Ecclesiastical Karaoke

From the Catholic News Agency:

London, England, Apr 14, 2011 / 05:46 am (CNA).- A Grammy winning music director has delivered a stinging attack upon modern Church music. Joseph Cullen, choral director at the London Symphony Orchestra, says that since the 1960s there has been a “glaring lack of sympathy” for “worthy sacred music.”

[snip]

He also criticized the practice of a lone cantor leading the singing in parishes. “The misuse of one booming voice behind a microphone, an ecclesiastical karaoke, seems to have killed off unified congregational singing.”

Thomas Day pointed this out years ago in his tour de force Why Catholics Can't Sing. The explanation is simple: when someone blasts out a tune using a heavily amplified microphone, those of us not so well armed are not inclined to compete--even if the tune is good one, which is seldom the case in modern Catholic worship. What is particularly frustrating about this phenomenon is, it is readily apparent and has been for decades. Yet the practice continues and unlike Karaoke, you can't sidle up to the bar and order a palliative.

Perhaps his most stinging attack, though, is aimed at official diocesan musicians who both commission and promote their own music. “The elected church music committees of the bishops' conferences cannot have vested interests in promoting their own music, or type of music. This would be regarded as corrupt in any other field.”

Amen. Amen. Musical simony, you might call it. It has long annoyed me, when leafing through those pulpy "missalettes," to see copyright notices affixed near the insipid little ditties that comprise service music and hymns in the Novus Ordo mass. The fact that putative composers actually make money off that crap is appalling indeed. Bravo to you, Mr. Cullen

Ecclesiastical Karaoke

From the Catholic News Agency:

London, England, Apr 14, 2011 / 05:46 am (CNA).- A Grammy winning music director has delivered a stinging attack upon modern Church music. Joseph Cullen, choral director at the London Symphony Orchestra, says that since the 1960s there has been a “glaring lack of sympathy” for “worthy sacred music.”

[snip]

He also criticized the practice of a lone cantor leading the singing in parishes. “The misuse of one booming voice behind a microphone, an ecclesiastical karaoke, seems to have killed off unified congregational singing.”

Thomas Day pointed this out years ago in his tour de force Why Catholics Can't Sing. The explanation is simple: when someone blasts out a tune using a heavily amplified microphone, those of us not so well armed are not inclined to compete--even if the tune is good one, which is seldom the case in modern Catholic worship. What is particularly frustrating about this phenomenon is, it is readily apparent and has been for decades. Yet the practice continues and unlike Karaoke, you can't sidle up to the bar and order a palliative.

Perhaps his most stinging attack, though, is aimed at official diocesan musicians who both commission and promote their own music. “The elected church music committees of the bishops' conferences cannot have vested interests in promoting their own music, or type of music. This would be regarded as corrupt in any other field.”

Amen. Amen. Musical simony, you might call it. It has long annoyed me, when leafing through those pulpy "missalettes," to see copyright notices affixed near the insipid little ditties that comprise service music and hymns in the Novus Ordo mass. The fact that putative composers actually make money off that crap is appalling indeed. Bravo to you, Mr. Cullen

Two Democrats on an Escoalator

Two Democrats on an Escoalator

Moon, Schmoon

From Forbes:

If all goes according to plan, by December 2012 a team of three young Israeli scientists will have landed a tiny spacecraft on the moon, explored the lunar surface, and transmitted live video back to earth, thereby scooping up a $20 million prize (the Google Lunar X Prize), revolutionizing space exploration, and making the Jewish State the third nation (after the U.S. and Russia) to land a probe on the moon. And they’re doing it in their spare time.

Mel Brooks saw this coming a long time ago.

Moon, Schmoon

From Forbes:

If all goes according to plan, by December 2012 a team of three young Israeli scientists will have landed a tiny spacecraft on the moon, explored the lunar surface, and transmitted live video back to earth, thereby scooping up a $20 million prize (the Google Lunar X Prize), revolutionizing space exploration, and making the Jewish State the third nation (after the U.S. and Russia) to land a probe on the moon. And they’re doing it in their spare time.

Mel Brooks saw this coming a long time ago.

The Unstripping of the Altars

From Rorate Caeli:

TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2011

Report - TLM at York Minster

From our friends at The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales:

Huge Success for the Latin Mass Society at York Minster

Over 700 Catholics committed to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) converged on York Minster on Saturday 26 March to attend the first celebration of a Catholic Mass in the Minster since the Reformation. Sung Mass in the ancient Latin Rite, complete with beautiful vestments, ceremonial and incense, was celebrated at the High Altar by Fr Stephen Maughan of the Catholic diocese of Middlesbrough.

Photos of the event may be found here.

Diarmaid MacCulloch (not someone with whom I always agree but undeniably an accomplished scholar) posits in his history of the reformation that at its eve the Catholic Church in England was in a better state of repair than anywhere else in Europe, the least corrupt and least in need of reform; thus it is all the more the tragic the events that followed. Heartening, then, to see at York Minster a well-attended Sung Mass, lovingly celebrated using the old rite. Perhaps England's Catholics will lead the way back to traditional worship in Holy Church. They won't, however, get help from most of their bishops, who are fighting "reform of the reform" every inch of the way.

The Unstripping of the Altars

From Rorate Caeli:

TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2011

Report - TLM at York Minster

From our friends at The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales:

Huge Success for the Latin Mass Society at York Minster

Over 700 Catholics committed to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) converged on York Minster on Saturday 26 March to attend the first celebration of a Catholic Mass in the Minster since the Reformation. Sung Mass in the ancient Latin Rite, complete with beautiful vestments, ceremonial and incense, was celebrated at the High Altar by Fr Stephen Maughan of the Catholic diocese of Middlesbrough.

Photos of the event may be found here.

Diarmaid MacCulloch (not someone with whom I always agree but undeniably an accomplished scholar) posits in his history of the reformation that at its eve the Catholic Church in England was in a better state of repair than anywhere else in Europe, the least corrupt and least in need of reform; thus it is all the more the tragic the events that followed. Heartening, then, to see at York Minster a well-attended Sung Mass, lovingly celebrated using the old rite. Perhaps England's Catholics will lead the way back to traditional worship in Holy Church. They won't, however, get help from most of their bishops, who are fighting "reform of the reform" every inch of the way.

Freedom to be Left Alone

It's kind of neat one can walk alongside the bishop's palace behind St. Patrick's Cathedral, on Madison Avenue, and pass by, within a foot, the smiling countenance of the Archbishop of New York, the Most Reverend Timothy Michael Dolan, standing alone and warmly greeting an arriving visitor. No security detail, no armed guards, no escorts, no bodyguards. I think that speaks well for the City of New York.

Dolan is a most likable fellow. I only wish he showed even a smidgen of interest in the liturgy, which is in such dreadful repair these days. Bishops, in some ways, have even more power than popes and if Dolan would simply utter every now and then a few positive remarks about the Latin Mass and the importance of good music, I think it would make a world of difference.

