CNS story:
The secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said he thinks it is time for the Catholic Church to reconsider its decision to allow the faithful to receive Communion in the hand.
Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, the Vatican official, made the suggestion in the preface to a book about [...]
Video of California slaughterhouse shows sick cows being tormented to get them to stagger into a slaughterhouse.
Fr. Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, has died. Accusations of drug misuse and sexual abuse had dogged him for decades; the latter finally resulted in his removal by Pope Benedict XVI. Rod Dreher reports.
From NPR in 2005: Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. Interesting comparison of a week’s worth of food in several different countries.
Rod Dreher draws attention to some recent actions by George Bush that are not getting much attention–more “signing statements” in which he says, while signing a new law, that he isn’t going to obey it. Rule by royal decree. Why are so few troubled? Why has this not led to an impeachment?
Rod responds, in a [...]
Rod Dreher reflects on meat eating and the world economy, jumping off from a commentary in the New York Times, “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler.”
On the prolonged adolescence of young men today (via Rod Dreher).
It’s 1965 and you’re a 26-year-old white guy. You have a factory job, or maybe you work for an insurance broker. Either way, you’re married, probably have been for a few years now; you met your wife in high school, where she was in your [...]
The Catholic Archdiocese of New York is now officially pushing for the canonization of Fr. Isaac Thomas Hecker (1819-1888), founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (aka, the Paulists).
Will it happen? No mention in any of these articles about Hecker’s association with “Americanism,” condemned by Pope Leo XIII in Testem benevolentiae in [...]
From Mark Shea:
Your questions, God’s answers
QUESTION: Can demons possess cats?
PETER KREEFT: Cats need no demons; they are already completely evil.
– Peter Kreeft, Angels (and Demons), p. 123
For more Kreeftian insights, check out this.
“Mitt Romney has acknowledged that Mormonism is not a Christian faith.”
Shawn Brace and his dad (I haven’t asked, but I’m assuming his dad is Bill Brace) have a new magazine, hard copy and on-line: New England Pastor, for Adventist pastors in New England (and elsewhere).
The guy who started CleanFlicks, which edited dirty words and pictures out of movies, and who ran a family video club after CleanFlicks was forced out of business, has been arrested. Seems all this was a cover for dirtier deeds.
Update: Not true, says CleanFlicks! The journalists who reported this (and reported it, and reported it) [...]
Weimar College is closing–and Ryan Bell, a graduate, reflects.
Update: See also remarks by Alex Carpenter.
Video on installation of statues in the new Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston; another, from channel 13. Webpage. The artist who painted the statues talks about how much research she did–I wonder, why then is Juan Diego, supposedly an Aztec, portrayed with white skin and red hair?
Study says 44 is the worst age. Most depressing.
Well. I’m glad I’m past it, then.
Colorado legislature is considering legislation that would stipulate that any agency that accepts state funding cannot base hiring decisions on religion. Archbishop Chaput is crying foul. He says the state is interfering with the church’s mission. He makes a threat:
When it can no longer have the freedom it needs to be “Catholic,” it will end [...]
Carl Olson writes about the kafuffle in St. Louis over pro-abortion remarks by a coach at the Jesuit-run St. Louis University. Will the archbishop win or the coach in this debacle? Olson thinks it will be the coach, because the university has been doing all it can to distance itself from the Catholic church.
Lessons here, [...]
It should be a no-brainer–torture is a moral evil that can never be excused. Check out the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. Via Mark Shea (and Alex Carpenter).
John Allen reports: “If demography is destiny, Pentecostals are the ecumenical future.”
Pentecostalism is certainly the only place where there’s any power or passion to ecumenism, and it played a role in my own path towards ecumenism–and then the Catholic Church. In the two years after I left the Adventist church, I visited a couple of [...]
I can’t believe the high cost of high school graduation these days. $30 for the cap and gown. $25 for 25 invitations (invitation and two envelopes). Another $25 if you want little name cards to put inside. Another $7.50 if you want tissue paper to put inside. The boy’s letter jacket was around $160. The [...]
Vermont politics are unique. It is, I think, the only state that requires a “Freeman’s Oath” upon registering to vote (at least, that’s what it was called for over two hundred years; since 1994 is has been called a “Voter’s Oath” thanks to an “inclusive language” bill). It also has democracy at its most basic, [...]
That’s part of the title of Andrew Greeley’s latest book: A Stupid, Unjust and Criminal War: 2001-2007. He’s referring to Iraq. Reviewed by Tom Roberts at NCR.
No pacifist, Fr. Greeley nonetheless understands that even in what might be necessary wars, virtue is ultimately sacrificed on the battlefield. “War sucks everyone and everything into its vortex [...]
That’s how John Dear, SJ, describes high school ROTC.
When I was in high school ROTC, I recall being taught military history, drill, first aid, map reading, and the use of the M1903 Springfield rifle (bolt action, single shot). Murder wasn’t in the syllabus.
He says it is “shocking and scandalous” that a priest would be a [...]
Galveston’s Mardi Gras festivities kick off this weekend. I probably won’t make it–I’ve only gone down once in nine years.
My brother, Jim, has joined the bloggers at Cahiers Péguy: the drama of Christian humanism (all members of the Communion and Liberation movement).
Julius Nam, Pacifists or Legalists? Korean Adventism and Conscientious Objection/Cooperation (1950-1970).
He didn’t send this to me (why not, Philip?), but I saw this at Mark Shea’s–Fr. Philip Powell, OP (who did his diaconate year with me) writes:
I need a tiny little favor.
My senior/grad theology seminar here at the Univ of Dallas is called “Postmetaphysical theologies.” The class has a blogsite called “suppl(e)mental.”
A major part of [...]
How much do you know about Roe v. Wade? Take the Roe IQ Test.
I surprised myself–100%.
Patrick O’Hannigan reminds me of a graphic illustration of the abortion holocaust I posted some time ago.
National Catholic Reporter columnist Colman McCarthy looks at Ron Paul, and what attracts people to him.
