Showing posts with label womenpriests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label womenpriests. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

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

9. Part of the reason why women can't be priests:

From the Holy Father's Angelus address in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, January 20, 2013 (His Holiness was speaking in a different context than the ineligibility of women for ordination, but the following is, as you'll see, nevertheless applicable to it):
… With this “sign”[, i.e., the sign of the miracle of the transformation of water into wine at the wedding at Cana,] Jesus revealed himself as the messianic Bridegroom come to establish with his people the new and eternal covenant, in accordance with the prophets’ words: “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Is 62:5). Moreover, wine is a symbol of this joy of love; but it also alludes to the blood that Jesus was to pour out at the end to seal his nuptial pact with humanity.

The Church is the Bride of Christ who makes her holy and beautiful with his grace. …

[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/angelus/2013/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20130120_en.html]
Labels: womenpriests

10. "I[, Kristina Keneally,] object in conscience to the Church's teachings on women, homosexuality and contraception."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Talking to children about the Royal Commission", by The Hon. Kristina Keneally, dated November 22, 2012, downloaded from the Eureka Street website ("A publication of Jesuit Communications Australia"):

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=34263

Labels: Kristina Keneally

11. RU486 "is on the World Health Organisation list of essential medicines"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Push for abortion drugs to cost less than $12", by Linda Silmalis, dated January 31, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/push-for-abortion-drugs-to-cost-less-than-12/story-e6freuy9-1226565413699

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline and with the same byline on p. 09 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Thursday, January 31, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2760, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: abortion, U.N.O.

12. Mr. Creighton on the proportions in which the members of different income quintiles contribute towards public finance and the proportions in which it is distributed among them

See the article "Rich are paying their fair share, and then some", by Adam Creighton, dated February 2, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/rich-are-paying-their-fair-share-and-then-some/story-fn59niix-1226567054479

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline and with the same byline on p. 15 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, February 2-3, 2013, First Edition, No. 15031, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: economics, justice, taxation

13. "In the beginning our work was the conversion of the Jews, but after the Holocaust we realised no, we don’t go out to convert people, we should have Jewish-Christian relations."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Catholics honoured for service to nation", by Sharyn McCowen and Damir Govorcin, dated February 3, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=1&subclassID=2&articleID=11625&class=Latest News&subclass=CW National

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline and with the same byline on pp. 1 and 5 (p. 5's part of the article was headlined "Aust Day honours for Catholics") of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, February 3, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4658, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: inter-religious dialogue, Jews, N.D.S.

14. "The Vatican is spearheading the initiative to study the construction and painting techniques of sarcophagi during Egypt's so-called Third Intermediate Period, which was 3,000 years ago."

The quotation in that headline comes from the Catholic News Service (C.N.S.) article "Vatican mummy health check: It's never too late for an endoscopy", by Carol Glatz, dated January 18, 2013, downloaded from the C.N.S.'s website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1300235.htm

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Mummy check-up finds 'she' is a 'he'", by the same author, on p. 22 (the "Vatican Letter, Classifieds" page) of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, February 3, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4658, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd. "Mummy check-up finds 'she' is a 'he'" is available on-line under the same headline as at the C.N.S. website, by the same author, dated January 21, 2013, at The Catholic Weekly's website here:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=1&subclassID=84&articleID=11578&class=Latest%20News&subclass=Breaking%20News)

Labels: Egypt, Vatican Museums

15. "the Catholic Church opposes legal sanctions against homosexuality and favors legal protections for unmarried people living together"

The quotation in that headline comes from the Catholic News Service (C.N.S.) article "Defend traditional family, rights of others, archbishop says", by Cindy Wooden, dated February 4, 2013, downloaded from the C.N.S. website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1300458.htm

That C.N.S. article reports that Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family (who is apparently also a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation),
said the Catholic Church affirms "the equal dignity of every child of God. No one lacks the dignity of being a child of God, so that is untouchable."

While the church opposes recognizing gay unions as "marriage," he said, it affirms the full dignity of homosexual men and women. "If a country outlawed homosexuality, I would work to overturn it," he said, adding that he believed there are still "20 or 25 countries" that define homosexuality as a crime.

