Showing posts with label morals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label morals. Show all posts

Saturday, July 15, 2023

Notes: Wednesday, October 5, 2022-Saturday, July 15, 2023 (part 1 of 2)

1: "That the principles of America opened the Bastile is not to be doubted"

That quotation comes from the digitised letter "To George Washington from Thomas Paine, 1 May 1790" at the U.S. National Archives Founders Online website:


(It came to my attention via the article "Strict rules on gifts date back to the birth of US" by Troy Lennon on p. 80 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, June 13, 2014, available through the N.S.W. State Library eresources Gale OneFile: News (itself available in Gale Research Complete), ProQuest Central, and NewsBank.) Paine seems to have sent that letter to Washington with a key—supposedly the main key to the Bastille—which he had received from Lafayette; see footnote 18 of chapter VIII ("The French Revolution in America") of The Age of Federalism, by Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, published by Oxford University Press, March 2, 1995:


See also, at the George Washington's Mount Vernon website, the pages "Bastille Key" (in The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington) and "Key to the Bastille":



Labels: Americanism, Democratism, France, liberalism, U.S.A.

2: According to The Pope, the death penalty "is always inadmissible since it attacks the inviolability and the dignity of the person", and it "cannot be employed for a purported State justice, since it does not constitute a deterrent nor render justice to victims, but only fuels the thirst for vengeance"

Those quotations come from The Holy See Press Office's bulletin item "Udienza al Corpo Diplomatico accreditato presso la Santa Sede per la presentazione degli auguri per il nuovo anno, 09.01.2023"; they translate parts of this paragraph in the original Italian of the Address in question:
Il diritto alla vita è minacciato anche laddove si continua a praticare la pena di morte, come sta accadendo in questi giorni in Iran, in seguito alle recenti manifestazioni, che chiedono maggiore rispetto per la dignità delle donne. La pena di morte non può essere utilizzata per una presunta giustizia di Stato, poiché essa non costituisce un deterrente, né offre giustizia alle vittime, ma alimenta solamente la sete di vendetta. Faccio, perciò, appello perché la pena di morte, che è sempre inammissibile poiché attenta all’inviolabilità e alla dignità della persona, sia abolita nelle legislazioni di tutti i Paesi del mondo. Non possiamo dimenticare che fino all’ultimo momento, una persona può convertirsi e può cambiare.
[https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/01/09/0020/00038.html]
A stand-alone English translation of that bulletin item is also available, titled "Audience with the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See for the presentation of wishes for the New Year, 09.01.2023", and so are the English translation and original Italian of that Address:




Labels: death penalty, Francis Bergoglio, morals

3: The Pope on the difference between cause and condition in the formation of a society: "“What God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mt 19:6). “God himself is the author of matrimony”, as Vatican Council II affirms (cf. Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 48), and this can be understood as referring to every single conjugal union. Indeed, spouses give life to their union, with free consent, but only the Holy Spirit has the power to make a man and woman a sole existence."

That quotation comes from the Papal "Audience with the Tribunal of the Roman Rota on the occasion of the Inauguration of the Judicial Year, 27.01.2023", which is a translation of the original Italian given in The Holy See Press Office's bulletin item "Udienza al Tribunale della Rota Romana in occasione dell’inaugurazione dell’Anno Giudiziario, 27.01.2023" (also available in the Vatican's "Speeches 2023 January"/"Discorsi 2023 Gennaio" webpages):





Labels: marriage, morals, politics, society

4: "the only two special religious instruction providers still operating in [Victorian ]state schools say there are now about 750 students" enrolled (actively?) with those providers; that is down from "nearly 93,000 Victorian students" enrolled with those or other providers in 2013

Those two quotations, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, come from the news report "Religion class enrolments slump in state schools in decade since program changes", by Madeleine Heffernan, dateline: "February 26, 2023 — 3.47pm", downloaded from The Age's website:


(It was also interesting to read, in the final paragraph, that Special Religious Instruction "program materials" "must comply with minimum standards regarding human rights and anti-discrimination laws." For more on those standards, click the "Policy" tab on the "School operations": "Special Religious Instruction" page in the schools "Policy and Advisory Library" at Victoria's Department of Education and Training beta website:


Above all, s.v. "Program and materials", "Freedom of religion", and "General religious education".) For background to that article, see item 3.1 of the Tuesday, August 11-Tuesday, September 29, 2015 issue of my "Notes":


Labels: education, Victoria

5: Mr. Wesselinoff on the demography of (at least) nominally Catholic Australians in 2021

See the news report "New stats show Catholics have smaller families, more education, are older and more diverse", by Adam Wesselinoff, April 20, 2023, at the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:


Mr. Wesselinoff based his report on the 2021 "Social Profile of the Catholic Community in Australia", from the National Centre for Pastoral Research:



Labels: demography

6: "Just 11 minutes [after David Ben-Gurion supposedly asserted Israeli independence], President Truman announced that the United States would be the first nation to recognize the government of Israel."

