Inflatable Churches ... I wish I was joking.

Pontifications has a post on Inflatable Churches.

Yep, nothing says "till death do us a part" like a portable, filled-with-air, foundationless, impermanent, flimsy, easily-blown-over-by-moderate-gusts-of-wind, readily-mistakeable-for-a-kids-jumping-playland, cheap, chuck-e-cheese-like, pathetic assembly of made-in-china prefabricated collection of poorly-stitched-together sacks of compressed air.

I love this modern age. Talk about the epitome of that whole "what can the church do for me?" attitude. What I really what to know is what kind of "priest" or "minister" would marry someone in an inflatable church. Probably the same kind of minister that will (for $2o) marry your two cats together (provided their is no impediment of consanguinity and the cats can be proven to be in their right minds and be capable of giving full, complete and adult consent...)

The Amazing Alito Dance!

Alito has been elected to the Supreme Court 58-42.

To celebrate the occasion, Jeff Miller has created this page:

LAUGH OUT LOUD - THE AMAZING ALITO DANCE!

Spread the good word, folks.

Becoming a Reservoir

I believe it was Eldredge who said that Christians must "become reservoirs of grace, not canals." (it probably appears elsewhere - I can only remember this instance). Anyway, a reservoir gives water from its overfill, a canal just passes on what it only recently acquired.

I think the same idea can also apply to how we should approach growing in "knowledge" as well as "grace". It can take a reservoir a long time to fill, and it can take a long time to grow in wisdom - but that's the only way you can truly give to others without depleting your own supply.

This concept of the "overflow" is at root a Pauline metaphor: "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you." (1 Thess. 3:12)

If you liked Eldredge's quote, this fellow has a nice post reflecting on the concept.

Around the blogs

Too busy to really post today, so here's some other people to keep you entertained:

Jimmy Akin looks into John Paul the Great's (possible) first miracle

Domenico Bettinelli thinks the SSPX might get re-unified with Rome!

Curt Jester continues to be hilarious: "hide your light under a basket!"

Via Dappled Things, The very intellectual "Scientific Cultural Theory Test"

Via Insight Scoop, Fr. James Schall talks about "Deus Caritas Est"

Via AmyWelborn (and everywhere else): Jesuit Leadership To Change Soon?

Finally, Rocco has some excerpts from Pope Benedict's Lenten Message

Three hour documentary of German Carthusian monks a hit!

Zenit runs the following short article:

BONN, Germany, JAN. 29, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A three-hour documentary about the silent life of Carthusian monks is making a splash at the German box office.

"Into Great Silence" is the brainchild of director Philip Gröning, who waited 17 years for the permission to film inside La Grande Chartreuse monastery in the French Alps, reported Deutsche Welle.

In 2002 he joined the cloistered monks for several months to capture unprecedented images of life inside the monastery. The documentary, which the director says gives you the experience of living in the monastery, is currently playing to packed cinemas in Germany.

Here is the film's website (in English).

Be sure to watch the trailer!

Italian premier seeking re-election vows to abstain from sex

Brietbart is running a story on an Italian premier who is currently running for re-election, and apparently has vowed to not have sex until April 9th (election day).

The pledge was made to some religious figure, though the article leaves it somewhat ambiguous as to who this figure was - calling him alternately a TV preacher, clergyman, priest, and "father"... (just to cover all the bases?)

This is so stupid.

For one thing, the premier couldn't make this kind of vow without his wife's permission (gee, I hope he is married). Also, St. Paul says (1 Cor 7) you should only give up sex through mutual permission for the sake of prayer - I doubt running an election campaign counts. Basically all this guy is proving is that he leads a very unbalanced life. Hedonism isn't best fought with puritanism.

oh yeah, apparently this is the good guy for the election, because if the "[other side] wins it will be the moral end for this country."

(finally, this decision could have detrimental effects on his public speaking skills. )

Your Sunday morning picture of the Pope

"What's that? You want me to write another encyclical? already? ... oh fine.

So much for that nice long breakfast I was looking forward to this morning."

photo credit.

Incredibly moving story about a Pro-Life mother

Amy Welborn points to this article about a mother who chooses to give birth to both her twins: one healthy, and one anencephalic (born without a developed brain). The article is extremely moving (I'll be honest - it brought me to tears) as it describes the grace, suffering, pain and beauty experienced by everyone surrounding the birth.

The article is very long, so one might want to skip to the paragraph that begins, "Danielle was afraid to fall in love with her son, but he had such a way about him" etc.

1 in 10,000 births in the U.S. are anencephalic. I can only imagine how many of these "little angels" are aborted. Anyone contemplating this decision should read this article. Just look at that picture.

There are several webrings of parents who have lost children to anencephaly, as well as an Anencephaly Support Foundation for parents to help them choose to bring their child with anencephaly to term.

Oremus pro innocenti!

Let's play "Caption the Photo" - Benedict Style

Piero Marini: "And you see your Holiness, your portrait will go right next to John Paul the Great on this wall."

Pope Benedict: "Hmm, - that's all very well, but what about that spot right over the altar? Is that free?"

