Vatican City, Dec 7, 2009 / 11:42 am (CNA).- In a meeting with a group of Brazilian bishops on Saturday, the Holy Father warned of the dangers of Marxist liberation theology and noted its grave consequences for ecclesial communities.
During the ad limina visit, the Pope recalled that “last August marked 25 years since the Instruction “Libertatis nuntius” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on certain aspects of liberation theology. The document "highlights the danger involved in the uncritical absorption, by certain theologians, of theses and methodologies that come from Marxism."
The Pope warned that the “more or less visible” scars of Marxist liberation theology, such as “rebellion, division, dissent, offenses, anarchy, are still being felt, causing great suffering and a grave loss of dynamic strength in your diocesan communities.”
For this reason, he exhorted all those who in some way feel attracted or affected by “certain deceitful principles of liberation theology” to re-visit the instruction and be open to the light that it can shed on the subject.
Benedict XVI also recalled that “the supreme rule of faith of the Church in effect arises from the unity that the Spirit established between Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church, in such reciprocity that they cannot subsist independently of each other,” as John Paul II explained in his encyclical “Fides et Ratio.”
The Instruction “Libertatis nuntius” was published on August 6, 1984, with the approval of Pope John Paul II, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Its purpose was to focus the attention of pastors, theologians and all the faithful on the deviations of certain forms of liberation theology that are dangerous for the faith and for the Christian life and that are based on Marxist thought.
It warned that the grave ideological deviations of Marxist liberation theology inevitably lead to the betrayal of the cause of the poor and that a Marxist analysis of reality leads to the acceptance of positions that are incompatible with the Christian vision of man
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Monday, December 7, 2009
Catholic education, then and now
By Colman McCarthy
Monday, December 7, 2009
Models of academic longevity, Peter Walshe, Michael True and Tom Lee have a combined 114 years of teaching at Catholic colleges and universities. Having transitioned from full-time classroom toil, they are among the emeriti: seasoned and serene veterans buoyed by the satisfactions of the professorial life that they treasured through the decades.
Convivial and opinionated, part of the liberal wing of Catholic academia, they are the kind of old hands you would hunt down for reflections on the state of Catholic higher education. Going back awhile, I've had many conversations with each of the professors on their campuses: Walshe at the University of Notre Dame, True at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., and Lee at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.
For this essay, I asked each of the three to focus on the positives and negatives they came upon at their schools.
Link to original...
Monday, December 7, 2009
Models of academic longevity, Peter Walshe, Michael True and Tom Lee have a combined 114 years of teaching at Catholic colleges and universities. Having transitioned from full-time classroom toil, they are among the emeriti: seasoned and serene veterans buoyed by the satisfactions of the professorial life that they treasured through the decades.
Convivial and opinionated, part of the liberal wing of Catholic academia, they are the kind of old hands you would hunt down for reflections on the state of Catholic higher education. Going back awhile, I've had many conversations with each of the professors on their campuses: Walshe at the University of Notre Dame, True at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., and Lee at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.
For this essay, I asked each of the three to focus on the positives and negatives they came upon at their schools.
Link to original...
Vatican Bank Under Investigation for Money Laundering
The Vatican Bank is under investigation for alleged involvement in a money-laundering scheme using accounts at one of Italy’s largest banks, according to a weekly investigative magazine.
Panorama reports that officials from the Bank of Italy’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) have identified transactions worth up to €180 million (£160 million) that allegedly violated anti-money-laundering regulations in accounts held at a UniCredit branch in Via della Conciliazione, next to St Peter’s Basilica. Prosecutors in Rome, led by Nello Rossi and Stefano Rocco Fava, are reported to be working with a special unit of the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian tax police, to investigate the bank — which is formally known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR).
The investigation relates to alleged breaches of financial regulations and disclosure obligations at the branch, but it is possible that the investigation may be broadened to include accounts held at other Italian banks. Investigators are examining every transaction in accounts held by the IOR from 2006 to 2008, the magazine reported.
In that period, it said that more than €180 million in cheques and transfers moved through the accounts. The magazine named a manager at the branch who it claimed had a close relationship with Lelio Scaletti, a former director of the IOR, who left the Vatican Bank in October 2007. This is the most serious investigation of the Vatican Bank since the 1982 collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, in which it was the major shareholder. Ambrosiano collapsed with the Vatican held partly responsible for $1.3 billion in bad debts. If the latest allegations are proved to be correct, they would be a blow for the new directors of the IOR, appointed two months ago by Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State.
In September Angelo Caloia, president of the Vatican Bank, resigned after 20 years, with its five-member board of superintendents also replaced. The magazine claims the investigation was the leading item on the agenda when the Vatican Bank’s new board, now headed by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, held its first meeting at the Vatican on October 27.
As investigators consider whether to interview senior officials from UniCredit, Vatican lawyers are understood to be considering whether to argue that the bank is outside Italian legal jurisdiction. In 2007 a Rome court said that the Mafia was behind the 1982 death of Roberto Calvi, the Banco Ambrosiano president known as “God’s banker”.
Link to original...
Bank Ambrosiano Scandal and the murder of John Paul I.
Panorama reports that officials from the Bank of Italy’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) have identified transactions worth up to €180 million (£160 million) that allegedly violated anti-money-laundering regulations in accounts held at a UniCredit branch in Via della Conciliazione, next to St Peter’s Basilica. Prosecutors in Rome, led by Nello Rossi and Stefano Rocco Fava, are reported to be working with a special unit of the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian tax police, to investigate the bank — which is formally known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR).
