Pope Benedict's message to the participants of WYD '08

Full text available on the WYD '08 website here.

Videos: NFP vs. Contraception (a la Apple)

A seminarian for the Diocese of Saginaw sent along a link to these three excellent videos entitled "NFP vs. Contraception," done in the style of those popular Apple commercials.

The actors are seminarians who recently participated in the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, Nebraska. I've studied with both of them and I have to tip my hat - they did an awesome job!

Video 1:


Video 2:


Video 3:

Spread the word!

I'll be in Washington DC this week....

.... and as a result, blogging will be sparse to non-existent until the weekend.

I've already posted on my plans to study in DC this fall. During my trip this week I'll be meeting with faculty/staff from Dominican House, visiting some potential living situations and perhaps conducting a job interview or two.

Needless to say, this would be the perfect time to drop me a last-minute email ("thomas {at} americanpapist.com") with any tips you might have to pass along. I haven't nailed-down anything definitively in terms of housing or employment yet, so my eyes and ears are still open. Also, a big thank you to everyone who has already emailed me - your suggestions and contacts have been invaluable!

I'll be moving permanently to DC in mid-to-late August.

It's about time for a China post

The AP reported today:

A senior official in China's state-sanctioned Catholic Church said in comments published Tuesday that he would like Pope Benedict XVI to visit China.

Benedict did not dismiss the possibility but said the issue was "complicated.''
Liu Bainian, vice chairman of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, made the comments in an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica in which he praised Benedict's recent letter to China's Catholics as "positive.''

"I strongly hope to be able to see the pope one day here in Beijing to celebrate Mass for us Chinese,'' Liu was quoted as saying.

CNA:

Liu explained that in the past the government saw the Church as meddling in the affairs of the state, but stressed that Chinese Catholics always recognized the sole authority of the pope as far as religion was concerned.

"The Holy See is the only representative of Jesus on earth, and as Catholics we must follow it," he said. "What we must affirm is our political and economic independence; otherwise we remain a colonial church."

CWNews:

Recalling visits to Rome in 1991 and 1994, Liu recalled, "I remember that in one Roman church, there were 7 Catholics at Mass, in another 4 and in yet another, I was the only one. I wanted to cry...Italy is the birthplace of Catholicism, but in China, the churches are full." He boasted that the Catholic Church is growing rapidly in China. "In 1979, there were 1,100 priests in China, the majority of them old and sick," he said. "Today we have 1,800, whose average age is 30. The Cultural Revolution destroyed 3,600 churches, all of which we have rebuilt."

Related: Cardinal Zen warns against confusion surrounding the Pope’s China letter - CWNews

I think we could very well see a Papal visit to China by the year 2009. Granted, many things have to fall in place. But the amount of progress we've seen in the last couple months should not be ignored.

Your PPOTD! Monday, July 23rd

The "rosary walk", Papa Benedicto style.

[photo: AP Photo/Alessia Giuliani/Pool]

Video: Give Paul Potts a quick listen

Thales at Fumare reminded me today that I had wanted to share this video with my readers.

Thales also tell us why this is an important cultural moment:

But there is a implicit foundation to these [American-Idol type] shows which is wholesome: an inherent recognition that there exists the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. No matter how much a performer relies on glitz, if the performer does not have true talent, the audience sees through the outward appearance and the performer fails. If the performer is truly good and demonstrates truly beautiful art, the audience generally recognizes and honors the performer.

That is what recently happened in Britain, on Britain's Got Talent, the British version of a glorified talent show. In an incredible Cinderella story, Paul Potts, a pudgy, insecure 36-year-old cell phone salesman and amateur opera singer stunned the judges in his first audition and proceeded to capture the hearts of the audience throughout the competition.

Here is Paul Potts's first audition. Be sure to check out the reactions of judges Simon Cowell (a scathing, acerbic judge on American Idol) and Piers Morgan (an acerbic, scathing judge on America's Got Talent), as they go from disdain to disbelief. Sit down without distractions, turn up the volume, and I think your soul might be touched. I was, and I don't even like opera!

Well, I love opera, and it worked for me as well.

Here's the performance:

Paul Potts' first CD, One Chance, is on its way to top the UK charts. It goes on sale in the U.S. July 30th. Fumare has more. You can pre-order it here.

For those looking to dig a bit deeper, Paul Potts chose Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, one of the most beautiful arias in opera. Luciano Pavarotti made it his signature song, and it's not hard to see why.

The Harry Potter phenomenon

Well, I'm not inoculated.

In fact, I both found myself at a local Harry Potter release party [photographic proof 1], and found myself the owner of a copy The Deathly Hallows today as a friend approvingly looked on[photographic proof 2].

I'm on page 120 right now, and I'll post my thoughts once I've finished the book.

Elsewhere around St. Blogs', Jimmy Akin, who isn't a fan, mentions some reasons why, and includes a critique of the "magic economics" of the series.

Fr. Z had a copy of the final volume reserved months ago, mostly because he knew he would be asked questions about them. He has some non-spoiler thoughts on the series, and includes a wonderful exposition of the book's (somewhat enigmatic) opening quotation from, of all things, Aeschylus' The Libation Bearers.

Meanwhile, MOJ links to this Christianity Today review that shows "the ways in which the book presents (almost always symbolically) themes that are deeply Christian, most notably the power of sacrificial love."

Finally, Amy has a good post and the comments thread is ground-zero for the user discussion on this topic. I refrained from reading too closely because I'm horrified at the possibility of spoilers.

As related, I'll refrain from further comments until I know how the series ends.

Catholic News Highlights, Monday July 23rd

Catholic News Highlights....

Catholic News Agency:

• Pope Benedict calls for a new Pentecost as World Youth Day approaches: "...Pope Benedict has issued his message to the youth preparing for World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia. In his discussion of the theme for the gathering, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses,” the Holy Father called for a new Pentecost." Related: His Holiness addresses the youth of the world to prepare for WYD08 - Official website. Also related: Anthony Fisher, chairmain of the WYD organizing commitee, speaks with Vatican Radio here.
• German Jesuit at Vatican Radio “dreams” of women cardinals: "...the director of the German language programming for Vatican Radio, Jesuit Father Eberhard von Gemminger, said he hopes future popes will be elected by a College of Cardinals in which “at least half” of the members are women." (wa-hey?!)
• Christian filmmakers to discuss replacement industry for Hollywood: "... The academy, a project of Vision Forum Ministries, is designed to give Christian filmmakers the nuts-and-bolts skills to succeed in creating films for the glory of God."
• Bishops seek meetings with Republicans and Democrats on Iraq War: "The U.S. bishops have asked to meet with Republican members of the House of Representatives to discuss a responsible transition to end the war in Iraq."

