Catholic conscience: what is it these Democrats don't get?

A week ago it dawned me in a prior post that liberal Catholics really believe their conscience at any point in time trumps a rightly formed conscience as taught by the Church. They even point to the Church teaching that a person's conscience is primary to everything else

OK, that's right. It belongs to the dignity of every person on earth.

But if you're a Catholic, then there is something else at play simply because you are a Catholic. The Catholic Church claims a teaching authority. It teaches. And as Catholics we are morally bound by those teachings. That's a big reason not everyone can handle being a Catholic.

Were a person to consider joining the Church, that person would be saying the they believe all that the Church teaches, and will ever teach. That takes a special faith and commitment.

The Church only proposes to the world, but teaches with authority from God to Catholics.

So here are 55 Catholic Democrats that somehow don't know this fact of Catholic life. They may be simply ignorant, but really should have checked first before exposing themselves in public.

link

To their mind they are of the world, so that the Church only proposes, rather than of the Church, so that they may be taught.

Again this is a Catholic thing. I can understand why protestants do not want to be taught. And certainly why the unchurched are not interested in being taught. The reason I bring it up is because they identify themselves as Catholic Democrats. Why?

Following their conscience as the Church insists is their duty, should prod them to take their support for abortion outside the Church they claim. Call it the "American democratic catholic church", or whatever... but at least be true to their conscience.

They were doing so well through this paragraph..

The statement is only six paragraphs long, which gives it clarity and focus. After a paragraph on Catholic social teaching about the obligations to "the poor and disadvantaged," the writers get to the hard issue, insisting that "each of us is committed to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term."

Then they get weird...

"In all these issues, we seek the church's guidance and assistance, but believe also in the primacy of conscience," they write in an echo of Kennedy. "In recognizing the church's role in providing moral leadership, we acknowledge and accept the tension that comes from being in disagreement with the church in some areas."

Acknowledge it, accept it, then go away.

Better to be a prodigal son who we hope will return someday, than a
Judas.

55 signatories

Joe Baca Xavier Becerra Robert Brady Michael Capuano Dennis A. Cardoza Wm. Lacy Clay Jim Costa Joseph Crowley Peter A. DeFazio William Delahunt Rosa DeLauro Mike Doyle Anna Eshoo Lane Evans Charles A. Gonzalez Raul M. Grijalva Luis V. Gutierrez Maurice Hinchey Tim Holden Patrick J. Kennedy Dale E. Kildee James R. Langevin John B. Larson Stephen Lynch Edward J. Markey Jim Marshall Carolyn McCarthy Betty McCollum James P. McGovern Cynthia McKinney Marty Meehan Michael H. Michaud George Miller James P. Moran Grace Napolitano Richard E. Neal James L. Oberstar David R. Obey Frank Pallone Bill Pascrell Ed Pastor Nancy Pelosi Silvestre Reyes Lucille Roybal-Allard Tim Ryan John T. Salazar Linda T. Sanchez Loretta Sanchez Jose Serrano Hilda L. Solis Bart Stupak Gene Taylor Mike Thompson Nydia Velazquez Diane Watson...

Catholic League president William Donohue commented, "The House Catholic Democrats who signed this statement - and 17 of them did not - are trying to convince the public, and especially Catholics, that one can be a good Catholic and differ with the Catholic Church on abortion."

"Perhaps the most convincing evidence that this statement is a sham," said Donahue, " is the fact that Rep. Rosa DeLauro is the point person for this effort. There has never been an abortion she couldn't justify, including the killing of an innocent child who is 80-percent born. Indeed, she previously served as the executive director of EMILY's List, the richest pro-abortion organization in the country. So with her at the helm, the 'Statement of Principle' is nothing more than a 'Statement of Politics.'"

Why won't God heal amputees?

Here's a great site to sharpen your Christian Apologetics skills. It is written by someone who thinks that since God has never healed an amputee, religion and God are put to scorn.

I have never been healed of a physical ailment, and don't personally know anybody who has. I can not be much of a defender of God's physical healing miracles. The author has many good points, and many naive points too.

But that is not to say I don't believe in miracles as God's powerful actions in Divine Providence. The destiny of our lives strongly seems to show a Divine hand guiding circumstance. Providence working through people, an overarching Will that will not be denied, miracles through souls rather than physical manipulation. Except that the souls move in a physical world, and so carry along physical traces of miracles.

Of course God being God, he really could cure my tooth cavity or remove my aches and pains. He just doesn't. And admitting that he doesn't makes us closer to God and Truth. He in no way needs any false advertising.

My life was saved for some reason back in 1991. It was a car mishap that defied all probability in not killing me. In it God didn't change the forces of nature, but guided the souls driving the vehicles in an extraordinary way for a purpose I am grateful for. Even still, that would not change the mind of the amputee article author. Extraordinary probabilities are the author's main argument against miracles.

I've also seen a ghost, but that was no miracle, just a fact of life on God's green earth.

So take a look at Apologetics 101 and get ready to do battle...

link

The Pope's my man! He just said the "J" word, and even mentioned "Stern Judgement"

When's the last time your Sunday's homily worried you about some sort of personal Judgement from God? On the contrary, at most funerals, they tell us that immediatly after our last breath, we must be wisked up to heaven with the Saints and Martyrs because after all, it's so comforting to know that Mr. Doe is looking down on us now safe in God's embrace.

Sounds hokey to me. If we're all going to heaven, then heaven must be pretty much like Chicago... not all the impressive.

Not that I am a fan of God's Judgement mind you. But let's get real, we will all face it.

We'll here's the boss breaking the ice by using the Judgement word. He's even sure that some judgements will be "stern".

link

Terrorists who kill in the name of religious faith will receive a stern judgment from God, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) warned during a public audience on Sunday, February 26.

Responding to a new spate of religious violence in Iraq and in Nigeria, the Pope said: "God, the Creator and Father of all, will be severe in his judgment of those who shed their brothers' blood invoking His name."

and then the teacher gives us something to do about it...

With the season of lent approaching, the Pope suggested that Christians should fast and pray for an end to bloodshed, particularly in the nations where religious conflicts are now flaring.

Libya burns out some Priests and Nuns

More cartoon nonsense

The Feb. 20 attacks against the two religious properties forced the apostolic vicar of Benghazi, the rest of his Franciscan community, and the religious men and women who lived and worked in the diocese to be evacuated to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

Everything inside the church and friary was destroyed; "everything that could be set on fire was set on fire," he said.

Bishop Giovanni Martinelli of Tripoli said all religious communities in Benghazi had been evacuated and transferred to Tripoli. Besides the Franciscans, these included the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Ivrea and a community of Polish Sacred Heart nuns.

The fires in Benghazi, he said, were caused "by a fanatic fringe, by fundamentalism that emerged in order to condemn" the publication of the offensive cartoons and their display by Calderoli.