That quotation, excluding my parenthesis replacing the word "later", comes from the April 25, 2023 "Statement from President Joe Biden on the Occasion of Israel’s 75th Independence Day":


Labels: State of Israel, U.S.A.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor, A.D. 2023

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Notes: Saturday, March 26-Tuesday, October 4, 2022 (part 2 of 2)

3: The JUDGMENT and DECREE OF THE University of Oxford Past in their Convocation July 21. 1683, Oxford, 1683

is available through the Oxford Text Archive (O.T.A.), Google Books, The London Gazette (Issue No. 1845, July 23-26, 1683), and the respective websites of The British Library, The University of Michigan Library, and The National Archives:







JUDICIUM & DECRETUM Universitatis Oxoniensis Latum in Convocatione habita Jul. 21. An. 1683 (Oxford, 1683) seems to be the original Latin of that Judgment, and is available through the O.T.A. and the aforementioned library websites:




Early English Books Online has the Latin book as well as two editions of the English translation; one of those two editions was published in Dublin and does not seem to be available elsewhere online, and the other edition is the one linked hereinbefore.

Labels: Democratism, morals, politics, regalism, St. Robert Bellarmine

4: Some recent objectionable pronouncements from The Pope

4.1: God "does not want to make decisions for us, or oppress us with a sacral power, exercised in a world governed by religious laws."

That quotation comes from the translated text of "the homily delivered by the Pope during the celebration of Vespers", contained in The Holy See Press Office's Daily Bulletin item "Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Francis in Canada – Vespers with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and pastoral workers at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Québec, 28.07.2022":


The quotation is part of this excerpt:
God does not want us to be slaves, but sons and daughters; he does not want to make decisions for us, or oppress us with a sacral power, exercised in a world governed by religious laws. No! He created us to be free, and he asks us to be mature and responsible persons in life and in society.
Judging by the source for that Daily Bulletin item, I think that that passage is a translation of this section of the original Spanish of the homily in question:
Dios, en efecto, no nos quiere esclavos sino hijos, no quiere decidir en nuestro lugar ni oprimirnos con un poder sagrado en un mundo gobernado por leyes religiosas. No, Él nos ha creado libres y nos pide que seamos personas adultas, personas responsables en la vida y en la sociedad.
["Viaggio Apostolico di Sua Santità Francesco in Canada – Vespri con i Vescovi, i Sacerdoti, i Diaconi, i Consacrati, i Seminaristi e gli Operatori Pastorali presso la Cattedrale di Notre-Dame de Québec, 28.07.2022",
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2022/07/28/0563/01130.html]
The only media organ to highlight the anti-Integralist aspect of that homily seems to be Religion News Service, in the "News" report "God does not want ‘a world governed by religious laws,’ pope tells Canadian clergy", by Claire Giangravé, dated July 28, 2022:


Ms Giangravé was also the journalist who, during that Apostolic Journey's return-flight press conference, asked His Holiness about changing Church teaching on contraceptives:



Returning to that homily, I note that one of the problems with The Pope's anti-Integralism is that, pace His Holiness, a loving and conscientious Catholic father will, as far as reasonably possible within the scope of his authority, impose religious rules on his sons and daughters, and a loving and conscientious Catholic civil sovereign will, likewise, impose religious laws on his subjects; that is the paternal, not despotic, thing to do.

Labels: Confessional State, Francis Bergoglio, law, morals, politics, secularism

4.2: "the death penalty is morally inadmissible," and "in the light of the Gospel, the death penalty is unacceptable"

Those quotations come from the translation, in The Holy See Press Office's Daily Bulletin item "Video of the Holy Father with the prayer intention for the month of September, disseminated via the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, 31.08.2022", of the transcript of H.H. The Pope's message in that video:


The quotations seems to translate "moralmente, la pena di morte è inadeguata" and "alla luce del Vangelo, la pena di morte è inammissibile", respectively, judging by that Daily Bulletin item's original Italian ("Video del Santo Padre con l’intenzione di preghiera per il mese di settembre diffusa attraverso la Rete Mondiale di Preghiera del Papa, 31.08.2022", in which the transcript's original language is given as Italian, too):


The official website of The Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network has these pages, available through its "Resources" page: "September prayer intention 2022", "2022–9–TPV–Script–For the abolition of the death penalty", "2022–09–TPV–Press Release-For the abolition of the death penalty", "TPV- For the abolition of the death penalty – Infographic", and "TPV – For the abolition of the death penalty – Poster", with the content of those pages also available, in one form or another, on the page "SEPTEMBER | For the abolition of the death penalty" (dated, like the preceding resources, August 31, 2022) at the official website of an operation—namely, The Pope Video—of that Network:







Labels: death penalty, Francis Bergoglio, morals

5: "it was this act[, namely, the Quebec Act,] that moved the Americans to form and attend the First Continental Congress in the first place!"