CWNews:

• End all wars, Pope pleads: "...the Holy Father said that the peaceful surroundings of the Alpine region made him feel "even more intensely" the impact of the news that he received on "the bloody confrontations and episodes of violence happening in many parts of the world."
• Cardinal Zen meets with Pope on Chinese reaction: "...Church spokesmen confirmed that although the Pope has held few private audiences during his vacation, he did talk with Cardinal Zen about the Chinese reaction to his message."
• Vatican expert pleased with Turkish election results: "... the strong showing by ... [the]Justice and Development Party (AKP) represented the best chance for a stable secular government in the country."

Individual registrations for WYD 2008 open today

From the WYD '08 website:

From today, individuals from Australia and around the world can register to attend World Youth Day 2008 (WYD08) in Sydney.

Individual registrations open exactly one year before Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Final Mass for an expected 500,000 people at Randwick Racecourse.

WYD08 organisers have already received indications of attendance from groups representing 137,000 people. Individuals are now able to register and purchase accommodation and meal packages for the six-day event from 15 - 20 July 2008.

[a list of events]

"These events will open to the public, but registered pilgrims will have priority seating wherever places are limited," WYD08 Chief Operating Officer Danny Casey said.

"So those who want to get the best view possible should complete their registrations early."

Registrations can be made through this website www.wyd2008.org

The Vatican City-State goes on-line

Update:

• CNS: Vaticanstate.va: Navigating the world's smallest country
• CNA: Vatican City State enters the digital world

CWNews:

Vatican, Jul. 18, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican city-state now has its own web site, to compliment the busy site maintained by the Holy See.

The new web site-- (http://www.vaticanstate.va/) [or http://212.77.4.63/EN/homepage.jsp] -- provides general information about the history, structure, and government of Vatican City, and links to some of the departments of greatest interest to visitors, including the Vatican library, publishing house, and stamp office. The site also provides links to the Vatican Museums and the media sites operated by the Holy See.

The new site makes an impressive collection of photos available online, allowing web visitors to take a virtual tour of the Vatican gardens, the Vatican Museums, and even the collection of automobiles donated to the Popes. There are several webcams, updated constantly, giving viewers different views of St. Peter's Square, the palace of the Vatican City governorate, the Vatican basilica, and the tomb of Pope John Paul II (bio - news).

The web site is the result of collaboration between the governatorate of Vatican City State and Telecom Italia.

I think they're still working some of the kinks out (and probably getting bombed with visitors).

Nevertheless, much coolness!

The New Beijing bishop candidate

Don't have time to analyze, but here are the relevant links:

• Associated Press: New Beijing Bishop Praised by Vatican
• Reuters: China nominates bishop, threatening Vatican rift
• CWNews: New Beijing bishop named: test of Rome-China ties
• CNS: Beijing Catholics elect Dongtang priest as new bishop
• Update: CWNews: Vatican welcomes new bishop for Beijing

Zubik Zooms to Pittsburgh

Okay, I just wanted to use "Zooms" in a blog title.

.... anyway, today's VIS announces:

[The Holy Father] Appointed Bishop David A. Zubik of Green Bay, U.S.A., as bishop of Pittsburgh (area 9,722, population 1,956,597, Catholics 781,811, priests 531, permanent deacons 37, religious 1,455), U.S.A.

Rocco has much coverage.

Post-Gazette (1) (2) has local coverage as does Tribune-Review.

The Local 4 here, Associated Press here & CNA here.

From what I've heard, Zubik's a fine choice. God Bless him!

Your PPOTD! Tuesday, July 17th

"Gandalf the White approaches the tower of Orthanc to clean house."

[photo: AP Photo/Osservatore Romano]

CWNews forum: "To restore credibility, Cardinal Mahony should resign"

Phil Lawler of CWNews:

Five years ago Cardinal Roger Mahony was reportedly encouraging Vatican officials to ask for the resignation of Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law. Using the same logical arguments that the American prelate presented in 2002, the Vatican should now ask Cardinal Mahony himself to step down.

The sensational cost of the sex-abuse scandal for the Los Angeles archdiocese far exceeds the devastation in Boston. The $660-million legal settlement announced on July 16 is nearly five times the total of the financial damages in Boston. Combining that settlement with previous agreements, lawyers' fees, and other associated costs, the overall price to be paid by the faithful Catholics of Los Angeles will approach $1 billion.

I think that while this petition will only gain force with time, the iron is already plenty hot now.

Related:

• CNA: Vatican spokesman says sexual abuse not just Catholic problem
• Whispers: LA's Deal: Words from Near and Far - contains translation of the statement.
• (In the Light of the Law from March 23rd, but still topical:) Prof. Bainbridge's call for Cdl. Mahony's resignation

Well, this is gratifying

I admit, you have to look closely:

This, from the New York Times topics pages. And looking at the other links - it's a fine list!

Roland Martin is making a fool of himself, and CNN isn't helping

Earlier in the week I read up briefly on the controversy concerning Roland Martin's screed against Pope Benedict and the issuing of the CDF document clarifying what Lumen Gentium says about the nature of the Church.

Today NewsBusters does an excellent job of revealing Martin's offensive double-standards, and is right to peg CNN along with him:

Martin's column, as described by CNN, "are part of an occasional series of commentaries on CNN.com that offers a broad range of perspectives, thoughts, and points of view." CNN's own past indicates that they probably aren't going to make the "range of perspectives" very broad. When controversy erupted over the Danish Mohammed cartoons in 2006, they took the following stance: "CNN has chosen to not show the cartoons in respect for Islam." Apparently, the same kind of respect won't be shown to Catholics who might be offended by Roland Martin's column. In their own descriptive for the column, CNN summarizes Martin's viewpoint with the following: "This is evidence of [Pope Benedict's] ego being more important than work of Christ, columnist says."

Martin became a CNN contributor earlier this year, and besides his regular appearances on "American Morning," has written a couple of columns on religion and politics on CNN's website. In the first article on the subject, he criticized Christian conservatives' focus on abortion and homosexuality. In the second, he continued his criticism of pro-life Christians. In both of these articles, Martin identifies himself as a Christian.

I guess my bigger problem than Martin's own vituperation is CNN's endorsement of him. Crazies abound, but it's when news agencies like CNN give such folks a popular platform that things get bad.