Demonstrators were condemning a recent incident in which an Italian government minister had unbuttoned his shirt on Italian television to display a T-shirt bearing an image of one of the Danish cartoons that have sparked condemnations and demonstrations in many Muslim communities.

link

That higher measure of justice that is mercy

The world has largely forgotten Bosnia and Herzegovina. 10 years exceeds our
attention span. Unless you happen to live in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

http://www.kath.net/detail.php?id=12954

Vinko Cardinal Puljic, archbishop of Sarajevo, addressed a greeting on behalf of all the bishops to the Pope.

The Pope responded: „After the sad years of the recent war, as agents of peace, you are called today to reinforce communion and spread mercy, understanding and forgiveness in the name of Christ, both within the Christian communities as well as in the complex social fabric of Bosnia and Herzegovina.“

„To be fecund at the spiritual level,“ he said, „love does not have to follow simply earthly laws, but allow itself to be illuminated by the truth that is God and translate itself in that higher measure of justice that is mercy.“

"...contributing to heal the still open wounds and resolve conflicts and divisions, heritage of bygone years.“

The Catholic Church paid a very high price during the war, Vatican Radio reported on Thursday. In Sarajevo alone, Catholics decreased from 500.000 to 125.000.

In the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, nine priests and a nun were killed, 99 churches were destroyed and 127 damaged, not counting the dozens of attacks on monasteries and ecclesial centers.

It is estimated that some 450.000 Catholics were obliged to abandon their homes.

Coming Home! is never easy, but it could be new life.

Being Anglo-Catholics, we did not have some of the historical and biblical problems facing many fundamentalists and evangelicals. Still, we had several objections that needed to be overcome. Above all, we had to understand the nature of the Church and its authority. Once you come to grip with that reality, which rests on both history and Scripture, the rest slides into place.
The quantity of the resource materials available to help potential converts is astonishing. First-rate books, magazines, tapes, and videos abound, and we dove deeply into them. The offerings of Ignatius Press are particularly rich. Catholic web sites on the Internet are consistently helpful and fascinating. I know of no church that can begin to match the literature and media available to Catholics.

Kathie and I also had to find a parish that offered at least a substantial measure of dignity and reverence. That was not easy around here, and I wrote a description in Adoremus of my first failed attempt. But we were soon able to locate a few suitable churches, and Opus Dei kindly opened its doors.

Milwaukee is still suffering the legacy of gone Rembert Weakland.

We were brought into the Catholic Church on July 31. It is a grand experience to be in communion with John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, and to have one’s life guided by The Catholic Catechism. It is equally wonderful to be part of the same Church that nurtured the many splendid Christians who helped us into the barque of Peter. We will always be grateful.

And what kind of help did they get?

During an interview early this year with a local Catholic writer about The Empty Church, I expressed my frustration at being unable to find a way into the Catholic Church. He printed the story in the Archdiocesan paper and alerted Our Sunday Visitor. Both articles stirred an avalanche of support that was remarkable to behold and that led directly to our entrance into the fullness of the faith.

Books were mailed and left off at my office, phone calls came in, E-mail letters poured into my computer, local clergy called and visited. (The last of our Episcopal parish priests to visit our home came in 1977.) We were astonished to realize that scores of people from all over the country were interested in helping us to become Catholics. Scott Hahn and Thomas Howard telephoned. Catholic Answers and The Coming Home Network provided invaluable assistance. A few people--a priest in New York, a retired professor in Delaware, an activist in St. Louis, a convert in Minnesota, an ex-Episcopal priest in Northern Illinois, a writer in Pittsburgh--contacted us regularly through E-mail with assurances and explanations. A fine young priest in Kenosha offered his services, as did an Opus Dei priest from Milwaukee.

An Anglo-Catholic Comes Home
by Thomas C. Reeves

In The Empty Church: The Suicide of Liberal Christianity
(Free Press, 1996),
I argued that the “Seven Sisters” of liberal Protestantism deserved the continued loyalty and concern of their members. These venerable denominations, which included my own Episcopal Church, had a long history of good works and fidelity to the Gospel. They were now in the grasp of liberals, I showed, and were suffering from the inevitable illness that debilitates Christianity when it is watered down and made to conform to the world. Every effort should be made, I wrote, to preserve our religious homes from decay and eventual death, and I detailed several recommendations based on personal experience and a broad array of relevant literature.

The book was published in October, and within six months my wife and I were preparing to leave the Episcopal Church. Dale Vree of the New Oxford Review predicted in his review of The Empty Church that liberals would neither read the book nor take its suggestions to heart. By the spring of this year it was obvious that the prediction was true and that the Episcopal Church in particular was heading rapidly into the chasm that separates Christians from non-Christians.

Losing our churchs to the lawyers will be hard, but nothing compared to 150 years ago (I hope)

How lightly we respect the great Catholic heritage we enjoy, standing on the blood and courage of those before us.

A mere 150 years ago were such brutal times. It gives "prevailing" a keen meaning.

pictures here...

This site in Kilmacow village, was used for saying mass during penal days.

Mass used to be said at good vantage points, where there was a good lookout. Catholics used to gather for the mass around this stone, when most of the Catholic churches were burned down to the ground.

story here...

By 1778 Irish Catholics would own a meager 5% of Irish land. Furthermore, the Catholic educational system was outlawed and priests who did not conform to the laws could be branded on the face or castrated.

As a result, much of Catholic church services and education and record keeping was forced underground, to operate only under extreme secrecy. The religion and culture were kept alive by secret open-air masses and illegal outdoor schools, known as 'hedge' schools. All Irish culture, music and education was banned. By the time of the census of 1841 the Irish were impoverished, landless and leaderless by the eve of the famine.

• The Catholic Church forbidden to keep church registers.
• The Irish Catholic was forbidden the exercise of his religion.
• He was forbidden to receive education.
• He was forbidden to enter a profession.
• He was forbidden to hold public office.
• He was forbidden to engage in trade or commerce.
• He was forbidden to live in a corporate town or within five miles thereof.
• He was forbidden to own a horse of greater value than five pounds.
• He was forbidden to own land.
• He was forbidden to lease land.
• He was forbidden to accept a mortgage on land in security for a loan.
• He was forbidden to vote.
• He was forbidden to keep any arms for his protection.
• He was forbidden to hold a life annuity.
• He was forbidden to buy land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to receive a gift of land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to inherit land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to inherit anything from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to rent any land that was worth more than 30 shillings a year.
• He was forbidden to reap from his land any profit exceeding a third of the rent.
• He could not be guardian to a child.
• He could not, when dying, leave his infant children under Catholic guardianship.
• He could not attend Catholic worship.
• He was compelled by law to attend Protestant worship.
• He could not himself educate his child.
• He could not send his child to a Catholic teacher.
• He could not employ a Catholic teacher to come to his child.
• He could not send his child abroad to receive education.

This happens when you have "love without judgment"

When we forget the Judgement, all things are sadly possible.