Alas, though I do cock my ear for them, I have heard nothing about liturgy and music since Dolan's installation. Ah well, we must pray for His Grace that he might have a change of heart. And it was still pleasant seeing him standing on the sidewalk completely at ease.

Freedom to be Left Alone

It's kind of neat one can walk alongside the bishop's palace behind St. Patrick's Cathedral, on Madison Avenue, and pass by, within a foot, the smiling countenance of the Archbishop of New York, the Most Reverend Timothy Michael Dolan, standing alone and warmly greeting an arriving visitor. No security detail, no armed guards, no escorts, no bodyguards. I think that speaks well for the City of New York.

Dolan is a most likable fellow. I only wish he showed even a smidgen of interest in the liturgy, which is in such dreadful repair these days. Bishops, in some ways, have even more power than popes and if Dolan would simply utter every now and then a few positive remarks about the Latin Mass and the importance of good music, I think it would make a world of difference.

Alas, though I do cock my ear for them, I have heard nothing about liturgy and music since Dolan's installation. Ah well, we must pray for His Grace that he might have a change of heart. And it was still pleasant seeing him standing on the sidewalk completely at ease.

Making the Church Fit for Grownups

From Damian Thompson:

James MacMillan, Britain’s finest living Catholic composer, has told Archbishop Vincent Nichols that liturgical activists have made new Catholic congregational music “a laughing stock” in recent decades. “The faithful are fed up with sloppy practice, inappropriate, terrible music and the gradual drift away from Catholic standards in the liturgy,” he says.

Alas, I wish that were so but experience tells me many, if not most, of the faithful in the U.S. anyway seem satisfied enough with things just the way they are now, those faithful in their fifties and older, at least. Thompson writes further:

But liturgy is a continuing worry, and I’m not sure that Archbishop Nichols understands how wretchedly off-putting potential churchgoers find most sub-Joan Baez folk Masses and antiphons. New Catholic music in English and Welsh dioceses is in the hands of a grim cartel of trendies who have, until now, been stopped from getting their hands on Westminster Cathedral (though not for want of trying).

The key words there are "potential worshipers." Many young Catholics have voted with their feet, sadly. Having the zeal of a convert, perhaps, I can just barely stand the general horror of contemporary Catholic worship, having been well catechized in the importance of valid sacraments. Many, perhaps most, young Catholics, having been dragged to mass regularly when growing up and subjected to the puerile inanities of Marty Haugen, felt banners and Kumbaya, as well as criminally negligent catechizing, attended their last mass the Sunday before they left for college, never to return.

The only way I see to to get the young people back is, ironically, to make the Church fit for grownups again, which will only happen when the present bunch grownups, those of my generation and older, have finally, at long last, toddled off to that big folk mass in the sky, Deo gratias.

Making the Church Fit for Grownups

From Damian Thompson:

James MacMillan, Britain’s finest living Catholic composer, has told Archbishop Vincent Nichols that liturgical activists have made new Catholic congregational music “a laughing stock” in recent decades. “The faithful are fed up with sloppy practice, inappropriate, terrible music and the gradual drift away from Catholic standards in the liturgy,” he says.

Alas, I wish that were so but experience tells me many, if not most, of the faithful in the U.S. anyway seem satisfied enough with things just the way they are now, those faithful in their fifties and older, at least. Thompson writes further:

But liturgy is a continuing worry, and I’m not sure that Archbishop Nichols understands how wretchedly off-putting potential churchgoers find most sub-Joan Baez folk Masses and antiphons. New Catholic music in English and Welsh dioceses is in the hands of a grim cartel of trendies who have, until now, been stopped from getting their hands on Westminster Cathedral (though not for want of trying).

The key words there are "potential worshipers." Many young Catholics have voted with their feet, sadly. Having the zeal of a convert, perhaps, I can just barely stand the general horror of contemporary Catholic worship, having been well catechized in the importance of valid sacraments. Many, perhaps most, young Catholics, having been dragged to mass regularly when growing up and subjected to the puerile inanities of Marty Haugen, felt banners and Kumbaya, as well as criminally negligent catechizing, attended their last mass the Sunday before they left for college, never to return.

The only way I see to to get the young people back is, ironically, to make the Church fit for grownups again, which will only happen when the present bunch grownups, those of my generation and older, have finally, at long last, toddled off to that big folk mass in the sky, Deo gratias.

Janis & Tom, 4ever

I'm not a fan popular music and haven't been for decades. Nevertheless, I am a child of the 'sixties and 'seventies and was not raised in a bubble. I came across this gem recently and must admit it re-awakened my youthful enthusiasm for the genre. I present it without further commentary except to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: if you like this sort of thing you will find this the sort of thing you like.

Janis & Tom, 4ever

I'm not a fan popular music and haven't been for decades. Nevertheless, I am a child of the 'sixties and 'seventies and was not raised in a bubble. I came across this gem recently and must admit it re-awakened my youthful enthusiasm for the genre. I present it without further commentary except to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: if you like this sort of thing you will find this the sort of thing you like.

What a Disappointment

The bishops of New York State held a private conference yesterday with New York Governor Andrew Quomo, who professes to be Catholic but also is an enthusiastic proponent of abortion (among other sins). Earlier this year Cuomo attended an inaugural mass celebrated by Bishop Hubbard of Albany who nevertheless administered Communion to him. From Hubbard one would expect nothing less, he being the exemplar of tired old post-Vatican II squishiness, but there was hope at a private face-to-face with Cuomo, Archbishop Dolan at least might have given the governor a little what for.

Not a chance. "This is probably not the best place to talk about something that pastorally sensitive," said the Archbishop. Why not? One wonders where that place might be. One also wonders how Dolan, who deserves much credit for cleaning up the mess left behind by the heinous Archbishop Weakland of Milwaukee, can reconcile his aggressive pursuit of predator priests who rape vulnerable adolescents with his refusal to confront a prominent Catholic pol who endorses the murder of utterly helpless infants in the womb.

Thanks to Augustine.

What a Disappointment

The bishops of New York State held a private conference yesterday with New York Governor Andrew Quomo, who professes to be Catholic but also is an enthusiastic proponent of abortion (among other sins). Earlier this year Cuomo attended an inaugural mass celebrated by Bishop Hubbard of Albany who nevertheless administered Communion to him. From Hubbard one would expect nothing less, he being the exemplar of tired old post-Vatican II squishiness, but there was hope at a private face-to-face with Cuomo, Archbishop Dolan at least might have given the governor a little what for.

Not a chance. "This is probably not the best place to talk about something that pastorally sensitive," said the Archbishop. Why not? One wonders where that place might be. One also wonders how Dolan, who deserves much credit for cleaning up the mess left behind by the heinous Archbishop Weakland of Milwaukee, can reconcile his aggressive pursuit of predator priests who rape vulnerable adolescents with his refusal to confront a prominent Catholic pol who endorses the murder of utterly helpless infants in the womb.

