Thanks for the prayers - I passed!

Aided greatly, no doubt, by the many prayers of my kind readers, I successfully defended my master's thesis and passed with "highest distinction" this morning.

My brother managed to snap a picture of me pontificating, which I've included below:

I have to run now, but I look forward to increased blogging in future now that my thesis has been put to rest (at least for the time being). Again, my fervent thanks for all your prayers!!

Ubi vadis Fr. Michael Beers?

This important clarification was sent to me recently regarding the reassignment of Fr. Michael Beers, currently the Dean of Ave Maria University's Pre-Theologate:

Dear Fellow Bloggers:

Earlier today, Naples News.com reported that Bishop Robert Carlson was starting a new seminary in Bay City, Mi. He certainly is not doing this and asked me to say so on the " Saginaw Seminarians Blog." I wrote up a short story explaining what was happening and hoped some of you may link to the story so that the rumor ends before it goes too far. Thank you so much and keep up the great work you do with your blogs, I enjoy reading all of them.

In Christ,

Saginaw Seminarians

I think this is probably the cause of the confusion: a press release sent by Fr. Beers that was prepared by his diocese (which he sent around the Ave Maria University email lists this Saturday).

The relavant passages:

"Rev. J. Michael Beers, Ph.D., S.S.L., 57, a priest of the Diocese of Allentown and Dean of the Pre-Theologate at Ave Maria University, Naples, has been assigned by his bishop, Most Rev. Edward P. Cullen, D.D., to a new post in the Diocese of Saginaw, where he will be the founding director of a new house of priestly formation and rector of the Shrine of St. Joseph in Bay City, Michigan.

... Asked for his reaction to his new assignment, Fr. Beers said: "I am extremely grateful to my ordinary, Bishop Cullen, for his great generosity in releasing me for service to the Church in Saginaw. I have always lived my priesthood with the motto: Nil sine episcopo (Nothing without my bishop). I am his faithful son, he is a successor of the Apostles, through my bishop I have my union with Our Lord. The apostolic succession of our bishops is the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

Furthermore, I look forward to the challenges of starting a new seminary and my collaboration with Bishop Carlson, who has been my friend for nearly fifteen years. I first met him in 1993 when I was interviewed to be rector of St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the bishop then served as an auxiliary bishop. I taught Latin to his seminarians last summer, I look forward to working with them fulltime."

The sentence in bold represents either a typo, a slip of the tongue or imprecise word usage. At any rate, its easy to see how a newspaper like the Naples News could have missed the distinction between a seminary and a house of formation (presuming this press release is what they based that claim in their story upon). The Saginaw Seminarians blog adds this endorsement of the seminaries where future priests for that diocese are studying:

"Bishop Carlson also added that he has been "very pleased" with the seminaries the diocese is currently employing and said that "Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit will continue to be the main seminary the diocese uses along with the others: Mundelein, Holy Apostles, and St. Paul."

Putting aside where Fr. Beers is going, it still represents a loss for AMU, but I'll leave others to discuss that fact.

My thesis defense has been set!

Of course, this will be keeping me busy this week. Any prayers would be appreciated, especially that I recover from the pesky cold I came down with over the weekend. :)

Greater chance for peace in Northern Ireland

I don't know much about the situation in Northern Ireland, but news sources are saying today that a significant step towards peace was taken recently:

Sitting side by side for the first time in history, the leaders of Northern Ireland's major Protestant and Catholic parties announced a stunning deal Monday to forge a power-sharing administration May 8.

The breakthrough followed unprecedented face-to-face negotiations between the Protestants of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party and the Catholics of Gerry Adams' Sinn Fein.

The two foes, who previously negotiated only via third parties, sat beside each other at a table in the main dining room in Stormont Parliamentary. [More...]

A fuller account is available here.

CNA on Detroit's Catholic Mens Conference

CNA has a brief report on the Detroit Catholic Men's Conference that met last weekend (which I was unfortunately unable to attend).

Be alerted, the Call to Holiness conference is taking place at the end of this month.

