Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islam. 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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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Notes: Friday, August 1-Wednesday, December 31, 2014 (part 1 of 2)

1. "Divorces are more costly for Australian women than for men, and for longer periods, too, new research reveals."

The quotation in that headline is the first line of the article "Divorce more costly for Australian women", no byline, dated August 1, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/divorce-more-costly-for-australian-women-20140801-zz7zc.html?skin=text-only

Labels: divorce, economics, marriage

2. A couple of recent articles on the importance of the father-child relationship

See the article "The Distinct, Positive Impact of a Good Dad", by W. Bradford Wilcox, dated June 14, 2013, downloaded from The Atlantic's website:

http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/06/the-distinct-positive-impact-of-a-good-dad/276874/

(that article came to my attention via the "Recommended Reading" section of the July-August 2014 issue of The Archdiocese of Sydney's Life, Marriage & Family Centre's Life, Marriage and Family News) and the blog post "Daughters and Their Dads: The Vital Relationship", by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated August 27, 2014, downloaded from his CultureWatch blog:

http://billmuehlenberg.com/2014/08/27/daughters-and-their-dads-the-vital-relationship/

Labels: families

3. Mr. Attard on H.M.A. Government's "wealth transfer from single-income to dual-income families"

See the article "Govt's wealth transfer from single-income to dual-income families", by Mr. Daniel Attard, dated August 30, 2014, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56696

Labels: childcare, economics, families

4. "Malta legalizes same-sex civil unions as bill passes 37-0"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Hilary White, dated April 15, 2014, downloaded from LifeSiteNews.com:

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/malta-legalizes-same-sex-civil-unions-as-bill-passes-37-0

(That article came to my attention via its posting at AQ.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., civil unions, Malta

5. Mr. Muehlenberg on "Islam, Polygamy and Western Subsidies"

See the blog post "Islam, Polygamy and Western Subsidies", by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated September 23, 2014, downloaded from his CultureWatch blog:

http://billmuehlenberg.com/2014/09/23/islam-polygamy-and-western-subsidies/

Labels: Islam, polyamory

6. Ms Armstrong on the relationship between religion and politics

See the article "The myth of religious violence", by Karen Armstrong, dated Thursday, September 25, 2014, downloaded from The Guardian's website:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/25/-sp-karen-armstrong-religious-violence-myth-secular

See also the book review (especially its penultimate paragraph) "Karen Armstrong explores historical links between religion and violence", by Gerard Windsor, dated October 4, 2014, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/karen-armstrong-explores-historical-links-between-religion-and-violence/story-fn9n8gph-1227079238329

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Faith's place in the battlefield", with the same author, on pp. 18 f. in the "BOOKS" pages of the "review" supplement of The Weekend Australian, October 4-5, 2014, Second Edition, No. 15498, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, liberalism

7. "On Saturday 11 October 2014, Pride Football Australia will host the 3rd annual PFA Football Tournament in Sydney. … For the first time in the tournaments[ sic] history David Gallop and Football Federation Australia have officially endorsed the event."

The quotation, including its bold type but excluding the ellipsis, in that headline comes from the webpage "ACON Is Proud To Be A Main Sponsor of the Pride Football Australia Tournament", no author credited, undated, downloaded from acon's website:

Warning: acon is a Gay lobby group, so beware of obscene text and images at its website:

http://www.acon.org.au/get-involved/events/pride-football-australia-tournament

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

8. "While anal cancer is relatively rare among the general population, gay men are 20 times more likely to contract it."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Boost to cancer funding", by Mr. Alex McKinnon, dated Match 7, 2013, downloaded from the Star Observer's website:

Warning: The Star Observer is a Gay medium, so beware of obscene text and images at its website:

http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/local-news/new-south-wales-news/boost-to-cancer-funding/99732

(That article came to my attention via the comment of 18.10.14 / 8pm by Trevor Grace in the combox at the blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg.)

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

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Day within the Octave of Christmas, and the feast of St. Sylvester I., Pope, Confessor, A.D. 2014
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Monday, February 6, 2012

Notes: Wednesday, January 18-Monday, February 6, 2012 (part 1 of 2)

1. "Obesity link to lack of mother bonding":
INFANTS who don't bond closely with their mothers show an increased likelihood of growing up to be obese.

[…] Pediatrics, 2011;doi:10.1542/peds.2011-0972, (Anderson S, et al)
[Bold type in the original,
"Obesity link to lack of mother bonding", by Adam Taor, dated January 14, 2012, downloaded from The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/obesity-link-to-lack-of-mother-bonding/story-e6frg8y6-1226242984452
Also published, in slightly different form, as the "Pulse" column by Adam Taor on page nine of the "Health" section of the "Weekend Professional" supplement in the print edition of The Weekend Australian, January 14-15, 2012]
Labels: families, health

2. According to the Holy Father, "the ecumenical task is a responsibility of the entire Church and of all the baptized, who must develop the partial communion that already exists among Christians and make it grow into full communion in truth and in charity"

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20120118_en.html

"INVOKING THE GIFT OF UNITY AMONG CHRISTIANS"
VIS 20120118 (720)
http://www.news.va/en/news/invoking-the-gift-of-unity-among-christians

See also
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40551

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, ecumenism

3. H.H. The Pope on "legitimate separation of Church and State" and religious freedom

"DIFFICULTIES AND HOPES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN AMERICA"
VIS 20120119 (760)
http://www.news.va/en/news/difficulties-and-hopes-of-the-catholic-church-in-a

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/january/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20120119_bishops-usa_en.html

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40451

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40441

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Church and State, religious liberty, U.S.A.

4. Several web-pages on recent news regarding the Neo-Catechumenal Way

"HOLY FATHER MEETS WITH MEMBERS OF NEO-CATECHUMENAL WAY"
VIS 20120120 (780)
http://www.news.va/en/news/holy-father-meets-with-members-of-neo-catechumenal

"APPROVAL FOR CELEBRATIONS OF NEO-CATECHUMENAL WAY"
VIS 20120120 (220)
http://www.news.va/en/news/approval-for-celebrations-of-neo-catechumenal-way

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/01/the-holy-see-did-not-approve-neocat-liturgical-variants-for-mass/

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/01/benedict-xvi-the-neocats-and-their-liturgy/

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/01/another-confirmation-that-neocats-must-follow-official-liturgical-books-for-mass/

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40450

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40468

Labels: N.C.W.

