Still Running Off at the Keyboard

NEW ORLEANS TODAY

Amy has opened a blog to the people struggling to recover from Katrina. There you will find the kind of reports the evening news won't give you. If you want to know what NO is like now, go read through the comments.

I came away from reading them with the sense that there is so much more room for God to have a place in a devastated city like NO than in our modern bustling metropolises. Certainly all of the people reporting from NO are poor in spirit and uncertain of their future. How striking that those who are poor in spirit seem to be more open to the values that Christianity holds dear--the values that are the very essence of the Kingdom of Heaven.

How striking too is one report about the need for the Archbishop's presence, and the noted fact that he is nowhere to be seen.

PETER SINGER'S LATEST STATEMENT

During the next 35 years, the traditional view of the sanctity of human life will collapse under pressure from scientific, technological, and demographic developments, says controversial bio-ethics professor Peter Singer.

"By 2040, it may be that only a rump of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists will defend the view that every human life, from conception to death, is sacrosanct," says Princeton University's defender of infanticide. "In retrospect, 2005 may be seen as the year in which that position (of the sanctity of life) became untenable," he writes in the fall issue of Foreign Policy.

Singer sees 2005's battle over the life of Terri Schiavo as a key to this changing ethic.

Continue reading...

"a rump of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists"

Sweet!

I emphasize it just in case there was any lurking doubt about what the opposition thinks of us.

Blogger credit to a reader for the link.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

RATZINGER ON SALVATION

Check out the passages from Ratzinger's book INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIANITY:

here and here. He really does say that the Church is not necessary for salvation.

Then look at item 14 from UBI PRIMUM, the Encyclical of Pope Leo XII, 1984, which says:

Certainly many remarkable authors, adherents of the true philosophy, have taken pains to attack and crush this strange view. But the matter is so self-evident that it is superfluous to give additional arguments. It is impossible for the most true God, who is Truth Itself, the best, the wisest Provider, and the Rewarder of good men, to approve all sects who profess false teachings which are often inconsistent with one another and contradictory, and to confer eternal rewards on their members. For we have a surer word of the prophet, and in writing to you We speak wisdom among the perfect; not the wisdom of this world but the wisdom of God in a mystery. By it we are taught, and by divine faith we hold one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and that no other name under heaven is given to men except the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth in which we must be saved. This is why we profess that there is no salvation outside the Church.

And check out this statement from the Council of Florence, 1442:

It firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the catholic church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the catholic church before the end of their lives; that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the church's sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed his blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and the unity of the catholic church.

If Benedict wants to make this sort of change from the Tradition, he has to do a whole lot more than make a casual statement in an audience. He has to write an encyclical defending this 180 flip-flop with something that at least sounds plausible, or de facto he is scrapping our appeal to Tradition as a part of our faith. Not even a pope can do that.

Is he trying to say that he believes they were wrong? Should we expect an apology next? If they were wrong, on what do we base a belief that he is right?

Blogger credit to Novus Ordo Watch.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

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Correction:

Then look at item 14 from UBI PRIMUM, the Encyclical of Pope Leo XII, 1984, which says:

The date in that sentence should have read "1824".

JESUIT CHASTITY

or more specifically the definition of chastity, which is the subject of one of the threads in Dom's blog. He discusses an old blog by Diogenes, and the ways that the word can be nuanced to mean whatever someone wants to say it means. The line of thinking in the comments is interesting.

Monica gives the standard definition - chastity means no sex unless you are having sex with your wife or husband.

Tess wades in with "Priests however do have a Bride, the Church."

Since the talk revolves around sex between a man and woman married to each other, and since that is being compared to a priest who is wedded to the Church, the next thought that jumped into my mind is priests f--- the Church, which of course is totally irrevent and gross to think let alone say. But there it is...

And the conclusion that follows immediately is that that is precisely what some of the priests have done using the laity's children as vehicles.

The discussion and my thinking have become disgusting, revolting, nauseating.

Those who want to change the Church have forced all of us to discuss things we would never have even thought just five years ago. I speculate about priests in ways I could never have fathomed in my worst nightmare five years ago. I know things I don't want to know about priests, about bishops, about Popes.

And just when I'm at this low point, along comes B16 telling me it isn't necessary to belong to this Church in order to be saved.

Well. If I don't need to belong, why on earth should I, and so why do I?

Mark Shea doesn't even have to comment for me to know the kind of venom this blog would elicit from him.

BONDAGE PANTS

Of all the odd fads that teenagers get themselves caught up in, this one is the weirdest. I suspect they don't know what this represents. Heck, before the web, I didn't know what this was about! Perhaps Heather Thompson's father isn't familiar with computers and thus just naive. In any case, according to the Winona Daily News, Winona Senior High School has banned the wearing of bondage pants.

