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All Catholic commentary from May 2004
the lust to kill
To veteran pro-lifers, the name of Dr. Kenneth Edelin brings a shudder similar to that of Dr. Josef Mengele, as the medical careers of both men serve as milestones on the slippery slope of human degradation. An ALL account gives a thumbnail of Edelin's place in the history of health care. On...
non serviam
BISHOP SAYS HE WON'T SERVE COMMUNION TO N.J. GOVERNOR Thus the AP headlines a story on Bishop Galante of Camden and New Jersey's pro-abort governor James McGreevey. To speak of "serving" Communion betrays ignorance of Catholic teaching, obviously, but the mistake is a telling one. It...
Please be a Catholic, Father.
A valuable Zenit interview with psychiatrist Dr. Rick Fitzgibbons discusses questions of seminary screening and reparative therapy for homosexual candidates for ordination, and ends with this question. Zenit: In view of the John Jay report what do you think the Catholic laity can do?...
Ignore the Pope, Jesuit advises
Pope John Paul recently insisted that people in a comatose state have a right to food and water, and that it is wicked to starve them or let them die of thirst. Boston College ethicist John Paris, S.J., thinks the old boy has a hang-up about human dignity. But Father John Paris, Walsh...
SHUCKS. GUESS THIS MAKES THEM 'HISTORY.'
Anne Burke and three other members are resigning from the bishops' National Review Board, the group charged with reviewing the Church's sex abuse crisis and its response. "We are a start-up board on a project that has never been done before," Chiles said. "The resignations are moving us out...
point
From the laptop of an atheist libertarian: I do find it curious, though, that someone who wishes to forbid abortions is deemed to be "imposing his beliefs" on the rest of us, but that someone who taxes us to pay for somebody else's abortions is never accused of it. (Thanks to Kathy Shaidle...
The companion cometh
Father Richard John Neuhaus, in 'The Public Square' of FIRST THINGS, May 2004 (not yet online), notes appreciatively signs that the eschaton is, literally, right around the corner -- from his NYC office. It is no little thing when one Sunday's church bulletin can reflect the innumerable wonders...
Dupre in the Dock
The Feds, it seems, aren't completely sold on Bishop Gregory's assurance that "It's history." Prosecutors are beginning to connect the dots between Springfield ex-Bishop Dupre's keeping mum about his own deviant sexual assault and his keeping mum about the deviant sexual assaults of his priests...
Good news for the Bush campaign
Cardinal McCarrick says that the US bishops are not engaged in a conspiracy to ensure re-election for President Bush. What you heard from the White House was a sigh of relief. With friends like...
The May issue of Catholic World Report is out!
The May issue of Catholic World Report is now on newsstands and here's what you'll find inside:"My Baby!": A crisis-pregnancy center in Massachusetts reports that ultrasound examinations can play an enormous role in turning women against abortion. A carefully documented study of that influence...
Dress Code
Which pre-Conciliar crypto-Jansenist is so hung-up on the modesty issue as to impose the following restrictions on the assembly? No mini skirts No Short shorts No halter tops or tops with spaghetti straps No tank tops or muscle shirts No improper printing or pictures No bare feet For...
Memo to US bishops, I
Seven US military officers have been given severe reprimands-- effectively ending their careers-- because of the scandal arising from abuse of prisoners in Iraq. "They did not know or participate in any crimes," a senior American officer in Baghdad said of the officers who received the...
Memo to US bishops, II
In other headline news, today, a once-powerful Wall Street figure faces up to 2 years in jail after his conviction on charges of covering up criminal activities by his subordinates. This is a big story, because: 1) Frank Quattrone was convicted because he authorized an email message asking...
The peasants of Autun
Priests, C.S. Lewis wrote somewhere, are those men whom we set apart to minister to us as people who will live forever -- forever, that is, in heaven or in hell. The sole reason for the existence of the clergy is to aid us in avoiding damnation and in attaining heaven. Often priestly work will...
"...but I AM keeping my voice down!"
Doc Greeley gets in a lather about the Kerry Kommunion Kapers in the Daily News and misses his exit on the Dan Ryan: ...some bishops have doubts about permitting women to participate in the washing of feet during the Holy Thursday services. These men will tolerate women distributing Communion...
Judgment Day
New Hampshire priest Fr. Joseph T. Maguire abused no fewer than ten boys over a 30-year period. "I'm not sure where you're going in your next life, sir, but your track record here isn't going to help you," Fauver told Maguire. Without knowing anything further of the characters or the...
