the defensive by the U.S.-backed security policies of President Alvaro Uribe.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) issued a surprise joint statement in which they threatened to unite with "force and belligerence" in their fight against the conservative Uribe.
"Our only enemy is North American Imperialism and its oligarchic lackeys," the statement said.
The ELN, formed by renegade Catholic priests and inspired by the liberation theology movement of the 1960s, has clashed repeatedly with the hard-line communist FARC.
Link to original...
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) issued a surprise joint statement in which they threatened to unite with "force and belligerence" in their fight against the conservative Uribe.
"Our only enemy is North American Imperialism and its oligarchic lackeys," the statement said.
The ELN, formed by renegade Catholic priests and inspired by the liberation theology movement of the 1960s, has clashed repeatedly with the hard-line communist FARC.
Link to original...
Muslims and Christians Flock To See Mary In Cairo
Our Lady is appearing to Copts in the poorest neighborhoods of Cairo. She doesn't say anything, but her presence speaks nonetheless. Like children, the Copts and some Muslims crowd around her mantel, seeking protection, maternal love and hope. The following is from "The Watchers Lamp" blog.
(ANSAmed) - CAIRO - Exorcisms and alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary are occurring in Cairo, in two of the city's poorest neighbourhoods, and the two phenomena are drawing in throngs of the faithful, mostly Christian Copts but Muslims as well. The most recent event is the one which occurred last Friday in the El Waaraq neighbourhood, located in the Giza area. The Egyptian Gazette reports that many claim to have personally witnessed the Virgin Mary on the roof of St. Michaels church with her arms opening in their direction, while the smell of incense and a flock of doves surrounded the area. This event allegedly occurred at least twice, but a Church appointee was unable to capture it on video. People are now awaiting for the return of Copt pope Shenouda III to return to Cairo from the USA on the day after tomorrow. He is expected to set up a committee that will look into the alleged apparitions, and to decide on the now sizeable amount of money offered by the faithful.
http://watcherslamp.blogspot.com/
(ANSAmed) - CAIRO - Exorcisms and alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary are occurring in Cairo, in two of the city's poorest neighbourhoods, and the two phenomena are drawing in throngs of the faithful, mostly Christian Copts but Muslims as well. The most recent event is the one which occurred last Friday in the El Waaraq neighbourhood, located in the Giza area. The Egyptian Gazette reports that many claim to have personally witnessed the Virgin Mary on the roof of St. Michaels church with her arms opening in their direction, while the smell of incense and a flock of doves surrounded the area. This event allegedly occurred at least twice, but a Church appointee was unable to capture it on video. People are now awaiting for the return of Copt pope Shenouda III to return to Cairo from the USA on the day after tomorrow. He is expected to set up a committee that will look into the alleged apparitions, and to decide on the now sizeable amount of money offered by the faithful.
http://watcherslamp.blogspot.com/
Jesuit Fordham Promotes Abortion
The law school of one of the nation’s leading Jesuit universities has a student organization that advocates for legalized abortion. Law Students for Reproductive Justice-- one of the Fordham University School of Law’s 35 student organizations-- believes that “every person, regardless of gender, race, class, or ethnicity, has the right to choose whether or not to have sex, use contraception, or have a child. Our projects include brownbags with reproductive rights activists, an ongoing escort program in partnership with Planned Parenthood of New York City, a research partnership with local pro-choice legal organizations, and internship opportunities.”
Founded in 1841, Fordham University has 14,666 students, 7,994 of whom are undergraduates
Link to original...
Founded in 1841, Fordham University has 14,666 students, 7,994 of whom are undergraduates
Link to original...
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Catholics and Orthodox Sharing Priestly Duties in India
Catholic and Orthodox Churches have agreed to share priestly services and infrastructure, in a major development in their 356-year-old troubled history.
The Inter-religious Dialogue Commission of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council met with the Syrian Jacobite and Syrian orthodox Churches mid December to seek ways to foster better unity and cooperation among them, UCA News reports.
The three Churches are based in Kerala, southern India, and trace their faith to Saint Thomas the Apostle.
The Church split in 1653 after Portuguese missioners tried to impose their ways on the native Christians.
Link to orignal...
The Inter-religious Dialogue Commission of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council met with the Syrian Jacobite and Syrian orthodox Churches mid December to seek ways to foster better unity and cooperation among them, UCA News reports.
The three Churches are based in Kerala, southern India, and trace their faith to Saint Thomas the Apostle.
The Church split in 1653 after Portuguese missioners tried to impose their ways on the native Christians.
Link to orignal...
Wealthy Liberal Catholics Paying Archbishop Nienstedt Millions
Archbishop Nienstedt is going to get a bump for inner-city Catholic Schools from the Pohlad family to the tune of $1 Million a year. Former Twins baseball team owner, Carl Pohlad had his funeral Mass in the very liberal, pro-homosexual Basilica of St. Mary's and he headed he collectivist Metropolitan Transit Commission which oversaw the destruction of the rail system and the reallocation of a cost ineffective bus system.
In any event, inner-city Catholic schools are yet another poor investment, especially from a Catholic perspective, unless Archbishop Nienstedt is willing to address the large presence of Neo-marxists who comprise the administration and teaching staff.
The Pohlad family still plays golf at Interlaken which endorses Planned Parenthood.
The Pohlad Family today announced a major commitment to keeping urban Catholic elementary schools affordable for young people from economically-disadvantaged families. Through the Minneapolis Foundation and the Catholic Community Foundation, a total of $1 million in tuition assistance will be distributed to nineteen Catholic schools for use during the 2009-2010 school year. The Pohlads plan to continue this million dollar funding each year through 2013-2014.
Archbishop John Nienstedt welcomed the commitment: “The Pohlad family’s quiet giving has focused on providing opportunities that help young people move out of poverty. We are grateful for the family’s recommitment to Catholic education in neighborhoods where poverty has been growing.”
Hat tip to Ray at Stella Borrealis.
Link to original...
In any event, inner-city Catholic schools are yet another poor investment, especially from a Catholic perspective, unless Archbishop Nienstedt is willing to address the large presence of Neo-marxists who comprise the administration and teaching staff.
The Pohlad family still plays golf at Interlaken which endorses Planned Parenthood.
The Pohlad Family today announced a major commitment to keeping urban Catholic elementary schools affordable for young people from economically-disadvantaged families. Through the Minneapolis Foundation and the Catholic Community Foundation, a total of $1 million in tuition assistance will be distributed to nineteen Catholic schools for use during the 2009-2010 school year. The Pohlads plan to continue this million dollar funding each year through 2013-2014.
Archbishop John Nienstedt welcomed the commitment: “The Pohlad family’s quiet giving has focused on providing opportunities that help young people move out of poverty. We are grateful for the family’s recommitment to Catholic education in neighborhoods where poverty has been growing.”
Hat tip to Ray at Stella Borrealis.
Link to original...
Cenacle Site Defaced with Graffitti in Jerusalem
g.s.) - For the past few nights in Jerusalem, someone has been contriving to sow the seeds of hatred in Christian Sion hill.
The quiet neighbourhood just south-west of the walls that surround old Jerusalem is home to the Church of the Dormition, the Cenacle, and the adjoining Franciscan friary where five friars live.
When he left the friary yesterday morning, the guardian friar, Father Enrique Bermejo, found the door covered with abusive graffiti (see the photo), in English and Hebrew, against Christians. The kindest words invited them to leave. Every night the door is also used as a urinal.
