Notes: Tuesday, August 6-Tuesday, September 10, 2013 (part 2 of 2)

5. "CATHOLIC laws dating back to the church's inception no longer protect priests from civil and criminal law, a NSW inquiry has heard."

The quotation in that headline is the first paragraph of the very short (only three paragraphs) article "NO PRIEST SHIELD", no byline, p. 16, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Thursday, August 1, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2910, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd. (The article seemed to have been a shortened version of the 9NEWS/AAP article "Church law no protection: inquiry", dated July 31, 2013, but "Church law no protection: inquiry" is no longer available, and nor is any version available at the Tele's website.)

The inquiry in question is the Special Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the Police investigation of certain child sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, and the relevant portion of its transcripts is on pp. 64-127 here:

http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/Special_Projects/ll_splprojects.nsf/vwFiles/Transcript_Day_20_-_TOR_2_-_31_July_2013.pdf/$file/Transcript_Day_20_-_TOR_2_-_31_July_2013.pdf

But the earliest chronological reference I can find there is to the Middle Ages.

Labels: benefit of clergy, Church law, Church and State, civil law, Divine law, law

6. Some recent information regarding childcare in Australia

See the articles "More than 1m Australian children now in childcare", by Rebecca Puddy, dated August 4, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/more-than-1m-australian-children-now-in-childcare/story-fn59nlz9-1226690884914

and "Childcare splits parents, experts", by Justine Ferrari, dated August 3, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/more-to-childcare-than-safety/story-fn59nlz9-1226690481586

and "Budgeting for a million childcare places", by Peter Martin and Elli Harvey, dated August 11, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/budgeting-for-a-million-childcare-places-20130810-2rp4t.html?skin=text-only

Labels: childcare, social trends

7. Dr. Zimmermann on divorce

See the article "Assessing the destructive impact of divorce", by Dr. Augusto Zimmermann, dated August 3, 2013, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56299

Labels: divorce, marriage

8. Some recent information on social trends

See the article "We're older and working harder", by Rick Morton, dated August 9, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/were-older-and-working-harder/story-e6frg6nf-1226693852100

See also the Australian Government's Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Australia's welfare 2013 (the report on which "We're older and working harder" was based):

http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=60129543825

Labels: social trends

9. More from H.H. The Pope Emeritus (though at the time gloriously reigning) on a World State

See (a translation of) His Holiness's Address to Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Monday, December 3, 2012, downloaded from the Vatican's website:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20121203_justpeace_en.html

See also the Catholic News Service (C.N.S.) article "Pope calls for world authority as 'moral force'", by Francis X. Rocca, dated December 3, 2013, downloaded from the C.N.S. website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1205060.htm

(That Address came to my attention via this AQ post.)

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, morals, politics

10. "In the evening[ of Friday, August 16, 2013], Her Excellency[ The Governor of New South Wales] delivered an Address and unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the 125th Anniversary of The United Grand Lodge of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, at the Museum of Freemasonry, Sydney."

The quotation in that headline comes from the webpage "Friday, 16 August 2013" in the "Diary of Engagements" pages of the offical website of The Governor of New South Wales:

http://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/news/diary-of-engagements/friday-16-august-2013/

(That event came to my attention via the "VICE REGAL" notices section on p. 35 in the classifieds section in the "Weekend Business" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, August 17-18, 2013, No. 54868, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: Freemasons, Marie Bashir

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor, A.D. 2013

Notes: Tuesday, August 6-Tuesday, September 10, 2013 (part 1 of 2)

1. Some recent items regarding Gay propaganda

1.1 "Foreign Minister Bob Carr today[, "July 19, 2013",] affirmed the Rudd Government’s commitment to make lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) rights a core foreign policy priority."

The quotation in that headline comes from the blog post "Foreign Minister Bob Carr says LGBTI Rights Core Issue for Australian Foreign Policy", by Mr. Doug Pollard, dated July 24, 2013, downloaded from the stirrer website:

http://www.thestirrer.com.au/foreign-minister-bob-carr-says-lgbti-rights-core-issue-for-australian-foreign-policy/

(That post came to my attention while preparing to submit a comment at this blog post by Mr. Gaynor.) See also the article "LGBTI RIGHTS A CORE FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITY FOR RUDD GOVERNEMNT", by Jennifer Josef, dated July 26, 2013, downloaded from the International Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association's website:

http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/ocFCvGb1FI

Labels: Bob Carr, G.L.B.T.

1.2 "Cultural imperialism on the march"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Robert R. Reilly, dated May 13, 2013, downloaded from the MercatorNet website:

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/cultural_imperialism_on_the_march

(That article came to my attention via this AQ comment.)

Labels: Barack Obama, G.L.B.T., U.S.A.

1.3 "Free & Equal is an unprecedented United Nations global public education campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality. A project of the United Nations Human Rights Office being implemented in partnership with the Purpose Foundation, Free & Equal will raise awareness of homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination, and promote greater respect for the rights of LGBT people everywhere."

The quotation in that headline comes from the "About Us" page of The United Nations Human Rights Office's "Free & Equal" website:

http://www.unfe.org/

(That campaign came to my attention via the article "I will never worship a homophobic God: Tutu", no byline, on p. 18 in the "WORLD" section of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Monday, July 29, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2907, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., ISSN 1038-8745.)