Thanks to Augustine.

Just Shut Up, Newt

John Podhoretz on Newt Gingrich:

He’s a fascinating, and occasionally brilliant, political thinker, but one thing the merciful and forgiving God who has so blessed him did not bestow upon Newt Gingrich was a sense of when to stop talking.

Just Shut Up, Newt

John Podhoretz on Newt Gingrich:

He’s a fascinating, and occasionally brilliant, political thinker, but one thing the merciful and forgiving God who has so blessed him did not bestow upon Newt Gingrich was a sense of when to stop talking.

Good Jobs for Good People

Charlie Sheen: doing his part to bring down the unemployment rate.

Thanks to Andy Levy.

Good Jobs for Good People

Charlie Sheen: doing his part to bring down the unemployment rate.

Thanks to Andy Levy.

Manhattan College Gets Religion...Sort Of

A couple of months ago, you may recall, I had some fun with Manhattan College (in the Riverdale section of the Bronx) which, like so many Catholic colleges and universities in recent decades, has forsaken virtually all its Catholic trappings so to transform itself into the generic PC multi-culti institution so much in fashion with educational cognoscenti nowadays. This transformation was so successful, in fact, the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled Manhattan College could not bar its graduate assistants from voting for unionization by claiming exemption from federal labor law as a religious institution, because the evidence was it no longer is one.

Now, according to the Riverdale Review, a local newspaper (no link available), it appears the administration of Manhattan College has acknowledged religion does indeed play a part in this putatively Catholic institution and to that end has announced the appointment of a new director of the college's Holocaust Study Center, Dr. Mehnaz M. Afrididi, a Muslim woman, whose appointment the college justifies on the basis of her "enormous amount of interfaith experience."

Just what is in the collective bong these days at Manhattan College? Even if a small Catholic college in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in a predominantly Jewish city, where there already exists a widely acclaimed Holocaust museum and memorial less than a hour's ride from the campus on the IRT Broadway Local, can somehow justify allocating scarce resources to a small-time version of same in the Bronx, wouldn't it make a certain degree of sense to appoint a Jew to head it? At least one scholar thinks so. From the Riverdale Review:

Law professor and writer Thane Rosenbaum, direction of the Forum on Law, Culture and Society at Fordham University Law school and moderator of an annual series of discussions on Jewish culture and politics at the 92nd Street Y[MHA], was puzzled by the center's decision to broaden its focus.

"The moral travesty that was the Final Solution was not based on faith, and interfaith dialog would have made no difference to the Nazis," he said.

He felt that while Afridi's "sensitivity to the Holocaust may be genuine, it would be better to allow a Jew to be guardian for this particular history."

"Jews have a right to be proprietary in this," he continued. "In a world of multiculturalism and identity politics, everyone owns everyone else's tragedy."

Yes indeed, and to the multiculturalist administrators of Manhattan College, for whom religions are fungible (religion-schmigion!), the opportunity to earn double PC points by appointing a Muslim woman to head an institution for the study of an event uniquely identified with Jewish history must have proved to be irresistible.

Manhattan College Gets Religion...Sort Of

A couple of months ago, you may recall, I had some fun with Manhattan College (in the Riverdale section of the Bronx) which, like so many Catholic colleges and universities in recent decades, has forsaken virtually all its Catholic trappings so to transform itself into the generic PC multi-culti institution so much in fashion with educational cognoscenti nowadays. This transformation was so successful, in fact, the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled Manhattan College could not bar its graduate assistants from voting for unionization by claiming exemption from federal labor law as a religious institution, because the evidence was it no longer is one.

Now, according to the Riverdale Review, a local newspaper (no link available), it appears the administration of Manhattan College has acknowledged religion does indeed play a part in this putatively Catholic institution and to that end has announced the appointment of a new director of the college's Holocaust Study Center, Dr. Mehnaz M. Afrididi, a Muslim woman, whose appointment the college justifies on the basis of her "enormous amount of interfaith experience."

Just what is in the collective bong these days at Manhattan College? Even if a small Catholic college in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in a predominantly Jewish city, where there already exists a widely acclaimed Holocaust museum and memorial less than a hour's ride from the campus on the IRT Broadway Local, can somehow justify allocating scarce resources to a small-time version of same in the Bronx, wouldn't it make a certain degree of sense to appoint a Jew to head it? At least one scholar thinks so. From the Riverdale Review:

Law professor and writer Thane Rosenbaum, direction of the Forum on Law, Culture and Society at Fordham University Law school and moderator of an annual series of discussions on Jewish culture and politics at the 92nd Street Y[MHA], was puzzled by the center's decision to broaden its focus.

"The moral travesty that was the Final Solution was not based on faith, and interfaith dialog would have made no difference to the Nazis," he said.

He felt that while Afridi's "sensitivity to the Holocaust may be genuine, it would be better to allow a Jew to be guardian for this particular history."

"Jews have a right to be proprietary in this," he continued. "In a world of multiculturalism and identity politics, everyone owns everyone else's tragedy."

Yes indeed, and to the multiculturalist administrators of Manhattan College, for whom religions are fungible (religion-schmigion!), the opportunity to earn double PC points by appointing a Muslim woman to head an institution for the study of an event uniquely identified with Jewish history must have proved to be irresistible.

Reforming the Reform, or Bashing One's Head Against the Wall

I recently volunteered to serve on the "liturgy committee" of my local parish and attended a meeting of same last week. The better part of the meeting I took no part in, it dealing with the various ceremonies and observances of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day in this largely Irish parish. Not being of that extraction I thought it more tactful to remain silent during rather lengthy discussions over seemingly endless minutia concerning the observances of that good Roman's feast day. It took, however, a mighty effort of will to curb my tongue as the pastor and some on the committee waxed sentimental over the Marxist-terrorist organization known as the Irish Republican Army.

The next item on the agenda was a matter of some concern for the pastor and most of the committee, i.e. those in their sixties or older: the ever decreasing number of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Various explanations for the dearth were proffered, with one committee member becoming downright indignant at the apparent lack of interest among younger parishioners to engage in this singular honor. After some back and forth a young person on the committee (the only one, in fact), a young woman, cleared her throat and tenuously suggested a possible reason younger parishioners do not volunteer to become extraordinary ministers was they, like most young Catholics who actually attend mass these days, detest the notion, for the very good reason the Holy Father strongly disapproves of them, and that their use should be severely curtailed. This caused considerable consternation among many on the committee, who expressed outraged disbelief at such an idea. The young woman thus obliged them by handing out copies of a document from the Congregation for Divine Worship that affirmed just what she had stated and proposed. There was still disbelief, with an older woman next to me asking of the document (with the year 2004 clearly indicated): "Is this new?"