Archbishop Paglia also called for greater efforts to ensure legal protection and inheritance rights for people who are living together, but not married. "To promote justice and to protect the weak," he said, legal means must be found to guarantee rights and regulate inheritance.

"But do not call it marriage," he said.
For discussion on Msgr. Paglia's remarks, see this AQ thread, this Fish Eaters Traditional Catholic Forum thread, this CathInfo.com Traditional Catholic Forum thread, and the comments section of this Rorate Cæli post. For follow-up material, see this Rorate Cæli post and this LifeSiteNews.com report.

(Msgr. Paglia's remarks came to my attention via the article "We must defend marriage: Vatican", by Cindy Wooden, on p. 7 (the "World News" page) of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, February 10, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4659, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd. An online version of that article is available under the headline "We must defend marriage: Vatican Church[ sic]", with the same byline and date, at The Catholic Weekly's website here.)

Labels: civil unions, crime, G.L.B.T., Roman Curia, vice, Vincenzo Paglia

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

Friday, February 25, 2011

Notes: Thursday, February 24-Friday, February 25, 2011

1. Prof. Putnam's findings on the consequences of increased diversity in society

Here is an excerpt from a comment at The Australian's website:

Geoff of Sydney Posted at 10:55 AM February 23, 2011

When has Malcolm Fraser got anything right? "Multiculturalism is about diversity, not division -- it is about interaction not isolation." Yet Robert Putnam's extensive study on "diversity" policy has shown (against his personal beliefs) that it does foster disharmony and isolation within a society. ...

[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point/comments-fn558imw-1226010350081]

You can read more about those findings at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Putnam

Labels: multiculturalism, Robert Putnam, social trends

2. Latest developments in Australia and the U.S. regarding so-called gay marriage

2.1 "Marriage law loses Obama support"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/marriage-law-loses-obama-support/story-e6frg6so-1226011578827
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/gay-marriage-move-splits-congress-20110224-1b77k.html?skin=text-only
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36169
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/02/obama-administration-ceases-defense-of-natural-true-marriage/

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

2.2 "LABOR must win back voters lost to the Greens by advocating stronger action on climate change and supporting gay marriage, according to a secret internal review of the party's performance"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/politics-news/labor-elders-tell-the-party-to-go-green-to-recover-lost-votes/story-fn59nqld-1226011658891

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

3. "The Alta Vendita [and how it has succeeded just as it had planned]"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36173

Labels: Freemasons, Vatican II

4. ""Womanpriest" renounces supposed ordination"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36165
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/02/wdtprs-highest-kudos-to-norma-jean-coon/

Labels: Norma Jean Coon, womenpriests

Reginaldvs Cantvar
25.II.2011

Friday, February 18, 2011

Notes: Tuesday, February 15-Friday, February 18, 2011

1. Ms Keneally and Mr. O'Farrell speak at Australian-Christian-Lobby-organised forum

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/state-election-2011/leaders-reject-abortion-change-20110215-1avab.html?skin=text-only
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/nswno-devil-dealing-with-the-greensofarrell/story-fn3dxity-1226006653977

Given that The Greens are, as far as I know, the only group with Parliamentary representation which (group) advocates discriminalising abortion (outside Parliament we have, of course, "Pro Choice NSW", a lobby group formed precisely in order to remove abortion from the Crimes Act), it came as no suprise to me that neither Labor nor the Coalition intend to do so, so the point of greater interest to me from those two articles is that nor, apparently, do they intend to collect and publish data on abortions like South Australia does.

