Stephen Brady of RCF in Motorcyle Accident

Stephen Brady, a dedicated lay Catholic who has done more than probably any other person to reveal the depth and breadth of the sexual scandals of the Catholic church, is in the hospital after a serious motorcycle accident–he struck a deer.

Mark Shea on Torture on “Relevant Radio”

Poor Mark Shea. And I mean it–I sympathize with him. He’s taken a strong stand against torture–a stand that would seem to be a no-brainer for any Christian. He was interviewed on “Relevant Radio,” and … well, read his post.

Update: You can’t read it now, because he took it down. They told him the interview, in which he got jumped on for his opposition to torture, was “*just* a demo,” and won’t be aired. But he still has a distillation of his thoughts on how the subject must be discussed in a Christian context.

Trial Set for Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

Houston Press–Parish Predators: Trial Set in Molestation Case against Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

After three years of legal wrangling, a trial has been set in the case of four men who sued the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston for alleged negligence related to sexual abuse they suffered at a diocesan parish in the mid-1990s. The trial has been set for February 25, 2008, in U.S. District Court in Houston.

The case involves Colombian seminarian student Juan Carlos Patino-Arango, who admitted to molesting one of the men (then 14 years old) in his quarters at St. Francis de Sales Parish Church. Patino-Arango left the country shortly afterwards and is believed to be living in Medellin, Colombia.

More on this case.

On Ministry with Men

“Let’s Stop Beating up on Men!”

Thanksgiving in Canada and US

Two Countries, Two Thanksgivings.

Bishop Brom Asks Priests to Help Pay Bill

Bishop Robert Brom of San Diego is asking priests to forfeit a month’s salary to pay the $198.1 million settlement against the diocese for the sexual abuse of children. Some of his priests came up with the idea. A copy of the bishop’s letter notes that this request is so that the priests can have some credibility when they go to ask their parishioners for pay.

But it doesn’t add up. Sexual abuse was perpetrated by priests, and some of those priests were protected by their buddies and the diocese. I think priests who watered down Christian teaching on sexual morality or who were unchaste themselves do have some culpability along with those personally guilty. I don’t think a month’s salary will really ease their conscience or settle their debt.