Showing posts with label liturgy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liturgy. Show all posts

Monday, May 25, 2015

Notes: Tuesday, February 3-Monday, May 25, 2015 (part 1 of 2)

1. A court judgement which might prove useful for countering the diversion of public discourse about Gaiety away from behaviour towards 'identity'

See the article "'Polyamorous' woman loses fight with Catholic Church", by Marianna Papadakis, dated February 17, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

Warning: This article contains references which might scandalise some readers:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/polyamorous-woman-loses-fight-with-catholic-church-20150217-13gtv9.html?skin=text-only

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

2. Dr. Himmelfarb on a couple of the principles of Liberalism

2.1 "Inevitably the elevation of the idea of liberty has led to the debasement of the idea of authority. As particular authorities have become suspect, so also has the very idea of authority. Deprived of legitimacy, of any presumption of right, authority is reduced to nothing more than the exercise of power or force."

The quotation in that headline comes from p. 8 of the introduction to John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, edited with an introduction by Dr. Gertrude Himmelfarb, published, in Pelican Books, by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1974. Cf. error no. 60 of the Syllabus of Errors:
Auctoritas nihil aliud est nisi numeri et materialium virium summa.
[p. 174, Acta Sanctæ Sedis Vol. III (A.D. MDCCCLXVII):
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ass/documents/ASS-03-1867-ocr.pdf
Dr. Deferrari translated that as
Authority is nothing more than numbers and the sum of material strengths (26).
(the "(26)" is a reference to the Allocution Maxima quidem, whence the error was proximately derived)
Dz. 1760, p. 440, The Sources of Catholic Dogma, translated by Roy J. Deferrari from the Thirtieth Edition of Henry Denzinger's Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, published by Loreto Publications, Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, U.S.A., third Loreto printing 2007]
That quotation from Dr. Himmelfarb led me to see that error in a slightly different light to that in which I had previously viewed it. Previously, I had seen it as a condemnation of an error about the nature of authority, but that quotation makes me think that, although the condemnation does of course apply to such an error, it can also be seen as a condemnation of a denial of the very existence of authority, so that the condemned error could also by expressed as something like 'There is no such thing as authority; when people talk about authority, they really only mean the possession of physical force'.

Labels: liberalism, morals

2.2 "Against the [Wolfenden ]Commission’s claim that private morality and immorality were ‘not the law’s business’, [Lord ]Devlin argued that ‘the suppression of vice is as much the law’s business as the suppression of subversive activities; it is no more possible to define a sphere of private morality than it is to define one of private subversive activity’."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolations, in that headline comes from p. 41 of the introduction to John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, edited with an introduction by Dr. Gertrude Himmelfarb, published, in Pelican Books, by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1974. Cf. the following:
With his customary intuition, Marcel Lefebvre immediately got to the heart of the CDF theologian’s argument[ in the C.D.F.'s March 9, 1987 reply to Msgr. Lefebvre's Dubia concerning Dignitatis humanæ which were submitted in October 1985]: it was the so-called “social space of autonomous activity” where because of his dignity the person can act publicly in religious matters without the State intervening."
[p. 546, Marcel Lefebvre, by Msgr. Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, translated from the French by Brian Sudlow, with additional material from Rev. Sebastian Wall of The Society of St. Pius X., published by Angelus Press, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A., first printing—April 2004]
For more discussion of Lord Devlin's thesis, see the article "The Limits of Law" (especially §2), by Dr. John Stanton-Ife, downloaded from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's website:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/law-limits/

Labels: law, liberalism, morals

3. "Women dance in St Mary's Cathedral last Sunday, 8 February, as members of Sydney's Sudanese Catholic community celebrate the feast of St Josephine Bakhita[. … ] The Mass, presided over by the Archbishop of Sydney, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, and attended by more than 1000 worshippers, was both a colourful and proud occasion in typical African style, full of singing and dancing as the community came together in celebration."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation replacing some of the original text, in that headline is part of the three-line caption of a half-page photograph, in the centre of its page, headlined "Sudanese sing, dance on their saint's day", no byline (though the photo was credited to "GIOVANNI PORTELLI", i.e., Giovanni Portelli Photography), p. 3 (though really the front cover, because the first, second, second-last, and last pages (the latter two were pp. 27 and 28, respectively) of that week's issue of The Catholic Weekly were an advertising wrap-around), The Catholic Weekly, February 15, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4762, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.

See also
  • the Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese, report "Sydney's Sudanese Community to Celebrate Their Feast Day With Archbishop at St Mary's Cathedral", dated February 5, 2015, downloaded from The Archdiocese of Sydney's official website, which (report) mentions that "the Mass will feature more than 50 Sudanese dancers" who "have been in rehearsals for more than eight weeks" (the latter quotation is part of one attributed to "Sudanese-born Anna Dimo, the Archdiocese of Sydney's full-time Pastoral Worker for the Sudanese Catholic Community"; see also the accompanying photo of the dancers rehearsing in a church):
    http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2015/201525_1572.shtml
  • the Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese, report "Sudanese Catholic Community give Thanks to Archbishop Anthony", dated February 9, 2015, downloaded from The Archdiocese of Sydney's official website, in which (report) Ms Dimo is quoted as saying that "[w]e thought there'd be 50 Sudanese dancers but on the day we had 66 dancers" and that the "choir, dancers and musicians have been rehearsing since last November":
    http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2015/201529_1659.shtml
  • the Giovanni Portelli Photography page on Facebook (I'm not on Facebook, so I haven't seen that page myself, but it came up on Google)
Labels: Anthony Fisher, liturgical dancing, liturgy, N.O.M.

