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.

Lie Back and Think of England

Lie Back and Think of England

Never Thought I'd Live to See the Day

Mark Rudd is peeing in his pants.

April 22, 2011
Columbia to Officially Recognize Naval ROTC

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus today announced that Columbia and the U.S. Navy have agreed to officially reinstate Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Program enrollment opportunities at the University.

Columbia student military veterans and ROTC members marked Veterans Day 2010 with a flag raising on campus.

Never Thought I'd Live to See the Day

Mark Rudd is peeing in his pants.

April 22, 2011
Columbia to Officially Recognize Naval ROTC

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus today announced that Columbia and the U.S. Navy have agreed to officially reinstate Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Program enrollment opportunities at the University.

Columbia student military veterans and ROTC members marked Veterans Day 2010 with a flag raising on campus.

Pulling the Beeswax from His Ears

A warm welcome, if you please, to Inigo Hicks, who after valiantly resisting the seductive ditties emanating from the sirens of the blogosphere, has triumphantly succumbed.

Pulling the Beeswax from His Ears

A warm welcome, if you please, to Inigo Hicks, who after valiantly resisting the seductive ditties emanating from the sirens of the blogosphere, has triumphantly succumbed.

So Much for Parochialism

After considerable debate I have decided I can no longer attend mass (except in a pinch to fulfill my obligation) at my local parish church. The liturgy and music are so dreadful that despite my best efforts to concentrate on what is (it goes without saying) the most important aspect of the mass, the Eucharist, I find that concentration continually upended by priests who apparently see it their duty to give the dubious Novus Ordo mass their own personal stamp. Attempts by other parishioners (far younger than myself, I might add) and myself to rein in some of the more egregious liturgical abuses have proved unavailing, met with indifference at best from the pastor on down. I have thrown in the towel.

I regret having have to make this decision. Not only will I will miss the five-minute walk to church but I also feel strongly the need for the strong parochial presence of Holy Church in urban and suburban neighborhoods; in many ways it is the glue that holds them together. Nonetheless, owing to favorable circumstances, I have a car these days (a rare and lovely luxury in New York City) and thus can easily get myself to the Church of the Holy Innocents in mid-town Manhattan, where the mass in the Extraordinary Form is now celebrated seven days a week, with Missae Cantatae offered on Sundays and major feasts days, along with a superb choir performing chant and Renaissance polyphony.

I doubt there are more than a handful of Catholic churches in the whole country with such a generous offering of traditional masses and it seems to me that not only should I avail myself of them, it behooves me to, for Holy Innocents could use more souls in the pews (although the numbers are steadily and gratifyingly rising), it being smack in the middle of the garment district, which is not exactly residential (I also hope my relatively modest offering in the pledge envelope will not go unappreciated). I have passed the point where I believe it merely desirable that traditional liturgy be restored to the Holy Church; I now believe it is absolutely essential for her survival, lest she follow the mainstream protestant denominations into the morass and oblivion of our wretched contemporary culture.

Beginning this evening I will begin to experience, for the first time, the entire Triduum the way it should be done: using the Tridentine Rite with music worthy for use in the praise of our Lord. I am very much looking forward to it. A joyous Easter to you all.

So Much for Parochialism

After considerable debate I have decided I can no longer attend mass (except in a pinch to fulfill my obligation) at my local parish church. The liturgy and music are so dreadful that despite my best efforts to concentrate on what is (it goes without saying) the most important aspect of the mass, the Eucharist, I find that concentration continually upended by priests who apparently see it their duty to give the dubious Novus Ordo mass their own personal stamp. Attempts by other parishioners (far younger than myself, I might add) and myself to rein in some of the more egregious liturgical abuses have proved unavailing, met with indifference at best from the pastor on down. I have thrown in the towel.

I regret having have to make this decision. Not only will I will miss the five-minute walk to church but I also feel strongly the need for the strong parochial presence of Holy Church in urban and suburban neighborhoods; in many ways it is the glue that holds them together. Nonetheless, owing to favorable circumstances, I have a car these days (a rare and lovely luxury in New York City) and thus can easily get myself to the Church of the Holy Innocents in mid-town Manhattan, where the mass in the Extraordinary Form is now celebrated seven days a week, with Missae Cantatae offered on Sundays and major feasts days, along with a superb choir performing chant and Renaissance polyphony.

I doubt there are more than a handful of Catholic churches in the whole country with such a generous offering of traditional masses and it seems to me that not only should I avail myself of them, it behooves me to, for Holy Innocents could use more souls in the pews (although the numbers are steadily and gratifyingly rising), it being smack in the middle of the garment district, which is not exactly residential (I also hope my relatively modest offering in the pledge envelope will not go unappreciated). I have passed the point where I believe it merely desirable that traditional liturgy be restored to the Holy Church; I now believe it is absolutely essential for her survival, lest she follow the mainstream protestant denominations into the morass and oblivion of our wretched contemporary culture.

Beginning this evening I will begin to experience, for the first time, the entire Triduum the way it should be done: using the Tridentine Rite with music worthy for use in the praise of our Lord. I am very much looking forward to it. A joyous Easter to you all.

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.