Notes: Tuesday, October 11-Tuesday, October 18, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. H.H. The Pope on Catholicism as the object of 'religious freedom'

This is a quotation from the Holy Father's Address of Friday, October 7, 2011 to the Bishops of Indonesia during their "ad Limina" visit:

... Appropriately, Indonesia’s constitution guarantees the fundamental human right of freedom to practice one’s religion. The freedom to live and preach the Gospel can never be taken for granted and must always be justly and patiently upheld. Nor is religious freedom merely a right to be free from outside constraints. It is also a right to be authentically and fully Catholic, to practice the faith, to build up the Church and to contribute to the common good, proclaiming the Gospel as Good News for all, and inviting everyone to intimacy with the God of mercy and compassion made manifest in Jesus Christ.
[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2011/october/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20111007_bishops-indonesia_en.html
That Address came to my attention via an item headed "TO INDONESIAN BISHOPS: PATIENTLY UPHOLD RELIGIOUS FREEDOM" (VIS 20111007 (500)) in a recent edition of the Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin.]

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, religious liberty

2. "Only a third of marriages take place in church"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=28573

Labels: marriage, social trends

3. "Ireland bows to UN recommendations on contraception, same-sex unions, religious hiring [but resists on abortion]"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39282

Labels: Alan Shatter, Ireland

4. "The headline figure [in 2008], drawn from the 2006 census, was 105,000 homeless. Of those, 16,000 were actual homeless (those sleeping rough) and 89,000 were potential homeless. The revised amounts are now 63,000 homeless: 8000 actual homeless and 55,000 potential homeless"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/inflating-homeless-to-fund-lobbyists/story-e6frgd0x-1226165274504

(As I've asked in the two other instances in which I've logged information about homelessness, please don't jump to conclusions about why I'm doing so.)

Labels: homelessness

5. A "a day-by-day report" on the recent Angelus Press Conference on the Kingship of Christ

http://sspx.org/district_news/angelus_press_conference_2011/angelus_press_conference_2011.htm

I read that report--which came to my attention via the latest edition of the weekly e-mail from the U.S. District of the S.S.P.X. (and for which I encourage you to subscribe--you should be able to do so at that District's homepage, a link to which is available in the "Endorsed links" section of this blog's sidebar)--and thought how good it would be to have a transcript of the proceedings; at that stage, I knew only that audio recordings were to become available for purchase. Now I'm very pleased to see that Angelus Press has added to its catalogue Reflections on the Kingship of Christ:

... Along with biographical information about the speakers at the 2011 Angelus Press Conference, this book presents the relevant encyclicals from Popes Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Pius XI, and Pius XII in their entirety, plus articles from the late Cardinal Pie, Fr. Juan Carlos Iscara, FSSPX, and Dr. John Rao. ...
[http://www.angeluspress.org/oscatalog/item/8534/reflections-on-the-kingship-of-christ]

(Reflections on the Kingship of Christ, which costs a mere US$10, came to my attention via the latest e-mail from Angelus Press.)

Labels: Social Reign of Christ

6. "Historian Peter Frankopan is challenging a millennium of scholarship in his view of the First Crusade"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/historian-peter-frankopan-is-challenging-a-millennium-of-scholarship-in-his-view-of-the-first-crusade/story-e6frg8nf-1226166509828

Labels: Crusades, history

7. On the the first known recorded observation that 'a country gets the government which it deserves'

Joesph [sic] de Maistre in Lettres et Opuscules (1853):

EVERY country has the government it deserves.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/the-practices-of-democracy-do-not-sit-comfortably-with-greens-or-labor-eggheads/story-fn72xczz-1226166203784]

Labels: Joseph de Maistre, political science

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

Notes: Thursday, July 7-Tuesday, July 12, 2011

1. Dr. Biddulph on paternal involvement in families

Father love is known in countless studies to help children grow happy and strong. It is the key to boys feeling motivated and believing in themselves, that being a good man is something to strive for. It gives daughters self-esteem and a sense of their intelligence and a value beyond mere sexual attraction. In families where mothers would otherwise do all the emotional heavy lifting, an involved dad provides the missing key to everyone's mental health. Women love a good father. They often wish they had had one themselves.
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/goodbye-to-the-distant-authority-figure-hello-to-handson-dads-20110705-1h0oo.html?skin=text-only]

Labels: families, parenthood, social trends, Steve Biddulph

2. Associate Professor Craig on, among other things, Australian "work-family balance strategies and parents' time in paid work, domestic work and childcare"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/fathers-left-alone-can-spread-load-of-parenting-20110706-1h2d9.html?skin=text-only

Labels: families, parenthood, social trends, work

3. "'That's racist' as a punch line"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-oped-0707-goldberg-20110707,0,1863723.story

Labels: racism, social trends

4. "the FSSP ... have a general indult to use both the 2nd confiteor and St. Joseph in the canon"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/wdtprs-poll-the-2nd-confiteor/#comment-283797

Labels: F.S.S.P., T.L.M.

