Well, the left hates Joey Liberman (I), so it must be anti-semitic, because it hates Israel. Does the knife cut both ways? Never before has supporting Israel been so much fun, because you get to trash two faulty ideologies at once.
The Examener
Ruminations, December 27, 2009
Health insurance lives saved vs. lives lost
The Institute of Medicine, the health branch of the National Academy of Sciences, issued an analysis that concluded 22,000 lives were lost in 2006 due to a lack of health insurance. Many proponents of the new health care proposals are projecting their figures across 10 years and estimating that the new Congressional health care bill will save, conservatively, 150,000 lives over 10 years.
Although this analysis is speculative, it is an interesting and worthwhile exercise to examine the potential effect of health insurance on longevity. Rather than focusing on the dollars and cents side of the health care debate, perhaps adding an additional balance sheet focusing on lives would be worthwhile.
Saving 22,000 lives per year is based upon 30 million of people who are currently uninsured obtaining insurance and thus being able to afford to see their doctors once a year. If 30 million more people will go to their doctor once a year and, according to some estimates, a doctor and an assistant (nurse, physician’s assistant, or another doctor, etc) can see and examine 2,000 people per year (one visit per person). That means we’ll need 30,000 new medical professionals to see 30 million people. Where will they come from? They won’t materialize from thin air. With current staffing levels, regardless of insurance, we won’t have enough medical professionals to see these people. So maybe, unless or until we can expand our medical professionals, the 30 million people currently uninsured still won’t be able to see a doctor and 22,000 lives we estimated that would be saved will be lost anyway.
While accepting the estimate of 22,000 lives saved in one year, let’s consider the number of lives that the new health care bill may cost. For instance, won’t cutting nearly $500 billion from Medicare over 10 years have an adverse affect on the life spans of 46 million seniors? That’s an average cut of $10,000 per person over 10 years. It seems that by reducing health care by that amount, for a group whose earning power is limited and whose advancing years makes their health precarious enough without the cuts, will contribute to the lives lost count. Will it contribute to the premature death of more than 150,000 over ten years? Could be.
And, while we are on the subject of saving lives, there is no doubt that American medical innovation over the last decades has saved millions of lives. In fact, it is so advanced and superior, that, according to Deloitte & Touche, last year 400,000 people came from foreign lands to get health care in the United States. They came from all over including places such as Canada and Great Britain, where national health care is provided gratis. Why did they come? Not to save money, that’s for sure. They came because they wanted innovative health care that was unavailable in their home countries. Many, including those with diverse political perspectives as liberal former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich and conservative Fox commentator John Stossel, believe that a new health care system will not provide new innovations and, consequently it may cause a number of premature deaths that innovation could have saved.
So, on balance, will the new health care bill in Congress save lives? Maybe not.
Lieberman and anti-Semitism
The last two members of the Democratic caucus fell into line last week and supported the Democrats health care bill. Joe Lieberman (I, CT) and Ben Nelson (D, NE) voted to end debate on the bill and proceed towards its passage.
The left has been almost apoplectic on the about Joe Lieberman (I, CT), who threatened to join Republicans and filibuster the Senate Health Care bill. But when Lieberman’s objections to the “public option” and to the provision to allow people under 65 to apply for Medicare were met, he withdrew his filibuster threat and supported the bill. Lieberman had held out on principle. And by mollifying Lieberman, the Democrats were able to secure his support. But the left still treats him as a traitor.
Ben Nelson (D, NE), the last hold out, came back to the party-line when he was offered a $100 million subsidy for his Nebraska voters and tax breaks for Nebraska insurance companies. After he came back, the left treated him like a hero.
You can agree or disagree with Nelson and Lieberman but can you hold a mercenary in higher regard than a man who stands on principle?
It doesn’t seem so for many of the left. Rosa DeLauro (D, CT) says, “I'll say it flat out, I think he [Lieberman] ought to be recalled." MoveOn.org has raised one million dollars so that when Lieberman “comes up for re-election, we'll make sure we send him home for good.” Michael Moore demands that Connecticut recall Lieberman and wants to punish Connecticut for electing Lieberman by means of a boycott. MSNBC news commentator Keith Obermann said that Lieberman was “embarrassing humanity.” And the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation has been pressured to sever relationship with Lieberman’s wife, Hadassah.
Is there something else at work here – something other than political opposition? When people oppose President Barack Obama, some of Obama’s supporters are quick to state or imply that the reason for the opposition to Obama is racism. Could one conclude that the reason for the strong opposition to Lieberman is anti-Semitism?
First of all, let’s set aside the lunatic fringe that will always be with us. There is no doubt that there is a small group of people who don’t like Lieberman because he is a Jew – just as there exists a small group of people who don’t like Obama because he is black. Small fringe groups, however outrageous their beliefs, are of little concern; when the group gets large or influential, that’s when it bears watching.
In Lieberman’s case, the left has other reasons to dislike him. In 2006, Lieberman returned from a fact-finding trip to Iraq and declared the war not only winnable but worth fighting. This infuriated the left and, at the Connecticut Democratic state Convention, instead of nominating the incumbent Lieberman, anti-war candidate Ned Lamont was nominated for senator. Lieberman then had the effrontery, in the eyes of the left, to run for senator as an independent against a party-line Democrat – and he won.
In 2008, Lieberman spoke at the Republican National Convention and endorsed Republican John McCain.
While many on the left urge rapprochement with Cuba, Lieberman has remained strongly anti-Castro.
And, while a significant portion of the American left leans toward Palestine in the Israeli-Palestinian controversy, Lieberman is strongly pro-Israel.
So the resentment of Lieberman for opposing the party orthodoxy has been building. Was the Health Care kerfuffle the tipping point? Is it a knee-jerk reaction to dismiss Lieberman detractors as anti-Semites? Let’s explore that notion.
There still is a remnant of anti-Semitism in the United States and some of it by seemingly responsible public figures and politicians who should know better. Former Senator Fritz Hollings (D, SC), for example, implied that President Bush initiated the war on terror in order to appease Jews.
While anti-Semitism in the United States is not at the levels it had been in the 1930s, it still exists. In November 2005, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a Campus Anti-Semitism briefing report (http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/081506campusantibrief07.pdf) that said, “Indeed, anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism flourish on college campuses because of the energetic focus of a determined minority and their willingness to dedicate themselves to this cause.” If that was and is the case, we don’t need to wonder that the attitudes of people who have been subjected to academic precepts of anti-Semitism made to sound intellectual will become anti-Semites themselves.
