Showing posts with label Dignitatis Humanæ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dignitatis Humanæ. Show all posts

Monday, November 30, 2020

Notes: Tuesday, July 23, 2019-Monday, November 30, 2020 (part 2 of 2)

4. Prof. Brungardt on recent online discussion about Catholic integralism

See the blog post "The Question of Catholic Integralism: An Internet Genealogy", by Assistant Prof. John G. Brungardt, dated May 22, 2020, available at the author's eponymous blog:


(That post came to my attention via the blog post "The links you’ve been longing for" by Prof. Edward Feser, dated Saturday, August 8, 2020, at that author's eponymous blog:


which (blog post) links to a cross posting, by J AUGUSTINE on May 29, 2020 at The Josias, of Prof. Brungardt's blog post under its original title:


Labels: Americanism, Church and State, Confessional State, Dignitatis Humanæ, law, liberalism, morals, politics, religious liberty, secularism, Social Reign of Christ

5. Some recent culture-shaping activity by H.M.A. Government

5.1 Mr. Tudge on Australian values again, this time with a stronger-than-usual emphasis on Secularism (in particular, error no. forty-two of the Syllabus)

(Error no. forty-two of the Syllabus of Pius IX. is the proposition that "In a conflict between the laws of both powers, the civil law prevails" (the other power in question is, of course, the ecclesial power):


The original Latin of that error is "In conflictu legum utriusque potestatis, ius civile praevalet." and is available by clicking the little "LATIN" thumbnail at the lower right-hand-side corner of that error's section or by going hither:


See the media release "Focus on values in updated Australian Citizenship Test" and the transcripts "Interview with Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft, 3AW Breakfast", "Interview with Basil Zempilas and Steve Mills, 6PR Breakfast", "Interview with Leon Byner, 5AA Mornings", "Door stop, Australian Citizenship Test", "Interview with Deb Knight, 2GB", "Multicultural press conference, 17 September 2020", and "Interview with Patricia Karvelas, ABC Afternoon Briefing":









(All those documents were dated Thursday, September 17, 2020 and issued by The Hon. Alan Tudge M.P. (at the time, Federal Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services, and Multicultural Affairs).) Mr. Tudge's list of Australian values was much the same as his previous one(s), but what seems remarkable to me this time around is his emphasis on his principle that parliamentary enactments override religious ones; in every one of those transcripts except "Door stop, Australian Citizenship Test", he highlights that principle, and of the transcripts in which that principle is raised, only in "Interview with Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft, 3AW Breakfast" is Mr. Tudge not the one who raises it first. Presumably most members of Mr. Tudge's intended audience would connect that principle firstly to the relationship between Australian laws and the Islamic Shariah, but it is also relevant to enactments introduced or being introduced by Australian jurisdictions against the Seal of Confession.

In those texts, Mr. Tudge also referred to
  • the Australian citizenship test resource booklet Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, available here:


    (Go straight hither for the testable section:


    Its p. 19 (21 in my document reader) is about "Our freedoms", and the last sentence—under the sub-heading "Freedom of religion"—on that page expresses Mr. Tudge's principle, with much the same diction and syntax as in the translated error at the beginning of this item: "Where there is a conflict between an Australian law and a religious practice, Australian law prevails." Again, on p. 35 (37 in my document reader), under the same sub-heading (this time in the context of, as the previous page indicates, "Our values"), the second sentence of the penultimate paragraph is "Australian law must be followed by everyone in Australia, including where it is different from religious laws." (And on the next page, in the same context but under the sub-heading "Equality of all people under the law", the booklet is also noteworthy for its promotion of Gay Marriage with the last sentence of the second paragraph: "Under our laws, two people can marry each other, including marriage between two men or two women.")
  • the Australian Values Statement, both the versions for temporary and provisional visa applicants and for permanent visa applicants whereof express the principle, among other "values", of "parliamentary democracy whereby our laws are determined by parliaments elected by the people, those laws being paramount and overriding any other inconsistent religious or secular “laws”" and require each of those applicants to make this engagement: "I undertake to conduct myself in accordance with these values of Australian society during my stay in Australia and to obey the laws of Australia." (See the webpage "Meeting our requirements[: ]Australian values":


    The parliamentary democracy quotation is also on the "Australian values" page:


    And at the "Australian citizenship[: ]Learn about being an Australian citizen" page, the "Our freedoms" section has, under the sub-heading "Freedom of religion", this for its penultimate sentence: "You are free to follow any religion you choose, as long as your religious practices do not break Australian laws.":

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, G.L.B.T., law, liberalism, marriage, morals, politics, secularism

5.2 H.M.A. Government plans to give "$3.0 million over four years from 2020-21 to the Anti-Defamation Commission to create a Holocaust education platform" plus the same sum over the same period "to the Islamic Museum of Australia to develop educational resources and online learning platforms", both as part of the Students Support Package in the Education, Skills, and Employment component of the 2020-2021 Federal Budget.

Those quotations and other information come from p. 82 (100 in my document reader) of Budget Paper No. 2, Budget Measures 2020-21, circulated by The Hon. Josh Frydenberg M.P. (at the time, de facto Federal Treasurer) and The Hon. Mathias Cormann (at the time, a Senator and the Federal Minister for Finance), dated October 6, 2020, available at the official Federal Budget website:


or go straight hither:


(It seems that another Federal grant of three million dollars (over four years from 2019-20) for the Anti-Defamation Commission (in this instance, for the expansion of its "Click Against Hate" programme) had already been announced; see p. 237 (255 in my document reader) in the "Education, Skills and Employment" section of Budget Measures 2020-21's "Appendix A: Policy decisions published in the July 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update" (both sets of italics in the original).) The same information is given in the October 6, 2020 Media Release "Budget 2020-21: Investing in Education and Research", issued by The Hon. Dan Tehan M.P. (at the time, Federal Minister for Education), available at the Ministers' Media Centre at the official website of the Federal Department of Education, Skills, and Employment:


Similar information is given in the last bullet point under the sub-heading "Schools" at the latter website's "Budget 2020-21" page:


and further information is given on the "Support for Social Cohesion" page of the former Federal Department of Education website:


Labels: Freemasons, Islam, Jews

5.3 The new Adelaide Holocaust Museum—located at Church-owned Fennescey House, and said to be "the latest addition to a national network of Holocaust museums"—will get two-and-a-half million dollars of Federal funding.

The information, including the quotation, in that headline comes from the news report "Boost for new Holocaust museum", by Jenny Brinkworth, dated Friday, October 16, 2020, downloaded from The Southern Cross's website:


See also the transcripts "Interview with Ditts and Roo, Triple M Adelaide", "Interview with Leon Byner, 5AA Adelaide", and "Doorstop interview, Norwood, Adelaide", all dated October 15, 2020, and issued by The Hon. Josh Frydenberg M.P. (at the time, de facto Federal Treasurer):




As for the rest of that network, Ms Brinkworth wrote that
With well-established Jewish museums in Melbourne and Sydney, the Federal Government has also provided $3.5m for a Holocaust museum in Brisbane while Perth’s Jewish Community Centre received funding for a major redevelopment last year.
Labels: Adelaide, Jews

Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. Andrew's Day, A.D. 2020
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Notes: Wednesday, February 13-Tuesday, March 26, 2013 (part 1 of 2)

1. "Vatican Apostolic Library uploads 256 digitized manuscripts"

See the article "Vatican Apostolic Library uploads 256 digitized manuscripts", no author credited, dated January 30, 2013, downloaded from the Rome Reports website:

http://www.romereports.com/palio/vatican-apostolic-library-uploads-256-digitized-manuscripts-english-8886.html

or go straight to the relevant webpage of the Apostolic Library's website:

http://www.vaticanlibrary.va/home.php?pag=mss_digitalizzati

(That Rome Reports article came to my attention via this Catholica thread-starter.)