How to solve a problem like Mahony

What can and can't be done, explained over at In Light of the Law:

I know nothing about UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge beyond what I saw on a very impressive (for a civil lawyer) resume posted on his website, but his recent post on the chronic problems in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in which he specifically calls for Cdl. Mahony's resignation is getting attention. Knowing, moreover, nothing about the underlying facts of the case except what has appeared in some secular media (a circumlocution for "I know virtually nothing about the underlying facts of this case"), I note that Prof. Bainbridge attempts to use canon law in his resignation argument, and canon law is something I do know a bit about. [More...]

Cur vadis Fr. Fessio?

Here's a head-scratcher:

Father Fessio fired at Ave Maria

Father Joseph Fessio, SJ, has been abruptly dismissed as provost of Ave Maria University in Florida.

Father Fessio, the founder of Ignatius Press and publisher of Catholic World Report*, was asked to submit his resignation on March 21, and ordered to leave the Florida campus immediately. No public explanation of his dismissal has been offered.

The story is still breaking news with by-the-hour updates. More from me when I get it.

Update: Rocco has a fairly decent account of the events transpiring thus far. If you want on-the-ground information mixed in with plenty of obfuscation, you could browse this Fumare combox.

Update 2: A highlight from AMU's PR firm:

"Father Joseph Fessio, S.J. was asked to step down as Provost of the University as a result of irreconcilable differences over administrative policies and practices."

The next stage: "A general meeting of faculty and students is slated to begin at 4.30pm local time. Staff have been asked not to speak with the media."

Finally, some local coverage....

• NaplesNews: Top Ave Maria official dismissed (updates would appear here.)
• ABCNews 7 coverage

Update 3: AveWatch has a dossier on things Fr. Fessio.

Jacob Ogles seems to have gotten a few words in with Fr. Fessio:

Father Joseph Fessio said he had no indication before today that he would be asked to step down as provost of Ave Maria University.

"Obviously, I think it was a mistake, but I am not in charge," he said.

Fessio said he was asked to a private meeting this morning with chancellor Tom Monaghan. At the meeting, Fessio said he was asked to resign his position with the school, clear his office and leave campus by the end of the day. "I asked for a reason but was not given one," Fessio said.

No specific reasons were cited in an official statement released by university officials either. All calls to the university and to the development company planning the community around the fledging Catholic school were referred to the public relations department. Spokesmen for the school said no elaboration beyond the statement would be made.

...

But Fessio said his exit from Ave Maria University should free him up to focus more energy on his other endeavors.

"A great burden has been lifted off my shoulders," Fessio said. "Now I can pray and work for the Lord's vineyards in other ways."

....

Fessio said his ouster should not be percieved as a sign of further shake-up at the school.

"I'm probably just a lightning rod," he said. "I tend to stick out in a crowd."

In any case, there is clearly more to this story than is currently being presented.

Update 4: Rocco adds more from the town-hall style meeting held on the AMU campus this afternoon:

The hourlong general session of faculty and students took place 90 minutes after a meeting of the new campus' senior staff, at which the university's official statement (found below) was hammered out. A standing-room crowd packed a hall that seats around 300, as university president Nicholas Healy and other top officials offered their reflections. As with the earlier demonstration, the audience was largely pro-Fessio, with two standing ovations given the absent former provost -- the first of which came following a question from the floor asking for his reinstatement.

One of the causes of the "irreconcilable differences" mentioned.... a divergence on liturgical tastes.

My take? Tip of the iceburg, on everyside.

Update 5: Just a quick update before I head to bed, but Amy has a confirmed scoop that Fessio has been rehired in a different capacity and includes an email from Healy confirming this.

Philadelphia Church of God & modern ultramontanism

Today I stumbled across this article published by The Trumpet, a publication of the Philadelphia Church of God. In their "about us" page, they claim in their journalism to "show how current events are fulfilling the biblically prophesied description of the prevailing state of affairs just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ."

Evidently, one of the current events they are tracking is the growing secular influence and political power of the Catholic Church, as paragraphs such as this one reveal:

"This is about more than just blocking laws that promote immorality. The Catholic Church is seeking to unite Europe under the power of religion—the Catholic religion, and Catholic laws. The Bible prophesies that this powerful entity will yet gain the power to enforce the policies—including Sunday worship—it now calls upon Europeans to uphold." (emphasis added - source.)