''Our motto is love without judgment, and that's piqued some curiosity,'' said Villaire, a former Roman Catholic priest who's now a bishop in an independent Catholic movement.

link

Bishop Villaire, who was raised Roman Catholic in Bay City, Mich., said he felt called to the priesthood at a young age. But shortly after being ordained in 1965, he started to feel uncomfortable with church teachings condemning divorce and birth control, he said.

His father, a grocer, and his mother, a beautician, had raised him to believe ''the customer is always right,'' he said. Denying communion to divorced Catholics made him uncomfortable, he said.

Now, he's seeking to expand his flock through church fliers and advertisements that promise ``love without judgment.''

...Catholic liturgy and rituals without the dogma. ''It's nonjudgmental Catholicism,'' said Angela Ochmanski, a former Roman Catholic who joined Holy Angels Parish last November after receiving a church flier in the mail.

''I felt more of an understanding of the way that Bishop Villaire interprets the Catholic teaching,'' she said.

Teaching a little 4 year-old sex is just plain wrong

“We’re very nervous about what it’s going to be like to raise our children here,” she said. “People are saying this is not a family-friendly state. I truly cannot understand why anyone would want to teach a 4 year-old sexual terminology unless they were pushing a very clear agenda.”

http://www.ncregister.com/articulo4.php?artkod=MTkx

“The abortion industry has been trying to sanitize its grisly occupation in the public eye for many years,” Neary testified. “[These bills] try to equate a deadly procedure with ‘health.’”

“Parents will take their children out of schools to prevent them from being in the clutches of the liberal elite,” she said.

But removing their children from the public schools is an option many just cannot afford, noted Evelyn Reilly, director of public policy for the Massachusetts Family Institute. She pointed out that Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts “is not a disinterested party” and that it has a “huge financial interest” in its goal that all public schools adhere to a standardized sex education curriculum.

“I think that it’s an interesting approach for a district to consider,” she said after the hearing. But she stressed that that the sexuality section of the measure is “an integral part of the comprehensive health education.”Wolf is a former mayor of Cambridge who advocates legalized abortion and same-sex “marriage.”

Thank you Mr. Lupus Erectus. And stop saying "health" when you mean the end of
health for a certain little human.

The measure “treats pregnancy as a disease,” said Dr. Paul Carpentier of Gardner, Mass. “So pregnancy is likely to be viewed as a failed prevention of a disease and rejected, medicated away or surgically removed, to someone else’s profit.”
Carpentier, a father of three, is an authority on natural family planning and a fertility care medical consultant certified by the Pope Paul VI Institute in Omaha, Neb. He said that sex education does not belong in schools, but a “reasonable option” would be to offer voluntary guided lessons for parents themselves to present to their children.

“We strongly believe that sexuality and reproductive teachings are fundamental to morality,” Breguet testified. “And as parents, we believe that only we know our children well enough to make the decision as to when to introduce this sensitive, intimate subject.”

See.. the Vatican has the "right stuff" after all. You just gotta trust.

Foreign Minister Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo told the daily Corriere della Sera that Christian minorities should be afforded the same rights that Muslims enjoy in Western countries. He said:"We must always stress our demand for reciprocity in political contacts with authorities in Islamic countries and, even more, in cultural contacts."

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's Secretary of State, said to journalists in Rome: "If we tell our people they have no right to offend, we have to tell the others they have no right to destroy us."

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7002541278

Movie marketing; Popular culture I'm sure most of us are unaware of

Places the popular culture is going that most Christians are unaware of. The movie "Running Scared" has received poor reviews.

What would you think about an free online game at the movie's website that offers sex as a reward for attaining a good score?

While it takes way too much work to get to the payoff, this online game, tipped to us by Sanj and covered by Defamer, for Paul Walker's new movie, Running Scared, let's you play Paul Walker in a Grand Theft Auto-style game with the prize being...yes...to go down on Paul Walker's wife.

link

Running Scared is an ultra-violent movie due out later this month. To promote the movie, New Line Cinema commissioned a short, five-level game that includes GTA-style driving missions, shooting gallery style handgun and shotgun battles, and--in a tribute to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas's infamous "Hot Coffee" mission--a rhythm-based sex game in which the player must hit arrow keys at the right moment in order to prove that he's a cunning linguist, so to speak.

link

Local family advocates spoke out Wednesday against a racy online video game being used to promote an R-rated movie.

The National Institute on Media and the Family held a press conference to alert parents to pornographic material in a game promoting the upcoming Paul Walker movie "Running Scared."

On level two of the game, gamers direct their character to perform oral sex, complete with sound effects.

The Web site says players must be 17 years old, but critics say the disclaimer isn't good enough.

"This is a promotional tactic that will be increasingly popular," said Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family. "But when a movie is promoted to the general public with explicit pornography video games used to promote it, that's not appropriate given the easy access that kids have to this."

The group wants New Line Cinema to remove the game from its Web site.

link

As serious Christians focus on the things most important, the popular culture advances in directions we can not imagine, and are not noticing.

Catholic City by Design, thanks to pizza and Monaghan

Discussing his life as a millionaire Catholic who puts his money where his faith is, Monaghan says: "I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines."

link

Raised by nuns in orphanages, Monaghan, 68, has tried to franchise his religious views in the past, creating elementary schools, a small college, Catholic radio stations and, in 2000, a Catholic law school. While many of his initiatives have foundered, the law school, with 88 percent of its most recent class passing the Michigan bar, is off to a strong start.

Even the pope is interested. When Ave Maria Provost Father Joseph Fessio saw Benedict XVI, the first thing out of the new pontiff's mouth, according to Fessio, was, "How's Ave Maria?"

The 5,000-acre tomato field in southwestern Florida sure doesn't look like heaven. Bulldozers scrape the land flat while clusters of Porta Pottis signal an undeniable earthiness. But soon a massive cathedral will rise from this barren spot. Reaching 100 feet in the air behind a 65-foot crucifix, the Oratory will anchor Ave Maria, a whole new town and Roman Catholic university 30 miles east of Naples. Ground was officially broken last week, and the plan is to build 11,000 homes—likely drawing families who already hold the church at the center of their lives.

For Tom Monaghan, the devout Catholic who founded Domino's Pizza and is now bankrolling most of the initial $400 million cost of the project, Ave Maria is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to spreading his own strict interpretation of Catholicism.

He controls all the commercial real estate in town (along with his developing partner, Barron Collier Cos.) and is asking pharmacies not to carry contraceptives.

The ACLU of Florida is worried about how he's playing the game.

Planned Parenthood is similarly alarmed. So far, Naples Community Hospital, which plans to open a clinic in Ave Maria Town, says it will not prescribe any birth control to students.

Multi-millionares and their money as they get older. I wonder if Gates got
the idea of divesting his fortune from this gentleman.

I am told that Mr. Monaghan intends to die penniless. Those nuns at the orphanage are to be commended in helping form such a nice Catholic example of a man.... thanks.