5. "Is Homosexuality Biologically Determined?"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40452

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

6. "Muslim men first to be found guilty of [Gay] hate crime [in the U.K.]"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9028205/Muslim-men-first-to-be-found-guilty-of-sex-hate-crime.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/20/three-muslims-convicted-gay-hate-leaflets

Labels: death penalty, G.L.B.T., hate speech, Islam

7. "A study published in the Lancet last Friday found that globally, more restrictive abortion laws do not lead to lower abortion rates – sometimes, rates are higher where abortion is illegal"

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/beware-the-pro-lifers-doing-hard-labor-on-abortion/

Labels: abortion, law

8. Prof. George has a blog

More precisely, he contributes to this group blog:

http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/

(That came to my attention via this post at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog.)

Labels: blogs

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Titus, Bishop, Confessor, and of St. Dorothy, Virgin, Martyr, A.D. 2012
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, November 15-Tuesday, November 29, 2011

1. The November 2011 issue of the Regina Coeli Report (from the United States District of the S.S.P.X.)

http://sspx.org/rcr_pdfs/2011_rcrs/november_2011_rcr.pdf

(I log that for its information on the 2011 Angelus Press Conference on the Kingship of Christ. It came to my attention via a recent edition of the S.S.P.X. U.S. District's e-mail update, to which you can subscribe at that District's website (see this blog's links section).)

Labels: Social Reign of Christ

2. "HUNDREDS of doctors have formed a coalition to support voluntary euthanasia and lobby state governments to decriminalise the practice"

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/news/national/national/general/doctors-form-lobby-for-right-to-die-with-dignity/2356069.aspx

(That came to my attention via this CathNews page.)

Labels: euthanasia

3. The latest on Australian popular support for so-called Gay marriage

http://www.smh.com.au/national/voter-opinion-adds-weight-to-shift-in-marriage-policy-20111114-1nfkj.html?skin=text-only

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/australia-is-not-ready-to-say-we-do-to-gay-marriage-20111124-1nwy2.html?skin=text-only

In The Australian's editorial on some of those findings, that newspaper reminds us that it "believes that consenting adults should be free to make their own lifestyle choices". So why does it put the word "marriages", when writing of "unregistered polygamous … Sharia "marriages" among Muslims", in inverted commas when, in line with its aforementioned belief, it does not do likewise for so-called Gay/same-sex marriage?

Labels: Australian, G.L.B.T., Islam, marriage

4. "Purgatory in Scripture: New Developments"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39762

Labels: Purgatory, Scripture, theology

5. Some recent findings on Australian demography

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/one-million-kids-wont-move-out-of-home/story-e6frg6nf-1226205401109

The findings which are of most interest to me are, in the order in which they appear in that article, that "[o]ver 6.3 million families were couples with children and 14 per cent were one-parent families", that "[o]ne million children or one in five of those aged 0-17 had a natural parent living outside the household", that "[i]n the 12 years since 1998 the percentage of couples with children in which both parents were employed increased from 56 per cent to 61 per cent", that "31.5 [is] now the median marrying age for men and 29.2 the median age for women", and that "[t]he median age of Australians is 37.6".

Labels: demography, families, marriage, work

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Saturninus, Martyr, A.D. 2011
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, October 11-Tuesday, October 18, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

8. "Patriarch Kirill lauds Putin for ‘enhancing Russia’s international authority’"

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39294

(See also the first comment after the thread-starter for information about recent developments in the Russian Orthodox Church.)

Labels: Cyril of Moscow, R.O.C., Russia, Vladimir Putin

9. "Princess wants stunning before slaughter"

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/princess-wants-stunning-before-slaughter-20111017-1lt1g.html?skin=text-only

I was surprised to learn, from Australia's Agriculture Department's acting deputy secretary for the live animal export taskforce, quoted in that article, that in Australia,
For cattle we do allow for ritual slaughter purposes, for stunning to occur after the cut has been done, so it's a post-cut stunning.
Labels: Islam, Jews

10. "Last Wednesday [two Lesbians] organised a forum for gay and lesbian parents with school-age children to address what they see as a stereotypical and heterosexual representation of family at their schools"
[...] The forum included representatives from the Board of Education and the Board of Studies, as well as 70 gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents.

[...] A group calling themselves Rainbow Schoolies have set up a work party to produce a program for principals and teachers on how they should include a child from a gay family in the school environment.

Although the program will initially be aimed at [one] primary school, the group hopes to extend the program to other schools in in Australia, and is planning a national conference next year.

[...] [One panellist at that forum, who is "an associate professor in the school of education at the University of Western Sydney" and "specialises in issues of gender and sexuality within education"] said the changes to the curriculum next year would be a chance to address issues of diversity and inclusion within the school environment, with a platform for members of the public to voice their concerns.
[http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/happy-fathers-day-mum--gender-restriction-a-challenge-for-gay-families-20111016-1lrfi.html?skin=text-only]
See also item 3 of this edition of Notes.

Labels: education, families, G.L.B.T., N.S.W., Rainbow Schoolies

11. "Growth [in the world's population] has been so rapid that the US Population Reference Bureau estimates that about 5 per cent of all the people who have ever lived are living now"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/coming-soon-7-billion-reasons-to-rethink-how-we-use-the-planet-20111016-1lrdu.html?skin=text-only

Labels: demography

12. "Toowoomba GP and pro-family activist David van Gend found himself in conciliation before the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland over a complaint that an article he wrote for Brisbane's The Courier-Mail, as part of a debate about same-sex marriage, vilified the homosexual community"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/discrimination-police-indulging-in-gay-abandon/story-e6frg6zo-1226167016741

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/10/17/truth-the-telling-is-now-hate-speech/

Labels: David van Gend, discrimination, families, G.L.B.T., marriage

13. A blast from Australia's 'sectarian' past

I was intrigued when I read a very short biography of one "Sister Liguori", of whom I didn't recall previously hearing, on the Sydney Daily Telegraph's history page yesterday, and planned to see if I could find out, on the Internet, more about her and the episode of Australian 'sectarian' history in which she featured so prominently. I've found that the Australian Dictionary of Biography's article "Partridge, Bridget (1890–1966)" is available here.

