The NYT takes a hard look at Monaghan and Ave Maria Florida

The New York Times today published a lengthy treatment of Tom Monaghan and the situation of his catholic education ventures in Michigan and Florida:

Our Lady of Discord

by Susan Hansen, July 30 2006

Since netting about $1 billion from the 1998 sale of Domino’s to Bain Capital, Mr. Monaghan, 69, has become one of the leading philanthropists in the country and the biggest benefactor of conservative Catholic institutions.

In the past eight years, his Ave Maria Foundation, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., has donated $140 million to promote conservative Catholic education, media and other organizations, including Detroit-area parochial grade schools, a law school and small regional colleges in Michigan and Nicaragua, along with radio stations and a fellowship group for Catholic business leaders.

His boldest charitable venture by far, however, is Ave Maria University, a four-year liberal arts campus under construction 30 miles northeast of Naples, Fla., to which Mr. Monaghan has donated or pledged $285 million so far. Along with the university, which enrolled its first students three years ago on a temporary campus, he and a local developer are building an adjoining new town called Ave Maria.

...

Yet as he aims for the divine, Mr. Monaghan has been facing some unexpected earthly trials, including a revolt at his law school in Ann Arbor and sharp criticism by many of the conservative Catholics who once supported his foundation’s projects.

In many ways, Mr. Monaghan’s troubles illustrate how difficult it can be for wealthy, driven entrepreneurs to make the transition to full-time philanthropy, particularly when they have single-minded ideas about how they want their money spent. Traits that make successful business leaders — ego, ambition, determination, even a touch of imperiousness — do not necessarily go over well in charitable work, causing even the most well-intentioned projects to founder.

...

As he tries to build a new university and town in his own image, Mr. Monaghan has been experiencing some of those difficulties firsthand. Faculty members, students and parents tied to his Detroit-area schools have complained that he runs his charitable foundation like a sole proprietorship, starting and abandoning projects as whim strikes him. And they characterize his new Florida university as a vanity venture that could well prove to be a colossal waste of cash.

“It all belongs to Tom Monaghan; that’s the problem,” said Therese M. Bower of Cincinnati, whose son attended Ave Maria College, one of the schools Mr. Monaghan founded in Michigan. His foundation moved to close the school’s Ypsilanti campus to focus on building his university in Florida.

“If Tom were a real philanthropist,” said Jay W. McNally, the former director of communications and advancement at the college, “he would donate his money and step off.” Mr. McNally said the school let him go after he told federal officials that some financial aid for students in Michigan had been diverted to Florida; Ave Maria University later returned $259,000 in federal money.Mr. Monaghan’s many defenders, including Bowie K. Kuhn, the former baseball commissioner, and Michael Novak, a Catholic theologian, dismissed much of the criticism as carping by academics. “If it weren’t Monaghan, it would be dissatisfaction with whomever,” says Mr. Novak, an Ave Maria University trustee.

...

Many Detroit-area Catholics said they gave up jobs and teaching posts elsewhere to work at the schools, with some faculty members moving from hundreds of miles away because, as a former Ave Maria College biology professor, Andrew J. Messaros, recalled, they were committed to promoting a faithful version of core Catholic teachings.

“I bought into the whole vision lock, stock and barrel,” Professor Messaros said. He added that he took a $16,000 pay cut from a tenure-track position at the West Virginia University School of Medicine to teach at Ave Maria in mid-2003.

While Mr. Healy was opening the Florida university, financing for Mr. Monaghan’s projects in Michigan began to disappear. In late 2002, the foundation said it would no longer support St. Mary’s. An expected shutdown of the school was averted only when another Catholic institution, Madonna University in nearby Livonia, Mich., agreed to take it over.

In Ypsilanti, the news that Ave Maria College would be merged into the new university in Florida went down a little easier — at least initially — given that Mr. Monaghan pledged to keep the Michigan campus open until 2007, so that the school’s 230 students could stay and finish their degrees.

Despite that assurance, however, Professor Messaros said that by the fall of 2003 school officials were pressuring him and other faculty members to move to Florida quickly — or risk losing their jobs. “Their attitude was, ‘This is what we’re going to do. Take it or leave it,’ ” he said.