Knock, knock, knocking on China's door

Pope Benedict XVI named 15 new cardinals yesterday, including Bishop Joseph Zen, of Hong Kong.

The appointment of Bishop Zen, an outspoken campaigner for the rights of persecuted Roman Catholics, is seen as a sign that the Pope intends to combine dialogue with Beijing with an assertion of religious freedom. The Vatican estimates that it has eight million followers in China, compared with five million who follow the official state-run Church.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-2053401,00.html

China warned outspoken Hong Kong Bishop Joseph Zen on Thursday not to mix politics and religion, after Pope Benedict XVI named him a cardinal.

"We have taken note that Joseph Zen was appointed as a cardinal by the Vatican," Liu told journalists at a routine briefing."We advocate that religious figures should not interfere with politics."Liu also expressed hopes that the appointment would not disrupt social stability in Hong Kong.

Zen has long been a fierce critic of the Chinese government and has often joined in pro-democracy protests in the territory.

The Chinese government has repeatedly said it is willing to improve relations with the Vatican only if it breaks off ties with Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province.

Another condition imposed by Beijing is for the Vatican not to interfere in China's internal affairs, in reference to how the government controls religion. "We have repeated our position on relations with the Vatican many times," Liu said."There is no change in our position."

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news&articleid=265099

And, we know how to keep a secret :)

It had been widely thought that Bishop Zen was the “secret cardinal”, named by the late John Paul II in 2003. Popes can keep the name of a cardinal secret if the appointment is politically sensitive or if disclosure is likely to endanger the prelate in question.
Vatican officials said that the identity of John Paul’s secret cardinal may never be known.

Sterilization... a dead tree

Here's a story about forced sterilzation of women.

That sounds terrible.

When it is not forced, but voluntary for so many people in the U.S., then we
use words like "snipped", "had my tubes tied".

Catholics who have lifted their hearts by taking their Church's teaching in Humanae
Vitae to heart, know that this is just a word game caused by shame and sin
in fighting against God.

Voluntary or forced, it is the same abuse.

"A sterilized woman is like a dead tree, all that remains is for it to be cut down." In an emotion-filled voice, Natasa Botosova, 39, recounts her case to around 15 gypsy women, determined, like her, to obtain justice after years of silence.

Ferencikova, whose outrage at what happened to her has not dimmed since the event in 2001, explained what happened: "They were going to perform a Cesarian, they made me sign a paper, then I learnt when I woke up that I had been sterilized."

Protests against such eugenic practices have been voiced in the Czech Republic since 1978, but a Czech representative in 2003 assured a session of the United Nations that they were "a myth."

"For years we pressured gypsies to get sterilized because we thought it was for their own good, I did that myself, that is what we were taught in schools,"

The sterilization issue is far from creating unanimity within Czech society. "Everyone knows that the gypsies have children for the family benefits they can claim, that the women were sterilized for the bonuses and that today their only goal is to obtain fresh damages," Katarina, a young Ostrava teacher, commented bluntly.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060222/hl_afp/czechhealthsociety

Just how bad are the bad numbers in Europe?

Catholic Poland has the highest figures with 56.7 percent of the population going to mass on any given Sunday.

Runner up is Portugal – also predominantly Catholic – with 30 percent,
followed by Greece (Orthodox) with 24.5 percent.

Switzerland – mainly of the reformed Calvinist tradition – has the highest Protestant church attendance with 13 percent.

In Germany, where Protestants and Catholics represent a third of the population each, the figure is 8.2 percent.

Sweden and Estonia (3.9 percent each)
and Denmark (3.2).

This is the result of a study by the Research Group World Views in Mastershausen, Germany, based on statistics of the European Union.
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06020090.htm

Another cartoon

Warning!

Do not look at this cartoon if anything offends you.

Muslims and other religions are mocked.

There are some swear words.

I thought it was funny, but I am a sinner.

http://www.zipperfish.net/free/yaafm12.php

Catholic Poland's culture can still see sin... even at the university!

Here in the U.S.A., we must be very much more tolerant because we are so diverse.

Being hugely Catholic, and supplying the late Polish Pope, even the university population can still call public sin a bad thing.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06022103.html

“To write ‘I’ve got Aids’ or ‘I’ve had an abortion’ on a T-shirt, you would have to be devoid of all human feelings,” added Lublin bishop Jozef Zycinski.

A university in south-eastern Poland has banned a controversial “T-shirt for freedom” campaign expected to occur simultaneously with a campus human rights film festival.

The t-shirts, which were to be worn through campus during the campaign by celebrities, boasted such things as

“I had an abortion,”

“I didn’t cry when the Pope died,”

“I have AIDS,”

“I don’t go to church,”

“I masturbate,” or

“I am gay,”

according to a Radio Polonia report. The predominantly Catholic student population found the t-shirts offensive and complained that they were insensitive to people living with AIDS, or who suffered post-abortion trauma.

In the Philippines: Some basic education; Are you in or out?

“That’s the idea. That’s exactly the Church’s message. If you want to be a Catholic, act like one and follow the Church’s teachings,” Sister Arguelles said.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06022107.html

Supported by the United Nations, activists for population control have launched an aggressive assault on the country, pushing for anti-life legislation that would limit family size to two children, increase the social acceptance and availability of artificial birth control and give greater access to abortion.

A US$1.4 million grant was given by the United Nations to help finance the population control program.
"
The bishops were appalled by the swift release of the grant and the filing of the reproductive health bill and the launching of the health department's population control programs," said Jo Imbong, legal counsel of the Catholic Bishops' Conference.

In response, the bishops have called for greater accountability from parishioners on moral issues. Those Catholics who promote or utilize artificial birth control methods may not be able to receive communion or other sacraments.

The bishops have instituted a course for parishioners on the fundamentals of Church teaching, called the Basic Ecclesiastical Communities seminar. Catholics are required to take the course, which runs for eight consecutive Sundays, before receiving sacraments for themselves or their children, and upon entering adulthood.

The course includes teachings on the basics of the faith, Bible study, Christian leadership, family and life apostles, salvation history, and the changing Church.

Sister Regina Arguelles of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, who works with the CBCP in offering the seminars, said the Catholic bishops have been alarmed by the “continuing moral decay” that was eating up the society.

A prominent mayor was not allowed to receive Catholic burial rites in the Church, after failing to participate in the course. The Manila Standard reports that following the incident, all government officials in the region signed up for the course.

The word is heresy

Vasa blows away the usual claim that asserting the right to life or the sinfulness of homosexuality is ‘intolerant.’ Jesus, the bishop writes, was “meek and humble of heart,” but not tolerant of sin. “I wonder if those who heard Jesus say, ‘Whoever leads one of these little ones astray, it would be better if he had a millstone tied around his neck and be cast into the sea,’ nodded approval and said, ‘He is so tolerant and accepting.’”