Tired of supporting this in silence, the friars decided to make these facts public - especially as, on the night between 9th and 10th December, an anonymous hand wrote in Hebrew Mawet lanotsrim, "Death to Christians" with a black spray on the perimeter wall of the Church of the Dormition, corresponding to the apse. The words were erased in a few hours (at noon they had already disappeared) after the Custos of the Holy Land had complained to the Israeli authorities.
The building with the room of the Cenacle was once where the Custos of the Holy Land and the first friars lived. They were evicted in 1551 when the building was converted into a mosque to honour a grave which is believed to be the tomb of King David.
For this reason the area is considered sacred by Muslims and Jews alike. A Jewish religious school (yeshiva) has also occupied part of the complex for some time now. The Franciscans however, have never ceased claiming ownership of the premises and today the question is included in the ongoing talks between Israel and the Holy See.
Link to original...
The quiet neighbourhood just south-west of the walls that surround old Jerusalem is home to the Church of the Dormition, the Cenacle, and the adjoining Franciscan friary where five friars live.
When he left the friary yesterday morning, the guardian friar, Father Enrique Bermejo, found the door covered with abusive graffiti (see the photo), in English and Hebrew, against Christians. The kindest words invited them to leave. Every night the door is also used as a urinal.
Tired of supporting this in silence, the friars decided to make these facts public - especially as, on the night between 9th and 10th December, an anonymous hand wrote in Hebrew Mawet lanotsrim, "Death to Christians" with a black spray on the perimeter wall of the Church of the Dormition, corresponding to the apse. The words were erased in a few hours (at noon they had already disappeared) after the Custos of the Holy Land had complained to the Israeli authorities.
The building with the room of the Cenacle was once where the Custos of the Holy Land and the first friars lived. They were evicted in 1551 when the building was converted into a mosque to honour a grave which is believed to be the tomb of King David.
For this reason the area is considered sacred by Muslims and Jews alike. A Jewish religious school (yeshiva) has also occupied part of the complex for some time now. The Franciscans however, have never ceased claiming ownership of the premises and today the question is included in the ongoing talks between Israel and the Holy See.
Link to original...
Holy Father Accepts Irish Bishop's Resignation
ROME — The Vatican on Thursday accepted the resignation of an Irish bishop who had been criticized in a scathing report by the Irish government on systematic child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
The same day, the Vatican also defrocked a contentious African former bishop, Emmanuel Milingo, 79, of Zambia, known for performing exorcisms and advocating a married clergy, to prevent him from continuing to ordain priests.
In a one-sentence statement issued Thursday, the Vatican said that the pope had accepted the resignation of the bishop of Limerick, Donal Brendan Murray, 69, under a provision that allows bishops to step down before the mandatory retirement age of 75 if they are considered “unsuited” to the job.
Link to originl...
The same day, the Vatican also defrocked a contentious African former bishop, Emmanuel Milingo, 79, of Zambia, known for performing exorcisms and advocating a married clergy, to prevent him from continuing to ordain priests.
In a one-sentence statement issued Thursday, the Vatican said that the pope had accepted the resignation of the bishop of Limerick, Donal Brendan Murray, 69, under a provision that allows bishops to step down before the mandatory retirement age of 75 if they are considered “unsuited” to the job.
Link to originl...
More Old-Liberal Bishops for Minnesota: Bishop Sirba
Aside from the fact that the author of this article from an Archdiocesan paper called The Spirit doesn't know much about Catholicism, the article is interesting in that we are informed of the ordination of still one more of Msgr Schuler's boys from beautiful and "traditional" Saint Agnes parish who is raised to the office of Bishop, and we're also treated to the usual tired pleasantries that seem to accompany the full route of the Church elsewhere where Bishops don't fight wolves and are more concerned about endowments and PR than Cathlic Dogma. What Archbishop Nienstedt's predecessor, Archbishop Ireland referred to as "the phantom heresy", Americanism, is still well entrenched in Minnesota a century later. We are also reintroduced to the semi-orthodox Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Samebi who was present for the Consecration Mass and is new colleague Bishop Piche. Perhaps Bishop Sirba will be "fearful to the Church's enemies", but we doubt it. It's more Minnesota nice, hearty welcomes to dissident speakers and a continuing home for heretical educators and Benedictine Monks; business as usual and what passes for Catholicism in these parts. Pass the liberal snakeoil, please.
The crosier wielded by this Bohemian Prelate looks impressive at least, even if the vestments look like the costume for an improbable sci-fi future-church -- one thing at a time.
Also, don't expect Bishop Sirba to abolish altar girls any time soon, if ever, and we doubt he will be capable of keeping wolves out of his diocese when they come; just don't expect a wholesale restoration of Catholic religion. That's not on the agenda. His apparent mentor, Archbishop Nienstedt certainly isn't keeping the wolves out. Perhaps it is the case that, like his Archdiocesan Guideline on speakers, the panopoly of episcopacy is a minimalist attempt at true Catholicism.
During the Dec. 14 ordination ceremony, Bishop Sirba, former vicar general of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, called Archbishop Nienstedt “an inspiration, a guide and a friend.”
Link to illiterate Archdiocesan newspaper...
Archbishop Milingo Excommunicated
(12-17) 09:00 PST VATICAN CITY, (AP) --
The Vatican moved Thursday to thwart renegade African Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo from ordaining more bishops in defiance of the pope, stripping him of his priestly functions so any future ordinations by him would be invalid.
The Zambian monsignor has long been a problem for Rome. He angered the Vatican when he was married in 2001 to a South Korean woman by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/17/international/i043954S66.DTL#ixzz0Zy9Ld84W
The Vatican moved Thursday to thwart renegade African Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo from ordaining more bishops in defiance of the pope, stripping him of his priestly functions so any future ordinations by him would be invalid.
The Zambian monsignor has long been a problem for Rome. He angered the Vatican when he was married in 2001 to a South Korean woman by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/17/international/i043954S66.DTL#ixzz0Zy9Ld84W
Cathoic Advocacy Group Sues Revolutionary San Francisco
(12-16) 15:32 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A Catholic advocacy group told a federal appeals court Wednesday that San Francisco supervisors unconstitutionally attacked the church in 2006 when they denounced a Vatican order prohibiting Catholic Charities from placing adoptive children with same-sex couples.
"This is a specific condemnation and criticism of religious beliefs," Robert Muise, lawyer for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told an 11-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Just as the Constitution forbids government endorsement of religion, he said, it also prohibits official expressions of hostility to a religion or its doctrines.
The league and other Catholic groups have sued the city, seeking a court order repealing the nonbinding resolution.
Deputy City Attorney Vince Chhabria told the judges that the supervisors had a secular purpose - supporting equal rights for gays and lesbians - and were entitled to express disapproval of any group that opposed that goal. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski appeared to agree, although he asked critical questions of both sides.
Read more ...
"This is a specific condemnation and criticism of religious beliefs," Robert Muise, lawyer for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told an 11-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Just as the Constitution forbids government endorsement of religion, he said, it also prohibits official expressions of hostility to a religion or its doctrines.
The league and other Catholic groups have sued the city, seeking a court order repealing the nonbinding resolution.
Deputy City Attorney Vince Chhabria told the judges that the supervisors had a secular purpose - supporting equal rights for gays and lesbians - and were entitled to express disapproval of any group that opposed that goal. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski appeared to agree, although he asked critical questions of both sides.
Read more ...
UK Courts Define Jewishness
JFS ruling: '3,500 years of Jewish tradition overturned.'
The Tablet
The Jewish Free School has lost the hard-fought case on the criteria for admissions to this sought-after school. The next step might be to challenge equality legislation itself, as the admissions criteria, found to be racially discriminating, was based on the 3,500-year-old criteria for judging whether a person is Jewish or not, fundamentally by the religion of the mother.