The investigation relates to alleged breaches of financial regulations and disclosure obligations at the branch, but it is possible that the investigation may be broadened to include accounts held at other Italian banks. Investigators are examining every transaction in accounts held by the IOR from 2006 to 2008, the magazine reported.
In that period, it said that more than €180 million in cheques and transfers moved through the accounts. The magazine named a manager at the branch who it claimed had a close relationship with Lelio Scaletti, a former director of the IOR, who left the Vatican Bank in October 2007. This is the most serious investigation of the Vatican Bank since the 1982 collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, in which it was the major shareholder. Ambrosiano collapsed with the Vatican held partly responsible for $1.3 billion in bad debts. If the latest allegations are proved to be correct, they would be a blow for the new directors of the IOR, appointed two months ago by Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State.
In September Angelo Caloia, president of the Vatican Bank, resigned after 20 years, with its five-member board of superintendents also replaced. The magazine claims the investigation was the leading item on the agenda when the Vatican Bank’s new board, now headed by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, held its first meeting at the Vatican on October 27.
As investigators consider whether to interview senior officials from UniCredit, Vatican lawyers are understood to be considering whether to argue that the bank is outside Italian legal jurisdiction. In 2007 a Rome court said that the Mafia was behind the 1982 death of Roberto Calvi, the Banco Ambrosiano president known as “God’s banker”.
Link to original...
Bank Ambrosiano Scandal and the murder of John Paul I.
South African Government's Oppressive Tactics: Civil War Brewing
Bishop calls for immediate release of ‘Kennedy 13’
Monday, 7th December 2009. 12:05pm
By: George Conger .
The Bishop of Natal has issued a plea for the immediate release of the “Kennedy 13”, claiming the men are political prisoners jailed for “speaking the truth to the power” of the ANC government in KwaZulu-Natal.
On Nov 16, Bishop Rubin Phillip and 40 other Natal clergy gathered outside of the magistrate’s court in Durban to protest the arrest of 13 members of homeless movement Abahlali baseMjondolo.
The accused have been “in prison for two months without trial - two months in prison without any evidence being presented to a court and without a decision on bail. This is a moral and legal outrage that amounts to detention without trial by means of delay,” the bishop said and “borders on unlawful detention.”
In September an armed mob allegedly led by ANC militants attacked the Kennedy Road shanty town, killing four, seizing property and driving many residents from their homes --- while police allegedly watched. After the attack the police arrested 13 of the victims of the violence, arraigning them for attacking themselves.
The attack and the response to the attack by the police and government leaders in KwaZulu-Natal make it “patently clear that there was a political dimension to the attack and that the response of the police has been to pursue that political agenda rather than justice,” the bishop charged.
The “days of the political prisoner” did not end with the apartheid era, Bishop Phillip warned. The detention of the Kennedy 13 and the magistrate’s refusal to hold a bail hearing shows “that this is quite clearly a political trial in which the rules that govern the practice of justice are not being followed.”
He called for “people of conscience outside of the state to join us as we set up an independent inquiry into the attack on Kennedy Road on September 26; the subsequent demolition of the houses of Abahlali baseMjondolo members, the ongoing threats to Abahlali baseMjondolo members, the role of the police, politicians and courts in this matter.”
On Nov 17 Archbishop Thabo Makgoba endorsed Bishop Phillip’s call for justice for the Kennedy 13, calling on the ANC and the government to “take practical steps to reassure us of their commitment to the democratic rights of shack dwellers."
Democracy in South Africa was “being lacerated by the attacks” on the people of the Kennedy Road, the Archbishop said. “Like the Psalmist, I lament with you and pray that you will not lose hope, and that justice with mercy will be possible in your lifetimes.
“I plead with both Minister Jeff Radebe and President Zuma to usher in democracy for all in South Africa, including these displaced, hurting people of God, who are experiencing neither the freedoms nor the fruits of our democracy,” Archbishop Makgoba said.
Contact our Africa Desk
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Monday, 7th December 2009. 12:05pm
By: George Conger .
The Bishop of Natal has issued a plea for the immediate release of the “Kennedy 13”, claiming the men are political prisoners jailed for “speaking the truth to the power” of the ANC government in KwaZulu-Natal.
On Nov 16, Bishop Rubin Phillip and 40 other Natal clergy gathered outside of the magistrate’s court in Durban to protest the arrest of 13 members of homeless movement Abahlali baseMjondolo.
The accused have been “in prison for two months without trial - two months in prison without any evidence being presented to a court and without a decision on bail. This is a moral and legal outrage that amounts to detention without trial by means of delay,” the bishop said and “borders on unlawful detention.”
In September an armed mob allegedly led by ANC militants attacked the Kennedy Road shanty town, killing four, seizing property and driving many residents from their homes --- while police allegedly watched. After the attack the police arrested 13 of the victims of the violence, arraigning them for attacking themselves.
The attack and the response to the attack by the police and government leaders in KwaZulu-Natal make it “patently clear that there was a political dimension to the attack and that the response of the police has been to pursue that political agenda rather than justice,” the bishop charged.
The “days of the political prisoner” did not end with the apartheid era, Bishop Phillip warned. The detention of the Kennedy 13 and the magistrate’s refusal to hold a bail hearing shows “that this is quite clearly a political trial in which the rules that govern the practice of justice are not being followed.”