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06022106.html

He writes, “There is a point at which passive ‘tolerance’ allows misleading teachings to be spread and propagated, thus confusing or even misleading the faithful about the truths of the Church.”

He said he does not seek to justify “vigilante theology,” and that the word needs to be applied with care, “but we do need strong words to combat erroneous and fallacious teaching.”

“There is a very strong word, which still exists in our Church, which most of us are too ‘gentle’ to use. The word is ‘heresy.’”

To the many Catholics who publicly profess that one can be both a good Catholic and “pro-choice” on abortion, Vasa says, “The teaching of the Church in the area of life is clear and unequivocal. Human life must be respected and protected from conception to natural death. Those who maintain that any and all decisions about the disposition of pre-born human beings are exclusively the right of the mother or the parents, at least implicitly, reject the clear and consistent teaching of the Church.” This rejection, he writes, is heresy, as defined in the Church’s canon law.

Robert Vasa, the Catholic bishop of the Oregon diocese of Baker, has written a letter to his diocesan newspaper clearly identifying the so-called “pro-choice” position among Catholics as a “heresy”. For decades, many Catholics have argued that “primacy of conscience” allows them to dissent from basic Church teaching, including the right to life, and still consider themselves “good Catholics.”

The WCC, the beginning of the end for the Orthodox

A bit ago I wondered what the Orthodox were still doing in the liberal messy World Council of Churchs. Looks like the party's over.

Now the 2 Catholics can move together again.

http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/?p=11524

Liberal reforms allowing female clergy and same-sex marriage are creating a widening gulf within world Christianity, a leading Russian Orthodox bishop said.

That growing divide may prompt Orthodox churches to consider a tactical alliance with Roman Catholicism to defend traditional Christian values, Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev said on the sidelines of the global assembly of the mostly Protestant World Council of Churches (WCC).

While Orthodox churches, with some 220 million members, are members of the WCC, now holding its global assembly in Brazil, Alfeyev – the chief Russian Orthodox delegate – said they have less in common with fellow members than they once had.

“We (Orthodox and Catholics) are on the same side of the divide.” “Traditional Christianity’s very survival is in jeopardy. We have no right to delay this strategic alliance, because in 20-40 years it will be too late,”

Alfeyev, the Bishop of Vienna also in charge of Russian Orthodox Church relations with the European Union, said the alliance should not be a matter of dogma and should precede the resolution of many centuries-old differences between the two oldest branches of Christianity, some dating back to the Great Schism of 1054.

Score: Kids 0, Homosexual Nesting 1

Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, Vatican head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, told Fides news service in May that allowing same sex couples to adopt children, “would destroy the child’s future, it would be an act of moral violence against the child.”

Well of course.

Around here they passed a law that kids must use car booster seats through
age 8 for protection. Culture can't stand to see kids ride bicycles without the
protection of helmets. Most kids are driven to school to protect against the
imagined sexual predator hiding around every corner.

But in
Massachusetts things are a little "different".

Putting little boys in homes with men defined by their homosexual acts is
called a civil right of the men. Even though all of history is aware of these
men being drawn to young teen boys, like in 80% of the cases with the ugly priest
scandals, and NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy
Love Association).

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and a top government leader have told a group of bishops that their request that Catholic institutions be exempt from placing foster children with same-sex parents will be denied.

In compliance with the commonwealth’s so-called antidiscrimination laws, the Catholic adoption agency, Catholic Charities of Boston, has already placed children with same-sex couples over the past 20 years.

The bishops’ request was in stark contrast to the wishes of the agency itself, which voted unanimously in December to uphold the practice of placing children in homosexual homes.

Board members expressed “shock” to learn that a potential legal challenge of the antidiscrimination law from the bishop’s would be paid for from the budget of the agency. “I’m shocked,” said board member Donna DePrisco. “I find it hard to believe.” In what may appear to be an ulterior motive on the part of the bishop’s group, one anonymous board member said many on the board would resign if the bishop’s go ahead with their plan.

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06022010.html

They are not kidding. Liberal Catholics really think following Conscience trumps a Rightly Formed Conscience

How long does it take to think of persons throughout history whose conscience was not rightly formed..... how about persons you know? ..... 5 seconds.

They are not kidding, although it is strangely a surprise to me. Extreme (I
hope it's only the extreme) liberals need the excuse of following conscience
even if in error, vs. a rightly formed conscience in Faith as taught by their
Church.

The humility to obey and learn is not mentioned. That is quite a
loss.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/catholics-complain-to-vatican-over-pell/2006/02/19/1140283950676.html

A GROUP of leading liberal Catholics has complained to the Vatican that Cardinal George Pell is teaching inaccurate and misleading doctrine.

Spokesman Frank Purcell went further, accusing the cardinal of fostering an "Eichmann mentality" whereby people in the church did not think for themselves but simply obeyed orders. (Adolf Eichmann was the Nazi in charge of exterminating Jews in World War II.)

The doctrinal dispute centres on the ultimate right of Catholics to make moral judgements based on their individual conscience even if it is in error. It lies at the heart of debate in the church over the use of contraception and on moral and ethical questions surrounding bioethics, euthanasia and abortion.

The letter said a number of statements by the cardinal about the role of conscience were difficult to reconcile with the priority church teaching placed on conscience. Given Cardinal Pell's prominence, many Australians took his views as representing doctrine.

The letter was signed by 24 Catholics, including Sister Veronica Brady, Professor Max Charlesworth, historian Paul Collins, NSW judge Chris Geraghty and several Melbourne priests.

"The real role of the church is not to tell people what to do but give them a map, and conscience is the compass."

Mr Purcell said Cardinal Pell was trying to keep people at a lower level of moral development by telling them to do what the church said. "He overemphasises the obligation to follow the church absolutely. That's the Eichmann mentality."

To them, the humility to obey equates to the Nazis. Which would explain their
lack of humility to enable learning also.

Reclaiming manhood. A rare topic on rare traits, even for Catholics

The king-leader has a vision of what a group of people ought to do, and makes a plan for them. The good king-leader loves the people, and guides and inspires them. There's also the false king-leader-such as King Herod.

The warrior is a noble soldier who fights for something greater than himself. A bloodthirsty soldier is a false warrior.

The lover figure embodies the different types of love: erotic desire, friendship, and at the highest level, agape - the love of the others for their own sake. The seducer, the exploiter is a counterfeit lover.

The wise counselor listens and guides, and is there to help when people are feeling helpless. There's also the evil magician and the politician who beguiles with language to lead you down a negative path.

In every walk of life, in war and in peace, men are called by God to be heroes. They want to be activated, to use their natural and supernatural gifts. What is a hero? A man who transcends his own ego, his own fears, and his own selfishness, and makes a sacrifice of himself as a gift to those he's called to protect.