So what are they, anyway? Check out the images provided by Google.

Straps. In places that impair walking. But no big deal--just a dumb fashion statement, right?

Well, not necessarily. If you want the real thing and not just the prettied up fashion statement, Google "bondage pants" and you will get a hit for Temptations Direct. They sell the real thing, not the prettied up stylish version. Why would a parent want to introduce his daughter to sado-masochism? Why should a high school allow its students to promote it?

Yet in Winona we have a father who indulges his daughter's foolishness by stating "If I felt the pants were unsafe, my daughter wouldn't be wearing them...This is all because these kids are dressing different than everybody else." No, pops, it's not; and either you are displaying your naivety or you are telling us something about yourself that you ought to be ashamed to have us know.

POPE SAYS CHURCH NOT NECESSARY

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Whoever seeks peace and the good of the community with a pure conscience, and keeps alive the desire for the transcendent, will be saved even if he lacks biblical faith, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope made this affirmation today at the general audience, commenting on a meditation written by St. Augustine (354-430).

On a rainy morning in Rome, the Holy Father's meditation, addressed to more than 23,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square, concentrated on the suffering of the Jewish people in the Babylonian exile, expressed dramatically in Psalm 136(137).

The Pontiff referred to Augustine's commentary on this composition of the Jewish people, noting that this "Father of the Church introduces a surprising element of great timeliness."

Augustine "knows that also among the inhabitants of Babylon there are people who are committed to peace and the good of the community, despite the fact that they do not share the biblical faith, that they do not know the hope of the Eternal City to which we aspire," Benedict XVI stated.

"They have a spark of desire for the unknown, for the greatest, for the transcendent, for a genuine redemption," explained the Pope, quoting Augustine.

Continue reading...

Great! Now how is he going to justify that with the teaching of past popes who have certainly taught something vastly different? B16 is preaching universalism, not Catholicism.

And why in the world should I put up with this scandal-ridden Church when this Church is no longer necessary for salvation according to the Pope? I don't need the Church to be a nice warm fuzzy humanitarian. All I need is the Masonic Lodge. They are very good at it!

And what's with this "spark" all of a sudden turning up in places where you'd not expect to find it? Is this the beginning of a synthesis of Jewish and Christian theology?

ISLAMIC CHARITY

Hundreds of Christian families in Pakistan are being kicked out of their homes to make way for Muslims left destitute by the Kashmir earthquake, a Catholic bishop has said. Bishop Anthony Lobo of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Pakistan, said the Pakistani government has evicted Christians to solve the problem of how to house some 3 million people left homeless by the disaster. The Oct. 8 earthquake killed more than 73,000 people, but those left homeless continue to be threatened with death from exposure to single-digit winter temperatures. Bishop Lobo told the British branch of Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity, Nov. 29 that Christians in the neighboring Sind province, which was unaffected by the earthquake, might now also perish because they were being turned onto the streets without alternative accommodation provided for them. He said that he knew of at least 40 families, or about 200 people, who had been evicted around Joharabad, near Karachi.

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The article goes on to recount the contributions for disaster relief that have been made by the Catholics and about the Christian churches that have been destroyed. I guess this is the way the Muslims express their gratitude.

JEWS DEFENDING CHRISTIANS

Another good link from the mailbox:

On December 1st, there will be a press conference convened by Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C.; it begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Murrow Room. (For more information, call Bryan Rudnick at 561-499-3201.)

In attendance will be the organization’s president, Don Feder, as well as Michael Horowitz from the Hudson Institute, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, the president of Toward Tradition, and Rabbi Yehuda Levin of Jews for Morality; entertainer Jackie Mason will speak via conference call.

Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation was organized to combat anti-Christian bias in government, the news media, Hollywood, public education, and from activist groups (see www.jews4fairness.org).

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ARE WE A NATION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, OR NOT ?

ST. LOUIS, Illinois, December 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Four Walgreens pharmacists have been suspended without pay for refusing to dispense the abortifacient morning-after pill.

The pharmacies, all located in Illinois, are subject to a law instituted by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in April that forces pharmacists to fill prescriptions whether they are morally opposed or not.

Continue reading...

Thanks to a reader for the link.

ALTARS FROM NOVUS ORDO WATCH

HAVE YOU HAD YOUR LAUGH FOR THE DAY ?

If not then go for it.

Blogger credit to Novus Ordo Watch who refers to them as "happy nuns," and they certainly do look to be happy.

Here are some more.

