You Would Swear There was a Certain Fascination to It

Another person smarter than I has taken up this silly blogging business. A warm razzing, if you please, for Bonaventura, the exclusive proprietor of Breviloquia.

You Would Swear There was a Certain Fascination to It

Another person smarter than I has taken up this silly blogging business. A warm razzing, if you please, for Bonaventura, the exclusive proprietor of Breviloquia.

Smoke Around the Altar in the Diocese of Rochester

What's going down in the Diocese of Rochester (NY) you ask? (Okay, you probably don't but you should.) Well, the number of priests is way down; from 1995 to 2005 the diocese lost 45% of them. Mass attendance is also down, 25% since 2002. The reason for the depressing numbers is an old and familiar one to this ex-Episcopalian: an out-of-control bishop, heedless of the consequences, pushing through an innovative agenda, in this instance attempting to transform Holy Church into a typically modern liberal protestant denomination with ageing feminists, both lay and religious, calling the shots. Alas, the bishop has been largely successful in his efforts, to the point where in his diocese, similarly to most mainstream protestant denominations, parishioners and priests stay away in droves.

In the Diocese of Rochester, for example, six women, calling themselves "lay administrators," are in charge of twelve parishes. Elsewhere in the diocese there are five women religious in charge of 11 churches. The administrators answer to the bishop while the priests answer to the administrators--only they are not called priests, rather "sacramental ministers" or in the much more colorful words of a critic, "sacramental Pez machines." One can only imagine the ghastly state of the liturgy in this 'seventies era nightmare. Read all the sordid details here.

In the Diocese of Rochester, as well the Diocese of Albany (my how things have come to a sorry pass for Holy Mother Church in upstate New York!), traditional Catholics count the days till these dreadful liberal bishops mercifully retire.

Thanks to Inigo Hicks.

Smoke Around the Altar in the Diocese of Rochester

What's going down in the Diocese of Rochester (NY) you ask? (Okay, you probably don't but you should.) Well, the number of priests is way down; from 1995 to 2005 the diocese lost 45% of them. Mass attendance is also down, 25% since 2002. The reason for the depressing numbers is an old and familiar one to this ex-Episcopalian: an out-of-control bishop, heedless of the consequences, pushing through an innovative agenda, in this instance attempting to transform Holy Church into a typically modern liberal protestant denomination with ageing feminists, both lay and religious, calling the shots. Alas, the bishop has been largely successful in his efforts, to the point where in his diocese, similarly to most mainstream protestant denominations, parishioners and priests stay away in droves.

In the Diocese of Rochester, for example, six women, calling themselves "lay administrators," are in charge of twelve parishes. Elsewhere in the diocese there are five women religious in charge of 11 churches. The administrators answer to the bishop while the priests answer to the administrators--only they are not called priests, rather "sacramental ministers" or in the much more colorful words of a critic, "sacramental Pez machines." One can only imagine the ghastly state of the liturgy in this 'seventies era nightmare. Read all the sordid details here.

In the Diocese of Rochester, as well the Diocese of Albany (my how things have come to a sorry pass for Holy Mother Church in upstate New York!), traditional Catholics count the days till these dreadful liberal bishops mercifully retire.

Thanks to Inigo Hicks.

Lux et Veritas

It seems the newest member of the University of Notre Dame's Board of Directors, Roxanne M. Martino, has been an even more generous supporter of the vehemently pro-abortion group Emily's List than earlier reported. The chairman of the Notre Dame's board, Dick Notabaert, however, insists, Ms Martino, busy, busy, busy as she is, had no idea Emily's List might somehow be connected with the abortion business and simply mistook it for one of a slew of organizations she supports offering "important services and support to women." Ms Martino, Chairman Notabaert assures us, is "fully supportive of church teaching of the sanctity of life."

Click here to see the home page of Emily's List. See how long it takes you to peer through its opacity and learn their true agenda. Perhaps Ms Martino and Mr Notabaert need to get their eyes examined.