The outline of the case is summed up well in the United Synagogue's own press release, which I reproduce her with a comment from the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks at the end.
Narrowest of margins defeats JFS
in the UK Supreme Court
London, 16th December 2009
The UK Supreme Court today, by the narrowest of margins, held that the admissions criteria of JFS, which gave preference in the event of oversubscription to children who are Jewish according to Orthodox Jewish law (either by descent or conversion), were in the definition of the 1976 Race Relations Act, directly racially discriminatory.
Read further...
The Tablet
The Jewish Free School has lost the hard-fought case on the criteria for admissions to this sought-after school. The next step might be to challenge equality legislation itself, as the admissions criteria, found to be racially discriminating, was based on the 3,500-year-old criteria for judging whether a person is Jewish or not, fundamentally by the religion of the mother.
The outline of the case is summed up well in the United Synagogue's own press release, which I reproduce her with a comment from the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks at the end.
Narrowest of margins defeats JFS
in the UK Supreme Court
London, 16th December 2009
The UK Supreme Court today, by the narrowest of margins, held that the admissions criteria of JFS, which gave preference in the event of oversubscription to children who are Jewish according to Orthodox Jewish law (either by descent or conversion), were in the definition of the 1976 Race Relations Act, directly racially discriminatory.
Read further...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Archbishop Nienstedt hosted Dissident Jesuit Against His Own Policy
This is a recap of the aforementioned event at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Edina, Minnesota, a large, white trimmed, church campus that looks more like a protestant megachurch in a disneyfied colonial style. It's actually difficult to descry a church structure amid the cluster of buildings.
Controversial, pro-homosexual speaker, Fr. Kevin Burke led a retreat at a Catholic Parish earlier this month in opposition to Archdiocesan Policy established by the allegedly conservative Archbishop Nienstedt (Who also supports Socialized Medicine and the CCHD). The response from the Archdiocese to this problem was not decisive and it wasn't in line with its own directives.
As a response to this problem, we just received an e-mail from a probable local yokel named, Peter Canisius, which was written by the Communications Director of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis; which seems to be directed at us, reproduced here in its entirety:
You and I both know who you really are and that you are not a dead Jesuit saint but a poor deluded soul who has tried to serve as some kind of avenging angel to the Church and the Archdiocese over the years. Now I know who disrupted my afternoon with your phone call and your unwillingness to listen to facts.
How dare you defame Archbishop Nienstedt with a fake news release like this that is totally untrue. He issued no "document" to Our Lady of Grace or its Adult Formation Office affirmation that Father Kevin Burke SJ is a priest in good standing and that Liberation Theology is fully in line with the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church." This is not only false, but you have committed the sin of calumny in distributing this falsehood.
Since you are such a self appointed guardian of our Church's teachings and the "Magisterium[''s" edicts, you must know that Archbishop Nienstedt is always a faithful follower of both. He has, as you must know, again, prohibited a number of scheduled speakers who did not conform with the Church's teachings from speaking at some of our parishes. At his direction, I personally called the office of the provincial for the Jesuit Order in California and was told that Father Burke is absolutely a priest in good standing with their order. Who are you to deny their authority?
And Archbishop Nienstedt has never approved Father Burke's appearance nor issued any proclamation. I presented him with the information he had asked for and he has not chosen to interfere in this priest's appearance at the parish. We have, however, also been in touch with the parish and directed them to speak with Father Burke in advance to assure that he does not make statements that conflict with the teachings of the Church.
How dare you accuse the Archbishop of violating both the terms of the Manhattan declaration and his own Speakers Policy? Shame on you!
Dennis McGrath
Director of Communications
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
It is a confusing letter, not to mention strident, and is confused about the Archdiocese's own policy regarding Catholic speakers which forbids them from speaking on Diocesan property (which did occur) if their writings are not harmonius with Catholic teaching; and we've already demonstrated that the Jesuit speaker, Fr. Kevin Burke is far from problematic, indeed, his writings reek of heresy. We've also demonstrated that the organizer of the event, Terry Grieb, is a member of the CCCR (Catholic Coalition for Church Reform). In the course of our phone call, Mr. McGrath did mention this organization and said that he and the Archbishop had cancelled several events sponsored by them. Why indeed have they permitted this to take place?
It makes the Archdiocese look bad if it has policies that it isn't enforcing. It almost looks as if the Archbishop isn't really serious about combating error. We made Mr. McGrath aware of the event and he became very angry. In any event, he admits in the letter that he was aware of Father Burke SJ, he admitted that he knew Liberation Theology was bad (and that Fr. Burke promotes it in his writings) but insisted that merely getting a verbal agreement was sufficient to ensure that no error would be taught at the retreat on the 7th and 8th of December. Mr. McGrath accused someone of calumny, we're not sure who, but is he aware there is a commandment against lying?
We've also heard that a local Bishop actually said the event had been cancelled, but we were there. Fr. Burke SJ was present, so the talk went on as planned, against Archdiocesan Policy.
All that taken into account, the current pastor, Father Bob Schwartz, by virtue of his assocation with the aforementioned CCCR, Father Kevin Burke SJ, and his assigned reading list featuring books by dissident authors should be sufficient to demonstrate the problematic nature, not only of the talk which recently took place, but of Father Bob Schwartz himself, who by his assigned writings, promotes an environment of dissent and departure from Catholic teaching, writers like Sr. Joan Chittister (women's ordination, homosexuality) and Fr. Richard Rohr would not be welcome speakers at the Archdiocese of St. Paul, that is, if the policy in place were actually enforced at least as we understand it.
One thing's for sure, you won't be in danger of getting instruction on the Catholic Faith by reading Father Bob's Book List, which we will reproduce here:
FR BOB'S RECOMMENDED Book List
General Spiritual Enrichment:
Finding Sanctuary - Monastic Steps for Everyday Life
By Abbot Christopher Jamison - Liturgical Press [not a reliable publisher]
Finding Happiness - Monastic Steps far a Fulfilling Life
By Abbot Christopher Jamison - Liturgical Press
Forgotten Among the Lilies - Learning to Love Beyond Our Fears [meaningless self-help]
By Fr. Ronald Rolheiser - Doubleday
The Holy Longing - A Search for Christian Spirituality
By Fr. Ronald Rolheiser - Doubleday (Also almost anything else by him)
My Life With the Saints
By Fr. James Martin, SJ - Loyola Press
A Jesuit Off-Broadway [campy]
By Fr. James Martin, SJ
For an even deeper look at the Spiritual Life:
A Blessed Life: Benedictine Guidelines for Those Who
Long for Good Days
By Wil Derkse - Liturgical Press
For Men/ Fathers. Sons and Grandfathers:
Wild at Heart - Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul
By John Eldredge - Nelson Books
The Way of the Wild Heart-A Map of the Masculine Journey
By John Eldredge - Nelson Books
Adam's Return - The Five Promises of Male Initiation
By Fr. Richard Rohr - Crossroad Book
For Anyone Over Sixty:
The Gift of Years - Growing Older Gracefully
By Sr. Joan Chisttister - BlueBridge
"I recommend all of these books very highly. The last one is especially good
reading for anyone who experiencing the troubling questions of aging." [How about preparing for death by having a good confession?]
Dean Moves to Kill Obamacare
The enemy of your enemy is your friend. God has a sense of irony. The Bishops won't defeat the bill, but a Godless socialist will.