Father joined in the discussion, pointing out (correctly) it was not that long ago the Archdiocese of New York was veritably hounding pastors to sign up as many Eucharistic lay ministers as possible and that he was bemused by the controversy. I pointed out at the Church of Our Saviour in Manhattan one never sees extraordinary ministers (and never will as long as Fr. Rutler is pastor) to which an older woman asked, "how do they serve the precious blood?" My response, "they don't," was not favorably received and provoked a baleful chorus that that was "unacceptable." The pastor, trying in vain to explain one receives both species even when receiving just one, eventually punted, saying he needed "guidance" from the bishop. The young woman who raised the matter, looking dejected (and boy did I feel for her), stated she would indeed write the bishop. I am sure she knows enough not to hold out much hope; Archbishop Dolan, to the best of my knowledge, has little or no interest in liturgical reform.

The next matter, raised by myself, I expected to be the most controversial but it turned out to be less so--in a way. I declared my deep gratitude the parish offered a Tridentine mass once a month, celebrated by a visiting priest, but wondered if it might be moved from the middle of Sunday afternoon to one of the morning masses and, eventually, celebrated more often. The pastor (who, I should stress, is a very decent man), declared it was impossible; he had never celebrated the Tridentine mass, didn't think he could learn it, nor could the other priests on his staff. I suggested a young, newly-arrived priest who seemed to take the liturgy seriously might be prevailed upon to have a go at it and that I would gladly undergo training to be a server. Alas, no. The reaction from the pastor and liturgy committee alike was, "nice idea but it cannot be done. The meeting was then adjourned.

I am sure the above account is a familiar one to long-time Catholic traditionalists and it is not my intention to bash the pastor who is in a difficult position. He must perform a delicate balancing act between the relatively small number of young parishioners, who are much more enthused about traditional worship, and the much larger number of older folk, the parish stalwarts, who attend mass faithfully, give generously of their money and time--by serving on the liturgy committee, for example--but also, sadly, seemingly adore the horrid music and embrace liturgical practices that would have been considered heretical only forty years ago. I intend remaining on the liturgy committee and will bring up the subject of the Tridentine mass regularly, but always politely.

For I have come to the firm conclusion it is waste of time trying to reform lousy music, heretical liturgy and other abominable practices within the context of Novus Ordo, which only seems to encourage them or at least make them possible. Only the traditional Latin mass, with its ultra-strict rubrics, will make it possible to effect "reform of the reform" in Holy Church, not just theological and liturgical but, as the Holy Father himself has stated, moral as well. Traditional Catholics should make restoration of the Tridentine mass their goal above all else. 

Reforming the Reform, or Bashing One's Head Against the Wall

I recently volunteered to serve on the "liturgy committee" of my local parish and attended a meeting of same last week. The better part of the meeting I took no part in, it dealing with the various ceremonies and observances of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day in this largely Irish parish. Not being of that extraction I thought it more tactful to remain silent during rather lengthy discussions over seemingly endless minutia concerning the observances of that good Roman's feast day. It took, however, a mighty effort of will to curb my tongue as the pastor and some on the committee waxed sentimental over the Marxist-terrorist organization known as the Irish Republican Army.

The next item on the agenda was a matter of some concern for the pastor and most of the committee, i.e. those in their sixties or older: the ever decreasing number of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Various explanations for the dearth were proffered, with one committee member becoming downright indignant at the apparent lack of interest among younger parishioners to engage in this singular honor. After some back and forth a young person on the committee (the only one, in fact), a young woman, cleared her throat and tenuously suggested a possible reason younger parishioners do not volunteer to become extraordinary ministers was they, like most young Catholics who actually attend mass these days, detest the notion, for the very good reason the Holy Father strongly disapproves of them, and that their use should be severely curtailed. This caused considerable consternation among many on the committee, who expressed outraged disbelief at such an idea. The young woman thus obliged them by handing out copies of a document from the Congregation for Divine Worship that affirmed just what she had stated and proposed. There was still disbelief, with an older woman next to me asking of the document (with the year 2004 clearly indicated): "Is this new?"

Father joined in the discussion, pointing out (correctly) it was not that long ago the Archdiocese of New York was veritably hounding pastors to sign up as many Eucharistic lay ministers as possible and that he was bemused by the controversy. I pointed out at the Church of Our Saviour in Manhattan one never sees extraordinary ministers (and never will as long as Fr. Rutler is pastor) to which an older woman asked, "how do they serve the precious blood?" My response, "they don't," was not favorably received and provoked a baleful chorus that that was "unacceptable." The pastor, trying in vain to explain one receives both species even when receiving just one, eventually punted, saying he needed "guidance" from the bishop. The young woman who raised the matter, looking dejected (and boy did I feel for her), stated she would indeed write the bishop. I am sure she knows enough not to hold out much hope; Archbishop Dolan, to the best of my knowledge, has little or no interest in liturgical reform.

The next matter, raised by myself, I expected to be the most controversial but it turned out to be less so--in a way. I declared my deep gratitude the parish offered a Tridentine mass once a month, celebrated by a visiting priest, but wondered if it might be moved from the middle of Sunday afternoon to one of the morning masses and, eventually, celebrated more often. The pastor (who, I should stress, is a very decent man), declared it was impossible; he had never celebrated the Tridentine mass, didn't think he could learn it, nor could the other priests on his staff. I suggested a young, newly-arrived priest who seemed to take the liturgy seriously might be prevailed upon to have a go at it and that I would gladly undergo training to be a server. Alas, no. The reaction from the pastor and liturgy committee alike was, "nice idea but it cannot be done. The meeting was then adjourned.

I am sure the above account is a familiar one to long-time Catholic traditionalists and it is not my intention to bash the pastor who is in a difficult position. He must perform a delicate balancing act between the relatively small number of young parishioners, who are much more enthused about traditional worship, and the much larger number of older folk, the parish stalwarts, who attend mass faithfully, give generously of their money and time--by serving on the liturgy committee, for example--but also, sadly, seemingly adore the horrid music and embrace liturgical practices that would have been considered heretical only forty years ago. I intend remaining on the liturgy committee and will bring up the subject of the Tridentine mass regularly, but always politely.

For I have come to the firm conclusion it is waste of time trying to reform lousy music, heretical liturgy and other abominable practices within the context of Novus Ordo, which only seems to encourage them or at least make them possible. Only the traditional Latin mass, with its ultra-strict rubrics, will make it possible to effect "reform of the reform" in Holy Church, not just theological and liturgical but, as the Holy Father himself has stated, moral as well. Traditional Catholics should make restoration of the Tridentine mass their goal above all else. 

The New Civility

Instapundit reports in the spirit of the new civility in politics called for by our President, a Democratic Wisconsin state representative, Mr. Gordon Hintz, civilly informed a female Republican colleague on the assembly floor, following passage of the Budget Repair Bill: "You're f*****g dead." This same Mr. Hintz (a family man) a week earlier was busted in a prostitution sting conducted at an area massage parlor bearing the charming name of "Heavenly Touch."