5. Ms Irvine and Mr. Penberthy on, among other things, marriage

I highlight here the two articles in question for some of the facts and figures which they report. From Ms Irvine:

... Two thirds of marriages in Australia are performed by civil celebrants rather than religious ministers. ... In the mid-1980s, 60 per cent of the population aged 15 and over were married. By the early noughties, this had fallen to 55 per cent.

The proportion of the population who will never marry increased from 29 per cent to 32 per cent.

Meanwhile, the probability of marriages ending in divorce has risen. The Bureau of Statistics estimates about 28 per cent of marriages entered into in the mid-1980s could be expected to end in divorce. By the early noughties, this had risen to 33 per cent. ...
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/equality-for-all-parents-straight-or-gay-20110701-1gv6u.html?skin=text-only]

Mr. Penberthy had more on the relative proportions of civilly- and religiously-celebrated weddings:

... ABS figures released this month show that religious wedding ceremonies are now very much in the minority for couples tying the knot. Almost two-thirds of all wedding ceremonies are now conducted by celebrants. In 1969, 90 per cent of couples opted for church weddings. In 1999 it was 50 per cent. In 2009 it was just 35 per cent. That’s a decline of 15 per cent in the space of one decade.
[http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/free-to-believe-in-god-free-to-keep-quiet-about-it/]

Labels: divorce, marriage, social trends

6. A new initiative for propagating the Darwinist worldview

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/big-history-to-give-students-big-picture/story-fn59niix-1226081625657

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/big-picture-showman-puts-history-lessons-up-in-lights/story-fn59niix-1226080801441

Labels: David Christian, education, evolution, history, secularism

7. More on 'sleeping rough' by the homeless

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), on Census night in 2006 the homeless population in Australia was 105,000. There are more than 27,000 living in NSW, a figure that has seen no decline since 1990 (ABS 2009).

The bureau’s most recent report on homelessness – Counting the Homeless, 2006 (which includes data from the 2006 Census and other sources, such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) – found that primary homelessness, such as ‘sleeping rough’ or in an improvised shelter, accounted for 16 per cent of all homelessness in Australia.
[http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=1&subclassID=2&articleID=8471&class=Latest
News&subclass=CW National]

See also the editorial:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=2&subclassID=6&articleID=8481&class=Comment&subclass=Editorial

(Again, I ask you not to jump to conclusions about why I'm posting this. And note that the inverted commas in this item's title are not scare quotes; I'm just following the usage of the linked article.)

Labels: homelessness, poverty

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Gualbert, Abbot, and of Sts. Nabor and Felix, Martyrs, A.D. 2011

Notes: Wednesday, June 15-Tuesday, June 21, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. "["[H]omeless people sleeping rough"] represent probably only 3 or 4 per cent of the homeless population"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/cold-and-so-alone-for-sydneys-homeless/story-fn6b3v4f-1226075926361

(Please do not jump to conclusions as to why I have noted this. I do not mean to downplay the difficulties which those who are homeless but are not sleeping rough undoubtedly experience.)

Labels: homelessness, poverty

2. Prof. Flint on, among other things, the questions of H.M. The Queen's nationality and who is Australia's Head of State

Under the heading "State of the nation" here:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/tough-reality-is-ill-health-necessitates-change-20110615-1g3qf.html?skin=text-only

The next day, the Herald published a number of responses to Prof. Flint's letter, under the heading "It's obvious who's the boss, and her nationality", here:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/theres-room-to-make-way-for-commuters-20110616-1g673.html?skin=text-only

Labels: David Flint, republicanism

3. "Echo of Soviet era in Putin's bid for votes"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/echo-of-soviet-era-in-putins-bid-for-votes/story-e6frg6so-1226076653930

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

4. "Hungary sponsors bold pro-life campaign with EU money - Eurocrats enraged"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37795

Labels: abortion, E.U., Hungary

5. Mr. Ferrara on the Rosary and the New Rosary

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23422

Labels: John Paul II. Wojtyla, Rosary

6. Two recent opinion pieces from Mr. Muehlenberg

6.1 A blog post on fallacious comparisons of mixed-race marriage and same-sex 'marriage'

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/06/19/same-sex-marriage-playing-the-race-card/

The Girgis-George-Anderson Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy article to which Mr. Muehlenberg presumably refers in that post is available here:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1722155

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

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Confessor, A.D. 2011