"There must be something they’re not telling us."

The Religion News Blog, in its round-up today placed this story in the category of "Headlines that have us worried":

"Catholic Church looking for actor to play Jesus"

Along with the comment "There must be something they’re not telling us."

Actually, I think they are telling you everything. The question is, did you bother to read it?

Dirty Italian Politics Slings Mud at Pope's Observation of Rome's Degradation

Like that title? Well, it's an odd story, to be sure....

Yesterday, Pope Benedict, in keeping with his role as the Bishop of Rome, met with local Roman officials and made some pointed observations about problems plaguing the eternal city, including the continuing poverty and overall "urban decay." All valid observations prompted by old problems and exacerbated by recent events.

To anyone who has been to Rome, there's nothing inflammatory about noting that the city is sub-par compared to other European cities in terms of cleanliness, etc. Well, what do you expect? It's Italy. Pope Benedict may have lived in Rome for over twenty years, but I'm sure he hasn't forgotten his Bavarian standards of spick n' span.

Anyway, back to the narrative: Roman and Italian politicians had a field day with the Pope's comments, as CNS reports, to which the Vatican expressed surprise and dismay, as reported by Zenit. Furthermore, Lombardi issued a clarification in today's Bulletino, and DPA summarized it. I don't see what needed clarification.

Sadly, many anti-catholic politicians in Italy used the Pope's observations as an opportunity to criticize the papacy and its influence in Italy. Frankly, that's astonishing to me, especially as I sit back and try to think of a single good thing to come out of Rome in the last 1,500 years that wasn't directly or indirectly related to the Vatican, the Papacy or the patronage of the Catholic Church.

Really, after the Colosseum, historically and civically speaking, it's all been downhill.

(Too cruel? I'm sorry. I just can't believe Italians got mad that the Pope told them to clean up their city.)

German company to provide solar power to Vatican Paul VI hall

TotalCatholic reports that the rumors have taken a step towards reality:

A German solar company has given Pope Benedict XVI an electricity-generating solar rooftop for the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall.

Bonn-based SolarWorld is donating approximately 2,000 solar modules to be installed on the audience hall roof to provide what it claims will be “the very first solar power ever generated in the Vatican”.

A press release (The Fourth Gift of the Three Kings: 'A Solar Cell') includes this quote from the CEO:

"If the Three Wise Men from the East came to Bethlehem today they would in all probability bring a solar cell in addition to gold, frankincense and myrrh. It is the symbol for the preservation of creation and for the energy supply of the future."

Riiiiiiiiiight. And I imagine it would probably be a solar cell manufactured by your fine company.

So, exactly when is the Vatican going to cease associating itself with such silliness?!

Follow-up: LAPD begins investigation of Cdl. Mahony assault claim

Since yesterday's post about Cardinal Mahony's claim that he was violently assaulted this summer is receiving a great deal of traction, I've decided to post an update.

For starters, in today's world you can't simply mention to your priests "Oh, and by the way I was assaulted" and expect it to stay quiet.

Indeed, LAPD detectives began investigating Mahony's report yesterday (the same day the story went public):

LAPD detectives Tuesday began investigating reports that Cardinal Roger Mahony told hundreds of priests he was assaulted by a man angered over the Catholic Church's sexual-abuse scandal, police said.

Police found no reports regarding an assault on Mahony and contacted church officials to ask them about it, said Andrew Smith, assistant commanding officer for the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Bureau.

"If it came to my attention that something happened to Cardinal Mahony, I would have called him and offered my assistance and assured that it was fully investigated ... which is exactly what we're going to do now," Smith said.

... Smith said while Mahony's under no legal obligation to cooperate in an investigation, he hopes that the cardinal does.

"What I'd really like to do is find out who the guy who did it was," Smith said. "Maybe he's going around and assaulting priests all over the diocese. ... Despite whatever your personal feelings are about the Catholic Church or the abuse, you can't walk up to anybody on the street and assault them."

Smith said detectives will do a thorough job and leave no stone unturned as they try to piece together what occurred. - DailyNews

More details on the alleged attack:

“[Mahony] went down there to drop something off at the mailbox when this guy approached him, saying some stuff,” said Father Gutierrez, pastor of St. Anne Catholic Church in Santa Monica. “Then, boom, the guy was on him.”

The attack, according to Father Gutierrez and others, occurred days after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge approved a $660 million settlement between the archdiocese and more than 500 local victims of abuse by the clergy. The settlement is the largest of its kind in the country. - NewYorkTimes

Associated Press details:

Mahony, 71, told the priests about the attack during a conference in October, said the Rev. Joseph Shea, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Glendale. The cardinal said it occurred in late July or early August as he was dropping off letters at a mailbox near Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, Shea said.