4. Some recent Gay/sport items

4.1 "Mardi Gras 2015: Anti-homophobia sports float will be highlight of parade"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Mr. Michael Koziol, dated March 4, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/mardi-gras-2015-antihomophobia-sports-float-will-be-highlight-of-parade-20150306-13upsz.html?skin=text-only

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

4.2 "NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn said the bank approached the AFL last year about using the NAB Challenge as a platform to raise awareness of the LGBTI community", and now "footy’s first [Gay ]“Pride Cup” match will be played between Sydney and Fremantle during this month’s NAB Challenge" (and such a match might become an annual A.F.L. event)

The quotations (excluding my square-bracketed parenthesis) and other information in that headline come from the article "AFL set to launch gay pride game to tackle homophobia during NAB Challenge", by Mr. Michael Warner, dated March 4, 2015, downloaded from the Herald Sun's website:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-set-to-launch-gay-pride-game-to-tackle-homophobia-during-nab-challenge/story-fni5f22o-1227248255109

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "AFL's rainbow warriors", with the same author, on p. 71 in the "SPORT" section of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Thursday, March 5, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

There are some hearty laughs to be had in the comments section there, though some of it is low-brow.

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

4.3 "Getting sportsmen together on a [Gay Mardi Gras ]float was an idea that came from NSW Sports Minis-ter Stuart Ayres"; he "wrote to all the major sports' CEOs late last year to encourage them and their athletes to participate."

The quotations, excluding my square-bracketed parenthesis, in that headline (note that the dash in "Minister" was because the word spanned two lines) come from the article "Sports stars get on board in Mardi Gras show of support", by Mr. Phil Rothfield ("SPORTS EDITOR-AT-LARGE"), on p. 108 in the "NRL" pages of the "SPORT" section of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, March 6, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., apparently not available at the Tele's website.

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

4.4 "Football Federation Australia is set to unveil an advisory group focusing on anti-homophobia and the organisation's Head of Community and Women's football, Emma Highwood, says the next stage will turn its attention towards the A-League which has the greatest reach to football's widest audience."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Football gets onboard with other athletes to support the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras", by Mr. Dominic Bossi, dated March 6, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/football-gets-onboard-with-other-athletes-to-support-the-gay-and-lesbian-mardi-gras-20150306-13wxdw.html?skin=text-only

(I first read that article in the version printed under the headline "FFA set to lead way in battle against homophobia", with the same author, on pp. 52 f. in the "FOOTBALL" pages of the "SPORT" section of The Sydney Morning Herald, weekend edition, March 7-8, 2015, Issue No. 55351, ISSN 0312-6315, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd.)

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

4.5 "Three weeks ago the game's[, i.e., rugby union's,] governing body internationally, World Rugby, signed a historic memorandum of understanding with International Gay Rugby, to work together to promote equality and eliminate homophobia in rugby."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the article "Stephen Moore, Michael Cheika back David Pocock on homophobia stance", by Georgina Robinson, dated March 24, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/stephen-moore-michael-cheika-back-david-pocock-on-homophobia-stance-20150324-1m6i6t.html?skin=text-only

See also
  • the press release "World Rugby signs historic agreement with International Gay Rugby", dated March 5, 2015, downloaded from World Rugby's official website:
    http://www.worldrugby.org/news/59705
  • the news item "2015-03-05: World Rugby signs historic agreement with International Gay Rugby", downloaded from International Gay Rugby's official website:
    http://igrab.net/news-2015-03-05.htm
Labels: G.L.B.T. sport

5. "for the first time, we have ensured that 80 per cent of Australian foreign aid investments must address gender issues"

The quotation in that headline was attributed to The Hon. Sen. Michaelia Cash (Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women) in the opinion piece "Deadline: 2015 the year to end violence against women", by Dr. Anne Summers A.O., dated March 6, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/deadline-2015-the-year-to-end-violence-against-women-20150305-13wbws.html?skin=text-only

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Our top 2015 non-negotiable priority", with the same byline, on p. 36 in the "NEWS REVIEW" section of The Sydney Morning Herald, weekend edition, March 7-8, 2015, Issue No. 55351, ISSN 0312-6315, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: feminism, foreign affairs

6. Some recent items regarding 'established religion'

6.1 March 9, 1826: "Letters patent issued in London form a Church and School Corporation, giving the Anglican Church the status of an established religion in NSW with the right to Crown land and control of the school system."

The quotation in that headline comes from the item for the year 1826 in the "ON THIS DAY" column, no author credited (though Mr. Troy Lennon is credited as the history editor in the page's main article), of the history page (p. 28 of the relevant issue) of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Monday, March 9, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.

See also item 10.2 of this "Notes" post.