Add your own in comments. :-P

Photo credit: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060125/481/gb11901251901 (Yahoo News/Associated Press)

Pope Benedict to visit the United States next year?!!

WHOA.

Rocco has a big news - apparently Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore (why have I never heard of this guy?) has been lobbying to get Benedict out to Baltimore for their 200th anniversary as a Primatial See. Well, it might actually happen it seems.

Here is the story:

http://wbal.com/news/story.asp?articleid=40138

Listen to Cardinal Keeler claim it: http://wbal.com/stories/articlefiles/40138-Cardinal%20Keeler%20says%20Pope%20is%20coming%20%2050%20in.mp3

Now, this could be a huge gaff on the Cardinal's part ... perhaps there is indeed a plan in the works, but if there is it is probably in the very early stages and I really doubt that Pope Benedict himself would have approved of the announcement being made this way.

Time will tell.

GodSpy excerpt and interview on Opus Dei

GodSpy is hosting an excerpt from John Allen's book on Opus Dei, as well as an interview with him (the fine folks at GodSpy have a tendency to host amazing content like this - I highly recommend adding them to your favorites if you have not already).

As I understand it, Opus Dei is one of the religious groups targeted and vilified extensively by the Da Vinci Code - so it's nice to know that there is also a competant and honest look at the order available.

Robert George on Embryonic Human Beings

Pontifications is hosting Dr. Robert George of Princeton's short article on Embyronic Human Beings - it is a fantastic overview and concise presentation on the subject:

A human embryo is not something different in kind from a human being, like a rock, or a potato, or a rhinoceros. A human embryo is a whole living member of the species Homo sapiens in the earliest stage of his or her natural development. Unless severely damaged or denied or deprived of a suitable environment, an embryonic human being will, by directing its own integral organic functioning, develop himself or herself to the next more mature developmental stage, i.e., the fetal stage. The embryonic, fetal, infant, child, and adolescent stages are stages in the development of a determinate and enduring entity—a human being—who comes into existence as a single cell organism (zygote) and develops, if all goes well, into adulthood many years later.

A human embryo (like a human being in the fetal, infant, child, or adolescent stage) is not properly classified as a “pre-human” organism with the mere potential to become a human being. No human embryologist or textbook in human embryology known to me presents, accepts, or remotely contemplates such a view. The testimony of all leading embryology textbooks is that a human embryo is—already and not merely potentially—a human being. His or her potential, assuming a sufficient measure of good health and a suitable environment, is to develop by an internally directed process of growth through the further stages of maturity on the continuum that is his or her life.

Read the rest. (includes a thoughtful comments page)

Busy day - Back tomorrow

I had a busy (good) day - should be back tomorrow.

Dad named "father of the year" for protecting daughter

NOR points to (in my opinion) the feel good story of today:

Dad punches out teacher's aide accused of molesting daughter

TAMPA -- An angry father who marched into a classroom and punched a teacher's assistant in the face said Wednesday he was protecting his 15-year-old daughter, who had accused the man of inappropriately touching her.

Dave F. Swafford, 42, was charged with felony battery on a school employee after he hit the 35-year-old aide in front of a class full of students at Lakewood Ranch High School near Bradenton Tuesday morning, authorities said. He was also named "Father of the Year'' by a local radio station for his actions.

"I'm not real proud of what I did,'' Swafford told The Associated Press Wednesday. "You have to protect your children, and my daughter does not lie to me.''

Read the rest.

Five Fantastic Pope Benedict XVI Wallpapers

I'm in a wallpaper posting mood.

Click on a picture for full-size version!

Local Adam Cardinal Maida on Deus Caritas Est

Our own Cardinal Archbishop Maida published the following statement on Pope Benedict's Encyclical today:

“Retrieve the Full Meaning and Dignity of Love”

“Short of an infallible statement, papal encyclicals are the highest form of papal teaching and the first encyclical issued by a pope at the beginning of his pontificate has always been significant; it offers a general vision and sense of direction regarding his priorities and perspective. We are, therefore, most grateful for our Holy Father’s first encyclical— ‘God is Love.’ It is interesting that our Holy Father wants to emphasize the primacy of God’s love, the source sustaining energy for all life and for the Church. The very reason that we have a capacity and desire to love God and one another is because ‘God first loved us.’

“As we all know, ‘love’ is one of the most over used words in our culture today. Our Holy Father’s encyclical helps us to retrieve the full meaning and dignity of love—not just as a word but as a way of living. He reminds us that natural human love between a man and a woman is a beautiful and sacred thing but it needs discipline and maturity lest it lose its true dignity and purpose. Love needs to become ‘ecstasy’ in the sense of moving out of one’s self, drawing one toward the other in self sacrifice. Our Holy Father uses two well-known Greek words to describe two kinds of love—eros and agape; eros refers to our human love which always looks for a response. Agape refers to a selfless love which has no agenda. Our human love needs the complement of God’s divine love.

“The Holy Father’s encyclical is also helpful because he reminds us that love for God and the love of God must express themselves in acts of Christian social justice and charity. By this he means something much deeper and more profound than philanthropy of generosity; he is speaking about a love which looks for the face of Christ on every other person, especially those most in need.”