"The comments people made as they kicked him were connected to the sexual abuse lawsuits," he told The Associated Press.

Shea said Mahony was so badly beaten that the cardinal was hospitalized, and that it took him weeks to recover.

... Shea said Mahony did not report the attack to police "because he felt he could offer it up in reparation for the sins of others."

... The Rev. Sal Pilato, principal at Junipero Serra Catholic High School in Gardena, who was also at the conference, told the Daily News that Mahony's account was "shocking because it was an act of violence and it was someone we know and respect."

Another witness account from the LA Times:

The priest said Mahony offered the story almost in passing, as a way of illustrating the personal toll that the sexual abuse scandal had exacted on everyone in the church, but especially its hundreds of victims.

"He said he was walking to the post office or the store and that a man recognized him and started shouting obscenities about the abuse," the priest said. "Then the man came up and punched him and he fell to the ground. We were all shocked. Nobody had heard anything about it."

... Another priest who attended the conference said Mahony was struck in the face during the assault. The priest, along with a third source familiar with the meeting, confirmed the details of Mahony's statements, but both also asked not to be named.

The response from the Archdiocese (besides declining to comment):

The cardinal could not be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the archdiocese, Carolina Guevara, said, “The annual pastoral meeting with the priests of the archdiocese is a private meeting, and whatever conversation that might have taken place was between the priests and their bishop and was not meant to be public.”

Priests at the meeting reported that Cardinal Mahoney said it had taken him a month to heal from the assault. “The cardinal is fine,” Ms. Guevara said when asked about his condition. - New York Times

Finally, local station CBS 2 has a video report on its website.

That's the pesky thing about mentioning something you decided to keep private: you can't.

More as I hear it.

Report: Mahony tells priests he was assaulted near L.A.'s cathedral

Follow-up: LAPD begins investigation of Cardinal Mahony assault claim.

It happened last July, it took him a month to heal, and he didn't tell his priests until October:

Cardinal Roger Mahony was physically assaulted by a man enraged by the Catholic Church's sexual-abuse scandal within days of a record settlement with hundreds of victims, the Daily News has learned.

Mahony, 71, revealed the attack during an annual conference in October before hundreds of stunned priests, saying a man assaulted him because of the scandal, according to four priests who attended the conference.

News of the assault comes as the bulk of the church's $660million settlement with victims began being paid out Monday, with more than $500million in checks going out in the mail. The settlement with 508 alleged victims was approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge July 16.

The attack on Mahony occurred in July near Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, and it took the cardinal about a month to heal, said the Rev. Sal Pilato, principal at Junipero Serra Catholic High School in Gardena. The cardinal was dropping off letters at a mailbox when he was assaulted, priests said.

... Mahony told the priests that after his attacker recognized him, the man began shouting expletives and knocked him to the ground, said another priest who asked not be identified.

Details of Mahony's narration:

Mahony was telling the priests they all had a price to pay for the sexual abuses perpetrated by their brethren when he relayed the story of the assault as an example of the personal toll he's endured, several priests said.

Bruised after the attack, he said it gave him a deeper understanding of the suffering the victims of the sex scandal have endured, the priests said.

"The main message was that his wounds healed within a month, bruises and all, but the victims of child abuse are still suffering after many years, that their wounds are far deeper than what he experienced," Pilato said.

...

Mahony also revealed at the conference that he thought he might be attacked earlier when tensions over the allegations of sexual abuses by priests were at their peak, said the priest who did not want to be identified.

The priest said he thinks Mahony and others mismanaged the scandal by not removing priests who were sexually abusing children sooner and failing to settle cases earlier. That lack of action has damaged the church's reputation and cost it millions of dollars, he said.

Still, the fact that Mahony was attacked over the scandal and chose not to make it public impressed the priest. - Daily News

Reuters follows-up here.

Yes, it is unfortunate that Mahony was attacked. The story prompts a couple questions for me, however: if Mahony indeed wanted this event to remain private, why did he tell his convoked priests about it? He couldn't think that it wouldn't get around. Second, if it took him a month to heal from his injuries, why did no one notice?

update: I should be more specific: I'm not trying to call into question Mahony's claim that he was attacked. I'm just scratching my head about his deciding to keep it private and then, months later, revealing it among his presbyterate. It strikes me as an imprudent move, if for no other reason than it would seem to promote this sort of (criminal) behavior by announcing that he didn't decide to press charges.

update 2: apologies to those who tried to visit this post earlier and couldn't find it. blogger appears to be playing games with it. I'm trying to resolve that issue now.

update 3: follow-up: LAPD begins investigation of Cardinal Mahony assault claim.