He called for “people of conscience outside of the state to join us as we set up an independent inquiry into the attack on Kennedy Road on September 26; the subsequent demolition of the houses of Abahlali baseMjondolo members, the ongoing threats to Abahlali baseMjondolo members, the role of the police, politicians and courts in this matter.”
On Nov 17 Archbishop Thabo Makgoba endorsed Bishop Phillip’s call for justice for the Kennedy 13, calling on the ANC and the government to “take practical steps to reassure us of their commitment to the democratic rights of shack dwellers."
Democracy in South Africa was “being lacerated by the attacks” on the people of the Kennedy Road, the Archbishop said. “Like the Psalmist, I lament with you and pray that you will not lose hope, and that justice with mercy will be possible in your lifetimes.
“I plead with both Minister Jeff Radebe and President Zuma to usher in democracy for all in South Africa, including these displaced, hurting people of God, who are experiencing neither the freedoms nor the fruits of our democracy,” Archbishop Makgoba said.
Contact our Africa Desk
Sign up for our free weekly Newsletters:
The Security Newsletter is a detailed analysis of ongoing conflict around the world.
The Newslist Newsletter is a round-up of the 10 main stories appearing on the site during the previous week.
To subscribe to the Security Newsletter, please click here: info@religiousintelligence.com
To subscribe to the Newslist Newsletter, please click here: info@religiousintelligence.com
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New York Times attacks Cardinal Egan
The New York times can't get things right because it's purpose is not to report news, its purpose is to deceptively promote socialist doctrine in a popular and subtle way and do this while making enough money to keep the presses rolling. They have their masters and we have ours.
The New York Times has published an editorial sharply critical of Cardinal Edward Egan’s 1997 and 1999 depositions on the clerical sex abuse scandal in the Diocese of Bridgeport. Cardinal Egan served as Bishop of Bridgeport from 1988 until his transfer to New York in 2000. He was succeeded earlier this year by Archbishop Timothy Dolan.
“In the end it was not the power of repentance or compassion that compelled the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., to release more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests,” the editorial begins. “It was a court order … The accounts of priests preying on children, being moved among parishes and shielded by their bishops while their accusers were ignored or bullied into silence, are a familiar, awful story.”
Read further...
The New York Times has published an editorial sharply critical of Cardinal Edward Egan’s 1997 and 1999 depositions on the clerical sex abuse scandal in the Diocese of Bridgeport. Cardinal Egan served as Bishop of Bridgeport from 1988 until his transfer to New York in 2000. He was succeeded earlier this year by Archbishop Timothy Dolan.
“In the end it was not the power of repentance or compassion that compelled the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., to release more than 12,000 pages of documents relating to lawsuits alleging decades of sexual abuse of children by its priests,” the editorial begins. “It was a court order … The accounts of priests preying on children, being moved among parishes and shielded by their bishops while their accusers were ignored or bullied into silence, are a familiar, awful story.”
Read further...
Bishop of Limerick to Resign
Now it would be nice to get rid of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin as well for his traitorous comments.
An Irish bishop is expected to resign later today in front of the pope over the clerical abuse scandal in Ireland.
Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray travelled to Rome where he will tender his resignation from the post.
His departure comes after he was singled out for criticism in the devastating report into clerical child sex abuse in the Dublin diocese, Ireland's most populous parish.
The Murphy report found that Murray reacted "inexcusably" to one known case of child abuse. He was also criticised for badly handing complaints and suspicions of further abuse of children in the city.
There has been no official reaction from the Catholic church today but the bishop told parishioners yesterday he was "reflecting on the decision he now has to make".
On Saturday the leader of Ireland's Catholics, Cardinal Seán Brady, called on all named in the report to act soon in light of the commission's findings that cover-ups of clerical child abuse had taken place in the Dublin archdiocese.
Brady is due to travel to the Vatican next week to discuss the Murphy report with Pope Benedict.Brady will be accompanied by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the head of the church in Dublin.
Brady said that he would resign himself if a child had been abused as a result of any failure on his part.
Meanwhile Ireland's foreign minister, Michael Martin [carpetbagger], has expressed "deep disappointment" at the lack of response by the pope to the Murphy report.
The pope's representative in Ireland, Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza, will be summoned to the department of foreign affairs later this week to explain why he has not responded to the report's findings. [Again, the government was more aware of the immediate situation, but they didn't do anything when they were confronted with the problem. They are just as guilty as the other liberals inside the Church who aided this deplorable situation.
The Church should hand over these liberals to the secular arm for severe temporal punishments in public if necessary.
"I think we will be pointing out that we need a substantive response," [After a while crocodile] Michael Martin said.
Link to original...
An Irish bishop is expected to resign later today in front of the pope over the clerical abuse scandal in Ireland.
Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray travelled to Rome where he will tender his resignation from the post.
His departure comes after he was singled out for criticism in the devastating report into clerical child sex abuse in the Dublin diocese, Ireland's most populous parish.
The Murphy report found that Murray reacted "inexcusably" to one known case of child abuse. He was also criticised for badly handing complaints and suspicions of further abuse of children in the city.
There has been no official reaction from the Catholic church today but the bishop told parishioners yesterday he was "reflecting on the decision he now has to make".
On Saturday the leader of Ireland's Catholics, Cardinal Seán Brady, called on all named in the report to act soon in light of the commission's findings that cover-ups of clerical child abuse had taken place in the Dublin archdiocese.