Can You Be Humble About Your Liturgical Preference?
What is the proper attitude of Catholics toward the liturgy and liturgical norms? This is a subject on which passions frequently run high, and our web site reviews must take the proper attitude into account when evaluating sites which deal with liturgical issues. Salvation through...
How soon they forget
Looks like there's a papal nuncio who needs recalling to Rome. Archbishop Manuel Monteiro de Castro, the nuncio to Spain, gave a speech to the country's bishops in which he said that, while we shouldn't call gay unions marriages, the state should grant them certain civil rights. Excuse me, Your...
virgins & martyrs
Here's what the plaintiff alleges: Belleville priest Raymond Kownacki convinced the (admittedly dim) parents of a 15-year old girl to let her live with him in his rectory on the grounds that she'd have better educational opportunities in his town. He abused her sexually while she kept house for...
Someone else noticed
A Wall Street Journal editorial today points out that the US Army-- not the media-- uncovered the abuse of prisoners in Iraq. The editorial is worth reading for its own sake, but for our purposes, notice the first phrase in this sentence: Unlike the Catholic bishops, some corporate boards and...
the schism business
The NYT's Laurie Goodstein has an interesting article on a pending divorce in the Methodists: Frustrated by years of rancor between the left and the right in the United Methodist Church, conservative members proposed Thursday that the denomination dissolve itself and split into separate...
OUCH!!!
Long before dawn, the deed was done; pausing at the open window, one leg over the sill, Diogenes looked back with satisfaction on the shadows of the dark staff lounge of the American Life League. 'They'll enjoy their coffee this morning," he chuckled grimly as he nimbly swung over the sill and...
Preventive measures
Have you ever been tempted to put a Band-Aid on your finger, so that you'll be sure you don't get a cut? No? Then maybe you can't help me understand all the news stories--here's just one of many examples--suggesting that the "morning-after pill" could prevent unwanted pregnancies. A...
IN THE MIRROR WE SEE... OURSELVES
Kudos to David Morrison, whose blog "Sed Contra" has this excellent reflection on the horrific abuse of the Iraqi prisoners....
Girl Talk
Remember the lovable, tender side of Adolf Eichmann -- e.g., when he wrote Heydrich after the Wannsee Conference asking for the recipe for Rice Krispie Marshmallow Treats? Maybe it wasn't Heydrich. At any rate, Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice interviews Kate Michelman of the...
juggling the buggery bill
The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles reports on a real estate transaction. Funds from the sale of the property housing St. John's Seminary College in Camarillo will be used for the Endowment of the Seminary Theologate, in accordance with the vision and mandate of pioneer landowner...
a wholly imaginary cell-phone intercept
[Client]: Hello. Hello? This is the archbishop. Hello? Who's speaking, please? [N/A]: You wouldn't remember my name. We met back in '77. At Fire Island. [Client]: You're mistaken. I've never been to Fire Island. [N/A]: Oh yes you have. Remember that tall Irish bus-boy at Entre...
cruelty caught on film
Touching the debate among pro-lifers about the screening in the U.K. of a filmed suction abortion, my files turned up the following remarks by Pope John Paul II, part of an address given in Radom, Poland, June 4, 1991 (from L'Osservatore Romano 6-17-1991): Vast areas of our continent became the...
His own special Communion
This week's Kerry Kommunion Kaper: John Kerry "took" Communion on Sunday in a Pittsburgh Catholic church. (N.B. One doesn't "take" Communion. One "receives" it. To take implies that one has a right to it. To receive implies a gift, which is what the Eucharist is. Loose language gives a glimpse...
Matthew 18:15-17 (corrected)
If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And...
IF I HAD A TOMATO...
I'd know what to do with...
Don't try this at home, boys and girls!
Remember those "What's Wrong With This Picture?" puzzles you used to find in chldren's magazines? Well here's a clever and innovative bit of pedagogy from the Religion Education Congress held in Los Angeles last February. In order to instruct youth on the proper celebration of the Eucharist,...
hush, hush
A Philadelphia columnist thinks bishops should keep mum on pro-abort pols. When you've dug yourself into a hole, the first rule is stop digging. The church not only hasn't stopped digging, it's brought in a steam shovel.The church is in ongoing crisis over the way it handled -- actually, the...
strange allies
Jim Post, the head of Voice of the Faithful, has scolded Boston's Archbishop Sean O'Malley for opposing same-sex "marriage." "We look with dismay at bishops who openly criticize the homosexual community and criticize gay rights," says Post. You can read the whole story in the Boston Globe...