Coca-Cola promotes Golden Compass to address "perilous state of the polar bear"

A nice snapshot of contemporary values:

I saw that Coca-Cola is promoting the movie [The Golden Compass], and I wrote to them to express my feelings about it -- including mentioning that the villains are called "The Magisterium" in the movie. Here is the response I got:

"We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns." The Golden Compass movie is a story about friendship, love, loyalty, tolerance, courage and responsibility. This movie also provides an opportunity for Coca-Cola to help raise awareness about climate change and the perilous state of the polar bear."

"We do not believe that this fantasy movie is an attack on any religion. We would never support a film that intentionally antagonized or condemned any faith."

If they receive more letters about this, it's possible it may accomplish something. ~ Rick Kephart

Frankly, until someone makes a compelling case that this movie diminishes the survival chances of the polar bear, or somehow inhibits climage change, I doubt we'll see anything accomplished.

Actor Daniel Craig: "They sell Dan Brown now in the Vatican"

Actor Daniel Craig (of recent James Bond fame) attended the London premier of The Golden Compass last night (previously blogged here), a movie in which he stars.

Responding to a question about the story's anti-Catholicism, he responded with typical Hollywood cluelessness:

"I'm not surprised at the criticism," said Craig. "I get that. But I think the majority of people who are criticising it haven't read it. These books are not anti-religious. Mainly they're anti-misuse of power - whether it's religious or political. They sell [The Da Vinci Code author] Dan Brown now in the Vatican so I'm sure they'll be selling this there too eventually because it presents a very healthy debate.

"It's interesting that people should get so angry because the morals in this book are solid and really good," the actor added. "Any child should read this."

Gee, thanks for the tip, Craig! I'll be sure to place my order with amazon.vatican.va real soon!

Sierra Club joins PP to offer conferences on "Sex and the Environment"

Thanks CNA, I think I've lost my appetite for lunch:

During the first week of November, members of the Sierra Club traversed one end of California to the other for a series of conferences called “Sex and the Environment.” Accompanying them at most of their stops were representatives of Planned Parenthood.

... The 115-year-old Sierra Club, based in San Francisco and founded by California environmentalist John Muir in 1892 to “explore, enjoy and protect the planet,” now declares on its web site: “Sierra Club is a pro-choice organization.”

The November tour was part of the Sierra Club’s Global Population and Environment Program, which states as its mission: “to protect the global environment and preserve natural resources for future generations by advancing global reproductive health and sustainable development initiatives.”

The term “reproductive health” has long been understood as a code word for “abortion,” especially in Third World countries where the outright use of the word “abortion” would be politically unwise.

The plan:

In a question-and-answer section on the Sierra Club’s web site discussing the Population and Environment Program, the group says it has endorsed a 1970 resolution drafted by the group Zero Population Growth. Among the provisions of the resolution: “families should not have more than two natural children,” “state and federal laws should be changed to encourage small families and to discourage large families,” “policies, and attitudes that foster population growth or big families, or that restrict abortion and contraception, or that attempt to constrict the roles of men and women, should be abandoned.”

Story originally reported by the California Catholic Daily: "Save the Planet, Kill a Baby!"

The California fires were caused by ... (wait for it ...)

That's right, the California fires were caused by ... global warming, 60 minutes tells us.

Hmm, what's that you say? Some were caused by Arson?

Um, well, that's fine because ... arson is caused by global warming.

(Okay, 60 minutes didn't make that second claim.)

60 Minutes' description of its segment "Mega-Fires":

They're forest fires ten times bigger than the blazes we're used to seeing. To find out why these infernos are happening, Correspondent Scott Pelley went out on the fire line to witness the burning of the American West. What he found were overmatched firefighters and evidence that a big reason for the fires is global warming.

Help me out on this one. Human intervention has actually resulted in less forest fires around the globe, because human beings are the one species that is able to and tries to put them out. I guess this is our fault as well, because young growth trees actually remove more CO2 from the air than old-growth forests. Deforestation - when it is followed by reforestation, I'm told results in a net decrease in atmospheric CO2 levels.

... anyway, I truly hope 60 minutes' position is a bit more sophisticated than "fire is hot, global warming is hot, ergo global warming causes fire." I'm sure it is, but eventually I hope to find some physical disaster that isn't directly caused or heavily exacerbated by global warming.

I dunno - heavy snowfall? Nope. Maybe tsunamis? Nope. Okay, what about Earthquakes? Nope!

