American Papist: Not Your Average Catholic!: June 2006

Current reading list sidebar update (for summer)

In case anyone is interested in what I'm reading right now, I've updated the sidebar with these titles:

List of Archbishops who received their Paliums yesterday

From the Vatican Information Service: "Given below is a list of 27 metropolitanarchbishops received in audience today by Benedict XVI, accompanied by membersof their families. Yesterday, in the course of a Eucharistic celebration heldin the Vatican Basilica, they received the pallium:

1. Cardinal Jorge Liberato UROSA SAVINO, archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela.
2. Cardinal Crescenzio SEPE, archbishop of Naples, Italy.
3. Archbishop Louis CHAMNIERN SANTISUKNIRAN of Thare and Nonseng, Thailand.
4. Archbishop Jose Belisario DA SILVA, O.F.M., of Sao Luis do Maranhao, Brazil.
5. Archbishop Jabulani NXUMALO, O.M.I., of Bloemfontein, South Africa.
6. Archbishop Jorge Enrique JIMENEZ CARVAJAL, C.I.M., of Cartagena, Colombia.
7. Archbishop Tommaso VALENTINETTI of Pescara-Penne, Italy.
8. Archbishop Fabriciano SIGAMPA of Resistencia, Argentina.
9. Archbishop Odon Marie Arsene RAZANAKOLONA of Antananarivo, Madagascar.
10. Archbishop George Hugh NIEDERAUER of San Francisco, United States.
11. Archbishop Jose Luis MOLLAGHAN of Rosario, Argentina.
12. Archbishop Cornelius Fontem ESUA of Bamenda, Cameroon.
13. Archbishop Daniel N. DiNARDO of Galveston-Houston, United States.
14. Archbishop Antonio Javellana LEDESMA, S.J., of Cagayan de Oro, Philippines.
15. Archbishop Jose Serofia PALMA of Palo, Philippines.
16. Archbishop Sylvain LAVOIE, O.M.I., of Keewatin-Le Pas, Canada.
17. Archbishop Joviano DE LIMA JUNIOR, S.S.S., of Ribeirao Preto, Brazil.
18. Archbishop Luigi CONTI of Fermo, Italy.
19. Archbishop Franc KRAMBERGER of Maribor Slovenia.
20. Archbishop Ignazio SANNA of Oristano, Italy.
21. Archbishop Francois-Xavier MAROY RUSENGO of Bukavu, Democratic Republic ofthe Congo).
22. Archbishop Jean-Pierre KUTWA of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
23. Archbishop Andrea MUGIONE of Benevento, Italy.
24. Archbishop Orlando BRANDES of Londrina, Brazil.
25. Archbishop Georges PONTIER of Marseille, France.
26. Archbishop Donald William WUERL of Washington, United States.
27. Archbishop Wojciech ZIEMBA of Warmia, Poland.

The Pope's new ride: a volvo

Via Papa Razi Post:

On Wednesday June 28, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has received the keys of the Volvo XC90 that Volvo Car Corporation has presented him with.The delivery of the keys to the Pope has taken place in the Vatican, during a short ceremony after the Papal Audience.
To represent Volvo Cars, Gerry Keaney, Vice President Volvo Car Corporation, Marketing Sales and Service, Pascal Bellemans, President Volvo Auto Italia, and Michele Crisci, General Manager Volvo Auto Italia attended.
The Volvo XC90 delivered to the Pope – and fitted for His personal use – is a V8 version. It is a dark blue XC90 with light interiors. [More...]

I swear, being Pope sure gets you alot of cool toys...

Pallium Day in Rome

Rocco has excellent coverage:

"Receive the Sacred Pallium..."

Photo of the Day

"It Was Not You Who Chose Me...."

... and Selvester explains the Pallium.

... and Amy covers everything else.

Is Cardinal Trujillo right about excommunication for deliberate embryo destruction?