Labels: Bridget Partridge

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist, Martyr, A.D. 2011
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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, September 27-Tuesday, October 4, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. "British Muslims reviving polygamy"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/british-muslim-reviving-polygamy/story-e6frg6so-1226147865652

Labels: Islam, polyamory

2. "E[very] child should take a citizenship pledge at school, and all Australians should know the pledge by heart, the Social Inclusion Minister, Tanya Plibersek, said last night"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/my-oath-citizens-should-know-it-says-minister-20110927-1kvib.html?skin=text-only

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/love-of-australia-is-about-more-than-lifestyle-20110928-1kwfd.html?skin=text-only

Labels: liberalism, secularism

3. H.H. The Pope implicitly criticises the arrangements of union between Church and State which existed in history's Catholic Confessional States?

Excerpts from an item in a recent edition of the Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin:
IT IS TIME FOR THE CHURCH TO SET ASIDE HER WORLDLINESS

VATICAN CITY, 25 SEP 2011 (VIS) - At 5 p.m. today at the concert hall of Freiburg im Breisgau, the Holy Father met with representatives of Catholic associations active in the life of the Church and of society.

[...] "In the concrete history of the Church, however, a contrary tendency is also manifested, namely that the Church becomes settled in this world, she becomes self-sufficient and adapts herself to the standards of the world. She gives greater weight to organisation and institutionalisation than to her vocation to openness", the Pope said.

And he went on: "In order to accomplish her true task adequately, the Church must constantly renew the effort to detach herself from the 'worldliness' of the world. ... One could almost say that history comes to the aid of the Church here through the various periods of secularisation, which have contributed significantly to her purification and inner reform".

"Secularising trends", he added, "whether by expropriation of Church goods, or elimination of privileges or the like, have always meant a profound liberation of the Church from forms of worldliness, for in the process she has set aside her worldly wealth and has once again completely embraced her worldly poverty". In freeing herself of material ties, "her missionary activity regained credibility".

Benedict XVI recalled that history shows how a Church detached from the world can bear more effective missionary witness. "Once liberated from her material and political burdens, the Church can reach out more effectively and in a truly Christian way to the whole world, she can be truly open to the world", he said.
[...]PV-GERMANY/ VIS 20110926 (750)
It's mainly the last of those paragraphs in which I'm interested here (I provide the others mainly for context, and the full text of His Holiness's speech is available here). Does it contain an implicit criticism of the arrangements of union between Church and State which existed in history's Catholic Confessional States? (I don't ask that rhetorically. What do you make of that speech and particularly that paragraph of it?)

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Church and State, Confessional State, secularism

4. On Quærit semper

Excerpts from an item in a recent edition of the Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin:
MOTU PROPRIO "QUAERIT SEMPER"

VATICAN CITY, 29 SEP 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father yesterday promulgated "Quaerit Semper", an Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data" which modifies the Apostolic Constitution "Pastor Bonus", transferring certain functions of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to a new office established in the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. The office will deal with the procedures for dispensation from unconsummated marriage and causes for the nullity of priestly ordination.

Extracts from the document are given below.

[...] "In the current circumstances it seemed fitting that the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments should dedicate itself chiefly to giving fresh impetus to promoting sacred liturgy in the Church, in keeping with the renewal promoted by Vatican Council II through the Constitution 'Sacrosanctum Concilium'.

[...] The new norms will come into effect as of 1 October.
MP/ VIS 20110929 (460)
See also the following web-pages:

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39116

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=28449

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/motu-proprio-quaerit-semper-rearranges-the-cong-for-worship-and-roman-rota/

Labels: liturgy, Quærit semper, Roman Curia, Vatican II

5. Prof. Hamilton on differences between men and women:
With women to take on military combat roles, it is time to sound the Last Post over the rotting corpse of feminism. It's what has to be done to their minds. When the Defence Minister says the individual has to have "the right physical, psychological and mental attributes", he's thinking of male mental attributes - those needed to kill.

Putting women in the front line is a victory only for the campaign to obliterate difference, as if everything women were before the advent of feminism was the creation of patriarchy. But didn't women's life experiences and history provide distinctive qualities more needed today than ever? We should celebrate the uniquely female rather than bury it under the demand for equality.

Women's morality differs from men's. Feminist philosopher Carol Gilligan argues women are motivated more by care than duty, and inclined more to emphasise responsibilities than rights. They seek reconciliation through the exercise of compassion and negotiation rather than demanding "justice", through force if necessary.

War best represents the continued hegemony of male thinking, with the grunt culture of hyper-masculinity inescapable because survival depends on it. And no institution more purely reflects the male understanding of power than the armed forces, built on the idea that the world is a place of conflict where disputes can be resolved by lethal force, and the more lethal the better.
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/women-at-war-is-the-final-surrender-20110929-1kz77.html?skin=text-only]
Labels: gender differences

6. Br. André Marie on "The Freedom and Exaltation of Holy Mother Church"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39121

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, Leo XIII. Pecci, T.L.M.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Confessor, A.D. 2011
Posted by at 2 comments:
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Monday, July 25, 2011

Notes: Wednesday, July 20-Monday, July 25, 2011

1. "[In N.S.W. State school 'ethics classes', children] are now critically thinking about ethical concepts and moral issues within a secular framework", writes one of the "volunteer ethics teacher[s]"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/even-a-child-could-work-this-one-out-mr-nile-20110719-1hncd.html?skin=text-only

Labels: education, morality, secularism, St James Ethics Centre

2. A couple of recent items regarding polyamory

2.1 Research findings on Muslim polygynous and otherwise irregular marriages

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/sharia-law-at-work-in-australia/story-fn59niix-1226097889992

Labels: Islam, marriage, polyamory

2.2 Fr. Zuhlsdorf's fisking of an article on "[t]he slippery slope: from decriminalization to social acceptance"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/the-slippery-slope-from-decriminalization-to-social-acceptance/
(It's the article itself, rather than the fisking, for which I've logged that web-page.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, polyamory

3. "The [Russian Orthodox] Moscow Patriarchate has undertaken a real campaign of expansion at home and abroad"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38209

Labels: R.O.C.