Brady is due to travel to the Vatican next week to discuss the Murphy report with Pope Benedict.Brady will be accompanied by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the head of the church in Dublin.
Brady said that he would resign himself if a child had been abused as a result of any failure on his part.
Meanwhile Ireland's foreign minister, Michael Martin [carpetbagger], has expressed "deep disappointment" at the lack of response by the pope to the Murphy report.
The pope's representative in Ireland, Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza, will be summoned to the department of foreign affairs later this week to explain why he has not responded to the report's findings. [Again, the government was more aware of the immediate situation, but they didn't do anything when they were confronted with the problem. They are just as guilty as the other liberals inside the Church who aided this deplorable situation.
The Church should hand over these liberals to the secular arm for severe temporal punishments in public if necessary.
"I think we will be pointing out that we need a substantive response," [After a while crocodile] Michael Martin said.
Link to original...
African priest and theologian new member of the Roman Curia
African priest and theologian new member of the Roman Curia
Adoukonou is known to be extremely dedicated to the development of Africa. In a paper published in 2003 on the Il Regno website, he wrote that "what's needed today for Africa to rise up is a humanity able to assume its own destiny and respond to so many generous development projects on the continent."
They do tend to talk a lot about "development" as if they were spokesmen for Worldbank and UNESCO. Would that they were at least equally and publicly concerned about souls.
Adoukonou is known to be extremely dedicated to the development of Africa. In a paper published in 2003 on the Il Regno website, he wrote that "what's needed today for Africa to rise up is a humanity able to assume its own destiny and respond to so many generous development projects on the continent."
They do tend to talk a lot about "development" as if they were spokesmen for Worldbank and UNESCO. Would that they were at least equally and publicly concerned about souls.
Kampala City is the Place you Oughta Be! Uganda.
We understand that real-estate prices in Uganda are very low, and they probably aren't due for another political upheaval for at least another 20 years. With legislation that rankles the effeminate files of the world's global elites like this, it's enough to make some of us want to embrace the possibility for change and take a chance in a new world.
As Episcopalians in America were electing their second gay bishop, their Anglican cousins in Uganda were embroiled in controversial legislation that would make would put those bishops in prison for life, or condemn them to death.
The legislation being considered by the Parliament of Uganda, which outlaws "any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex," punishable by life in prison or death, threatens to further divide Episcopalians, some of whom have left the U.S. church and aligned with the Anglican Church of Uganda and other anti-homosexual African communions.
It's also putting other U.S. religious leaders, from Jim Wallis to Rick Warren, in the unusual position of commenting on political matters in other nations.
(snip)
Homosexuality already is illegal in Uganda: The Penal Code bans "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature," with a possible penalty of life imprisonment, but prosecutions are rare because the standard of proof requires that offenders be caught in the act. According to Foreign Policy magazine, the proposed legislation would make it easier to catch and prosecute offenders:
Link to original...
And a Senior Anglican prelate in Uganda is backing his sensible government. No doubt, the ever dissembling media will trot out vague racist statements to slur the government of Uganda.
As Episcopalians in America were electing their second gay bishop, their Anglican cousins in Uganda were embroiled in controversial legislation that would make would put those bishops in prison for life, or condemn them to death.
The legislation being considered by the Parliament of Uganda, which outlaws "any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex," punishable by life in prison or death, threatens to further divide Episcopalians, some of whom have left the U.S. church and aligned with the Anglican Church of Uganda and other anti-homosexual African communions.
It's also putting other U.S. religious leaders, from Jim Wallis to Rick Warren, in the unusual position of commenting on political matters in other nations.
(snip)
Homosexuality already is illegal in Uganda: The Penal Code bans "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature," with a possible penalty of life imprisonment, but prosecutions are rare because the standard of proof requires that offenders be caught in the act. According to Foreign Policy magazine, the proposed legislation would make it easier to catch and prosecute offenders:
Link to original...
And a Senior Anglican prelate in Uganda is backing his sensible government. No doubt, the ever dissembling media will trot out vague racist statements to slur the government of Uganda.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Archbishop harangues Anglicans to Oppose Homosexual Ordination
THE Archbishop of Canterbury today called on American Anglicans to block the appointment of a lesbian bishop.
Dr Rowan Williams warned that the selection of a new homosexual bishop could push the divided Anglicans over the edge into full-blown schism.
The Archbishop spoke out after leaders of the Church of England's sister church in Los Angeles chose 55-year-old Reverend Mary Glasspool as an assistant bishop.
He said the choice raised 'serious questions' and warned it was a threat to the 'bonds' that tie 77million Anglicans together.
Canon Glasspool, who lives with her long-term partner Becki Sander, acclaimed her election as a victory for gay rights.
'Any group of people who have been oppressed because of any one, isolated, aspect of their person yearns for justice and equal rights,' she said.
Link to original...
Dr Rowan Williams warned that the selection of a new homosexual bishop could push the divided Anglicans over the edge into full-blown schism.
The Archbishop spoke out after leaders of the Church of England's sister church in Los Angeles chose 55-year-old Reverend Mary Glasspool as an assistant bishop.
He said the choice raised 'serious questions' and warned it was a threat to the 'bonds' that tie 77million Anglicans together.
Canon Glasspool, who lives with her long-term partner Becki Sander, acclaimed her election as a victory for gay rights.