Labels: books

2. "these two documents, on religious freedom and Nostra Aetate, linked to Gaudium et Spes, make a very important trilogy"

The quotation, including its italics and hyperlinks, in that headline comes from the Vatican website's translation of the Address of H.H. The Pope Emeritus (then gloriously reigning) at the Meeting with the Parish Priests and the Clergy of the Rome Diocese on Thursday, February 14, 2013 in the Paul VI. Audience Hall. (That Address came to my attention via this article from the Vatican Radio website.)

Labels: Dignitatis Humanæ, Vatican II

3. "about one in five students at Sydney Catholic schools comes from other faith backgrounds or is not religious"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "School choice is not just keeping the faith", by Josephine Tovey and Georgina Mitchell, dated February 18, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/school-choice-is-not-just-keeping-the-faith-20130217-2el4a.html?skin=text-only

That quotation is the authors' report of what "the executive director of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Sydney, Dan White", told them.

Labels: Catholic schools

4. Mr. Gutierrez on how, in his opinion, "Dignitatis Humanae, the Council document on religious freedom, represented a development of Church teaching, not a reversal of it."

See the article "Vatican II and Religious Liberty", by Omar F. A. Gutierrez, dated January 14, 2013, downloaded from The Catholic World Report website:

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1883/Vatican_II_and_Religious_Liberty.aspx

(That article came to my attention via this True Catholic thread.)

Labels: Dignitatis Humanæ, religious liberty

5. A couple of recent items regarding the death penalty

5.1 A potentially useful website on the death penalty

See here:

http://tcreek.jimdo.com/

(That came to my attention via this comment.)

Labels: death penalty

5.2 Prof. Feser on the death penalty

See his blog post "Capital punishment lecture", dated Wednesday, March 13, 2013:

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/capital-punishment-lecture.html

(I log that post because Prof. Feser doesn't use subject labels for his blog posts, so if I need to see what he's written on the topic I can refer to that post.)

Labels: death penalty

6. "All [U.S. ]states are within a couple of percentage points of the overall LGBT national average of 3.5%."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "LGBT Percentage Highest in D.C., Lowest in North Dakota", by Gary J. Gates and Frank Newport, dated February 15, 2013, downloaded from the Gallup Politics website:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/160517/lgbt-percentage-highest-lowest-north-dakota.aspx

See also the press release "LGBT Percentages Highest in Washington, DC, and Hawaii", no author credited, dated February 15, 2013, downloaded from the website of The Williams Institute (a "national think tank at UCLA Law", which (think tank) "is dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy"):

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/press-releases/lgbt-percentages-highest-in-washington-dc-and-hawaii/

(I found both that article and that press release at this Williams Institute webpage, and the findings originally came to my attention via this or this Sydney Morning Herald article.)

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

7. The report, by one of the (Australian) Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, on the Exposure Draft of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 is available here:

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=legcon_ctte/anti_discrimination_2012/report/index.htm

(That report came to my attention via the article "Criminals on payroll", by Natasha Bita, p. 19, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, February 22, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2779, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., available online under the headline "Crime doesn't pay, unless you're promoted", by the same author, dated February 22, 2013, at The Daily Telegraph's website here:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/crime-doesnt-pay-unless-youre-promoted/story-fncvk70o-1226583085494)

Labels: discrimination, human rights, law

8. A couple of recent items regarding the 2013 Sydney Gay Mardi Gras

8.1 "Mardi Gras spending" "has already been given more than $600,000 in funding and in-kind works from the [Sydney City ]council"

(Presumably the $600000 refers to this year's funding, rather than the funding over all the years during which the Council has been funding it. I say that because in this "Facts and figures" post from early 2009 I logged that Sydney City Council was spending $240000 in cash and in-kind support, collectively, on the Mardi Gras that year; even assuming that the nominal value of the support hasn't increased, clearly it would have greatly exceeded $600000 just for the years 2009, 2010, and 2011, collectively.)

The quotations in that heading come from the comment piece "This is a rainbow that's costing us a pot of gold", by Vikki Campion, immediately below her article "$110,000 wasted with gay abandon at Taylor Square", dated February 27, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/wasted-with-gay-abandon-at-taylor-square/story-e6freuy9-1226586361494

(The information in this Notes item's headline came to my attention via the comment piece "A pot of gold to pay for rainbow" (commenting on the article "$110,000 wasted with gay abandon", by the same author, immediately above the comment piece), by Vikki Campion, p. 16, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, February 27, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2783, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

8.2 "Gay members of Australia's defence force (ADF) marched in their uniforms for the first time"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Mardi Gras celebrates its founders in Sydney", no byline, dated March 3, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/mardi-gras-celebrates-its-founders-in-sydney/story-e6frg6nf-1226589176589

The article also reports that one of those who marched in uniform, namely the R.A.A.F.'s Squadron Leader Vince Chong
said the decision to allow members to march, reflected the ADF's policy to encourage more workplace inclusion.

“It shows the priority that's been placed on diversion and inclusion in the Australian Defence Force. This is just the start of many things to come under the pathway to change. We will see more and more about generating a culture of inclusion.”
Labels: A.D.F., G.L.B.T., Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

9.1 Dr. van Gend on how "making abortion legal or illegal has never, historically, made the slightest detectable difference to the safety of women", because "medicine alone, not the law, has achieved all the magnificent gains in maternal safety."

See the article "Backyard distortions", by Dr. David van Gend, downloaded from the website of Life Ministries:

http://lifeministries.org.au/internal.php?content_id=125

(That article came to my attention via the comment of 17.2.13 / 3pm by one Philip J. Rayment in the comments section of this blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg.)

Labels: abortion

9.2 Dr. Summers on recent changes in pro-abortion rhetoric:
… the words[ "safe, legal and rare"] were removed from the Democratic Party platform in 2008. No one uses them any more and for a very good reason: women find them offensive.

Dawn Laguens, of US Planned Parenthood, said earlier this year that language about making abortion ''rare'' polled very poorly because women found it judgmental and shaming.