Around St. Blog's, Carl Olson of Ignatius Press finds this "shameful and pathetic" (Go Carl) and Jimmy Akin of Catholic Answers is seeing about writing a response editorial. Go Jimmy. I hope he does. Martin's comments go far beyond stating a difference of opinion and he should answer both for his false statements and accusations.

Also, I think Jordan Potter in Jimmy's combox makes a good point when he says:

"Another sign that Roland Martin is an anti-Catholic bigot is that he obviously did not read the new CDF document that he is mocking and derisively dismissing. Either that, or he read it and has chosen to deliberately lie about what it says. Take your pick -- but either way, he's a bigot, and lacking in intellectual honesty."

Martin has a blog and I'm happy to see that some Papists are making their voices heard. Maybe with a little charity and intellectual challenge Martin will reconsider his words.

Update: more on the WYD/Randwick racetrack dispute

In follow-up to this post, more details today from the Australian Southern Courier:

The NSW Government told Randwick horse trainers that it would use legislation compelling Randwick Racecourse to be used as the venue for next year's Papal Mass if trainers did not comply with the decision.

Anthony Cummings, president of the Randwick Trainers Association, told the Courier he had been seeking legal avenues to pressure the Government into hosting the mammoth event elsewhere in Sydney.

But after a meeting with Labor MLC John Della Bosca last week, he said he was resigned to the fact that the event would go ahead at Randwick.

While one could look at this situation negatively (i.e., local business is being negatively impacted by the encroachment of WYD) I think there are also two positives:

First, it demonstrates that the Australian government is deeply committed to hosting WYD. This is, from the perspective of the government, just good economic sense, as a WYD brings in a great deal of tourism and related commerce. It also betokens a hopsitable environment to high-profile events of a religious nature.

Second, the WYD representatives are very committed to ensuring that the effected individuals and businesses receive just compensation (quoting from the same article):

World Youth Day officials said they had already adjusted their planning to minimise disruptions for the trainers.

"His Eminence has always wanted us to ensure that we minimise the disruption to the racing community," World Youth Day communications director Jim Hanna said.

"We have been in discussions to assist with relocating those affected for the 10-week period."

A spokesperson for Deputy Premier John Watkins said negotiations about compensation for racecourse users were "ongoing".

Mr Cummings said the State Government had seemed "quite genuine" with regard to compensation talks.

And I think under these circumstances that's the best you can hope for. Moving on!

Pittsburgh the next to fall?

Update: Things appear to be in overdrive, and now the timeframe could be as early as ... tomorrow?!

Rocco is setting off speculation that Pittsburgh will have a new bishop appointed in a matter of "weeks":

In other terna news, the Pope is said to finally have the dossier for the bishopric of Pittsburgh on his desk. The final shortlist, received in Rome last month, was reportedly brought up at the last pre-summer meeting of the Congregation for Bishops in late June. An announcement ending the year-plus-long vacancy, created by the promotion of Donald Wuerl to Washington, is expected within "weeks."

The Pittsburgh post-gazette interviewed Rocco and adds details of its own:

No names of potential appointees were attached to these reports. But some have been circulating since then-Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh was appointed archbishop of Washington, D.C,, in May 2006. Most prominent are Bishop Blase Cupich, 58, of Rapid City, S.D., Bishop Dennis Schnurr, 59, of Duluth, Minn., and Bishop David Zubik, 57, of Green Bay, Wis., a popular former auxiliary bishop of Pittsburgh.

The P-G adds an interesting detail about how such rumors are started (or news is gained, depending on your perspective):

The Rev. Louis Vallone, pastor of St. John of God, McKees Rocks, is currently teaching a canon law course in Rome, where he has been seeking news of the Pittsburgh post.

"I heard that the [list] definitely came from the apostolic delegate [in the United States] to the Congregation for Bishops. We have also heard that it was possible that the congregation had vetted it and sent it to the pope," he said.

If the list cleared that quickly, he said, it probably means that all three men are already bishops of their own dioceses. If they were auxiliary bishops, without a record of leadership, the congregation would have taken longer to vet their qualifications, he said.

One might look askance at this sort of information-culling. However, talk to most any priest in Rome and they normally have their ears to the keyhole. It's the Roman version of water cooler drama.

Since Pope Benedict seems to favor giving auxiliaries their own "bishopric," let's focus on those rumors:

Auxiliary bishops mentioned for the post include auxiliary Bishop Paul Bradley of Pittsburgh, who has been running the diocese as its administrator since June 2006, and earning high praise from priests. The others are auxiliary Bishops Thomas Paprocki, 54, of Chicago, and Joseph McFadden, 60, of Philadelphia.

Next, a little context for this appointment:

Of 10 vacant dioceses in the United States, Pittsburgh's is the second-longest unfilled, behind Birmingham, Ala., which has been open since May 2005. Ten more dioceses have bishops past retirement age, three since 2005.

And now, the absolutely obligatory quotation from Thomas Reese, SJ:

The fact that the Vatican offices shut for August means there may be a push to clear the backlog, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Institute at Georgetown University, who studies the Catholic hierarchy.

"There is a certain pressure to clear the decks before they all go on vacation," he said.

Father Vallone pointed out that delays can occur if the chosen man turns it down.
"I still think it could be September, or even later," he said.

The article ends with the tidbit that bishop appointments are made known to diocesan staff sometimes in a "matter of hours, not days." I wonder if that explains why the official diocesan websites are often so slow on the uptake when appointments are announced.

At any rate, we should keep the bishop-nominees and Catholics of Pittsburgh in our prayers.

Pope lives Summorum Pontificum himself, CWNews reports

Not exactly a big surprise, of course:

Pope Benedict XVI, who recently issued a motu proprio allowing all Catholic priests to celebrate the old Latin Mass, uses the older ritual himself for his private Mass, CWN has learned.

Informed sources at the Vatican have confirmed reports that the Holy Father regularly celebrates Mass using the 1962 Roman Missal.

In his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum the Pope says that the older form-- the form in universal use before the liturgical changes that followed Vatican II-- was never abrogated.

Since becoming Roman Pontiff, Benedict XVI has always used the new ritual-- which he identifies in Summorum Pontificum as the "ordinary form" of the Roman rite-- for public celebrations of the Eucharistic liturgy. However few people have witnessed the Pope celebrating his private daily Mass. [More...]

The raw data on clergy sexual abuse...

... presented at The Cafeteria is Closed.

CNA: "Pope Benedict hopes to visit the US in 2008"

CNA reports:

The spokesman for the Vatican, Fr. Fredrico Lombardi, announced yesterday that Pope Benedict XVI will make his first trip to the United States. Speaking on Italian state television, Fr. Lombardi said that the Pope plans to accept the invitation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to attend the General Assembly session in New York in September of 2008.