Labels: abortion, N.S.W., South Australia

2. Information on who will be involved in H.R.H. Prince William of Wales's wedding ceremony

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/harry-to-be-wills-best-man/story-e6frg6so-1226006024147

Labels: William Wales

3. An interesting blog which I've discovered (via Cath Pews):

http://maguidhir.blogspot.com/

Labels: blogs

4. Anglican slap in the face for their Catholic 'dialogue' partners: Pretender Archbishop of Canterbury appoints ladybishop to be one of the ten Anglican representatives to the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission

http://www.anglicanjournal.com/nc/news-update-items/article/toronto-bishop-appointed-to-international-commission-9549.html
(discovered at
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/02/anglican-communions-greatest-contribution-to-ecumenism-ev-er/)

Labels: Anglicans, ecumenism, womenpriests

5. "Huge drop in Zimbabwe HIV rate fuelled by rise in abstinence, fidelity"

http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/msg/1297828973.html

Labels: contraception, H.I.V./A.I.D.S., vice

6. "Archbp. Marchetto’s book about “School of Bologna” and interpretations of Vatican II now in English"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/02/archbp-marchettos-book-about-school-of-bologna-and-interpretations-of-vatican-ii-now-in-english/

Labels: Agostino Marchetto, Vatican II

7. Interesting article on recent High Court judgements (and "the closest that Australia comes to having a constitutional Bill of Rights")

http://www.smh.com.au/national/fingerprints-of-chief-justice-seen-in-high-court-unanimity-20110217-1ayap.html?skin=text-only

Labels: High Court of Australia, law

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Simeon, Bishop, Martyr, A.D. 2011

Friday, February 11, 2011

Notes: Thursday, February 10-Friday, February 11, 2011

1. More on so-called gay marriage

1.1 "[Julie] Bishop breaks ranks on same-sex marriage"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/bishop-breaks-ranks-on-same-sex-marriage/story-fn59niix-1226003262760

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

1.2 "Minister Tanya Plibersek to support gay marriage"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/minister-tanya-plibersek-to-support-gay-marriage/story-fn59niix-1226004001283

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

2. "German bishops respond to statement by dissenting theologians"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35982
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=9188

Labels: theology, womenpriests

3. H.M. The Queen has appointed H.R.H. Prince William of Wales as Colonel of the Irish Guards (Her Majesty remains Colonel-in-Chief)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/prince-william-receives-his-first-honorary-appointment-in-british-army/story-fn3dxity-1226004107711

Labels: William Wales

4. Mr. Ferrara on 'full communion'

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36010

Labels: theology

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes, A.D. 2011

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Notes: Saturday, February 5-Tuesday, February 8, 2011

1. Recent developments regarding so-called gay marriage

1.1 Mr. Pearson on an attempt by the Sodomites' League to silence opposition to 'gay marriage'

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/oversensitivity-can-only-compromise-debate/story-e6frg6zo-1226000416817

Excerpts:

In December [Graham Young, "the founding editor of a well-regarded e-journal called On Line Opinion"] published a piece arguing the case against gay marriage by the pro-family campaigner, Bill Muehlenberg, and then a series of spirited exchanges on the merits of the argument. It was not the first article he'd run on the subject ; that honour had gone to Rodney Croome, a gay activist. Nor were most of the essays run opposed to gay marriage.

Young commented on the blog in mid-December. "The On Line Opinion approach is one that many find difficult to accept, and we are currently under attack from a number of gay activists because we dared to publish [Muehlenberg's essay] which is mostly a pastiche of comments by gay activists, even though the majority of articles I can find on the site support gay marriage. And by attack I mean attempting to intimidate me, sponsors or advertisers. How ironic . . . when we are sponsoring the Human Rights Awards."

[...] On account of the Muehlenberg piece, Young told me two major advertisers had just pulled out: the ANZ Bank and IBM. Comparing this year's January gross ad sales with last year's, he calculated that revenue from his main category of advertising had fallen by 96 per cent. Young is worried that these bizarre decisions will adversely affect other websites as well as his own and could even lead to some of them closing down.

Courts might construe that as the result of an indiscriminate secondary boycott, in contravention of the Trade Practices Act.

That's because Young and a group of other political sites have formed a network called The Domain, to bundle up their readers as a more attractive package for advertisers. The sites are very diverse in terms of ideology, from the ultra-leftist John Passant, to the more mainstream centre-Left Larvatus Prodeo, Club Troppo, Andrew Bartlett, skepticlawyer and the likes of Henry Thornton and Jennifer Marohasy.