Another article contains similar warnings about papal encroachment, from the very first lines:

"A political institution at its roots, the Roman Catholic Church is excelling itself in swinging the vote within former Soviet states to support membership of the European Union. The Czech Republic is the latest nation to heed the papal call to a 'yes' vote, one of seven to respond to priestly admonitions to vote in favor of a return to their former cultural and spiritual 'roots.'" (emphasis added)

And this article outdoes itself with similar claims:

The modern successors of the Roman Caesars are intent on constructing a new empire, and understand the vast importance of the papacy in achieving this. Europe’s leaders and the Roman Catholic Church are working together towards the common goal of unity, with Rome providing a powerfully cohesive common religion to hold Europe together politically.

The author, writing several years ago, makes several connections between these goals and that of "Successive German chancellors" and even Hitler. They must have had a field day when Pope Benedict was elected.

And just in case any of the aspersions about the Papacy being the whore of Babylon are missed:

As portentous as such obvious Roman Catholic symbolism is, the British postage stamps issued in 1984 to commemorate the second election to the European Parliament went even further. They depicted a woman riding a beast over seven mounds or waves. Such imagery has startling similarities to passages from the book of Revelation which a succession of theologians from Wycliffe to Spurgeon has identified as representing papal Rome. (source.)

Why do I mention all this?

First, discovering modern examples of Roman Catholics being accused or suspected of ultramontanism / caesaropapism / whathaveyou is a favorite pastime for me and thus a recurring AmericanPapist feature.

Second, I found it fascinating to read an article like this one published in the Trumpet and to note the many similarities between its portrayal of the Catholic Church (particularly the actions of Pope Benedict) and the common portrayal of these same events by the secular media.

Really, they aren't that far off from one another. And if it wasn't for The Trumpet article making a last-paragraph mention of the bible, I might have mistaken it for just another media spin job.

Truly, liberal media bias and fundamentalist eschatology make strange bedfellows, but there you go.

Your PPOTD! - Wednesday, March 21

Don King, longtime boxing promoter, had a hunch that live theology debates would be the wave of the future. The first step? Book a suitable venue and test the market.

[photo: AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito]

Call to Holiness 2007: Saturday April 27

I'm going to be linking to the Call to Holiness 2007 conference for the next week or so, just to help spread the word.

I have Bishop Flores as a professor this semester, had Robert Fastiggi last year, and Fr. Neil Roy is a friend of mine from way back.

Good folks! I recommend anyone in the Detroit area check it out.

CNA highlights, March 20th

Some of today's Catholic News Agency articles are especially good reading:

• Vatican Council to emphasize importance of young adults in the working world: "The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity announced the plans for its ninth International Youth Forum, due to be held at Rocca di Papa near Rome from March 28 to April 1 on the theme: "Bearing witness to Christ in the world of work."

Traditionally, the Pope sends a message to these participants. Here's the 2004 message of Jp2.

• Venezuelan bishop responds to Socialist youth brigade: Jesus Christ is the authentic "new man": In response to a plan in Venezuela by supporters of "21st century Socialism" to create a youth brigade to promote the image of a "new man," Bishop Mario Moronta of San Cristobal called on the faithful not to let themselves be guided by ideologies but rather by the Gospel, which reveals that Jesus Christ is the authentic model for the human person.
• Irish primate urges Christians to go beyond parades for St. Patrick’s Day: Christians should go beyond parades and honor St. Patrick by living according to his example, said Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh and primate of Ireland. In a St. Patrick's Day message, Archbishop Brady urged Christians to carefully read St. Patrick's "Confession of Grace", which tells of the Saint's love for God and desire to share the Good News with the Irish. The archbishop expressed his regret that this work is not widely known...

Here is the full text of the Archbishop's speech. I was not able to find an online text version of St. Patrick's confession, but Amazon is offering copies for about $7. Goodness, another book on the reading list!

Update: Thanks to Hank, who found an online version of St. Patrick's confession here.

Update 2: A headline I missed....

• Holy See: Youth have the right to truth and respect from media: "Youth have the right to ask the media to inform with truth, respecting the dignity due to every human," so said the President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Archbishop John Foley, at a meeting regarding "Information and protection of children's rights" held in Messina, Italy yesterday.....Foley noted that "it is never too early to be involved in the media, not just as users but also as participants," but warned that much of the content in modern media, "especially on the Internet, TV and movies – can contribute to corruption, instead of a healthy development."