Labels: Anglicans, colonialism, N.S.W.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Whitmonday, A.D. 2015

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Notes: Tuesday, March 18-Monday, May 5, 2014 (part 2 of 2)

7. "The Philippines’ highest court has approved a controversial birth control law"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Philippine court clears birth control law", no author credited (though the stated source is the A.F.P.), dated April 8, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/philippine-court-clears-birth-control-law-20140408-zqsfb.html?skin=text-only

Labels: abortion, contraception, law, Philippines

8. On Wednesday, April 9, 2014, the respective chief executive officers of the National Rugby League, the Australian Football League, the Australian Rugby Union, and Football Federation Australia and the executive general manager of Cricket Australia signed, on the initiative of the organisers of the Bingham Cup, a commitment to implement, by the end of August (August 31 is the last day of the Bingham Cup Sydney 2014 tournament), policies consistent with, but not necessarily embodying all the recommendations of, the Anti-Homophobia and Inclusion Framework for Australian Sports (which (Framework) was devised by the Human Rights Commission, Bingham Cup Sydney, Australian Sports Commission, Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, and the Human Rights Law Centre). That was the first time when the major professional sport codes in Australia—or, apparently, in any country—collectively pledged commitment to opposing discrimination on the basis of sexual disorientation. "In the evening, Her Excellency[ The Governor of New South Wales], as Patron, … hosted a Reception at Government House in support of the Bingham Cup Sydney 2014, Gay Rugby’s World Cup, and to acknowledge the signing" of the aforementioned commitment.

The quotation in that headline comes from the webpage "Wednesday, 9 April 2014" at the official Governor of New South Wales website:

http://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/news/diary-of-engagements/wednesday-9-april-2014/

These are the sources for the other information in that headline:
  • the article "Bigoted sledges in sport on way out", by Mr. Benedict Brook, dated April 10, 2014, downloaded from the Star Observer's website:
    Warning: The Star Observer is a publication of the Gay press, so beware of obscene images and text (though in fairness I acknowledge that one also needs to beware of obscene images and text in non-Gay media these days):
    http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/local-news/bigoted-sledges-in-sport-on-way-out/121514
Labels: G.L.B.T., N.S.W., sport

9. How Mr. Carr accounts for the power of "the Israeli lobby": "party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel"

The quotations in that headline come from the transcript (under the headline "Bob Carr 'frustrated' by Israeli lobby and lack of First Class fares") of an interview between Sarah Ferguson and The Hon. Bob Carr, broadcast on April 9, 2014 on ABC1's 7.30, downloaded from the A.B.C.'s website:

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2014/s3982168.htm

(That interview came to my attention via this installment of The Australian's "CUT & PASTE" column.)

Labels: State of Israel

10. Fr. Zuhlsdorf on what the Conciliar church requires in order for one of its deacons to receive Traditional priestly ordination

See the blog post "ASK FATHER: Can deacons request ordination in Extraordinary Form?", by The Rev. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, dated April 3, 2014, downloaded from his Fr. Z's Blog:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/04/ask-father-can-deacons-request-ordination-in-extraordinary-form/

Labels: Roman Curia, Summorum Pontificum

11. Liturgical dance still going strong in The Diocese of Wollongong

11.1 At two Masses for "all the Year 6 students from across the Diocese[ of Wollongong]", which (Masses) involved Msgr. Ingham and "a number of our diocesan clergy", "[m]any students carried out the various liturgical ministries as readers, servers, dancers, part of a procession, student musicians, choir and soloists."

The quotations, excluding my square-bracketed interpolations, in that headline come from the first item ("Bishop Peter celebrates with Year six students") of the "In schools" pages (pp. 24-25 of this issue; the quotations in question are on p. 24), no author credited, in Journey ("News from the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong"), No. 54, Summer 2013, ISSN 1835-7024, published by the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, available online here:

http://www.dow.org.au/journey

or go straight hither:

http://www.imags.com.au/flipbooks/journey/files/assets/basic-html/index.html#1

Labels: liturgical dance, liturgy, Wollongong

11.2 "Girls from St Patrick's, Port Kembla, have been invited to present the water, which will be blessed as the Easter water, in a liturgical movement at the Easter Vigil Mass at 7pm on 19 April."

The quotation in that headline comes from an item in the "DIARY" section of the weekly "VISTA2014" ("Upcoming Catholic Events") pages (pp. 20-21 this week; the quotation in question is on p. 20), compiled by Nora Jonkers, in the Sydney Catholic Weekly, April 13, 2014, Vol. 73, No. 4720, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., apparently not available online. Note that, although the term "liturgical movement" can sometimes, especially in the context of the Easter Vigil, mean something other than a liturgical abuse, judging by the restriction of the participants to girls, "liturgical movement" is presumably used here in the same way in which I always heard it used during my time (early 1990s to early 2000s) in Wollongong systemic (nominally-)Catholic schools: That is, as another way of saying 'liturgical dance'.

Labels: liturgical dance, liturgy, Wollongong

12. Mr. South on the conditions formerly known collectively as Gay bowel disease

See his comment of 27.3.14 / 11pm in the combox of the blog post "Church Busters: A How-To Guide", by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated March 26, 2014, downloaded from Mr. Muehlenberg's CultureWatch website:

http://billmuehlenberg.com/2014/03/26/church-busters-a-how-to-guide/

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

13. In the afternoon of Tuesday, 1. ult., H.R.H. The Duke of Kent "visited the Masonic Hall, St. Michael's Road, Newquay", England.

See the Court Circular—the source of the quotation in that headline—of that date.