[...] So I approached the public relations people at IBM and the ANZ Bank, to find out whether the decision to punish an article against gay marriage by withdrawing their ads was corporate policy.

[...] The initial responses from the PR people in both corporations was that it was news to them and they'd get back to me before my deadline. The ANZ's Stephen Ries replied first. "ANZ does not advertise on any opinion-type websites that may cause offence or segregate any individuals or group. In this instance our advertising was placed through an automatic advertising placement service and once we were alerted to the content we removed our advertising.

"The removal of our advertising should not be viewed as a violation of free speech; it's simply that we choose not to advertise on blogs that do not align to our organisational values."

Oh, brave new world! Apparently anything less than uncritical endorsement of gay marriage no longer aligns with the ANZ's organisational values. What's more, the loss of ad revenue to all the blogs in the Domain network, irrespective of each site's stance on the issue, is neither here nor there and has nothing to do with their freedom of speech.

It's also worth noting that despite the blanket assurances of not advertising on opinion websites, the ANZ was advertising on New Matilda on Friday.

IBM's Matt Mollett's reply was more gnomic. "To optimise reach with its target audiences, IBM continuously reviews and refines its advertising strategy based on a range of considerations, including demographics and content."

Young suspects that the peg on which to hang the internal decision to withdraw advertising within both organisations was a code developed by IASH, the Internet Advertising Sales Houses, which he declined to sign.

The code is a triumph of political correctness gone mad, and badly needs rewriting. Schedule C provides that IASH Australia members "are forbidden to place advertising on sites containing barred content - in other words, any of the inventory defined below - in any circumstances. Content articulating views intended or reasonably likely to cause or incite hatred of any race, religion, creed, class or ethnic group. Content articulating views calculated to cause offence to or incite hatred of any individual or group."

The last sentence is the loopiest in the schedule. It forbids anything that might offend anyone. This would neuter not just contentious articles but the free flow of comment on them that gives blogs their character. As Young says, this section threatens any Australian discussion site. "No newspaper could sign up to this and have discussion threads that were anything other than anodyne."

Labels: A.N.Z., G.L.B.T., I.B.M., marriage, morality

Related:

1.1.1 Letters to The Australian on the matter:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/gay-lobby-and-the-marriage-debate/story-fn558imw-1226001080435

Labels: A.N.Z., G.L.B.T., I.B.M., marriage, morality

1.1.2 Mr. Muehlenberg on the matter:

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/02/05/marriage-mischief-and-the-pink-mafia/

There Mr. Muehlenberg provides a link to the On Line Opinion piece in question, and in a comment of 7.2.11 / 2pm at that blog post one Gregory Storer, who is, according to Mr. Muehlenberg, "a homosexual activist; [a former] candidate for the Secular Party of Australia in 2010, and still belong to it; and ... the one who launched the complaint against Online Opinion", writes that

people will go to the advertisers when they aren’t happy with something that the advertiser is supporting, that is our right, and that’s what I did. ANZ and IBM have diversity policies, I drew there attention to them advertising on sites counter to their policies. [...] And of course, I’m not the only person to have complained about this – so can’t take full responsibility)

I think that this episode is a reminder to employees of companies with these 'diversity policies' that they should be very discrete about voicing any opposition to the Sodomites' League and its works.

Labels: A.N.Z., G.L.B.T., Gregory Storer, I.B.M., marriage, morality

1.2 The Australian Christian Lobby and, separately, a Tasmanian Liberal Senator launch petitions against 'gay marriage'

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/same-sex-first-then-polygamy/story-e6frg6nf-1226001084805

Labels: A.C.L., G.L.B.T., Guy Barnett, marriage, morality

1.3 "ACL takes campaign for marriage to the NT"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24948

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

1.4 "French High Court affirms Traditional Marriage"

http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/thread/1296769612.html

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

1.5 Sodomite's League to run pro-'gay-marriage' ad campaign for St. Valentine's Day/Mardi Gras; "At the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last week, Norway recommended that Australia should amend the federal Marriage Act to recognise same-sex marriage"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/ad-puts-a-face-to-gay-marriage-issue-20110205-1ahn4.html?skin=text-only