Archdiocese of Detroit website

Picture of Pope Benedict signing Deus Caritas Est

Courtesy of Yahoo News: "Pope Benedict XVI(L) signs his first encyclical at the Vatican City."

That is Archbishop Leonardo Sandri on the right, the Vatican's Secretariat of State.

Deus Caritas Est - the Release

(like everyone I'll have my comments to make once I've read it... I'll be focusing - in keeping with the purpose of this blog - on what the Encyclical teaches the Catholic youth of today. Considering the topic, I'm sure it teaches plenty)

In the meantime, read it yourselves - it is only 25 pages!

ENCYCLICAL LETTER

DEUS CARITAS EST

OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

BENEDICT XVI

TO THE BISHOPS

PRIESTS AND DEACONSMEN

AND WOMEN RELIGIOUSA

ND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL

ON CHRISTIAN LOVE

INTRODUCTION
1. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, Saint John also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us”.

Read the rest of the Encyclical (25 pages).

Deus Caritas Est - cover art revealed!

Judge a book by its cover! Here's what Pope Benedict XVI's first Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, will look like.

Catholic outsider has the story.

(H/T Amy Welborn)

*sigh* I'm going to miss the fun of pre-release coverage.

Quickie post on the Da Vinci Hoax

The fine folks over at Ignatius Scoop are hosting an excerpt from The Da Vinci Hoax:

Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code

Da Vinci Code controversy is only going to get more widespread as the movie premier nears. I'd say it is about time for us all to do a little reading on the topic so we're more prepared to answer the standard questions ...

be ye informed! :-)

Tuesday Morning Photo

"In this photo released by Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI, in white robe at left, is clapped on by participants to a symposium on Christian charity, as he arrives in the Vatican's Clementine hall, Monday Jan. 23, 2006. The pontiff again talked up his forthcoming encyclical Monday, saying he chose the theme of 'love' because the word today is so spoiled and abused that it needs to be purified. He said the word love today 'is so spoiled, so consumed and abused that you almost fear to utter it.' But rather than abandoning the word, he said, 'we must take it back, purify it and bring it back to its original splendor so that it can illuminate our lives and take them on the correct path.' (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano)"

Benedict XVI's Address on Forthcoming Encyclical:
"I Wished to Show the Humanity of Faith"

(notable for his reflection on the Divine Comedy of Dante - go see our Dante post below and get on the same page with the Pope!)

Not so fast, Michael Schiavo

Well, here's something that should make some waves.

Michael Schiavo, who petitioned the lawcourts in Florida to murder his wife, Terri Schiavo, last March (and succeeded), has just married his live-in girlfriend of 10 years (herself divorced with kids) in ... get this ... a Catholic Church in Florida.

But not so fast, Mikey.

As canon lawyer Ed Peters explains, Michael Schiavo can't get married in the Church - so his marriage is probably invalid.

Papal copyright claims revisited and clarified

Looks like my hunch was right, and that as earlier reported (see: "Copyrighting truth?") the assertion of copyright by Libreria Editrice Vaticana is "not to limit access to the Pope's words, but to prevent "premature" publication of leaked documents, and to guard against exploitation of the Pope's name."

Catholic World News goes on to say:

"Some English-language reports on the dispute in Italy have suggested-- innaccurately-- that the Vatican would forbid quotations from the encyclical, or charge fees to journals that reproduced passages from the work."

The Italian daily La Stampa wasn't pleased:

"In a January 21 editorial, the Italian daily La Stampa charged that the Vatican publishing house, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, was seeking to squeeze a profit by limiting access to the Pope's statements. The Italian paper charged that the Vatican wanted to "terrorize" editors and publishers with the threat of charging heavy fees for use of the Pope's written work."

But the Vatican was ready to play hardball too:

"Libreria Editrice Vaticana shot back with a public statement released on January 23, saying that the Vatican was not limiting access to the Pope's work, but merely protecting against "piracy" of papal statements. The Vatican publisher stressed that Italian publishers were well aware of the rules governing reproduction of papal statements, and that those rules have been essentially unchanged since 1978."

Seriously, La Stampa has no excuse to be doing stuff like this:

"The dispute with La Stampa began when Libreria Editrice Vaticana sent a bill of 15,000 euros (about $18,400) to the publishers of a book entitled The Dictionary of Pope Ratzinger, which was advertised as coming from "the pen or the voice of Joseph Ratzinger." The journalist who compiled that book wrote the first article in La Stampa criticizing the Vatican policy."

AmericanPapist Final Judgement:

Libreria Editrice Vatican - 1, La Stampa - 0.

Florence's mosaic of Christ wallpaper addition!

Need something to brighten your Monday morning?

Then how about a wallpaper of the famous Mosaic of Jesus the Pantacrator (ruler of all), which adorns the ceiling of the baptistery in Florence, Italy?

Just click on the picture above to get the full-size desktop-wallpaper-ratio version.

More pictures of the Mosaic ceiling baptistery in Florence.

More pictures of the entire baptistery in Florence.

More pictures of the entire Duomo (church) in Florence.

(hmm, I sense an educational opportunity...)