See also the press release "UN Human Rights Office Launches Unprecedented Global Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality", no author credited, dated July 26, 2013, downloaded from the official website of the U.N.O.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13583&LangID=E

Labels: G.L.B.T., U.N.O.

1.4 "Federal Labor will spend $8 million tackling homophobia in schools if it is re-elected", which ($8 million) "would go to the Foundation for Young Australians to expand its Safe Schools Coalition program across the country, which provides training and resources to schools to tackle homophobic bullying"

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Labor commits $8 million to tackle homophobia in schools", by Ms Bianca Hall, dated August 30, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/labor-commits-8-million-to-tackle-homophobia-in-schools-20130830-2sud6.html?skin=text-only

Labels: education, G.L.B.T.

1.5 "The Australian Rugby Union, and its chief executive, Bill Pulver, have taken an important step in committing to implement an inclusion policy, to stamp out homophobia in rugby - the first football code to do so"

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "It's time to kick the prejudice into touch", by Mr. Andrew Purchas, dated August 29, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/its-time-to-kick-the-prejudice-into-touch-20130828-2sqmw.html?skin=text-only

See also the article "ARU announces development of new inclusion policy", no author credited, dated August 28, 2013, downloaded from the Australian Rugby Union's (A.R.U.'s) official website:

http://www.rugby.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1699/ArticleID/10113/Default.aspx

Labels: G.L.B.T., sport

2. On Wednesday, July 17, 2013, both Houses of the British Parliament were notified that the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 had received the Royal Assent.

See the A.F.P. article "Queen gives assent to British gay marriage law", by Mr. Danny Kemp, dated July 17, 2013, downloaded from the Google website:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gHohdWzGeWF9i1fR31GKH73WYdQw?docId=CNG.a24e84eead7107254e098183dd59bddf.711

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Queen backs gay marriage", by the same author, on p. 36 in the "WORLD" section of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, July 19, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2903, ISSN presumably 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.) See also Notice No. 1870356, category "Parliament", sub-category "House of Lords" (Notice Code: 1203), The London Gazette, Issue No. 60579, p. 14703, Thursday, July 25, 2013:

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/60579/pages/14703

One can also find the text of that notice here:

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/60579/notices/1870356/

The full text of the British Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 is available here:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/30/contents/enacted

Labels: Elizabeth II. Windsor, G.L.B.T., marriage, U.K.

3. "Peaceful coexistence between different religions is favoured by the laicity of the state, which, without appropriating any one confessional stance, respects and esteems the presence of the religious dimension in society, while fostering its more concrete expressions."

The quotation in that headline comes from (a translation of) the Address, on Saturday, July 27, 2013, by H.H. The Pope at a meeting in Rio de Janeiro with Brazil's leaders of society:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/speeches/2013/july/documents/papa-francesco_20130727_gmg-classe-dirigente-rio_en.html

(That Address came to my attention via the item "FRANCIS TO BRAZIL'S LEADERS: A COUNTRY GROWS WHEN ITS CULTURAL COMPONENTS ARE IN DIALOGUE" in The Holy See Press Office's Vatican Information Service e-mail bulletin no. 160, July 28, 2013 (Year XXII).) The original Spanish (sic) is presumably the following:

La convivencia pacífica entre las diferentes religiones se ve beneficiada por la laicidad del Estado, que, sin asumir como propia ninguna posición confesional, respeta y valora la presencia de la dimensión religiosa en la sociedad, favoreciendo sus expresiones más concretas.
[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/speeches/2013/july/documents/papa-francesco_20130727_gmg-classe-dirigente-rio_sp.html]

AsiaNews.it translates it as follows:

Peaceful coexistence between different religions is favoured by the separation of state and religion, which, without appropriating any one confessional stance, respects and esteems the presence of the religious factor in society, while fostering its concrete expressions.
["WYD: For pope, societies must stand for a culture of encounter or everyone loses", no byline, dated July 27, 2013:
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/WYD:-For-pope,-societies-must-stand-for-a-culture-of-encounter-or-everyone-loses-28590.html]

For media reaction to that Address, see the Latin American Bureau article "Pope Francis: 'I want you to make trouble!'", by Francis McDonagh, dated Monday, July 29, 2013, in which the author remarks, immediately after quoting (the first of those two tranlsations of) that sentence, that

An interesting aspect of his remarks is his approval of a secular state, with no established religion.
[http://lab.org.uk/pope-francis-i-want-you-to-make-trouble!]

and (see) the Catholic News Service article "Pope urges Brazilian leaders to embrace dialogue, 'social humility'", by Francis X. Rocca, dated July 28, 2013, in which the author reports that

the pope endorsed the separation of church and state, historically a volatile topic in Latin America, where the Catholic Church long held a privileged legal position in many countries, but where it has more recently clashed with governments over issues, including abortion and same-sex marriage.

He said such separation favors "peaceful coexistence between different religions," since the state, "without appropriating any one confessional stance, respects and esteems the presence of the religious factor in society, while fostering its concrete expressions."
[http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1303253.htm]

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, Francis Bergoglio, morals, politics

4. "Abortion has become legal in Ireland in limited cases where the mother's life is at risk, after President Michael D. Higgins signed a law that has exposed deep divisions in the Catholic-majority nation."

The quotation in theat headline comes from the article "Irish president signs abortions into law", no byline (though AFP is the stated source), dated July 31, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/irish-president-signs-abortions-into-law-20130731-2qxr2.html?skin=text-only

Labels: abortion, Ireland

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor, A.D. 2013