Think Twice Before Burning Your Censer Before the Lord
Priests have taken a big hit over the past couple of years, as if they didn’t have enough problems before that. For the past generation, they’ve faced a continuous redefinition (and watering down) of their role under the pressure of the prevailing culture, both outside and inside the Church, which...
decisions, decisions...
Let's see, a school nurse in Britain must phone for parents' permission to give a child an aspirin, but ... A girl aged 14 was sent to hospital for an abortion without the knowledge of her mother, on the advice of a health visitor at her school. The mother only learned of her daughter's...
a harvest of pain
ECUSA primate Frank Griswold affects to be wounded by the hesitations of refractory conservatives regarding the Gay Anschluss, but Gregory Venables, who has some brass in his pants, isn't buying it (thanks to Lane Core for the cite): You speak with clarity about your grief over the pain your...
what, me worry?
Anybody remember Archbishop Rembert "Dream a Little Dream of Me" Weakland, the Apostle to Nantucket? He's spending his retirement reflecting on how much the Church has yet to learn from the modern world, and has modestly consented to share his wisdom with the wider ecclesial community....
Partial Recognition -- or, "We are no longer at the position of Leo XIII"
Episcopal Bishop Otis Charles, formerly married to a woman and the father of five children, ties the knot with his companion Felipe Sanchez Paris in San Francisco (via Jeff Miller): Meanwhile, ecumenical innovation goes forward apace: [Cardinal Walter
Decisive
After almost two years of detailed study, several members of the National Review Board have concluded that the US bishops aren't acting decisively to end the sex-abuse scandal. Oh, wait; there's even more. Some Board members feel that the bishops are more interesting in covering up than in...
peace is flowing like a river
For a sobering view of the prospects of "conflict resolution" in the Middle East, take a glance at this Al-Jazeera interview with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad posted at...
the dangers of disruption
If you glance at the program of the Religious Education 2004 Congress over which Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony presided, you'll find a virtual strip mall of boutique Eucharistic offerings. There's a Hawaiian-theme liturgy and a Hispanic-theme liturgy and a Nigerian-theme liturgy and a...
bad day at black rock
Now this is worrisome. Massachusetts's Supreme Judicial Court, the folks who gave you the green light on gay marriage, has now decided by the same 4-3 margin that the New England Jesuits must turn over confidential records concerning a priest accused of sexual abuse of high school...
THEY DID THIS TO THEMSELVES
Associated Press is reporting that Leon Pannetta, who was appointed by the leadership of the Bishops' Conference to the National Review Board, is interested in taking things quite a bit further. "SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - The Roman Catholic Church should be subject to scrutiny that goes...
here to stay
John Derbyshire spoils Andrew Sullivan's weekend....
bishops in the eyes of bishops
Msgr. Ronald Knox's brother Wilfred (himself an Anglican priest) once proposed a Christian ethics in two volumes, the first volume to be titled Respect for the Clergy, the second, simply, Other Virtues. Knox's tongue-in-cheek proposal showed, in a characteristically English way, how lightly...
interfaith note
Hmm. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles Religious Education Congress suddenly seems a bit more mainstream, now that I have found out about snot from the nose of the Great Buddha. Now, of course, Diogenes will rise to the challenge and immediately post a photo of Cardinal Mahony blessing the...
the good of the whole
In protest over the appointment of an openly gay man as Dean of St. Alban's, an Anglican parish in north London is withholding its pro-rata contribution to the general diocesan fund and will divert a portion of the amount to an organization that supports reparative therapy for homosexuals. The...
the zen of communing
Bishop Sklba begs to announce that he doesn't have this communion thing figured out and invites us to share his...
A tiring swimmer reflects on the Flood -- and the Ark.
The unfailingly articulate Anglican at Pontifications has some lucid observations on the future of Protestant Christianity: I believe that classical Reformation Protestantism is doomed -- doomed because it is structurally incapable of saying No to secularism, heresy, and unbelief, except by...
futilities
A friend remarked, à propos of the John Derbyshire column linked below, that the very word by which they choose to identify themselves underscores the fact that gays are constitutionally frivolous. He went on to say that no one could take a person's homosexuality seriously, unless it was...
unclear on the concept
In the Globe. Cambridge police received reports yesterday that several white supremacist groups planned protests in the area, and officials beefed up patrols. White...