That's right, folks: bookmark AmericanPapist. ;-)

Letting the air out of global warming hype/myths

Jimmy Akin links to this devastating video which debunks the myths surrounding the claims about global warming caused by humans. I post this because global warming is in many ways steadily becoming the new "secular religion". For that reason, it's important to be informed.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the presentation before being recalled to thesis work, but what I saw was quite solid.

Update: And, like clockwork, appears this headline/story: London churches to receive guidebooks on reducing energy consumption.

The title of the guidebooks? "For Creed and Creation: A Simple Guidebook for Running a Greener Church."

Your PPOTD! - Tuesday, March 20

He knew he had nailed his point, and it was time to show it!

[photo: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino]

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Now go get yourselves some Corned Beef and Guinness!

Prayers requested....

For Mary, the sister of my good friend, who is in the hospital today. Thank you.

Update: Mary has taken a very serious turn for the worst, and might not live through the evening. The family is going through a great deal right now so I would ask for your renewed prayers. Again, thank you.

Update: Mary passed-away at 1:15 AM this morning.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord.

And may perpetual light shine upon her.

May her soul and all the souls of the faithfully

departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

Hold the Excommunication boat!

Dr. Ed Peters, my father, responds here to a columnist of the Remnant who wants to claim that Rudy Giuliani is excommunicated.

Well, he isn't. Or, as Dr. Peters puts it, "he ain't."

I guess I've spent a bit more time in the North. Also, I ain't seeking political office.

Your PPOTD! - Wednesday, March 14

As the pictures were made available, it became pretty clear which member of the episcopate had not given up the conveniences of technology for Lent.

[photo: AP Photo / Plinio Lepri]

TranslationWatch: The Exhortation

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf at WDTPRS notes a very troubling translation of a key phrase in the recent Exhortation.

Surprise, surprise: the English translation seems to be the only one at fault. How "aequum est" (let alone "es ist gut", "e bene" and "il est bon") translates to "could be" is beyond me. Who's still fiddling with our English translations?!

Fr. Zuhlsdorf's website was going through some technical difficulties over the past couple days, but the post appears to be up now, or at least its legible.

BiasWatch: The Nation and Mormonism

How long will this type of clear-cut bias in journalism be tolerated?

The Nation just posted an unsigned editorial gloating over the sacking of Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in response to Prosecutor-gate. What angers me is not so much The Nation's hit-a-man-once-he's-down style (hey, this is national politics) but rather, its gratuitous sneer at Sampson's religious beliefs. Sampson is a Mormon. [More...]

Hopefully not as long thanks to articles like this one.

The Exhortation

Everyone's talking about it. I'm not letting myself read it until this Thursday (when the first draft of my thesis is due). In the meantime, here's a good way to see what the wisdom of the blogosphere has to offer. If anything interesting related to this pops up I'll try to give it a link.

Video: The Mystery Song

I love Hugh Laurie, not just for his recent mega-success with the popular TV show House, M.D. (I'm addicted), but also for his many years logged as the lovable Bertie of Jeeves & Wooster. What you might not know, however, is that he's a very versatile musician and comedian in his own right. This song unites both his fine qualities in an explosively-funny mix. Enjoy!

"Papist" in the news....

Completely for fun, let's do a quick check of some news feeds to see how "papist" is being used in recent parlance:

• "Shakespeare was probably sent from Stratford Grammar School to Prescot by his father at a dangerous time for Catholic families like his own, in which the government of the day feared Papist plots and used spies to root out suspects." - The Independent

Classic and appropriate usage. High marks for making the connection between Shakespeare and Catholicism. Needless capitalization of "papist"? Even better.

• "... only Senator Sam Brownback stands out both with some name recognition and credibility as a far right candidate, but as a Catholic recruited to what evangelicals may view as a papist cult by a member of Opus Dei even he may be questionable." - Capitol Hill Blue

Bonus points for the phrase "papist cult" (and in the same sentence with "Opus Dei" no less!).