But according to the Commission, it is a small group of determined activists that foment anti-Semitism on campus. And who is it that leads political groups? Small groups of determined activists.
One of the Commission’s major findings is that “The assault on Jewish nationalism is embedded in the ideology of the left” and that "Anti-Semitic bigotry is no less morally deplorable when camouflaged as anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism." As was pointed out above, Lieberman strongly supports Israel.
Former Soviet dissident and Israeli government official Natan Sharansky stated that “One of the major difficulties in grappling with the new anti-Semitism is the ease with which it can be denied. Unlike in the past, post-modern anti-Semitism no longer exclusively involves such phenomena as violence against the Jews, sporting swastikas and burning synagogues. While these phenomena do indeed exist and are even increasing, especially in Europe, today they form only part of the problem.”
So, is opposition to Lieberman anti-Semitism camouflaged as politics or is it legitimate political opposition? It’s probably both. There is no doubt Lieberman has, overall, a liberal voting record. But liberal-versus-conservative voting records are hard to measure; the big issues for the left over the past year have been the war in Iraq, the presidential election and health care. Lieberman has, at times, opposed the left on all three.
Just as Lieberman has taken principled stands to oppose the left, it is fair to say that many on the left are taking principled stands in opposing Lieberman. Some of that opposition may be anti-Semitism camouflaged in principle and some, when it is expressed with venom and rancor, may not be camouflaged but blatant anti-Semitism.
The conclusion? It’s worrisome.
Link to original...
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Ms. Magazine Features Sex-Friendly Event at Modernist Monastery
Archbishop Sheen once said that, "Dirt is nothing more than matter which is in the wrong place." Someone should apply that maxim to Catholic education in Minnesota. Not only do they have in place a sex education program which they insist which will prevent if not indemnify the Archdiocese from future lawsuits, but they apply other phony policies designed to pay homage to a small segment of concerned laity who cry foul when their parish priest or college hosts things contrary to Catholic teaching.
Archbishop Nienstedt claims that there are specific guidelines against those using Church facillities as speakers who are not harmonious with Church teachings either in their former written works or deeds.
St. John's University, in Collegeville, according to an article in Ms. Magazine, in addition to having some serious allegations against it for being a haven for indecent behavior and heresy has reinforced that reputation recently by hosting a conference about men's role in feminism. Two activist filmmakers Byron Hurt with a "Hip-Hop " approach and Nancy Schwartzman want to create a "sex friendly" approach to rape prevention that deals with issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. The films contain sexually explicit material and surely have no place on the campus of a Catholic institution.
These endless and prurient discussions are guaranteed to titilate and the only thing that they lack for is a justification, for it is impossible to justify this talk which is aimed at further corrupting the students and leading them to perdition.
Archbishop Nienstedt claims that there are specific guidelines against those using Church facillities as speakers who are not harmonious with Church teachings either in their former written works or deeds.
St. John's University, in Collegeville, according to an article in Ms. Magazine, in addition to having some serious allegations against it for being a haven for indecent behavior and heresy has reinforced that reputation recently by hosting a conference about men's role in feminism. Two activist filmmakers Byron Hurt with a "Hip-Hop " approach and Nancy Schwartzman want to create a "sex friendly" approach to rape prevention that deals with issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. The films contain sexually explicit material and surely have no place on the campus of a Catholic institution.
Gender justice filmmakers Byron Hurt (Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes) and Nancy Schwartzman (Where Is Your Line?) were on hand to screen videos about pop culture, sexuality, masculinity and assault. Speakers emphasized accountability, authenticity and continued hard work, and no one could ignore the heat generated by unresolved issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. The second plenary session was interrupted by angry shouts from the floor by men tired of carrying collective guilt for other men’s violence. Several attendees conceded that the movement has yet to figure out constructive ways of grappling with men’s power and their fears in order to work effectively in partnership with women.
These endless and prurient discussions are guaranteed to titilate and the only thing that they lack for is a justification, for it is impossible to justify this talk which is aimed at further corrupting the students and leading them to perdition.
Catholic Hospitals and Church Split over Abortion Coverage
As Catholic Schools don't teach much in the way of Catholicism, so Catholic Hospitals are not very consistent in following Catholic moral teaching with regard to abortion. It's unfortunate enough that liberals, getting it wrong as they often do, fail to understand the issue outside of their quest to justify sexual license and personal "liberty" that the consequences of the normalization of this situation is higher than they understand.
As those who have been following the congressional health care bill know, the Catholic Church has played a significant role, expressing its disapproval mostly over federal funding for coverage of abortion procedures. The Church backed the House's Stupak Amendment, which "bars a new government-run insurance plan from covering abortions, except in cases or rape, incest or the life of the mother being in danger, and prohibits any health plan that receives federal subsidies in a new insurance marketplace from offering abortion coverage," and has expressed dismay at the new compromises over abortion in the Senate (ones which, ironically, pro-choice advocates are not happy with either).
From the New York Times, the new provisions allow "any state to bar the use of federal subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortion and requires insurers in other states to divide subsidy money into separate accounts so that only dollars from private premiums would be used to pay for abortions." This makes it difficult, bureaucratic, and certainly not desirable for insurance companies to cover abortions - but it still does not ban abortion coverage completely.
Link to original...
As those who have been following the congressional health care bill know, the Catholic Church has played a significant role, expressing its disapproval mostly over federal funding for coverage of abortion procedures. The Church backed the House's Stupak Amendment, which "bars a new government-run insurance plan from covering abortions, except in cases or rape, incest or the life of the mother being in danger, and prohibits any health plan that receives federal subsidies in a new insurance marketplace from offering abortion coverage," and has expressed dismay at the new compromises over abortion in the Senate (ones which, ironically, pro-choice advocates are not happy with either).
From the New York Times, the new provisions allow "any state to bar the use of federal subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortion and requires insurers in other states to divide subsidy money into separate accounts so that only dollars from private premiums would be used to pay for abortions." This makes it difficult, bureaucratic, and certainly not desirable for insurance companies to cover abortions - but it still does not ban abortion coverage completely.
Link to original...
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Catholic Hospitals Support Senate Passage of Healthcare Reform
WASHINGTON — In an apparent split with Roman Catholic bishops over the abortion-financing provisions of the proposed health care overhaul, the nation’s Catholic hospitals have signaled that they back the Senate’s compromise on the issue, raising hopes of breaking an impasse in Congress and stirring controversy within the church.