The New Civility

Instapundit reports in the spirit of the new civility in politics called for by our President, a Democratic Wisconsin state representative, Mr. Gordon Hintz, civilly informed a female Republican colleague on the assembly floor, following passage of the Budget Repair Bill: "You're f*****g dead." This same Mr. Hintz (a family man) a week earlier was busted in a prostitution sting conducted at an area massage parlor bearing the charming name of "Heavenly Touch."

Struttin' the Runway in Tripoli

Soon to be ex-Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Muammar al-Gaddafi will not, perhaps, be remembered for the successful transformation of his country into a workers' eden but no one will deny the sense of style the man brought to the Middle East. Even designers of modern Episcopalian vestments must stand in awe of Gaddafi's sartorial acumen.

Thanks to Chewy

Struttin' the Runway in Tripoli

Soon to be ex-Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Muammar al-Gaddafi will not, perhaps, be remembered for the successful transformation of his country into a workers' eden but no one will deny the sense of style the man brought to the Middle East. Even designers of modern Episcopalian vestments must stand in awe of Gaddafi's sartorial acumen.

Thanks to Chewy

Quotation of the Day

(Hello again, it has been awhile, hasn't it? I guess I needed a break. I thank you for loyally checking in from time to time.)

In Jennifer Rubin's blog posting today in the Washington Post we read the following in the comments:

When educational requirements are included in the stats, it's clear that public employees are paid less than those in the private sector with equivalent educations.

To which this lovely response:

You are confusing education with credentalism. Education is a lifelong process, and a BS or MS in Education is essentially meaningless. How about comparing the total compensation of teachers to their real peer group -- the other college applicants with SATs in the 400-500 range?

Cruel, perhaps, but sometimes we must be cruel to be kind.

Quotation of the Day

(Hello again, it has been awhile, hasn't it? I guess I needed a break. I thank you for loyally checking in from time to time.)

In Jennifer Rubin's blog posting today in the Washington Post we read the following in the comments:

When educational requirements are included in the stats, it's clear that public employees are paid less than those in the private sector with equivalent educations.

To which this lovely response:

You are confusing education with credentalism. Education is a lifelong process, and a BS or MS in Education is essentially meaningless. How about comparing the total compensation of teachers to their real peer group -- the other college applicants with SATs in the 400-500 range?

Cruel, perhaps, but sometimes we must be cruel to be kind.

They Dare Not Mention It

Those hankering, for whatever reasons, to learn what passes for theology these days in the Episcopal Church (and to a large extent, alas, Canterbury itself) can do a lot worse than read the inchoate gnostic babbling of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to the Paulist Fathers at their 40th annual Hecker lecture. Or (and a lot more fun) read the exegetical fisking of said lecture, expertly performed by the inimitable Christopher Johnson of the Midwest Conservative Journal; I dare not compete with the master and besides, Ms. Schori is the Episcopalians' problem, not mine. By now virtually all Episcopalians who might have taken exception to heterodox ramblings like hers have moved on or are in the process of doing so.

What I do feel free objecting to, however, is the Paulist Fathers inviting the titular head of a protestant denomination that enthusiastically supports abortion rights to speak at a distinguished lecture series named for their founder. One searches in vain in the article covering Ms. Schori's speech on the society's website for even a passing smidgen of regret over her and her church's stand on a hideous act so fundamentally opposed to Catholic teaching. Father Hecker would be dismayed.

They Dare Not Mention It

Those hankering, for whatever reasons, to learn what passes for theology these days in the Episcopal Church (and to a large extent, alas, Canterbury itself) can do a lot worse than read the inchoate gnostic babbling of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to the Paulist Fathers at their 40th annual Hecker lecture. Or (and a lot more fun) read the exegetical fisking of said lecture, expertly performed by the inimitable Christopher Johnson of the Midwest Conservative Journal; I dare not compete with the master and besides, Ms. Schori is the Episcopalians' problem, not mine. By now virtually all Episcopalians who might have taken exception to heterodox ramblings like hers have moved on or are in the process of doing so.

What I do feel free objecting to, however, is the Paulist Fathers inviting the titular head of a protestant denomination that enthusiastically supports abortion rights to speak at a distinguished lecture series named for their founder. One searches in vain in the article covering Ms. Schori's speech on the society's website for even a passing smidgen of regret over her and her church's stand on a hideous act so fundamentally opposed to Catholic teaching. Father Hecker would be dismayed.

We Aren't Far Behind

It looks as if the brain drain of England is a fait accomplis.

[Gatwick] Airport bans toy soldier's three-inch rifle from plane... because it's a safety threat

The plastic Royal Signaller was bought by tourist Julie Lloyd as a present to take home to her husband Ken, a recently retired policeman in Toronto, Canada.

Mrs Lloyd, 59, who regularly visits Britain to see her mother, said: ‘I took it to the airport still in its wrapping, but they discovered the little gun when it was scanned.

‘It is only about three inches long and there are no moving parts. There isn’t even a trigger.
‘But they wouldn’t let me take it with me. I had it in my

hand luggage. I just didn’t think it would cause a problem. They said rules were rules. There was no flexibility or common sense.’

Brain drain is accelerated when morons are given badges.

Thanks to John Beeler

We Aren't Far Behind

It looks as if the brain drain of England is a fait accomplis.

[Gatwick] Airport bans toy soldier's three-inch rifle from plane... because it's a safety threat

The plastic Royal Signaller was bought by tourist Julie Lloyd as a present to take home to her husband Ken, a recently retired policeman in Toronto, Canada.

Mrs Lloyd, 59, who regularly visits Britain to see her mother, said: ‘I took it to the airport still in its wrapping, but they discovered the little gun when it was scanned.

‘It is only about three inches long and there are no moving parts. There isn’t even a trigger.
‘But they wouldn’t let me take it with me. I had it in my

hand luggage. I just didn’t think it would cause a problem. They said rules were rules. There was no flexibility or common sense.’

Brain drain is accelerated when morons are given badges.

Thanks to John Beeler

Calendar Notes

Distinguished Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank announces after writing 42 pieces on Sarah Palin he's tired of all this talk about Sarah Palin and will not write a single word about Sarah Palin for the whole month of February (the shortest month). Milbank invites his fellow journos

to join me in this pledge of a Palin-free February. With enough support, I believe we may even be able to extend the moratorium beyond one month, but we are up against a powerful compulsion, and we must take this struggle day by day.

Milbank also reminds his colleagues the next meeting of the I Hate Mommy Club takes place February 14th, after school, in the clubhouse under the big oak tree in Rock Creek Park. Ezra Klein is guest speaker.

Calendar Notes

Distinguished Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank announces after writing 42 pieces on Sarah Palin he's tired of all this talk about Sarah Palin and will not write a single word about Sarah Palin for the whole month of February (the shortest month). Milbank invites his fellow journos

to join me in this pledge of a Palin-free February. With enough support, I believe we may even be able to extend the moratorium beyond one month, but we are up against a powerful compulsion, and we must take this struggle day by day.