Mrs. Bower, whose son Paul was a junior at Ave Maria College when the move to Florida began to accelerate, said she became concerned that the Michigan campus was being deserted. She grew more anxious in 2004 when word got out that school administrators in Florida had tried to have most of the books at the Michigan campus’s library shipped to Naples.

“I thought, ‘Wait! There are still students there. They can’t just take all the stuff,’ ” said Mrs. Bower, who created a Web site — geocities.com/aveparents — to help keep the Michigan campus intact.

Another parent — Edward N. Peters, who taught canon law in a theology program now based at Ave Maria University — threatened to sue if the campus was dismantled.

“It has become clear that Tom Monaghan regards Ave Maria not as a kind of public trust but rather as his personal domain which he can effectively treat however he wants,” Professor Peters, whose son attended the college, wrote in a June 2004 letter to the college board. He added that since Mr. Monaghan shifted his attention to Florida, he had cut support for several of his Michigan projects, including a weekly Catholic newspaper and a new convent. “Ironically, the very legacy that was being built up with Monaghan’s help is now being torn down at his will,” Professor Peters wrote. “It is a tragic and scandalous waste of the human and financial resources given by God.”

In late 2004, Father Neil J. Roy, Ave Maria College’s academic dean, actually did sue Mr. Monaghan and the school’s trustees in a bid to stall the Michigan campus’s closure, but a state court judge dismissed the suit last September. The exodus of faculty and students to Florida and elsewhere continued, and last year school officials began making cash buyout offers to the 30 or so students who had planned to continue studies on the Ypsilanti campus in 2007.

...

For a while, the Ave Maria School of Law seemed immune to the strife. Its enrollment, now about 380, was growing, and the American Bar Association had granted it full accreditation. But Mr. Monaghan wants to relocate that school to Florida, too, upsetting teachers, students and alumni. Opponents say it is crazy to leave an intellectual center like Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, for an undeveloped outpost on the edge of the Everglades.

...

He and others who are fighting the move said the only reason the school’s board was even considering it was that Mr. Monaghan, the chairman, had invested more than $330 million in the Florida university and town and wanted the law school there to shore up that investment.

One veteran board member — Charles E. Rice, an emeritus professor of law at Notre Dame University — tried to make the case against the move. But he said that Mr. Monaghan and other board members, including the law school’s dean, Bernard Dobranski, “did not want a contrary voice,” so last fall they adopted term-limit bylaws and ejected him from the board.

...

Faculty members, students and alumni rallied around Professor Rice, however, and since last fall they have mounted a campaign that has included pointed attacks against Mr. Monaghan and resolutions calling on Dean Dobranski to resign.

“The bigger issue is school governance,” said Jason B. Negri, president of the law school’s alumni association. Specifically, he criticized Mr. Monaghan’s insistence on operating the school like a private business and what he said was the board’s failure to stand up to him.

...

Not that the process has been easy — or cheap. Mr. Healy said damage from hurricanes last year and the year before, along with strong demand for raw materials in China has sent labor, cement and steel prices soaring — nearly doubling building costs and eating up Mr. Monaghan’s money faster than expected. Indeed, in the next year, Mr. Roney said, the Ave Maria Foundation’s assets might drop to as little as $15 million from $251 million in 1999.

...

Kate Cousino, the 2004 salutatorian of Ave Maria College, said she would not be writing any checks. In fact, she said that she and other Ave Maria graduates recently started an alternative alumni group because they didn’t want fund-raisers for the Florida campus asking them for donations.

She and other critics of Mr. Monaghan say that other like-minded Catholics will hesitate to hand over money now that, at least in conservative Catholic circles, word of his troubles has gotten out. “I think he’s really turned off a lot of his target market,” said Terrence L. McKeegan, an Ave Maria law school graduate.

...

Professor Messaros called the millions that Mr. Monaghan has spent “mind-numbing.” His fortune could have been spent helping the poor or assisting established universities or on any number of better causes, instead of on building what he called “a ‘Citizen Kane’ monument to waste,” Professor Messaros added.