WASHINGTON – Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean argued Wednesday that the health care overhaul bill taking shape in the Senate further empowers private insurers at the expense of consumer choice.
"You will be forced to buy insurance. If you don't, you'll pay a fine," said Dean, a physician. "It's an insurance company bailout." Interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said the bill has some good provisions, "but there has to be a line beyond which you think the bill is bad for the country."
"This is an insurance company's dream," the former Democratic presidential candidate said. "This is the Washington scramble, and it's a shame."
Dean asserted that the Senate's health care bill would not prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions and he also said it would allow the industry to charge older people far more than others for premiums.
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., a prominent House liberal, protested the absence of any government-run insurance option in the Senate bill.
"We can't let the perfect be enemy of the good," Weiner said on CBS' "Early Show," "but we are reaching a tipping point."
When House and Senate negotiators go to conference to work out a compromise bill, Weiner said, "We should move away from some of the things the Senate has done and move back to where the House is. You need to contain cost. You do that with a public option."
(This version CORRECTS SUBS 2nd graf, deleting word 'now' to correct Dean quote.)
Link to original...
WASHINGTON – Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean argued Wednesday that the health care overhaul bill taking shape in the Senate further empowers private insurers at the expense of consumer choice.
"You will be forced to buy insurance. If you don't, you'll pay a fine," said Dean, a physician. "It's an insurance company bailout." Interviewed on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said the bill has some good provisions, "but there has to be a line beyond which you think the bill is bad for the country."
"This is an insurance company's dream," the former Democratic presidential candidate said. "This is the Washington scramble, and it's a shame."
Dean asserted that the Senate's health care bill would not prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions and he also said it would allow the industry to charge older people far more than others for premiums.
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., a prominent House liberal, protested the absence of any government-run insurance option in the Senate bill.
"We can't let the perfect be enemy of the good," Weiner said on CBS' "Early Show," "but we are reaching a tipping point."
When House and Senate negotiators go to conference to work out a compromise bill, Weiner said, "We should move away from some of the things the Senate has done and move back to where the House is. You need to contain cost. You do that with a public option."
(This version CORRECTS SUBS 2nd graf, deleting word 'now' to correct Dean quote.)
Link to original...
"Catholics" Upset About Parish Closing Want to Teach Bishop a Lesson
Opposition to church closings is a lot of emotive hoopla. People who are essentially cultural Catholics who go to Church once a year, send the two children they've decided to have to Notre Dame and frequently tell people they don't really agree 100% with the Church's teachings get really exited when the Bishop, (for substantial reasons, like not enough money to go around and perhaps because his predecessor promoted too many homosexuals to the priesthood, permitted liturgical abuses and didn't preach enough about personal sanctity) decides to close down some parishes.
They're not very keen on defending the teachings they're supposed to believe in, but they're really keen on correcting the Bishop when they perceive that the church in which they were married (twice) gets closed down and sold to Scientologists.
"Catholics" advocate stiffing the collection plate to teach their Bishop some kind of Lesson.
They're not very keen on defending the teachings they're supposed to believe in, but they're really keen on correcting the Bishop when they perceive that the church in which they were married (twice) gets closed down and sold to Scientologists.
"Catholics" advocate stiffing the collection plate to teach their Bishop some kind of Lesson.
Good News Roundup! Pope to Revise 83' Code of Canon Law
It has been mentioned that in addition to working out some of the details of meeting the Anglicans and moving them in an orderly fashion to the Barque of Peter, there is talk about a revision of the 1983 Code of Canon law, which is in great need of revision, clarity and decisiveness.
More proof that liberalism is evil and does nothing but leave behind a wasteland like what T.S. Elliot warned us of. What's even "better" is that this was once one of the most Catholic places outside of the Archdiocese of Rome and Holland (another place liberals had their way with). Trenchent and malevolent liberalism was fueled into this most Catholic region like a persistent nerve agent whose purpose it was to make it so poisonous to Catholics that one couldn't be found anywhere, except perhaps in crowded SSPX Chapels in remote and hidden recesses in lonely Quebec.
Milwaukee Archbishop tells cultural Catholics they can't be pro-abortion, pro-contraception and Catholic.
Wyoming Bishop withdraws and leaves open yet another possibillity for another woman Bishop. That's good.
More proof that liberalism is evil and does nothing but leave behind a wasteland like what T.S. Elliot warned us of. What's even "better" is that this was once one of the most Catholic places outside of the Archdiocese of Rome and Holland (another place liberals had their way with). Trenchent and malevolent liberalism was fueled into this most Catholic region like a persistent nerve agent whose purpose it was to make it so poisonous to Catholics that one couldn't be found anywhere, except perhaps in crowded SSPX Chapels in remote and hidden recesses in lonely Quebec.
Milwaukee Archbishop tells cultural Catholics they can't be pro-abortion, pro-contraception and Catholic.
Wyoming Bishop withdraws and leaves open yet another possibillity for another woman Bishop. That's good.
Fr. Z takes Petty Swipes at Bishop Williamson
Gerard Wrote:
Fr. Z takes another ignorant and or malicious swipe at Bishop Williamson and attempts to distract people from his very relevant comments on sacramental abuse and ambiguity in the post-conciliar sacramental rites. My comments are in blue.
Link to original....
Revolutionary Basque Priests Decry New Bishop
As was the case with Fr. Gerald Warner in Linz, this conservative Basque Bishop is being shouted down by a group of most revolutionary clerics with an animus delendi.
Madrid - Catholic priests in Spain's Basque region have taken the unusual step of criticizing Pope Benedict XVI's choice of bishop for San Sebastian, media reports said Wednesday.
Nearly 80 per cent of the priests in the diocese of the port city said Jose Ignacio Munilla, who is due to become bishop in January, was not 'suitable' for the post.
The priests issued a manifesto describing the choice of Munilla as 'discrediting the ecclesiastical life of our diocese.'
The protest, which was described as unprecedented in the recent history of Spain's Catholic Church, was believed to have a political background.
The Basque church is known as being relatively progressive and sympathetic to the Basque nationalist movement, which contains separatist currents.
Munilla, on the other hand, is known as being close to the conservative line of Madrid Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco, head of the Spanish bishops' conference, who was believed to have recommended him to the pope.
'A part of the Basque church has shown more sympathy for the killers (of the violent separatist group ETA) than for their victims,' the daily El Mundo charged.
Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1519512.php/Basque-priests-reject-bishop-appointed-by-pope#ixzz0Zs7IBwQD
Madrid - Catholic priests in Spain's Basque region have taken the unusual step of criticizing Pope Benedict XVI's choice of bishop for San Sebastian, media reports said Wednesday.
Nearly 80 per cent of the priests in the diocese of the port city said Jose Ignacio Munilla, who is due to become bishop in January, was not 'suitable' for the post.
The priests issued a manifesto describing the choice of Munilla as 'discrediting the ecclesiastical life of our diocese.'
The protest, which was described as unprecedented in the recent history of Spain's Catholic Church, was believed to have a political background.
The Basque church is known as being relatively progressive and sympathetic to the Basque nationalist movement, which contains separatist currents.
Munilla, on the other hand, is known as being close to the conservative line of Madrid Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco, head of the Spanish bishops' conference, who was believed to have recommended him to the pope.
'A part of the Basque church has shown more sympathy for the killers (of the violent separatist group ETA) than for their victims,' the daily El Mundo charged.
Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1519512.php/Basque-priests-reject-bishop-appointed-by-pope#ixzz0Zs7IBwQD
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Bishops Press Senate On Abortion
The author thinks that the American Bishop's increasing hostillity against progressive Senators on the issue of abortion, may alienate them from them in other leftist platforms they both share. The Bishops have long been allies of progressive political forces, it's time they realize that liberalism is no friend to the Church.