Canon Lawyer Edward Peters takes a look at the question:

Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, the outspoken president of the Pontifical Council on the Family, has asserted that "destroying human embryos is equivalent to abortion"; therefore, he says, those directly involved in such deeds are liable to the canonical penalty established for abortion, namely, excommunication (1983 CIC 1398). That the cardinal stands on solid biological and moral grounds in equating deliberate embryo destruction with procured abortion is beyond serious question. What I want to ask is whether he stands on solid canonical grounds as well.
Consider: until the last few decades, all canonical discussions of abortion were concerned with actions occurring, obviously, within the womb. The recent development of extra-uterine fertilization technologies, however, including cryogenic storage of embryonic human beings, has created a group of humans at peril for their lives, but who, given the canonical maxim that penal laws are subject to narrow interpretation (1983 CIC 18), might fall outside the scope of the traditional abortion canon. So, one must ask: is the deliberate destruction of an embryonic human being outside the womb the canonical equivalent of an abortion procured within it?
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo believes that it is, and I think he's right. How? [More...]

Only the coolest radio show about Latin ever (now on MP3)...

Via Res P&C, here is a link to mp3 archives of Fr. Reginald Foster's latin broadcasts from the Vatican!

Reginald Foster is a legend among latin lovers, and his show is a cult classic (so to speak...).

Learn more about "The Pope's Latinist" right here.

Your Papist-Picture-of-the-Day, Wednesday June 28

"Shares of U.S. automaker GM fell lower on Wednesday after an undercover reporter produced photographic evidence confirming a rumor that Detroit's own Cardinal Szoka was urging the Pope to buy a Volvo."

[photo credit: REUTERS/Osservatore Romano]

Update: the Curt Jester reveals some of this Volvo's "unique" selling points.

Kid named after Pope Benedict gets Vatican greeting

From the Lancashire Evening Post:

"Baby Benedict is only 10 weeks old and already he's received a special letter from the Pope.
The personalised note on Vatican headed-notepaper arrived on baby Benedict's doorstep after officials in Rome learned the tot had been named after the Pope, with whom he also shares a birthday.
Mum Amanda, 34, spoke of her surprise to receive the letter, as the first she knew of husband Kevin writing to Pope Benedict XVI was when they received the reply.
Kevin, 37, who works at Galloway's Society for the Blind, mentioned their baby was born on Easter Sunday and named after the Pope in a letter he wrote to the Vatican explaining how the charity includes Catholic publications in its range of talking book services.
...
Kevin, of Fishwick View, Fishwick, Preston, revealed: "The letter says the holy family [I sure it should be "FATHER"] is pleased to learn of the arrival of baby Benedict and assured us of his prayers."
"It's obviously got to Rome. The reply is kind of personalised, it's on Vatican headed paper. These sort of stories, they must get through somehow."
"Then it said, the holy family [again, I'm sure it should be "FATHER"] is unable to baptise Benedict but [the letter] includes details of the audiences that we can go and be in when he is in Rome." [source]

England drinking Germany dry during World Cup

Proof that the World Cup isn't all bad?

ENGLAND's massive army of World Cup fans is drinking Germany dry, it emerged yesterday.
Breweries warned beer could run out before the final because of huge demand from our supporters.
In Nuremberg, organisers revealed 70,000 England fans who flooded the city drank 1.2MILLION pints of beer - an average of 17 pints each.
Astonished bar keeper Herrmann Murr said: "Never have I seen so many drink so much in such little time." [More...]

I wonder if the Germans have started praying to St. Augustine (patron saint of brewers)?

More Beer Saints (and miracles).

Pro-abortion catholic democrats throwing down the gauntlet already?

From Julia Duin, religion writer, The Washington Times:

On the very day of Archbishop Wuerl’s installation, two of Massachusetts’ most pro-choice Catholics — Kerry and the state’s senior U.S. senator, Ted Kennedy — showed up and sat in the VIP section. Archbishop Wuerl shook their hands as he moved toward the altar. I didn’t see whether Kennedy took Communion, but I know Kerry did because I talked with him immediately afterward. He was there, he said, as a longtime friend of the archbishop’s.
Isn’t it odd that two of the Senate’s most liberal Catholics made time in their schedules to be at the installation Mass while their conservative Republican colleague from Pennsylvania, Sen. Rick Santorum, did not?
Santorum, I heard, had to stay close to his office for a vote. All the same, here were two Democratic senators giving the new archbishop notice that they intend to ignore any move to disenfranchise them from the Eucharist. No one could miss the message. Welcome to Washington, Archbishop. [source]

Picture via LifeSiteNews, which has more on this story.

My opinion? Kerry shouldn't get communion. It's really that simple.

The Catholic Caveman points out CCC #2272: "Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life."