Similarly, Planned Parenthood has made the momentous decision to drop the language of ''pro-choice'' after research that shows most Americans feels the pro-choice/pro-life polarity fails to represent the actual complications of what it's like to find yourself with an unwanted pregnancy. Women complained that the word ''choice'' made the decision seem frivolous.
["Abortion zealots a risk for Abbott", by Dr. Anne Summers A.O., dated March 16, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/abortion-zealots-a-risk-for-abbott-20130315-2g5sn.html?skin=text-only
Dr. Summers' article is also available at the same website and with the same date under the headline "It's a woman's right to choose":
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/its-a-womans-right-to-choose-20130317-2g8d8.html?skin=text-only]
(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Abortion zealots a risk for Abbott", by the same author, on p. 12 in the "OPINION" pages of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, March 16-17, 2013, No. 54738, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: abortion

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Tuesday in Holy Week, A.D. 2013
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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Notes: Tuesday, January 1-Tuesday, February 12, 2013 (part 1 of 2)

1. "With developments in philosophical thought and in ways of understanding the modern State, the doctrine of tolerance, as worked out in detail by Pius XII, no longer seemed sufficient."

The quotation, including its hyperlink, in that headline comes from ""It was a splendid day" - Reflections of His Holiness Benedict XVI, published for the first time on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council", from "Castel Gandolfo, on the Feast of Saint Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, 2 August 2012", appearing in L'Osservatore Romano on October 11, 2012. (I found that web-page at the Vatican website's page for the Year of Faith, which (Year) began on the same day (October 11, 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the II. Vatican Council).) The Catholic World Report said that that L'Osservatore Romano essay/article "is the introduction to a collection of [H]is[ Holiness's] writings on the Council, to be published in German next month[, i.e., November 2012]". Vatican Radio said that
Penned this past summer in Castel Gandolfo, the article is in fact the preface to a collection of writings by the young Prof. Joseph Ratzinger at the time of the Council, which, however, have never been published. Edited by Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, [current Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – ed], the complete collection is due to be published in Germany , by Herder.
[square-bracketed interpolation in the original,
"Pope pens rare article on his inside view of Vatican II", Vatican Radio, October 10, 2012]
And judging by that Vatican Radio article, the Holy Father's article was published not on Thursday, October 11, 2012, but on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, in "a special edition[ of L'Osservatore Romano] dedicated to Vatican II", though L'Osservatore Romano's website has a version of the article dated October 11, 2012, with the body of the article under the headline "It was a splendid day, Benedict XVI recalls".

For discussion of that article, see AQ, Ignis Ardens, or Rorate Cæli (which gives the date of the relevant issue of L'Osservatore Romano as October 10-11, 2012).

(It was a splendid day came to my attention via the printing of excerpts from it in the "THE CHURCH AROUND THE WORLD" item "Pope Benedict XVI recalls Vatican II" on p. 4 in AD 2000, Vol. 25, No. 11, December 2012-January 2013, published by Peter Westmore for the Thomas More Centre in Balwyn, Victoria, Australia; the item's stated source was L'Osservatore Romano. That "CHURCH AROUND THE WORLD" report is available online at the AD 2000 website here.)

Labels: Americanism, Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Dignitatis Humanæ, religious liberty, Vatican II

2. "The QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 31 December 2012 to declare that all the children of the eldest son of The Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of Royal Highness with the titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour."

The quotation in that headline is the body of a notice (Notice Code: 1108) in The London Gazette, Issue No. 60384, p. 213, Tuesday, January 8, 2013. (One can also find the text of the notice by going to the "Advanced Search" page of The London Gazette website and entering part of the quotation in the "With the exact phrase:" field.)

(That notice came to my attention via the article "If it's a girl, Kate's baby to be a princess", no byline, on p. 24 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, January 11, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2743, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., apparently not available online.)

Labels: styles and titles

3. "As far as I[, Michael Costigan,] know there is no special significance in the fact that some of the [Vatican II ]documents are introduced in this publication [, namely, THE DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II: With Notes and Index ("Vatican Translation"), 2009 edition, St Pauls Publications ]as “solemnly promulgated”, others as “promulgated” and several as “proclaimed”."

The quotation in that headline comes from the book review "Up-to-date collection of Vatican II documents", by Michael Costigan, dated January 13, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=20&articleID=11537&class=Features&subclass=Books

(That book review came to my attention via the version printed with the same headline and the same byline on p. 14 (the "Books" page) of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, January 13, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4655, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd. The quoted portion of the online version is the same as the corresponding part of the print version except that the latter has a dash after the "u" in "documents".)

Labels: Vatican II

4. "In 1985 when the Australian Human Rights Commission bill passed the House of Representatives, it was intended to be the enforcement mechanism for cognate legislation, the Australian Bill of Rights Bill."

The quotation in that headline comes from a letter by Peter Breen to The Sydney Morning Herald, dated January 15, 2013, downloaded from the Herald's website where it is available with other letters under the headline "Distorted analysis adds fuel to the racial hatred fire":

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/distorted-analysis-adds-fuel-to-the-racial-hatred-fire-20130114-2cppf.html?skin=text-only

Labels: A.H.R.C.

5. "There were about 29,000 Medicare-supported terminations in 2009 in NSW/ACT."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Using science to give birth to a better world", by Nicky Phillips , dated January 19, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/using-science-to-give-birth-to-a-better-world-20130118-2cykz.html?skin=text-only

That article also reports that "The highest proportion of women who terminate a pregnancy are at either end of their reproductive life - in their teens or above 40." The second part of that disjunction came as a surprise to me, for the reason given at the beginning of the article:
Most women think their fertility slowly declines with age.

''But it's actually a precipitous cliff from about age 34,'' reproductive biologist John Aitken says …
(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline (as part of the "LUNCH WITH" series of profiles) and with the same byline on p. 10 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, January 19-20, 2013, No. 54690 (presumably, though the front cover said "54,69"), ISSN 0312-6315.)

(While searching unsuccessfully on Google for the ultimate source for the quotation in the headline of this item (item 5), I found a document whose publication details I wish to record for possible future reference to it; it is Briefing Paper No. 9/05 ("Abortion and the law in New South Wales"), by Talina Drabsch (from, and written for, the New South Wales Parliamentary Library Research Service), August 2005, © 2005, ISSN 1325-4456, ISBN 0 7313 1784 X:

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/4b0ec8db3b4a730dca2570610021aa58/$FILE/Abortion%20&%20index.pdf

Labels: abortion, Medicare

6. "It's also about[, i.e., "special rights being claimed by religious groups" are "also about"] the ongoing push by the religious right to define homosexuality as behaviour and to prevent it being protected as an innate part of a person's identity, as is gender and colour."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Exemptions for religious groups keep fears alive", by Brian Greig, dated January 22, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/exemptions-for-religious-groups-keep-fears-alive-20130121-2d2f8.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Dennis Altman, G.L.B.T.