"THE LETTER" THAT ACCOMPANIED "THE DOCUMENT"

Hat tip to Amy Welborn.

BISHOPS REACTIONS TO THE DOCUMENT

is presented at Catholic News Service, including Aux. Bishop Richard J. Garcia of Sacramento; Cardinal Francis E. George, Chicago; Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane; Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee;Bishop Matthew H. Clark of Rochester; Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, Bishop John M. D'Arcy. There is also commentary from several priests.

JUST BLINK AND THE SCHEDULE CHANGES

I guess it's the time of year, but schedules can't even seem to be set in sand this week at my house.

As you can see, what I thought would keep me away from the computer today has not worked out that way.

Tomorrow...????

BUILDING CONSENSUS - DESTROYING INDIVIDUAL THINKING

Several years ago my husband and I were board members of a state-wide crafts organization. The board president rejected majority rule, opting instead to use consensus-building techniques to run the show. It was an interesting experiment in futility. We and he saw the dynamics of the field from opposing viewpoints, and he was determined that his viewpoint would hold sway.

Much of the board work was done via computer on a daily basis, with only sporadic meetings in person. The president was not well-skilled in transformational techniques, and so there were serious ongoing disagreements within the board which finally resulted in a successful political maneuver to oust the dissenters. Since we were edged out, it has been interesting to watch the organization shrink. Naturally this political move was not the only factor causing the membership decline, nor even the main factor in the shrinkage; but it nevertheless remains a satisfying phenomenon considering the way we were treated.

Consensus-building does not make for a smooth-running organization, but it does permit those in power to stay there.

Catherine at Threshing Grain links an article by Lynn Stuter titled "The Unseen Enemy that's Stealing America," which discusses the negatives of using "consensus" as a transformational methodology, and outlines its ties to communism via Antonio Gramsci.

She writes:

Antonio Gramsci was a transformational Marxist. ...what Gramsci advocated was the transformation of society to the communist state via gradulaism--the gradual erosion of old ideas, replacing them with the new. As opposed to Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and Mussolini, Gramsci advocated the quiet revolution.

The Hegelian Dialectic of thesis (an idea), antithesis (the opposite), and synthesis (the bringing together of opposites) to form a new thesis, ever evolving, plays a heavy role in the gradualism Gramsci proposed. Today, in America, the Hegelian Dialectic is played out in meetings at every level, all across America, under the name of consensus building using facilitators heavily trained in group dynamics.

She places the American advent of this methodology in 1939 when "several individuals from Austria arrived" on our shores, among them Peter Drucker who became friends with humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow. Drucker's work concerned "systems philosophy," or the idea that all systems in the universe are interrelated to the point that something which impacts one system impacts them all.

I've covered the Human Potential Movement as it has entered Catholic spirituality in previous blogs and will not repeat that material; however, Stuter also indicates that Carl Rogers played a part. Another player was Kurt Lewin, who, according to Stuter, like Gramsci was a transformational Marxist. The environmental movement that numerous orders of Catholic sisters have latched onto is one result of this activity. Suter writes:

The Gaia Hypothesis is the outreach of the environmental movement and reads as follows: the earth is a living, breathing organism (a living entity), irreducible to its parts (one system); what affects one part affects all parts (interconnected and interdependent); if we are to save spaceship earth, we must change our ways. ...

It is easy to see, although worded differently, that the Gaia Hypothesis and system theory defined are the same, excepting the existentialist transcendentalism apparent in the Gaia Hypothesis but not apparent in, but present in the semantics of, systems theory.

One promoter of this theory is Ervin Laszlo. Stuter continues:

Systems theory is the foundation of the works of the likes of Drucker and Deming and those who follow them. Ervin Laszlo, born in Communist Hungary...is an avid writer and supporter of systems theory. His more recent book, HOW YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, is yet another enlightening expose on how systems theory is to play out.

Ervin Laszlo, you may recall, is the Chair (or Co-Chair) of the World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality. Bro. Wayne Teasdale was a member, and The Global Dialogue Institute, co-founded by Prof. Leonard Swidler, is closely associated with The World Commission--so closely associated that Ingrid Shafer who writes the newsletter for the Global Dialogue Institute is the webmaster for the World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality.

The Gaia Hypothesis has resulted from the work of James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, two members of Lindisfarna Associates. Other members of both Lindisfarna and The World Commission include James Parks Morton, Robert Thurman, Hazel Henderson, and Robert Muller, who is Co-Chair of The World Commission.

Stuter writes:

Peter Senge, author of THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE: THE ART AND PRACTICE OF THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION,...is referenced heavily in books advocating education transformation in schools. Senge does not come right out and say it, but insinuates, in the above noted book, that Christians who refuse to become part of the learning organization, i.e., part of the collective mind, willing to engage in existentialist transcen-dentalism, deny truth and are a liability to the business employing them.