Recent developments on the struggle over health care with background, analysis, timelines and earlier events from NYTimes.com and Google.
The Senate bill, approved Thursday morning, allows any state to bar the use of federal subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortion and requires insurers in other states to divide subsidy money into separate accounts so that only dollars from private premiums would be used to pay for abortions.
Just days before the bill passed, the Catholic Health Association, which represents hundreds of Catholic hospitals across the country, said in a statement that it was “encouraged” and “increasingly confident” that such a compromise “can achieve the objective of no federal funding for abortion.” An umbrella group for nuns followed its lead.
Link to originals...
Recent developments on the struggle over health care with background, analysis, timelines and earlier events from NYTimes.com and Google.
The Senate bill, approved Thursday morning, allows any state to bar the use of federal subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortion and requires insurers in other states to divide subsidy money into separate accounts so that only dollars from private premiums would be used to pay for abortions.
Just days before the bill passed, the Catholic Health Association, which represents hundreds of Catholic hospitals across the country, said in a statement that it was “encouraged” and “increasingly confident” that such a compromise “can achieve the objective of no federal funding for abortion.” An umbrella group for nuns followed its lead.
Link to originals...
Catholics Should Stop Funding Kairos
Editorials
Catholics should stop funding KAIROS
By Fr. Alphonse de Valk
Issue: January 2010
Throughout much of 2009 Canada’s Catholic bishops have been struggling how to handle the controversy with the Canadian Catholic Organization of Development and Peace (CCODP). Readers will recall that the controversy began in March of 2009 when the pro-life news agency LifeSiteNews.com, which issues daily bulletins on the internet of what is happening in The Americas and the rest of the world with respect to the “life” issues (abortion, contraception, bio-ethics, sexual orientation, etc.) came across evidence that a number of foreign partners of CCODP were involved in sometimes anti-life activities.
On enquiry with D&P HQ in Montreal it was discovered that D&P “did not have a policy for or against abortion.” (“The Development and Peace conundrum,” C.I., Sept. 2009, p. 3). In an age where secularism is ruthlessly anti-life and neutrality is an unknown commodity, that meant that D&P was quite comfortable supporting anti-life organizations under the guise of “we don’t know anything about it.”
Link to original...
Catholics should stop funding KAIROS
By Fr. Alphonse de Valk
Issue: January 2010
Throughout much of 2009 Canada’s Catholic bishops have been struggling how to handle the controversy with the Canadian Catholic Organization of Development and Peace (CCODP). Readers will recall that the controversy began in March of 2009 when the pro-life news agency LifeSiteNews.com, which issues daily bulletins on the internet of what is happening in The Americas and the rest of the world with respect to the “life” issues (abortion, contraception, bio-ethics, sexual orientation, etc.) came across evidence that a number of foreign partners of CCODP were involved in sometimes anti-life activities.
On enquiry with D&P HQ in Montreal it was discovered that D&P “did not have a policy for or against abortion.” (“The Development and Peace conundrum,” C.I., Sept. 2009, p. 3). In an age where secularism is ruthlessly anti-life and neutrality is an unknown commodity, that meant that D&P was quite comfortable supporting anti-life organizations under the guise of “we don’t know anything about it.”
Link to original...
Moscow Patriarch: Homosexuality is a Personal Choice
MOSCOW — The head of the Russian Orthodox Church said Wednesday that although the church views homosexuality as a sin, gays should not face discrimination.
Patriarch Kirill said "those who sin" must not be punished and therefore the church opposes any discrimination. Same-sex unions, however, should not be considered equal to heterosexual marriages, he said.
"We accept all the choices a person makes — in terms of their sexuality as well," the patriarch said in comments carried by the state RIA Novosti news agency.
Gay rights advocates argue that homosexuality is not wrong because it is an in-born orientation, but the church insists that it is a choice.
It was unclear to what extent the patriarch was easing church dogma in his carefully chosen statements, made during a meeting with visiting Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.
Opposition to gay rights remains widespread in Russia, where homosexuality was decriminalized only in 1993.
Several high-profile Russian politicians have spoken against gay rights. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov once described gays as "sodomites" and has blamed them for spreading AIDS.
Kirill, who was elected patriarch in January, has been seen as a modernizer and a politically savvy figure, but so far he has made no major statements that would signal a shift in the church's conservative views on homosexuality and abortion.
Link to original...
Patriarch Kirill said "those who sin" must not be punished and therefore the church opposes any discrimination. Same-sex unions, however, should not be considered equal to heterosexual marriages, he said.
"We accept all the choices a person makes — in terms of their sexuality as well," the patriarch said in comments carried by the state RIA Novosti news agency.
Gay rights advocates argue that homosexuality is not wrong because it is an in-born orientation, but the church insists that it is a choice.
It was unclear to what extent the patriarch was easing church dogma in his carefully chosen statements, made during a meeting with visiting Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland.
Opposition to gay rights remains widespread in Russia, where homosexuality was decriminalized only in 1993.
Several high-profile Russian politicians have spoken against gay rights. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov once described gays as "sodomites" and has blamed them for spreading AIDS.
Kirill, who was elected patriarch in January, has been seen as a modernizer and a politically savvy figure, but so far he has made no major statements that would signal a shift in the church's conservative views on homosexuality and abortion.
Link to original...
The Biblical Story of Jesus in Egypt
The Christmas season is almost upon us and is a great opportunity to tell children around the world that the infant Jesus travelled in Egypt and performed his first miracles there, says Jill Kamil
Despite the biblical references to the Holy Family's journey to Egypt: Take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt [Matt: 2:13], and Out of Egypt have I called my son [Matt: 2:15], outside of the Coptic communities around the world, the early years of Jesus are not as widely known as the Nativity, the Passion, and the Resurrection. Is it not time to stage a three-act play in Coptic churches that combines the Nativity with the Flight into Egypt? It should be borne in mind that, apart from Copts in Egypt and the Middle East as a whole, there are more than 500,000 in the United Sates, 100,000 or in Canada, 300,000- odd in Australia, and more than a million residing in Europe, Latin America, Africa and New Zealand.
If the children of Coptic doctors and academics, engineers and businessmen -- and I should mention that Copts in the diaspora have built impressive Coptic Orthodox churches and the bulk are regular church-goers -- took part in or attended such a play, I wager that soon enough the schools that they attended would come to know about the three-act "Christmas Story", and perhaps it would then be enacted in churches of other denominations. What a boost to tourism that would be!