7. "Worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation, the abortion rate has dropped from 50-60 million a year to an estimated 46 million a year, a figure that includes 20 million illegal abortions."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "A woman's right to choose still a public battlefield", by Miriam Claire, dated January 22, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/a-womans-right-to-choose-still-a-public-battlefield-20130121-2d31w.html?skin=text-only

Labels: abortion

8. Mr. Nicholls on Mr. O'Farrell's motive for calling "an inquiry into how the state's racial vilification laws are operating in NSW"

See the article "Look behind Premier's motive", by Sean Nicholls, on p. 11 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, January 26-27, 2013, No. 54696 (presumably, though the front cover said "64,696"), ISSN 0312-6315, available online under the same headline and with the same byline, dated January 26, 2013, at the Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/look-behind-premiers-motive-20130125-2dbz9.html?skin=text-only

See also the follow-up article "Failure to prosecute rioters means laws need closer look - O'Farrell", by Sean Nicholls, dated January 28, 2013, downloaded from the Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/failure-to-prosecute-rioters-means-laws-need-closer-look--ofarrell-20130127-2dey4.html?skin=text-only

That follow-up article reported that Mr. O'Farrell "nominated the Muslim riot in central Sydney last year as one reason why an inquiry is needed into whether the state's racial vilification laws need strengthening." But the author of the Middle East Reality Check blog says that
… Sydney's so-called Muslim riot* occurred on September 15 last year. [Mr. O'Farrell], however, first announced his inquiry months before at an "Israel Independence Day cocktail event" in May. …
[asterisk, bold type, and italics in the original,
"Not So Fast, Baruch O'Farrell", no author credited, Tuesday, January 29, 2013,
http://middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/not-so-fast-baruch-ofarrell.html]
Labels: Barry O'Farrell, racism, State of Israel

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, Confessors, A.D. 2013
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Monday, February 6, 2012

Notes: Wednesday, January 18-Monday, February 6, 2012 (part 2 of 2)

9. "Toonen v Australia (UN Human Rights Committee, 1994) established the important international precedent that anti-sodomy laws are a human rights violation"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/putting-ideals-into-practice-20120125-1qi4k.html?skin=text-only

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

10. "'For a much older generation, gay is the act of having sex with someone of the same gender. But the post-Stonewall generation defines gay or lesbian as someone's nature. Who they are attracted to, who they connect with. It's something much deeper than just a sexual act"

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/macho-maestro-milks-the-fbi-legend-20120125-1qhmc.html?skin=text-only

I log that quotation in relation to the obervation by the Australian Gay activist Prof. Dennis Altman that
The greatest single victory of the gay movement over the past decade has been to shift the debate from behavior to identity, thus forcing opponents into a position where they can be seen as attacking the civil rights of homosexual citizens rather than attacking specific and (as they see it) antisocial behavior.
[http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2008/05/01/on-relationship-recognition/]
Labels: Dennis Altman, G.L.B.T.

11. Mr. Verrecchio on Dignitatis humanæ, the Social Reign of Christ, religious liberty, and (on) some observations by Fr. Murray

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40534

Labels: Church and State, Dignitatis Humanæ, John Murray, religious liberty, Social Reign of Christ

12. Part of the reason why an ordinary woman, unlike, mutatis mutandis, an ordinary man, cannot necessarily provide at least the necessities of life for herself, her husband, and those of their children who are too young to marry:
… A woman committed to following the World Health Organisation guidelines must be in almost continuous contact with her child as its exclusive food source for six months. She must then commit extensive time and effort to breast-feeding (or pumping) as a supplement for an-other 18 months or more. (It's worth bearing in mind that WHO guidelines have developing countries particularly in mind, where formula is often prepared in unsanitary conditions, using dirty water, with predictably bad health out-comes for babies.) …
[dashes in the original,
I transcribed that from the article "The Mother Load" in The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend magazine of January 28, 2012; the quotation comes from page fourteen.
Fairfax's "Essential Baby" website has an edited extract from that article, which (extract) seems to contain the same text as that in my transcript (except for the dashes, which, in the print edition, occured when a word spanned two lines of text).]
Labels: economics, families

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Titus, Bishop, Confessor, and of St. Dorothy, Virgin, Martyr, A.D. 2012
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Notes: Some previously-unpublished items from 2011 (part 1 of 2)

In no particular order:

1. "HUMANITAS MAGAZINE TO HAVE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION"

"HUMANITAS MAGAZINE TO HAVE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION"
VIS 20111129 (280)
http://www.news.va/en/news/humanitas-magazine-to-have-english-language-editio

This is the linked U.R.L. for Humanitas Review's website:

http://www.humanitas.cl/

Of particular interest in the first issue of Humanitas Review is the posthumous contribution on pp. 27-41 by His late Eminence Avery Robert, Cardinal Dulles S.J. on Bl. John Paul II. and Dignitatis humanæ (though you might be familiar with the content of that contribution already, since that contribution is based, according to footnote 21, on a lecture given at Oxford University under the sponsorship of the Becket Fund on October 26, 2000).

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, Dignitatis Humanæ, John Paul II. Wojtyla, religious liberty

2. Some points of interest from a recent AD2000 article on Russia:
[…] In early July this year, the Russian Orthodox Church declared it was against becoming the state religion: "The Moscow Patriarchate's position on what relations between the state and the Church should be is invariable. We do not want the Church to become part of the state apparatus, state machinery, to assume secular functions," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, said.

He was commenting on a poll conducted by the Sreda Agency along with the Public Opinion foundation, of 1,500 people across 44 Russian regions, 100 towns and villages. According to the poll, 30% of Russians want Orthodoxy to become the state religion, 48% are against it and 23% did not have an opinion.

[…] According to Russia's census, the country's population plummeted by more than 12 million between 1992 and 2008, and stands at around 143 million today. Legalised abortion has accounted for a significant part of that drop, with some 1.5 million abortions reported in the country in 2007 - nearly the same as the number of children born in that year. Unofficial estimates indicate that there are nearly four million abortions per year in Russia yet only 1.7 million live births. The UN has predicted that by 2050 the Russian population will have dipped to 116 million. Russia's population will not be able to support its elderly citizens and the nation faces an acute worker shortage.

[…] WCF [World Congress of Families] Managing Director, Larry Jacobs, noted the Summit was coming at a crucial time. "It's not Russia alone that's experiencing demographic winter," Jacobs observed. "Worldwide, birthrates have declined by more than 50% since the late 1960s. By the year 2050, there will be 248 million fewer children under five years of age in the world than there are today. This birth dearth will be one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity in the 21st century," he said.

[…] A member of the Duma (Russia's parliament) Viktor Zvagelsky, said ads for abortion had made "young girls believe they won't have any problems interrupting a pregnancy." Another Duma member, Valery Draganov, said the "number of abortions in our country reaches six to eight million a year. Every minute, two abortions are carried out in Russia. Due to botched abortions, 20 percent of families lose the ability to become parents. One in every five pregnant women who dies, dies as a result of abortion. These are catastrophic statistics."

[…] Russian lawmakers have now passed a bill requiring all abortion advertisements to carry health warnings. Under this law, passed by the the Duma in early July, ten percent of the space used in abortion ads must carry a list of possible negative consequences for women, including infertility. The bill also stipulates that mothers who don't want to keep their babies will be able to leave their newborn children anonymously in special adoption centres.

Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, followed the Duma in approving the measure and President Dmitry Medvedev signed the legislation into law in mid-July.

[…] One of Russia's most visible pro-life leaders, is Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev. At a "Sanctity of Motherhood" forum last year Mrs Medvedeva spoke about the "rights of a child to life," and about the "general lack of support" that usually drove women to "artificial termination of pregnancy."