Milbank also reminds his colleagues the next meeting of the I Hate Mommy Club takes place February 14th, after school, in the clubhouse under the big oak tree in Rock Creek Park. Ezra Klein is guest speaker.

Just Deserts

Manhattan College, in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, like so many Catholic colleges and universities these days, is embarrassed by its Catholic past and does its best to eschew it. Employees are not required to be remotely religious or even believe in God. Little instruction in Catholicism is required of students, who may spend their entire tenure at the college without ever setting foot into the chapel. The faculty, formerly staffed by the Christian Brothers, was long ago laicized and the college website makes only slight and passing reference to the institution's Catholic heritage (an on-campus shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes is quaintly referred to as a "religious symbol") and stresses the college's "independence." To put it pithily, Manhattan College "used to be Catholic" (to quote the Preppy Handbook on Georgetown University).

Unfortunately for Manhattan College, however, its proud secularization may now cost it dearly. Adjunct professors, the navvies of academe, have waged a long and bitter campaign to be permitted union elections, an effort strongly resisted by the college administration, which insists the college is a religious institution within the Holy Catholic Church and is thus exempt, unlike its non-religious counterparts, from allowing union elections; indeed, the administration has used a slew of legal tactics to forestall them. Last week the National Labor Relations Board ruled against the college administration and ordered the elections to take place, virtually guaranteeing in the future the administration will have to engage in collective bargaining with the odious American Federation of Teachers, which represents the adjuncts.

I should state I have little sympathy for adjunct professors. They are, almost to a number, hard-core lefty graduate students and if their working conditions are miserable (low pay, no benefits and no respect) that is only a function of free markets, which have determined there is either little demand for instructors of feminist post-structural analyses of "The Flintstones" or there are simply too damned many of them; take your pick. As Governor Christie of New Jersey explained recently to an angry public school teacher: "You don't have to do it."

That said, however, I have even less sympathy for Catholic college administrators who, while loudly proclaiming their institutions' autonomy from Holy Church, her teachings and influence (in order to establish bona-fides with left-wing faculties, including the adjuncts), scurry behind the First Amendment for protection when their immensely profitable workhorses demand a greater piece of the action. The NLRB saw right through this ruse and in its decision states so clearly.

[T]he evidence establishes that the purpose of the College is secular and not the "propagation of a religious faith." Id. In the College's own words, "the mission of the College within the Church is strikingly different from that of parochial schools and Catholic high schools where indoctrination in the faith and insistence on religious observance is seen as part of their mission." Unlike parochial schools, the College asserts that its has "no intention" of imposing "Church affiliation and religious observance as a condition for hiring or admission, to set quotas based on religious affiliation, to require loyalty oaths, attendance at religious services, or courses in Catholic theology."

The NLRB also takes issue with a "religious" institution that has virtually no religious on its staff.

In the Sponsorship Covenant, while the College affirms its commitment to a continued relationship with the Christian Brothers, this affirmation is tempered by the statement that the College also "affirms its commitment to academic freedom and responsibility, and to institutional autonomy." Not only is there no evidence in the record that the Church or the Christian Brothers wield any control over the College, but the College's public statements assert the lack of such control. The Trustees Report, distributed to all prospective hires, states that forty years ago "the Board of Trustees eliminated any structures of control by authorities of the Church or the Institute [of the Christian Brothers]." Such facts stand in stark contrast to the power of religious orders wielded over educational institutions where the Board has declined to exercise jurisdiction. See, e.g., St. Joseph's College, supra at p. 68 (bishop authorized to fire faculty whose conduct was deemed unharmonious with Church).

I believe this decision could have major ramifications, well beyond labor relations, for those numerous Catholic colleges and universities that long ago forsook their missions in the name of secular humanism and multi-culturalism; and while the trustees of Manhattan College have vowed to appeal the decision, which could likely end up in the Supreme Court, I am sure administrators at Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College et al. are already regarding this turn of events with great alarm. They should be.

Thanks to the Riverdale Review.

Just Deserts

Manhattan College, in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, like so many Catholic colleges and universities these days, is embarrassed by its Catholic past and does its best to eschew it. Employees are not required to be remotely religious or even believe in God. Little instruction in Catholicism is required of students, who may spend their entire tenure at the college without ever setting foot into the chapel. The faculty, formerly staffed by the Christian Brothers, was long ago laicized and the college website makes only slight and passing reference to the institution's Catholic heritage (an on-campus shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes is quaintly referred to as a "religious symbol") and stresses the college's "independence." To put it pithily, Manhattan College "used to be Catholic" (to quote the Preppy Handbook on Georgetown University).

Unfortunately for Manhattan College, however, its proud secularization may now cost it dearly. Adjunct professors, the navvies of academe, have waged a long and bitter campaign to be permitted union elections, an effort strongly resisted by the college administration, which insists the college is a religious institution within the Holy Catholic Church and is thus exempt, unlike its non-religious counterparts, from allowing union elections; indeed, the administration has used a slew of legal tactics to forestall them. Last week the National Labor Relations Board ruled against the college administration and ordered the elections to take place, virtually guaranteeing in the future the administration will have to engage in collective bargaining with the odious American Federation of Teachers, which represents the adjuncts.

I should state I have little sympathy for adjunct professors. They are, almost to a number, hard-core lefty graduate students and if their working conditions are miserable (low pay, no benefits and no respect) that is only a function of free markets, which have determined there is either little demand for instructors of feminist post-structural analyses of "The Flintstones" or there are simply too damned many of them; take your pick. As Governor Christie of New Jersey explained recently to an angry public school teacher: "You don't have to do it."

That said, however, I have even less sympathy for Catholic college administrators who, while loudly proclaiming their institutions' autonomy from Holy Church, her teachings and influence (in order to establish bona-fides with left-wing faculties, including the adjuncts), scurry behind the First Amendment for protection when their immensely profitable workhorses demand a greater piece of the action. The NLRB saw right through this ruse and in its decision states so clearly.

[T]he evidence establishes that the purpose of the College is secular and not the "propagation of a religious faith." Id. In the College's own words, "the mission of the College within the Church is strikingly different from that of parochial schools and Catholic high schools where indoctrination in the faith and insistence on religious observance is seen as part of their mission." Unlike parochial schools, the College asserts that its has "no intention" of imposing "Church affiliation and religious observance as a condition for hiring or admission, to set quotas based on religious affiliation, to require loyalty oaths, attendance at religious services, or courses in Catholic theology."

The NLRB also takes issue with a "religious" institution that has virtually no religious on its staff.

In the Sponsorship Covenant, while the College affirms its commitment to a continued relationship with the Christian Brothers, this affirmation is tempered by the statement that the College also "affirms its commitment to academic freedom and responsibility, and to institutional autonomy." Not only is there no evidence in the record that the Church or the Christian Brothers wield any control over the College, but the College's public statements assert the lack of such control. The Trustees Report, distributed to all prospective hires, states that forty years ago "the Board of Trustees eliminated any structures of control by authorities of the Church or the Institute [of the Christian Brothers]." Such facts stand in stark contrast to the power of religious orders wielded over educational institutions where the Board has declined to exercise jurisdiction. See, e.g., St. Joseph's College, supra at p. 68 (bishop authorized to fire faculty whose conduct was deemed unharmonious with Church).