4. On planned or desired State attacks on the Sacrament of Penance

4.1 More on Ireland's planned attack on the Sacrament of Penance

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/ireland-priests-will-refuse-to-break-seal-of-confession-if-proposal-becomes-law/
(In that post's combox, good points are made by the commenters markomalley, PostCatholic, and albizzi here, here, and here, respectively.)

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38221

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=27315

Labels: Ireland, Sacraments, sexual abuse

4.2 On Sen. Xenophon's desire for Australian States to attack the Sacrament of Penance

http://www.smh.com.au/national/call-to-end-confessional-confidentiality-20110721-1hr0d.html?skin=text-only

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/unforgiveable-sin-confessing-to-child-abuse/

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=27331

Labels: Nick Xenophon, Sacraments, sexual abuse

5. Mr. Skinner on the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics's findings on the size of the homosexual and bisexual proportion of the population

The comment of 20.7.11 / 5pm in the combox here:

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/07/17/pushing-agendas-ignoring-facts/

The interesting thing about those findings is that it seems that even if you count all non-answers and answers other than heterosexual/straight as 'queer' (or whatever catch-all you prefer) then that would still give a mere 5.2%.

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

6. "Obama's [latest] gay rights push"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/obamas-gay-rights-push-20110720-1houe.html?skin=text-only

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38225

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

Feast of St. James the Greater, Apostle, and of St. Christopher, Martyr, A.D. 2011
Posted by at No comments:
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Monday, June 6, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, May 31-Monday, June 6, 2011

1. "Reverse proof of title, says Paul Keating"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/aboriginal-australia/reverse-proof-of-title-says-paul-keating/story-e6frgd9f-1226066787825

Labels: burden of proof, justice, law

2. "Neocatechumenal Way Invites German Youth to Madrid"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37573

Labels: Jews, Neo-catechumenal Way

3. Fr. Scott on Universæ Ecclesiæ

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37569

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Kurt Koch, liturgy, N.O.M., Peter Scott, T.L.M., Universæ Ecclesiæ

4. Mr. Muehlenberg on, among other things, how "[t]he exact Islamic requirements for halal slaughter ... may not be fully clear, at least in some quarters"

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/05/31/tortured-cows-and-babies/

Labels: Islam

5. "Gay softball league can limit straight players, [U.S.] Judge rules"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/gay-softball-league-can-limit-straight-players-judge-rules/story-fn3dxity-1226068573943

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

6. Mr. Bellet on the size of the homosexual proportion of the population

The comment of 6.6.11 / 8pm in the combox here:

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/06/02/why-radical-agendas-are-winning/

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

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Norbert, Bishop, Confessor, A.D. 2011
Posted by at No comments:
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Monday, May 2, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, April 19-Monday, May 2, 2011

1. How, according to a blog commenter, Bl. John XXIII. changed the Good Friday prayer for the Jews

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/04/wdtprs-revisited-the-new-good-friday-prayer-for-jews-inserted-into-the-1962mr/#comment-268340

Labels: Jews, John XXIII. Roncalli, liturgy, T.L.M.

2. Two recent acts by H.M. The Queen

2.1 Announcement that Lord Phillips and Lord Boyce will join the Order of the Garter

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13168587

You can read more about the activities of Lord Phillips here, here, the comment here, here, and especially here. Needless to say, however, I do not necessarily agree with the entire content and/or perspective of any of those pieces.

Labels: Islam, Jews, Michael Boyce, Nicholas Phillips, Order of the Garter, State of Israel

2.2 H.R.H. Prince William of Wales and Miss Middleton become T.R.H. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2011/Announcementoftitles29April2011.aspx

http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/blog/2011/April/29/Titles-announced-for-Prince-William-and-Catherine-Middleton

(See also the last clause of the last sentence of this Herald article.)

Labels: William Wales

3. "Grahame" on the teachings of H.H. The Pope and Teilhard de Chardin regarding the priesthood, the liturgy, and the "Cosmos"

http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/msg/1303955083.html

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, liturgy, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, A.D. 2011
Posted by at 1 comment:
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Monday, April 18, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, April 12-Monday, April 18, 2011

1. Latest American figures on sexual abuse by Catholic priests

http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/thread/1302558767.html

http://www.catholicleague.org/nytstraighttalk.php

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36834

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=25812

Labels: sexual abuse

2. Dr. Gates on the G.L.B.T. proportion of the population

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/gay-equality-doesnt-add-up-until-we-do-the-numbers-20110412-1dcit.html?skin=text-only

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

3. Cardinal Pell with some facts about events in the post-Conciliar era
Pope Paul VI appointed no bishops who were opposed to the ethos of Vatican II, ...

[...] Incidentally it is a matter of historical record that at the 1971 Synod of Bishops, Pope Paul offered to the bishops the option of ordaining married men to the priesthood and the bishops declined to accept this.

[...] In Pope John Paul’s 27 years of pontificate 24 individuals were disciplined for their theological views, including eight who were silenced or removed, in the worldwide Catholic community of more than one billion believers.
[http://theswag.org.au/2011/04/some-gaudium-and-no-spes/]
His Eminence also asserts in that letter that "the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X ... are still in schism", which is not only false, even from Rome's perspective, but illogical for him given that in the same section of the letter he says that their putative excommunications were lifted.

Labels: celibacy, George Pell, John Paul II. Wojtyla, Paul VI. Montini, S.S.P.X., Vatican II

4. "Ethnic federation calls on PM to bolster multicultural policy"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/ethnic-federation-calls-on-pm-to-bolster-multicultural-policy/story-fn59niix-1226039379342

Labels: multiculturalism

5. Discussion thread on the pre-1955 Holy Week liturgical schedule

Mainly of interest to me for the references to the present and past practice of the S.S.P.X. in that connection:

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36891

Labels: liturgy, S.S.P.X., T.L.M.