[…] In a recent speech, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged to raise the nation's birthrate by up to 30% in just three years. Putin's plan calls for spending the equivalent of $53 billion to encourage Russian families to have more children. But Larry Jacobs says that more than cash incentives and government benefits will be needed to raise Russia's well below replacement birth rate. Family & Demography Foundation, which represents the World Congress of Families in Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has announced the launch of its latest project: The Life-Family Medical Centers Network. These will be opened in all of the major cities in Russia and the CIS.
[My square-bracketed interpolations, everything else as in the original,
"Glimpses of a new dawn in Russia", by Babette Francis, from the September 2011 issue of AD2000, downloaded from the AD2000 website:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/sep2011p8_3606.html]
Labels: abortion, Church and State, Confessional State, demography, R.O.C., Russia, Vladimir Putin

3. Fr. Harrison on God's creation of Eve

"Old or young earth?", a letter by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., from the October 2011 issue of AD2000, available on-line here:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/oct2011p14_3634.html

"First Parents", a letter by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., from the November 2011 issue of AD2000, available on-line here:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/nov2011p13_3657.html

"DID WOMAN EVOLVE FROM THE BEASTS?[:] A DEFENCE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC DOCTRINE - PART I", by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., in Living Tradtion, No. 97, January 2002
http://www.rtforum.org/lt/lt97.html

"DID WOMAN EVOLVE FROM THE BEASTS?[:] A DEFENCE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC DOCTRINE - PART II", by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., in Living Tradtion, No. 98, March 2002
http://www.rtforum.org/lt/lt98.html

I was glad to see that there was someone else who agreed with me that "we must necessarily admit the special creation of … Eve" (source). For convenience, here are Fr. Harrison's sources, taken from those two letters to AD2000, for his contention:
  • I Cor. 11:8, 12
Labels: Adam (Patriarch), Creation, theology

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Anthony, Abbot, A.D. 2012
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Monday, October 10, 2011

Notes: Wednesday, October 5-Monday, October 10, 2011

1. A key for understanding one of the most contentious parts of Dignitatis humanæ?

One of the most objectionable parts of Dignitatis humanæ is where one reads that, in dealing with matters which do not belong to the component of the common good which (component) that Declaration calls "public order", "the usages of society are to be the usages of freedom in their full range: that is, the freedom of man is to be respected as far as possible and is not to be curtailed except when and insofar as necessary". But Pius XII. spoke for Tradition when he said, in the Allocution Ci riesce, that “religious and moral error must always be impeded, when it is possible”, so when it comes to man's (psychological and physical, but not moral) freedom to disseminate error, it should be curtailed, not 'respected', as far as possible, and only 'respected' when and insofar as necessary. Now in the text of a recent lecture by The Rev. Fr. Frank Brennan S.J. A.O. (brought to my attention by a comment by Fr. Brennan at the CathNews post on that lecture), I was interested to read this quotation from The Rev. Fr. Robert Drinan S.J., writing in Theological Studies in 1970:
This author has no easy solutions or ready options for the Catholic legislator, jurist, or spokesman on the question of abortion and the law. Perhaps the central issue was described in the reasoning of John Courtney Murray SJ, who, while not addressing himself to the question of abortion, wrote as follows about the criminal law: 'The moral aspirations of law are minimal. Law seeks to establish and maintain only that minimum of actualized morality that is necessary for the healthy functioning of the social order ... It enforces only what is minimally acceptable, and in this sense socially necessary ... Therefore the law, mindful of its nature, is required to be tolerant of many evils that morality condemns.'
[ellipses in the original]
Labels: Dignitatis Humanæ, John Courtenay Murray, political science, religious liberty

2. "Putin eyes new economic Soviet Union"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/putin-eyes-new-economic-soviet-union-20111005-1l9jc.html?skin=text-only

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/vladimir-putin-plans-new-superpower-from-old-soviet-republics/story-e6frg6so-1226159572404

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

3. Msgr. Pozzo on, among other things, a future "reunification of the two forms[, i.e., the Traditional Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo Missæ], with elements that come together and complement one another"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/10/video-interview-with-the-secretary-of-the-pont-comm-ecclesia-dei/

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39160

Labels: Guido Pozzo, liturgy, N.O.M., T.L.M.

4. Dr. Farrell on how "[t]he demographics of women giving birth in Australia have changed dramatically in the past 50 years":
... The total number of babies a woman has in her lifetime has declined from a peak of 3.5 in 1961 to 1.9 in 2009. There has also been a tendency for women to have their babies at older ages. The median age of women giving birth in Australia reached a low of 25.4 in 1971 and rose to a peak of 30.8 in 2006. The proportion of older women giving birth has also risen, with mothers aged over 35 rising from 11 per cent in 1991 to 23 per cent in 2008.
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/life-choices-for-women-20111006-1lbkv.html?skin=text-only]
Labels: demography

5. "Ireland Justice Minister fails to defend nation’s pro-life laws at UN hearing"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39210

Labels: Alan Shatter

6. "A clause [of the Sovereign Grant Bill] allows for an heir to the throne who is not the Duke of Cornwall to receive revenues from the Duchy of Cornwall"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/new-law-gives-equal-rights-to-female-royals-20111010-1lgay.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Sovereign Grant Bill

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Francis Borgia, Confessor, A.D. 2011
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, August 9-Tuesday, August 16, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. Dr. Sudlow on an essay which, according to him, "reframes the problem [of whether Dignitatis humanæ is in continuity with pre-Conciliar teaching] completely"

http://thesensiblebond.blogspot.com/2011/08/coercion-and-liberty-reframing-debate.html

The core of this 'reframing' seems to be, in Dr. Sudlow's reading, as follows:
the Church has only dogmatically asserted its power of coercion over the baptised, and any State which acts as the civil arm to help the Church in this matter does so by delegation of the Church and NOT by its own power.
The problem with that, and the reason for which I disagree that it is "game-changing", is that although the State does indeed exercise coercive power over the Baptised in matters of religion by delegation of the Church, nevertheless, the State is competent to act by its own power when it seeks to repress offences against the Catholic religion; trying to make someone do what he does not want to do (coercion) is quite different to preventing him from doing what he wants to do.

Labels: Church and State, Dignitatis Humanæ, morality, religious liberty, theology, Thomas Pink

2. A Herald letter which corrects misconceptions about religious exemptions from taxation

Under the heading "Churches do pay" here:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/show-some-humanity-and-let-them-remain-20110808-1ijd4.html?skin=text-only

Labels: taxation

3. "Report finds boys exhibit behavioural problems earlier than girls"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/report-finds-boys-exhibit-behavioural-problems-earlier-than-girls/story-fn59niix-1226111957815

Labels: gender differences

4. A couple of recent comments from Dr. Brown

4.1 On the Eucharist as memorial

Mainly his third point here:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/08/on-the-matter-of-ad-orientem-worship/#comment-288650

Labels: liturgy

4.2 A joke

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/08/waiting-for-zagano/#comment-288765

Labels: liturgy, N.O.M., T.L.M.

5. Mr. Brent on voting turnout

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/mumble/index.php/theaustralian/comments/turnout_schmurnout/

Labels: voting

6. An attempted defence of sodomite-catamite 'parenting' which (defence) backfires

From a letter to the Herald last week:
Maurie Stack and Martin Bell (Letters, August 11) should not assume that two lesbians raising children are depriving those children of a relationship with their biological father.