Dante Aligheiri, famed writer of the Divine Comedy and one of Florence's most noteworthy citizens, was baptized in this building. Moreover, the devil represented in the baptistery's mosaic is depicted in roughly the same way Dante describes him in the Comedia (you can see him munching Judas, Brutus and Cassius off to the right side of this picture).

Oh yes, and I greatly prefer Dorothy Sayer's English translation of the Divine Comedy, both for keeping the original rhyme scheme of the Italian, as well as the superlative notes and analysis:

[Hell] - [Purgatory] - [Heaven]

still interested? Then, Dante on the web is for you.

and finally, The Dante Quiz: Discover your fate! (if you are brave enough.)

New Cardinal Arinze podcast available!

Good news! There is another video podcast of Cardinal Arinze available online:

Our Faith as a Message of Hope Video Podcast
Once again we invite you to not only listen but also watch as Francis Cardinal Arinze takes the time to explain the essence of our Christian Faith as a beautiful Message of Hope. You can expect about three audio podcasts and one video podcast per month.

Copyrighting the Truth?

The TimesOnline has an articled today entitle "Vatican 'cashes in' by putting price on the Pope's copyright". Read it for yourself, but here's some interesting isolated paragraphs:

For the first time all papal documents, including encyclicals, will be governed by copyright invested in the official Vatican publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

The edict covers Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, which is to be issued this week amid huge international interest. The edict is retroactive, covering not only the writings of the present pontiff — as Pope and as cardinal — but also those of his predecessors over the past 50 years. It therefore includes anything written by John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI and John XXIII.

A Milanese publishing house that had issued an anthology containing 30 lines from Pope Benedict’s speech to the conclave that elected him and an extract from his enthronement speech is reported to have been sent a bill for €15,000 (£10,000). This was made up of 15 per cent of the cover price of each copy sold plus “legal expenses” of €3,500.

A Vatican spokesman said that the Holy See had to defend itself against “pirated editions”. The move is also aimed at “premature publication”. Journalists accredited to the Vatican are handed papal texts under embargo. The Vatican said that if embargos were broken in future not only would the journalist face sanctions but also his or her publication would face legal action.

Officials said that newspapers would be free to publish extracts from papal documents without charge once they were officially released, but only by “prior agreement”. The rules cover not only encyclicals — the most authoritative papal pronouncements, issued in Latin — but also the Pope’s homilies at his weekly audiences on Wednesdays, and his addresses at Angelus prayers on Sundays.

(Presuming I understand what is happening here) I think this is great news. Sure, on the one hand it might make the dissemination of the pope's words slower - but let's face it: the stream of "advance selections" and other leaked information/speculation about "Deus Caritas Est" has been pretty embarassing and it's about time the Vatican started to plug its leaks.

Perhaps Benedict is a bit tired of hearing about what's going on in the Vatican from outside presses - or worse yet, finding out what his translators are doing in the shadows from the Italian press's Sunday edition.

New Cardinals tomorrow?

Vatican Watcher is reporting that Pope Benedict is going to announce new cardinals at the Angelus tomorrow - that's 6AM eastern standard time (I believe)!

UPDATE 1: Nevermind - bust. Rocco, however, does have a translation of what the Pope did talk about at the Angelus (Deus Caritas Est, Swiss Guard turning 500, etc.)

Things to do while waiting for Deus Caritas Est

Because it is late and I am tired ...

Because Deus Caritas Est is still four days away:

Star Wars, re-enacted by bunnies

-and-

It's a Wonderful Life, re-enacted by bunnies

Reason No. 68,784 to be Pope: Transportation in Style

Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), a subsidiary of DaimlerChrystler and Natuzzi (Italian white leather) have given Pope Benedict a nice little present for his behind-the-walls daily commute.

Wow, this gets me thinking: first red shoes and gucci sunglasses, then the return of the camauro and this as informal wear. At this point I'll admit I'm half waiting for dear Benny to pull out one of those white iPods at the next Wednesday audience. :-)

Frankly, when you think about it, an iPod might not be such a bad idea. I mean, those outdoor audiences must get monotonous sometimes ... and being the Pope, he would already know where he could find a good playlist.

(H/T to Rocco for the Pope-mobilie mini link)

Lost whale pays visit to House of Parliament - Saint Brendan

And now for something a bit out of the ordinary:

Apparently a 18 foot bottle-nosed whale has appeared in the Thames river in London.

It has been drawing enormous crowds of observers, most of them schoolchildren or business people on their lunch break.

Of course, I hope the whale makes it back safely to open water, but at the same time I love these little inclusions of nature into our work-a-day world...

And just to keep this mildly Catholic-related, the "patron saint" of whales is Brendan the Navigator, an Irish saint who legend has it was sailing the open seas once with some of his brother monks and wished to be able to celebrate Mass somewhere on Easter. Lo and behold, they come upon an island, and only after they had celebrated Mass and attempted to light a fire did they realize that the island was actually the back of an enormous whale!

Here is a prayer ascribed to St. Brendan before sailing the Atlantic Ocean (like so many Irish after him!):

Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home?

Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?

Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy, without silver, without a horse,without fame, without honor?

Shall I throw myself wholly upon You,without sword and shield, without food and drink,without a bed to lie on?

Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Your yoke?