Stuter ties outcome-based education to the work of system theory Marxists. She says:

...systems education changes the focus of education from educating the child for intelligence to producing a worker; the school becomes a workforce development center, producing workers according to regional economic development strategies and regional labor market needs as determined by the regional Workforce Development Boards (established under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998) under the auspicies of the federal government.

It would seem that a small example of this turned up recently in Amy Welborn's blog. Her son's preschool teacher wanted Amy to teach him how to skip. It raised quite a number of comments, mostly in agreement with Amy's determination that she would not be doing that. What would skipping have to do with the workplace? Perhaps the development of the concept that everyone must "step in time" with the majority, which of course is the requirement of the corporation.

Stuter notes that "Nazi Germany and the U.S.S.R. were both built on a system finding basis in systems theory." Not very encouraging! She indicates that while Goals 2000 and the School to Work Opportunities Act have both seen their sunset,"the system both these [programs] put in place is very much alive and well and providing the structure needed to implement systems education by whatever name its called: outcome-based, performance-based, outcomes-driven..."

One thing that system theory requires is databases. System theorists like to gather up statistics. Computers make this possible, and thus she writes:

In the United States, data from education (and other sources) is being gathered at the federal level by the National Center on Educational Statistics (NCES) under the auspicies of the U.S. Department of Education. That data gathering is inclusive of health records, court records, religious affiliations, grades and courses, assessments of every possible imaginable kind...and much, much, more. The SPEEDE/ExPRESS book, put out by NCES, delineating codes for all the various inputs sought, is over 1-1/4 inches thick! Computers will, before long, be able to interface (talk to one another) such that an individual's dossier, birth to death or birth to present, will be available for the viewing at the push of a button. Along with being used at the individual level, individual information will also be compiled at various levels (local, state, regional), to leverage systems.

It seems to me that already computers talk to each other. Consider how updates to the anti-virus programs are downloaded into your computer via the anti-virus provider. Dito Microsoft updates.

Now consider for a moment the extensive database of dedicated Catholics who volunteer to be fingerprinted and fed into a computer in exchange for the privilege of serving in a volunteer capacity at their local parish! What happens when the Catholics "refuse to become part of the collective mind, willing to engage in transcendentalism" ala Gaia theory and environmentalism?

One of the problems here, as Stuter states:

...is that the information used will only be as accurate as the one giving it and the one inputting it. For example, assessments are a subjective measure of performance. They are not accurate nor an accurate predictor of ability. Not by a long shot.

Again refer to that blog of Amy Welborn's wherein the commenters indicate that the ability to skip has not been predictive of academic ability. In fact it could almost be said that the lack has been predictive of superior ability since there is some anecdotal evidence there that those who didn't conform went on to advanced academic achievements. According to Stuter:

Because of this, the analyzing of data, coming from state assessments, to leverage the education system to reach its goal in achieving the sustainable global environment, will be decidedly inaccurate, and the education system will continue to fail.

The gathering and analysis of data is a necessity to the leveraging of systems to sustain balance. This is why it is so very important that people not give information or allow their information to be computerized...

Obviously that's a lot easier to say than to accomplish. Her concluding comments are not easy to read:

...tyranny will accompany transformational Marxism in its final implementation, the populace will be faced with the reality that those behind the implementation of Marxism in the United States will not give up their conquest without a fight. And the populace will have nothing left with which to fight, including their right to keep and bear arms and their right to free speech.

If we want to keep our freedom, the time to defeat transformation Marxism is now.

Meanwhile, transformation is the new spiritual mantra in Monastic Interreligious Dialogue; and Ewert Cousins, Co-Convenor of the Executive Committee of The World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality, speaks to the monks about the transformation of Christ on the cross; and Ervin Laszlo appears on a program entitled "Science, Religion and Caring for the Environment: A Personal and Global Responsibility," sponsored by The Club of Budapest USA, with the collaboration of United Religions Initiative, among others.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

FR. HARVEY DISCUSSES "THE DOCUMENT"

at Zenit:

NEW YORK, NOV. 30, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The new Vatican instruction on the priesthood and those with homosexual tendencies was exactly the clarification the Church needed, says one expert in the treatment of same-sex attractions.

Father John Harvey, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, is director of Courage International, a support group for men and women with same-sex attractions who wish to live chastely according to Church teachings.

He shared his views of the new document with ZENIT.

Q: What is your impression of the new Vatican document on seminaries and those with homosexual tendencies?