[...] [The Lesbian letter-writer's children] also know who their donor father is and we have always fostered contact and a relationship with him. We are not alone in this family model.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/love-not-biology-determines-good-parenting-20110811-1iorr.html?skin=text-only]
The problem with this line of argument is that once they acknowledge that contact and a relationship with the biological father is a good thing, one has to ask them Why do you deprive the children of the best form of contact and relationship, which is that in which the biological father lives with his children? I suppose that defenders of depriving children of this good would try to deflect the argument by pointing out that it is not just Lesbian households in which the biological father does not live with the children. This attempted evasion is answered by pointing out that fathers who legitimately live away from their respective families do so for some greater good, e.g. in the case of overseas military service, whereas Lesbian couples do so for an evil, namely, the indulgence of their disordered preferences. (And as for fathers who illegitmately live away from their respective families, one need only point out that two wrongs don't make a right.)

(And of course, the same goes, mutatis mutandis, for Gay 'co-parents' whose children have only intermittent contact with their respective biological mothers.)

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., morality, parenthood

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Joachim, Confessor, A.D. 2011
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Monday, May 23, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, May 17-Monday, May 23, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

4. Text of the C.D.F. response to Msgr. Lefebvre's Dubia about religious liberty/Dignitatis humanæ?

In a recent Sandro Magister article posted at AQ, there was a reference to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's (C.D.F.'s) response to the Dubia which Msgr. Lefebvre submitted to it about Dignitatis humanæ. In that article, the response's title is given as "Liberté religieuse. Réponse aux 'dubia' présentés par S.E. Mgr. Lefebvre" (March 9, 1987). I Googled this, and the search led me to the footnotes of this blog post (in Italian), some of which refer to something called "La Crise intégriste". This in turn led me to the French blog "La crise intégriste", which purports, apparently, to have the text of the C.D.F. response. I face three problems, the last two of which follow from the first:

4.1 The document is in French, and I can't speak French (and the document is not so formatted that I can simply run it through a translator).

4.2 I don't know whether the document is authentic.

4.3 Even if it's authentic, I don't know whether it has been published ethically.

Could any French speakers help me out here?

Labels: Dignitatis Humanæ, Marcel Lefebvre, morality, religious liberty, Roman Curia

5. The S.S.P.X.'s The Problem of the Liturgical Reform is available, for free, on-line

I knew that it was available on-line somewhere, and this comment at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog gives its U.R.L. One can also find it via one of the items in the "Articles Index" at the website of the U.S. District of the S.S.P.X.

Labels: liturgy, modernism, N.O.M., S.S.P.X., T.L.M., theology, Vatican II

6. Here we go again: In South Australia, "wide-ranging reforms aimed at providing greater legal protection for children of same-sex parents [were] recommended to Parliament [last week]"

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Kids-with-two-mums-are-Weet-Bix-kids-too/

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., parenthood, S.A.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
23.V.2011
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Monday, May 9, 2011

Notes: Wednesday, May 3-Monday, May 9, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

6. A couple of recent items on socio-political doctrine

6.1 Fr. Rhonheimer on socio-political doctrine before and after Vatican II

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37113

I don't have time to write a proper rebuttal of that fascinating piece, so my initial intention was just to mention the main points of interest, each with little or no accompanying commentary from me. But as I started selecting representative quotations, it became clear that Fr. Rhonheimer's article, or at least the extract which Mr. Magister provided, was so thoroughly riddled with error, and grave error at that, that that approach would simply not do it justice, so I'll just give the link.

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Church and State, Confessional State, Dignitatis Humanæ, Magisterium, Martin Rhonheimer, morality, Quanta Cura, religious liberty, Vatican II

6.2 The latest from H.H. The Pope on religious liberty

MESS/ VIS 20110504 (430)

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37176

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Dignitatis Humanæ, Magisterium, morality, religious liberty, Vatican II

7. On "Apostolic Canon 34"

If you ever encounter on the Internet an apologist for the Eastern Schism, then you're likely to see "Apostolic Canon 34" cited at some point. I saw this cited by an Eastern-Catholic-turned-Eastern-Orthodox AQer a while ago, and most recently I've seen it cited in comments in the combox of a recent post by Mr. Schütz: See chiefly the comments in this sub-thread and also this comment. The comments of most interest to me were this one, this one, and this one. Some of The Catholic Encyclopedia's articles, such as those on the Apostolic Canons and on the councils in question, are also useful.

Labels: Eastern Schism, law

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 2011
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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Notes: Tuesday-Wednesday, January 11-12, 2011

1. Mr. Nalliah on the Queensland floods

Apparently Catch the Fire Ministries is a 'Christian Zionist' organisation:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/on-kevs-head/story-e6frgdk6-1225985863619
http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/2011/01/08/are-the-qld-floods-the-result-of-kevin-rudd-speaking-against-israel/#more-4666
(the latter link found in the combox at this post by Mr. Muehlenberg)

Labels: C.T.F.M., State of Israel

2. "‘Mother,’ ‘Father’ Changing to ‘Parent One,’ ‘Parent Two’ on [U.S.] Passport Applications"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/01/more-social-engineering-passport-applications/

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., parenthood

3. H.H. The Pope on religious liberty

There are good points and bad points in this speech, though unfortunately I don't have time to explain point by point the good and the bad. Anyway, here are the excerpts from the Vatican Information Service (V.I.S.) daily e-mail bulletin item on the speech which (excerpts) I regard as notably good or bad (if you're familiar with the Traditional doctrine on these matters then you'll probably know which is which):

HOLY FATHER'S ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS

VATICAN CITY, 10 JAN 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Pope Benedict pronounced his traditional annual address to members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. ...

[...] Ample extracts of the Holy Father's address are give below:

"Humanity throughout history, in its beliefs and rituals, demonstrates a constant search for God and 'these forms of religious expression are so universal that one may well call man a religious being'. The religious dimension is an undeniable and irrepressible feature of man's being and acting, the measure of the fulfilment of his destiny and of the building up of the community to which he belongs. Consequently, when the individual himself or those around him neglect or deny this fundamental dimension, imbalances and conflicts arise at all levels, both personal and interpersonal".

[...] "The particular influence of a given religion in a nation ought never to mean that citizens of another religion can be subject to discrimination in social life or, even worse, that violence against them can be tolerated. In this regard, it is important for inter-religious dialogue to favour a common commitment to recognising and promoting the religious freedom of each person and community. ...

"In a number of countries, on the other hand, a constitutionally recognised right to religious freedom exists, yet the life of religious communities is in fact made difficult and at times even dangerous because the legal or social order is inspired by philosophical and political systems which call for strict control, if not a monopoly, of the State over society. Such inconsistencies must end, so that believers will not find themselves torn between fidelity to God and loyalty to their country. I ask in particular that Catholic communities be everywhere guaranteed full autonomy of organisation and the freedom to carry out their mission, in conformity with international norms and standards in this sphere. My thoughts turn once again to the Catholic community of mainland China and its pastors, who are experiencing a time of difficulty and trial. I would also like to offer a word of encouragement to the authorities of Cuba, a country which in 2010 celebrated seventy-five years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations with the Holy See, that the dialogue happily begun with the Church may be reinforced and expanded.