When you talk about men taking charge and protecting the women and children, some people say, "We tried that!" People are afraid of masculinity because they're afraid of a return to an authoritarian, rigid, society that oppresses women - which was never part of authentic masculinity. To avoid upsetting anyone, many men settle for being nice guys, rather than leaders. But "nice" doesn't cut it.

To fulfill our responsibility to spread the Gospel and protect family and community, we use what God gives us - starting with the different male and female natures. In The Original Unity of Man and Woman (part of the "Theology of the Body"), Pope John Paul II mentions that the unity of man and woman is a natural "archetype."

We have to let God develop the archetypes of our nature, which all men have, before we can fulfill our supernatural destiny, which is entrusted to us as Christians. As Pope John Paul II reminds us, by baptism and confirmation, every lay person, even if he doesn't know it, is a priest, a prophet, and a king.

A priest is called by God to pray for his people and for enemies and sinners, to offer his painful sacrifices for the people, and to stand in the gap between them and God. A priest of the Church does this, and so does the father of a family, drawing on the archetypes of the wise counselor and lover.

The prophet receives the word of God, deeply accepts it, and communicates it in word and deed, like Jeremiah. He has the energy of the warrior and the love for the people of the lover. He lives God's message in the workplace, in the family, in the church, and in society as an apostle - despite threats, seduction, laughter, or being ignored. We are all called to be prophets, and there can be no wimpy prophets.

http://www.saintmichael.net/index2.htm and

http://catholicinsight.com/online/social/article_646.shtml

One way to improve justice to the new minority generation

The status of the tax credits may be murky legally, but they are picking up steam politically because of an unusual alliance of conservatives who think the private organizations can run almost anything, including schools, better than the government, and minority parents fed up with what the see as the poor public schools serving their children.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006602190340

Charter school opponents see them as drains on public schools, since charter pupils take most of their government dollars with them. And public school officials say that they can't cut costs by the full amount of the money they lose, largely because of fixed costs for buildings and other expenses.

Teacher unions and school boards hate the idea of the tax credits, which would total $400 million next year, because they see them draining away money that they say would be better used trying to improve public schools.

It's too late to try again to rebuild public schools, while another
generation mat be at risk. Catholic schools will hopefully provide Morals and
Models along with practical achievement. I know it doesn't help the public
school folks, but it's the children who should come first.

6,500 Catholics gather for Festival of Faith; in English, Spanish and Polish

Thousands of Catholics from parishes across the Chicago area streamed into Rosemont on Saturday to celebrate their faith, share information and get some inspiration -- in English, Spanish and Polish.

http://www.chicagoredstreak.com/output/religion/cst-nws-cath19.html

"People are isolated in their parishes at times," said Cardinal Francis George. "The people have come in, and in greater numbers than last time. They feel very encouraged."
Speeches and workshops, presented by people from across the country, were in the three major languages of Chicago area parishioners, English, Spanish and Polish. The festival also had speakers specifically aimed at young people with such topics as "Finding God in the Midst of Noise" and "Standing with Courage: Confronting Tough Decisions about Sex."
The Saturday evening mass, celebrated by the cardinal, also contained elements in all three languages.

Speakers on Saturday included Monsignor Jim Lisante, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in West Hempstead, N.Y., who drew a large crowd to hear him talk about the importance of strong families in building strong parishes. Delivering the keynote Spanish address on Saturday was Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces, N.M.

"All three days were excellent," said Sister Rita Ramos. The speakers "had some of the most profound things to say."
"It's the best thing I've gone to," added Sister Joan Cooney.

I think the time is ripe for large gatherings at least once per year. I
would look forward to it.

Off Topic: The high culture of the English system, but then again I also like analog vs digital

I have always like analog. It is such a perfect representation of things like FM radio, and meters with needles pointing to the value. Of course the computers would fill a room, and then some, if we didn't have silly little transistors with their on/off 1's and 0's. But only an analog meter can show you a third. Try that with those vulgar digital displays.

I also like the high culture of the English measurement system, which only the USA is dominant enough in the world to sustain. I knew about a few, like inch, yard, and mile. But there is much more to explore and relish!

http://home.clara.net/brianp/weights.html

16 drams = 1 ounce
16 ounces = 1 pound
7 pounds = 1 clove
14 pounds = 1 stone
28 pounds = 1 tod
112 pounds = 1 hundredweight
364 pounds = 1 sack
2240 pounds = 1 ton
2 stones = 1 quarter
4 quarters = 1 hundredweight
20 hundredweight = 1 ton

Perfect! Almost romantic.

7 drams of your finest perfume please.

Should we buy a clove of potatoes, or a stone? A tod would be much too much.

Islam, please show yourself

Protesters burn St. Saviour's church in Sukkar, 560 kilometers (348 miles) northeast of Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb 19, 2006. About 400 people attacked the church in Sukkur, a city in southern Sindh province, after accusations that a local Christian man had burned pages from the Quran, said Akbar Arian, chief of police in the area. The incident came amid angry protests across Pakistan over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in Western newspapers.(AP Photo/Pervez Khan)

If someone equates Islam with violence,

by showing a man with a small bomb in his turbin,

what do you think the response should be

from a peaceful religion?

Suffering Servant, unable to sin

Seeing Christ in the old age home, much less in the mentally ill. This has
been elusive for me. I am a product of the value-transfer society. You need to
exchange value to get the money to eat. What to do when society does not value
you anymore? Go outside the society to God, according to Cardinal Javier Lozano
Barragán, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers.

http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=84685

The statement is that: the mentally ill person is not a deformed image of God but, rather, a faithful image of God, our Lord. If we want to separate from the Kingdom of God, we can do so only with an evil heart, to which Christ our Lord refers, and from which all the sins come.

Therefore, once the mental illness has caused such a disorder as to take away from the mentally ill patient any responsibility for his actions -- qualifying them as separation from the divine will, as a sin -- the mental patient cannot separate from God.

In other words, the image of God in him cannot be distorted. In this case his knowledge or his volitive option is no longer sufficient to motivate any human action that separates him from God. His bodily and psychic conditions do not allow him to commit a grave sin, given that in his state of disequilibrium he does not have that full knowledge and ability of assent required to sin.

If we approach the argument from this point of view, whereby the mentally ill patient does not have the knowledge or the faculty of full consent required to commit a mortal sin, his is not a deformed image of God, since that image can only be deformed by sin. Certainly, it is the suffering image of God, but not a deformed image. He is a reflection of the mystery of the victorious Cross of the Lord. Inspired by the image of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 53:1-7) we are drawn to a conscious act of faith in the suffering Christ.

It is not by chance that in the old popular Mexican language, a mad person was called "bandito," that is, "blessed"; […] without the full use of reasoning, he was unable to commit sin and was, therefore, destined to eternal life.

It is true that the objective disorder of sin and its consequences are manifest in the mentally ill patient; however, at the same time, there is in him the historical equilibrium of the only possible order, the order and equilibrium of the Redemption.