6. Figures on the use of contraception by American Catholics

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36893

Labels: contraception

7. Two items regarding John Paul II.

7.1 Review of a biography of John Paul II.

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36884

Labels: John Paul II. Wojtyla

7.2 List of quotations from John Paul II. regarding Islam

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=404020#404020

Labels: Islam, John Paul II. Wojtyla

8. Note regarding possible new admissions to the Order of the Garter

This Saturday, April 23 (which is usually St. George's Day), is Holy Saturday. Apparently,
This year 2011, St Georges Day will be officially celebrated on May 2nd. This is because Easter falls late this year and April 23rd is Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Under the rules of the Church of England, if St Georges Day falls within a week of Easter then Easter has precedence and St Georges Day is moved to after Easter. This will the first Monday in May, May Day Bank Holiday, ...
[http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/StGeorge.htm]
Now there are currently three vacancies in the Order of the Garter (judging by the list at H.M. The Queen's website, one would think that there were only two, but that list has not been updated to take into account the death of His late Grace The Duke of Grafton). If Her Majesty intends to fill some or all of those vacancies this year, I wonder whether the announcement will be made on Holy Saturday, or on May 2? Delaying any announcement till the latter date would be convenient in that The Queen could also announce Miss Middleton's admission to the Order as one of its Royal Ladies.

Labels: Order of the Garter

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Monday in Holy Week, A.D. 2011
Posted by at 3 comments:
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Monday, January 31, 2011

Notes: Monday-Monday, January 24-31, 2011

1. Projections for Muslim population growth

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/muslim-population-growth-to-boom-study/story-e6frg6so-1225995607652

Labels: demography, Islam

2. On abortion and suicide

2.1 Some figures on abortion in the U.S., South Australia, and Russia

U.S.:
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35748

South Australia:
http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/msg/1296030442.html

Russia:
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3284

2.2 Mr. Obama and the European Court of Human Rights on the implications of a 'right to privacy' for, respectively, abortion and suicide

Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters.
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/22/statement-president-roe-v-wade-anniversary]

Of course, to be more precise, what Mr. Obama meant to say when is he said that "government should not intrude on private family matters" is that 'government should not intrude on some but not all private family matters'--presumably he thinks, despite the logical inconsistency, that a father should be prevented, where feasible, from committing infanticide.

Meanwhile,

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the “respect for private life” found in the European Convention of Human Rights includes the right of individuals to choose freely to commit suicide.
[http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35725]

(See this AQ comment for a different, but still valid, perspective on Mr. Obama's comment.)

Labels: abortion, Barack Obama, demography, E.C.H.R., human rights, morality, suicide

3. "SCIENTISTS are getting closer to finding a non-physical definition of the kilogram"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/race-for-new-kilo-equivalent/story-e6frg6so-1225993858116

Labels: physics

4. Various letter-writers on so-called gay marriage and related questions

Below is my transcription of four letters, apparently not available on-line, which were published in The Weekend Australian Magazine's "Feedback" section (page 4) last Saturday. I don't necessarily agree with the whole content and/or expression of each of these letters, but each makes at least one good point:

"Tying the Knot" (Jan 15-16), eulo-gising "same-sex" marriages, is sugar-coating a poison pill. The usual anec-dotes are presented about happy homosexual unions. We are beguiled with images of beautiful babies with same-sex "parents". Wait for the posion pill to act on these babies. Then we will see a little girl wrapping herself around a male father figure, or a male young-ster crying, "I wish I had a mother."
Ian Seccombe
Epping, NSW

Most people probably have no serious objection to same-sex relationships or legalised unions, but expropriating the word "married" so that its traditional meaning is lost is another matter.
Rob Davies
Point Lonsdale, Vic

I have been in a male gay relationship for 31 years and my partner and I both agree that marriage is a binding commit-ment between male and female. How I would have preferred to be born a heterosexual and to be able to have had children of my own, but I recognise they are my wants only, without considera-tion for the child. I believe that a child needs that father and mother parenting role model to have the opportunity to achieve the best for their life. Same-sex parenting must surely have a confusing influence on a child's development.
Roger Phillips
Adelaide, SA

It is wonderful that couples, gay or straight, who are unable to conceive children naturally have the opportunity to become parents but please consider the rights and feelings of their offspring. They may not want to know their full identity now but I can assure you they will at some time in the future. Surely it is everyone's basic human right to know their full identity.
Bronwyn Vincent
Macgregor, ACT

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

4. "Gays vow respect in marriage debate"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/gays-vow-respect-in-marriage-debate/story-e6frg6nf-1225997089933

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, morality

5. Blog comments by me

Two which I've submitted at Joshua's blog here and here, and this one at Terra's blog:

Cardinal Pole said...

"[Felix is] disconcerted by the lack of fairness in referring to the SSPX.

"As whenn Father Gerald says that "the Lefebvre group stresses Latin for the Mass ...", trivialising their actual concerns."

I agree that Father trvialises the S.S.P.X.'s concerns about the N.O.M. Isn't Msgr. Lefebvre on record as saying something like that if the T.L.M. had simply been translated into the vernacular without any other modification then the S.S.P.X. could not justifiably have rejected such a Mass? (I don't ask that rhetorically; is my recollection accurate, and if so where might it be verified?)

February 1, 2011 2:39 AM
Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval.
[http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2011/01/just-call-me-catholic-please.html]

I address the questions which I've asked there to my readers here, too.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Bosco, Confessor, A.D. 2011
Posted by at No comments:
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Monday, December 20, 2010

Notes: Saturday-Monday, December 18-20, 2010

1. "Melkite Patriarch Gregory III: Jihad attacks on Middle Eastern Christians have all been a Zionist plot"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35184

2. "Oberammergau bends 10-year vow, will stage religious plays annually"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35181

3. "No renting houses to Arabs: 55% of Israelis agree with the Rabbis"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35179

See also this Herald article:

Despite Rabbi Eliyahu's edict sending shockwaves through Israel's secular political establishment - with many commentators likening it to Nazi Germany's anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws of 1935 - it received the immediate backing of 75 rabbis across Israel.

At last count more than 300 rabbis - most of them in positions funded by the state - have added their names to the edict.

[...] Israeli Jews offended by the actions of the state rabbis have been further angered by their apparent immunity from the law.