Father Harvey: I think it is very good because it does not try to answer every question -- it tells you from the beginning that it will not. I think it is refreshing. It simply sets down norms for bishops, rectors and people in seminary work.

I think it is wise to put the responsibility on bishops and rectors to understand this issue and to make decisions about individual seminarians. I think this is a good thing instead of answering every question.

It is clear of two types they do not want: those are actively engaged in a homosexual lifestyle and those who push the gay agenda, that "gay is good." People with that view should not be in seminary.

The document rightly mentions that some distinctions should be made between people with deep-seated homosexual tendencies and people with transitory same-sex attractions. It is correct in that some homosexual tendencies may be a symptom of a problem of delayed adolescence.

Q: Did anything surprise you about the document? Or was it as you expected?

Father Harvey: I was not sure what we would get. I cannot really say what I was expecting; I was just hoping it would not be a big universal statement like "Anyone with same-sex attractions is automatically eliminated." It does not say that and allows that there are a lot of distinctions to be made.

I was surprised by the moderation of the document. It did not touch on every situation and left a lot to discretion of theologians and psychologists. I was delighted with it.

Continue reading...

Fr. Harvey's responses do indicate that he believes an allowance has been made for homosexual seminarians, although they must be celibate and not be supporters of the gay agenda. He seems to see the same gray area that USCCB President Bishop Skylstad spoke about.

In the eyes of some, homosexuality has been granted a window of opportunity in the priesthood.

What will prevent a seminarian from changing his lifestyle once he has been ordained? To my mind nothing at all. Which means that once again the laity must recognize that their children are in danger when they are in a position of isolation with a priest.

What will be done if it is discovered that a priest is living an active homosexual life? There is nothing in the document to even begin to address this.

With this sort of spin coming from the President of the USCCB and now from Fr. Harvey, will more fall in line behind them?

I am very much afraid nothing is going to change in the seminaries, especially if the rector has embraced a homosexual lifestyle, though it may be kept under cover for a while. I might even go so far as to say that so long as we have homosexual bishops we will have homosexual seminarians.

Or in other words, at least in some dioceses, business as usual.

TOMORROW

the real world is threatening to overrun blogging time. If the threat materializes as expected, I won't have time to get to the computer until evening.

LIMBO

On talk radio this afternoon the hot Church topic wasn't homosexual priests, the hot topic was Limbo. Specifically the changes that are said to be coming:

THE Catholic Church is preparing to abandon the idea of limbo, the theological belief that children who die before being baptised are suspended in a space between heaven and hell.

The concept, which was devised in the 13th century and was depicted in numerous works of art during the Renaissance, such as Descent into Limbo by the painter Giotto, and in Dante's masterpiece, the Divine Comedy, is of a metaphysical space where infants are blissfully happy but are not actually in the presence of God.


The idea of limbo was developed as a response to the harshness of early Church teachings which insisted that any child who died before he or she was baptised would still be stained by Original Sin and so would be condemned to hell.

The belief, which is unique to the Catholic Church, has fallen out of favour over the past 50 years. It is rarely mentioned and until recently has been left in its own kind of limbo.

However, an international commission of Catholic theologians, meeting in the Vatican this week, has been pondering the issue and is expected to advise Pope Benedict XVI to announce officially that the theological concept of limbo is incorrect.

Instead, the new belief is expected to be that unbaptised babies will go directly to heaven.

Pope Benedict had already expressed his doubts about limbo when, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he was head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Church's doctrinal watchdog.

Continue reading...

The talking heads here seem to think that if the theology of limbo has been promulgated, it can't just be withdrawn without harming the credibility of the Church's claim to truth.

HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS

From an article at BBC News linked at New Oxford Review:

Father Bernard Lynch is an openly gay Roman Catholic priest who works with HIV/Aids sufferers in London. He spoke to the BBC news website about his own experience of being gay within the Church, and the impact the new Vatican guidelines will have.

Of course I have had a hard time being gay within the Roman Catholic Church. But the big religious orders - the Dominicans, the Franciscans - have long protected their members against Rome, and mine - African Missions - has stood up for me.

Inevitably it will stop some people from joining the priesthood - people for whom sexual integrity is important. And at the same time, it will unfortunately attract people who are not mature enough to accept themselves

I've been active in the issue of homosexuality and the Church for 30 years. We always thought things would get worse before they got better - and things have got worse. These guidelines represent an extraordinarily regressive step.

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As you read the article, think about some of the material I've been blogging about Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. Is there some kind of correlation here?

KEEP THE SANTA, LOSE THE CRECHE

A reader sent in this story from the Detroit News:

The multicolored nativity scene on the Samona family's front yard is under attack.