Other upcoming papal trips were also announced by the Vatican’s spokesman.

This September 7th-9th the Holy Father will travel to Vienna, Austria to deliver an “internationally important” speech to the diplomats accredited to the various international organizations headquartered in the Austrian capital.

The final voyage announced will be to the Marian shrine in Lourdes, France.

Update: In response to this confirmation, the Archdiocese of New York has released a statement.

Racetrack hurdle overcome on path to WYD Sydney '08

Earlier this week it was reported in Australian papers that the reservation of Randwick Racecourse for a Papal Mass during World Youth Day next year (with an estimated attendance of up to 600k people) was being legally contested by a training association that normally uses the racecourse. The racetrack had been previously used by John Paul II for a Mass of beatification in 1995.

Today, CNS is reporting that the dispute has been resolved and plans for using the racecourse are again proceeding as scheduled:

Disgruntled horse trainers withdrew a legal threat against the 2008 World Youth Day vigil and papal Mass at Royal Randwick Racecourse and agreed to work with the New South Wales government on a compensation package.

In principle, the trainers now have no objection to the events being at the racecourse, local media reported.

ABC Australia paints a slightly different picture, but agrees that the outcome of the dispute should be favorable to the WYD organizers:

The Australian Jockey Club is reportedly refusing to sign the agreement allowing the mass to be held there.

World Youth Day chief operating officer Danny Casey says he understands some trainers are upset that there will be closures at the race track for 10 weeks.

...

The Australian Jockey Club says it has no plans to stop the mass, despite refusing to sign off on the deal yesterday.

"It has to be resolved and I can assure you that neither the government nor the Catholic Church are going to be wanting to be seen to be putting people out of business," he said.

He [Danny Casey] says he is confident the parties will come to a deal.

So, as matters stand now, the racecourse will be used for the vigil and final Mass of WYD '08.

As for the location of the opening Mass, that is evidently still under wraps because the WYD planning community is "cautious of making any announcement" before things have been finalized, which is understandable considering the awkward situation which arose during the negotiations for the Randwick racecourse.

In other WYD news, "a defiant" Australian PM John Howard ruled out cancelling WYD and a meeting of APEC even though both events will be "security nightmares." Howard's statement was made in response to the recent series of failed terrorist bombings in London and some requests to reconsider hosting such high-profile events.

On the brighter side, WYD organizer Bp. Anthony Fisher is asking "Sydneysiders" to open up their homes and host up to 50,000 WYD pilgrims. The WYD website has more information. As a personal note, when I went to WYD '05 in Germany I was accomodated by two very generous host families during my pilgrimage and it was a wonderful experience of the local culture. If you are planning on attending WYD and have an opportunity to stay with a host family (instead of, for instance, being housed at a local Catholic school gym, etc.) - I say jump on it!

The "radicalness" of the CDF document questioned

... by Edward Peters at In the Light of the Law (canonists, take note!).

Kasper's press on the new CDF document examined

... by Christopher Blosser at Against the Grain (handily, I might add).

Update: ... and again here.

Projected L.A. sex abuse settlement cost: Over $600 million

Update: Final cost ... $660,000,000. Full story here. Story on Mahony apologizing here.

Update 2: Regarding Mahony's treatment in the media, read Jeff's revealing post.

AP:

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will settle its clergy abuse cases for at least $600 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press learned Saturday.

Attorneys for the archdiocese and alleged victims are expected to announce the deal Monday, the day the first of more than 500 clergy abuse cases was scheduled for jury selection, according to two people with knowledge of the agreement. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the settlement had not been made public.

The archdiocese and its insurers will pay between $600 million and $650 million to about 500 plaintiffs—an average of $1.2 to $1.3 million per person. The settlement also calls for the release of confidential priest personnel files after review by a judge assigned to oversee the litigation, the sources said.

It wasn't immediately clear how the payout would be split between the insurers, the archdiocese and several Roman Catholic religious orders. A judge must sign off on the agreement, and final details were being ironed out over the weekend.

Video (+commentary): "Christian extremists disrupt Hindu Senate invocation"

A Hindu gave the opening prayer at today's Senate session, which is a first, but not without three Christians vocally protesting.

WorldNetDaily has a report.

Rajan Zed, the hindu chaplain, was invited by Democrat Harry Reid (a Mormon). There are no hindus serving in Congress.

The AP report closed with a quotation from Harry Reid:

"I think it speaks well of our country that someone representing the faith of about a billion people comes here and can speak in communication with our heavenly father regarding peace," he [Reid] said after the disruption."

I doubt that even Zed would agree that he was praying to the same "heavenly father" as Christians confess. I guess it's not as surprising that Reid would think so, however, because of the functional polytheism of Mormonism (?).

Here is a YouTube video of the prayer & protest:

Here is the text of Zed's prayer:

Let us pray. We meditate on the transcendental Glory of the Deity Supreme, who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky, and inside the soul of the Heaven. May He stimulate and illuminate our minds.

Lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality. May we be protected together. May we be nourished together. May we work together with great vigor. May our study be enlightening. May no obstacle arise between us.

May the Senators strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world, performing their duties with the welfare of others always in mind, because by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life. May they work carefully and wisely, guided by compassion and without thought for themselves.

United your resolve, united your hearts, may your spirits be as one, that you may long dwell in unity and concord.

Peace, peace, peace be unto all. Lord, we ask You to comfort the family of former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Amen.

Organizations such as the AFA have been circulating petitions to protest this invitation, primarily because , they claim, it flies in the face of the American motto "One Nation under God."

So, here's the question: is this a legitimate expression of religious freedom or an abdication from the USA's founding and constitution as a Christian nation "Under God", etc., etc.?

Update: LifeSiteNews adds more to this story:

Former navy chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt requested two days ago that he be allowed to lead the prayer using 'in Jesus name," but he was turned down by both Senator Reid and Senator Clinton's offices, The American Daily reports. Klingenschmitt is a former navy officer who was court-marshaled for praying 'in the name of Jesus.' His case eventually led to a change in a U.S. law, rescinding a ban on "sectarian" prayer.

Klingenschmitt told LifeSiteNews.com, "I think it's hypocrisy when Senators claim diversity, but they exclude chaplains who pray 'in Jesus name'. At the same time, they welcome a Hindu chaplain to pray on the floor of the Senate."