'Any group of people who have been oppressed because of any one, isolated, aspect of their person yearns for justice and equal rights,' she said.
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Lutheran Pastor Bemoans Departures from Doctrine and "Orthodoxy"
A Lutheran pastor bemoans the increasing liberalism in his church, he laments the primacy of subjective personal opinion and the farce of authority. Perhaps this is not only the effect of the Protestant Revolt, but the philosophic nominalism which gave birth to it.
The recent trouble in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is not about sex; it’s about infidelity:
The ELCA has removed the Scriptures as the primary authority for salvation and Christian living. It has removed any authority of the Lutheran Confessions for teaching the faith.
The ELCA has failed to honor its own bylaws. Many bishops have coerced approved candidates for ordination into accepting allegiance to the historic episcope. Many bishops have failed to enforce the vision and expectations standards for ethical behavior of our clergy.
Read entire article...
The recent trouble in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is not about sex; it’s about infidelity:
The ELCA has removed the Scriptures as the primary authority for salvation and Christian living. It has removed any authority of the Lutheran Confessions for teaching the faith.
The ELCA has failed to honor its own bylaws. Many bishops have coerced approved candidates for ordination into accepting allegiance to the historic episcope. Many bishops have failed to enforce the vision and expectations standards for ethical behavior of our clergy.
Read entire article...
Bishop Fellay is Positive about Anglican Reunion
Canterbury Tales blog, maintained by a former Anglican priest turned Catholic, reports that Bishop Fellay has said something positive about the Pope's Anglican proposal. It's not shocking to us, but then, we've been following the good Bishop for a long time and always found him to be positive, amiable and thoughtful, anyway:
A glimmer of hope among murky Ecumenism
Regarding the return of traditional Anglicans Bishop Fellay said:
"This is great. This is a big joy. There is only one ship that goes to Heaven, and this is the Catholic Church. When apostates return, it is surely a grand joy."
Bishop Fellay looks at it as a hopeful sign during what presently: "happens to be quite murky circumstances of (Vatican) ecumenism."
And Fr. Hunwicke was so angered by Fr. Scott's criticism of the Anglican Reuninion that he wrote this rejoinder here.
A glimmer of hope among murky Ecumenism
Regarding the return of traditional Anglicans Bishop Fellay said:
"This is great. This is a big joy. There is only one ship that goes to Heaven, and this is the Catholic Church. When apostates return, it is surely a grand joy."
Bishop Fellay looks at it as a hopeful sign during what presently: "happens to be quite murky circumstances of (Vatican) ecumenism."
And Fr. Hunwicke was so angered by Fr. Scott's criticism of the Anglican Reuninion that he wrote this rejoinder here.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Coptic Christians Praise Swiss Minaret Ruling
USA: December 4, 2009. (PCP) Dottore Architetto Ashraf Ramelah, President of Coptic Voice said that Sunday, November 29, 2009 will be remembered as a turning point in the protection of our democracy and freedom. I believe that all of the West must congratulate every Swiss citizen that voted to ban the building of Minarets as well as those who agreed to allow them to be built.
This is the democracy that western women and men were brought up on prior to the introduction of political correctness, more appropriately called “shut your mouth.”
Swiss citizens as well as all westerners are in great need to sit back and analyze the facts without any exaggeration or undermining the issues. All of us have a great responsibility towards our children and grandchildren. History will remember us as a great people who fought to keep democracy and freedom, or rather, a people who were unable to protect it.
Referendum plays an important role in democracy and through democracy power is given to every citizen. The result of any referendum is sovereign, and governments are obligated to follow the desire of their citizens.
In the early 1970’s I had the opportunity to observe two important referendums in Italy. The first was in favor of divorce, the second was for abortion. Both referendums were against Catholic teaching. In spite of the fact that the Vatican is in the center of Rome, the Italian capitol, and the head of the Catholic Church is also the Bishop of the eternal city, I never heard any instigation from the Church, its leaders, or political conservatives at that time.
I grew up convinced that I could disagree with your idea but I still respect you. Arabs, on the other hand, think and act differently than this. Arab-Muslim leaders throughout the whole world condemned the Swiss referendum. Some Arab leaders instigated their followers to rise aggressively against such a decision. I am sure that we will soon read and hear about the boycott of Swiss products, and maybe Swiss embassies will be closed in some Arabs countries.
Various western voices including some Vatican officials condemned the result of that referendum. I wonder if those leaders forgot that in a democracy the power belongs to the people, or can it be that such political leaders cannot stay away from so-called political correctness. The question remains that if political correctness were really correct, would one use it to criticize the will of the people, or instead accept the outcome in spite of any disagreement.
In western society there is a tendency to please strangers without consideration to their own people. Furthermore, instead of condemning the referendum results, I was hoping that our political leaders would be more effective in putting pressure on dictatorial and fascist regimes ruling in Arab Islamic countries in order to bring democracy and freedom to those populations. How dare those Arab leaders criticize a Swiss citizen for his choice in his own homeland concerning strangers, while the same Arab leaders do not give any respect to a citizen with a different face living in his own country.
The Grand Mufti of Cairo was very angry about the result of the referendum, criticizing the Swiss people for lacking respect for freedom of religion. Wow!! I wish the Egyptian regime could give Egyptians even one-half of one percent of the freedoms that the Swiss people enjoy. I do not want to take the time to describe the 1400 year history of oppression, discrimination and political correctness that Copts have endured in their own land.