The Samonas' neighborhood association has ordered the Novi family to remove its seven-piece plastic display or face possible fines of $25 to $100 per week.

The family isn't budging and neither are its three wise men. The Samonas have vowed not only to keep the display, but also are threatening to enhance it."If you take this out, it's not Christmas anymore," said Joe Samona, 16, as he reached down and scooped baby Jesus from the creche on his parents' front lawn.

A letter sent by the association to the Samonas has brought to their front yard the nation's latest skirmish over just how and where the Christianity of Christmas should be on display.

There is a picture with the article which shows not only the manger scene but also Santa in a sleigh. No, it isn't my taste in lawn ornaments, but asthetics isn't the point of the complaint which targeted specifically the religious objects. Do we still live in a religiously free country, or not? The complaint filed with the association did not object to the Santa:

Dean Williams, the community association manager and author of the letter, said according to association rules in place since 2000 and signed by the Samonas when they bought the home in 2002, homeowners must request permission to place statues or lawn ornaments outside their home. The Samonas say they never signed any such document.

Asked why the letter specified that only the nativity scene be removed when several other objects stand on the lawn, Williams said the complainant -- another neighbor in Tollgate Woods -- complained only about the nativity scene.

"As a management firm, we do not go out and police. The community will decide what will be allowed and won't be," Williams said. "It's a community decision. It's not a management decision."

Williams would not reveal the identity of the complaining homeowner but read a portion of the complaint: "Although I'm not offended by it, I take issue about advertising personal beliefs and interests by putting them on display whatever the belief or interest may be."

The writer is being inconsistent. A personal belief in Christ generates his objections. A personal belief in Santa apparently does not. His letter displays his bigotry, his denial notwithstanding.

HAS THE CHURCH DECIDED TO ACCEPT HOMOSEXUAL CLERGY ?

In a conversation with my husband at dinner last night I brought up "The Document." He quickly interrupted to tell me that the Church had decided to accept homosexual clergy with this document, that it was a change from what the Church had previously believed, and that he was "turned off" (not his words, but I won't use those here) by this decision.

He doesn't follow Catholic news and is not a regular Mass goer. All of his information comes from secular news sources. Apparently this is the interpretation from the sources he had heard. How did they come to that conclusion? Perhaps this explains it.

A reader sent in a link to this Washington Post story about Bishop Skylstad's statement which says in part:

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said yesterday that under a new Vatican directive on homosexuality, men with a lasting attraction to members of the same sex can still be ordained as priests, as long as they are not "consumed by" their sexual orientation.

Bishop William S. Skylstad's flexible interpretation of the document, which was officially issued in Rome yesterday, was sharply at odds with the position of some other U.S. bishops. They said the Vatican intended to bar all men who have had more than a fleeting, adolescent brush with homosexuality.

"I think one of the telling sentences in the document is the phrase that the candidate's entire life of sacred ministry must be 'animated by a gift of his whole person to the church and by an authentic pastoral charity,' " Skylstad, the bishop of Spokane, Wash., said in an interview. "If that becomes paramount in his ministry, even though he might have a homosexual orientation, then he can minister and he can minister celibately and chastely."

Bishop Skylstad, President of USCCB, is one of four bishops the USCCB Media Relations Office has arranged to speak officially for the organization. The other three include Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, Bishop Blase J. Cupich, and Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, so his message carries weight, and it seems to be a change from what the Church has taught down through the centuries according to an article from LifeSite:

ROME, November 30, 2005 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) - A Vatican consultant, in an interview with the I Media news service, has observed that the Church has always taught that homosexuals should not become priests, since they suffer from a "structural incoherence" in their approach to human sexuality. The question of whether homosexual men should become priests has been raised repeatedly by Church leaders, and always answered negatively said Msgr. Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit who is a consultant to the Pontifical Council on the Family. The French priest-psychologist cited decisions by the Council of Paris in 819, and the 3rd and 4th Lateran Councils in 1169 and 1215.

Writing in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, in an article that appeared alongside the newly released instruction on homosexuality and the priesthood, Msgr. Anatrella wrote that the new Vatican Instruction barring homosexuals from Catholic seminaries was necessary because "homosexuality has become an increasingly worrisome problem," adding that the acceptance of homosexuality could have a "destabilizing" effect on the lives of individuals and on society at large.

Msgr. Anatrella said that homosexuality is "a tendency and not an identity." The Catholic Church, he argued, has a duty to warn against the acceptance of an "incomplete and immature" approach to human sexuality.

Bishop Skylstad's interpretation certainly had a "destabilizing" effect on my husband's opinion of the Church! It was bad enough before, trying to persuade him to attend Mass. This sure ain't gonna help!