As liberals bitterly absorb the loss of a government-backed insurance option, the divisive issues of abortion and covering immigrants could soon re-emerge as the Senate finalizes a reform measure.
The U.S. Catholic Bishops on Monday sent senators letters urging action on each issue, siding with conservatives on one and liberals on the other.
On abortion, the letter from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, chairman of the conference’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, urged a last minute insertion of language that would block taxpayer money from subsidizing abortion coverage.
Read further...
As liberals bitterly absorb the loss of a government-backed insurance option, the divisive issues of abortion and covering immigrants could soon re-emerge as the Senate finalizes a reform measure.
The U.S. Catholic Bishops on Monday sent senators letters urging action on each issue, siding with conservatives on one and liberals on the other.
On abortion, the letter from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, chairman of the conference’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, urged a last minute insertion of language that would block taxpayer money from subsidizing abortion coverage.
Read further...
Two More Bombs in Mosul Targeting Chaldeans
By John Pontifex
SHOCK and fear have gripped the Church in Iraq after two explosions on the same day with the threat of more to come.
The Al Beshara (Annunciation) Syrian Catholic Church in Mosul was the first to be targeted at 10.30am on he 15th of December when a bomb was placed against an outside wall of the building.
A minor explosion took place with damage to the wall. Nobody was hurt. Youngsters at a nearby kindergarten had a lucky escape.
Within a few hours, a second, much bigger bomb had gone off at the Al Gahera (Our Lady of Purity) Syrian Orthodox Church, also in Mosul.
A number of people were injured in the explosion which caused major damage to the church in the crowded Al Shefaa district in the city centre.
Speaking from northern Iraq in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, Fr Bashar Warda described the “fear and shock” of the people who looked forward to Christmas as a time to “lift our spirits”.
Meantime, the government in Baghdad has warned Church leaders of further attacks over the Christmas period, urging priests and religious Sisters to be especially vigilant.
Fr Warda said the Church would continue its Christmas preparations undeterred.
The Redemptorist priest based in Ankawa, outside the Kurdish capital, Erbil, added: “Normally Christmas is a time when we lift our spirits with a number of festivities so you can imagine what the atmosphere is like here now.
“The shock and the fear of the people is very strong.”
He described talking to Al Beshara parish priest Father Nazen Eshoa, who returned to Mosul to resume his ministry despite being kidnapped for a few days last year.
“Fr Nazen – like all of us – is shocked but he wants to continue preparing for Christmas as much as possible.”
The identity of the attackers is as yet unknown and Church leaders do not know if there is a link between the attacks in Mosul and the threats declared in Baghdad.
The attacks come less than three weeks after bomb attacks – again in Mosul – inflicting serious damage to St Ephrem’s Chaldean Church and a nearby convent.
Nobody was hurt in the attacks, on 26th November, although at least five Chaldean Sisters were in the convent when it came under fire.
Link to original...
SHOCK and fear have gripped the Church in Iraq after two explosions on the same day with the threat of more to come.
The Al Beshara (Annunciation) Syrian Catholic Church in Mosul was the first to be targeted at 10.30am on he 15th of December when a bomb was placed against an outside wall of the building.
A minor explosion took place with damage to the wall. Nobody was hurt. Youngsters at a nearby kindergarten had a lucky escape.
Within a few hours, a second, much bigger bomb had gone off at the Al Gahera (Our Lady of Purity) Syrian Orthodox Church, also in Mosul.
A number of people were injured in the explosion which caused major damage to the church in the crowded Al Shefaa district in the city centre.
Speaking from northern Iraq in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, Fr Bashar Warda described the “fear and shock” of the people who looked forward to Christmas as a time to “lift our spirits”.
Meantime, the government in Baghdad has warned Church leaders of further attacks over the Christmas period, urging priests and religious Sisters to be especially vigilant.
Fr Warda said the Church would continue its Christmas preparations undeterred.
The Redemptorist priest based in Ankawa, outside the Kurdish capital, Erbil, added: “Normally Christmas is a time when we lift our spirits with a number of festivities so you can imagine what the atmosphere is like here now.
“The shock and the fear of the people is very strong.”
He described talking to Al Beshara parish priest Father Nazen Eshoa, who returned to Mosul to resume his ministry despite being kidnapped for a few days last year.
“Fr Nazen – like all of us – is shocked but he wants to continue preparing for Christmas as much as possible.”
The identity of the attackers is as yet unknown and Church leaders do not know if there is a link between the attacks in Mosul and the threats declared in Baghdad.
The attacks come less than three weeks after bomb attacks – again in Mosul – inflicting serious damage to St Ephrem’s Chaldean Church and a nearby convent.
Nobody was hurt in the attacks, on 26th November, although at least five Chaldean Sisters were in the convent when it came under fire.
Link to original...
Bill Donaue to the Rescue in Maine
By William Donohue
For almost two decades, Larry Grard worked as a reporter at Maine’s Morning Sentinel. He was recently fired because he e-mailed a letter (using his own e-mail account) to the head of an advocacy organization that his boss, Bill Thompson, did not like.
To be specific, Grard, who is Catholic, was unhappy with the angry comments made by Trevor Thomas of the Human Rights Campaign following last month’s election results. Having just lost in his bid to secure gay marriage in Maine, Thomas blamed hatred of gays for the loss. Grard wrote back, blaming Thomas’ side for generating hate. That was it.
Interestingly, Grard’s wife, Lisa, who writes a bimonthly cooking column for the newspaper, was subsequently fired. It was suddenly decided that her work was “no longer a good fit.” Sounds like reprisal to us.
As a Catholic, Grard has a right to hold, express and defend the teachings of the Catholic Church with impunity. While the First Amendment does not apply to private organizations, the fact remains that if Grard can be fired for something like this, then the rights of all reporters are in jeopardy. This explains why the Portland Newspaper Guild is standing squarely behind him. So is the Catholic League. We have put Grard, and his wife, in contact with law firms that may want to sue Mr. Thompson and his newspaper.
Contact: bthompson@mainetoday.com
Link to original...
For almost two decades, Larry Grard worked as a reporter at Maine’s Morning Sentinel. He was recently fired because he e-mailed a letter (using his own e-mail account) to the head of an advocacy organization that his boss, Bill Thompson, did not like.
To be specific, Grard, who is Catholic, was unhappy with the angry comments made by Trevor Thomas of the Human Rights Campaign following last month’s election results. Having just lost in his bid to secure gay marriage in Maine, Thomas blamed hatred of gays for the loss. Grard wrote back, blaming Thomas’ side for generating hate. That was it.
Interestingly, Grard’s wife, Lisa, who writes a bimonthly cooking column for the newspaper, was subsequently fired. It was suddenly decided that her work was “no longer a good fit.” Sounds like reprisal to us.
As a Catholic, Grard has a right to hold, express and defend the teachings of the Catholic Church with impunity. While the First Amendment does not apply to private organizations, the fact remains that if Grard can be fired for something like this, then the rights of all reporters are in jeopardy. This explains why the Portland Newspaper Guild is standing squarely behind him. So is the Catholic League. We have put Grard, and his wife, in contact with law firms that may want to sue Mr. Thompson and his newspaper.
Contact: bthompson@mainetoday.com
Link to original...