Is there any political or religious leader in all of Egypt who would be willing to stand up honestly and admit that Copts have been under siege for more than 1400 years? Is there any political leader in the West who would be willing to stand up and put aside his political correctness to demand that those who wish to build a Minaret in someone else’s home must first respect basic human rights in his own home. It is time that everything be called by its own name, without hiding the facts, and with no special privilege given to any ethnic group or religion.
On behalf of Voice of the Copts, I urge all the citizens of the European Union to promote a similar referendum in each country along with a demand to their political leaders to put pressure on those regimes in order to help the religious minority in those countries to have basic human rights, democracy and human respect.
The real issue of this referendum was the goal of putting an end to the building of Minarets (architecture) and not the banning of the construction of Mosques as Arab-Muslim leaders and those with politically correct views would have us believe.
Link to original...
This is the democracy that western women and men were brought up on prior to the introduction of political correctness, more appropriately called “shut your mouth.”
Swiss citizens as well as all westerners are in great need to sit back and analyze the facts without any exaggeration or undermining the issues. All of us have a great responsibility towards our children and grandchildren. History will remember us as a great people who fought to keep democracy and freedom, or rather, a people who were unable to protect it.
Referendum plays an important role in democracy and through democracy power is given to every citizen. The result of any referendum is sovereign, and governments are obligated to follow the desire of their citizens.
In the early 1970’s I had the opportunity to observe two important referendums in Italy. The first was in favor of divorce, the second was for abortion. Both referendums were against Catholic teaching. In spite of the fact that the Vatican is in the center of Rome, the Italian capitol, and the head of the Catholic Church is also the Bishop of the eternal city, I never heard any instigation from the Church, its leaders, or political conservatives at that time.
I grew up convinced that I could disagree with your idea but I still respect you. Arabs, on the other hand, think and act differently than this. Arab-Muslim leaders throughout the whole world condemned the Swiss referendum. Some Arab leaders instigated their followers to rise aggressively against such a decision. I am sure that we will soon read and hear about the boycott of Swiss products, and maybe Swiss embassies will be closed in some Arabs countries.
Various western voices including some Vatican officials condemned the result of that referendum. I wonder if those leaders forgot that in a democracy the power belongs to the people, or can it be that such political leaders cannot stay away from so-called political correctness. The question remains that if political correctness were really correct, would one use it to criticize the will of the people, or instead accept the outcome in spite of any disagreement.
In western society there is a tendency to please strangers without consideration to their own people. Furthermore, instead of condemning the referendum results, I was hoping that our political leaders would be more effective in putting pressure on dictatorial and fascist regimes ruling in Arab Islamic countries in order to bring democracy and freedom to those populations. How dare those Arab leaders criticize a Swiss citizen for his choice in his own homeland concerning strangers, while the same Arab leaders do not give any respect to a citizen with a different face living in his own country.
The Grand Mufti of Cairo was very angry about the result of the referendum, criticizing the Swiss people for lacking respect for freedom of religion. Wow!! I wish the Egyptian regime could give Egyptians even one-half of one percent of the freedoms that the Swiss people enjoy. I do not want to take the time to describe the 1400 year history of oppression, discrimination and political correctness that Copts have endured in their own land.
Is there any political or religious leader in all of Egypt who would be willing to stand up honestly and admit that Copts have been under siege for more than 1400 years? Is there any political leader in the West who would be willing to stand up and put aside his political correctness to demand that those who wish to build a Minaret in someone else’s home must first respect basic human rights in his own home. It is time that everything be called by its own name, without hiding the facts, and with no special privilege given to any ethnic group or religion.
On behalf of Voice of the Copts, I urge all the citizens of the European Union to promote a similar referendum in each country along with a demand to their political leaders to put pressure on those regimes in order to help the religious minority in those countries to have basic human rights, democracy and human respect.
The real issue of this referendum was the goal of putting an end to the building of Minarets (architecture) and not the banning of the construction of Mosques as Arab-Muslim leaders and those with politically correct views would have us believe.
Link to original...
Syrian Patriarch Says Mass in Bethlehem
Bethlehem – Ma’an – MarMar Ighnatios Youssef III Younan , the Patriarch of the Syrian Catholic Church, headed mass during his visit to the Saint Joseph's Syrian Catholic Church in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on Saturday.
His visit was marked by a parade of Palestinian Scouts and Girl Guides' Organization on the streets of Bethlehem. The Holy Mass was presided by His Beatitude Mar Ighnatios Youssef III Younan at the Syrian Catholic church in Manger Street.
Mar Ignatius Joseph III Younan was elected Patriarch of the Syrian Catholic Church on January 20 2009.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=244515
His visit was marked by a parade of Palestinian Scouts and Girl Guides' Organization on the streets of Bethlehem. The Holy Mass was presided by His Beatitude Mar Ighnatios Youssef III Younan at the Syrian Catholic church in Manger Street.
Mar Ignatius Joseph III Younan was elected Patriarch of the Syrian Catholic Church on January 20 2009.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=244515
Media Hoopla against Prince Charles Pre-ordered and Planned
Insight into the manufacture crises and mood manipulation of the liberal media-czars.
Editor:
We heard nothing on the TV news media about the 'relevance of the monarchy in Canada' until a week or two before the arrival of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in Canada.
The survey the media manipulated must have been taken in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver in a mixed culture where a monarchy is seemingly unknown.