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

2. "New bible translation to remove the word "holocaust" from the Old Testament"

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1100418.htm
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=397519#397519
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=397527#397527

Labels: Scripture, theology

3. "One third of the Catholic theology professors in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have signed a declaration calling for women’s ordination"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35913

Labels: theology, womenpriests

4. "New insights on manipulation of 1960s papal commission on birth control"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35907

Labels: contraception, Magisterium, morality

5. "Young Australians paid to have STD test"

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/young-australians-paid-to-have-std-test-20110131-1aaxd.html

Labels: health, vice

6. Interesting books reviewed/mentioned recently

6.1 "King Alfred the Great"

http://www.catholica.com.au/gc0/ak3/163_ak_010211.php

Labels: Alfred the Great

6.2 "God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/more-ways-to-be-happy/story-e6frg8nf-1225998118866

Labels: morality, Scripture, theology

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John of Matha, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Monday, December 20, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See also this Herald article:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. Two articles by Mr. Muehlenberg regarding abortion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While partnerships have exploded in popularity, marriage numbers have continued a long decline in France, as across Europe. Just 250,000 French couples married last year, with fewer than four marriages for each 1000 residents. In 1970, almost 400,000 French couples wed.

[http://www.smh.com.au/world/french-lovers-tie-the-knot-but-theyre-not-the-marrying-kind-20101217-190qz.html?skin=text-only]

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

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

Reginaldvs Cantvar
20.XII.2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Notes: Tuesday-Wednesday, December 14-15, 2010

1. A good letter (1.1) to The Australian on abortion and infanticide and a bad (but significant) letter (1.2) to the same paper on euthanasia

1.1 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/is-keli-lane-a-victim-of-celebrity-culture/story-fn558imw-1225971154237 (the second of the letters)

1.2 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/pain-free-dignity/story-fn558imw-1225971157866

Excerpt:

Those who sanctify human life above all other [sic] and who persist with the myth that dying from a terminal disease can be dignified are wrong.

What an insult to the many people who have courageously and dignifiedly obeyed the natural law's prohibition of euthanasia.

2. Leo XIII. on religious error as "the main root of all social and political evils"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35120
(second-last sentence of the last paragraph in the quote block in the thread-starter)

3. Bizarre justification for womenpriests

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35109
(nicely refuted in the first comment after the thread-starter)

4. Mr. Rabich on the difference between identity and behaviour (in connection with 'gay rights')

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/12/14/christian-adultery-conference/
(second of the thirteen combox comments)

5. Council of the European Bishops' Conferences communiqué regarding the 2nd Catholic-Orthodox Forum (Rhodes, Greece, October 18-22, 2010, main theme: "Church and State Relations: from Historical and Theological Perspectives")

http://www.ccee.ch/index.php?&na=4,1,0,0,e,126134,0,0,
(brought to my attention by Mr. Schütz in this comment of his at his blog)

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Ember Wednesday in Advent, A.D. 2010

Monday, November 22, 2010

Notes: Saturday-Monday, November 20-22, 2010

1. More Russian developments

http://www.smh.com.au/world/russia-pledges-a-new-era-of-cooperation-20101121-182nd.html?skin=text-only
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/russia-baulks-at-full-shield-role/story-e6frg6so-1225957956414
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34791

2. Mr. Fitzgerald on, among other things, drug and alcohol 'harm minimisation'

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/close-the-doors-early-on-teenage-binge-drinking/story-e6frg6zo-1225956404275

3. Mr. McCauley on the teachings and disciplinary (in)actions of John Paul II.

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34787

4. More on so-called gay marriage

Article:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/gillard-would-lose-poll-held-now-20101121-182mf.html?skin=text-only
(latest Herald/Nielsen poll results)

Opinion/analysis:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/support-for-gays-offers-a-way-out-for-gillard-20101121-182mq.html?skin=text-only
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/gay-marriage-demands-should-be-left-on-shelf/story-e6frg6zo-1225956787304
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/same-sex-marriage-should-be-put-to-a-referendum/story-fn558imw-1225957968965
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/gay-marriage-a-union-by-any-other-name/story-fn558imw-1225956825872
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/marriage-not-for-gays-and-maybe-not-for-anyone/