O'Brien to replace Keeler as Abp. of Baltimore

Rocco had the drop at 6:05 this morning:

This morning, Pope Benedict accepted the age-induced resignation of Cardinal William Keeler as archbishop of Baltimore, naming Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of the Military Services USA as the fourteenth successor to John Carroll, the nation’s founding bishop.

Today's Vatican Information Service bulletin confirms:

The Holy Father appointed Archbishop Edwin Frederick O’Brien, military ordinary for the U.S.A., as metropolitan archbishop of Baltimore (area 12,430, population 3,055,477, Catholics 517,679, priests 545, permanent deacons 178, religious 1,380), U.S.A. He succeeds Cardinal William Henry Keeler, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

Reports from Catholic news outlets:

• CWNews: "The appointment in Baltimore gives Archbishop O'Brien a high-profile position as the Church there prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its establishment as a metropolitan archdiocese-- which occurred simultaneously with the establishment of new American dioceses in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Bardstown, Kentucky."
• CNA: "Archbishop O’Brien was previously the head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services which has 1.5 million Catholics, two auxiliary bishops and 300 priests in uniform."
• CNS: "[Keeler] has been a bishop since 1979 and had headed the Baltimore Archdiocese for more than 18 years."

Onge again, a bishop chosen with significant seminary/formation experience: "Prior to his ordination as bishop, Archbishop O’Brien served as Rector at two seminaries, St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, NY and the Pontifical North American College in Rome." [source.]

It should also be remembered that O'Brien coordinated the recent U.S. seminary visitations conducted by the Holy See. [more.]

Rocco has more analysis with his post.

Some excerpts from MSM reporting:

• Baltimore Sun: "Caine warned against reading anything into the appointment of a 68-year-old to replace Keeler. He will have to submit his resignation at 75. "At the very least, he'll be here seven years," Caine said, adding that with the exception of Keeler and two or three of his predecessors, many others named to lead the Baltimore archdiocese served relatively short terms."
• Associated Press: "Newly appointed Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien will focus on recruiting priests to the diocese's two seminaries, drawing on his personal motto, "I will give you shepherds of my own heart," he said Thursday."
• Washington Post: "At a press conference in Baltimore this morning, O'Brien said the news of his appointment hit him like "a thunderbolt" when he received a call from Rome on July 3, the Associated Press reported. He said he is leaving his current post with "mixed emotions. I just loved the military," O'Brien said. "The service has taught me so much."

Keeler plans to remain in Baltimore as head of the Basilica Historic Trust. O'Brien will be installed as Archbishop on October 1st.

More as I read it.

The Vatican and Planktos: strange bedfellows or sign of the times?

A news wire headline caught my attention this evening:

"Vatican to Become World's First Carbon Neutral Sovereign State"

Now what, I asked myself, does that headline exactly mean? So I read on:

"Planktos/KlimaFa's New Vatican Climate Forest Initiative to Fully Green the Holy See"

"By agreement with the Vatican, Planktos/KlimaFa is now pleased and honored to announce that the Holy See plans to become the first entirely carbon neutral sovereign state, and it has chosen KlimaFa ecorestoration offsets to achieve this historic goal. In a brief ceremony on July 5th the Vatican declared that it had gratefully accepted KlimaFa's offer to create a new Vatican Climate Forest in Europe that will initially offset all of the Holy See's CO2 emissions for this year."

I think there's a bit of smudging occurring in this first paragraph. Either the Vatican decided to become the "first entirely carbon neutral sovereign state" and chose Planktos/Klimafa as the means to that "historical goal" or Planktos/Klimafa approached the Vatican and the Vatican in turn signed-off on it. I think the latter is more probably the case, given that the paragraph mentions an offer proposed by Planktos/Klimafa which the Vatican later accepted.

Now, there's a whole bevy of questions that this decision raises for me, and since this story seems to tie-in many threads that I've been reading through recently, I'm going to give it an extended treatment.

Planktos/Klimafa's proposal is straightforward enough: plant as many trees as are needed to equalize the Vatican City State's yearly CO2 output. The site chosen for this reforestation (or "ecorestoration" as they call it) is Hungary's Bükk National Park, where they will plant "thousands of hectares of new native species, mixed forest growth...". This plan, in itself, seems unquestionably good to me. Planting trees is a great thing, and I'm happy when it happens.

What gets me thinking, however, is the whole context of this agreement, and especially the views of Planktos/Klimafa and how they are marketing their cooperation with the Vatican.

As a further quick clarification, Klimafa is the European subsidiary of Planktos, a for-profit organization that claims to be the "world's leading ecorestoration firm." On the Planktos main website, one can view a picture of Cardinal Poupard (president of the Pontifical Council of Culture) receiving a plaque from the president and chief executive of Planktos, Russ George with the caption "Vatican to Go Green with Planktos/Klimafa" (update: I've placed the same picture at the top of this blog post).

Clicking through that picture/caption, one can find the Planktos/Klimafa news release which includes a video of the Vatican acceptance ceremony and their full press release. Also included with the press release packet is the text of Cardinal Poupard's address to the leaders of Planktos (available here in PDF), which I've reproduced below (the italicized parts are not included in the Planktos/Klimafa press release text, as I'll make note of next):

As President of the Pontifical Council of Culture; I am honored to receive this donation from the leaders of Planktos-Klimafa. This donation means an entire section of a national park in central Europe will be reforested. In this way, the Vatican will do its small part in contributing to the elimination of polluting emissions from CO2 which is threatening the survival of this planet.

As the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, had recently stated, the international community needs to respect and encourage a ‘Green Culture,’ characterized by ethical values. The Book of Genesis tells us of a beginning in which God placed man as guardian over the earth to make it fruitful. When man forgets that he is a faithful servant of this earth, it becomes a desert that threatens the survival of all creation. The earth itself turns against man.

Environmental protection is not, therefore, a political issue - it's not enough to have a simple commitment from a few people. Instead, it is necessary, as it is underlined by His Holiness, to have the dawn of a new culture, of new attitudes and of a new mode of living that makes man aware of his place as a caretaker of the earth.

The Pontifical Council of Culture pledges its complete collaboration and deeply thanks those responsible at Planktos-KlimaFa for this significant donation.

I realize, of course, that for considerations of space Planktos/Klimafa (hereafter "PK") had to limit itself to excerpts from Cardinal Poupard's text. I don't find it surprising, however, that PK decided to drop the somewhat enigmatic line "The earth itself turns against man" [update: Mark Shea contributes] as well as the paragraph that stresses how true environmentalism should not be inspired so much by political considerations as from much deeper and more thorough understandings of who man is and how he is to relate to God's creation.

