Pic/Video: Papist Annie from OZ with WYD backdrop

Another excellent submission of AmP gear in action!

Anne of the Under Her Starry Mantle blog explains:

Hi Thomas, We finally got to Sydney as planned, my gregorian chant choir, Schola Cantorum was singing down there.

The photo has the Sydney Habour Bridge on one side, and if you look very carefully, on the other side of my head, you can just see the Sydney Opera House. This photo was taken from Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo. The Habour was where the Holy Father went across on the boat last year.

We had been down there last year for WYD with our six children. The Holy Father passed us only a metre away on the Monday morning he flew out. 

I'm wearing my 'organic cotton' AmP t-shirt 'cause I'm very alternative with health things, great to see the offer for organic material was there!

God Bless, Anne.

Anne also included a very important message:

Haha! Well done. AmP Apparel also makes excellent Christmas presents for the kids. ;-)

See other examples of American Papists wearing AmP gear around the world right here.

People, churches not spared in Australian bushfires

Please pray for our Catholic friends and all poor souls effected by these horrible bushfires:

Churches have launched prayers for bushfire victims in Victoria, where 126 people are already confirmed dead.

The ABC reports that across Victoria people are looking to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, as the state attempts to come to terms with the deadliest bushfire disaster in Australian history.

... A number of churches have been destroyed but no details are yet available.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said today that his thoughts and prayers are with the communities suffering under the destructive force of the unprecedented bushfires in Victoria. (CathNews)

There are many AmP readers down under - you are in our close prayers today.

Excommunicate, already!

"Sign it. Seal it. Deliver it." says Canon Lawyer Ed Peters:

The more modernistic the liberal clerical cohort in Australia tries to become, the older are the heresies that they promote. Lately, one Fr Peter Dresser is promoting his own brand of Arianism, a heresy that basically denied the divinity of Christ, and which was solemnly rejected by the Council of Nicaea (325). "No human being can ever be God," writes Fr. Dresser in a booklet distributed to the faithful, "and Jesus was a human being. It is as simple as that."

Okay, here's my version of simple: "No Catholic priest may deny the divinity of Christ, and Dresser is a Catholic priest. It's as simple as that." If Fr. Dresser really denies the divinity of Christ (among several other things!), declare his formal excommunication and expel him from the clerical state. Do it quickly, do it cleanly, and do it without rancor. But do it.

Nice of Fr. Desser to make things easy on us.

He also claims Joseph was the biological father of Jesus, and the Virgin Mary had six children.

Report: "For secular Australia, World Youth Day was wake-up call"

World Youth Day, it should not be forgotten, serves not only the inner life of the Church, but also provides a stirring witness to the country in which it takes place:

In what is often seen as one of the most intensely secular nations in the world, Australia received a wake-up call: the faith of the church on public display over the weeklong celebrations of World Youth Day.

For young Catholics used to seeing a steady annual decline in figures such as Mass attendance -- now estimated at approximately 13 percent of Catholics nationally -- and feeling like the only young person in the local parish, the sight of an estimated 300,000 pilgrims from around the nation and overseas may well have provided a much-needed shot in the arm. (CNS)

Do any knowledgeable contributors wish to speak about the state of the Church in Spain...?

Aussie Cardinal Pell Disputes “global warming hypothesis”

CNA reports:

In the April 20 edition of the Australian newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph, Cardinal George Pell expressed his concern regarding the “global warming hypothesis” in an article titled, “Global warming is over.”

Cardinal Pell began his article by giving recent examples of countries that have experienced more bitter temperatures and heavier snow than usual.

... The cardinal stated that while “the world is much bigger than both China and Canada combined, which might be the exceptions to the new rule of man-made global warming, but they are inconvenient facts for the climate-change bandwagon.”

"And it is an intolerant bandwagon with loud, exaggerated claims that the issue is settled and that an unchallenged consensus among scientists confirms the hypothesis of dangerous, humanly caused global warming. In fact, the issue is far from settled.”

He continued by listing three significant points. [Read them here.]

CNS covers Aussie bishops' opposition to preemptive war

Catholic News Service:

The Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference said it did not believe the war in Iraq is justified and warned against participating in another pre-emptive strike with the United States.

While admitting that Australia's alliance with the U.S. is an "important element of Australia's international security arrangements," the bishops questioned whether the doctrine of pre-emption was consistent with Catholic teaching on just war.

The bishops stressed that war cannot be judged only by its consequences.They said Australians "would fail in our duty ... if we were again to take military action without our own thorough assessment of its morality and prospects, and without broad international approval."

"Obligations to an ally cannot include an obligation to engage in war that is not justified," the bishops said.

From what I've read, the possibility of a preemptive strike against Iran by the end of the current administration or during a Hillary Clinton administration is significant. I'm trying to keep track of what local bishop conferences are saying both about the legitimacy of the current war in Iraq and about the application of just war principles to the future of U.S. relations with Iran.

Related: Jeff Miller covers CNS's recent woeful coverage of Dutch dominican liturgical abuses.

World Youth Day 2008: 425 days and counting!

Hey, it'll be here before you know it!

This is an overdue post on the topic of World Youth Day 2008, which will be held July 15th-20th in Sydney, Australia.

First, some recent updates. CathNews reports that they've chosen an official theme song for the event: "Receive the Power" by former Australian Idol star Guy Sebastian. According to the WYD coordinator, Bishop Anthony Fisher, it "hits the mark on every level." [CNA has more.]

The song plays into the theme of this WYD, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8).

While logistics planning for such a large gathering of youth is crucial, the apostolic nuncio to Australia recently told the Australian bishops' conference during its plenary meeting in Sydney that the real challenge is not organization, "but rather in integrating the event into the life of the Church." In this Zenit article, he begins to touch upon the wonderful creative and inspirational potential a well-executed WYD can have for its host country. I'll be praying that the fruits of WYD are especially made present to the Church in Australia.

Registrations for this year's WYD are already humming along, to the tune of 80,000. Twenty-seven thousand of those are from the U.S.

Now some good web links/resources:

• The Official WYD website.
• Wikipedia's WYD 2008 page
• The Vatican's WYD '08 page, with a very good information sheet.
• The USCCB page offers a PowerPoint Presentation here.
• Here is the text of Pope Benedict's message to youth from this year.
• At the bottom of this page are many archived stories related to WYD 2008.

I had the privilege of attending World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, Germany, and am currently trying to find a good way to attend this one in Sydney next summer (any hot tips would be appreciated, of course!). One of my little brothers is mowing lawns this summer to raise funds for his trip.

I'll be adding this post to the sidebar soon and continuing to keep my eyes peeled for important WYD-related stories and opportunities. Please feel free to send in your own information as well!

I had intended to feature this "WYD SYD 2008 - 'Dare You To Move' Promo Video" to finish the post, only to discover upon viewing it that I'm actually in one of the short clips! Rock on, says I.

Kudos to the first person to find the (brief) footage of me...

Msgr. Peter Elliott named bishop

Here's a piece of news that got under my radar. Monsignor Peter J. Elliott was named an auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia this week. Ignatius Insight has more.

I was able to meet the Monsignor last year at the Sacraficium Laudis conference. [photos here, and here (incidentally, many of my friends and former professors are in these photos.]

Great news for the church in Australia!