[...] Yet, after two months in which a host of discriminatory laws were passed by the Israeli parliament, including a loyalty oath demanded of all new immigrants to Israel, a ban on Arab tour guides in the city of Jerusalem, and a ban on all organisations that question the Jewish character of the state of Israel, others argue that it is a natural extension of the current status quo. ''Fascism has raised its head in Israeli society,'' said the Arab Israeli MP Ahmed Tibi.

4. "Catholics told to lobby against gay marriage"
Australian Marriage Equality spokesman Rodney Croome said the gay marriage movement respected the church's right not to marry same-sex couples, ...
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/catholics-told-to-lobby-against-gay-marriage/story-fn59niix-1225973584062]
I wonder how long that'll last?

5. Mrs. Peterson on why women can't be priests

http://scecclesia.com/?p=4700&cpage=1#comment-17487

6. Two articles by Mr. Muehlenberg regarding abortion

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/12/20/when-rights-talk-goes-completely-mad/
http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/12/19/abortion-the-fount-of-many-evils/

7. The rising popularity of civil unions and the declining popularity of marriage in France

... French couples are increasingly shunning traditional marriages and opting instead for civil unions, to the point that there are now two civil unions for every three marriages.

When France created its system of civil unions in 1999, it was heralded as a revolution in gay rights, a relationship almost like marriage, but not quite. No one, though, anticipated how many couples would make use of the new law. Nor was it predicted that by 2009, the overwhelming majority of civil unions would be between straight couples.

It remains unclear whether the idea of a civil union, called a pacte civil de solidarite, has responded to a shift in social attitudes or caused one. But it has proved remarkably well suited to France and its particularities about marriage, divorce, religion and taxes - and it can be dissolved with just a registered letter.

[...] France recognises only ''citizens'', and the country's legal principles hold that special rights should not be accorded to particular groups or ethnicities. So civil unions were made available to everyone. But their appeal to heterosexual couples was evident from the start. In 2000, just one year after the passage of the law, more than 75 per cent of civil unions were signed between heterosexual couples. That trend has only strengthened: of the 173,045 civil unions signed in 2009, 95 per cent were between heterosexual couples.

As with traditional marriages, civil unions allow couples to file joint tax returns, exempt spouses from inheritance taxes, permit partners to share insurance policies, ease access to residency permits for foreigners and make partners responsible for each other's debts. Concluding a civil union requires little more than a single appearance before a judicial official.

Even the Catholic Church, which initially condemned the partnerships, has relented. The French National Confederation of Catholic Family Associations says civil unions do not pose ''a real threat''.

While partnerships have exploded in popularity, marriage numbers have continued a long decline in France, as across Europe. Just 250,000 French couples married last year, with fewer than four marriages for each 1000 residents. In 1970, almost 400,000 French couples wed.
[http://www.smh.com.au/world/french-lovers-tie-the-knot-but-theyre-not-the-marrying-kind-20101217-190qz.html?skin=text-only]

8. Dr. Brown on the purpose of the major post-Vatican-II liturgical changes

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/12/review-2011-ordo-from-angelus-press/#comment-240881
(the exchange between Dr. Brown and another commenter later in that thread is also interesting)

Reginaldvs Cantvar
20.XII.2010

Posted by at 1 comment:
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Friday, December 3, 2010

Notes: Friday, December 3, 2010

1. "Water pollution turning birds gay say scientists"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/water-pollution-turning-birds-gay-say-scientists/story-e6frg6so-1225964592809

2. "[Victorian] Charter [of Human Rights] opens door to Sharia law recognition"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/charter-opens-door-to-sharia-law-recognition/story-e6frg8zx-1225964766903

3. Russian Orthodox teachings regarding the State

Via this blog comment I came across a Russian Orthodox document on social doctrine, which has a fascinating page on the Russian Orthodox doctrine of the State and of the Church's relation thereto. If I have time next week I might blog about it in detail.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Confessor, A.D. 2010
Posted by at No comments:
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Friday, September 24, 2010

Notes: Friday, September 24, 2010

Fr. Zuhlsdorf on 'servitude', the Mass, and priesthood

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/09/mass-priesthood-and-sacrifice-must-never-be-separated/

The Rev. Fr. John T. Zuhlsdorf provided a useful reminder of the meaning of the Papal title of 'servant of the servants of God':

... Servitus was sometimes in ancient times used as a form of address. We mustn’t stretch this too much, but tune your ear to how our ancient forebears would have heard words such as servitus. In the writings of the Fathers of the Church servus is used for the priest or bishop. St. Pope Leo I, “the Great” (+461) refers to himself in this way (ep. 108, 2). Servitus or “Servitude” was much as Sanctitas or “Holiness” is for the Pope today, or Excellentia or “Excellency” is for a bishop. I don’t hear of many bishops today welcoming the title “Your Servitude”. St. Augustine (+430) used servus servorum (ep. 217). One of the venerable titles of the Bishop of Rome is, from the time of the aforementioned St. Gregory I, “Servus Servorum Dei… Servant of the servants of God”.

And Father continues well, with the following reminder of the meaning of the Mass:

The altar is the supreme place of priestly service. An altar is about sacrifice. Priesthood is about sacrifice. Priesthood and sacrifice must never be separated in our minds.

We must never lose sight of Mass as propitiation, or of the priest as offering sacrifice to God. This deep current in Holy Mass must inform every word and gesture, ornament and sign.

Unfortunately, Fr. Zuhlsdorf then messes things up by introducing a little Vatican-II-ism:

For example, when the priest is standing at the altar in the place of Christ,
Head of the Church (in persona Christi capitis), ...

Another letter in The Australian on euthanasia (and the on-line comments which that letter has elicited)

Note: The web-page for the letter (published under the heading "Double standards") seems to have cut off the opening sentence, which, judging by the Letters main page, was

THE sanctity of life is a cornerstone of liberal democracy.

followed by

Its primary importance is pragmatic, not philosophical -- it provides ultimate protection of the weak in society.

=Unless we want to re-run the last 500 or so years of political evolution, we can't afford to abandon the principle that no individual or group has the right to kill others. The Greens' proposed euthanasia legislation does just this, devaluing human life and exposing its proponents to the accusation that they have double standards.