That quotation (excluding my square-bracketed interpolation) comes from this passage (excluding my ellipses (a square-bracketed one indicates the omission of a whole paragraph) and square-bracketed interpolation) in "Catholicism and the American Founding", by Prof. Bradley J. Birzer, July 3, 2021, at The Catholic World Report's website:
… With the passage of the Quebec Act, they[, namely, "French Roman Catholics living in Quebec",] could practice their Catholicism without political hinderance. Parliament saw this act, rightfully, as a liberal act, having next to nothing to do with the affairs of the Protestants to the south. Americans in the thirteen colonies not only saw it as a direct attack on their faith, but it was this act that moved the Americans to form and attend the First Continental Congress in the first place!

[…]

Not surprisingly, given the terrible (if ridiculous) reputation that Catholics had among Protestants as being the evil purveyors of darkness, oppression, and superstition, the very first act of the Continental Congress was to pass a condemnation of liberalization of restrictions on Roman Catholics. With the almost unanimous backing of the New England colonies, the condemnation found widespread support, especially from John Jay and Alexander Hamilton of New York, and Richard Lee of Virginia.

[…]

It must be noted that the First Continental Congress was not some fly-by-night revolutionary committee of radicals. It was, instead, the very first meeting of the U.S. Congress, still, institutionally, of course, in existence through this day.
See also item 2 of my "Notes: Thursday, January 1-Monday, February 2, 2015": 


(The Spectator link there is now dead, but this one works:


and that book review is also available, in one form or another, through Trove, Gale Research Complete, NewsBank, and ProQuest. As for item 2's hyperlinked comment by me at a now-removed blog, that comment contained a quotation from The Catholic Church in the Modern World: A Survey from the French Revolution to the present, by Mr. E. E. Y. Hales, published by Eyre & Spottiswoode in association with Burns & Oates, London, 1958.)

Labels: Canada, Church and State, history, U.S.A.

6: "Not until the mid-1960s did people begin to realise that, in addition to the concentration camps, there were also death camps whose only purpose was extermination. Even the term "the Holocaust" was not used widely until the late 70s."

That quotation comes from the book review "Germany's African colony was a laboratory for genocide", by Jim Davidson, on p. 24 of the "Review" supplement of The Weekend Australian, January 15-16, 2011, available through ProQuest and NewsBank, and formerly available at The Australian's website via this U.R.L.:


Prof. Davidson is or at least has been a professional historian, according to the profiles on him from AustLit, Trove, Melbourne University, and what seems to have been at the time of that book review his most recent book (namely, A Three-Cornered Life, available through ProQuest's Ebook Central): 





Labels: history, Jews, Nazism

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Confessor, A.D. 2022

Friday, March 25, 2022

Notes: Tuesday, March 2, 2021-Friday, March 25, 2022

 1. Suarez on political authority before and after the Fall

See the "Scholia" item "What Kind of Corporeal or Political Life Men Would Have Professed in the State of Innocence" (the translated title of Ch. 7 of Book 5 of On the Work of the Six Days), by Francisco Suarez, translated and introduced by Assistant Prof. Matthew T. Gaetano, Journal of Markets & Morality, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Fall 2012), pp. 527–563:


Labels: Adam (Patriarch), morals, politics

2. Prof. Sommerville's comparison of Catholic and Anglican political theory in the Jacobean age

See the article "FROM SUAREZ TO FILMER: A REAPPRAISAL", by J. P. Sommerville, The Historical Journal, Vol. 25, No. 3 (September 1982), pp. 525-540:



Labels: morals, politics, regalism, St. Robert Bellarmine

3. "The Declaration of Independence: Annotated"

That quotation is the title of an article of December 9, 2021 by Liz Tracey in the JSTOR Daily "Annotations" series:


Labels: Americanism, Democratism, history, liberalism, morals, politics, U.S.A.