Msgr Andrew Faley Whinges Pathetically About Anglicanorum Coetibus
Msgr. Andrew Faley isn't very happy. He's like a liberal priest in confession confronted with a penitent who believes in personal sin, and then pops out the word "rigidity" to describe the man's ailments. He wasn't too happy either with Summorum Pontificum and he's been aware of this as a possibility for some time, fighting a rearguard action against the inevitable course he must have foreseen in 2007 when he said this to an interviewer at Churches Together:
So, he has a long and established pedigree working for the liberal wing of the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and like Archbishop Vincent Nichols, is eager to demonstrate his displeasure at the fact by making passive aggressive jabs like this:
Link to original...
The bishops were always aware that it wasn’t a good enough reason for a man who was a former Anglican, became Catholic and wished to be considered for the Catholic priesthood, to do so because he didn’t approve of women as priests. That’s not the issue. [It's a pretty big issue] The issue is clearly to do with what it means to belong to the universal church and the decisions made within a particular church, in this case, the Anglican Church, to ordain women to the priesthood. That decision is much more deeply ingrained as a reason for the deeper reflection that it stirred in Catholics, Anglicans and other Christians as to what it means to belong to a Church that believes itself to be universal, in communion through the bishops with the Holy Father as the first among equals.
So, he has a long and established pedigree working for the liberal wing of the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and like Archbishop Vincent Nichols, is eager to demonstrate his displeasure at the fact by making passive aggressive jabs like this:
Discontented Anglicans who convert must not become a "sect" within the Roman Catholic Church, a senior Catholic clergyman dealing with church unity has warned.
Anglicans who object to plans for women bishops are considering the Vatican's invitation to become part of a special section - an "ordinariate" - within the church in England and Wales.
Link to original...
USCCB's Propaganda Arm Receives More Criticism
If there s anything that demonstrates the proclivities and sortcomings of the USCCB, it is a national news service that misconstrues, distorts and minimizes Catholic teaching on a fairly consistent basis. Can anyone really dispute that the USCCB is made up mostly of men who fall short of the mark of ortodoxy?
WASHINGTON, DC, December 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - CNS' cavalier attitude toward orthodoxy is not confined to its recent treatment of the life issue alone. Some other examples, just to name a few:
In 2005, CNS issued a glowing review of the movie "Brokeback Mountain" and rated the homosexual propaganda piece as suitable for a "limited adult audience." Following the backlash of outraged readers, CNS eventually changed the rating to "morally offensive," but the fawning assessment of the film as "a serious contemplation on loneliness and connection" remains unchanged to this very day, however.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09121406.html
WASHINGTON, DC, December 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - CNS' cavalier attitude toward orthodoxy is not confined to its recent treatment of the life issue alone. Some other examples, just to name a few:
In 2005, CNS issued a glowing review of the movie "Brokeback Mountain" and rated the homosexual propaganda piece as suitable for a "limited adult audience." Following the backlash of outraged readers, CNS eventually changed the rating to "morally offensive," but the fawning assessment of the film as "a serious contemplation on loneliness and connection" remains unchanged to this very day, however.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/dec/09121406.html
Monday, December 14, 2009
Coptic Women Being forced to Marry Muslims in Egypt
This article is from the Baptist Press, and we have to say that it's interesting that the call Copts Christians. Copts who don't accept any of their core doctrines regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary and a host of other issues too numerous to mention here have given the title, "Christian" to these suffering people. How nice of them. Now that they recognize this ancient group of Christians who have more in common with Catholics than they have with Baptists, perhaps we can make some headway?
WASHINGTON (BP)--Coptic Christian women in Egypt are being forced to marry and convert to Islam and that oppression is part of a larger pattern of persecution against Christians facilitated by the Egyptian government, according to two recent reports.
"Cases of abduction, forced conversion and marriage are usually accompanied by acts of violence which include rape, beatings, deprivation of food and other forms of physical and mental abuse," said a new assessment by Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights.
At the same time, the 2009 U.S. State Department report on international religious freedom noted the Egyptian government fails to prosecute crimes against Copts and even has taken a hand in destroying church property and, in one case, a government official reportedly raped a woman who had converted from Islam to Christianity.
About 90 percent of the Egyptian population is Sunni Muslim, and the rest primarily identify themselves as Coptic Christians, according to the Human Rights Watch report "Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom." Copts typically are underprivileged and experience discrimination.
Egyptian sex traffickers entice Coptic Christian women from low-income families by promising an escape from poverty, then force the women into Muslim "marriages" or outright slavery, according to the CSI/CFHR report.
"Such abuse remains covered in a cloak of silence and tacit acceptance, even though it is against the constitutional affirmations of civil rights," the report said.
Once a Coptic girl is coerced into marriage and Islamic conversion, her family will not take her back, and if she leaves her "husband," she is considered a "disgrace" to her family, the report said. In addition, the Coptic Orthodox Church excommunicates female members who wed Muslim men, the State Department said.
Since Islam is the "religion of state" in Egypt, conversion to Islam is easy, while returning to Christianity is unacceptable, the HRW report said. The Civil Status Department, which issues national identity cards, sometimes refuses to give Coptic women a new card identifying her as Christian since it is considered apostasy for a Coptic woman to leave Islam, even to return to her religion of origin.
Egyptian law requires every citizen to have an identity card for purposes such as voting, employment and education.
Most of the cases of Coptic women being coerced into marriage are not reported and "observers, including human rights groups, find it extremely difficult to determine whether compulsion was used, as most cases involve a female Copt who converts to Islam when she marries a Muslim male," the State Department report said.
In two examples of coerced conversion, CSI/CFHR reported Nov. 10:
-- An Egyptian woman was raped and beaten since she would not have sex with the man she was forced to marry. The Coptic cross on her wrist was later removed with acid.
-- Another woman was forced to marry a Muslim lawyer and work for him in "slave-like conditions" for five years.
John Eibner, CSI's chief executive officer, urged President Obama in a letter to combat the trafficking of Christian women and girls in Egypt and to make sure the U.S. makes this issue a priority in its relations with Egypt.
"Trafficking of Christian women in Egypt is not a new phenomenon.... But this problem has now reached boiling point within Egypt's Coptic community, which views it as symptomatic of a much broader pattern of religious persecution," Eibner said in his letter.
--30--
Cindy Ortiz is an intern with the Washington bureau of Baptist Press.
Link to original...
WASHINGTON (BP)--Coptic Christian women in Egypt are being forced to marry and convert to Islam and that oppression is part of a larger pattern of persecution against Christians facilitated by the Egyptian government, according to two recent reports.
"Cases of abduction, forced conversion and marriage are usually accompanied by acts of violence which include rape, beatings, deprivation of food and other forms of physical and mental abuse," said a new assessment by Christian Solidarity International and the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights.
At the same time, the 2009 U.S. State Department report on international religious freedom noted the Egyptian government fails to prosecute crimes against Copts and even has taken a hand in destroying church property and, in one case, a government official reportedly raped a woman who had converted from Islam to Christianity.
About 90 percent of the Egyptian population is Sunni Muslim, and the rest primarily identify themselves as Coptic Christians, according to the Human Rights Watch report "Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom." Copts typically are underprivileged and experience discrimination.
Egyptian sex traffickers entice Coptic Christian women from low-income families by promising an escape from poverty, then force the women into Muslim "marriages" or outright slavery, according to the CSI/CFHR report.
"Such abuse remains covered in a cloak of silence and tacit acceptance, even though it is against the constitutional affirmations of civil rights," the report said.
Once a Coptic girl is coerced into marriage and Islamic conversion, her family will not take her back, and if she leaves her "husband," she is considered a "disgrace" to her family, the report said. In addition, the Coptic Orthodox Church excommunicates female members who wed Muslim men, the State Department said.