Some years ago an attempt was made by the Ministry of Tourism to promote tours entitled "In the Footsteps of the Holy Family". The first step, which achieved great success, was the restoration of sites and churches associated with the visit of Mary, Jesus and Joseph -- no fewer than 22 throughout the Delta and Upper Egypt. Subsequently, there was sustained effort in promoting the tour on television and video clips. Ultimately, though, it failed. The idea was not sold by travel agents, largely because due consideration had not been given to its feasibility. It was not possible to take tourists to the sites associated with the Holy Family because most of them were too far apart: they span the whole of the Delta as far as Wadi Natrun in the Western Desert, and extend from Cairo and its suburbs to sites in Upper Egypt as far as south in Deir Al-Muharraq, west of Assiut.
Religious tourism is a fixture of both ancient and modern cultures, a constant through the ages, and until today a mainstay of tourism in several areas. It is not possible, however, to promote this product in the same way as Pharaonic monuments are marketed, which is to say as religious buildings rather than a religious experience. What better way than to bolster Coptic Orthodoxy than by actively joining in the celebrations at the end of each year, rather than wait until 7 January, the date of the Coptic Christmas, when the New Year celebrations are over and people are enjoying the post- Christmas shopping sales? Why not take advantage of the pomp and ceremony that surrounds the Western Christmas well in advance of 25 December to relish and promote the tradition so strongly supported in Egypt, of the sojourn of the Holy Family, and extend our celebrations through to 7 January? And why not bring reverence for the past into a tangible present by presenting a three-act play at the right time, when the whole of the Christian world is focussed on the birth of Jesus Christ. The play might run like this:
Act I: The traditional scene of the Nativity with Christ in the manager, the three Wise Men and the shining star, culminating with the entry of Roman soldiers, and with Mary and Joseph gathering up the Child, and fleeing across the barren desert of Sinai into Egypt's fertile Delta.
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Archbishop Twal of Jerusalem: "The Baby Jesus is a Cure for Pride"
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
"While they were [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger." (Luke 2:6-7)
On behalf of the Child of Bethlehem, born in the shelter of a poor cave, and on behalf of many children, like him, born homeless and in refugee camps, I wish to welcome you with the very words the angels spoke to the shepherds: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And this is the token for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger" (Luke 2: 10 to 12). We hope for this to happen again in the today that belongs to God, starting from this city and this cave and the manger towards which we will, in a moment, carry the divine child in procession!
Read full article...
"While they were [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger." (Luke 2:6-7)
On behalf of the Child of Bethlehem, born in the shelter of a poor cave, and on behalf of many children, like him, born homeless and in refugee camps, I wish to welcome you with the very words the angels spoke to the shepherds: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And this is the token for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger" (Luke 2: 10 to 12). We hope for this to happen again in the today that belongs to God, starting from this city and this cave and the manger towards which we will, in a moment, carry the divine child in procession!
Read full article...
Friday, December 25, 2009
Why Aren't American Bishops Resigning?
Ok, we write about this all of the time, we write about the moral and intellectual incapacity of most Bishops to reign their Diocese. They live in an environment of not so benign neglect, and the welcome deaths of the Theologians of the Vatican II generation, notably Fr. Schilebeecx a few days ago, and Fr. Godfry Dieckman OSB, has us thinking about how people compartmentalize things to the point where the emotional attachments exist without any rational justification.
A lot of people would get arrested for practicing surgery without the need or requisite training and certification, but in Theology, you can botch all kinds of souls and no one says anything. Even the state turns a blind eye when professional Clerics, under the seal of the confessional, or in the capacity of mental health care workers, take young people into their conference to guide and shape them in a way completely inconsistent with Catholic teaching. The government even turns a blind eye when these unprincipled charlatans seek to take liberties with their charges, like a priest out of Boccaccio's Daecameron, for illicit and forbidden pleasure.
The Scriptures are astoundingly clear, even where civil justice and modern post-Vatican II theologians with their notions of easy virtue and a debased theological perspective and deliberate liturgical chaos fail. Such men should have a milestone tied around their necks and they should be cast into the sea, but quite often, such men will challenge a seeker of justice and the layman so ill-advised to challenge the prelate or priest on his quest for illicit pleasure, had better have a lot of documentation before the Vatican will be forced to act under the pressure of public opinion to remove a man like Archbishop Weakland, who even today, shakes his self-rightous fist at his accusers and justifies his gay-friendly approach. Perhaps such self-righteous homosexuals, publishing words by which we can hang them legally later, is a great ally? These men are brash, and like individual roaches in a plague of roaches, fearless.
If Scriptures are clear, the history of the Church is quite clear. Homosexuals, the kind who nowadays abuse children, would be sent to the scaffold or the stake after a fair trial by the Inquisition. We favor the restoration of this. The Vatican should, in collaboration with existing governments, send independent fact-finders to investigate abuses and try the guilty in ecclesiastical courts where excommunication will be invoked; then the state can try and convict these monsters and ship them to maximum security prisons where they can enjoy the tender mercies of convict justice.
Anyhow, like Fr. Z, we digress, and we've already mentioned the possibility of American Bishops resigning, of course, they have resigned for some right reasons (+Weakland and +Law), but no one, even most of the Catholic press, is addressing the Bishops' failings with regard to teaching and upholding the Catholic Faith. Many Bishops seem to think that supporting Marxists causes such as CCHD and Catholic Charities will save them and sometimes it isn't enough, but in Cardinal Mahony's case, he seems to lead a charmed life. Will no one rid us of this troublesome priest? No one?
Four Irish bishops have now resigned within weeks of a scathing report that they knowingly sheltered sexual predator priests from the laws of church and state.
The 720-report into abuse cover-ups in Dublin from 1940 to 2004 became public in late November. Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin (shown above), who was brought in after the period dealt with in the report, made it clear that the old ways of protecting priests, not children and teens, were inexcusable.
Two bishops resigned earlier this month. Two more resigned during Christmas Mass, offering apologies to victims and all Dublin's one million Catholics.
Here in the USA, however, only one bishop resigned in acknowledgment of mismanagement.
U.S. Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop of Boston over his role in the clergy sex abuse crisis, prays during a Mass at the St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Sunday, April 10, 2005.
CAPTIONBy Anja Niedringhaus, APCardinal Bernard Law resigned as Archbishop of Boston, where the scandal erupted here in 2002, in the face of demands from his flock and his priests. Two bishops were ousted because they themselves were credibly accused of abuse -- Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee and Anthony O'Connell of Palm Beach, Fla.