4. Recent additions to, and losses from, The Order of the Garter

My last blog post about The Most Noble Order of the Garter was "Notes: Tuesday, February 5-Monday, July 22, 2019 (part 1 of 3)" (item 3):


Since then, that Order has lost no Ladies, no Stranger Knights, one British Royal Knight (namely, The (1.) Duke of Edinburgh, who died on April 9, 2021 and whose Funeral occurred on the 17. following), and five other Knights:

1. Lord Bramall, who died on November 12, 2019

2. Lord Ashburton, who died on October 6, 2020, the Memorial Service for whom occurred on October 15, 2021, and whose Garter Insignia were delivered up on December 1, 2021

3. Sir Antony Acland, who died on September 8, 2021, according to "Sir Antony Acland Obituary", dated September 16, 2021, available at Eton College's website:


and the Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of whom occurred on February 4, 2022

4. Sir Timothy Colman, who died the day after Sir Antony, according to "Sir Timothy Colman, record-breaking sailor, naturalist, long-serving lord lieutenant and well-liked figure in Norfolk life – obituary", dated September 15, 2021, available at the London Daily Telegraph's website:


and the Service of Thanksgiving to Celebrate the Life of whom occurred on January 20, 2022

5. Lord Sainsbury, who died on January 14, 2022, according to "Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover obituary", by Stephen Bates, dated Monday, January 17, 2022, available at The Guardian's website:


Over the same period, no new British Royal Knights, no new Stranger Knights nor Ladies, one de-facto British Royal Lady (namely, the de-facto Duchess of Cornwall), one other Lady (Lady Amos), and one other Knight (Sir Tony Blair) have joined the Order, with those three new appointments effective January 1, 2022. See

1. The Press Release "New appointments to the Order of the Garter announced", dated December 31, 2021, available at the official website of the British Royal Family:


It lists the three new appointees in the sequence in which I happen to have listed them, and says that Lady Amos
(born 13th March 1954) has previously been Chief Executive, Equal Opportunities Commission (1989-1994), Secretary of State for International Development, Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords (2003-2007), Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, UN (2010-2015) and is currently Master, University College Oxford.
while Sir Tony
was Prime Minister from 1997-2007. He is now Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a not-for-profit organisation which works around the world.
2. Notice No. 3963431, January 7, 2022 (but to be dated the previous 1.), Notice Type "State", Sub-Type "Honours and Awards" (Notice Code: 1105), The London Gazette, Issue No. 63581, (printed on January 10, 2022, containing all notices published online between January 7 and 9, 2022), p. 214:


(delete "/page/214" for the full issue, with p. 214 being p. 2 in my document reader)

3. The B.B.C. News report "Blair becomes 'Sir Tony' and joins top royal order", by Sean Coughlan, dated January 1, 2022:


according to which Sir Tony "says he will be "Sir Tony" rather than Sir Anthony"

Consequently, the current Knights Companions and Ladies Companions of The Order of the Garter are:

British Royal Knights and Ladies, at least in fact*:
1. H.M. The Queen (who joined the Order on November 11, 1947 and became Sovereign thereof upon becoming Queen, February 6, 1952)
2. H.R.H. The Prince of Wales (1958) K.G. (July 26, 1958**) K.T. G.C.B. O.M. A.K. Q.S.O. C.C. P.C. A.D.C.
3. H.R.H. The (2.) Duke of Kent (1934, 1942) K.G. (October 9, 1985) G.C.M.G. G.C.V.O. C.D. A.D.C.
4. H.R.H. The Princess Royal (1987) K.G. (1994***) K.T. G.C.V.O. Q.S.O. C.D. A.D.C.
5. H.R.H. The (2.) Duke of Gloucester (1928, 1974) K.G. (1997) G.C.V.O.
6. H.R.H. Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy K.G. (2003) G.C.V.O. C.D.
7. H.R.H. The (1.) Duke of York (1986) K.G. (2006) G.C.V.O. C.D. A.D.C.
8. H.R.H. The (1.) Earl of Wessex (1999) and Forfar (2019) K.G. (2006) G.C.V.O. C.D. A.D.C.
9. H.R.H. The (1.) Duke of Cambridge (2011) K.G. (2008) K.T. P.C. A.D.C.
10. The de-facto Duchess of Cornwall K.G. (January 1, 2022) G.C.V.O. P.C.
*unless otherwise indicated, the year given after a title is the year of the creation of that title, and where another year is given after that one, that title is hereditary (and so is a title preceded by an ordinal number), and the latter year is that of the succession to that title; the date after the post-nominal letters K.G. is—again, unless otherwise indicated—the date of the appointment to the Order, and where only a year, not a full date, is given, the appointment is to be dated April 23 of that year
**my presumption, in item 7.2.1 of this issue of "Notes", was correct, judging by the page "Titles and Heraldry" (scroll down and click the tile "Titles"at the left-hand side) at His Royal Highness's website, according to which "The Prince of Wales automatically became a KG when he became Prince of Wales in 1958" (although His Royal Highness "was not installed until 17th June 1968, at Windsor Castle"):


***though the exact date thereof seems disputed—either April 23 or June 13. And it was interesting to read, in the "Feature" article "The Princess Royal – 70 facts at 70", that "The Princess Royal requested to be installed as Royal Knight of the Order, and not a Lady":