PK goes on to claim that the planting of these trees will "offer many rewarding new eco-forestry jobs to struggling rural communities" (i.e., people will be given jobs planting the trees) and there will be "increasing eco-tourism employment opportunities as these beautiful woodlands mature" (i.e. people will be given jobs as park rangers).

More disturbing to me is this paragraph:

Planktos/KlimaFa has further committed to work with the Vatican and the Pontifical Council of Culture to develop methods to calculate the CO2 emissions of individual Catholic churches and offer ecorestoration options to turn their carbon footprints green.

The press release makes no mention about how the Vatican has received this offer, or even if the offer has been presented. But just think for a moment what a huge project this would be - steadily going individual church by individual church and reducing (or "equalizing") their carbon footprint?! Would PK, a for-profit, organization, also donate all the money that such a project would require?

When PK says it is a for-profit firm, they mean it. At the Planktos Store, you can, for instance, purchase a 100% Vehicle Emission Reduction for a Midsize Vehicle ... for $30:

The average mid-size or full-size car gets 19-28 mpg and is responsible for 6 tons of CO2 emissions per year. 6 tons of CO2 equivalents will be retired on your behalf to negate 100% of your automobile's annual carbon footprint.

Do you own a large home? Its yearly carbon footprint can be "erased" for $100. Don't worry, they also do event planning: "Meetings, conferences, weddings, or classrooms, you can green them all. Just fill out the form below and Planktos will contact you. Together we will calculate the carbon footprint for your event." For only $10, you can relieve Mother Nature of 2 tons of its excess, human-created C02 baggage. I'm not making any of this up.

PK's methods for this "erasing" or "replacing" of human-created carbon footprints is controversial. While they offered the Vatican the option of planting trees, PK's favorite technique for removing excess CO2 from the atmosphere is by artificially creating plankton colonies (because plankton colonies are consumers of Co2 and produce oxygen). Put very simply, the plan involves dumping large amounts of iron into the oceans for plankton to feed upon. This project has encountered fierce, widespread criticism from within environmentalist circles and beyond.

Indeed, even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a "scientific body set up by the United Nations to assess the risk of human-induced climate change" calls the procedure "unproven." Now, I should note here that I disagree with many of the IPCC's conclusions, but the fact remains that they are considered by many environmentalists to be a benchmark for protocol and, in this case, even the IPCC has doubts.

The BBC reports:

In its [the IPCC's] Working Group Three report, released this year, it said: "Geo-engineering options, such as ocean fertilisation to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere, or blocking sunlight by bringing material into the upper atmosphere, remain largely speculative and unproven, and with the risk of unknown side-effects.

According to documents passed by the US government to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the company [Planktos] planned to deposit 100 tonnes of iron ore powder this month in a 100 sq km area of ocean hundreds of kilometres west of the Galapagos Islands. The Canada-based ETC environmental campaign group has asked the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to launch an immediate and full investigation into Planktos' activities.

Just take a pause and look at those numbers. 100 tonnes of iron ore powder this month? Now, read how Russ George (yes, that's the same guy seen above giving Cardinal Poupard his commendation plaque) responds to these concerns:

Russ George, president and chief executive of Planktos, countered that its work built on many years of study, and that the company would collaborate with "scores of scientists and engineers from international ocean science institutions both aboard ship and ashore to develop this form of ocean stewardship in a scientifically, environmentally, and economically viable form".

He added: "This is work that must be done if we are to reverse the apocalyptic collapse of the ocean ecosystem as well as the climate crisis it is helping to accelerate.
"We are the first responders to a planetary medical emergency."

And this kind of language ("apocalyptic," "medical emergency," etc) when he is on-record with the BBC!

The controversy that the BBC sites is the tip of the iceburg in terms of the questioning surrounding PK's techniques. Without at all attempting an exaustive coverage, here's one website that links to this website which has a very long story/interview on Russ George and his company:

Russ George is a California businessman with a big idea: you give him some money and he will seed the ocean with iron, causing phytoplankton to grow. The process is called Iron fertilization, and is designed to take carbon out of the atmosphere to help you mitigate your contribution to global warming. It is one of a number of business ideas that have grown out of the global demand for carbon trading schemes, and it’s becoming a big business. Russ George and his foundation Planktos is creating quite a stir: Nature, the BBC, and a host of major newspapers have reported on his business venture.

For the past year, through a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, journalist Wendy Williams has been investigating global warming mitigation stories. What she found behind all the media hoopla about Russ George was surprising: A man and his carbon trading scheme sorely lacking in scientific credentials.

A very troubling quotation from him:

I asked to see his research papers. They weren’t done yet.

“It’s really more of a business experiment than a scientific experiment,” he [Russ George] said.

And finally:

"To say that George [Russ] has shocked and angered much of the scientific community is an understatement. Indeed I found many who were profoundly concerned by the increasingly popularized notion that scattering iron in the oceans could help solve global warming."

Now, granted, I can't vouch for the objectivity of these non-mainstream sources I'm citing. It is clear, however, from my research thus far, that there is significant and vocal opposition to some of PK's plans from within the environmentalist community.

Russ George has responded to these accusations, most notably submitting a letter to the Ottawa Citizen. That letter is available here, along with links to previous stories criticizing PK. Planktos also has a fact sheet published on their website that tries to answer the challenges being voiced. I can't say that I find their counter-arguments enough to totally assuage the criticisms noted and linked.

For those of you patient enough to have read all of the above - I'll finally come to my point (which, actually, I'll convert into three simple questions):

• Is Russ George the kind of person and Planktos/KlimaFa the kind of company that the Vatican should be collaborating with and promising future support?
• Should the Vatican allow its actions to be featured in the press releases of a website that sells ecologically-conscientious people peace-of-mind by seeding the oceans with iron?
• Did the Vatican do its research on this gentleman and his company's other operations?

If the answer to these three questions is yes, well then it might be time to purchase a share in Plankton, because their stock is still reasonably-priced and I just gave out one heck of a tip about their new Vatican deal.

If you are still undecided, go back to this page and re-watch the press release video and ask yourself what you see. Is this a beneficent philanthropist collaborating with the Vatican to plant some trees in Hungary, or is it a business-savy CEO gaining a valuable endorsement for his company and its activities?

I haven't come to a decision myself. But my unease about the association of the Vatican with a for-profit like Planktos/Klimafa has not been relieved by the research I have done thus far. I remain open to more evidence.

Update: CNA has brief coverage of this story today.

Your PPOTD! Thursday, July 11th

Little did Timmy know, but his most memorable night of working

at the McDonald's drive-through window was about to begin!