Choice: the Triumph of the Will
Writing in the LA Times, über-feminist Barbara Ehrenreich admits that the role of women at Abu Ghraib taught her she had oversimplified her biology. But it's not just the theory of this naive feminism that was wrong. So was its strategy and vision for change. That strategy and vision rested on...
unclear on the concept, II
Go to the online version of today's Boston Globe, scroll down a bit, and you'll see a photo of a lesbian couple kissing, in a large room absolutely packed with cheering supporters, TV cameras, reporters, and (obviously) newspaper photographers. The caption says they are enjoying a "private...
bl*ckm**l -- what bl*ckm**l?
Boston's good Father John had a sweet tooth for the laddies that provoked complaints from the breeders over the years. So why was he still serving? "They involved allegations from adults," archdiocese spokesman the Rev. Christopher Coyne said, explaining why McLaughlin had not been removed....
LOGJAM KICKED LOOSE
At a meeting in Chicago on Monday, a committee of the bishops and the National Review Board reportedly agreed on a framework for continued audits of the dioceses to insure their vigilance in protecting children from child abuse. Justice Anne Burke pronounces herself 'very happy' that this...
Successors of the Apostles - PG 13
Bishops and archbishops from across the nation called emergency press conferences yesterday and joined their priests in denouncing Massachusetts's same-sex marriage inauguration and rallying the faithful to resist and oppose similar measures with every means at their disposal. OK, maybe they...
overheard in boston
"... so this guy from Santo Domingo or someplace comes up to Jimmie and says, 'I'm not a U.S. citizen and I want unemployment comp. There's $2,500 and a used Nissan in it for you if you marry me.' Now Jimmie's always been in-your-face about his sex life and he says, 'Tell you what. Make it...
Healing & Forgiveness: a Primer
Object lesson A priest convicted of public indecency last year is returning to the ministry next week, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati announced today. ... Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk reaffirmed that the church demands and that he expects priests to live in celibate chastity. However, he...
Coals to Newcastle
According to the Washington Post, 48 Democratic congressmen wrote Cardinal McCarrick warning him that withholding Communion from politicians who support abortion rights will increase anti-Catholic bigotry. In case you were wondering, the Post mentions that the signers "include at least three...
Catholics and their political responsibilities
Women for Faith & Family has put together an excellent resource that brings together in one place everything that Pope John Paul, the Vatican curia, the USCCB, and individual bishops have said on Catholics and their political responsibilities. A very good reference, especially for those who are...
eagerly awaiting your reply ...
John Allen's story on Pilarczyk has been bouncing around the mailboxes for a week. An American archbishop from a key "battleground state" has entered the flap over John Kerry and Communion, saying that for now he would "give him the benefit of the doubt" and not deny the pro-choice Democratic...
the other victims
Two recent articles (here, and here) on the sordid history of former Palm Beach Bishop Anthony O'Connell discuss his abuse of students while a seminary instructor, rector, and spiritual director, and foreground some under-emphasized aspects of the Crisis. Though it appears O'Connell used charm...
Prescient
Can Leila predict the future, or...
meet me half way
When the Church urges that the lives of the guilty be spared, she's prophetic. When she urges that the lives of innocent be spared, she's partisan. Anna Q explains it all for you. It was nearly 25 years ago that Robert Drinan, a member of Congress and an outspoken Jesuit (a redundancy if...
Apologetics: First of All, I’d Like to Thank Myself
It is not uncommon for athletes to give credit to God and thank their mothers and fathers when complimented on their abilities. Most of us don’t remember to do this most of the time. When I think of my own abilities, for example, I am always painfully reminded of the contrary tack taken by a young...
Who needs terrorists...
...when we've got modern architects? The collapse embarrassed France. The $890 million terminal was touted as a jewel of design, safety and comfort when it opened last June after delays. The French TV network LCI said the delays were due to safety issues....
getting out the vote
Headline and lead from a CNS news brief: Canadian bishops remind Catholics to take politics seriously, voteFour years after nearly 40 percent of Canadians stayed away from the polls, Canada's Catholic bishops have reminded people of their duty to take politics seriously. "Engagement in the...
brief candle
Horror hits central Massachusetts. The new leader of the Catholic Diocese of Worcester stunned gay rights supporters by writing in a church newsletter that Catholics, especially public officials, pushing to legalize same-sex marriage are "in cooperation with evil.""Oh my God. Wow," gasped...
the learning curve
The newly-released personnel file of Davenport priest James Janssen has been studied by the Des Moines Register and organized into a timeline of successive revelations, admonishments, and reassignments that almost defies belief. Father Robert Silva warns us...