Lux et Veritas

It seems the newest member of the University of Notre Dame's Board of Directors, Roxanne M. Martino, has been an even more generous supporter of the vehemently pro-abortion group Emily's List than earlier reported. The chairman of the Notre Dame's board, Dick Notabaert, however, insists, Ms Martino, busy, busy, busy as she is, had no idea Emily's List might somehow be connected with the abortion business and simply mistook it for one of a slew of organizations she supports offering "important services and support to women." Ms Martino, Chairman Notabaert assures us, is "fully supportive of church teaching of the sanctity of life."

Click here to see the home page of Emily's List. See how long it takes you to peer through its opacity and learn their true agenda. Perhaps Ms Martino and Mr Notabaert need to get their eyes examined.

What They Left Out

The University of Notre Dame has announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Trustees, Roxanne M. Martino. From the press release:

Martino joined Aurora Investment Management in 1990 and now leads the Chicago firm, which manages more than $8 billion in funds of hedge funds designed to meet various investment mandates, including multi-strategy formats. She previously worked for seven years as a senior manager with Coopers & Lybrand and for more than six years at Grosvenor Capital Management, where she was a general partner.

Martino earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Notre Dame and a master’s of business administration degree from the University of Chicago. She has served as a member and chair of the advisory council for Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, is a member of the Executive Education advisory board at Notre Dame, and serves on the investment subcommittee of the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services.

Most impressive resume, wouldn't you say? Funny thing, though: despite the seemingly thorough enumeration of Ms. Martino's accomplishments in the release, the Notre Dame Board did manage to leave out one teensy-weensy detail that could possibly be of concern to Catholics: Ms. Martino's generous support, to the tune of $16,150, for the heinous feminist organization called Emily's List, which proudly proclaims its mission as "electing pro-choice Democratic women to office" (and no doubt considers Ms. Martino's appointment to the Notre Dame Board a triumph).

How much longer will the Church put up with travesties like this? And how can she reasonably expect Catholics in this country, especially those already wavering, to obey her teachings when a prestigious Catholic university rewards an enthusiastic proponent of one of the gravest violations of those teachings with a seat on its board?

Thanks to the Sycamore Trust.

What They Left Out

The University of Notre Dame has announced the appointment of a new member to its Board of Trustees, Roxanne M. Martino. From the press release:

Martino joined Aurora Investment Management in 1990 and now leads the Chicago firm, which manages more than $8 billion in funds of hedge funds designed to meet various investment mandates, including multi-strategy formats. She previously worked for seven years as a senior manager with Coopers & Lybrand and for more than six years at Grosvenor Capital Management, where she was a general partner.

Martino earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Notre Dame and a master’s of business administration degree from the University of Chicago. She has served as a member and chair of the advisory council for Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, is a member of the Executive Education advisory board at Notre Dame, and serves on the investment subcommittee of the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services.

Most impressive resume, wouldn't you say? Funny thing, though: despite the seemingly thorough enumeration of Ms. Martino's accomplishments in the release, the Notre Dame Board did manage to leave out one teensy-weensy detail that could possibly be of concern to Catholics: Ms. Martino's generous support, to the tune of $16,150, for the heinous feminist organization called Emily's List, which proudly proclaims its mission as "electing pro-choice Democratic women to office" (and no doubt considers Ms. Martino's appointment to the Notre Dame Board a triumph).

How much longer will the Church put up with travesties like this? And how can she reasonably expect Catholics in this country, especially those already wavering, to obey her teachings when a prestigious Catholic university rewards an enthusiastic proponent of one of the gravest violations of those teachings with a seat on its board?

Thanks to the Sycamore Trust.

The Only Inconsistency is in the License Plate

The Only Inconsistency is in the License Plate

Ratcheting Up the Millennium Development Goals

Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, aware, perhaps, of the looming demise of that formerly grand institution, takes on her and her Constructed Faith System's greatest challenge yet: original sin.