[Read the entire article.]

As full disclosure, I graduated from Ave Maria College in Michigan and know personally almost everyone who is quoted in this article. Edward Peters is my father, and I am his son that is mentioned in the article. In my opinion, this story gets most of the major points right. I realize that this is a very heated topic, but I think it is important to get the facts straight.

Ave Maria School of Law is fighting for its continued existence in Michigan right now, and I've been a witness to the shutting down of numerous other Monaghan-funded Catholic institutions over the past years. It hasn't been pretty. Based on these and other experiences, I'm frankly fairly pessimistic about what the future holds for Ave Maria University in Florida. Needless to say, I pray that God's will be done among all associated with the venture.

Mel Gibson arrested for DUI - and it goes downhill from there

Some really nasty news it if all turns out to be true came out yesterday about Mel Gibson being arrested on suspicion of a DUI (and speeding 87 in a 45 zone).

What's worse is that it appears he was very belligerent during his arrest - to the point of bolting for his car once.

What's worse is that it appears he started cursing and hurling anti-semitic remarks during his arrest. And that's just a start.

What's worse is that the L.A. County Sheriff's Department might have been caught red-handed trying to cover-up for him. Ouch.

The ApocalyptoWatch Blog (which tracks the progress of his next movie and news related to Mel Gibson) has links and is keeping up with the developments.

I have a feeling this whole thing is going to be extremely nasty. The combined gossip and media feeding-frenzy will be huge. There's already many people who hate Mel, and he just gave them all a perfect in. Great.

Update: Mel has issued an apology:

"After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the LA County Sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said. Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health." [source]

Sec. of State Condi wows her audience ... with Brahms!

For what it's worth:

"...top US diplomat Condoleezza Rice took the stage by storm with a piano recital of a Brahms sonata, titled a Prayer for Peace.

Rice, wearing a red dress and pearls, was in a somber mood after her crisis trip to the Middle East and decided to stick to the concert-grade piano skills she mastered at college." [More...]

Now if only the world's problems were solved by piano face-offs.

I'm going to resist the urge to make belittling comparisons between Condi's piano skills and her diplomacy skills. After all, what do I know? I'm just a ragtime player.

In other news, Israel launches new attacks, claims Hezbullah "will never be the same," and calls up 30,000 more reservists. Oh my.

Cardinal George update: came through surgery "very well"

From the AP:

MAYWOOD, Ill. (AP) -- Cardinal Francis George, spiritual leader to 2.4 million Roman Catholics as head of the Archdiocese of Chicago, had his cancerous bladder removed Thursday and came through the surgery "very well," doctors said.

"Things went very, very smoothly," Dr. Robert Flanigan said after the five-hour procedure at Loyola University Medical Center.

Doctors said tests would be conducted and that they won't know until next week what stage George's cancer is in.

"I fully expect that he will come to a full recovery and resume his schedule," said Dr. Myles Sheehan, a priest and George's personal physician.

At a news conference after the surgery, doctors said they were making what they called a "neobladder" to replace the cardinal's bladder but declined to elaborate, saying George did not want them to discuss the issue yet.

The 69-year-old George told reporters Wednesday that doctors had recommended bladder removal over just chemotherapy. On Thursday, Flanigan said the tube running from the kidney to the cardinal's bladder was partially obstructed, which was of particular concern.

"That's why we went ahead with the more aggressive approach," he said.

George was expected to be transferred to the surgical intensive care unit later Thursday and likely would remain in the hospital for about seven days, Flanigan said.

Prayers still needed. Deo Gratias that it looks like he will pull through fine.

Fr. Boguslawski to lead Pope John Paul II Cultural Center

From the Archdiocese of Detroit website:

Fr. Steven Boguslawski, OP, rector/president of Detroit's Sacred Heart Major Seminary, is leaving his post to become the acting director of the Pope John Paul Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. Cardinal Maida hopes to name a new rector/president for the seminary by the start of the academic year in September.