But while the abuse crisis on US shores has largely subsided from the headlines, groups such as BishopAccountability.org continue to call for scores of bishops to do more than apologize for mistakes.
They call for individual accounting for all the records of how abusive priests were dealt with and for bishops to face the canonical and legal consequences of their mismanagement, above and beyond apologies.
Link to original...
A lot of people would get arrested for practicing surgery without the need or requisite training and certification, but in Theology, you can botch all kinds of souls and no one says anything. Even the state turns a blind eye when professional Clerics, under the seal of the confessional, or in the capacity of mental health care workers, take young people into their conference to guide and shape them in a way completely inconsistent with Catholic teaching. The government even turns a blind eye when these unprincipled charlatans seek to take liberties with their charges, like a priest out of Boccaccio's Daecameron, for illicit and forbidden pleasure.
The Scriptures are astoundingly clear, even where civil justice and modern post-Vatican II theologians with their notions of easy virtue and a debased theological perspective and deliberate liturgical chaos fail. Such men should have a milestone tied around their necks and they should be cast into the sea, but quite often, such men will challenge a seeker of justice and the layman so ill-advised to challenge the prelate or priest on his quest for illicit pleasure, had better have a lot of documentation before the Vatican will be forced to act under the pressure of public opinion to remove a man like Archbishop Weakland, who even today, shakes his self-rightous fist at his accusers and justifies his gay-friendly approach. Perhaps such self-righteous homosexuals, publishing words by which we can hang them legally later, is a great ally? These men are brash, and like individual roaches in a plague of roaches, fearless.
If Scriptures are clear, the history of the Church is quite clear. Homosexuals, the kind who nowadays abuse children, would be sent to the scaffold or the stake after a fair trial by the Inquisition. We favor the restoration of this. The Vatican should, in collaboration with existing governments, send independent fact-finders to investigate abuses and try the guilty in ecclesiastical courts where excommunication will be invoked; then the state can try and convict these monsters and ship them to maximum security prisons where they can enjoy the tender mercies of convict justice.
Anyhow, like Fr. Z, we digress, and we've already mentioned the possibility of American Bishops resigning, of course, they have resigned for some right reasons (+Weakland and +Law), but no one, even most of the Catholic press, is addressing the Bishops' failings with regard to teaching and upholding the Catholic Faith. Many Bishops seem to think that supporting Marxists causes such as CCHD and Catholic Charities will save them and sometimes it isn't enough, but in Cardinal Mahony's case, he seems to lead a charmed life. Will no one rid us of this troublesome priest? No one?
Four Irish bishops have now resigned within weeks of a scathing report that they knowingly sheltered sexual predator priests from the laws of church and state.
The 720-report into abuse cover-ups in Dublin from 1940 to 2004 became public in late November. Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin (shown above), who was brought in after the period dealt with in the report, made it clear that the old ways of protecting priests, not children and teens, were inexcusable.
Two bishops resigned earlier this month. Two more resigned during Christmas Mass, offering apologies to victims and all Dublin's one million Catholics.
Here in the USA, however, only one bishop resigned in acknowledgment of mismanagement.
U.S. Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop of Boston over his role in the clergy sex abuse crisis, prays during a Mass at the St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Sunday, April 10, 2005.
CAPTIONBy Anja Niedringhaus, APCardinal Bernard Law resigned as Archbishop of Boston, where the scandal erupted here in 2002, in the face of demands from his flock and his priests. Two bishops were ousted because they themselves were credibly accused of abuse -- Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee and Anthony O'Connell of Palm Beach, Fla.
But while the abuse crisis on US shores has largely subsided from the headlines, groups such as BishopAccountability.org continue to call for scores of bishops to do more than apologize for mistakes.
They call for individual accounting for all the records of how abusive priests were dealt with and for bishops to face the canonical and legal consequences of their mismanagement, above and beyond apologies.
Link to original...
Catholic Church in Columbia Wants to Negotiate With FARC
BOGOTA (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic Church official on Friday proposed a meeting in Europe with Colombia's main guerrilla leader to discuss handover of hostages and possible negotiations to end Latin America's oldest insurgency.
World
Previous attempts to bring the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to the table have failed over conditions for the release of the captives it holds in jungle camps and demands that the rebels end hostilities before talks begin.
Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon said the plan to seek talks with the FARC was approved by President Alvaro Uribe, whose U.S.-backed army offensive has battered the guerrilla group to its weakest level in decades.
The proposal for dialogue with FARC commander Alfonso Cano came after Uribe blamed rebels for kidnapping and killing Luis Cuellar, the governor of Caqueta state. He was abducted from his home on Monday and later found with his throat cut, as soldiers pursued the kidnappers.
The kidnapping and murder raised questions about the success of Uribe's campaign against the rebels. Colombia's government has received billions in U.S. aid in its security campaign.
"If there is a dialogue it could be in Europe. The possibility is there. The president agrees with that, as long as it is in the best interests of the country," Castrillon said in an interview with local RCN radio.
He did not give details on where talks could occur.
The FARC has not issued a statement on the kidnapping of Cuellar, the highest-profile attack on a politician during Uribe's presidency. The Colombia leader, however, has ordered his military commanders to try to rescue 24 police and soldiers held by the rebels, some in captivity for more than a decade.
Cano took over the leadership of the rebel group last year after several of its top commanders were killed and its ranks were weakened by a steady flow of desertions due to increasing military pressure.
Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched rebel kidnapping two decades ago, is popular for his security drive which has helped cut back on the kidnapping, bombings and attacks that once made violence endemic in Colombia.
"The government is ready to told talks with these illegal armed groups once they show a real willingness to seek peace," said Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, a presidential spokesman.
Uribe says any dialogue with the FARC must begin with a rebel ceasefire. The FARC has said it wants to handover the 24 hostages for hundreds of jailed fighters.
The rebel group previously has unilaterally released hostages in what it has described as goodwill gestures. Uribe says, while welcomed, those releases are part of FARC attempts to score political points. Rebels had said they planned to free two more hostages soon.
(Writing by Patrick Markey in Bogota; Editing by Paul Simao)
Link to the original...
World
Previous attempts to bring the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, to the table have failed over conditions for the release of the captives it holds in jungle camps and demands that the rebels end hostilities before talks begin.
Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon said the plan to seek talks with the FARC was approved by President Alvaro Uribe, whose U.S.-backed army offensive has battered the guerrilla group to its weakest level in decades.
The proposal for dialogue with FARC commander Alfonso Cano came after Uribe blamed rebels for kidnapping and killing Luis Cuellar, the governor of Caqueta state. He was abducted from his home on Monday and later found with his throat cut, as soldiers pursued the kidnappers.
The kidnapping and murder raised questions about the success of Uribe's campaign against the rebels. Colombia's government has received billions in U.S. aid in its security campaign.
"If there is a dialogue it could be in Europe. The possibility is there. The president agrees with that, as long as it is in the best interests of the country," Castrillon said in an interview with local RCN radio.
He did not give details on where talks could occur.
The FARC has not issued a statement on the kidnapping of Cuellar, the highest-profile attack on a politician during Uribe's presidency. The Colombia leader, however, has ordered his military commanders to try to rescue 24 police and soldiers held by the rebels, some in captivity for more than a decade.
Cano took over the leadership of the rebel group last year after several of its top commanders were killed and its ranks were weakened by a steady flow of desertions due to increasing military pressure.
Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched rebel kidnapping two decades ago, is popular for his security drive which has helped cut back on the kidnapping, bombings and attacks that once made violence endemic in Colombia.
"The government is ready to told talks with these illegal armed groups once they show a real willingness to seek peace," said Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, a presidential spokesman.
Uribe says any dialogue with the FARC must begin with a rebel ceasefire. The FARC has said it wants to handover the 24 hostages for hundreds of jailed fighters.
The rebel group previously has unilaterally released hostages in what it has described as goodwill gestures. Uribe says, while welcomed, those releases are part of FARC attempts to score political points. Rebels had said they planned to free two more hostages soon.
(Writing by Patrick Markey in Bogota; Editing by Paul Simao)
Link to the original...
Two More Irish Bishops Resign: Irish Cathedral Burns
Reuters
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Two more Irish bishops have said they will offer their resignations to the Pope, bringing the total number of church leaders to quit after a damning report into child sex abuse by priests to four.
World
Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, the only two serving auxiliary (assistant) bishops in the archdiocese of Dublin, said they had informed Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of their decision.
"It is our hope that our action may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus Christ to the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse. We again apologize to them," they said in a statement released late on Thursday.
Like Bishop Jim Moriarty who resigned on Wednesday, both bishops had said the report had shown that they had done nothing wrong.
Moriarty admitted that he should have challenged the "prevailing culture" that allowed criminal acts against children to take place.
Last week Bishop Donal Murray became the first bishop to quit since the publication of the report, which said Church leaders in overwhelmingly Catholic Ireland had covered up widespread sexual abuse of children by priests for 30 years.
The report, issued on November 26, said the archdiocese had been more preoccupied with protecting the Church's reputation than safeguarding children and had "obsessively" hidden child abuse from 1974 to 2004.
Walsh has served as an auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese of Dublin since 1990. Field took up his post in Dublin in 1997.
Link to original...
Related:
Irish Cathedral Burned.
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Two more Irish bishops have said they will offer their resignations to the Pope, bringing the total number of church leaders to quit after a damning report into child sex abuse by priests to four.
World
Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, the only two serving auxiliary (assistant) bishops in the archdiocese of Dublin, said they had informed Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of their decision.
"It is our hope that our action may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus Christ to the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse. We again apologize to them," they said in a statement released late on Thursday.
Like Bishop Jim Moriarty who resigned on Wednesday, both bishops had said the report had shown that they had done nothing wrong.
Moriarty admitted that he should have challenged the "prevailing culture" that allowed criminal acts against children to take place.
Last week Bishop Donal Murray became the first bishop to quit since the publication of the report, which said Church leaders in overwhelmingly Catholic Ireland had covered up widespread sexual abuse of children by priests for 30 years.
The report, issued on November 26, said the archdiocese had been more preoccupied with protecting the Church's reputation than safeguarding children and had "obsessively" hidden child abuse from 1974 to 2004.
Walsh has served as an auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese of Dublin since 1990. Field took up his post in Dublin in 1997.
Link to original...
Related:
Irish Cathedral Burned.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
FBI Says Catholics Susceptible to Hate Crimes
Hate Crimes schmate crimes. It's bad law. We should abuse it and run it into the ground. Does anyone know if it would be a good idea to start up a Catholic advocacy and civil rights organization to exploit this bad law and make a lot of cash?
By Carol Zimmermann
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- According to a recent FBI report, religious groups are not exempt from being targets of hatred.
The FBI's report on hate crime statistics for 2008, released in late November, showed that the majority of hate crimes in the U.S. were motivated by racial bias but that religious groups and homosexuals were the next largest targets.
The overall number of reported hate crimes -- more than 7,700 -- increased about 2 percent in 2008. Although racially motivated hate crimes -- the largest category -- decreased by less than 1 percent, crimes against religious groups increased by 9 percent and crimes based on sexual orientation increased 11 percent over the previous year.
Hate crimes include acts of vandalism or property damage, intimidation or physical attacks. The FBI downplays year-to-year comparisons of hate crimes compiled since 1992, saying the increased figures could simply be the result of more local agencies tracking crimes. Civil and human rights groups say the figures are not accurate enough because not all hate crimes are reported.
Thomas Perez, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, told reporters Dec. 17 that he was committed to putting a stop to violence stemming from hatred and bias and planned to hire 100 additional staffers to assist with the expanded federal hate crime laws.
In documented crimes against religious groups in 2008, Jews were targeted the most -- 66 percent -- while Muslims accounted for 13 percent and Catholics were victims of 5 percent of hate crimes.
The Anti-Defamation League said the new figures show a need for a national initiative to combat hate crimes.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told USA Today that attacks on Catholics could be motivated by the church's opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. As Catholics become more vocal on issues, he said, they become targets for those who disagree with them.
The sense of a growing anti-Catholic sentiment was the focus of an Oct. 29 blog entry by New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan. The entry was an expanded version of an op-ed he submitted to The New York Times that was not published.
In the entry, the archbishop likened anti-Catholicism to "a national pastime," citing frequent examples of anti-Catholic bias in the pages of The New York Times. He also said the bias was prevalent in the "so-called entertainment media."
Laurie Goodstein, one of the reporters singled out in the archbishop's blog, responded by saying she was disturbed to read his characterization that her work and that of her colleagues was anti-Catholic.
Read further...