Labels: Edward Kent, Freemasons

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Pius V., Pope, Confessor, A.D. 2014

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Notes: Thursday, January 12-Tuesday, January 17, 2012

1. More Modernism from Dr. Elmer?
Ultimately, the scriptures are not straight-forward historical and objective texts that yield reliable information akin to say a police crime report or a thoroughly researched documentary on current events. Ultimately the Gospels specifically and the Bible generally are the products of faith communities that have preserved, augmented and passed on these stories as relevant to their lived faith experience. …
[…] I agree with Johnson’s view that the only “real Jesus” is not the one found in history books, but “he” who we encounter in the lived and living traditions of the community of faith. …

[http://scecclesia.com/?p=6111&cpage=1#comment-27258]
Labels: Ian Elmer, modernism, Scripture, theology

2. H.H. The Pope on how, according to His Holiness, "[a]t the Last Supper, with its overtones of the Passover and the commemoration of Israel’s liberation, Jesus’ prayer echoes the Hebrew berakah"

General Audience of Wednesday, January 11, 2012
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20120111_en.html

"THE PRAYER OF JESUS AT THE LAST SUPPER"
VIS 20120111 (880)
http://www.news.va/en/news/the-prayer-of-jesus-at-the-last-supper

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Jews, liturgy, Scripture, theology

3. More from Msgr. Williamson on the State's religious duties

Eleison Comments Number CCXXXV (235), January 14, 2012, "STATE RELIGION? III",
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40390

(In posting "STATE RELIGION? III" at AQ, the poster omitted the following formatting of the e-mail version:
  • In the second paragraph: The text from the start of the paragraph up to, but not including, the word "Answer" was italicised in the e-mail, and the "not" in "Our Lord is not here separating Church from State" and the "social beings" in "what they owe to him as social beings, namely" were underlined.
  • In the third paragraph: The text from the start of the paragraph up to, but not including, the word "Answer" was italicised in the e-mail, and the words "cannot" and "will not" in "that is not because its citizens cannot discern, but because for a variety of reasons they will not, or do not" was underlined.
  • In the fourth paragraph: The text from the start of the paragraph up to, but not including, "It is for the glory of God" was italicised in the e-mail.
There were also "Â"s distributed here and there throughout the e-mail version, but presumably that was just a typographical problem.)

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, morality, political science, theology

4. "Italian bishop suggests registration of civil unions, not same-sex marriage"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40381

Labels: civil unions, Paolo Urso

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Anthony, Abbot, A.D. 2012

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

4. Dr. McGavin on the "pastoral function" of "Magisterial teaching" in the thought of Benedict XVI.:
… The present Holy Father when Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith treats the issue of ["discriminating the grades of ["Magisterial"] teaching"], and questioningly instances particular aspects of the anti-Modernist decisions of the Church (implicitly involving the decisions of Pope St Pius X. He speaks of their having fulfilled their pastoral function in the situation of their time. On this, see particularly page 106 in his volume The Nature and Mission of Theology (Ignatius Press San Francisco, 1995), where he speaks of applications of the principles that he develops in that book.
["Not ‘dead wrong’", a letter by The Rev. Dr. P. A. McGavin, from the Sydney Catholic Weekly of November 6, 2011, downloaded from The Catholic Weekly's website:
http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=2&subclassID=5&articleID=9266&class=Comment&subclass=Letters]
Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Magisterium, modernism, theology

5. "Benedict XVI to Further Alter 1962 Missal"

http://mauricepinay.blogspot.com/2011/10/benedict-xvi-to-further-alter-1962.html

(See also item 2 of this edition of Notes.)

Labels: liturgy, Roman Curia, T.L.M.

6. "Families-- not autonomous individuals-- are basic units of society, Pope writes"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39659

"UNEMPLOYMENT UNDERMINES HUMAN DIGNITY"
VIS 20111110 (590)
http://www.news.va/en/news/unemployment-undermines-human-dignity

Message on the occasion of the Second National Family Conference [Ecuador, 9-12 November 2011] (1 November 2011):
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/pont-messages/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20111101_familia-ecuador_en.html

Labels: families, political science

7. "POPE SENDS GREETINGS TO CHIEF RABBI FOR ROSH HASHANAH"

"POPE SENDS GREETINGS TO CHIEF RABBI FOR ROSH HASHANAH"
VIS 20110929 (150)
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-sends-greetings-to-chief-rabbi-for-rosh-hasha

http://mauricepinay.blogspot.com/2011/10/pope-greets-his-brother-rabbis-for.html

(See also the item headed "The Old Law: A bringer of blessings, or a bringer of death?" at the following post:
http://cardinalpole.blogspot.com/2010/09/on-some-recents-pronouncements-by-hh.html)

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Jews, theology

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Anthony, Abbot, A.D. 2012

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Notes: Wednesday, December 21, 2011-Wednesday, January 11, 2012 (part 1 of 2)

Firstly, let me say that I hope that you had a merry Christmas and are having a happy New Year.

1. Some recent data on the respective ages of Australian women who have given birth:
[The] experience of [an Australian woman] having her first baby after the age of 35 is increasingly common, new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures show, with the number of first-time mothers aged 35+ rising from 10.3 per cent in 2000 to 13.7 per cent in 2009 (the most recent year of data).

The report, Australia's mothers and babies 2009, released today, shows the average age of women who gave birth reaching 30 years, up from 29 in 2000.

"The proportion of mothers aged 35 and over also continues to rise -- up from 17.1 per cent in 2000 to 22.8 per cent in 2009," AIHW national perinatal epidemiology and statistics unit spokeswoman Elizabeth Sullivan said. "And mothers aged 40 and over made up 4 per cent of women giving birth in 2009 compared with 2.6 per cent in 2000."