All during the royal visit, the TV media and especially the TV news presenters (Peter Mans-bridge, Tom Clark, etc.) had debates and long-winded discussions ad nauseam about whether Canada should drop the monarchy and become a republic. Manipulation was quite obvious.
Now I ask you, wasn't that a fine welcome for the Royals? On previous royal tours, there would be full coverage of the Royals' daily happenings, but during the recent tour we were shown snippets only, about two minutes in an hour-long newscast. Tells you what the TV media is about, doesn't it?
Also strange is the fact that since Prince Charles and the Duchess left Canada on November 12, there are no more debates, no more discussions on the monarchy. Why? The late Senator Eugene Forsey would turn over in the grave to know the TV media showed so little respect for our 'Royal Visitors.'
The TV news media has a lot to answer for the constant barrage of such untimely discussions of the monarchy when the Royals were in Canada. Present the news, don't manipulate it.
Doris F. Saar,
Pembroke, ON
http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2208232
Editor:
We heard nothing on the TV news media about the 'relevance of the monarchy in Canada' until a week or two before the arrival of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in Canada.
The survey the media manipulated must have been taken in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver in a mixed culture where a monarchy is seemingly unknown.
All during the royal visit, the TV media and especially the TV news presenters (Peter Mans-bridge, Tom Clark, etc.) had debates and long-winded discussions ad nauseam about whether Canada should drop the monarchy and become a republic. Manipulation was quite obvious.
Now I ask you, wasn't that a fine welcome for the Royals? On previous royal tours, there would be full coverage of the Royals' daily happenings, but during the recent tour we were shown snippets only, about two minutes in an hour-long newscast. Tells you what the TV media is about, doesn't it?
Also strange is the fact that since Prince Charles and the Duchess left Canada on November 12, there are no more debates, no more discussions on the monarchy. Why? The late Senator Eugene Forsey would turn over in the grave to know the TV media showed so little respect for our 'Royal Visitors.'
The TV news media has a lot to answer for the constant barrage of such untimely discussions of the monarchy when the Royals were in Canada. Present the news, don't manipulate it.
Doris F. Saar,
Pembroke, ON
http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2208232
Irish Writer Reflects on Anti-Clericalism
Irish Times
In this edited extract from John McGahern’s 1993 essay, ‘The Church and its Spire’, recently reprinted in the posthumous collection, ‘Love of the World’, the novelist recalls growing up in Ireland at a time when ‘the Church had almost total power’
I WAS born into Catholicism as I might have been born into Buddhism or Protestantism or any of the other isms or sects, and brought up as a Roman Catholic in the infancy of this small state when the Church had almost total power: it was the dominating force in my whole upbringing, education and early working life.
I have nothing but gratitude for the spiritual remnants of that upbringing, the sense of our origins beyond the bounds of sense, an awareness of mystery and wonderment, grace and sacrament, and the absolute equality of all women and men underneath the sun of heaven. That is all that now remains. Belief, as such, has long gone.
Over many years I keep returning to a letter Marcel Proust wrote to Georges de Lauris in 1903 at the height of the anti-clerical wave that swept through France:
“I can tell you at Illiers, the small community where two days ago my father presided at the awarding of the school prizes, the curé is no longer invited to the distribution of the prizes since the passage of the Ferry laws. The pupils are trained to consider the people who associate with him as socially undesirable and, in their way, quite as much as the other, they are working to split France in two. And when I remember this little village so subject to the miserly earth, itself the foster-mother of miserliness; when I remember the curé who taught me Latin and the names of the flowers in his garden; when, above all, I know the mentality of my father’s brother-in-law – town magistrate down there and anti-clerical – when I think of all this, it doesn’t seem to me right that the old curé should no longer be invited to the distribution of the prizes, as representative of something in the village more difficult to define than the social function symbolised by the pharmacist, the retired tobacco-inspector and the optician, but something which is, nevertheless, not unworthy of respect, were it only for the perception of the meaning of the spiritualised beauty of the church spire – pointing upward into the sunset where it loses itself so lovingly in the rose-coloured clouds; and which, all the same, at first sight, to a stranger alighting in the village, looks somehow better, nobler, more dignified, with more meaning behind it, and with, what we all need, more love than the other buildings, however sanctioned they may be under the latest laws.”
Proust’s plea is for tolerance and understanding that come from a deep love, a love that is vigorous and watchful:
“. . . let the anti-clericals at least draw a few more distinctions and at least visit the great social structures they want to demolish before they wield the axe. I don’t like the Jesuit mind, but there is, nevertheless, a Jesuit philosophy, a Jesuit art, a Jesuit pedagogy. Will there be an anti-clerical art? All this is much less simple than it appears.”
The Church grows in the very process of change, Proust asserts, and he argues that it had assumed an influence even over those who were supposed to deny and combat it, which could not have been foreseen in the previous century, a century during which the Catholic Church was “the refuge of ignoramuses”. He names a number of great writers of the time to show that the 19th century was not an anti-religious century. Even Baudelaire was in touch with the Church, Proust argues, if only through Sacrilege.
There is no danger, even today, of the parish priest being excluded from a school ceremony in Ireland. In any of the small towns it would be as much as a person’s social life was worth to try to keep him away, which does not make Proust’s truth less applicable. If the 18th-century church in France was “the refuge of ignoramuses”, my fear is that the Church in 20th-century Ireland will come, in time, to be seen similarly, and my involvement was when it was at the height of its power.