[photo: REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo (Italy)]

Correction: *this* headline wins the "most twisted" contest.

Update: I think Brandon may have found one that beats even the previous record holder:

"Dismay And Anger As Pope Benedict Declares That Protestants Cannot Have Churches" - Free Internet Press

Now that's just stupid!

(and from the comment box, as honorable mention: "Vatican: Protestants not true Christians".)

Original post: How on earth does the Vatican releasing a document entitled "Responses to some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church" prompt the headline ....

"Vatican hits 'wounded' Christian churches." - ABC News.au

.... as if the image we're supposed to conjure up in our heads is anything else than a big bully walking around a playground and "hitting" a "wounded" little kid.

Oh. My.

Conflating document and commentary: bad reporting or poor releasing?

Today the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released two texts, but if you read much of the reporting that has gone on today, you would not realize that fact. What are the two texts?

• the first text is a document entitled "Responses to some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church" and is available at the Vatican website in English here.
• the second text is a commentary simply entitled "Observations" (at least on the English-language page) and is currently only available on the Vatican website in Italian. An unofficial English-language translation is available, for instance, here from Vatican analyst Sandro Magister (scroll-down to find it).

Now, here is my question/problem. The Reuters story released today (under the title "Vatican says other Christian churches "wounded") conflates the document with the commentary - and indeed - favors the commentary for its quotations, mainly because those quotations are sometimes less irenic.

Here is what Reuters says towards the beginning of its story:

"16-page document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Pope Benedict once headed, described Christian Orthodox churches as true churches, but suffering from a "wound" since they do not recognise the primacy of Pope.

But the document said the "wound is still more profound" in Protestant denominations."

"Despite the fact that this teaching has created no little distress ... it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to them," it said.

The "16-page document" can only refer to the actual document "Responses to some Questions..." when it is combined with the accompanying commentary. The actual document itself (without the commentary) is far shorter than 16 pages.

Moreover, the word "wound" (which is used in the Reuters headline) and the (by far most inflammatory) phrase which ends "it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could not possibly be attributed to them" both do not appear in the document: they appear in the commentary instead.

Reuters is not alone in conflating the document and the commentary in its reporting, nor is Reuters alone in favoring the commentary heavily for its quotations. Here, for example, is a quotation from the AFP's coverage:

"Central to that identity is the idea [of the Catholic Faith] that eastern or Orthodox churches were suffering a "wound" because they do not recognize the primacy of the pope."

"It [the document] said "the wound is still more profound" in "communities emerging from the Reformation" -- the Protestant and Anglican churches."

Again, in both cases the reporters are quoting the commentary and not the document itself.

This situation prompts a question: is the commentary on an equal level with the actual document to the point that one can honestly quote from both alternatively without any specification as to which one is being discussed?

The Catholic News Service article describes the commentary as "authoritative" but proceeds to be very specific when it is quoting from the commentary as opposed to quoting the document itself.

On the other hand, the VIS released today does not mention the commentary, and specifies that the document released today was published in multiple languages (in order to be readily received by the universal Church).

This leaves my final set of questions, which I'll be happy to have answered via email or in the comment box: is the media missing an important distinction (between document and commentary), and therefore should they in future avoid conflating the two genres of Vatican text? Or, do both types of text hold identical "weight"? (And in this is the case, isn't it confusing for the CDF to release two types of text when they are equally authoritative?).

Okay, I've thrown it out there.

Reactions to/Commentaries on the CDF's Clarification Document

Following quickly on the heels of the Motu Proprio, the document released today by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is receiving a great deal of attention. It is entitled "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church" and is, in large part, a follow-up to the 2000 document Dominus Iesus, and deals with the identity of the Catholic Church, and with the relation of the Catholic Church to the oriental Churches separated from Rome and to the Protestant ecclesial Communities.

In an atmosphere of (mostly problematic) reporting and press, it is doubly important to understand what the document truly does and does not say.

First off, the official text is available here and is a very straightforward read.

Second, an accompanying "observation" text has been published by the CDF in Italian here. I am currently looking for a reliable English translation. Update: Sandro Magister has included his translation of this accompanying text here (scroll down to where it says "Commentary...").

Now, the Catholic reporting agencies on this document:

• AsiaNews: Only the Catholic Church is the true “Church of Christ”
• CNA: CDF explains Vatican II teaching on the Church in relation to other Christian churches
• CNS: Catholic Church alone is one, true, apostolate church, says Vatican doctrine congregation & Vatican doctrine congregation reaffirms truth, oneness, fullness of Catholic Church
• CWNews: New Vatican document affirms centrality of Catholic Church

As far as commentary from St. Blog's, I enjoyed Mark Shea's succinct, down-to-earth account of the situation.

Update: As far as reprehensibly-bad headlines go, "Pope: Only Catholics Have 'Means Of Salvation'" is winning the race thus far.

Vatican releases "document regarding certain aspects of Church doctrine"

Update: Links have been switched-over to the document's permanent Vatican website location.

From today's VIS, the "subsistit document" blogged about earlier here:

DOCUMENT REGARDING CERTAIN ASPECTS OF CHURCH DOCTRINE

VATICAN CITY, JUL 10, 2007 (VIS) - Made public today was a document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: "Responses to some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church." It is dated June 29, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, and bears the signatures of Cardinal William Joseph Levada and Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., respectively prefect and secretary of the congregation.

The document has been published in Latin, Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish. The complete English-language version is given here.

Catholic News Highlights, Tuesday July 10th

CatholicNewsHighlights:

• CNA: Soon-to-be blessed proposed as model of Christian life for young people //Pope Benedict goes on vacation // Anglican Church to complete ‘covenant agreement’ to settle disputes // CNA publishes Summorum Pontificum and Q & A on new Motu Proprio
• CNS: U.S. bishops say pope affirming importance of Mass in both its forms
• Zenit: Lefebvre Successor Thanks Pope // Benedict XVI Welcomed to Vacation Spot // Bishops Welcome "Summorum Pontificum" //Faith in Australia // Benedict XVI Calls Vacation "a Gift of God"

Motu Mania Roundup

Update: Goodness, an entire blog dedicated to Summorum Pontificum. Already. You have to love St. Blogs.