Sorry California, it's not looking too good.

(And before some folks get too worked up because I'm putting unreasonable words into the collective mouths of man-made global warming proponents, let me clarify that I'm just trying to make the point that in situations where absurd claims are being tossed around, folks with legitimate science - and specifically reporters who related that science - should demonstrate a bit more restraint before blaming current, tragic natural disasters on remote, disputable human agency. It's been done with Katrina, and is now being done with the California wild fires.)

Won't someone think of the children?

A new Italian ad campaign:

The quote reads "Sexual orientation isn't a choice."

(... so much for a "lifestyle option")

[full story]

Picture: The human dimension of "women priests"

You sometimes will hear proponants talk about the wonderful benefits that would result at liturgies if the Church allowed women priests.

Now, I'm not claiming that there aren't benefits to seeing someone who appears like this lady at a liturgy. Benefits like appreciating beauty, for instance. But frankly, I don't think this is the kind of beauty I should be specifically appreciating during the liturgy. After all, it can be hard enough to keep a firm custody of the eyes at Mass, especially nowadays.

In seriousness, how revealing (pun intended) is this picture?

The website of Swedish company Mariasjodin which markets this line of "casual priest" clothing reads (with a rough internet translation): "Functional and tidy ... for another generation of clergyman [ironically]."

Ph/t: Diogenes.

Why you don't really want to claim you saw John Paul II in a bonfire

... because tenuous claims are open to, shall we say, diverse intepretation.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Point proven, I hope. Besides - saints who don't appear in natural phenomenon aren't any less saints!

Update: "Data on Lukasik's digital camera says the picture was taken at 21.37:30, exactly the hour when the pope died." Oh golly, the same story even connects the bonfire with a different image.

Ph/t: Jimmy Akin.
Original story: Me.

JP2's flair for the dramatic and imprudent Vatican TV endorsement

Headline seen on Drudge:

"Holy Smoke! Vatican TV claims image is Pope John Paul II waving from beyond grave... "

Which leads to this article from the UK Daily Mail: "Is this Pope John Paul II waving from beyond the grave? Vatican TV director says yes". Here is the image side-by-side with its supposed counterpart:

The details of the claim(s):

This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II making an appearance beyond the grave.

The image, said by believers to show the Holy Father with his right hand raised in blessing, was spotted during a ceremony in Poland to mark the second anniversary of his death.

Details appeared on the Vatican News Service, a TV station in Rome which specialises in religious news broadcasts.

Service director Jarek Cielecki, a Polish priest and close friend of John Paul II, travelled to Poland after hearing an onlooker had photographed the image.

Father Cielecki said he was convinced the picture showed the former pontiff.
"You can see the image of a person in the flames and I think it is the servant of God, Pope John Paul II," he said.

The pictures were being broadcast continuously on Italian TV and also posted on religious websites, some of which crashed as thousands logged on to see for themselves the eerie figure formed by the flames.

The bonfire was lit during a service at Beskid Zywiecki, close to John Paul's birthplace at Katowice, southern Poland, on April 2 - the second anniversary of his death.

Hundreds had attended the ceremony. Gregorz Lukasik, the Polish man who took the photographs, said: "It was only afterwards when I got home and looked at the pictures that I realised I had something.

"I showed them to my brother and sister and they, like me, were convinced the flames had formed the image of Pope John Paul II.

"I was so happy with the picture that I showed it to our local bishop who said that Pope John Paul had made many pilgrimages during his life and he was still making them in death."

I think it's irresponsible for Fr. Cielecki to be encouraging this form of psuedo-mysticism, (let alone giving it airtime on Vatican TV?!). This kind of thing does nothing to disabuse non-Catholics of their (mis)conception that religion is based on nothing more than emotional spiritualism.

If a still photograph brings to mind the memory of our late Pope, that's one thing. It's another thing entirely to claim that a (presumed) saint in heaven actually intended to manifest his presence through a bonfire.

Really, this ranks right up there with the "Virgin Mary Toast", which sold for $28,000.

And let's face it, if JP2 was going to show himself I think he'd to it with a bit more flair.

Update: Ya learn somethin' every day. There's a name for this: Paraidolia! (ph/t: New Advent)

A little gem found on the MHR parish website

<--
I wasn't even looking for questionable content on the MHR parish website.
I wonder what else is lurking in the MHR pages. More about MHR here.
(catholic lesbians, by the way, is bad news.)