Since Islam is the "religion of state" in Egypt, conversion to Islam is easy, while returning to Christianity is unacceptable, the HRW report said. The Civil Status Department, which issues national identity cards, sometimes refuses to give Coptic women a new card identifying her as Christian since it is considered apostasy for a Coptic woman to leave Islam, even to return to her religion of origin.
Egyptian law requires every citizen to have an identity card for purposes such as voting, employment and education.
Most of the cases of Coptic women being coerced into marriage are not reported and "observers, including human rights groups, find it extremely difficult to determine whether compulsion was used, as most cases involve a female Copt who converts to Islam when she marries a Muslim male," the State Department report said.
In two examples of coerced conversion, CSI/CFHR reported Nov. 10:
-- An Egyptian woman was raped and beaten since she would not have sex with the man she was forced to marry. The Coptic cross on her wrist was later removed with acid.
-- Another woman was forced to marry a Muslim lawyer and work for him in "slave-like conditions" for five years.
John Eibner, CSI's chief executive officer, urged President Obama in a letter to combat the trafficking of Christian women and girls in Egypt and to make sure the U.S. makes this issue a priority in its relations with Egypt.
"Trafficking of Christian women in Egypt is not a new phenomenon.... But this problem has now reached boiling point within Egypt's Coptic community, which views it as symptomatic of a much broader pattern of religious persecution," Eibner said in his letter.
--30--
Cindy Ortiz is an intern with the Washington bureau of Baptist Press.
Link to original...
That Fraud Called “Liberty”
by Christopher A. Ferrara
December 11, 2009
In the public schools that are temples of the civic religion of secularism in the post-Christian West, schoolchildren imbibe a fairy tale.
According to the fairy tale, the downtrodden masses of the 18th and 19th centuries, “yearning to be free,” threw off the “tyranny of priests and kings” and established “government of the people” for the first time in human history, thus achieving the sacred Liberty for which — so the children are told incessantly — men have laid down their lives in countless wars.
But how is it that Liberty has meant more bloodshed than any king ever inflicted, including the French Revolutionary Wars, with their millions of victims, and the American Civil War, with 600,000 dead — the bloodiest civil war in human history up to that time?
How is it that Liberty has meant a level of taxation and government intrusion into daily life that the kings of old would have considered madness?
How is it that Liberty has meant less and less freedom for the good, the true and the beautiful, and more and more freedom for the bad, the false and the ugly, with each passing year?
And how is it that those who heap endless praise on Liberty do not seem to notice the vast pile of bodies sacrificed in its name, including hundreds of millions of unborn children, the victims of “reproductive choice”? (And let us not blame only the Supreme Court for the abortion holocaust, since abortion is more or less legal in all fifty states and every Western nation by the “will of the people.”)
Most Americans are unaware that Spain still has a king, Juan Carlos, who still has the right under the Spanish Constitution of 1978 to promulgate the laws passed by the Spanish parliament, without which the laws do not become effective. Yes, according to the fairy tale of Liberty, there is still a “tyrant” on a throne in Spain.
But how is it that that “tyrant” is himself the victim of tyranny? For by the “will of the people,” the Spanish parliament, under the socialist Zapatero government, has enacted a liberal abortion law, and the king is now expected either to sign it or abdicate.
Yes, the “tyrant” must bend to the “will of the people” and authorize the mass murder of innocents, or else abandon his “tyrannical” throne, so that the killing can begin in the name of Liberty.
As LifeSiteNews observes, however (December 7, 2009), Juan Carlos the “tyrant” is too weak to stand up to the forces that demand the shedding of innocent blood. While “Prominent Spanish Catholics are calling on the king to refuse to sign the law,” Juan Carlos has already signed into law the “gay marriage” legislation enacted by the Zapatero government, stating: “I’m not the king of Belgium.”
Juan Carlos was referring to the “tyrant” King Baudouin of Belgium, who in 1990 (as LifeSiteNews notes) “temporarily renounced his throne rather than sign his country’s law liberalizing abortion.” Then there is that “tyrant” Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, “who refused last year [2008] to sign the duchy’s law legalizing euthanasia and who may be stripped of his constitutional powers as a result.”
And this is the “freedom” from the “tyranny of kings and priests” that we are expected to celebrate as our “leaders” tax us, regulate us, wage war after war, and oppress us in a hundred ways no king of Christendom would even have dreamed of imposing on his subjects.
Behold the fraud called “Liberty”, whose very essence is a negation of the true freedom of which Our Lord — the King of all creation — spoke: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Link to original...
December 11, 2009
In the public schools that are temples of the civic religion of secularism in the post-Christian West, schoolchildren imbibe a fairy tale.
According to the fairy tale, the downtrodden masses of the 18th and 19th centuries, “yearning to be free,” threw off the “tyranny of priests and kings” and established “government of the people” for the first time in human history, thus achieving the sacred Liberty for which — so the children are told incessantly — men have laid down their lives in countless wars.
But how is it that Liberty has meant more bloodshed than any king ever inflicted, including the French Revolutionary Wars, with their millions of victims, and the American Civil War, with 600,000 dead — the bloodiest civil war in human history up to that time?
How is it that Liberty has meant a level of taxation and government intrusion into daily life that the kings of old would have considered madness?
How is it that Liberty has meant less and less freedom for the good, the true and the beautiful, and more and more freedom for the bad, the false and the ugly, with each passing year?
And how is it that those who heap endless praise on Liberty do not seem to notice the vast pile of bodies sacrificed in its name, including hundreds of millions of unborn children, the victims of “reproductive choice”? (And let us not blame only the Supreme Court for the abortion holocaust, since abortion is more or less legal in all fifty states and every Western nation by the “will of the people.”)
Most Americans are unaware that Spain still has a king, Juan Carlos, who still has the right under the Spanish Constitution of 1978 to promulgate the laws passed by the Spanish parliament, without which the laws do not become effective. Yes, according to the fairy tale of Liberty, there is still a “tyrant” on a throne in Spain.
But how is it that that “tyrant” is himself the victim of tyranny? For by the “will of the people,” the Spanish parliament, under the socialist Zapatero government, has enacted a liberal abortion law, and the king is now expected either to sign it or abdicate.
Yes, the “tyrant” must bend to the “will of the people” and authorize the mass murder of innocents, or else abandon his “tyrannical” throne, so that the killing can begin in the name of Liberty.
As LifeSiteNews observes, however (December 7, 2009), Juan Carlos the “tyrant” is too weak to stand up to the forces that demand the shedding of innocent blood. While “Prominent Spanish Catholics are calling on the king to refuse to sign the law,” Juan Carlos has already signed into law the “gay marriage” legislation enacted by the Zapatero government, stating: “I’m not the king of Belgium.”
Juan Carlos was referring to the “tyrant” King Baudouin of Belgium, who in 1990 (as LifeSiteNews notes) “temporarily renounced his throne rather than sign his country’s law liberalizing abortion.” Then there is that “tyrant” Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, “who refused last year [2008] to sign the duchy’s law legalizing euthanasia and who may be stripped of his constitutional powers as a result.”
And this is the “freedom” from the “tyranny of kings and priests” that we are expected to celebrate as our “leaders” tax us, regulate us, wage war after war, and oppress us in a hundred ways no king of Christendom would even have dreamed of imposing on his subjects.
Behold the fraud called “Liberty”, whose very essence is a negation of the true freedom of which Our Lord — the King of all creation — spoke: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Link to original...