This is not comprehensible to a secularized mentality; it is only understood within the context of Christian optimism, which stems from a reasoned faith that tells us how in such circumstances our obligations towards a mentally ill person, on one hand, satisfy our duty to see the suffering Christ in the poor and less protected; and on the other hand the idea of seeing in the patient the love of God who has indicated him as his chosen one, in the sense that he shall not be separated from Him.

Black Catholics

From this slave ship on the floor of a chapel, to

a list of many Black Saints, to

the Canonization
of St. Josephine Bakhita, on the

"The National Black Congress" website.

Listening to What Bakhita Says:

If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and Religious today…

I can truly say that it was a miracle I did not die, because the Lord has destined me for greater things…

Mary protected me even before I knew her!

When a person loves another dearly, he desires strongly to be close to the other: therefore, why be afraid to die? Death brings us to God!

Bad argument: Because rotten priests played with boys, homosexual men should adopt

The bishops of Massachusetts's four archdioceses have announced their plan to seek an exemption for Catholic Charities from the state rule (in .pdf form) forbidding licensed adoption agencies from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. As you might have guessed, Vatican policy states that adoption or foster care by gay couples "must be strongly rejected."

http://www.bostonist.com/archives/2006/02/16/catholic_bishops_want_catholic_charities_to_stop_gay_adoptions.php

In the mean time, it might be wise for the Church to avoid getting into too close a reading of the adoption licensing regulations: In addition to requiring non-discrimination, the rules prevent giving a license to any organization that has "engaged in any . . . conduct, criminal or otherwise, [that impairs] the applicant's or licensee's ability to care for children." Now, Bostonist doesn't want to cast aspersions on the innumerable good works the Catholic Church has done, but their record's a little spotty on reporting child sexual abuse by employees.

The poor Bishops have quite a job on their hands trying to be the Catholic
voice in liberal Mass.

After all, "Catholic Charities has already placed 13 children with gay couples". 13 kids with parents who define themselves by their sex acts.

You would think those homosexual priests, unable to fight their attraction
for young boys, would be a good lesson to us all.

If you want it, here it is.. come and get it. But you better hurry cuz it's going fast.

Shameless priests, and now shameless victims. They are as the were.

The settlement offers an average of $610,000 per victim, far higher than recent settlements reached in Seattle and Tucson, Ariz., the statement said. In 2005, the Archdiocese of Seattle paid $425,000 per victim to settle four claims of abuse. The Diocese of Tucson paid $385,000 per claim to 25 victims in 2005.

The payment schedule in the proposed settlement requires the diocese to pay $10 million this year and nearly $27 million more in 20 months, creating "an unacceptably high likelihood of default by the diocese," the statement said. "Default by the diocese translates into foreclosure on parish properties."

The Association of Parishes, which was organized to represent the financial interests of the individual congregations in the diocese, contended the settlement raises the prospect that churches or schools will be sold to raise the money.

"The proposed settlement provides no clear means for funding that obligation, nor does it offer any 'Plan B' other than involuntary liquidation of parish churches and schools," said a statement released Thursday by the group.

The Rev. Steve Dublinski, vicar of the Spokane Diocese, said the parishes are separate legal entities, entitled to their own opinions on the settlement.

He declined to say whether churches would likely be sold or mortgaged in the future.
"I don't want to speculate on what the future might bring," he said.

Unfaithful priests playing with newly pubescent boys, +40 years = a swirling
sinkhole for both. Caught up in the current are church and school
buildings being flushed down the toilet to make way for condos and Wal
Marts, and of course, funding the now old pubescent boys retirement in
style.

The dear Philippines

Pope Benedict XVI expressed "deep sadness" Friday in a message of condolence for the victims of devastating mudslides in the Philippines, and called for "generous and rapid" aid for the survivors.

Their close family structures make the grief killingly deep. Thank Goodness
they are strong in their Faith.

Mormons: I am amazed by their ability to believe such a poor script

Here's a picture of a reproduction of the gold tablets that were given to
mormon's prophet. Only a reproduction you see, because the actual thing has
disappeared. Wink, wink.

The whole script of new
revalations to the mormons is way over the top. Yet there are so many mormons!

DNA testing has just burst one of their many bubbles. Maybe now they will
just give up, but I doubt it.

For others, living with ambiguity has been more difficult. Phil Ormsby, a Polynesian who lives in Brisbane, Australia, grew up believing he was a Hebrew." I visualized myself among the fighting Lamanites and lived out the fantasies of the [Book of Mormon] as I read it," Ormsby said. "It gave me great mana [prestige] to know that these were my true ancestors." The DNA studies have altered his feelings completely." Some days I am angry, and some days I feel pity," he said. "I feel pity for my people who have become obsessed with something that is nothing but a hoax."

Over the years, church prophets — believed by Mormons to receive revelations from God — and missionaries have used the supposed ancestral link between the ancient Hebrews and Native Americans and later Polynesians as a prime conversion tool in Central and South America and the South Pacific.

In recent decades, Mormonism has flourished in those regions, which now have nearly 4 million members — about a third of Mormon membership worldwide, according to church figures.

"That was the big sell," said Damon Kali, an attorney who practices law in Sunnyvale, Calif., and is descended from Pacific Islanders. "And quite frankly, that was the big sell for me. I was a Lamanite. I was told the day of the Lamanite will come."

A few months into his two-year mission in Peru, Kali stopped trying to convert the locals. Scientific articles about ancient migration patterns had made him doubt that he or anyone else was a Lamanite."

Once you do research and start getting other viewpoints, you're toast," said Kali, who said he was excommunicated in 1996 over issues unrelated to the Lamanite issue. "I could not do missionary work anymore."

Critics of the Book of Mormon have long cited anachronisms in its narrative to argue that it is not the work of God. For instance, the Mormon scriptures contain references to a seven-day week, domesticated horses, cows and sheep, silk, chariots and steel. None had been introduced in the Americas at the time of Christ.

In the 1990s, DNA studies gave Mormon detractors further ammunition and new allies such as Simon G. Southerton, a molecular biologist and former bishop in the church.

Southerton, a senior research scientist with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, said genetic research allowed him to test his religious views against his scientific training.

Genetic testing of Jews throughout the world had already shown that they shared common strains of DNA from the Middle East. Southerton examined studies of DNA lineages among Polynesians and indigenous peoples in North, Central and South America. One mapped maternal DNA lines from 7,300 Native Americans from 175 tribes.

Southerton found no trace of Middle Eastern DNA in the genetic strands of today's American Indians and Pacific Islanders. In "Losing a Lost Tribe," published in 2004, he concluded that Mormonism — his faith for 30 years — needed to be reevaluated in the face of these facts, even though it would shake the foundations of the faith.

The problem is that Mormon leaders cannot acknowledge any factual errors in the Book of Mormon because the prophet Joseph Smith proclaimed it the "most correct of any book on Earth," Southerton said in an interview.