["Happy to labour later in life, first-time mums push the age barrier", by Stephen Lunn, dated December 21, 2011, downloaded from The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/happy-to-labour-later-in-life-first-time-mums-push-the-age-barrier/story-e6frg8y6-1226227102521]
Labels: demography, families

2. "A woman has died from a failed legal abortion in Australia"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40166

http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-woman-dies-after-melbourne.html

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/12/22/abortion-hurts-women-not-to-mention-babies

Labels: abortion

3. "[Australian p]sychologists urge support of gay marriage as beneficial to mental health"

"Psychologists urge support of gay marriage as beneficial to mental health", by Milanda Rout, dated December 23, 2011, downloaded from The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/psychologists-urge-support-of-gay-marriage-as-beneficial-to-mental-health/story-e6frg8y6-1226228887945

Labels: A.P.S., G.L.B.T., marriage, mental health

4. "Navy rumour"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/more-work-not-higher-fares-will-solve-problem-20111229-1pe6y.html?skin=text-only

(That letter, of December 30, 2011, was a rejoinder to a letter published here under the heading "Under the carpet"; date: December 29, 2011.)

Labels: A.D.F., G.L.B.T.

5. Prof. Freddoso's (incomplete) translation of St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica:

http://www.nd.edu/~afreddos/summa-translation/TOC.htm

(That came to my attention via one of the Christmas presents which I received, namely the book Just the Arguments; this is its website.)

Labels: philosophy, St. Thomas Aquinas, theology

6. Fr. Gleize on the teachings of Vatican II

http://www.dici.org/en/documents/debate-about-vatican-ii-fr-gleize-responds-to-msgr-ocariz/

(If I recall correctly, that came to my attention via a recent issue of the e-mail newsletter of the S.S.P.X.'s U.S. District.)

Labels: Vatican II

7. Together At One Altar—"a resource for school aged children in years F-12 in Australia to develop their formation in the Eucharist and assist their full, active and conscious participation in the Eucharist":

http://www.togetheratonealtar.catholic.edu.au/index.cfm

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

Labels: liturgy, theology, Together At One Altar

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Hyginus, Pope, Martyr, A.D. 2012

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

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

Monday, September 26, 2011

Notes: Thursday, September 15-Monday, September 26, 2011

1. Some figures on abortion in South Australia
According to the latest figures released by the South Australian government, abortion rates dipped slightly in 2009.

The number of abortions fell to 15.3 per 100,000 women of childbearing age from 16 a year earlier.

The highest abortion rates were among women aged 20 to 24 (30 per cent) followed by those aged 25-29 (22 per cent) and under 19s (18 per cent).

[http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/abortions-unlikely-to-rise-due-to-ru486-20110922-1kmuz.html?skin=text-only]
Labels: abortion, S.A.

2. In 2010, "a joint commission was set up, with experts of the commission “Ecclesia Dei” and of the congregation for divine worship, for the “updating” of the commemorations of the saints and the “possible insertion of new prefaces” into the preconciliar Roman missal of 1962", according to The activity of the Holy See for 2010, printed by Libreria Editrice Vaticana

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/revising-and-updating-the-1962-missale-romanum/

Labels: liturgy, Roman Curia, T.L.M.

3. "Despite reports, Ireland not backing down on forcing priests to break seal of confession"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38947

Labels: Ireland

4. On the latest development in Vatican-S.S.P.X. relations

"COMMUNIQUE CONCERNING THE SOCIETY OF ST. PIUS X"
OP/ VIS 20110914 (450)

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/sspx-bp-fellay-interviewed-after-cdf-meeting-today/

Also, AQ has had several threads on the matter.

Labels: Roman Curia, S.S.P.X., T.L.M., theology, Vatican II

5. "ADL Urges Vatican To Ensure Anti-Jewish Sect Accepts Teachings Of Vatican II Before They Are Welcomed Back"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38957

Keep in mind the relationship between the A.D.L. and B'nai B'rith, and the relationship between B'nai B'rith and the Vatican (see here and item 3.2 here); there might also be a direct relationship between the A.D.L. and the Vatican.

Labels: A.D.L., B'nai B'rith, Freemasons, Jews, S.S.P.X., Vatican II

6. H.H. The Pope on religion as a basis for social coexistence

From a recent edition of the Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin:
POPE HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY [...]

... "We are witnessing a growing indifference to religion in society, which considers the issue of truth as something of an obstacle in its decision-making, and instead gives priority to utilitarian considerations.

"All the same", he added, "a binding basis for our coexistence is needed; otherwise people live in a purely individualistic way. Religion is one of these foundations for a successful social life. 'Just as religion has need of freedom, so also freedom has need of religion'. These words of the great bishop and social reformer Wilhelm von Ketteler, the second centenary of whose birth is being celebrated this year, remain timely.
[...] PV-GERMANY/ VIS 20110922 (630)
I agree with the comment by Mr. Keener in the combox at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog post on that Papal address.

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Confessional State

7. An interesting "CathBlog" and combox comments on metaphysics (or, perhaps more precisely, Natural, and Dogmatic, Theology)

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=28012

Labels: philosophy, theology

8. The latest, and presumably most controversial, installment in Catholica's serialisation of Fr. Dresser's God is Big. Real Big!

http://www.catholica.com.au/gc0/pd/008_pd_240911.php

That's the chapter in which one reads, among other things, that "[n]o human being can ever be God. And Jesus was a human being. It is as simple as that!"