Shall I pour out my heart to You, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness,tears streaming down my cheeks?

Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach, a record of my final prayer in my native land?

Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict?

Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean?

O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?

O Christ, will You help me on the wild waves?

U.S. Bishops requested delay on homosexual ordination document

An interesting report from Catholic World News:

Chicago, Jan. 20 (LifesiteNews.com/CWN) - In an annual interview with Chicago Sun Times reporter Cathleen Falsani, Chicago Cardinal Francis George revealed that last year the United States bishops asked the Vatican to delay release of the long-awaited document on homosexuality and the priesthood.

The controversial Vatican document, which appeared in November 2005, reinforced Church teaching barring homosexual men from becoming priests.

Cardinal George told the Sun-Times that US bishops were concerned that the timing of the document's publication would create the appearance that it was linked with the current Vatican visitation of American seminaries. "We asked them not not to publish it, but to delay it-- to wait-- otherwise it would color the visitations," the cardinal explained. He continued: "We said, 'If you do this, it will be taken as a commentary on the visitations and we'll get into this whole business that the gay community is so sensitive to of, 'You're blaming us for the pedophilia.'"? Vatican officials [sic.]

Vatican officials were not persuaded by the American bishops' arguments, Cardinal George said, because the Instruction on homosexuality and the priesthood was intended for the whole Church. The Vatican concluded that the document's release date should not be based on circumstances only in the US, he said.

I'll only limit myself to one comment on this: visitation team members are already required by the Vatican instruction for seminary evaluation to ask if there is evidence of a homosexual subculture in the seminary. As it is, these two documents taken together (the document on ordination of homosexual men + the document on seminary visitations) unite in addressing whatever problems are currently present in U.S. seminary formation.

five days until Deus Caritas Est...

Cardinal Arinze interviewed briefly on Zenit

In follow-up to the great podcast we found, Zenit has a brief interview with Cardinal Arinze (h/t to Amy Welborn):

Envoy Finds a Needy But Joyful Church in Chad

Cardinal Arinze Presided Over Eucharistic Congress

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 19, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The Catholic Church in Chad, which just celebrated its first National Eucharistic Congress, is needy but joyful, says Cardinal Francis Arinze.

The cardinal prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments offered that assessment after having presided over the congress as the Pope's envoy. He spoke with Vatican Radio on his return from the central African nation.

There, he said, communities live the Eucharist "together, sharing life, the joys of life and of being an ensemble as Church."

The Church was established in the country 75 years ago. Its first priest was ordained 35 years ago.

The cardinal described the ecclesial profile of Chad, where he found "a serene people, even in their poverty."

"I was very impressed by their sense of peace, their desire to share, their personal discipline," he said. "I did not see a police presence; they are a very disciplined people."

Read the rest of the article.

Here is a nice little page that has assembled more information on Cardinal Arinze.

Pope Benedict and Cardinal Arinze recently reprimanded the Neocatechumenal Way as this story details.

In liturgical matters like these, Jimmy Akin can be quick on the draw, like he was this time.

Bishop warns against cattle raiding in Kenya

To help us appreciate the vast array of problems bishops throughout the world have to face in their various dioceses, I quote this article by Catholic World News:

Nairobi, Jan. 19 (CWNews.com) - Thirty-eight people have been killed in a deadly cattle raid in northwestern Kenya, where leaders of the Catholic Church have been expressing concerns about such violence.

The attack comes barely two weeks after Bishop Patrick Harrington of Lodwar, a remote region in northwest Kenya, warned the raids were a causing fears among his people. "Let the 2006 be the year for a real change of heart, and let us continue to hold peace meetings with our neighbors that will really change relationships and
bring about true cooperation," Harrington had said.

Read the complete story.

Consider for a moment that Pope Benedict has to elect not only American bishops any given week, but also bishops for the rest of the world, and they all have to be suitable to the various unique challenges presented by the social situations of their diocese. This might help us the next time we lament the fact that he does not seem to always have an omniscient apprecation for the candidates for any vacancy.

Now, I realize that the Pope has a team of advisors (as well as a whole congregation) to help him in this task - but still, I think it helps us narrowly-minded American Catholics remember what the governance of a world-wide Church really entails.

If you are interested in more information about bishops' events on the global scale, Catholic-Heirarchy updates an excellent page detailing diocesan events past, present and future.

Upcoming events in the U.S. just for this month:

20 Jan Ordained Bishop Ralph Walker Nickless, Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa

25 Jan Ordained Bishop Alexander King Sample, Bishop of Marquette, Michigan

2 Feb Ordained Bishop George J. Rassas, Titular Bishop of Reperi, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, Illinois

15 Feb Installed George Hugh Niederauer, Archbishop of San Francisco, California

17 Feb Ordained Bishop, Randolph Roque Calvo Bishop of Reno, Nevada

Blog notice: GodBlogging Sydney WYD 2008

Today I came across an unofficial blog for the Sydney 2008 World Youth Day. The website apparently has Amy Welborn's endorsement, so it might turn out to have good coverage (we still have three years to go, after all).

I attended the 2005 WYD in Cologne, Germany last summer and it was a great experience for all involved (if you have sharp eyes, you might have noticed that in my profile picture I'm wearing the 2005 WYD light-blue lanyard around my neck).