Coverage of the Motu Proprio is mushrooming across St. Blogs (as expected), so I'll try to keep things tight:

• The non-official English translation of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum
• The explanatory letter published by Pope Benedict to accompany the MP
• The official Latin text of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum
• CNS coverage // Good CWNews coverage // Good CNA coverage

Thoughts from across St. Blogs:

• Complete coverage at Fr. Z's WDTPRS
• Ongoing coverage from Closed Cafeteria
• Ongoing coverage from Whispers
• Curt Jester
• Update: Jimmy Akin has posted his commentary.
• Phil Lawler catches a small typo in the English translation
• New: Bettnet's link roundup
• New: Amy's post

I'll have to add MSM coverage links once I'm home again (tomorrow sometime probably).

CDF to elaborate on the famous "subsistit" of Lumen Gentium

Gerald breaks the story in English:

According to my pals at Kath.net, a new CDF document can be expected shortly.

According to well-informed circles in the Vatican, there will be a new document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on a hot topic. It will deal with the self-conception of the Church and will supposedly be released July 10th.

This document will state the unique character of the Catholic Church and that Protestant churches are not churches in the narrow sense. The topic will be the sentence "Ecclesia subsistit in Ecclesia catholica" (The Church of Christ subsists in/is realized in the Catholic Church) from the Vatican II document Lumen gentium.

There's independent confirmation, ie via a different source, of this by Il Giornale's Andrea Tornielli, as this Italian blog points out, thanks for Steven for pointing to it.

My professor for Ecclesiology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Dr. Robert Fastiggi, absolutely burned the phrase "This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church" (LG #8) into our heads during the course.

For this reason (and others), I'm thrilled to find out that CDF is preparing to publish a document which will elaborate on this important teaching.

Update: CWNews adds its coverage here.

Rocco's got the full text of the MP...

... and has published his lengthy advance treatment here.

Pope Benedict praises Bl. Frassati as an example to youth

Dom, who has a devotion to Bl. Frassati, has a good post on the topic.

Papist facebook application: "Pope Quotes"

I don't mind admitting that I'm addicted to Facebook, a social networking website that (sadly) no longer requires a ".edu" email address to join. I still find it a far safer and less offensive way than MySpace to keep in touch with my friends and people I meet at conferences, etc.

Recently Facebook has added the option of installing third-party applications, and one of the few (only?) "papist" applications being offered is called Pope Quotes. It was created my MyChurch.org, and while I can't vouch for their work as a whole, this application is a good way to remind your Facebook friends (as well as yourself) what a treasury of wisdom Catholics have in their Pontiffs.

Below are the two most recent Pope Quotes this application provided. You can also see what the application looks like on your Facebook profile page. The quotation refreshes each time the page is visited. Other users have complained that there aren't enough quotes and that the ones they have are too "ecumenical." Oh well, it's a start. Maybe some motivated folks can suggest some additional ones to the MyChurch team. So far about 600 people have installed this application, including eight of my well-disposed friends.

(By-the-by, I limit my Facebook friends list to people I have met in real life, so unless you are in the Washington DC or Ann Arbor area and we have a chance of meeting, I decline new requests.)

The phenomenon of Catholics on facebook or using facebook actively for ministry is an exciting one that probably deserves a post of its own eventually. I know several youth groups and Catholic clubs that utilize Facebook to organize and keep people updated. There are many, many Catholic groups. I even know a few parish priests who are on Facebook to make themselves more easily accessible by their younger parishioners.

It gets fun when they put under the Employer question: "Jesus of Nazareth."

Update: "As long as we are talking about the Pope and Facebook, might I mention the 'Papal Facebook Initiative'? The goal is to get a million members then petition the Pope to get a Facebook account. - Justin."

I had forgotten I was a member of this group. It has about 4,500 people right now, so it could use some help.... persistence!

Your PPOTD! Thursday, July 5th

Pope Benedict, with a beatbox near his feet, practices some new moves

for his 2008 World Youth Day appearance in Sydney, Australia.

[photo: AP Photo/Plinio Lepri]

Steve Ray's travels and the situation in China

Ignatius Insight has a post relating Steve Ray's experiences traveling in China which provide a useful first-person perspective to this question. Go take a look-see or directly at Steve's blog.

Catholic News Highlights, Thursday July 5th

Catholic News Highlights:

• CNS: Don't be afraid of charismatics, leaders tell their fellow Catholics // Tekakwitha attendees urged to follow in footsteps of Blessed Kateri (the patron saint of one of my sisters).
• CNA: Members of Congress urge US bishops to intervene in Iraq War //
  TV series based on Catholic values gains popularity in Mexico // Holy See ends 2006 with small surplus // Pope encourages youth and tells them to bring their lost friends to World Youth Day //
• CWNews: Title for motu proprio: Summorum Pontificum // Consistory for new cardinals predicted for November
• Zenit: Pontiff to Attend Interreligious Meeting

Activist/Founder of Gay Magazine tells his story of conversion

Update: CNA has more on the story.

David of C-L-S has an excellent post up this week:

Michael Glatze, the founding editor of Young Gay America magazine and an activist promoting the lifestyle of those who choose to embrace their Same Sex Attraction Disorder, has just published an article in WND explaining his path from “gay” activist to having been healed of the disorder. The title of this post is the message that he wrote on his computer at YGA to inform his co-workers of his decision. Glatze says of his healing: “‘coming out’ from under the influence of the homosexual mindset was the most liberating, beautiful and astonishing thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.”

[Read the rest of David's summary of Michael's story.]

Response from Russ George of Planktos

Update: The author asked that his letter be removed.

Another problem with the co-habitation argument: canonical

One more nail in the coffin:

Michael Lawler and Gail Risch (U.S. Catholic on-line) propose to treat certain co-habiting couples essentially as married. This bad idea should, and will, go nowhere (Abps. Charles Chaput and Elden Curtiss and folks like Carl Olson see numerous problems with it), so I need not comment much on it. I should point out, though, that L&R's presentation of the canon law on marriage is problematic in several respects.

[How?]

Catholic News Highlights, July 3rd

Catholic News Highlights:

CNA:

• Prayer group helps defeat Delaware stem-cell legislation
• Knight’s 125th Supreme Convention draws major Catholic media coverage
• Survival of Formula One driver may be linked to John Paul II
• Franciscans of Mary receive pontifical approval

CWNews:

• Vatican confirms papal visit to Austria in September
• Former Lutherans become Catholic priests

Zenit:

• Beijing Suppresses Pope's China Letter
• The Pope, China and Church Unity
• Youth Day Cross Arrives to Australia
• Papal Prayer Intentions for July
• Beijing Responds to Papal Letter
• Cardinal Zen on Pope's China Letter
• (China) Letter Proposes Day of Prayer (May 24) for China
• Liberty Finds Meaning in Love, Says Pope

Opinion:

• The Ten Commandments of . . . What?