Al Gore & IPCC win '07 Nobel Peace Prize

The links:

• AP: Al Gore, UN share Nobel Peace Prize
• Reuters: Will Nobel win mean Gore will run for president?
• NobelPrize.org: The Nobel Peace Prize for 2007

I think the Czech President Vaclav Klaus said it best: "It rather seems that Gore's doubting of basic cornerstones of the current civilizationdoes not contribute to peace." - Margaret Perry

Although I would add that I thought winners of the Nobel Peace Prize were supposed to provide some example. Al Gore, however, by the common admission of all sides save his own, is a notorious "polluter" by the standards he himself sets forth in his public admonishments.

Update: Good thoughts @ DarwinCatholic. Well worth the click.

Italian priest asks for permission to date, loses post

With typical AP aplomb:

An Italian priest who publicly declared his love for a woman has lost his job, the diocese said Tuesday.

The Rev. Sante Sguotti can no longer work as pastor in his Monterosso parish and cannot hear confessions from the faithful, the diocese of Padua said in a statement. Sguotti remains a priest and can celebrate Mass, however.

Sguotti made headlines in August when he went on national television to say he was in love with a woman and wanted to be her boyfriend publicly while remaining chaste.

The case reignited the debate over priestly celibacy, particularly because the woman in question has a young son, whom Sguotti said he had helped name. He dodged direct questions about whether he was the boy's father, saying only that he cannot have a child according to church law.

Bishop Antonio Mattiazzo issued a decree on Monday removing Sguotti from his pastoral duties, saying he was doing so because Sguotti "had been linked for some time to a woman and had asked for a dispensation to go out with her."

Men in the Eastern rite of the Catholic church who are married can become priests, and the Vatican has accepted into the priesthood some married Anglican priests who converted to Catholicism.

But the Vatican has constantly refused to relax the celibacy requirement for Latin rite priests. The Vatican reaffirmed that last November, when Pope Benedict XVI convened a summit of clergy who rebuffed a crusade by Emmanuel Milingo, the renegade Zambian archbishop who was excommunicated last year after marrying a woman and launching a campaign for the Vatican to allow priests to marry.

Vatican denies buying Italian soccer team

Reported previously here, and this morning officially denied by the Vatican's spokesman:

In a declaration released yesterday afternoon, Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. denied recent reports that the Vatican or the Italian Episcopal Conference have bought the Italian football team Ancona, which plays in the third division.

Ancona football club and the "Centro Sportivo Italiano" have recently signed an agreement involving the application of an ethical code in the administration of the team, alongside a new model of economic management, the promotion of a sporting culture among the fans, and support for social initiatives in the Third World. For its part, the "Centro Sportivo Italiano" has undertaken to seek sponsors for the club.

"The Vatican and the Italian Episcopal Conference have nothing to do with this project," declared Fr. Lombardi. "There are initiatives which have positive and commendable aims and, if the declared intentions can be effectively achieved, this is certainly a good thing," he said adding, however, that this does not mean that this is an initiative of the Vatican or of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

The Holy See Press Office Director went on: "The Church must not be attributed with responsibilities she does not have, although she may view positively the commitment of lay Catholics in various fields, including that of sports."

Members of the Ancona football club will participate in tomorrow's general audience in St. Peter's Square but this, Fr. Lombardi made clear, does not mean "that the Pope has sponsored or taken responsibility for the working of the team."

There, that's more like it.

"Sperm donor, 72, to father his own grandchild"

The UK Daily Mail:

A man of 72 is to donate sperm to try to father his own 'grandchild'.

He has been cleared to provide the sperm to his daughter-in-law to allow her to become a mother.

Any baby born will be its grandfather's genetic child and a halfbrother or half-sister to the man it takes to be its father.

The case - believed to be the first of its kind in the UK - raises ethical questions about how well the child will cope with such unusual family circumstances.

How did the the Women's Clinic go about analyzing the morality of this decision?

Peter Bowen-Simpkins, codirector of the London Women's Clinic which is carrying out the procedure, said the couple and the grandfather had undergone extensive counselling.

"[She said]: ... advancements in fertility treatment have overcome a lot of taboos in science which means that people are prepared to consider all sorts of options."

"Obviously, the wife's mother-inlaw also had to be included in all of the conversations but she has no objections.

"Society has also changed its perceptions of what is and what is not acceptable."

Ah yes, society might not any longer find this kind of thing unacceptable. Full steam ahead!

And little by litte, that tune sung by Ray Stevens, "I'm my own Grandpa" becomes a little bit more feasible.

First the Vatican buys an airline...

... now the Italian Bishops have bought themselves a soccer team.

Well, I guess they've got free international transportation if they make it to the World Cup(?!).