• "We’ll never know whether that speech [of JFK's] calmed the nerves of those who were fearful that a Catholic president would turn the U.S. into a papist state. But we know that Kennedy went on to win with 49.7 percent of the vote and clearly counted among his supporters many non-Catholics." - The Journal Gazette

Extra credit for connecting a papist with the possibility of taking over America. Always fun.

• "The Palestinian leadership is corrupt no less than the Israeli leadership. A friend of mine said that we are not "more papist than the Pope". However, when corruption infiltrates our society at such a rapid rate with so many Knesset members involved then there is a serious problem in credibility, honesty and accountability to the electorate that voted these shady mediocrities into the Knesset." - BNN

Kudos for using the phrase "more papist than the Pope." Of course, that would be pretty hard. Better get started!

Only (especially?) in Michigan: Muskrat Meat on Fridays

Some of my fellow Michiganders are just plain wierd during Lent:

RIVERVIEW, Mich. (CNS) -- There's an alternative to fish for some Michigan Catholics abstaining from meat on Fridays in Lent -- muskrat.

The custom of eating muskrat on Ash Wednesday and Fridays in Lent apparently goes back to the early 1800s, the time of Father Gabriel Richard, an early missionary in Michigan whose flock included French-Canadian trappers. Legend has it that because trappers and their families were going hungry not eating flesh during Lent, he allowed them to eat muskrat, with the reasoning that the mammal lives in the water. [More...]

Happily this finely-written article strikes just the right tone for this kind of offbeat news piece, and so I'd recommend reading it even if you aren't an inhabitant of S.E. Michigan.

The question I'm confronting right now is whether or not I should try to hunt down a Muskrat dinner one of these remaining fridays in Lent, the article mentions a couple places I could go....

And no, I'm not kidding.

Your PPOTD! - Tuesday, March 13

"Putin frowned, the Pope already had a picture of his front yard."

[photo: AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool]

Pope to meet with Putin today

The Vatican newswire reminded me this morning:

"At 6 p.m. this evening, the Holy Father isscheduled to receive Vadimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation,accompanied by his entourage."

The Associated Press has a little coverage:

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Benedict XVI are set to meet Tuesday in the highest-level Kremlin-Vatican talks in more than three years, a meeting expected to focus on ways of easing tensions between Catholics and Orthodox Christians and finding common ground on moral issues.

The meeting -- the first between Benedict and Putin -- is part of a visit that takes the Russian leader to Italy and Greece this week.

Tensions with the Russian Orthodox Church have stood in the way of a papal visit to Russia. [More...]

There's a slim chance that Putin might invite the Pope to Russia. CNA has more.

There's some disagreement about whether Putin's visit has explicit ecumenical dimensions or not. CWNews has more.

brief outage

Sorry for the brief interruption of web service this morning, AmP is back and healthy again. :)

Prayers requested...

For Melanie, the wife of Domenico Bettinelli. More here.

Is blogging manly?

Erik Scheske apparently asked a question basically like this in his most recent column for the National Catholic Register. Dom takes exception to some of Erik's comments and provides a bit more information on the story.

After reading Dom's post, I added this response to his comments thread:

If you understand blogging to be a modern form of the time-honored art of essay writing, let alone the daily or weekly columns published by Chesterton, Belloc, Lewis and the like, then this whole question seems a moot point to me. Granted, the average blog post isn’t an essay worthy of Addison and Steele, but it certainly counts as an intellectual attempt hoping to educate and open to criticism and response.

Blogging is *so* for men.

I can't really wrap my head around why this kind of question even merits a column. Slow news week? Oh well, the headline roused me from my thesis composing and now I return to it. A la prochaine fois, mes amis....

God Squad meets Code Squad

"The God squad" gets the Light of the Law treatment:

"I don't have the time or expertise to monitor every religious Q&A column in America, and so I tend to comment on them only when they raise interesting questions … or when they convey disturbing answers, such as one just posted by a group called "The God Squad" that deals with reception of the Eucahrist by Alzheimer’s patients. Based only on what was posed in the question, and looking only at what was said in reply, I think there are serious problems with The God Squad's answer. You can see my reply, Alzheimer's, the Eucharist, and The God Squad here.

Two new bishops for Tuesday

"Safe!"