Labels: Peter Dresser, theology

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Sts. Cyprian and Justina, Martyrs, A.D. 2011

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, September 6-Wednesday, September 14, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

9. Dr. Tighe on what makes a Council Ecumenical

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/a-pessimitic-article-about-sspx-and-talks-with-rome/#comment-294303

Labels: Church Councils, Eastern Schism, Hierarchy, Papacy, theology

10. More from Dr. Brown on the notion of "the Eucharist [as] a memorial of the Last Supper"

Point 3 of this blog comment, in which there is a link to the text of one of Paul VI.'s General Audiences:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/when-diocesan-priests-choose-to-use-exclusively-the-extraordinary-form-fr-z-rants-a-lot/#comment-294513

Labels: liturgy, Paul VI. Montini, Sacraments, theology

11. "it has now become a constitutional convention that [the British] Parliament does not interfere in the internal affairs of the Established Church"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/uk-mp-pushes-to-force-church-to-have-contrary-to-nature-marriages-or-no-marriages-at-all/#comment-294030

Labels: Anglicans, U.K.

12. A very short, but very interesting, biography of St. Robert Bellarmine

http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1141

(I first read that biography in the Sydney Catholic Weekly last Sunday.) These are the parts which were of most interest to me and for which I log that biography here:
His most famous work is his three-volume Disputations on the Controversies of the Christian Faith. Particularly noteworthy are the sections on the temporal power of the pope and the role of the laity. He incurred the anger of monarchists in England and France by showing the divine-right-of-kings theory untenable. He developed the theory of the indirect power of the pope in temporal affairs; although he was defending the pope against the Scottish philosopher Barclay, he also incurred the ire of Pope Sixtus V.

[...] ... The process for his canonization was begun in 1627 but was delayed until 1930 for political reasons, stemming from his writings. In 1930, Pope Pius XI canonized him and the next year declared him a doctor of the Church.
Labels: Papacy, political science, St. Robert Bellarmine, theology, William Barclay

13. Two recent opinions pieces from Mr. Steyn

13.1 "Using rights to gag free speech"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/using-rights-to-gag-free-speech/story-e6frg6zo-1226136138035

(Needless to say, I reject that 'freedom of speech' is a true moral freedom; I mainly log that web-page for its information on examples of anti-'hate-speech' action.)

Labels: hate speech

13.2 "FOURTH TRIMESTER ABORTION"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38913

Labels: abortion

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, A.D. 2011

Monday, September 5, 2011

Notes: Wednesday, August 24-Monday, September 5, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. On the Department of Defence's Understanding Transitioning Gender in the Workplace document

One of The Weekend Australian's recent columns (warning: The column's name is blasphemous, and there is a picture of a bra at the top of its web-page) featured an amusing excerpt from a recent publication by Australia's Department of Defence. Here are some other points of interest from that document:
  • In the course of their duties, commanders and managers may not encounter any Defence people who wish to transition gender. It is important however that commanders and managers are aware of their obligations and responsibilities with regard to the support and management of people who are transitioning gender.
    [p. 3]
  • It is also important to use the correct pronouns such as ‘she’ or ‘her’ in the case of a male transitioning to a female or ‘he’ or ‘him’ in the case of a female transitioning to a male. ... The continued deliberate use of pronouns and names relating to the previous gender identity will be construed as sexual harassment.
    [p. 7]
  • Should the situation arise where open communal same sex showers are the only showers available (i.e. field exercises/deployments), the transitioning person and their commander or manager should discuss and agree upon an appropriate arrangement to ensure the needs of all people are met. This situation would only apply prior to the transitioning person undergoing gender realignment surgery.
    [p. 7]
  • Note that the use of the term ‘sex change’ may be perceived as derogatory.
    [p. 12]
  • The precise definition for transgender remains in constant flux.
    [p. 13]
  • Approximately one in 11,000 males and one in 30,000 females have the condition. Note that the prevalence of the condition is often understated as most statistics only look at those people who have completed surgery.
    [p. 16]
Note those figures on the rate of incidence of Gender Identity Disorder ("the condition" to which that last quotation refers): So in a randomly-selected sample of 60000 people, with a male:female ratio of presumably roughly 50:50, there will be roughly three "transgender women" and roughly one "transgender man" (see p. 13 for the terminology). Even if you want to double that in order to take into account the fact that the prevalence is supposedly understated, that's still only six men who feel that they're women and two women who feel that they're men. Now according to the Defence Annual Report 2009-10,
At 30 June 2010, Defence had 73,490 permanent employees (headcount) comprising 57,799 permanent ADF members and 15,691 APS staff.
[http://www.defence.gov.au/Budget/09-10/dar/dar_0910_v1_s4.pdf#nameddest=a7]
and the Defence Materiel Organisation will employ, in 2011-2012, "over 7,000 people" (source), so that one would expect that the entire Defence workforce will contain, at most, a mere ten "transgender people". Why, then, would the Department even bother putting together a whole booklet on Defence employees' 'gender affirmation' (destroying the gender in order to affirm it?) and tell its commanders and managers that it "is important" that they "are aware of their obligations and responsibilities with regard to the support and management of people who are transitioning gender"? Could it be that there is an ideological motive involved here? I see that one of the websites listed under the heading "Additional Resources" on p. 17 is that of "Pride in Diversity"; I've blogged on "Pride in Diversity" in item 6 of this edition of Notes, and you'll see at its website that it "was established as a collaboration between" Stonewall, "a London-based LGBT advocacy group", and two other organisations.