All I can think of as an explanation for the Mormon's great numbers, is that
the Word is powerful. Even if you add on a whole new gold tablets revelation to confuse people and make them "special", it still peeks
through. Although fuzzy, which is a shame.

Supposedly Catholic magazine says "Homosexuality is a fact", representing "truth"

"Academy Awards - The truth will set moviegoers free"

says the article title, regarding the theme of all five movies nominated
this year for Best Picture by the Academy.

And since the article claims "Homosexuality is a fact", it is only "a world
capable of murder, a society that demands lies from those who are different and
just about everyone else" that causes these 2 famous broke cowboys trouble.

The "the Catholic Register" is a liberal rag, and its readers are affirmed
and gobble this stuff up.

Unlike the Pope in 2000 that wasn't too keen on Gay Pride parades in Rome
during the Jubilee year. He said..

"In the name of the Church of Rome, I must express sadness for the affront to the Grand Jubilee of the year 2000 and for the offense to the Christian values of a city that is so dear to the hearts of the Catholics of the world...Homosexual acts are against nature's laws. The church cannot silence the truth, because this would not help discern what is good from what is evil."

The Pope's Truth seems at odds with this magazine's view that in fact,
homosexual cowboys are their own individual truth, whose troubles begin when
they start lying in the presence of oppresive society.

Either the Pope's Church, or this liberal view is wrong. I think it's an easy
call. Gay "Pride" centers around the chief of the 7 deadly sins. This magazine's
supporters are quite apart from the Pope's Church. But they sure do cherish
hanging on to the claim of being "Catholic". Too bad with all their individual
truths, it just ain't true.

I understand their desire to be Catholic, but it is not true, unless the
Church's Truth, and their truth match.

Here's how the article protrays the poor cowboys desending from Jesus'
mountain retreat, into society's hell...

It’s no accident that the first half of Brokeback Mountain is filled with lush Christian imagery which recalls Jesus the good shepherd. When the gay cowboy lovers first discover a way to be authentic with each other — truthful about their basic sexual attractions and the source of their happiness in each other — they achieve a resemblance to truth itself. When they come down off the mountain they return to a world capable of murder, a society that demands lies from those who are different and just about everyone else.

The lies add up to disastrous marriages and wounded families and joyless lives. The movie is not concerned with either condemning or advocating homosexuality. Homosexuality is a fact. Director Ang Lee is interested in how we face the facts — with the authentic human kindness that truth demands, or with lies which justify our violence and loathing of other people.

L'Osservatore Romano: the "new horrors of Abu Ghraib."

The Vatican newspaper said that photos showed "brutality that offends the dignity of the person, mortifies humanity, and violate the sacred value of the person."

It's as simple as that.

As thrilling as "the end justifies the means" can be at the time, it
will always come back to bite you in the butt. Which is what we have here.

Hiding the pictures since 2004 didn't really help us much. As any child
knows, the truth will eventually come out.

I remember the movie Air Force One, when the president's daughter tells the
terrorist
"You are a monster, and my father is a great man. You're nothing like my
father!"

Regarding our leaders in general, over many generations, we could sure use
reality being more like the movies.

Here are the
pictures...

Upcoming Pope politics

A planned papal trip to Turkey will be a critical test of Christian-Muslim relations, a top Roman Catholic official said Wednesday, citing a priest's slaying that a Vatican newspaper has linked to protests over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

"Now (the trip) becomes very serious," Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Vatican's office for Christian unity.

...could use his scheduled visit in November to press Turkey to lessen restrictions on Christian churches and schools.

...promote efforts to close the nearly 1,000-year break with Orthodox churches.

He said there are no discussions about a possible papal trip to Russia, but "we hope in the future it could be possible." Kirill said the Russian Church plans to host a meeting of representatives from all major faiths in Moscow before the Group of Eight summit in July in St. Petersburg. The Vatican will be represented "at a very high level, but not by the pope himself," he said.

Opportunities for Martyrdom

The main culprits behind the martyrdom of Christians appears to be shifting from the ideologies of yesteryear to the Muslim fundamentalism of today.

The most recent, high-profile example of the tendency was the case of the teen-ager in Turkey arrested in the murder of Father Andrea Santoro. The young Turk reportedly told authorities that he was driven by hatred aroused by the cartoons of Mohammed published in the Western press.

It is thought that it is something that could only happen in the times of the first Christians, in the Colosseum, and that no longer happens. But in numbers, martyrdom has never been more prevalent.

Look at Turkey itself. It has always been dangerous for Catholic priests. Although it describes itself as a secular regime, in fact tolerance of Christians is very low.

Therefore, I am not surprised that Turkey was the scene of Father Santoro's murder. But this case shows the type of degeneration of events that we might continue to see in the near future, because of the growing tension between East and West.

It reveals that there are many fanatics, in this case Muslims, ready to take recourse to violence at the least provocation.

When the Americans were in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War, for example, they were ordered not to pray before the battles. And there, as almost anywhere in the Muslim world, a Muslim who converts to Christianity can be punished with death.

But the rights of Christians are regularly violated, and by law, in Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, the Arab Emirates and Turkey. And things are getting worse. I see, for example, outbursts of anti-Christian violence also in Egypt, in addition to, of course, Iraq.

There is also China and North Korea, and threats exist in the Western countries themselves. In many European countries we are witnessing in fact the birth of anti-Christian and anti-religious movements that can be very violent.

It is a hatred born from a feeling of profound humiliation that has its roots in the history of the past century, beginning with World War I.

But now the resentment is sharp. Of course there are many reasons to reflect on the conduct of the West vis-à-vis the Middle East. But the difference is that Christians are prepared for dialogue, while in many Muslim countries the atmosphere is too poisoned to allow for an honest confrontation in equality.

So says Robert Royal, author of the 2002 book "The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century."

Outside the Christian world, things are getting noticeably darker.

Younger boys please

I have always said the this boy(s) adoption thing with homosexual men is
wrong wrong wrong.

This doesn't exactly prove my point as well as NAMBLA does, but: the age of consent is
requested to go lower.

Reacting to the Conservative Government's plan to raise the age of consent for normal sex from 14 to 16, EGALE (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere) has commenced a campaign to have the age of consent for anal sex lowered to 16 from 18. Laurie Arron, the director of advocacy for EGALE remarked to the Ottawa Citizen, "There's no reason to treat anal sex differently than other sexual acts except to stigmatize gay and bisexual men."

However, that statement is categorically false, speaking strictly from a medical standpoint. Even those who support homosexual sex acts warn nonetheless that anal sex is a dangerous activity, regardless of genders involved.

Homosexual activists have long sought to distance themselves from pedophiles, however Canada's most prominent homosexual activist group has now demanded the lowering the age of consent for anal sex to 16 from 18. Surprisingly, Canada's National Post, regarded by some as a 'conservative' paper has come out in favour of the proposal.

They may have "long sought" it,

but I don't buy it.

The rest of the article is quite graphic. Here's the article if you choose...