Stranger Knights and Ladies*:
1. H.M. The Queen of Denmark (May 16, 1979)
2. H.M. The King of Sweden (May 25, 1983)
3. H.M. King John Charles I. (the abdicated Spanish king) (October 17, 1988)
4. H.R.H. Princess Beatrice (the abdicated Dutch queen) (June 28, 1989)
5. H.M. The (Japanese) Emperor Emeritus (May 26, 1998)
6. H.M. The King of Norway (May 30, 2001)
7. H.M. The King of Spain (July 12, 2017)
8. H.M. The King of The Netherlands (October 23, 2018)
*see the appendix to this blog post for the evidence for these dates

Other Knights and Ladies*:
1. His Grace The Most Hon. The (5.) Duke of Abercorn (1868, 1979) Bt. K.G. (1999)
2. The Rt. Hon. Field Marshal The Baron Inge (1997) K.G. (2001) G.C.B. P.C. D.L.
3. The Rt. Hon. The Baron Butler of Brockwell (1998) K.G. (2003) G.C.B. C.V.O. P.C.
4. The Rt. Hon. The Baron Morris of Aberavon (2001) K.G. (2003) P.C. Q.C.
5. The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major K.G. (2005) C.H. P.C.
6. The Rt. Hon. The Baron Luce (2000) K.G. (2008) G.C.V.O. P.C. D.L.
7. Sir Thomas Dunne K.G. (2008) K.C.V.O. J.P.
8. The Rt. Hon. Admiral of the Fleet The Baron Boyce (2003) K.G. (2011) G.C.B. O.B.E. D.L.
9. The Rt. Hon. The Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers (1999) K.G. (2011) P.C.
10. The Rt. Hon. Marshal of The Royal Air Force The Baron Stirrup (2011) K.G. (2013) G.C.B. A.F.C. A.D.C.
11. The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Manningham-Buller (2008) L.G. (2014) D.C.B.
12. The Rt. Hon. Prof. The Baron King of Lothbury (2013) K.G. (2014) G.B.E. D.L.
13. The Rt. Hon. The (5.) Baron Shuttleworth (1902, 1975) Bt. K.G. (2016) K.C.V.O. J.P.
14. Sir David Brewer K.G. (2016) C.M.G. C.V.O. J.P.
15. Lady Mary Fagan L.G. (2018) D.C.V.O. J.P.
16. The Rt. Hon. The (3.) Viscount Brookeborough (1952, 1987) Bt. K.G. (2018)
17. Lady Mary Peters L.G. (February 27, 2019) C.H. D.B.E.
18. The Most Hon. The (7.) Marquess of Salisbury (1789, 2003) K.G. (February 27, 2019) K.C.V.O. P.C. D.L.
19. The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Amos (1997) L.G. (January 1, 2022) C.H. P.C.
20. The Rt. Hon. Sir Tony Blair K.G. (January 1, 2022) P.C.
*I have applied to this list the rules stated in the first note to my list of British Royal Knights and Ladies, and the sequence in which I have listed these other Garter Knights and Ladies is that of the relevant Press Releases or Gazette notices. The sequence in each of the pairs for 2011, ’18, and ’19 is, however, reversed in the previously-cited Garter banner list; the Court Circular, too, reverses the sequence of the 2011 pair when mentioned in that year through 2019 (except 2017, when Garter Day activities were cancelled, and 2012), and does likewise for the 2018 pair when mentioned in 2019.

Sources: In addition to the resources available through the links in this blog's sidebar (above all, the Court Circular (plus the rest of its host website), Who's Who, and Wikipedia) and in this and other "Notes" items, I have also used

1. The page "ADDRESSING THE ROYAL FAMILY" at the Debrett's website:


2. The page "Privy Council members" at the British Privy Council's website:


3. The page "THE ROYAL FAMILY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND", sub-heading "HOUSE OF WINDSOR", by Mr. William Bortrick, at Burke's Peerage's website:


4. p. 112 (132 in the document reader) in "Appendix Six" ("Royal and Vice-Regal Recipients of the Canadian Forces’ Decoration") of The Canadian Forces’ Decoration, by Mr. Christopher McCreery M.V.O., available at the "Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD)" page at H.M. Canadian Government's website:


or go straight hither:


or hither:


P.S. The usually-annual Garter service did not occur in 2020 nor ’21, according to, respectively, the Press Releases "An announcement regarding Royal events in June" and "Trooping the Colour will not go ahead in its traditional form in 2021", dated April 22, 2020 and March 19, 2021, respectively, and both available at the official website of the British Royal Family:



Labels: Camilla Parker Bowles, Order of the Garter, Tony Blair, Valerie Amos

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Lady Day, A.D. 2022

Appendix: Garter appointment dates for the current Stranger Knights and Ladies

The names of at least some of the current Stranger Knights Companions and Stranger Ladies Companions of The Order of the Garter are in the Wikipedia pages "List of current Knights and Ladies of the Garter" (see my "Miscellaneous links") and "Talk:Order of the Garter" (s.v. "Holy Roman garter?"), the London Times article "Order of the Garter" "full list" (Monday, June 16, 2008), and the page "Garter Banner List" at the website of St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle:




(or go straight hither:


"Holy Roman garter?" gives this U.R.L. as the source for its list, but, as you'll see, the link is dead:


I think that I remember that webpage, and I'm inclined to think that the list has been copied and pasted without more than negligible change. Whatever the case, it can serve as a starting point for further investigation.

An alternative starting point is to remember that, at least recently, Stranger appointments occur during State Visits. The official website of the British Royal Family has a "Feature" article titled "State Visits"; click "List of State Visits" on the left-hand side of the page in order to download a list of "Inward State Visits since 1952" and a list of "Outbound State Visits since 1952":




1. H.M. The Queen appointed Her Majesty's Danish counterpart to the Order in 1979, and the only relevant State Visit that year was the outbound one of Wednesday, May 16-Saturday 19 (p. 2), which The Danish Royal House's official website corroborates on the "State Visits" page (s.v. "List of State Visits") there:


According to the news report "THE QUEEN TAKES A TRIP IN THE TUNNEL OF LOVE", by Ann Morrow (in Copenhagen), on p. 19 of The Daily Telegraph (London) of Friday, May 18, 1979 (Issue No. 38552), "Queen Margarethe[ recte Margrethe] was given the Order of the Garter and an English gilt carriage clock by the Queen and Prince Philip" (my interpolation), presumably respectively, at the State banquet aboard H.M. Yacht Britannia the previous night. I presume that "given the Order of the Garter" means 'presented with the Garter Insignia', so The Queen of Denmark must have joined the Order on or before Thursday, May 17, 1979; I think that it's safe to say that May 16, 1979 was the exact date of the appointment.

2. Her Majesty appointed H.M. The King of Sweden to the Order in 1983, and the only relevant State Visit that year was the outbound one of May 25-28 (p. 2), and The Swedish Royal Court's official website corroborates that on the page "State visits 1980-1989" there:


According to the news report "The Queen goes ashore in gondola", by Jenny Shields (in Stockholm), The Daily Telegraph (London), Thursday, May 26, 1983, Issue No. 39793, p. 19, "at a ceremony in the Palace, the Queen presented 37-year-old King Carl Gustav with the Order of the Garter" on Wednesday, May 25, 1983. More accurately, 'presented The King with the Garter Insignia', I presume, so His Majesty must have joined the Order on or before that date, presumably the former.

3. The Queen appointed H.M. King John Charles I. (at the time of the appointment, the reigning King of Spain) a Stranger Knight of the Garter on October 17, 1988, according to Notice No. 21 SI, Notice Type "State Intelligence", Sub-Type "HONOURS AND AWARDS", The London Gazette, Issue No. 51806, Tuesday, July 11, 1989, p. 8095:

(delete "/page/8095" from this and the next U.R.L. for the full issue)


See also the news reports
  • "Sun, smiles and a Latin greeting for the Queen", by Richard Kay in Madrid, Tuesday, October 18, 1988, in The Daily Mail, London, Issue No. 28715, p. 5, which says that, on the 17., "The Queen conferred the Order of the Garter on Juan Carlos"
  • "Affectionate welcome for royal cousins", by Alan Hamilton, reporting from Madrid, Tuesday, October 18, 1988, in The Times, London, Issue No. 63215, p. 7, which says that, on the 17., "The Queen created King Juan Carlos an Extra Knight of the Garter"
October 17, 1988 was first day of the only relevant State Visit by The Queen that year (p. 2); the visit ended on the 21.

4. Her Majesty appointed H.R.H. Princess Beatrice (at the time of the appointment, the reigning Queen of The Netherlands) a Stranger Lady of the Garter on June 28, 1989, according to the same Gazette notice as that for King John Charles I.'s appointment. And on the same day, "The Queen invested The Queen of the Netherlands with the Insignia of an Extra Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter", according to the issue of the Court Circular printed on p. 18 of The Times (London), Thursday, June 29, 1989, Issue No. 63433. (Neither the official website of The Royal House of The Netherlands nor that of the British Royal Family give the dates for the State Visit of Her Royal Highness to Her Majesty, though that issue of the Court Circular says that "The Queen of the Netherlands and Prince Claus of the Netherlands arrived at Buckingham Palace this afternoon", and the previous day's issue seems not to mention that royal couple, so June 28 must have been the first day, and according to the news report "Queen's honour for Beatrix", p. 20, South China Morning Post, Friday, June 30, 1989, Vol. XLV, No. 179, Princess Beatrice was "on a three-day visit to Brit-ain" (the last word spanned two lines).)