"Turning our gaze from East to West, we find ourselves faced with other kinds of threats to the full exercise of religious freedom. I think in the first place of countries which accord great importance to pluralism and tolerance, but where religion is increasingly being marginalised. There is a tendency to consider religion, all religion, as something insignificant, alien or even destabilising to modern society, and to attempt by different means to prevent it from having any influence on the life of society. Christians are even required at times to act in the exercise of their profession with no reference to their religious and moral convictions, and even in opposition to them, as for example where laws are enforced limiting the right to conscientious objection on the part of health care or legal professionals.

"In this context, one can only be gratified by the adoption by the Council of Europe last October of a resolution protecting the right to conscientious objection on the part of medical personnel vis-a-vis certain acts which gravely violate the right to life, such as abortion.

[...] "Continuing my reflection, I cannot remain silent about another attack on the religious freedom of families in certain European countries which mandate obligatory participation in courses of sexual or civic education which allegedly convey a neutral conception of the person and of life, yet in fact reflect an anthropology opposed to faith and to right reason".

"On this solemn occasion, allow me to state clearly several principles which inspire the Holy See, together with the whole Catholic Church, in its activity within the intergovernmental international organisations for the promotion of full respect for the religious freedom of all. First, the conviction that one cannot create a sort of scale of degrees of religious intolerance. Unfortunately, such an attitude is frequently found, and it is precisely acts of discrimination against Christians which are considered less grave and less worthy of attention on the part of governments and public opinion. At the same time, there is a need to reject the dangerous notion of a conflict between the right to religious freedom and other human rights, thus disregarding or denying the central role of respect for religious freedom in the defence and protection of fundamental human dignity. Even less justifiable are attempts to counter the right of religious freedom with other alleged new rights which, while actively promoted by certain sectors of society and inserted in national legislation or in international directives, are nonetheless merely the expression of selfish desires lacking a foundation in authentic human nature. Finally, it seems unnecessary to point out that an abstract proclamation of religious freedom is insufficient: this fundamental rule of social life must find application and respect at every level and in all areas".

[...] "I would like once more to state forcefully that religion does not represent a problem for society, that it is not a source of discord or conflict. I would repeat that the Church seeks no privileges, nor does she seek to intervene in areas unrelated to her mission, but simply to exercise the latter with freedom. I invite everyone to acknowledge the great lesson of history: 'How can anyone deny the contribution of the world's great religions to the development of civilisation? The sincere search for God has led to greater respect for human dignity. Christian communities, with their patrimony of values and principles, have contributed much to making individuals and peoples aware of their identity and their dignity, the establishment of democratic institutions and the recognition of human rights and their corresponding duties. Today too, in an increasingly globalised society, Christians are called, not only through their responsible involvement in civic, economic and political life but also through the witness of their charity and faith, to offer a valuable contribution to the laborious and stimulating pursuit of justice, integral human development and the right ordering of human affairs'.
[...]
CD/ VIS 20110110 (2500)

See also the the first two comments, by "Centristian" and "Jason Keener", respectively, in the combox at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's post on this speech.

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Church and State, Confessional State, morality, religious liberty

4. Cardinal Tauran on, among other things, religious liberty

This is an extract from an old V.I.S. daily e-mail bulletin item which I've finally got round to posting at AQ:

EIGHTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, 15 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Eighth General Congregation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops was held this morning in the Synod Hall in the presence of the Holy Father and of 168 Synod Fathers. ...

Extracts from some of the Synod Father's speeches are given below:

[...] CARDINAL JEAN-LOUIS TAURAN, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE. "The Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops represents an opportunity and a challenge. An opportunity, because it could lead to better understanding: (1) that the unresolved conflicts in the region are not caused by religious reasons, as evinced by the presence among us of representatives of Judaism and of Islam; (2) of the urgency for a three-way reflection (Jews, Christians and Muslims) on the place of religions in Middle Eastern societies. It is also a challenge, to give Middle Eastern Christians concrete guidelines. Let us not be shy in reclaiming not only freedom of worship, but also religious freedom. Society and State should neither force a person to act against his conscience, nor hinder him from acting according to his conscience. Let us invest more in schools and universities, which are attended by both Christians and Muslims. They are indispensable places of co-existence. Let us ask ourselves if we are doing enough, at the level of the local Churches, to encourage our Christians to stay: housing, tuition, healthcare. We cannot expect everything from others". [...]
SE/ VIS 20101015 (950)
[bold type in the original, my italics and ellipses]

Labels: Dignitatis Humanæ, Jean-Louis Tauran, morality, religious liberty

Reginaldvs Cantvar
12.I.2011
Posted by at 4 comments:
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Mr. Baker on the validity of the Second Vatican Council as an Ecumenical Council

http://www.superflumina.org/dignitatis_humanae_AD2000.html

In his latest post at his website, the New South Wales solicitor and amateur Thomist Mr. Michael Baker has repeated his argument that the Second Vatican Council was not a valid Ecumenical Council. (I had intended to refute that argument when he advanced it earlier but I never got around to it.) Mr. Baker asks

how, if Vatican II was an ecumenical council, could [its teachings] conflict with ["hitherto established or infallible Catholic"] teaching?
[italics in the original, my square-bracketed interpolations]

The answer is the same one as the answer to the question of 'how, if Pope N. was a true Pope, could his teachings conflict with hitherto established or infallible Catholic teaching?' And that answer is: Because those teachings (of a Pope or Ecumenical Council) were not teachings of the Extraordinary Magisterium, whose distinguishing characteristics ('distinguishing', that is, from teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium) are definitiveness and imperativeness. The teachings of the Second Vatican Council were not definitive, so they were not necessarily inerrant. It is strange that Mr. Baker fails to grasp this, especially given that he mentions in that very post the characteristics of ex-Cathedra-level, i.e. Extraordinary-Magisterium-level, teachings.

Mr. Baker sets out his argument for the invalidity of the Second Vatican Council as follows:

The gratia gratis datae of infallibility is given to the college of bishops only for adequate reason. An ecumenical (or general) council is called by a pope to address some issue whose determination is essential to the welfare of the Church and the faithful. The welfare of Church and faithful is its end; its finality. Now the form (essence) of anything follows its finality.

In his Opening Speech to the Council Fathers, John XXIII acknowledged that there was no issue of doctrine or discipline to be determined, but that he had convoked the Council to make the Church relevant to the world, a reason conveniently summarised in a word he had coined in an earlier speech—aggiornamento. The Council was “to bring the Church up to date”. But the Church had no such need: the Church is outside time. Since, therefore, there was nothing essential to the welfare of the Church and the faithful to justify its convoking, Vatican II was not an ecumenical council.
[italics in the original]

That is, as Mr. Baker writes, his a priori argument against the validity of the Second Vatican Council. But from what I can tell, he orginally reached his conclusion a posteriori, and indeed he tells us what his a posteriori argument against the validity of Vatican II is:

Since the Church does not contradict herself, it is therefore impossible that the teaching of the Council’s bishops in Dignitatis Humanae was uttered by the Church.
[italics in the original]

The argument fails because the "Since ..." part is incomplete: It should say 'Since the Church does not contradict herself in exercising her Extraordinary Magisterium or her Ordinary and Universal Magisterium, ...' to which the 'it is therefore ...' part does not then follow. Thus is the a posteriori argument refuted.