Labels: A.D.F., Defence Department, G.L.B.T., Pride in Diversity

2. On The Australian's attitude towards so-called gay marriage

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/same-sex-marriage-debate-must-not-be-shut-down/story-e6frg71x-1226122387432

That link leads to what is, to date, the fullest statement of The Australian's official editorial attitude towards so-called gay marriage. Its author writes that
The Australian leans towards libertarianism on social issues, believing the state should tread as lightly as possible around personal issues. It is not our role to pronounce one way or another on same-sex marriage ...
Yet in that editorial and this earlier one The Australian puts inverted commas around the word "marriage" when speaking of polygamous ones without ever, as far as I can recall, doing so for same-sex unions.

And that editorial, after noting some of the problems involved with gay 'marriage', says that "[n]one of [those] difficulties are insurmountable" (which indicates that The Australian has no in-principle opposition to the notion). But how does The Australian propose to 'surmount' a same-sex marriage's constitutional incapacity for consummation? And how does it propose to 'surmount' the deprivation of a mother for those children procured by Gay 'husbands' and their respective 'wives' and of a father for children procured by Lesbian 'husbands' and their respective 'wives'?

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

3. "approximately 24 percent of [American] children are born to co-habiting couples"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=27879

Labels: families, parenthood, U.S.A.

4. "the Holy Father does not allow Girl Altar Boys within his own Diocese of Rome"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/08/should-the-infamous-altar-girl-decision-be-reversed-wm-oddie-opines-wdtprs-polls-included/

Labels: Diocese of Rome, liturgy

5. "Why mothers matter"

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

(That came to my attention via the LMF News e-mail of August 2011 from The Archdiocese of Sydney's Life, Marriage & Family Centre.)

Labels: families, parenthood

6. "The statistics on women in Victoria having terminations from 24 weeks into pregnancy are incomplete, badly presented and out of date - but they still allow us to estimate the number at slightly fewer than 138 women a year"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/talk-choice-no-time-to-waste-20110828-1jgft.html?skin=text-only

Labels: abortion

7. Mr. Magister on, among other things, then-Fr. Ratzinger's involvement with the Neo-catechumenal Way in its early days

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38675

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Neo-catechumenal Way

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Lawrence Justinian, Bishop, Confessor, A.D. 2011

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

Monday, August 8, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, July 26-Monday, August 8, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

1. Dr. Feser on a review by Sir Anthony (Kenny) of the former's The Last Superstition

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2011/07/kenny-on-tls-in-tls.html

Labels: atheism, philosophy, theology

2. Yet more evidence of the Sodomites' League's success in diverting public discourse on homosexuality away from a focus on behaviour to a focus on 'identity'

From a Herald letter from one David Harris of Manly:
Fred Nile ... entered the NSW Upper House in 1980 with a single issue - to stop members of the gay community from celebrating their own identity.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/dilemma-solved--abolish-the-upper-houses-20110801-1i8df.html?skin=text-only]
That seems inaccurate in at least two points: Mr. Nile was never a one-issue politician, and in 1980 New South Wales law did not, as far as I know, prohibit anyone "celebrating their own identity" (though it did, of course, prohibit buggery until, if I'm not mistaken, 1984, but that prohibition applied irrespective of whether the sodomite was homosexual or heterosexual and irrespective of whether the catamite was male or female, so clearly it involved discrimination neither on the basis of sex nor of sexual disorientation).

Labels: Fred Nile, G.L.B.T.

3. Fortunately, it seems that the background of one of the main participants in Ireland's planning for an attack on the Sacrament of Penance has not gone completely unnoticed there

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=414425#414425

Labels: Alan Shatter

4. Point-counterpoint in the Herald letters page:

4.1 In discussion on N.S.W. State school "ethics" classes

One Philip Cooney of Wentworth Falls wrote that
Surely it can't threaten our children to ask why there was not open access to the curriculum material prior to its introduction ...
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/little-virtue-in-labors-games-with-education-20110802-1i9si.html?skin=text-only]
I too had the impression that there was a lack of open access to the 'ethics class' material before its introduction, but then the next day a letter was published which said that
[t]he ethics course syllabus was reviewed and approved by the NSW Education Department.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/dont-play-russian-roulette-with-our-aquifers-20110803-1ibl2.html?skin=text-only]
Did the "ethics" folks give access only to the Department, then? (I don't ask that rhetorically; does anyone know the answer?)

The day after that, Mr. Nile had a column published on the matter, in which he wrote that there are some who
wrongly believe that when Sir Henry Parkes introduced free and ''secular'' state education, he meant ''non-Christian'' or ''non-religious''. That was never his intention. In the 1880s, ''secular'' was used to prohibit denominational teaching in NSW classrooms, not scripture classes, which Parkes decreed should fill one hour per day.
But I thought that 'secular' as in 'secularist' was precisely what the likes of Parkes intended. One Keith Parsons of Newcastle affirmed my point of view in a letter published, with others, under the heading "Reason v dogma: Fred's no Socrates" here:
The only reason Sir Henry Parkes, almost 130 years ago, supported religious instruction in public schools was to get the churches that dominated school education to support the concept of a universal, free, public, secular education system.
Are any readers here knowledgeable on the motives and intentions of Australia's late-nineteenth-century proponents of 'free, compulsory, and secular' schooling (I won't say education)?