"But does it matter how I happen to be dressed...?"
Why should a priest refuse communion to a congregant who approaches him wearing a rainbow sash? Jewish men are required to cover their heads on entering a synagogue. Consider the case of a man who tries to enter a synagogue on the feast of Simhat Torah wearing a Nazi stahlhelm. Most of us...
The Battle for Pentecost
[St. Harvey Milk, by iconographer Robert Lentz, O.F.M] Gay Catholics are planning to make Pentecost Sunday into an agit-prop fest by presenting themselves for communion wearing rainbow sashes. Chicago's Cardinal George has instructed his priests to refuse them, and his reasoning is dead on...
When's the election?
Catholic doctrines and moral teachings must change, writes Marney Rich Keenan in a Detroit News op-ed, "Because the church can't afford to lose people like me." Well now. That's a matter of opinion, isn't it? From a different perspective, you might even ask whether the Church can afford to keep...
COR UNUM ET ANIMA UNA
The "Rainbow Sash Movement" will be entering Catholic churches in different places this coming Sunday -- Pentecost. Wearing the, um, gaily-colored sashes that are the symbol of their advocacy of active homosexual practice, they intend to present themselves for Communion. Cardinal George of...
revelations
Meditating -- while in a truck-stop restroom off I-70 -- on the mutability of human existence, Indy priest Fr. Ron Ashmore happened to flash his credentials at a fetching young man who turned out to be a cop. Busted. He completed a six month course of inpatient therapy and paid his $260 fine....
Retributions in Boston?
One astute CWN reader has noticed that among the 60 Boston parishes scheduled for closing, 10 were run by pastors who signed a public call for Cardinal Law's resignation. The same observer says that the archdiocese will also be closing 20 "pink" rectories. (His comments, among others, appear in...
say... that could work! Naaa...
Minidoc's comment below gave me an idea! The dilemma, as I understand it, is that on the one hand irenic clergy are unwilling to tread on the sensitive consciences of the rainbow sisterhood this Pentacost by refusing them communion. In addition, they are afraid perhaps of creating more of a...
beat me
The Vatican just named a new Archpriest of Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major: Bernard Cardinal Law. Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents more than 130 alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests, said the Vatican was sending a bad message by giving Law a high profile new job."He...
on the ground
John Allen's Word from Rome includes several interesting items this week, including excerpts from an interview with Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright -- one of most original intellects in Christendom -- as well as a discussion of Cardinal Law's new posting. He also gives a (regrettably) plausible...
Do the math
It was inevitable that conspiracy theories would multiply when Archbishop Sean O'Malley announced large-scale parish closings in Boston. The usual kooks are complaining that the closings were designed to target them. Among them are Voice of the Faithful who note that eight of 46 Boston parishes...
Regulating medical care
According to a recent government report, as noted in the Washington Times Prayer is the most commonly used "alternative medicine," according to a survey of more than 31,000 adults released by the National Institutes of Health yesterday — more popular than acupuncture, chiropractic care, yoga,...
gamesmanship
Remember David Duke, the cheerfully race-baiting Louisiana Klansman who caused a stir as a presidential candidate in 1992? Imagine for a moment that he were a Catholic as well as a Klansman and were running for office, and that he presented himself for communion. Is there is a single U.S. bishop...
when i grow up i wanna be a arch-priest
From Bernard Cardinal Law's Jan 22, 2003 deposition, concerning a letter and memorandum sent to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Sodano requesting laicization for Rev. Robert Burns. MACLEISH: Well, Cardinal, why don't we just look again at Exhibit 2 and let me read you the last paragraph and...
Queer Eye Piety
Father James Martin, S.J., vindicates the sanctity of the Eucharist against the assault mounted by Cardinal Francis George and the skinhead clergy who might obey his instructions. Note that, as a self-styled moderate seeking to avoid both extremes, Martin has severe words for naughty activists as...
anybody home...?
Hard words from the Manchester Union-Leader aimed at Bishop John McCormack and his auxiliary, Bishop Francis Christian: Honesty plainly is not the policy of the Diocese of Manchester. That’s because it is not the policy of John McCormack and Francis Christian. Even now the leadership of this...
from deadly sin to deeper love
Rainbow Sashes are superfluous at Boston's Jesuit Urban Center (née the Church of the Immaculate Conception): PRIDE, A DEEPER LOVE : The Pride Interfaith Coalition is proud to announce its 27th Annual Pride Day Interfaith Service to be held Saturday, June 12, at the Old South Church, 645...
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