Anyway, the URL: http://godbloggingsydney.blogspot.com/

The archdiocese of Sydney: http://sydney.catholic.org.au/

Official WYD 2008 website: http://www.worldyouthday.com.au/ (could stand to be updated)

Are you a heretic? The Quiz.

A fun little quiz ... though it reveals that I have an apparent tendency towards Nestorianism. Oh well, this is why I'm studying theology. Luckily enough I don't need to worry about being burned as a heretic - 100% Chalcedon compliant. :-) You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Nestorianism 67% Pelagianism 33% Monophysitism 33% Docetism 0% Arianism 0% Apollanarian 0% Adoptionist 0% Donatism 0% Gnosticism 0% Monarchianism 0% Albigensianism 0% Modalism 0% Socinianism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

It's official (finally): Jan. 25

Pope Benedict has announced that the Encyclical will be published January 25th. I love the part about B16 "gently acknowledg[ing] the intense media speculation" ... yeah, just a little bit.

Anyway:

Pope Benedict XVI today ended speculation about the publication date for his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, by announcing at his regular weekly public audience that the document will be released on January 25.

Speaking to 8,000 people in the Paul VI auditorium, the Holy Father drew applause with his announcement. He gently acknowledged the intense media speculation about the document-- which has reportedly been delayed by revisions and difficulties with translations-- by saying that the encyclical would "finally" appear in one week.

Read more.

And, as per usual, Rocco has some exclusive content (the Pope's ad-lib comments on the Encyclical).

This had "preventable" written all over it

Amy Welborn found this slightly-unnerving photo:



Feel free to hop over to her comments page and join in the fun.

Focus continues to do good things

The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) continues to do its good work:

Reclaiming college culture, 1200 students attend weekend FOCUS conferences

Denver, Jan. 17, 2006 (CNA) - On Saturday evening, most of Denver, Colorado was enthralled by the Denver Broncos football team and their impressive playoff toppling of the reigning Super bowl champion New England Patriots. In the nearby suburb of Broomfield however, nearly 700 college students were enthralled by a different sort of victory--as they adored Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

The weekend event, titled “This is Eternal Life” was sponsored by the burgeoning Fellowship of Catholic University Students--a campus ministry program, born in 1997, and currently active on some 27 college and university campuses across the U.S.

The weekend hosted Mass, adoration of the Eucharist, numerous speakers and stressed the victory of Christ over sin and death.

Read more.

A new bioethics debate

David at Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex has a fascinating post on a debate in bioethics over a new medical procedure ("Oocyte Assisted Reprogramming" or OAR) that creates "pluripotent" stem cells.

The interesting thing about this issue, as David points out, is that normally-agreeing members of the pro-life movement are still split about the legitimacy of this method.

NB: David's entry is titled "Makings of a Pro-Life Rift?" I think it is important to point out that a state of disagreement need not develop into a permanent "rift." Contemporary bioethics issues often require a buffer time before a consensus is reached, simply because the facts of the procedure need to be analyzed and reflected upon within the context of the Church's ethical norms.

I join David (of course) in hoping that during this intermediate stage both sides choose to debate the issue in a spirit of charity and cooperation.

Anyway, go have a look yourselves.

UPDATE 1, Jan 17: As part of their continuing analysis of this debate, C-L-S has published a new post covering the issue in greater detail.

Jeff Miller praises local Sisters

Curt Jester has a clever post on local notables, the Dominican Sisters, Mary Mother of the Eucharist:

On August 22nd, 1997 Feast of the Queenship of Mary, the first new candidates were received into the community. Currently the community has 40 young women in formation. These young women come from all over the United States. The postulants and novices study theology, philosophy, scripture, sacred music, Dominican Spirituality, and Church history. Faithfulness to Church teaching and a cool habit makes them another one of the seven effective habits of highly effective religious orders.

Read the rest!

Suprisingly honest Nightline interview with abortionist

Nightline recently interviewed a prominent abortionist who unabashedly claims to have performed over 10,000 abortions while admitting that the "fetus" is a "new human life."

Read the article.

What also separates this video interview from normal fair, however, is the attitude of the reporter covering the story, who is obviously not comfortable with the callousness of the abortionist (let alone the harsh reality of abortion itself). The tone of this interview is strikingly different from what we've come to expect from the media and in my opinion deserves a viewing.

Watch the video.

Dr. Peters on Cardinal Pompedda's remarks

Canon Lawyer Ed Peters at In the Light of the Law has posted on recent remarks of Cardinal Pompedda on divorce and remarriage which have been causing a to-do in the conservative blogosphere and media.

He says:

"Lawyers often get in trouble simply for reminding people of the ground rules in a discussion, and good lawyers always recognize the elements of truth in an opponent's position, lest they attack the other side precisely where it is right. Cardinal Pompedda's recent remarks on divorce seems to be those of a good (canon) lawyer."

Read the rest of the expert analysis.

What's in Pope Benedict's inbox?

Thanks to Curt Jestor for pointing out Credibility's hilarous post.

A small sample:

Deus Caritas Est leak

UPDATE, Jan 25: Read the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est now (25 pages)!