How can we concede that the sanctity of a life may be negotiable in some circumstances and then credibly campaign against capital punishment? How can we solve some people's problems by quietly euthanasing them and then hope to persuade teenagers that suicide is not a viable solution to their own problems?

The unconsidered social consequences of adopting this very unprogressive measure are potentially profound and likely to go well beyond its superficial aim of providing the ultimate in pain relief.

John Francis, Lauderdale, Tas
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/double-standards/story-fn558imw-1225928597351]

It was interesting to see some of the comment writers rejecting that the "sanctity of life is a cornerstone of liberal democracy":

v Posted at 8:33 AM Today

John Francis, I am afraid that yours is one of the most dishonest letters I have ever read. The "sanctity" of life is NOT a cornerstone of liberal democracy. ...

robert thomson of brisbane Posted at 9:43 AM Today

The sanctity of life a cornerstone of liberal democracy? What sort of bilge is this? ...
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/double-standards/comments-fn558imw-1225928597351]

Well, there you have it. Liberals rejecting that the sanctity of life is a cornerstone of liberal democracy. Why would anyone support such a political system?

"Vatican joins commemoration of Rome capture"

Full body of the text posted at CathNews:

For the first time, the Vatican has joined in anniversary celebrations of the 1870 capture of Rome by Italian troops which ended the Papal States' domination of the city for more than 1,000 years.

"We are here to take part in a symbolic gesture and to re-affirm the fact that Rome is the indisputable capital of Italy, just like it is the heart of everything that concern the Church," Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said before the ceremony, the Times of Malta reports.

Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano and the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, also took part in the celebrations of the 140th anniversary of the "breach of Porta Pia," when on September 20, 1870 Italian troops broke into Rome close to the city gate, completing the country's unification.

Mr Alemanno said Cardinal Bertone's presence had "a special meaning", even though the ceremony "was no longer a matter of healing the historical wound between the Italian state and the Holy See".
[http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=23427]

Dr. Kok on euthanasia

One of the regular commenters at Mr. Muehlenberg's blog had some interesting things to say in a couple of comments at the latter's blog. Large excerpt from the first of those comments:

Jereth Kok
21.9.10 / 2am

[...] Bill, I am a medical practitioner who has spent time working with many dying patients. Arguments about there being a thin line between turning off life support and euthanasia are (to use the academic term) “complete bollocks”.

Life support (which includes such things as respirators, dialysis and artificial feeding) is artificial intervention which maintains life when it would otherwise cease. On the other hand, euthanasia is administration of a drug to a living patient which will shut down their body systems and kill them.

In a life support situation, if medical staff elect to “do nothing”, the patient will die in a way that is completely natural. Sometimes a patient is put on (artificial) life support in the hope that their body will recover to a point that life can be sustained naturally once again; life support is only switched off when it is clear that there is actually no prospect of recovery.

In a euthanasia situation, if medical staff elect to “do nothing”, the patient will continue living. Ongoing life is natural; euthanasia is artificial — the exact reverse of the former set of circumstances.

There is therefore a world of difference between withdrawing medical treatment which artificially prolongs life, and deliberately administering a drug to kill somebody. Contrary to your claim, there is not a hint of “grey” in this at all.

Jereth Kok
[http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/09/19/christians-and-the-party-of-death/]

See also Dr. Kok's comment of 23.9.10 / 10pm in that same combox for details on how nurses deal with end-of-life situations.

Blog comments by me

Just one, at Terra's blog:

Cardinal Pole said...

Another thing of which Islam reminds us is the social rights of God. If we take the following proposition as the basic principle of Islamism:

Men not just in societies but also as societies must profess Islam.

then that is false not because of the form of the syllogism by which it is argued or because its major premise is false, but because its minor premise is false:

Men not just in societies but also as societies must profess the true religion.
Islam is the true religion.
Therefore men not just in societies but also as societies must profess Islam.

September 24, 2010 3:11 PM
[http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-we-can-learn-from-islam.html]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Our Lady of Ransom, A.D. 2010
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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Notes: Saturday-Tuesday, September 11-14, 2010

Interesting article on Islamic 'Church'-(Super)State doctrine as expressed in an Islamist party's manifesto

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/osamas-one-size-fits-all-islamism/story-e6frg6zo-1225917045865

Interesting to read Ms Neighbour's article while keeping in mind the corresponding Traditional Catholic (i.e. true) socio-political doctrines. There is much in that article which would (or I suppose should) be unobjectionable to a Catholic*. Two key points of disagreement are, however, the Islamist lack of a distinction between the State and the Islamic counterpart to the Church (the true and Catholic doctrine is that there is a distinction but, ideally, not a separation between Church and State) and the apparent Islamic imperative for all the Islamic Confessional States to unite into the one Super-State (in the true and Catholic doctrine there is no imperative for Catholic Confessional States to unite into the one State; on the contrary, it would seem preferable that there would be no 'Universal State' to rival the Universal Church, though of course this would be no problem in the Islamist schema since, as I said, in it 'Church' and State aren't even distinct from each other).

*This should come as no surprise, since in the following syllogism:

Men not just in societies, but also as societies, must profess the true religion.
Islam is the true religion.
Therefore men not just in societies but also as societies must profess Islam.

the conclusion, which is perhaps the core principle of Islamism insofar as it is a body of socio-political doctrine, is false not because of the form of the argument or because of its major premise but because of the minor premise.

"Vocations Crusade for Holy Cross Seminary, Australia"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33487

An AQ comment on some inadequacies in The Archdiocese's of Melbourne's "Guidelines for Catholic Funerals"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=379206#379206

Transcript of Compass episode "Schools of Thought" on ethics classes

http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s2968581.htm

Interesting CathNews 'blog' which reminds us that any State will have public religious, or at least quasi-religious, rites

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=23216

The relevant excerpt:

Why do we give more solemnity to the public rites of the nation, rather than the public rites of the Church? This has to do with a movement of the sacred from Christianity to the nation; where public rules and rituals are associated with the nation while private wants and tastes apply to everything else, including “religion”.