One of the ways we Episcopalians do both is to raise awareness of and help fight human diseases that attack and ravage all those made in God’s image. For example, the Episcopal Church has led the way in the fight against AIDS and is currently working hard to provide people with the means to reduce or eradicate the scourge of malaria.

But I want to talk to you about a far deadlier health risk, a far greater medical disaster than any previously known in human history. This disease kills an estimated 60,000,000 people every year and no part of the world is safe from it, including our own. And this disease has a name.

Death.

Read it all (WARNING: satire-rich content).

Thanks to the MCJ.

Ratcheting Up the Millennium Development Goals

Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, aware, perhaps, of the looming demise of that formerly grand institution, takes on her and her Constructed Faith System's greatest challenge yet: original sin.

One of the ways we Episcopalians do both is to raise awareness of and help fight human diseases that attack and ravage all those made in God’s image. For example, the Episcopal Church has led the way in the fight against AIDS and is currently working hard to provide people with the means to reduce or eradicate the scourge of malaria.

But I want to talk to you about a far deadlier health risk, a far greater medical disaster than any previously known in human history. This disease kills an estimated 60,000,000 people every year and no part of the world is safe from it, including our own. And this disease has a name.

Death.

Read it all (WARNING: satire-rich content).

Thanks to the MCJ.

Let Them In!

Archbishop Hepworth of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), a break-away Anglo-Catholic group hoping to be received into the Holy Catholic Church en masse, via the creation of an ordinariate under terms of Anglicanorum Coetibus, has written a letter to a Catholic colleague in Australia expressing his distress over the "deteriorating" situation in Canada for TAC members there who hope to do the same. Archbishop Thomas Collins of the Catholic Church in Canada is responsible for the creation of the ordinariate into which Canadian TAC member may be received into the Catholic Church and to that end has appointed various priests to TAC parishes in Canada who will visit and assist them in the process. Archbishop Hepworth is livid about how they will do it and expresses his anger in an absolutely splendid run-on sentence  that bristles with rage.

These priests are to announce, on behalf of Archbishop Collins, that the parishes will close forthwith, that the laity and clergy will attend a Catholic parish for from four to six months, that they will not receive the sacraments during this time, that they will be catechised adequately during this time since any catechesis from the Catechism of the Catholic Church done by the Traditional Anglican Communion is inadequate because only Catholics understand the Catechism, that the dossiers submitted by Traditional Anglican Communion clergy show an inadequate training since they have not attended Anglican Communion Theological Colleges, and therefore those selected by the Ordinary and approved by the CDF will have to attend a Catholic Seminary for an as yet unspecified time, at the end of this process, new parishes for Anglicans along the lines of the Anglican Use in the United States may be established, but not necessarily in the former Traditional Anglican Communion churches, and that during this process the Traditional Anglican Communion must cede its property to the Ordinariate.

Now breathe. In truth, I have great sympathy for Hepworth and members of the TAC. My immediate thought upon first learning of Anglicanorum Coetibus was that many in the Church would resist the wholesale admission of Anglicans, particularly the bishops for the ironic reason that because they are older they are more likely to be products of the horrid post-Vatican II reforms. Anglo-Catholics, on the other hand (real ones, not so-called "Affirming Catholics," secular humanists in vestments who play church and pretty music), want no part of the what passes for liturgy and music found in most Catholic churches these days. In fact, at the same time the post-Vatican II reformers were busying themselves despoiling Catholic worship, the Anglo-Catholics carefully preserved theirs, offering, then as now, beautifully and meticulously celebrated masses in concert with the glorious music for which Anglicans are justly renown. As a result, many of the old Catholic bishops have no truck with the Anglo-Catholics; they regard them as a threat.