I believe this decision could have major ramifications, well beyond labor relations, for those numerous Catholic colleges and universities that long ago forsook their missions in the name of secular humanism and multi-culturalism; and while the trustees of Manhattan College have vowed to appeal the decision, which could likely end up in the Supreme Court, I am sure administrators at Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College et al. are already regarding this turn of events with great alarm. They should be.

Thanks to the Riverdale Review.

Ne impediatur populus orare

Father Hunwicke attends an Ordinariate Mass:

If Fr Aidan's homily was characteristic, so was Bishop Andrew's liturgy. Fine music (Byrd; Morales); Latin from the Sursum corda until the Communion. We had examples of what the American blogosphere now calls Common Sense and Mutual Enrichment. Sanctus covered the (silent) first half of the Canon Romanus and Benedictus the second half; we were spared those horrid 'Acclamations' after the Consecration. At the Invitation to Communion, Bishop Andrew continued his custom of using the New ICEL translation of Ecce Agnus Dei.

Read it all. It seems to me what Father Hunwicke witnessed bears greater verisimilitude to the "spirit of Vatican II " than wretched Novus Ordo (and the even wretcheder English translation), along with the other horrid excesses and vandalism committed by the post-Vatican II "reformers" who invoked the "spirit of Vatican II" with each fresh assault on liturgy, music and ritual. It makes me proud to have been an Anglican.

Thanks to William Tighe.

Ne impediatur populus orare

Father Hunwicke attends an Ordinariate Mass:

If Fr Aidan's homily was characteristic, so was Bishop Andrew's liturgy. Fine music (Byrd; Morales); Latin from the Sursum corda until the Communion. We had examples of what the American blogosphere now calls Common Sense and Mutual Enrichment. Sanctus covered the (silent) first half of the Canon Romanus and Benedictus the second half; we were spared those horrid 'Acclamations' after the Consecration. At the Invitation to Communion, Bishop Andrew continued his custom of using the New ICEL translation of Ecce Agnus Dei.

Read it all. It seems to me what Father Hunwicke witnessed bears greater verisimilitude to the "spirit of Vatican II " than wretched Novus Ordo (and the even wretcheder English translation), along with the other horrid excesses and vandalism committed by the post-Vatican II "reformers" who invoked the "spirit of Vatican II" with each fresh assault on liturgy, music and ritual. It makes me proud to have been an Anglican.

Thanks to William Tighe.

One Too Many Trips to the Well

Long-time readers of this blog may recall a posting heaping encomiums on Yale Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg for her bold action banning stage weapons in student productions following the massacre of thirty-two Virgina Tech students by a fellow student, of whom all too many seemed aware was a dangerously deranged lunatic but were unwilling or unable to do anything about. Now Dean Betty's idiocy has been trumped, not surprisingly by a member of Congress, in the aftermath of the recent massacre in Tuscon, Arizona, also committed by nutjob who should have been locked up, that left six people dead and a congresswoman critically injured.

Representative Bob Brady of Pennsylvania told The Caucus he plans to introduce a bill that would ban symbols like that now-infamous campaign cross-hair map.

"You can't threaten the president with a bull's-eye or a cross hair," Mr. Brady, a Democrat, said, and his measure would make it a crime to do so to a member of Congress or federal employee, as well.

Congressman Brady, a Democrat, is referring to this stupidly infamous campaign ad of a year ago, sponsored by the left's all-time favorite bogeyperson Sarah Palin. In fact, the Democrats and their media allies have turned their demagoguing machine up to 11 in the wake of the recent shooting, attempting to establish culpability with not only Ms. Palin but with a host of other villains: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Fox News, the Tea Party, the Republican Party, etc. etc. And while this has been a effective ploy for the Dems in in the past, I do not think it will work this time. Their cynical hysteria is losing currency and serves to remind us of their own rich legacy of virulent and lurid attacks on the opposition. I do not they will get away with it. People are on to them and they will end up shooting themselves in the foot (if you will pardon the violent metaphor--please don't go blowing people away after reading this).

One Too Many Trips to the Well

Long-time readers of this blog may recall a posting heaping encomiums on Yale Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg for her bold action banning stage weapons in student productions following the massacre of thirty-two Virgina Tech students by a fellow student, of whom all too many seemed aware was a dangerously deranged lunatic but were unwilling or unable to do anything about. Now Dean Betty's idiocy has been trumped, not surprisingly by a member of Congress, in the aftermath of the recent massacre in Tuscon, Arizona, also committed by nutjob who should have been locked up, that left six people dead and a congresswoman critically injured.

Representative Bob Brady of Pennsylvania told The Caucus he plans to introduce a bill that would ban symbols like that now-infamous campaign cross-hair map.

"You can't threaten the president with a bull's-eye or a cross hair," Mr. Brady, a Democrat, said, and his measure would make it a crime to do so to a member of Congress or federal employee, as well.

Congressman Brady, a Democrat, is referring to this stupidly infamous campaign ad of a year ago, sponsored by the left's all-time favorite bogeyperson Sarah Palin. In fact, the Democrats and their media allies have turned their demagoguing machine up to 11 in the wake of the recent shooting, attempting to establish culpability with not only Ms. Palin but with a host of other villains: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Fox News, the Tea Party, the Republican Party, etc. etc. And while this has been a effective ploy for the Dems in in the past, I do not think it will work this time. Their cynical hysteria is losing currency and serves to remind us of their own rich legacy of virulent and lurid attacks on the opposition. I do not they will get away with it. People are on to them and they will end up shooting themselves in the foot (if you will pardon the violent metaphor--please don't go blowing people away after reading this).

A Cheering Sight for a Gray Winter Day

A Cheering Sight for a Gray Winter Day

Midnight Mass

This Christmas Eve, at midnight, I had the great pleasure of attending Solemn High Mass for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord at St. Mary's Church in Norwalk, Connecticut: Extraordinary Form with Mass setting by Tomás Luis de Victoria sung by an expert choir. This was my first experience of Midnight Mass celebrated in accordance with the 1962 Missal and, God willing, it will be the way I observe Christmas for the rest of my days.

St. Mary's Parish is a leader in restoring the traditional Latin Mass to Catholic worship, even to the extent of making extensive "re-restorations" to their historic church (e.g. restoring the altar rail and moving out the free-standing altar) to accommodate its celebration. Amen, amen.

Photo from the website of the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny, where many other photos of this celebration may be found.