5. The Queen appointed H.M. The (Japanese) Emperor Emeritus (at the time of the appointment, the reigning Emperor of Japan) to the Order in 1998, and the only relevant State Visit that year was the incoming one of May 26-29 (p. 2), on the first day whereof Her Majesty presented His Majesty with the Garter Insignia. Of the numerous Gale Primary Sources and ProQuest (via the N.S.W. State Library's website (see sidebar)) articles about the State Visit, the most informative for present purposes were the news reports "Thunder of guns met by imperial blaze of modesty THE EMPEROR'S VISIT: [D Edition 1]" (sic), by Valentine Low, Evening Standard, West End final ed., London, May 26, 1998, according to which, on May 26, 1998,
after a lunch in the Bow Room of Buckingham Palace, the emperor was presented with the Order of the Garter. There was no formal conferring upon the emperor of the Order which was simply laid out on a table with the other gifts from the Queen. However, no snub was intended - this, said the Palace, was the norm in such circumstances.
and "A day of protest and reconciliation", by Alan Hamilton, p. 1, The Times (London), Wednesday, May 27, 1998, Issue No. 66212, which put it this way:
On arriving at the Palace, the visitors were entertained to lunch of asparagus mousse, roast chicken and rhubarb parfait. The Queen then took the Emperor into the adjoin-ing Carnarvon Room and, without ceremony, presented him with the Order of the Garter, its star insignia lying in an open box among other gifts.
(The word 'adjoining' spanned two lines.)
Therefore, His Majesty must have joined the Order on or before May 26, 1998, presumably the former.

6. Her Majesty appointed H.M. The King of Norway to the Order in 2001, and the only relevant State Visit that year was that of The Queen to His Majesty from May 30-June 1 (see p. 3), and The Royal House of Norway's website corroborates that on its "State visits during the reign of King Harald" page (s.v. "State visits to Norway"):


According to the Court Circular, "The Queen presented The King of Norway with the Insignia of an Extra Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter" on May 30 at The Royal Palace, Oslo, so His Majesty must have joined the order on or before that date, presumably the former.

7. and 8. Her Majesty appointed H.M. The King of Spain and H.M. The King of The Netherlands to the Order on July 12, 2017 and October 23, 2018, respectively. See item 7.2.1 of "Notes: Tuesday, April 24, 2018-Monday, February 4, 2019 (part 2 of 2)" and item 3 of "Notes: Tuesday, February 5-Monday, July 22, 2019 (part 1 of 3)", to which, for convenience, I link here, along with links to their respective sources:








And for the sake of completeness, see the news item "King and Queen to visit Windsor", dated "07-06-2019", at the official website of The Royal House of The Netherlands, according to which H.M. The (Dutch) "King was appointed a Supernumerary Knight of the Garter during the State Visit to the United Kingdom on 23 and 24 October 2018", and "His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain" was "appointed as such during a state visit in 2017":

Monday, March 1, 2021

Notes: Tuesday, December 1, 2020-Monday, March 1, 2021

1. "As you know, due to the pandemic, today I[, The Pope,] was unable to celebrate Baptisms in the Sistine Chapel, as customary."

That quotation, excluding my square-bracketed parenthesis, comes from the translation of H.H. The Pope's remarks, after the Angelus recited on Sunday, January 10, 2021 (the New-Order Feast of The Baptism of The Lord), in The Holy See Press Office daily bulletin item "The Pope’s words at the Angelus prayer, 10.01.2021":


(those translated remarks are also available here:


with the original Italian of that item (titled "Le parole del Papa alla recita dell’Angelus, 10.01.2021") available here:


and the Italian remarks are also available here:


If that sentence translates "Come sapete, a causa della pandemia, oggi non ho potuto celebrare i Battesimi nella Cappella sistina, come di solito." correctly, then His Holiness seems to have misspoken. For in no sense of the word was The Pope unable to celebrate the customary Baptisms. There is no suggestion that His Holiness was physically unable, nor is there any indication that The Pope was morally unable (unable, that is, to celebrate the Baptisms without disproportionate inconvenience), nor was His Holiness legally unable. For The Pope is the Sovereign of The Vatican City State, and even in other jurisdictions the civil sovereign has no authority over the Sacraments, and even in those jurisdictions where the civil sovereign regulates the Sacraments de facto, the relevant regulations usually contain exceptions for ministers of religion, and it's easy to baptise babies in a COVID-safe fashion. It seems, then, that His Holiness was really unwilling, rather than unable, to baptise the babies in question. (According to the Vatican News report "Covid-19: Pope will not celebrate Baptisms in Sistine Chapel", dated January 5, 2021, "the baptisms will take place in the parishes to which they belong":


It's unclear, however, when those Baptisms were expected to occur and what the differences are which 'enable' them to take place in the babies' respective parish churches but not in the Sistine Chapel as planned.)