I do not know in the case of the TAC of Canada whether or not the difficulties being imposed on them by Archbishop Collins are warranted but I do hope, as should all traditional Catholics, if they are, the Catholic Church, in Canada as well the United States and everywhere else, will be as accommodating as possible to them and other traditional Anglican parishes (within the bounds of canon law, of course). Their reception into Holy Church should prove a rich blessing, for the fact is the post-Vatican II reforms have run their course; the tide has turned against them (albeit seemingly glacially) and our Church could well use an influx of enthusiastic Anglicans who are more than willing to share their rich heritage with us, i.e. to show us how. Deo Volente.

A tip o' the hat to Inigo Hicks.

Let Them In!

Archbishop Hepworth of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), a break-away Anglo-Catholic group hoping to be received into the Holy Catholic Church en masse, via the creation of an ordinariate under terms of Anglicanorum Coetibus, has written a letter to a Catholic colleague in Australia expressing his distress over the "deteriorating" situation in Canada for TAC members there who hope to do the same. Archbishop Thomas Collins of the Catholic Church in Canada is responsible for the creation of the ordinariate into which Canadian TAC member may be received into the Catholic Church and to that end has appointed various priests to TAC parishes in Canada who will visit and assist them in the process. Archbishop Hepworth is livid about how they will do it and expresses his anger in an absolutely splendid run-on sentence  that bristles with rage.

These priests are to announce, on behalf of Archbishop Collins, that the parishes will close forthwith, that the laity and clergy will attend a Catholic parish for from four to six months, that they will not receive the sacraments during this time, that they will be catechised adequately during this time since any catechesis from the Catechism of the Catholic Church done by the Traditional Anglican Communion is inadequate because only Catholics understand the Catechism, that the dossiers submitted by Traditional Anglican Communion clergy show an inadequate training since they have not attended Anglican Communion Theological Colleges, and therefore those selected by the Ordinary and approved by the CDF will have to attend a Catholic Seminary for an as yet unspecified time, at the end of this process, new parishes for Anglicans along the lines of the Anglican Use in the United States may be established, but not necessarily in the former Traditional Anglican Communion churches, and that during this process the Traditional Anglican Communion must cede its property to the Ordinariate.

Now breathe. In truth, I have great sympathy for Hepworth and members of the TAC. My immediate thought upon first learning of Anglicanorum Coetibus was that many in the Church would resist the wholesale admission of Anglicans, particularly the bishops for the ironic reason that because they are older they are more likely to be products of the horrid post-Vatican II reforms. Anglo-Catholics, on the other hand (real ones, not so-called "Affirming Catholics," secular humanists in vestments who play church and pretty music), want no part of the what passes for liturgy and music found in most Catholic churches these days. In fact, at the same time the post-Vatican II reformers were busying themselves despoiling Catholic worship, the Anglo-Catholics carefully preserved theirs, offering, then as now, beautifully and meticulously celebrated masses in concert with the glorious music for which Anglicans are justly renown. As a result, many of the old Catholic bishops have no truck with the Anglo-Catholics; they regard them as a threat.

I do not know in the case of the TAC of Canada whether or not the difficulties being imposed on them by Archbishop Collins are warranted but I do hope, as should all traditional Catholics, if they are, the Catholic Church, in Canada as well the United States and everywhere else, will be as accommodating as possible to them and other traditional Anglican parishes (within the bounds of canon law, of course). Their reception into Holy Church should prove a rich blessing, for the fact is the post-Vatican II reforms have run their course; the tide has turned against them (albeit seemingly glacially) and our Church could well use an influx of enthusiastic Anglicans who are more than willing to share their rich heritage with us, i.e. to show us how. Deo Volente.

A tip o' the hat to Inigo Hicks.

Show Us the Death Certificate--the Long Form!

It should be fun seeing how President Obama administration reacts to this story in Russia Today (RT). Ignoring it, of course, would be the wisest thing but since we have a president, an increasingly small man, who was recently cowed by a buffoon like Donald Trump into releasing his birth certificate, who knows what he will do?

