Vatican Official: Reconsider Communion in Hand

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…

What the World Eats

From NPR in 2005: Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. Interesting comparison of a week’s worth of food in several different countries.

“Child-Man in the Promised Land”

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…

The Canonization of Isaac T. Hecker?

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…

Kreeft on Cats

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.

“New England Pastor”

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).

CleanFlicks Founder Arrested

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…

Houston Cathedral Progress

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?

Church and State in Colorado

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…

The State of Catholic Education

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…

End Torture

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).

Pentecostalism “the Ecumenical Future”

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…

The Graduation Racket

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

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,…

“Stupid, Unjust, and Criminal”

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…

New Blog (to Me)

My brother, Jim, has joined the bloggers at Cahiers Péguy: the drama of Christian humanism (all members of the Communion and Liberation movement).

Fr. Philip Powell

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…

Anthrax and the Road to War

Newsweek carries an excerpt from The Bush Tragedy, by Slate editor Jacob Weisberg. Something that stands out is the role he says the anthrax scare of 2001 played in the decision to go to war in Iraq. The anthrax attacks in New York and Washington created a sense of vulnerability that was in many respects…