Fr. Boguslawski's departure is precipitated by his religious community, the Order of Preachers-Dominicans, St. Joseph Province, giving him new responsibilities and and tapping him to embark on a new initiative in the nation's capital. "Fr. Boguslawski has done an outstanding job at the seminary and we will all miss him," said Cardinal Maida. "The center will benefit greatly from his proven leadership abilities…his energy and expertise."

Related links:

• Fr. B's Biography and Curriculum Vitae
• Full News Release

Local news coverage from the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News.

Revisiting that Irish Psalm book - Psalm 83 and the plight of Israel

A follow-up to yesterday's story about an ancient Irish Psalm book being found last week in a bog ... open to Psalm 83. A couple people made some comments that I found interesting:

Michael Austen: The psalm it was open to gives me a pretty eerie feeling.

MVH: Wow, I read this story yesterday and I immediately looked up Psalm 83.

I'll tell you, there are no coincidences with God. The most chilling parts for me were in the second and third stanzas:

Ps 83:3-4 "They are laying plans against your people, conspriring against those you cherish; they say, "Come, let us annihilate them as a nation, the name of Israel shall be remembered no more!" [my emphasis]

Verses 5, 6 "They conspire with a single mind, they conclude an alliance against you, the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites . . ."

V[erse] 8 ". . . even Assyria has joined them . . ."

Verse 18 is also telling, "Let them know that you alone bear the name of Yahweh, Most High over all the earth."

Just read the whole thing!

I'd agree - kind of eerie. Well, at the very least, Psalm 83 reminds us that Israel has been going through this kind of treatment from the surrounding nations for quite some time...

Update: Curt Jester takes a look at the "bogging" phenomenon.

Two important Colbert videos (embedded for your viewing pleasure, as always)

(both links via Amy's post.)

First, Stephen Colbert debates himself on Embryonic Stem Cell research:



And now, a rather stressful interview that Colbert did with Bill Donohue:



(great zinger about the Da Vinci code, eh?)

I think Donohue was a little nervous.

Anyway, my question: how long before the Colbert backlash? How long before people realize that Colbert's proud catholicism is not "part of the act" but actually "real Colbert." Will his comedic genius save the day? I hope so, but I'm not too sure.

Perhaps we can expect a book from Colbert outlining his beliefs eventually. I can't imagine that a great mind like Colbert would exit the public stage without voicing his opinion sans the satirical mask. If you ask me, he's slowing been removing it already.

Quest for Peace fails in Rome

Looks like we'll have to redouble our efforts and prayers:

ROME - Top U.S. and European officials agreed Wednesday on the need for urgent action to halt the fighting in Lebanon and on the creation of a multinational force to keep the peace.

But the two sides had starkly divergent views of what that means.

Most Europeans want Israel to stop its offensive against Hezbollah now — which would leave Hezbollah battered but defiant. The United States wants to give Israel more time to pound the militia into submission as part of the wider war on terror.

The foreign ministers and other senior officials from 15 nations, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and representatives from the European Union and the World Bank agreed in Rome on a declaration that expressed "deep concern" for the high number of civilian casualties in Lebanon, where government officials say hundreds of people have been killed. Israel, Iran and Syria did not attend the meeting.

Deep differences in an approach to the crisis were abundantly clear. [More...]

Cardinal George has cancer, will undergo surgery tomorrow.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Cardinal Francis George is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday to treat bladder cancer that was diagnosed in recent weeks, Auxiliary Bishop John R. Manz said today.

George released the following statement this afternoon:

"Tomorrow morning I will undergo surgery at Loyola University Medical Center to remove cancer discovered very recently in my bladder. I am informed that I can expect to make a full recovery from this cancer and the surgery to remove it. I have asked my doctors and archdiocesan officials to fully brief you after the surgery on the specifics of the operation and my recovery."

George also said that Rev. John Canary, the vicar general, would be in charge of "day-to-day governance" of the archdiocese while the cardinal convalesced. The statement said there would be a press conference at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Loyola hospital.

In addition to asking all Catholics in the archdiocese to pray for him, George also asked "other friends and colleagues to pray for me." [More...]