Cardinal Arinze video podcast!

Phatmass has a new video podcast with Cardinal Arinze discussing the encyclical "Ecclesia de Eucharistica", in which John Paul II examines the relationship between the Eucharist and the Church. The full video can be accessed here.

This podcast is an fantastic introduction to Cardinal Arinze, who is currently the Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Here is one of the Cardinal's more potent quotes:

"In many parts of the world, the family is under siege. It is opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions and cut in two by divorce."

Upswing in vocations continues

The Catholic News Agency is running a short story on the second annual vocations rally for the Diocese of Covington which drew an encouraging 800 Catholic high school juniors.

A nice little quote from the article:

Fr. Bach saw a recent spike in the number of seminarians in the diocese as a ray of hope. The diocese has 15 seminarians now compared with about three seminary students five years ago. The priest credited increased visibility and promotions like the rally.

Read the rest of the article.

Catholic Press Photo

Thanks to Whispers in the Loggia for pointing out Catholic Press Photo.

They have some great pages, including a pictoral history of Pope Benedict and an awesome page covering the college of cardinals.

Academic roundup

Whew, my first week of classes are over. I'm up late (as usual), so I've decided to do a little run through of my academic projects for this semester:

1. Human Person & Grace: Should be a fantastic class with Dr. Fastiggi. Our primary text is Gaudium et Spes, so getting another V2 document solidly under the belt is a good thing (last semester Lumen Gentium was up to bat). We're also getting to do some relevant passages from Aquinas. woo-hoo!
2. Hebrew 2: I love this directed readings. Finally I'm getting to find out what all those hebrew phrases actually mean that I've heard spoken for so long. And being able to do etymologies for OT words? Always a winner.
3. Sacramental Life of the Church: Fr. Jones is teaching this class - and I can't think of a better professor to do it with. For one thing - he's a patristics scholar, so our emphasis in terms of documents will be primarily from the Church Fathers, so we are in excellent hands. Oh yeah, and Aquinas. woo-hoo-hoo!
4. Trinity & Christology: Yes, it's kind of insane to try to collapse two such huge topics into one 3-credit class, but this is also a Fr. Jones class, so we might actually take a good swipe at it. Anyone who was hired to do spiritual direction for St. Theresa's motherhouse in Calcutta must have it together, right?
5. Pauline Literature: I'm thrilled to be finally doing this course. Fr. Cassidy is having us read a 600 page treatment of Pauline theology along with his own book. Good times ahead. Funny story: One of his teaching techniques is to act out major dramatic events in Paul's life. So the first class we got the conversion experience - it was awesome.
6. Bioethics and the New Evangelization. Dr. Janet Smith in her area of speciality. Enough said. NB: We have one of the revamped class rooms for this one - it's fantastic, I'll bring my camera next time and take pictures. I feel so accredited when I'm in that classroom.
7. French Reading Exam: Being a classics minor at AVE, I don't need to do the Latin reading exam, but I do need to do at least one modern language for the MA. I chose French over German, mostly because my German skills are nich gutt.
8. Take two comp exams: I have to test out of two undergrad reqs (Liturgy and Sacraments + Intro to Church). If I succeed in passing these I could pass out of nine requirements for my MA in one semester. Rediculous(ly cool).
9. Re-memorize poems that I've forgotten: I'm getting rusty on my favorites. This can't stand. Unacceptable.
10. Re-memorize my favorite show pieces: My Joplin, classical and Irish are getting dangerously out of short-term (or finger) memory. The Sem has 4 Pianos - I ... have no excuse really.
11. Update this blog with edifying/amusing comments: stop by once in awhile. I'll be here.
12. Really cool ongoing project: *shh*.
13. Read around my classes: this will probably cease sometime close before midterms, as it always does.
14. Plan summer: Europe or bust. Hopefully a language institute.
15. Submit my MA thesis sentence. This will be the toughest. I have to force myself to remember it's just another academic exercise and I shouldn't invest my soul into it.

Fifteen seems like a nice enough number to stop at. I guess these also count as my 2006 resolutions? Sure. We'll take that.

P.S. Oh yeah... 16. Sleep. I was wrong - this will be the toughest.

two very different videos

An excellent tribut of VP Cheney to John Paul II the Great's memory: starts off slow, then really hits the mark (as much as any politician could be expected...)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7506515045165398519

Santo Subito!

[pause for silence] ... and in other very different news: *wow*.

I don't know much Italian... but I know enough...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2022266015380331569

This gets a posting.

The Bible - internet translation

"God: Sarah will have a baby

Abraham: ROFLMAO

Sarah: LOL

God: Stop laughing, both of you!"

Why the encyclical keeps getting pushed back

The blogosphere has been buzzing about yet another rumored release date for Pope Benedict's first encyclical.

Well, I've penned a little message to help increase our chances of actually getting to see the encyclical sometime this year:

"Dear Italian Mass Media,

Please stop trying to steal the Pope's thunder. Sure, we all know you enjoy sponging off the world's interest in the Holy Father's doings (that is, after all, the primary reason anyone ever reads the Italian media). But seriously guys, enough false alarms should teach you a lesson: He doesn't want to fulfill your release date - he wants to (and is going to) fulfill his release date. We all know the routine: Everytime you fellas overhear a whispered conversation in a hallway of the Eternal City between the chief secretary of the vice-head of Vatican memo-dissemination and the assistant electrician-general of the Vatican library, you folks run to your hot presses shouting "Encyclical Subito!"