Labels: Francis Bergoglio, morals, politics

2. According to Richard Baxter, Adam Contzen "concludeth as the true and common judgement, that the power of making Laws, is by nature in the multitude or whole Common-wealth; and that no one Prince hath more than the people give him. And that the people when they choose a Royal Person or Family, may reserve this right, that he shall abrogate or make no Law without them: that all Civil power flows from the people; and that none without Tyranny can take this power from them: And that such a Tyrant is worse than he that beateth the innocent, because he wrongeth and oppresseth more."

That quotation comes from The second part of The nonconformists plea for peace, by Richard Baxter, printed for John Hancock, London, 1680, available at the Oxford Text Archive and The University of Michigan Library's website:



Baxter said that after he said that "It seems heretofore some Canonists thought otherwise", but, in the opinion of Contzen and perhaps of Baxter, "now the common vote is against them", so the "common judgement" in question refers to that of (presumably Catholic) Canonists. Contzen's Politicorum libri decem is available at Google Books (Baxter cited book five, chapter five, which begins on pp. 310 and 278 of the following two versions, respectively):



Labels: Democratism, morals, politics

3. "Fundamental structures of the state that are in principle beyond the reach of the prince include the leges fundamentales; these laws embody, according to the doctrine formulated by Innocent Gentillet and Bodin, basic laws which constitute the state insofar as its essential political order is concerned. Insofar as the political order was conceived as a monarchical order, this concept at the same time strengthened absolutism."

That quotation comes from p. 903 in ""What a Good Ruler Should Not Do": Theoretical Limits of Royal Power in European Theories of Absolutism, 1500-1700", by Wolfgang Weber, in The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Winter, 1995), pp. 897-915:


Labels: morals, politics, regalism

4. H.M.A. Government says that it will contribute up to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the establishment, in partnership with The A.C.T. Government and the A.C.T. Jewish community, of the (permanent) Canberra Holocaust Museum and Education Centre.

See the Joint Media Release "New Canberra memorial to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day", dated Jauary 27, 2021, issued by The Hon. Alan Tudge M.P. (at the time, Federal Minister for Education and Youth) and Mr. Andrew Barr M.L.A. (at the time, A.C.T. Chief Minister):


and Mr. Tudge's Transcript "International Holocaust Remembrance Day", dated January 27, 2021:


That facility seems to have been conceived as an upgrade of the pre-existing National Jewish Memorial Centre, judging by The Age's Federal politics news report "‘A brighter, more tolerant future’: $750,000 funding for Holocaust museum in Canberra", by Rob Harris, dated January 27, 2021:


According to the Transcript "Doorstop interview, ACT Jewish Community Centre", dated January 27, 2021, The Hon. Josh Frydenberg M.P. (at the time, de facto Federal Treasurer) said that the money was "to be matched, to be in partnership, with the ACT Government to establish a Holocaust museum here in the ACT":


I don't know whether, when Mr. Frydenberg said "to be matched, to be in partnership," he (a) misspoke by saying "to be matched" and then corrected himself by saying "to be in partnership" or (b) spoke as he intended to speak, but (b) seems more likely, given that Mr. Barr was quoted in his Joint Press Release as saying that
The ACT Government looks forward to supporting the ACT Jewish community with a financial and in-kind contribution towards the project as it develops and progresses over the coming year.
In addition to the Canberra centre, Mr. Tudge said, according to the latter Transcript, that
Our ambition is to have such centres right around the country. They’re already now in four locations where funding has been committed for four locations and we hope to see them in every major city in Australia
and in his Joint Media Release he is quoted as saying that
Our government has committed funding, in partnership with respective state governments for the construction of similar centres in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.
(According to Mr. Harris,
the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Elsternwick, Victoria, the Jewish Community Centre of Western Australia, the Queensland Holocaust Museum and Education Centre, and the Adelaide Holocaust Museum
are the four exact places to which Mr. Tudge refers.) Regarding earlier developments, see the Media Releases "New Holocaust Museum in South Australia" (which relates to item 5.3 of part 2 of my last issue of "Notes"), dated October 16, 2020 and "New Holocaust Museum in Queensland", dated September 30, 2020, both issued by The Hon. Dan Tehan M.P. (at both times, Federal Minister for Education):



Labels: Jews

Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. David's Day, A.D. 2021

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