There will always be a State religion; it's just a question of whether that religion will be the true one or a false one.

Interesting books reviewed/mentioned in the weekend papers:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/ax-and-oath-life-in-the-middle-ages/story-e6frg8nf-1225915905792
"The Axe and the Oath: Ordinary Life in the Middle Ages
"By Robert Fossier
"Trans. Lydia G. Cochrane
"Princeton University Press, 400pp, $64"

Mentioned on page five of the News Review section of The Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday:

"People Power: The History and Future of the Referendum in Australia by George Williams and David Hume (UNSW Press, $34.95)"

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, A.D. 2010
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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Notes: Saturday-Tuesday, August 14-17, 2010

More on the morality and legality of voting in Australian Federal elections

From yestereday's Herald:

In an anti-climactic ‘journalistic’ debut, former Labor leader Mark Latham revealed he will be lodging a protest vote this Saturday — and is urging others to follow suit.

[...] Mr Latham revealed his intention last night to place a ‘‘totally blank’’ ballot in the box as he posed as a journalist for a special report on the federal election for 60 Minutes.
[http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/leave-ballot-blank-latham-tells-voters-20100815-1257h.html?skin=text-only]

According to the transcript for Mr. Latham's report for 60 Minutes, he said that

When it comes to good ideas for Australia's future, Gillard and Abbott have given the voters a blank piece of paper. I say let's give them a blank piece of paper in return. They say voting is compulsory in Australia, but it's not compulsory to fill out the ballot paper. You can put it straight into the ballot box totally blank - that's what I'll be doing next Saturday, and I urge you to do the same. It's the ultimate protest vote.
[http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/7944020/latham-at-large]

Mr. Latham (the former Member for Werriwa, to which electorate I belong) is incorrect to say that it is "not compulsory to fill out the ballot paper"--a particularly disappointing error to hear coming from a former Leader of the Opposition. As I said recently at Terra's blog,

Section 245(1) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 gives the following command:

"It shall be the duty of every elector to vote at each election."
[http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/ActCompilation1.nsf/0/14E2E2F9F0662775CA2576080017348A/$file/CwlthElectoral1918_WD02.pdf]

(The same Act (Section 101) also commands us to apply "forthwith" to become electors if not electors already. Also, Sections 239 and 240 prescribe the manner of voting for Senate and Lower House elections, respectively, thus ruling out the possibility that an informal vote could satisfy the obligation to vote.)

So given that the requirements imposed in the Act are, as far as I know, just, possible, and properly promulgated, the Act is a valid law and thus its commands are binding in conscience (I have no reason to think that they are purely penal) and it would therefore be a sin not to vote (properly).

To sum up:

1. Australian law commands non-electors to become electors.
2. Australian law commands electors to vote (and not merely informally).
3. A lawful command by a competent authority (which is what the preceding commands are) binds on pain of sin, so informal voting is sinful, as is obstinate non-enrolment.
(Obviously there are also exceptions.)
[http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2010/07/and-it-is-on-australia-goes-to-polls-on.html?showComment=1279552733981#c6237896335231841561]

Meanwhile, according to a report, apparently not available on-line, on page five of yesterday's Sydney Daily Telegraph entitled "Latham's informal vote call" by Nathan Klein and Alison Rehn,

While [1] it's not illegal to vote informally, [2] it is an offence to encourage others to do so.
[my square-bracketed interpolations]

(See also here for another instance of 2). I was interested to read that, because those two propositions were also raised in the blog comment which elicit my own blog comment quoted above:

One correction - since Australia has secret ballots the requirement is to attend a polling station. One can then voting informally. The candidates are usually so shameful it is surprising that the informal vote is not higher - never high enough to invalidate the poll.

What is wicked is that it is illegal to encourage informal voting - which is often the only moral choice.
[http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2010/07/and-it-is-on-australia-goes-to-polls-on.html?showComment=1279436353532#c2689661911322685743]

I've shown that 1 is mistaken, and as for 2, I was interested to read the following in that Herald article:

It was not illegal for Mr Latham to promote the casting of blank votes, Australian Electoral Commission spokesman Phil Diak said.

"There's no explicit provision in the electoral act against someone telling someone else to cast an informal vote as an opinion or a view," he said.

However, it was an offence to publish information that could cause people to cast an informal vote, such as a misleading election ad.

It seems that 1 and 2 are something of an urban myth, then. As for 2 though, although there might not be any explicit prohibition against "telling someone else to cast an informal vote as an opinion or a view", any command implicitly forbids its contradictory, and it hardly seems becoming of a conscientious elector to tell others, even if only "as an opinion or view", to shirk their duties.

Mr. Gurries on Msgr. Gherardini's book The Ecumenical Vatican Council II: A Much Needed Discussion

http://opuscula.blogspot.com/2010/08/msgr-gherardini-on-vatican-ii.html

An amusing joke, told by Dr. Brown, on France's (and, by extension, the West's) demographic prospects

From a comment by Dr. Brown at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog:

You know the old joke. If Lefebvre wins, the liturgical language of France will be Latin. And if he loses, it will be Arabic.

Comment by robtbrown — 16 August 2010 @ 8:18 am
[http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/08/if-all-time-is-eternally-present-all-time-is-unredeemable/#comment-218822]

The beliefs and non-beliefs of a man who has spent "forty six years involved in Catholic education"

http://www.catholica.com.au/gc2/ge/008_ge_140810.php

(In related matters, see here for some of Mr. Coyne's opinions on the "real Jesus".)

Cardinal O'Brien on the death penalty and related matters

His Eminence The Cardinal Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh has written a dreadful opinion piece for Scotland on Sunday. The column came to my attention via a Catholic News Service article which appeared in last Sunday's Sydney Catholic Weekly under the headline "Cardinal attacks US 'vengeance culture'" (see here for a copy of the article at the C.N.S.'s own website). When I saw that headline I thought of St. Thomas Aquinas on the virtue of vengeance in the Summa, IIa IIæ, q. 108. If I had time I'd write I thorough rebuttal of His Eminence's article (a quick look at it indicates that it is even worse than it seemed in the C.N.S. report on it), but I don't at the moment, unfortunately (though there's a chance that I might write a confutation later.)

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