Labels: education, Henry Parkes, secularism, St James Ethics Centre

4.2 In discussion on the birth certificates of donor-conceived children

Last week the Herald gave us a reminder of the insanity of some of New South Wales's laws:
Sperm donors have no legal parental status even if they are on a birth certificate and even if they have court-ordered access visits.

But retrospective laws introduced in 2008 gave lesbian partners of women who conceive through artificial insemination legal parenting status.

[http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/keep-me-named-as-father-donor-begs-court-20110802-1i9yf.html?skin=text-only
Or alternatively:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/sperm-donor-could-lose-his-status-20110802-1i9wq.html?skin=text-only]
The coverage elicited a terse little letter, published under the heading "Donor delisting" here, from one Samantha Chung of Newtown, but the next day one Eva Elbourne of Gordon provided quite a good rejoinder (though I'm not sure that I agree with it completely), published under the heading "Donor parents must remain on record" here.

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

5. "Russia is Most Religious Nation In Europe"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38415

Labels: R.O.C., Russia

6. Mr. Verrecchio on homosexuality, narcissism, and their influence on liturgy

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38404

Labels: G.L.B.T., liturgy, narcissism

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Mary Vianney, Confessor, and of Sts. Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, Martyrs, A.D. 2011

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Notes: Wednesday, July 13-Tuesday, July 19, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

6. "Notitiae ["the official journal of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship"] Responses online"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/notitiae-responses-online/

http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/

Labels: liturgy, Roman Curia

7. "The Greens, to be to be launched in Melbourne on July 21, is the first book to provide a practical analysis of the wide-ranging [Australian] Greens policies"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/at-last-a-thorough-probe-into-what-drives-the-greens-machine/story-fn59niix-1226095160826

A revised version of one of that book's chapters, by Dr. Kevin Donnelly, was published at The Punch last week. Of particular interest were its last half-dozen or so paragraphs; this is the last of them:
Given that all Australian schools, under the banner of the ALP’s education revolution, will be made to teach a national curriculum after 2012, it should not surprise if the Greens pressure the Gillard Government to incorporate a positive view of LGBTI lifestyles in the new curriculum.[http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/green-with-class-envy-and-bent-on-change/]
Labels: Australian Labor, education, G.L.B.T., Greens

8. Dr. Feser on "some of the non-serious objections" to the cosmological argument for God's Existence

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2011/07/so-you-think-you-understand.html

Labels: God's Existence, philosophy, theology

9. "Studies estimate between 20,000 and 40,000 polygamists live in the heavily Mormon state [of Utah]"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/no-big-love-lost-in-polygamists-civil-rights-claim-20110715-1hhp8.html?skin=text-only

Labels: C.J.C.L.D.S., polyamory

10. "Russians launch space super-telescope": "The main point is that Russia is returning to scientific programmes in space after a long break"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/russians-launch-space-telescope/story-e6frg6so-1226097482531

Labels: Russia

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, June 7-Tuesday, June 14, 2011

1. "Private prestige university on the way"--"reportedly being funded by millions of pounds from private investors secured by the eminent British philosopher A. C. Grayling"; "[f]ourteen leading academics are backing the project and will teach at the university, including evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/private-prestige-university-on-the-way-20110605-1fnb2.html?skin=text-only

Labels: education, N.C.H.

2. Jewish-to-Catholic convert and State-of-Israel citizen named as a Prelate Auditor of the Roman Rota ("the Holy See’s highest appellate court")

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37641

http://mauricepinay.blogspot.com/2011/06/pope-appoints-fanatical-zionist-to.html

http://www.ucanews.com/2011/06/03/jewish-convert-named-to-top-vatican-role/

(The last of those three web-pages came to my attention via this CathNews page.)

Labels: David Jaeger, Roman Curia, State of Israel

3. Fr. Zuhlsdorf on, among other things, the myth of the origin of 'vernacular' Catholic liturgy

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/06/critics-of-the-new-corrected-translation-would-have-back-in-the-day-resisted-also-the-king-james-bible/

Labels: Latin, liturgy, vernacular

4. "Remarks [from a "Deputy Assistant Secretary" of the U.S. Department of State] for LGBT Pride"

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/rm/2011/165264.htm

(That web-page came to my attention via this comment at AQ.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., pride, U.S.A.

5. "[In The State of Israel,] there are more than 20 individual laws that discriminate between the Jewish and non-Jewish population"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/mandela-factor/story-fn558imw-1226073258456

Labels: discrimination, Jews, State of Israel

6. An article on evolution which (article) contains some interesting points from a Creationist perspective

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/a-grey-matter-of-size-brains-arent-what-they-used-to-be/story-e6frg8y6-1226073980121

Labels: evolution, neuroscience

7. Four viewpoints on whether "people [should] be able to use the sperm or eggs of their dead partner"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/should-people-be-able-to-use-the-sperm-or-eggs-of-their-dead-partner-20110603-1fkir.html?skin=text-only

Labels: I.V.F., medicine, morality

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Pentecost Tuesday, A.D. 2011

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

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