Iran can prove Bin Laden was dead long before US raid – Iranian minister

permalink email story to a friend print version

Published: 10 May, 2011, 17:07

Osama Bin Laden (AFP Photo / HO / DoD)

TRENDS:Global terrorismOsama Bin Laden killed

TAGS: Scandal, Politics, Terrorism, USA

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi claims that Osama Bin Laden died from an illness before the US raid on his compound in Abbottabad. Iran has documents to prove it, he said.

"We have credible information that Bin Laden died some time ago of a disease," Moslehi said on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, as quoted by ISNA news agency.

"If the US military and intelligence apparatus have really arrested or killed Bin Laden, why don't they show him [his body]? Why have they thrown his corpse into the sea?" ISNA reports Moslehi asked rhetorically, FARS news agency reports.

Moslehi labeled the US raid in Abbottabad as a “PR campaign”, created to divert the attention of its citizens from domestic problems, such as the “fragile” state of the US economy.

Thanks to MJR.

Show Us the Death Certificate--the Long Form!

It should be fun seeing how President Obama administration reacts to this story in Russia Today (RT). Ignoring it, of course, would be the wisest thing but since we have a president, an increasingly small man, who was recently cowed by a buffoon like Donald Trump into releasing his birth certificate, who knows what he will do?

Iran can prove Bin Laden was dead long before US raid – Iranian minister

permalink email story to a friend print version

Published: 10 May, 2011, 17:07

Osama Bin Laden (AFP Photo / HO / DoD)

TRENDS:Global terrorismOsama Bin Laden killed

TAGS: Scandal, Politics, Terrorism, USA

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi claims that Osama Bin Laden died from an illness before the US raid on his compound in Abbottabad. Iran has documents to prove it, he said.

"We have credible information that Bin Laden died some time ago of a disease," Moslehi said on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, as quoted by ISNA news agency.

"If the US military and intelligence apparatus have really arrested or killed Bin Laden, why don't they show him [his body]? Why have they thrown his corpse into the sea?" ISNA reports Moslehi asked rhetorically, FARS news agency reports.

Moslehi labeled the US raid in Abbottabad as a “PR campaign”, created to divert the attention of its citizens from domestic problems, such as the “fragile” state of the US economy.

Thanks to MJR.

"Otherwise Devout" and Other Myths

I find it intensely annoying when non-Catholics, no doubt owing to the selfless generosity of their souls, feel compelled to offer remedies to the myriad ailments they see in Holy Church [your sarcasm seems  inconsistent with your never ending barbs aimed at the Episcopalians, doesn't it?--ed. Yeah, but I used to be one so I get a pass.]. A fine example of this is found in the person of one Edward Flatteau, who in his capacity as "environmental reporter" for the Huffington Post, recently urged upon the Catholic Church the canonization of Pope John XXIII.

Poor Pope John: a strong and vibrant personality, the liberals have been claiming him ever since he died unexpectedly and the radical reformers were able to hijack the recommendations of his Second Vatican Council, running roughshod over his considerably weaker and duller successor, Paul VI, eviscerating the music and liturgy of the Church and forcing her sharply to the left politically. All the while the "reformers" cited the "spirit of Vatican II" and, by implication, John XXIII, only to be stopped when they ran up against Paul VI's successor, another vibrant and strong personality, John Paul II.

Flatteau's angle is that John XXIII was a proto-environmentalist and would thus have supported the modern Green movement and its socialist prescriptions (despite socialism's dismal environmental record) for the putative ecological catastrophes the world faces. I doubt it. John XXIII was certainly well familiar with Rerum Novarum, the encyclical by his predecessor Leo XIII, wherein he defends the rights of workers but also strongly supports the right of people to own property. Since encyclicals are simply clarification of Church doctrine John XXIII would hardly oppose or overturn it.

Christopher Johnson (also a non-Catholic!) in his Midwest Conservative Journal, ably sets afire the rest of Flatteau's flatulences, so I will only point out the one I find particularly egregious:

Would John, the "liberal" Pope (who is already beatified) have closed the environmental circle for the Church if he had not died five years into his reign? Perhaps. He never lived to see the commission that he appointed issue a recommendation by a vote of 57 to four to discontinue the Vatican's absolute ban on the use of birth control pills. Pope John's successor, Pope Paul VI, sided with the tiny minority and retained the controversial total artificial contraception prohibition that many otherwise devout Catholics have always felt free to ignore [emphasis added].