Now to return to the a priori argument: Mr. Baker's argument there is basically that since the Second Vatican Council did not, so he argues, have the final cause, the end, of an Ecumenical Council, it therefore cannot have been an Ecumenical Council. His argument fails because Mr. Baker neglects the distinction between finis operis (end-of-work) and finis operantis (end-of-agent). A thing's end-of-agent need not be the same as its end-of-work in order for it truly to be the thing in question. To use an example which Mr. Baker has used: A table's end-of-work is to provide a stable surface on which to work or dine or whatever. It might have been that the carpenter's motive, his end-of-agent, in making the table was something completely different, but so long as it has the matter--the wood and nails and so on--and form--the 'tableness'--of a table, it is still a table, and capable of being put to a table's proper use. (Another example would be marriage. We know that matrimony's (primary) end is procreation and child-rearing. But if this were not the motive of the husband and wife, or even if the husband and wife had motives exclusive of this end, would it be a valid marriage? So long as the matter and form were there, there would still be a valid marriage.) Likewise for the Second Vatican Council: It had the matter--the world's Catholic bishops gathered together--and form--gathered together under the Pope--of an Ecumenical Council, so it cannot but have had the final cause of a Council, regardless of whatever novel motives the Pope might have had in convoking it, and regardless of whether or not it performed Acts of the Extraordinary Magisterium. (Though I'm not even sure that Bl. John XXIII.'s stated motive--explaining the Faith in a manner tailored to the needs of his time--was entirely novel, given that Reginald Pole gave something like that as one of the reasons for the Council of Trent.) Hence the only successful way to prove the invalidity of the Second Vatican Council by the lack of one or more of the four Aristotelian causes would be to reason like the Sedevacantists do and argue that Bl. John XXIII. or Paul VI. or both were false Popes, hence Vatican II lacked the formal cause and the efficient cause necessary to be a Council (and the material cause too, since a "Catholic bishop" is, by definition, a validly-consecrated bishop in communion with a true Pope). But there is no need to do so, since whatever difficulties there are in the documents of Vatican II, those documents are not (and don't pretend to be) Acts of the Extraordinary Magisterium. The Second Vatican Council was a true Ecumenical Council, albeit one which taught problematically, just as there have been true Popes who taught problematically--but never, in the cases of Councils or Popes, in their respective definitive pronouncements.

Perhaps now Mr. Baker can move on from his futile denials of the validity of the Second Vatican Council and, having come to see the problems with Dignitatis humanæ, turn his attention to the problems with the Novus Ordo Missæ.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and, the feast of St. Nicomedes, Martyr, A.D. 2010
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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Notes: Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Mr. Baker on the relatio to what became Dignitatis humanæ

http://www.superflumina.org/relig_liberty_doctrine.html

This is a detailed and vigorous rebuttal of the arguments which Dignitiatis humanæ's relator, Msgr. de Smedt, offered in defence of that document's theses.

Prof. Lumby on sex education in high schools

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ok-class-who-wants-teens-to-go-on-learning-sex-in-sheds/

Prof. Lumby writes that

The Victorian government – and let’s remember that state governments are chronically terrified of upsetting anyone about anything – recently made the bizarre decision to introduce sex education to students in Years 9 and 10 which asks them to actually discuss sex.

[...] Teachers are even encouraged to ask students to discuss their own experiences and views on sexual practices, sexual ethics and intimate relationships. Clearly, that’s ridiculously sane. On what planet do these evidence-based sex education policy makers live? Naturally there’s been an outcry.

In the first of those paragraphs Prof. Lumby is, of course, being ironic when she describes the decision as "bizarre". But bizarrely (and I am not being ironic) she is not being ironic when she describes as "sane" teachers enouraging their respective pupils to discuss their sexual experiences with the class. Does it not occur to her how easily that sort of thing could end in tears, or worse (has she forgetten last year's fiasco of Kyle Sandilands asking a fourteen-year-old rape victim, to whom a lie detector was attached, whether the alleged rape had been 'her only sexual experience'?)? Reading Prof. Lumby's article, I felt as though she and I inhabit different moral universes.

But the occasions of sin and embarrassment which such an exercise would generate are not the only problem. Another problem is that, as though 'personal development, health, and physical education' classes aren't a big enough waste of time, this would be a further dumbing down of the school curriculum and an advancement of a philosophy which evaluates schooling according to its 'relevance' and 'practicality' rather than according to how it cultivates intellectual excellence. Is it too much to ask that the school curriculum restrict itself to educating, and leave things like learning to drive (recently there was a serious proposal aired in the Sydney Daily Telegraph to teach driving in schools) to outside school hours where they belong?

Mr. Muehlenberg and others on moral obligation

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/08/02/the-politics-of-unbelief/

Here's an interesting extract from a recent comment by Mr. Muehlenberg at his blog:

People are moral and able to be moral because they are moral beings living in a moral universe created by a moral God. So for that reason atheists can live moral lives. It is just that moral motions and obligations make no sense in the atheist’s worldview. ... As I already said in the above quote, the honest atheists even admit to this. There are plenty more such quotes. Let me offer just one further example: “The concept of moral obligation [is] unintelligible apart from the idea of God.” (Atheist ethicist Richard Taylor).

One of Mr. Muehlenberg's interlocuters responded with, among other things, the following:

As for that quote about “moral obligation”, did you consider that that Richard Taylor was proposing that moral obligation equates to guilt? Your priests lay an obligation on their flocks to be moral, for fear of punishment. Atheists choose to be ethical because it is the right thing to do. Therefore, moral obligation only makes sense if you’re religious; the rest of us aren’t OBLIGED to be moral – we choose it freely.

Of that paragraph Mr. Muehlenberg wrote

Sadly your paragraph on moral obligation is completely incoherent, so I cannot even attempt to reply to such gibberish. I am afraid it is you who is completely out of your depth here, and you will have to come up with something much better if you hope to convince us that atheism is somehow a coherent and rational position. We are certainly not getting that from you so far.

Now it's clear that the interlocuter is confused in his understanding of the idea of moral obligation and its importance in ethical theory. But by saying that "the rest of us aren’t OBLIGED to be moral – we choose it freely" the interlocuter unwittingly indicates the problem with a Godless, and therefore lawless and obligation-less, (a)moral world--because if we choose freely to be moral, then whyever can't we choose freely to be immoral? Without moral obligation, we have, by definition, the moral liberty to do either. And so another commenter at Mr. Muehlenberg's blog did well to write the following:

You might deny the existence of God, but you can’t escape the inevitable conclusion that without a moral law giver as a foundation for moral reasoning you are left without a philosophical leg to stand on. The older atheists understood this, which was why they embraced a very nihilistic view of the universe. Sadly the preening pretentious frauds that claim to pick up their mantle today seem to have forgotten the lessons of the much wiser intellects that went before them.

If you want to claim to push a moral law giver out of the picture then at lest be intellectually honest enough to admit that you are left with nothing but a vacuum of moral nihilism.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Dominic, Confessor, A.D. 2010
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