Read further...
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29196
In this edited extract from John McGahern’s 1993 essay, ‘The Church and its Spire’, recently reprinted in the posthumous collection, ‘Love of the World’, the novelist recalls growing up in Ireland at a time when ‘the Church had almost total power’
I WAS born into Catholicism as I might have been born into Buddhism or Protestantism or any of the other isms or sects, and brought up as a Roman Catholic in the infancy of this small state when the Church had almost total power: it was the dominating force in my whole upbringing, education and early working life.
I have nothing but gratitude for the spiritual remnants of that upbringing, the sense of our origins beyond the bounds of sense, an awareness of mystery and wonderment, grace and sacrament, and the absolute equality of all women and men underneath the sun of heaven. That is all that now remains. Belief, as such, has long gone.
Over many years I keep returning to a letter Marcel Proust wrote to Georges de Lauris in 1903 at the height of the anti-clerical wave that swept through France:
“I can tell you at Illiers, the small community where two days ago my father presided at the awarding of the school prizes, the curé is no longer invited to the distribution of the prizes since the passage of the Ferry laws. The pupils are trained to consider the people who associate with him as socially undesirable and, in their way, quite as much as the other, they are working to split France in two. And when I remember this little village so subject to the miserly earth, itself the foster-mother of miserliness; when I remember the curé who taught me Latin and the names of the flowers in his garden; when, above all, I know the mentality of my father’s brother-in-law – town magistrate down there and anti-clerical – when I think of all this, it doesn’t seem to me right that the old curé should no longer be invited to the distribution of the prizes, as representative of something in the village more difficult to define than the social function symbolised by the pharmacist, the retired tobacco-inspector and the optician, but something which is, nevertheless, not unworthy of respect, were it only for the perception of the meaning of the spiritualised beauty of the church spire – pointing upward into the sunset where it loses itself so lovingly in the rose-coloured clouds; and which, all the same, at first sight, to a stranger alighting in the village, looks somehow better, nobler, more dignified, with more meaning behind it, and with, what we all need, more love than the other buildings, however sanctioned they may be under the latest laws.”
Proust’s plea is for tolerance and understanding that come from a deep love, a love that is vigorous and watchful:
“. . . let the anti-clericals at least draw a few more distinctions and at least visit the great social structures they want to demolish before they wield the axe. I don’t like the Jesuit mind, but there is, nevertheless, a Jesuit philosophy, a Jesuit art, a Jesuit pedagogy. Will there be an anti-clerical art? All this is much less simple than it appears.”
The Church grows in the very process of change, Proust asserts, and he argues that it had assumed an influence even over those who were supposed to deny and combat it, which could not have been foreseen in the previous century, a century during which the Catholic Church was “the refuge of ignoramuses”. He names a number of great writers of the time to show that the 19th century was not an anti-religious century. Even Baudelaire was in touch with the Church, Proust argues, if only through Sacrilege.
There is no danger, even today, of the parish priest being excluded from a school ceremony in Ireland. In any of the small towns it would be as much as a person’s social life was worth to try to keep him away, which does not make Proust’s truth less applicable. If the 18th-century church in France was “the refuge of ignoramuses”, my fear is that the Church in 20th-century Ireland will come, in time, to be seen similarly, and my involvement was when it was at the height of its power.
Read further...
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29196
The Bishops' Poor Case for Healthcare Reform
If and we mean, if, the Bishops have a moral case against Health Care Reform, they certainly haven't done a very good job of making it.
The ultimate constraint that we all face is knowledge -- what we know and don't know. The knowledge problem is pervasive and by no means trivial as hinted at by just a few examples. You've purchased a house. Was it the best deal you could have gotten? Was there some other house you could have purchased that 10 years later would not have needed extensive repairs or was in a community with more likeable neighbors and a better environment for your children? What about the person you married? Was there another person who would have made for a more pleasing spouse? Though these are important questions, the most intelligent answer you can give to all of them is: "I don't know."
Read further...
The ultimate constraint that we all face is knowledge -- what we know and don't know. The knowledge problem is pervasive and by no means trivial as hinted at by just a few examples. You've purchased a house. Was it the best deal you could have gotten? Was there some other house you could have purchased that 10 years later would not have needed extensive repairs or was in a community with more likeable neighbors and a better environment for your children? What about the person you married? Was there another person who would have made for a more pleasing spouse? Though these are important questions, the most intelligent answer you can give to all of them is: "I don't know."
Read further...
Chris Mathews is a Dumb Catholic
Is Chris Mathews a Dumb Catholic?
Newsbusters
Profiles of Chris Matthews often mention that Chris and his wife Kathleen attend Blessed Sacrament Church in northwest Washington. But there are times when Matthews seems pretty dumb on the Catholic basics. This passage in his televised lecturing of Bishop Thomas Tobin stood out:
Read further...
Newsbusters
Profiles of Chris Matthews often mention that Chris and his wife Kathleen attend Blessed Sacrament Church in northwest Washington. But there are times when Matthews seems pretty dumb on the Catholic basics. This passage in his televised lecturing of Bishop Thomas Tobin stood out:
A lot of Catholics agree or disagree in every poll I’ve seen about what the law should be [on abortion]. They generally accept the teaching authority of the Church, the Magistar, your teaching authority, your Excellency. Where the disagreement is what the law should be, what the penalty should be.
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