We should all keep Cardinal George in our prayers.

Wa-huh? "Religious left gears up to face right counterpart"

An amusing little story:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The religious right, which helped re-elect
President Bush in 2004 by rallying opposition to abortion and gay marriage, is now facing a pushback from the religious left.

With a faith-based agenda of their own, liberal and progressive clergy from various denominations are lobbying lawmakers, holding rallies and publicizing their positions. They want to end the Iraqwar, ease global warming, combat poverty, raise the minimum wage, revamp immigration laws, and prevent "immoral" cuts in federal social programs.

Some, like the Rev. Robin Meyers of the United Church of Christ in Oklahoma, marry gay couples and seek to reduce abortions while rejecting calls by the right to outlaw them.

"I join the ranks of those who are angry because I have watched as the faith I love has been taken over by fundamentalists who claim to speak for Jesus but whose actions are anything but Christian," declared Meyers, who has written a new book, "Why the Christian Right is Wrong.

...

Some progressive clergy, reaching out to the sick, joined a diverse coalition that took on the right in a battle this month to expand federally backed embryonic stem cell research. [because the "right" is just so opposed to helping sick people...]

...

But it's unclear how big an impact the religious left will have.

Laura Olson, a Clemson University expert on religion and politics, said the religious left is energized, but "a lot of times it shoots itself in the foot. It often pushes an overly broad agenda that results in conflicting priorities." [Exactly.]

And analysts warn that greater activism can worsen the political divide.

"Religion has never been as politicized in recent times as it is right now," said Allen Hertzke, who teaches religion and politics at the University of Oklahoma.

... and the "religious left" has never been as confused in recent as it is right now. It's hard to find a leader when there is nothing - no truths - to unite the movement. I guess they'll settle on their common dislike of the right?

Why am I so strongly reminded of the Vestibule of the Futile in Dante's Inferno? The banner is as blank as ever, but everyone is still so very eager to rush around after it... in circles, that is.

Ken Jennings acts like a jerk, after winning millions on Jeopardy

I was dissapointed to read this:

NEW YORK - "Jeopardy!" ace Ken Jennings, who won $2.5 million during his 74-game winning streak, has a few unkind words to say about the show — and dapper host Alex Trebek.

"I know, I know, the old folks love him," Jennings writes in a recent posting, titled "Dear Jeopardy!" on his Web site.

"Nobody knows he died in that fiery truck crash a few years back and was immediately replaced with the Trebektron 4000 (I see your engineers still can't get the mustache right, by the way)."

Jennings also takes aim at the show's "effete, left-coast" categories and "same-old" format.

"You're like the Dorian Gray of syndication," he says. "You seem to think 'change' means replacing a blue polyethylene backdrop with a slightly different shade of blue polyethylene backdrop every presidential election or so."

A call by The Associated Press to "Jeopardy!" spokesman Jeff Ritter was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Jennings, a software engineer from Salt Lake City, snagged 74 wins on "Jeopardy!" in 2004 before he was beaten by challenger Nancy Zerg.

Trebek, 66, has hosted the show since 1984. In a "correction" posted Monday on his Web site, Jennings offers an apology of sorts.

"We regret the insinuation that Mr. Alex Trebek is a robot, and has been since 2004. Mr. Trebek's robotic frame does still contain some organic parts, many harvested from patriotic Canadian schoolchildren, so this technically makes him a `cyborg,' not a `robot.'" [source]

I liked Ken Jennings. His phenomenal talent on one of my favorite quiz shows impressed me greatly. But now ... where did this come from?! Shouldn't Mormons know better?!

Update: As Bill Cork points out in the combox, it looks like the AP got this story completely wrong and that Ken Jennings was actually just having a bit of fun: "It is clearly parody. He's having fun with Jeopardy as if it were an old girlfriend. It's funny. Why do people take satire seriously?" As Bill suggests, go to the source and read the letter on his blog.

So, new questions: ... where did this come from?! Shouldn't the AP know better?!

Irish scholars rejoice! Ancient book of Psalms found in bog!