Midnight Mass

This Christmas Eve, at midnight, I had the great pleasure of attending Solemn High Mass for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord at St. Mary's Church in Norwalk, Connecticut: Extraordinary Form with Mass setting by Tomás Luis de Victoria sung by an expert choir. This was my first experience of Midnight Mass celebrated in accordance with the 1962 Missal and, God willing, it will be the way I observe Christmas for the rest of my days.

St. Mary's Parish is a leader in restoring the traditional Latin Mass to Catholic worship, even to the extent of making extensive "re-restorations" to their historic church (e.g. restoring the altar rail and moving out the free-standing altar) to accommodate its celebration. Amen, amen.

Photo from the website of the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny, where many other photos of this celebration may be found.

Yellow Peril

From NH Journal:

Outgoing [New Hampshire] Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter implied the Chinese cost her re-election in November and secretly funneled money to help her Republican opponent Frank Guinta during a post-election interview with ABC News.

“They’re in the halls of Congress everywhere,” Shea-Porter said in the interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl. “[A]nd it means, for example, that you sit on a committee and you say something about concern about Chinese influence or something, you don’t even know if in the next election, somehow or another, they manage to send some money to some group that now doesn’t even have to say where they got it.”

Ms. Shea-Porter is a liberal and a Democrat.

(Thanks to the MCJ)

Yellow Peril

From NH Journal:

Outgoing [New Hampshire] Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter implied the Chinese cost her re-election in November and secretly funneled money to help her Republican opponent Frank Guinta during a post-election interview with ABC News.

“They’re in the halls of Congress everywhere,” Shea-Porter said in the interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl. “[A]nd it means, for example, that you sit on a committee and you say something about concern about Chinese influence or something, you don’t even know if in the next election, somehow or another, they manage to send some money to some group that now doesn’t even have to say where they got it.”

Ms. Shea-Porter is a liberal and a Democrat.

(Thanks to the MCJ)

Move Over, Placido!

Merry Christmas everyone! And to make your Yuletide even merrier, please accept with my compliments an extraordinary rendition of Adolphe Adam's beloved classic, "Cantique de Noël" (O Holy Night). Talent like this does not come along everyday but alas! this artist remains anonymous.

Thanks and warm Christmas greetings to John J. O'Sullivan™.

Move Over, Placido!

Merry Christmas everyone! And to make your Yuletide even merrier, please accept with my compliments an extraordinary rendition of Adolphe Adam's beloved classic, "Cantique de Noël" (O Holy Night). Talent like this does not come along everyday but alas! this artist remains anonymous.

Thanks and warm Christmas greetings to John J. O'Sullivan™.

Wow, a Bishop with Spine!

Who would believe it? (from Women of Grace.)

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix is planning to strip a local medical center of its Catholic status tomorrow if it does not meet his demands to guarantee compliance with Church teachings.

The Arizona Republic is reporting that Bishop Olmsted sent a letter on Nov. 22 to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, the same hospital where Sister Margaret McBride gave approval for an abortion to be performed on a woman allegedly suffering from pulmonary hypertension last year. In the letter, the bishop is demanding that the hospital comply with Catholic health-care rules, educate its medical staff on those rules, and acknowledge what is the correct Church position on the abortion that took place. If the hospital’s parent company, Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), does not agree to these demands by tomorrow, he will strip the facility of its Catholic status.

“There cannot be a tie in this debate,” Olmsted wrote. “Until this point in time, you have not acknowledged my authority to settle this question...”

“Your actions communicate to me that you do not respect my authority to authentically teach and interpret moral law in this diocese,” he writes. (Emphasis added.)

If our bishops had shown such firm resolve dealing with predator priests who raped adolescent boys, there is no telling what better repair Holy Church would be in these days. God grant us more bishops like Olmstead.

(Thanks to Augustine)

Wow, a Bishop with Spine!

Who would believe it? (from Women of Grace.)

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix is planning to strip a local medical center of its Catholic status tomorrow if it does not meet his demands to guarantee compliance with Church teachings.

The Arizona Republic is reporting that Bishop Olmsted sent a letter on Nov. 22 to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, the same hospital where Sister Margaret McBride gave approval for an abortion to be performed on a woman allegedly suffering from pulmonary hypertension last year. In the letter, the bishop is demanding that the hospital comply with Catholic health-care rules, educate its medical staff on those rules, and acknowledge what is the correct Church position on the abortion that took place. If the hospital’s parent company, Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), does not agree to these demands by tomorrow, he will strip the facility of its Catholic status.

“There cannot be a tie in this debate,” Olmsted wrote. “Until this point in time, you have not acknowledged my authority to settle this question...”

“Your actions communicate to me that you do not respect my authority to authentically teach and interpret moral law in this diocese,” he writes. (Emphasis added.)

If our bishops had shown such firm resolve dealing with predator priests who raped adolescent boys, there is no telling what better repair Holy Church would be in these days. God grant us more bishops like Olmstead.

(Thanks to Augustine)

Stop the Presses!

Rep. Ron Paul, in a sympathetic account in, of all places, the New York Times! Who would believe it--even the comments are mostly favorable.

(Thanks to John J. O'Sullivan™)

Stop the Presses!

Rep. Ron Paul, in a sympathetic account in, of all places, the New York Times! Who would believe it--even the comments are mostly favorable.

(Thanks to John J. O'Sullivan™)

Slapping Down the Muslim Turk

An Austrian parliamentarian has finally had enough.

Slapping Down the Muslim Turk

An Austrian parliamentarian has finally had enough.

This Will Get People's Attention

(From the Dennis Miller Show)


UPDATE: Son of the Big Mo!

Morning Bits

By Jennifer Rubin

A headline liberals can't bear to see: "Bush job approval rating higher than Obama's." Yup, faster than anyone imagined: "This is the first time Gallup asked Americans to retrospectively rate Bush's job performance. And it was a stunning turnaround from his low point of 25 percent in November 2008. The 47 percent number is 13 points higher than the last Gallup poll taken before Bush left office in 2009 and the highest rating for him since before Hurricane Katrina in 2005."

This Will Get People's Attention

(From the Dennis Miller Show)


UPDATE: Son of the Big Mo!

Morning Bits

By Jennifer Rubin

A headline liberals can't bear to see: "Bush job approval rating higher than Obama's." Yup, faster than anyone imagined: "This is the first time Gallup asked Americans to retrospectively rate Bush's job performance. And it was a stunning turnaround from his low point of 25 percent in November 2008. The 47 percent number is 13 points higher than the last Gallup poll taken before Bush left office in 2009 and the highest rating for him since before Hurricane Katrina in 2005."

On the Feast of Saint Nicholas

Caution: Low production values but sound theology!

(Thanks to John J. O'Sullivan™)

On the Feast of Saint Nicholas

Caution: Low production values but sound theology!

(Thanks to John J. O'Sullivan™)

Awesome Majesty

Storm over Montana
Photograph by Sean Heavy

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

(Thanks to the MCJ)

Awesome Majesty

Storm over Montana
Photograph by Sean Heavy

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

(Thanks to the MCJ)