I was unable to retrieve any statements from Archbishop Dolan, Bishop Cupich or Bishop Kicanas. Have they spoken? Can they give an opposing viewpoint once the President of the USCCB has made a statement? Will Skylstad's interpretation, that homosexual celibate men will still be eligible for ordination, be the American interpretation of the document? Meaning business as usual in the seminaries and thus an ongoing threat to the laity's children?

Do we have bishop opposing bishop as predicted in one of the Marian apparitions?

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

TRANSLATION OF "THE DOCUMENT" AT THE USCCB WEBSITE

NOR ARTICLE ABOUT LABYRINTHS

in which they quote Lee Penn is posted at their website.

A TRANSLATION OF "THE DOCUMENT"

is provided at the New Oxford Review website.

VATICAN'S POSITION ON HOMOSEXUALITY

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican newspaper said on Tuesday that homosexuality risked "destabilizing people and society", had no social or moral value and could never match the importance of the relationship between a man and a woman.

The remarks were contained in a long commentary published to accompany the official release of a long-awaited document that restricted the access of homosexual men to the Roman Catholic priesthood.

The article by Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit and psychologist, said homosexuality could not be considered an acceptable moral alternative to heterosexuality.

"During these past years, homosexuality has become a phenomenon that is always increasingly worrying and in many countries is considered a quality that is normal," the article in L'Osservatore Romano said.

The article was specifically approved by the Vatican's secretariat of state.

Continue reading...

Will this turn out to be a line drawn in the sand?

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

PFLAG NOT HAPPY WITH "THE DOCUMENT"

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A new instruction from the Vatican that calls for the removal of gay priests and places a ban on gay seminarians and supporters of "gay culture" is being labeled as destructive to families of faith by Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

"While many religious groups have made brave strides towards the inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) members of their faith communities, this new instruction from the Vatican accomplishes the complete opposite, leaving the church stuck in the past," said Jody M. Huckaby, PFLAG executive director. "Excluding gay men -- and ostensibly, those who support them -- is hardly following the core values of love and acceptance found in the Gospels.

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VIETNAM HAS 57 NEW PRIESTS

HANOI, Vietnam – Thousands of people lined the streets Monday as the Roman Catholic Church ordained 57 new priests in an unprecedented ceremony that added the single largest number of priests in Vietnam at one time.
Vatican envoy Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe presided over the three-hour ceremony held at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi, urging the new priests to spread their faith in the communist country.

"Like Jesus Christ, you should preach among all people and wash their sins," Sepe told the cheering crowds. "Loving Jesus Christ must be known through priests' teachings. Among 80 million Vietnamese, there are only 6 million Catholics."

The cardinal is the first senior Vatican official allowed to ordain priests in Vietnam, a significant step reflecting thawing relations as the Vatican and Hanoi move closer towards establishing diplomatic ties.

Continue reading...

VATICAN'S POSITION ON HOMOSEXUALITY

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican newspaper said on Tuesday that homosexuality risked "destabilizing people and society", had no social or moral value and could never match the importance of the relationship between a man and a woman.

The remarks were contained in a long commentary published to accompany the official release of a long-awaited document that restricted the access of homosexual men to the Roman Catholic priesthood.

The article by Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a French Jesuit and psychologist, said homosexuality could not be considered an acceptable moral alternative to heterosexuality.

"During these past years, homosexuality has become a phenomenon that is always increasingly worrying and in many countries is considered a quality that is normal," the article in L'Osservatore Romano said.

The article was specifically approved by the Vatican's secretariat of state.

Continue reading...

Will this turn out to be a line drawn in the sand?

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

FR. JIM TUCKER ON THE DEATH OF AMERICA

The Death of America -- I forget where I found the link, but Drudge has posted on a number of end-of-America TV programs slated for 2006. Even though it's possible that the United States will be what the Roman Empire aspired to be -- an empire without limits of space or time, lords of all things, as Vergil said -- it's highly unlikely. I sometimes sit and wonder how this country will meet its end. Many seem to think our greatest danger lies in attacks from our enemies abroad -- in the Cold War, we most feared attack by the Soviets (remember watching Red Dawn back in the '80s?), now it's the Islamic terrorists. Moralists and religious conservatives often cite moral decline as the time bomb waiting to destroy us, and sometimes draw historically shaky connections to the Fall of Rome.

I think my own fears about the collapse of America are plotted out in the great dystopian novels of the 20th century, which depict a swollen government that has assumed total control over the lives of its citizens. This is repeated in the Star Wars cycle -- consolidation of power in the name of security and efficient government, incremental crushing of liberties, and a new order of things that still manages to keep many of the exterior trappings of what went before.