And Thomistic points out Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles, by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Paragraphs 5-6 are crystal clear:

5. Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.
6. When "these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible," and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, "the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it."

So, either Pietro Sambi (the Apostolic Nuncio who gave Kerry communion) is ignoring this directive or he does not know John Kerry at sight (which would be embarassing considering Sambi's position). And Sambi was right next to Wuerl in the communion line! Argh.

O'Reilly takes on Planned Parenthood tonight?

Seen on the O'Reilly website:

"A Planned Parenthood probe! Is the group making money talking teens into abortions?! Don't miss this story." Tuesday, June 27 @ 8pm & 11pm EST.

Update: Fumare has more details.

How to make your (troubled) diocese worship faithfully

Via Mark the Sheamaster:

"Bishop Robert Carlson, Currently Reconstructing the Diocese of Saginaw after it was Severely Mauled by its Last Bishop, is the Bee's Knees." [Here's Why.]

3 CNA Headline Highlights, June 27

The Aussies are on board: "Following a similar decision by U.S. Bishops, the Bishops of Australia have voted, in principle, to accept a new English translation of the Roman Catholic Mass, which the Vatican favors as being more faithful to the original Latin text, reported the Sydney Morning Herald." [More...]
One more reason to visit Spain: "A decree was made public today by Cardinal James Francis Stafford, Apostolic Penitentiary, declaring a plenary indulgence for the faithful during the 5th World Meeting of Families, which is being celebrated in Valencia, Spain from the 1st - 9th of July." [More...]
Hope on the Chinese front?: "Several news services are reporting that two senior Vatican officials were in Beijing Tuesday for talks on re-establishing diplomatic relations with China. The AP reports that two Vatican representatives, Archbishop Claudio Celli, who is secretary of the Patrimony of the Holy See, and Monsignor Gianfranco Rota Graziosi of the Secretariat of State have been in Beijing since Sunday." [More...]

600lb woman ejected through sunroof survives

Her guardian angel put in some serious overtime for this one:

Town N Country, Florida – A woman is in stable condition after being ejected through the sunroof of her SUV during an accident.
Thirty-seven-year-old Ruth Matthews told paramedics that another vehicle cut her off in traffic, and she took evasive action to avoid a crash. Her Isuzu Amigo rolled over and she was thrown through the sunroof and onto the roadway. Investigators say she was not wearing her seatbelt.
Paramedics initially tried to fly Matthews to Tampa General Hospital, but her weight, estimated at 600 pounds, made it impossible. Emergency crews were able to transport her to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where she is listed in stable condition. [source]

Summer Reading and Shifting Gears

I just finished Michael Crichton's latest book, State of Fear. As a novel, I found it somewhat inferior to his previous titles. I did agree, however, with his (very vocal) opinion on the widespread fearmongering associated with "global warming." And while he has his finger on an important cultural phenomenon, he often sacrifices the integrity of the book's plot for truth claims that just came across as preachiness. Oh well, for an $8 NYT bestseller - what more can you really expect?

Anyway, my next book read involves some more usual fare, namely, Joseph Ratzinger's Milestones, the autobiography that details his early life and various ecclesial posts before taking over CDF. The first chapters completely put to rest the nasty story that the MSM tried to keep afloat about his (forced) association with the Hitler Youth. So much for that. Next up: the details of his time at seminary.

"Szoka plans to be active in retirement" - DFP

From the Detroit Free Press:

Cardinal Edmund Szoka, who led the Archdiocese of Detroit in the 1980s, is looking forward to pitching in with masses at metro Detroit Catholic parishes and spending part of his retirement years in the area after his 16-year stint at the Vatican ends.
"I'd be more than willing to help in the parishes on Sunday and hear confessions and do whatever I can do," Szoka said in a telephone interview Friday from his Vatican quarters behind St. Peter's Basilica. "I don't stop being a priest because I'm retiring."
[More...]

Szoka steps down as President of the Vatican City State

From CNS:

Also June 22, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict has accepted the resignation of 78-year-old U.S. Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka as president of the commission governing Vatican City State.
However, the Vatican said, the pope also asked Cardinal Szoka to remain until Sept. 15, when he will be succeeded by 71-year-old Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, currently the Vatican's foreign minister. [More...]

Carlson rocking and rolling in Saginaw...