A quick break from thesis work to serve up a few links for New Bishop Tuesday:

• Vatican Information Service release
• Associated Press: New Dallas Catholic bishop debuts
• Off the Record: Better Late than Never Dept.
• Dallas News: New bishop's top priority: Get familiar with diocese
• Whispers: D-Day = May Day
• Happy Catholic: Let the Joyful News Be Spread ...
• Closed Cafeteria coverage

... and let's not forget Lake Charles got a new bishop as well!

Appointed Msgr. Glenn John Provost of the clergy of the diocese of Lafayette, U.S.A., pastor of the parish of Our Lady of Fatima, as bishop of Lake Charles (area 13,755, population 284,000, Catholics 84,000, priests 74, permanent deacons 32, religious 41), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Lafayette in 1949 and ordained a priest in 1975.

... ending the longest bishop vacancy in the United States (since March of 2005). If Papa Benedict is filling vacancies in order of time left vacant, perhaps Birmingham, AL is next...

The Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana website, with a very informative announcement.

Update: A photo of Msgr. Provost from the AP newswire.

[photo: AP Photo/Ron Heflin]

New Bishop for Dallas to be announced tomorrow?

Rocco's all a-buzzin' about it, and has been since early last November.

And when Rocco's a-buzzin', the secular prints begin churnin' (especially when there's already an ambient buzz to get things going).

Finally, Tuesday is new bishop day in America, and tomorrow is a Tuesday....

So, all you "Dallasites", (which include several of my good friends studying at the University of Dallas), prepare yourselves to possibly welcome Kevin Farrell, who has been serving as an auxiliary in Washington. And in the next 12 hours or so, maybe consider placing a few friendly wagers. :-)

More about Bp. Farrell:

Dublin-born and a former member of the Legionaries of Christ -- for which he was ordained in 1978 -- both the administrative and demographic situations on-the-ground play to Farrell's strengths, making him the clear front-runner for Dallas since speculation began at Grahmann's 75th birthday last summer.

... Since 2001, he has served as DC's moderator of the curia and chief vicar-general after 12 years as the capital see's top financial overseer. He's the brother of Bishop Brian Farrell LC, the Stato veteran currently serving as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. [more from Rocco.]

Well, at the very least, Bp. Farrell might now have a good excuse to be in Dallas for St. Patrick's Day....

Your PPOTD! Monday, March 5th

"If only every theologian had Pope Benedict watching

over him from a nearby sideroom when he lectured!"

[photo: AP Photo/Arturo Mari]

AmericanPapist: too hot for China

Dom posted this link to a page that lets you see what websites are being blocked by the Chinese government. His fine blog is blocked, as is mine (see below). I remember having at least one active reader from China, but I have not seen him post in the comment boxes for several months. Perhaps he can no longer access these pages.

I'd imagine many, many Catholic blogs are blocked. The Chinese government also blocks websites like Google, Facebook, CNN, etc. It appears that the Vatican website is still unblocked, however, because I gave it a try. You're welcome to test websites yourself here.

Fr. Z recently had a good post commenting on this Sandro Magister article which discusses the real state of the underground Church in China. We need to continue keeping all the Christians of China in our prayers.

Update: Some of my industrious readers are casting doubts on the diagnosis that this blog is being blocked by Chinese firewalls. It would be very helpful if a Chinese reader could notify me if they can access these pages. Obviously, however, I'm not recommending that anyone do anything that could be personally dangerous or foolish. Thank you!

Video: NAC wins in Rome Seminarian Soccer

I guess I'm on a Seminarian bender this afternoon ... Rocco has just linked to this embedded video of Seminarians from the Pontifical North American College (the "Nac") playing the Urban College as part of the "Clericus Cup" (which apparently features occasional appearances from "superfan" Cardinal Bertone).

Rocco has more. And here's the vid:



The remix of the Chariots of Fire theme music is a nice choice, methinks.

The Pope speaks to Seminarians

Taking a brief break from my thesis work, I pass along the Pope's recent words to Seminarians, which I've been hearing was extremely good this year, and not just for those in Seminary!

I've promised myself that I'll let myself read what he has to say once I get finished with the section of my thesis that I'm currently composing. Ah, the trials of intellectual moderation. :-)

• Part 1 of the Pope Answering Seminarians (Zenit)
• Part 2 of the Pope Answering Seminarians (Zenit)