From the AP:

DUBLIN, Ireland - Irish archaeologists Tuesday heralded the discovery of an ancient book of psalms by a construction worker who spotted something while driving the shovel of his backhoe into a bog.

The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.

"This is really a miracle find," said Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum of Ireland, which has the book stored in refrigeration and facing years of painstaking analysis before being put on public display.

"There's two sets of odds that make this discovery really way out. First of all, it's unlikely that something this fragile could survive buried in a bog at all, and then for it to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is incalculably more amazing."

...

The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.

...

Ireland already has several other holy books from the early medieval period, including the ornately illustrated Book of Kells, which has been on display at Trinity College in Dublin since the 19th century. [More...]

I was able to see the Book of Kells when I was visiting Ireland a couple years ago. On the day I visited, it was open to the Gospel of Matthew that tells the story of feeding of the five thousand. My friend and I had a grand old time translating the (incredibly crisp and clear) Latin text for the people around us (or at least the non-Christians who weren't familiar with the story).

Your PPOTD - Tuesday July 25

Just when you thought orange would never be an approved liturgical color ...

[photo: AP Photo]

Dick DeVos edges ahead in race for Governor of Michigan

On the home political front, things are looking good for Michigan's pro-life gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos (granted that we're not home by a long stretch):

COLDWATER — Months ago, Dick DeVos was relatively unknown and way behind in polls concerning the gubernatorial race.

Now, with the help of more than $10 million spent on advertising — and that does not include ad production, radio ad time and other campaign expenses — a new poll indicates 47 percent for the wealthy Republican and 42 percent for incumbent Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, with 8 percent undecided.

The poll, for what any poll is worth, was conducted by the Detroit Free Press and WDIV television of Detroit. There were 632 individuals contacted, and a four percent margin of error. [source]

... even as many people are trying to pin him down (and gun him down) for his staunch pro-life position - the same people who placed and have kept pro-choice governor Jennifer Granholm in office:

"Dick DeVos has big plans and big ideas. The problem for the would-be voter is that he doesn't want to share some of them with you, at least not too specifically.

Case in point: this week's fracas over the Grand Rapids businessman/blogger/would-be governor's pro-life views.

Yes, DeVos is pro-life. But then, who among us does not love and celebrate life? Can he be more specific?

... DeVos is perfectly amenable to discussing his views on abortion with those who share his near-absolute position against it. Right to Life of Michigan, for example, has strict criteria for endorsing candidates, and the group isn't averse to "parsing" the issue.

To get Right to Life's endorsement -- as DeVos did months ago -- a candidate must "be pro-life with no exceptions other than the life of the mother." [More...]

John Kerry recently flew into Detroit. He "talked up" Granholm and "slammed" DeVos.

DeVos faces no opposition in August 8th's republican primary.

The race, however, in economically-troubled Michigan, will come down to the issue of jobs:

Bill Nowling, a strategist with the Lansing-based Sterling Corp., which works with the Michigan GOP, said the economy, not Granholm, is setting this election-year's agenda. DeVos, moreover, has been able to define himself as a credible leader before Democrats can define him otherwise.

"If she goes into Labor Day and independent voters think they wouldn't be any worse off with Dick DeVos than Jennifer Granholm, they're going to go with something new,'' Nowling said. "Once people start moving that way, it's hard to change that momentum. The jobs situation is not going to be demonstrably better, and it's more likely to get worse.'' [More...]

I've talked before about my reasons for supporting Dick Devos here.

More DeVos links:

• Campaign page
• Wikipedia entry
• Dick DeVos campaign blog
• DD's book: Rediscovering American Values

[tags: Dick DeVos, Jennifer Granholm]

Just what is happening at Medjugorje?

The question of Medjugorje is a huge (and often heated) one, and it looks like it's about to get bigger and, well, more heated:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, announced a commission would be formed to review the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje and pastoral provisions for the thousands of pilgrims who visit the town each year.

"The commission members have not been named yet," Cardinal Puljic told Catholic News Service in a July 24 telephone interview. "I am awaiting suggestions from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" on theologians to appoint. "

But this commission will be under the (Bosnian) bishops' conference" as is the usual practice with alleged apparitions, he said. [More...]