Continue reading...

I think he is way too close to reality to make this blog an easy read.

Thanks to pml for the link.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

HERESY LEADS TO SCHISM

BABIES THAT SURVIVE ABORTION

A GOVERNMENT agency is launching an inquiry into doctors’ reports that up to 50 babies a year are born alive after botched National Health Service abortions.

The investigation, by the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH), comes amid growing unease among clinicians over a legal ambiguity that could see them being charged with infanticide.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which regulates methods of abortion, has also mounted its own investigation.

Its guidelines say that babies aborted after more than 21 weeks and six days of gestation should have their hearts stopped by an injection of potassium chloride before being delivered. In practice, few doctors are willing or able to perform the delicate procedure.

Continue reading...

THE SOUNDS OF HELL ?

And speaking of weird underground sounds... have scientists actually recorded the sounds of people suffering in Hell? This sound file comes from Art Bell's Web site which was submitted by one of his listeners in response to following story, allegedly quoting a scientist as excerpted from Ammenusastia, a Finnish newspaper. It seems the researchers had drilled a nine-mile-deep hole and were astonished at what they heard down there:

"As a communist I don't believe in heaven or the Bible, but as a scientist I now believe in hell," said Dr. Azzacove. "Needless to say we were shocked to make such a discovery. But we know what we saw and we know what we heard. And we are absolutely convinced that we drilled through the gates of hell!" Dr. Azzacove continued, "...the drill suddenly began to rotate wildly, indicating that we had reached a large empty pocket or cavern. Temperature sensors showed a dramatic increase in heat to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. We lowered a microphone, designed to detect the sounds of plate movements down the shaft. But instead of plate movements we heard a human voice screaming in pain! At first we thought the sound was coming from our own equipment. But when we made adjustments our worst suspicions were confirmed. The screams weren't those of a single human, they were the screams of millions of humans!"

ECUMENICAL THANKSGIVING AT CATHOLIC CHURCH

Daytona, Nov. 25, 2005 (CNA) - Buddhists, Baptists, Jews and Unitarians joined Catholics at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Daytona Beach Monday at the fifth annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service.

More than 400 people attended, of all ages and ethnicities and representing 21 different religious groups, prayed and gave thanks.

Continue reading...

Blogger credit to a reader.

SATANIST JUVENILE ARRESTED IN CHICAGO

CHICAGO, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Chicago police held an 18-year-old self-described Satanist Sunday for allegedly kidnapping two children in a bizarre plot to win back his ex-girlfriend.

David Rodriguez was charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping and ordered held in lieu of $500,000 bail. Prosecutors said he planned get his girlfriend back by carving a pentagram into the chest of a 6-year-old girl.

Continue reading...

Blogger credit to Spirit Daily.

LORD OF THE WORLD

by Fr. Robert Hugh Benson.

The book, first published in 1907, is the story of the last days of earth during the rise of the antichrist; and it's online here for anyone who wants to read it. There is no charge for doing so.
Anyone with an interest in apocalyptic literature has heard of Fr. Benson's book. He was a good writer, and the story moves at a fast pace keeping the reader's interest.

I was struck by a significant correlation between this story of the Last Days, Soloviev's "Short Story of the Antichrist", and Michael O'Brien's FATHER ELIJAH. In each case the site of refuge for the Pope when he must leave Rome is Israel, a nation which did not yet exist at the time Benson wrote, and which is therefore presented rather differently than it would be today.

Early in the story the pope forms a new religious order, The Order of Christ Crucified, which is to be a force for the Church as the rule of the antichrist escalates. It brought Opus Dei immediately to mind, and that thought stayed with me throughout the book. There are notable similarities.

There are other curiosities in Benson's novel. Volors, Benson's name for airships which resemble in part both trains and boats, were largely imaginary, since the Wright brothers had made their first flight just four years prior to the release date of the book. Though he had most likely never flown, his description of flying given from the vantage point of looking out the window of the airship was rather close to the actual experience.

Euthanasia plays a part in the story, with Benson placing the legislation that makes it legal in 1998. Strangely prophetic. But even though he predicted euthanasia so accurately, ironically he failed to anticipate air-conditioning.

His antichrist figure rises to power mysteriously, and Benson doesn't attempt any logical explanation for this rise. The riots that follow the takeover of world government bear a similarity to accounts of the French Revolution. Benson was convinced that Freemasonry would give birth to the movement for the antichrist and mentions Masonry several times in the story. He does not mention Theosophy, however; and esotericism plays a very small part in his tale. His last pope is named Sylvester, not Peter the Roman.

If you can spare the time and like apocalyptic novels, this book is a good read.