Fake Catholic Groups Working Overtime for Healthcare Bll
InsideCatholic
It's sad to report, but report we must: The same fake Catholic groups that helped President Barack Obama get elected have rallied to the cause of the health-care bill, abortion funding and all. As reported by LifeNews.com, Catholics United (CU) and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) are warning Catholics not to get too hung up on things like federal funding of abortion.
Interviewed by the Christian Science Monitor, CU president Chris Korzen commented, "The wrong thing would be for anyone to be so firmly entrenched in their positions on federal funding of abortion that they're not willing to come to the table and talk about a compromise."
Victoria Kovari, the interim president of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, claimed, "We share all the bishops' concerns," adding that the "difference is [our] feeling that we would be morally remiss if we walked away from all of the health care [reform]. We have to take seriously our call to be about what's good for the whole human family."
In other words, pass the health-care bill, even if it contains abortion funding. This is precisely the kind of proportionalist reasoning that I fear many Catholics are using to brush aside concerns about abortion funding: The evil of abortion, those like Korzen and Kovari argue, is offset by the many benefits of health-care reform.
Catholic teaching explicitly rejects such self-justifying tactics (see Veritatis Splendor 75), and the U.S. bishops have been unwavering on this point. As Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat, remarks in the same CSM article, "There are moral absolutes that we can't get beyond."
Links to original...
It's sad to report, but report we must: The same fake Catholic groups that helped President Barack Obama get elected have rallied to the cause of the health-care bill, abortion funding and all. As reported by LifeNews.com, Catholics United (CU) and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) are warning Catholics not to get too hung up on things like federal funding of abortion.
Interviewed by the Christian Science Monitor, CU president Chris Korzen commented, "The wrong thing would be for anyone to be so firmly entrenched in their positions on federal funding of abortion that they're not willing to come to the table and talk about a compromise."
Victoria Kovari, the interim president of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, claimed, "We share all the bishops' concerns," adding that the "difference is [our] feeling that we would be morally remiss if we walked away from all of the health care [reform]. We have to take seriously our call to be about what's good for the whole human family."
In other words, pass the health-care bill, even if it contains abortion funding. This is precisely the kind of proportionalist reasoning that I fear many Catholics are using to brush aside concerns about abortion funding: The evil of abortion, those like Korzen and Kovari argue, is offset by the many benefits of health-care reform.
Catholic teaching explicitly rejects such self-justifying tactics (see Veritatis Splendor 75), and the U.S. bishops have been unwavering on this point. As Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat, remarks in the same CSM article, "There are moral absolutes that we can't get beyond."
Links to original...
All the Evidence of God: An Inquiry
Chiesa
ROME, December 13, 2009 – The objective was to "dispel the shadow that makes access to God precarious and frightening for the man of our time."
Benedict XVI said so in the message on December 10 that inaugurated the international event in Rome on "God today. With him or without him, that changes everything," conceived and organized by the committee for the cultural project of the Italian Church, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini.
Two days later, at the end of the event, Ruini was beaming. The topic was tough, and listening a challenge, with philosophers and scientists using arduous language. And yet the hall was always full, in an extremely attentive silence. 2500 people went to the grand auditorium on the Via della Conciliazione, a short walk from Saint Peter's Square, to hear about God. Much of the audience was new, and young. Visibly proud of the richness and seriousness of the things said, in a disoriented world that is thirsty for precisely this.
This audience wanted to hear about God, and nothing else. But not, of course, about disputes within the Church, on one and the other side of the Tiber. The prophets of doom who had predicted (and deep down hoped for) the failure of the event, and with it a farewell to that "phoenix" which, according to them, the cultural project was, together with the definitive retirement of its conceptualizer, Ruini, were silenced by the results. The cardinal has already announced that a second event will soon follow this first one, also "on substantial issues, hard, not easy, not in fashion."
Read further...
ROME, December 13, 2009 – The objective was to "dispel the shadow that makes access to God precarious and frightening for the man of our time."
Benedict XVI said so in the message on December 10 that inaugurated the international event in Rome on "God today. With him or without him, that changes everything," conceived and organized by the committee for the cultural project of the Italian Church, headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini.
Two days later, at the end of the event, Ruini was beaming. The topic was tough, and listening a challenge, with philosophers and scientists using arduous language. And yet the hall was always full, in an extremely attentive silence. 2500 people went to the grand auditorium on the Via della Conciliazione, a short walk from Saint Peter's Square, to hear about God. Much of the audience was new, and young. Visibly proud of the richness and seriousness of the things said, in a disoriented world that is thirsty for precisely this.
This audience wanted to hear about God, and nothing else. But not, of course, about disputes within the Church, on one and the other side of the Tiber. The prophets of doom who had predicted (and deep down hoped for) the failure of the event, and with it a farewell to that "phoenix" which, according to them, the cultural project was, together with the definitive retirement of its conceptualizer, Ruini, were silenced by the results. The cardinal has already announced that a second event will soon follow this first one, also "on substantial issues, hard, not easy, not in fashion."
Read further...
New Film About Japanese Martyrs by Martin Scorsese 2010
TOKYO (Zenit) - An Academy Award-winning director is planning a movie on Japanese Christians martyred in the 17th century.
Martin Scorsese will film the movie in New Zealand and release it in 2010, according to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun. Names of actors linked to the project include Daniel Day-Lewis, Gael García Bernal and Benicio Del Toro.
Scorsese is known for his work on films including "The Age of Innocence," "The Departed," "Gangs of New York," "Casino" and the controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ."
The film on the Japanese martyrs is based on the book "Chinmoku" (Silence), by the Catholic Japanese author Shusaku Endo. The novel tells the story of a Portuguese missionary in Japan at the beginnings of the 17th century. "Silence" refers to the silence of God before the cross of Christ, in telling of the missionary's forced apostasy in the midst of horrendous torture.
Endo (1923-1997) was baptized at age 12. His novels reflect his effort to show Christianity reconciled with Oriental culture, as well as his vision of human weakness, sin and grace. Among his other writings are "A Life of Jesus" and "Deep River," in which he tries to present Christianity to the Asian mentality.
Last Dec. 10, almost 200 Japanese martyrs from the same era as the plot of "Silence" were canonized. Japan is today less than 1% Christian, of which only about 450,000 are Catholics.
Martin Scorsese will film the movie in New Zealand and release it in 2010, according to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun. Names of actors linked to the project include Daniel Day-Lewis, Gael García Bernal and Benicio Del Toro.
Scorsese is known for his work on films including "The Age of Innocence," "The Departed," "Gangs of New York," "Casino" and the controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ."
The film on the Japanese martyrs is based on the book "Chinmoku" (Silence), by the Catholic Japanese author Shusaku Endo. The novel tells the story of a Portuguese missionary in Japan at the beginnings of the 17th century. "Silence" refers to the silence of God before the cross of Christ, in telling of the missionary's forced apostasy in the midst of horrendous torture.
Endo (1923-1997) was baptized at age 12. His novels reflect his effort to show Christianity reconciled with Oriental culture, as well as his vision of human weakness, sin and grace. Among his other writings are "A Life of Jesus" and "Deep River," in which he tries to present Christianity to the Asian mentality.
Last Dec. 10, almost 200 Japanese martyrs from the same era as the plot of "Silence" were canonized. Japan is today less than 1% Christian, of which only about 450,000 are Catholics.
Jewish Community thinks Obama is a Muslim and Takes them for Granteds
Jews at home and abroad have been slow to warm to Mr. Obama – a recent poll found nearly 40 percent of Israelis believe he is Muslim – and it seems the distrust within the community is at least partly driving the anger.
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