Now, here's the other important development:

"there is currently going around the blogosphere a statement by Bishop Peric of Mostar-Duvno regarding the apparitions reported at Medjugorje, which is in his diocese."

[He makes the following dramatic appeal:]

Therefore I responsibly call upon those who claim themselves to be “seers”, as well as those persons behind the “messages”, to demonstrate ecclesiastical obedience and to cease with these public manifestations and messages in this parish. In this fashion they shall show their necessary adherence to the Church, by neither placing private “apparitions” nor private sayings before the official position of the Church.

[Jimmy Akin has more analysis.]

The Bishop's statement (and appeal) are being claimed by some as a "new litmus test" for the authenticity of the apparitions (h/t: Mark Shea).

Dom has commentary on the Bishop's statement (with plenty of combox debate).

So, between Mark Shea, Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli, you should have all the links you need.

From my brief read of the situation, it seems reasonable to expect that a more authoritative judgment on Medjugorje will be issued later this fall (knowing how long these things tend to take, add the necessary grain of salt to any timescale projections).

Finally, a closing observation: the spiritual fruits of Medjogorje should always be distinguished from the authenticity of the apparitions themselves as well as the content of the messages received. So whatever happens, we don't have to worry about that. Thank goodness.

Update: Jimmy Akin has a new post today on this topic - many excellent points.

Little Charlotte fails to live up to her last name

Young singer Charlotte Church's blasphemous shenanigans have put her in disfavor at the Catholic publishing house Ignatius Press (and among many, many other people), causing IP to drop her line of products.

Perhaps suprisingly, IPs fine reputation and clout (even in the secular world) has gained their ban on Charlotte Church products a good deal of notice, as the UK Daily Mail details (and LifeSiteNews, and IP-associated CWNews). As Dom notes, the UK Daily Mail did a good job of addressing the reaction of Catholics in a fair-handed manner.

Insight Scoop has a collection of links today that cover the story as it makes the internet rounds.

Needless to say, I'm very happy about IP's swift, clear and justified reaction to Miss Charlotte's provocations. Hopefully miss Charlotte will eventually find her way back into the forgiving Church.

The Trouble with Harry (Potter)...

Dom has a very good post introducing an article on Harry Potter written by his wife, Melanie:

As if the Medjugroje discussions weren’t heated enough, I’m now going to be bringing up another sacred cow. Specifically, I’m going to point you to a post on Melanie’s blog that asks the question whether Harry Potter is an anti-hero. Now before you all fly off at the keyboard, read the post. Don’t forget that Melanie has read at least some of the books and enjoyed them for what they are. However, we’ve both expressed reservations as to whether we’d put them in our kids’ hands without a lot of maturity and preparation...

...the anti-hero tag comes from his penchant for breaking the rules all the time without any sort of consequences. What separates Harry from Voldemort? Harry lies, cheats, and steals. Voldemort lies, cheats, and steals. But when Harry does it, it’s for a good cause. In other words, in the world of Harry Potter, the end often justifies the means... (quoting Llama Butchers):

"If he could obtain it, would Harry use The Ring [i.e. the One Ring of the Lord of the Rings] to defeat Voldemort?"

Melanie and I both agree that this is a very good question because it goes to the crux of the difference between HP and LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia.

[Read the rest of Dom's post here, and Melanie's post here.]

Having read all the Harry Potter series of books as well, I found the Bettinelli's comments very helpful in pinpointing one of the subconscious causes of unease I've had with the tale (however entertaining and step-above-the-usual-literary-fare-of-our-age it may be). A good read!

Your Monday Colbert: On Stem Cell Research

Stephen Colbert interviews a pro-embryonic stem cell research guy:


(sorry for the out-of-sync audio/video)

Amy has a post up on Colbert's Catholicism, which I've been rambling about since March.

Update: GOP Soccer Mom has already discussed this Colbert segment, and is currently debating Lee Silver (the person interviewed by Colbert) in her comments box!