"Goldblog" Tells it Like it is
Jewish blogger, Jeff Goldberg at "Goldblog" expresses frustration with the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Who can blame him? Simon Wiesenthal was a huge charlatan and a fraud. There are all kinds of Nazis in the Vienna phonebook, but Simon never went after them.
One wonders if all of the whining won't, as Jeff observes, undermine the cause of Jewish security rather than help in the long run?
We'd like to thank Jeff for his sanity and good will, finally, someone gets it. Jews have no more business harping about Vatican Canonizations than Catholics have lecturing Jewish leaders about how they run their internal affairs.
He writes:
Put me down as both unshocked and uninterested. I don't particularly care who the Catholic church elevates to sainthood, because I'm not Catholic. It's not my business who the Catholics decide to call saint. The Catholic Church today is respectful of Jews and Israel; it also adores its former Popes. I don't see a contradiction. I'm not sure why I'm so unmoved by these Jewish protests -- maybe because I think Jews should keep their powder dry for actual problems. Or maybe because excessive whining is just so damn annoying.
Wiesenthal Center "Shocked" by Vatican; Goldblog Unshocked
Wiesenthal Center "Shocked" by Vatican; Goldblog Unshocked: "From the AFP:The founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center voiced dismay and disappointment Monday at weekend Vatican moves to raise controversial wartime pope Pius XII to sainthood.The Vatican sparked anger in Jewish communities worldwide with moves to nudge Pius --..."
Speaking of professional whiners... another Liberal blog attacks Bill Donahue who engages the media on behalf of the Catholic Church, not only winning scattered approval from elderly Catholics who send him money, enough to fund a $15 Million dollar a year non-profit, but allows him a broad platform to potentially discredit and undermine the thing he claims to be saving. In our opinion, he shouldn't be allowed to talk about rancorous sexual topics on television. He seems to us no more credible than Simon Wiesenthal or the 700 Club, but because he gets face time and fits a certain image, he'll continue speaking for the Church though he has no official position and receives hearty endorsements from Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles.
Vatican Sends Anti-Communist Message with Canonizations
Lifesite
By Hilary White
ROME, December 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican has sent the world a message of Catholicism's fundamental opposition to communism with the announcement this weekend from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Three of the greatest twentieth century opponents to the communist and socialist ideologies, Pope John Paul II, Pope Pius XII and the Polish Solidarity priest Jerzy Popieluszko, all moved a step closer to canonisation. The two popes were declared "venerable" for their heroic virtues and the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had approved the decree of beatification for Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, the "Solidarity chaplain" murdered by the communist secret police.
In his lengthy biography, "Witness to Hope", American author George Weigel credits Pope John Paul with instrumental behind-the-scenes work in bringing down the communist regime in Eastern Europe. According to Weigel, John Paul, a Polish nationalist, was the third leg of an international triumvirate of world leaders - with US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - who gave moral authority to the economic and political pressure that finally led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Following the shooting of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Piazza in May 1981, it was widely speculated that the assassination attempt had been ordered by Moscow in retaliation for the pope's support for the Polish Solidarity movement. In March 2006 an Italian parliamentary commission concluded "beyond any reasonable doubt that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla."
Pius XII, from the beginning of his pontificate in 1939 to his death in 1958, was implacably opposed to communism which was brutally persecuting Catholics throughout Eastern Europe. In July 1949, he formally excommunicated all members of the communist party and anyone who aided or abetted it. He forbade Catholics, on pain of excommunication, to write, publish, distribute or read books, periodicals, paper or pamphlets promoting communist doctrines. His 1951 letter to the Catholic Church of Czechoslovakia denounced the Communist regime for its vicious persecution.
Link to original...
By Hilary White
ROME, December 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican has sent the world a message of Catholicism's fundamental opposition to communism with the announcement this weekend from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Three of the greatest twentieth century opponents to the communist and socialist ideologies, Pope John Paul II, Pope Pius XII and the Polish Solidarity priest Jerzy Popieluszko, all moved a step closer to canonisation. The two popes were declared "venerable" for their heroic virtues and the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had approved the decree of beatification for Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, the "Solidarity chaplain" murdered by the communist secret police.
In his lengthy biography, "Witness to Hope", American author George Weigel credits Pope John Paul with instrumental behind-the-scenes work in bringing down the communist regime in Eastern Europe. According to Weigel, John Paul, a Polish nationalist, was the third leg of an international triumvirate of world leaders - with US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - who gave moral authority to the economic and political pressure that finally led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Following the shooting of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Piazza in May 1981, it was widely speculated that the assassination attempt had been ordered by Moscow in retaliation for the pope's support for the Polish Solidarity movement. In March 2006 an Italian parliamentary commission concluded "beyond any reasonable doubt that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla."
Pius XII, from the beginning of his pontificate in 1939 to his death in 1958, was implacably opposed to communism which was brutally persecuting Catholics throughout Eastern Europe. In July 1949, he formally excommunicated all members of the communist party and anyone who aided or abetted it. He forbade Catholics, on pain of excommunication, to write, publish, distribute or read books, periodicals, paper or pamphlets promoting communist doctrines. His 1951 letter to the Catholic Church of Czechoslovakia denounced the Communist regime for its vicious persecution.
Link to original...
Pope Attacked at Midnight Mass
Pope Benedict XVI was attacked during Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. A woman is said to have attacked the Pope as he walked towards the altar.
Immediate reports are that the Pope was unharmed and went on to start the mass.
MSNBC reports that the woman jumped over a barrier and was able to knock down the pope. Pope Benedict's security guards helped the pontiff back to his feet.
Early reports from the Daily Mail Online say that the woman was mentally unstable. She has since been arrested by Vatican Police.
The woman also knocked over Cardinal Roger Etchegaray. The cardinal was taken to hospital.
The mass had been moved to an earlier time so that the Pope, 82, would not get exhausted.
Link to original...
Immediate reports are that the Pope was unharmed and went on to start the mass.
MSNBC reports that the woman jumped over a barrier and was able to knock down the pope. Pope Benedict's security guards helped the pontiff back to his feet.
Early reports from the Daily Mail Online say that the woman was mentally unstable. She has since been arrested by Vatican Police.
The woman also knocked over Cardinal Roger Etchegaray. The cardinal was taken to hospital.
The mass had been moved to an earlier time so that the Pope, 82, would not get exhausted.
Link to original...