Dream on, pal. Catholics are required to obey Church teachings. When they do not, they are, depending on the nature of the violation, in a state of mortal sin and must confess and be absolved by a priest. Catholics who flout Church teachings are no more "otherwise devout" than meat eaters are "otherwise vegetarian."

A further point: when Pope Paul VI, weak as he was, by the grace of God managed to summon the courage to write Humanae Vitae, he spared the Catholic Church the fate of the mainline protestant denominations, that by their slavish adherence to contemporary trends (and warned "they would die" if they did not), now find themselves fiercely competing in a race to oblivion. While he is not likely be canonized anytime soon Catholics everywhere should pray for the repose of Paul VI's soul. It is not overstating it, in my opinion, that he saved the Holy Catholic Church.

"Otherwise Devout" and Other Myths

I find it intensely annoying when non-Catholics, no doubt owing to the selfless generosity of their souls, feel compelled to offer remedies to the myriad ailments they see in Holy Church [your sarcasm seems  inconsistent with your never ending barbs aimed at the Episcopalians, doesn't it?--ed. Yeah, but I used to be one so I get a pass.]. A fine example of this is found in the person of one Edward Flatteau, who in his capacity as "environmental reporter" for the Huffington Post, recently urged upon the Catholic Church the canonization of Pope John XXIII.

Poor Pope John: a strong and vibrant personality, the liberals have been claiming him ever since he died unexpectedly and the radical reformers were able to hijack the recommendations of his Second Vatican Council, running roughshod over his considerably weaker and duller successor, Paul VI, eviscerating the music and liturgy of the Church and forcing her sharply to the left politically. All the while the "reformers" cited the "spirit of Vatican II" and, by implication, John XXIII, only to be stopped when they ran up against Paul VI's successor, another vibrant and strong personality, John Paul II.

Flatteau's angle is that John XXIII was a proto-environmentalist and would thus have supported the modern Green movement and its socialist prescriptions (despite socialism's dismal environmental record) for the putative ecological catastrophes the world faces. I doubt it. John XXIII was certainly well familiar with Rerum Novarum, the encyclical by his predecessor Leo XIII, wherein he defends the rights of workers but also strongly supports the right of people to own property. Since encyclicals are simply clarification of Church doctrine John XXIII would hardly oppose or overturn it.

Christopher Johnson (also a non-Catholic!) in his Midwest Conservative Journal, ably sets afire the rest of Flatteau's flatulences, so I will only point out the one I find particularly egregious:

Would John, the "liberal" Pope (who is already beatified) have closed the environmental circle for the Church if he had not died five years into his reign? Perhaps. He never lived to see the commission that he appointed issue a recommendation by a vote of 57 to four to discontinue the Vatican's absolute ban on the use of birth control pills. Pope John's successor, Pope Paul VI, sided with the tiny minority and retained the controversial total artificial contraception prohibition that many otherwise devout Catholics have always felt free to ignore [emphasis added].

Dream on, pal. Catholics are required to obey Church teachings. When they do not, they are, depending on the nature of the violation, in a state of mortal sin and must confess and be absolved by a priest. Catholics who flout Church teachings are no more "otherwise devout" than meat eaters are "otherwise vegetarian."

A further point: when Pope Paul VI, weak as he was, by the grace of God managed to summon the courage to write Humanae Vitae, he spared the Catholic Church the fate of the mainline protestant denominations, that by their slavish adherence to contemporary trends (and warned "they would die" if they did not), now find themselves fiercely competing in a race to oblivion. While he is not likely be canonized anytime soon Catholics everywhere should pray for the repose of Paul VI's soul. It is not overstating it, in my opinion, that he saved the Holy Catholic Church.