And the Pope doesn't like this.

Think about it: He is almost 80, he is only going to be Pope for so long (deo volente - a long while), he is only going to be able to release so many encyclicals. Now, do you really think he is going to wakeup tomorrow and read your little newspaper, glance at the article entitled "UbiDeus est Caritas?" and say to himself, "Hey, everyone says I need to release this ... golly, I better do it or else!"

No.

He's going to sit on his little treasure until all you little Italians go to bed crying because Jan. 25 has come and gone and there's still no encyclical. And that is
when he'll release it.

(As a personal aside, I remember by grandfather coming to visit me for my seventh birthday. Now, I was an observant kid. I knew that my grandfather was going to give me a present - so, like any seven year old, I pestered him. Did he smile and give me my present? No! He basked in the moment, stretching it as long as it could go. Then, when I was about to go to bed that night, I pulled back the bedcovers and found my present under them.)

(Okay, I lied about all that. But do you get the point?)

Look at it another way: Pope Benedict doesn't necessarily like being told what to do. After all - when the conclave elected him Pope, he had to say yes. But hey - *newsflash* - you guys aren't the Holy Spirit. So, he can say no. And he will, you watch. PapaRazi will have his thunder.

One last final ultimate point, Italian Mass Media. And that is this: if you keep doing your little game of oneupmanship – he might just end up releasing your beloved encyclical to the French media first. And no one can really say "Dieu est l'amour" with a straight face. So please - save us the hassle and wait quietly like the rest of us.

Sincerely,

- American Papist"

I think my letter will help. Don't you?

Oh, and by the way. This is a spoof - I don't have anything against the Italian media, per se. I'm Italian. We all have to earn our pasta. :-)

Papal Techno

I present to you all tidings of great joy:

This is quite possibly the coolest music find I've had in awhile.

Title: "Habemus Papam"

Genre: Techno.

I kid you not. Listen and enjoy. Tell your friends.

Play it at the AMC Semiformal.

You can get it right here.

Hat tip to The Cnytr (who has a knack for finding cool stuff).

Barcelona does it right

Wow, now that's a costume. Barcelona knows what it's doing. According to yahoo news, Spanish children normally get their presents on Epiphany (from the three wise men of course), and not Christmas. I imagine this is changing as secular encroachments emphasize gift-giving at Christmas more than Epihpany.

Oh well, in our house we always receive the presents from our parents on Epiphany, not Christmas (when we open presents from everyone else). I mean - it makes sense, after all. Jesus had to wait until Epiphany to get His presents, right? - so we should too. Here's to upholding Catholic traditions! In about a half hour my siblings should wake up and we can all go see what's under the tree.

Hmm, I do regret not making it to Barcelona when I was in Europe, it would have been great to visit the family that sent two of their daughters to spend seperate summers with us when we lived in San Diego. *sigh* ... next time.

Happy Epiphany!

Today is Epiphany. Do you know what that means? That means we *could* have B16's first encyclical today. That means we *could* have more cardinals elected today.

It *does* mean I'm going to Mass today. I'm probably also going to go visit the UofM Library because there are some medieval books calling my name. Who knows from there?

Tonight I've decided I'm not going to bed. I'm going to stay up all night (studying for a comp exam to get out of an undergrad class I don't want to have to take). So, I might post a few more times tonight. But only if you're lucky.

Gearing back up

*whew* Time to face the reality that I'm going back to school next week. Luckily my classes next semester should be fantastic. And this semester I can plan my summer. Hopefully I can figure a way to get back to Europe, perhaps a language institute or something like that. I have to decide between french or german though.

Oh well, at least this Christmas break has been fantastic. :-)

I love Canadians

I especially love the Canadian news photos on Yahoo News. Today, the top four news photos all involved hockey. I love you Canada.

Will you ever stop being funny? No you won't. And that's why I love you.

The Onion does it again

Hilarious (and very vulgar - you've been warned):

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43963

Dead Poets Society

So, I finally got around to watching Dead Poets Society.

Okay, sure - the film has flaws. Probably glaringly obvious, deep flaws. But the scene where they stand on the desks? Awesome. I was willing to forgive the movie many faults because of it. Plus, now I finally known what Dr. Benthall was blathering about whenever he'd talk about this movie in relation to free verse.

If anyone is really addicted to DPS trivia - some guy found a whole bunch of deleted scenes and posted them on a website: http://www.peterweircave.com/dps/extras/index.html

Linkfest

A little linkfest to put the skip back in your step:

http://www.dutchwest.tv/webisodes/w10.html - Office Dance Party Music Video

http://jonathanarons.com/video1.php - That trombone dancer guy

http://www.prangstgrup.com/index_1000.html - Different. (I recommend "subway lectures")

'06

Happy New Year all.

The first song I listened to in '06?

U2 - New Year's Day of course!