Wave of Clergy Killings in Russia
Voice of America
The second murder of a Russian priest in as many months has prompted a call by the Orthodox Church for Russians to think about their country's spiritual and moral condition. The killings follow more violence this year directed against Muslim clerics in Russia's troubled Caucasus region.
Tuesday's shooting death of 39-year-old priest Alexander Filippov is alleged to be the act of two intoxicated men in the village of Satino-Russkoye near Moscow. His widow is quoted as saying Filippov had reproached the suspects for relieving themselves at the entrance of their apartment building.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, called Filippov a bright and clean-living individual who leaves behind three daughters.
Kirill says the priest was killed because he was not indifferent to disgusting human behavior and took a principled stand against it in accordance with his calling.
The Interfax News Agency says a total of 26 Orthodox priests have been murdered in Russia since 1990. Many others have been assaulted. They include Vitaly Zubkov, who was kicked and beaten last month, just days after the murder of his friend, Father Daniil Sysoyev in Moscow. Sysoyev had received death threats for his outspoken criticism of Islam and attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity.
News reports quote Orthodox Church Spokesman Vladimir Legoida as saying that recent events show Russians must think of the spiritual and moral situation they live in.
The head of the Religion and Law Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Roman Lunkin, told VOA many Russians call themselves Orthodox Christians but have no idea about the obligations required by organized religion. He says Russian spiritual leaders themselves often set the wrong example by mixing church-state relations.
Lunkin says church leaders send a signal that to call oneself an Orthodox, it is enough to maintain close ties with the state or government officials and to participate in official ceremonies. He says this reveals an absence of true faith, adding that priests often begin with the construction of a church building, instead of first organizing a community of believers.
Lunkin says communism stripped many Russians of religious faith, and with it any respect for priests and churches.
Lunkin recalls an incident several years ago when a priest began building a church in the Ivanovo region north of Moscow and arrived one morning to find that local residents had dismantled the structure for its bricks because there was no organized community in that village and no one knew what Orthodoxy was. He adds that local hooligans who killed the priest considered themselves to be Orthodox.
Russia's Islamic community has also been rocked this year by several high-profile killings of Muslim clerics in the Caucasus. They include Akhmed Tagayev, deputy mufti of Dagestan, and Ismail Bostanov, rector of the Islamic Institute in the southern Karachai-Cherkessia region.
Some observers link those murders to Islamic militants who are fighting pro-Kremlin authorities. The deputy head of Russia's Mufti Council, Damir Khazrat Gizatullin rejects any connection. He told VOA he attributes the violence to incivility throughout Russia stemming from 70 years of communist rule.
Gizatullin says people in Russia do not know how to listen to one another, to give others the right away on the road, or to understand the foundations of spirituality and religion. This, he concludes, leads to current situation, which follows 70 years of alienation from the spiritual roots and traditions of Russia. He says people now fail to realize that members of the clergy and all others are protected by the Almighty and by the law.
He says Communists also made the mistake of focusing on the construction of buildings at the expense of community.
Gizatullin says Soviet authorities wanted to construct more living space for people, but toilets and other communal structures were forgotten. He says there was no time, no energy, and no resources for such things, and now Russia is reaping those elements of Soviet life.
Murders of prominent Russians are not limited to the clergy. Investigative journalists and political activists have also been victims. Most of the killers remain at large.
Link to original...
The second murder of a Russian priest in as many months has prompted a call by the Orthodox Church for Russians to think about their country's spiritual and moral condition. The killings follow more violence this year directed against Muslim clerics in Russia's troubled Caucasus region.
Tuesday's shooting death of 39-year-old priest Alexander Filippov is alleged to be the act of two intoxicated men in the village of Satino-Russkoye near Moscow. His widow is quoted as saying Filippov had reproached the suspects for relieving themselves at the entrance of their apartment building.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, called Filippov a bright and clean-living individual who leaves behind three daughters.
Kirill says the priest was killed because he was not indifferent to disgusting human behavior and took a principled stand against it in accordance with his calling.
The Interfax News Agency says a total of 26 Orthodox priests have been murdered in Russia since 1990. Many others have been assaulted. They include Vitaly Zubkov, who was kicked and beaten last month, just days after the murder of his friend, Father Daniil Sysoyev in Moscow. Sysoyev had received death threats for his outspoken criticism of Islam and attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity.
News reports quote Orthodox Church Spokesman Vladimir Legoida as saying that recent events show Russians must think of the spiritual and moral situation they live in.
The head of the Religion and Law Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Roman Lunkin, told VOA many Russians call themselves Orthodox Christians but have no idea about the obligations required by organized religion. He says Russian spiritual leaders themselves often set the wrong example by mixing church-state relations.
Lunkin says church leaders send a signal that to call oneself an Orthodox, it is enough to maintain close ties with the state or government officials and to participate in official ceremonies. He says this reveals an absence of true faith, adding that priests often begin with the construction of a church building, instead of first organizing a community of believers.
Lunkin says communism stripped many Russians of religious faith, and with it any respect for priests and churches.
Lunkin recalls an incident several years ago when a priest began building a church in the Ivanovo region north of Moscow and arrived one morning to find that local residents had dismantled the structure for its bricks because there was no organized community in that village and no one knew what Orthodoxy was. He adds that local hooligans who killed the priest considered themselves to be Orthodox.
Russia's Islamic community has also been rocked this year by several high-profile killings of Muslim clerics in the Caucasus. They include Akhmed Tagayev, deputy mufti of Dagestan, and Ismail Bostanov, rector of the Islamic Institute in the southern Karachai-Cherkessia region.
Some observers link those murders to Islamic militants who are fighting pro-Kremlin authorities. The deputy head of Russia's Mufti Council, Damir Khazrat Gizatullin rejects any connection. He told VOA he attributes the violence to incivility throughout Russia stemming from 70 years of communist rule.
Gizatullin says people in Russia do not know how to listen to one another, to give others the right away on the road, or to understand the foundations of spirituality and religion. This, he concludes, leads to current situation, which follows 70 years of alienation from the spiritual roots and traditions of Russia. He says people now fail to realize that members of the clergy and all others are protected by the Almighty and by the law.
He says Communists also made the mistake of focusing on the construction of buildings at the expense of community.
Gizatullin says Soviet authorities wanted to construct more living space for people, but toilets and other communal structures were forgotten. He says there was no time, no energy, and no resources for such things, and now Russia is reaping those elements of Soviet life.
Murders of prominent Russians are not limited to the clergy. Investigative journalists and political activists have also been victims. Most of the killers remain at large.
Link to original...
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