Via Rocco:

"A friend briefs that, in the Michigan diocese, Bishop Robert Carlson is "publishing a pastoral letter (being sent to all homes in the diocese) about his directives for implementation" of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal."
"Word is that some highlights are:
A clarified, standard recipe for Eucharistic bread
Firm directives on who can and cannot preach [as many of you know, this has been an issue in the diocese]
All parishes must have kneelers by 2009" [More...]

New Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone

From CWNews:

"Vatican, Jun. 22 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI has named Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Genoa to be the next Vatican Secretary of State, replacing Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Cardinal Sodano, who has served an extraordinary 15 years in the powerful post, will formally step down on September 15, the Vatican announced on June 22. He will be approaching his 79th birthday-- well beyond the ordinary retirement age of 75-- when he leaves the Secretariat of State." [More]

A collection of links (from Ignatius Insight):

Pictures of Cardinal Bertone: One, Two, Three

My previous post on Bertone.

Nike: Managing to tick off just about everyone at this year's World Cup...

[click image for larger version]

(hopefully this will be my only World Cup-related blog post this year - I don't care much for soccer and could care even less for the World Cup ...)

"Nike attacked over Rooney 'warrior' picture"

Drenched in blood-red paint and screaming a war-cry, this chilling image of Wayne Rooney was last night condemned as 'offensive', 'exploitative' and 'tacky' by MPs and church groups.

He may yet turn out to be the saviour of England's World Cup campaign, but the Christ-like pose of the striker in a new Nike campaign yesterday provoked fierce condemnation.
...
Five people complained to the Advertising Standards Authority watchdog on religious grounds within hours of the advert being posted.
Its other interpretation as a battle cry from the dark ages or throwback to the Crusades was equally unfortunate as the poster's launch coincided with the first outbreak of serious violence involving England's army of fans in Germany on Monday night.
Labour MP Stephen Pound said the advert was 'truly horrible.'
...
'Wayne's a good Catholic boy and I think the obvious crucifixion nuance is one part of it, but the aggressive nature of the pose is something we could do without.
...
[Those against it say:] 'The other aspect of it is the aggression contained in it, bound up with the flag of St George, which you might see as a throwback to the Crusades, which is hardly going to go down well with Muslim countries. It's offensive on several different levels.'
...
[At which point Nike responds:] The red paint is not meant to be blood, it's just echoing the body paint which fans cover themselves in and the rest of Wayne's body is painted white. It's the flag of St George, and nothing else. [More...]

Frankly, this is what you get you try to make something that is just a sport more than a sport through the (ab)use of cultural symbols and icons. Plus it looks stupid. I bet St. George would get a good chuckle out of it and then go back to slaying dragons.

"Pluto's newly found moons named Nix, Hydra" - AP

From the AP:

LOS ANGELES - Meet the newest kids in the solar system: Nix and Hydra [picture faintly at left]. The pair of moons orbiting Pluto were officially christened last week by the International Astronomical Union, which is in charge of approving celestial names.
Until last year, scientists thought Pluto was accompanied by only one moon, Charon. But the Hubble Space Telescope spotted the two satellites — more than twice as far away as Charon and many times fainter.
...
Nix was originally spelled "Nyx" by Stern's group. Nyx is the Greek goddess of darkness and Hydra is the nine-headed serpent that guarded the underworld. Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld.
...
This summer, the IAU will debate whether Pluto should remain a planet. The discovery of an icy object slightly larger than Pluto in the Kuiper Belt last year reinvigorated the argument over whether to demote Pluto or add other planets. [More...]

I'm firmly in the "pluto is not a planet" camp myself.

Beat by the heat or beating the heat?

From AFP, "Heat forces pope to cut short address":

ROME (AFP) - Stifling heat has forced Pope Benedict XVI to cut short his address during his weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square.
The pope, protected from the sun by a parasol held by an attendant, told 25,000 faithful, many of whom were bare-headed, that "as it is too hot, I will be briefer."
Benedict XVI also took less time in his traditional greetings to those present on Wednesday, ranging from senior prelates to newly-weds.
Temperatures went over 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) in Rome Tuesday, bringing summer to the Italian capital following a relatively cool spring.

Now here's my question: did Pope Benedict cut short his outdoor address because he was too hot or did he rather shorten it because he recognized that it was a hot day and many people in the audience were not well-equipped to handle it (so he cut it short more on account of their safety than his own)?

Friday, June 30, 2006