Related (if All Love Is Equal, then might not some Loves be more Equal than others?):
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/three-is-the-new-two-as-couples-explore-the-boundaries-of-non-monogamy/story-e6frg6zo-1225956410108

4. "Vic priest expects dismissal for public support of women priests"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24248

5. Fr. Ford on the morality of extra-marital condom use

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24255

6. H.H. The Pope and Cardinal Bertone on religious liberty

The second and fourth paragraphs are, from the perspective of Tradition, the most encouraging pronoucements to come from the Vatican on religious liberty probably since before the Second Vatican Council (unsurprisingly, though, given the publicity over other recent Papal remarks, these remarks have, as far as I know, gone as yet unreported, or at least under-reported, by both the mainstream media and Catholic media):

CONSISTORY BEGINS WITH A DAY OF PRAYER AND REFLECTION

VATICAN CITY, 19 NOV 2010 (VIS) - As part of the consistory during which the Holy Father will create twenty-four new cardinals, the College of Cardinals is today meeting in the Vatican's New Synod Hall to hold a day of reflection and prayer.

The meeting began at 9.30 a.m. with a greeting from the Pope who focused his remarks on the two themes of the morning session. Considering the first of these themes, he noted that the Lord's command to announce the Gospel implicitly embraces the need for the freedom to do so, although, over the course of history, it has encountered various forms of opposition. The relationship between truth and freedom is essential but today faces the great challenge of relativism, which seems to complete the concept of freedom but which actually risks destroying it and becoming an authentic 'dictatorship'. We are then, he suggested, facing a difficult period in our commitment to affirm the freedom to announce the truth of the Gospel and the great achievements of Christian culture. The Pope also recalled the essential importance of liturgy in Church life, being the place of God's presence with us.

The cardinals then turned their attention to the two chosen themes: the situation of religious freedom in the world and new challenges, with an introductory talk by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., and the liturgy in the life of the Church today, with a preliminary contribution from Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Cardinal Bertone presented a panoramic overview of current attempts to restrict the freedom of Christians in various parts of the world, inviting people to reflect on the situation of religious freedom in Western States. We are witnessing, he said, a process of secularisation accompanied by attempts to remove spiritual values from social life. The Cardinal Secretary of State also elucidated the situation of religious freedom in Muslim countries, recalling the conclusions reached during the recent Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops. Finally, he explained the activities the Holy See and local episcopates make to defend Catholics, in both East and West. On this subject he also recalled the great efforts made by the Holy See in the international arena to promote respect for the religious freedom of believers.

For his part, Cardinal Canizares Llovera focused his remarks on the importance of liturgical prayer in the life of the Church.

In the course of a broad-ranging debate, eighteen cardinal arose to speak of the great difficulties the Church has to face today in defending values founded on natural law, such as respect for life and the family. Another question examined was that of inter-religious dialogue, in particular with Islam.

Two further contributions are scheduled for the afternoon session. The first, to be delivered by Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will focus on Holy See norms for welcoming Anglican priests and faithful who request to be admitted to the Catholic Church, and for defending victims of child abuse by members of the clergy. The second contribution, by Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, will serve to recall the validity of the Instruction "Dominus Iesus" on Jesus Christ our only Saviour, published ten years ago.
OP/ VIS 20101119 (570)

I've pasted the whole V.I.S. bulletin item, but, as I indicated, it's the second and fourth paragraphs in which I'm interested:

The meeting began at 9.30 a.m. with a greeting from the Pope who focused his remarks on the two themes of the morning session. Considering the first of these themes, he noted that the Lord's command to announce the Gospel implicitly embraces the need for the freedom to do so, although, over the course of history, it has encountered various forms of opposition. The relationship between truth and freedom is essential but today faces the great challenge of relativism, which seems to complete the concept of freedom but which actually risks destroying it and becoming an authentic 'dictatorship'. We are then, he suggested, facing a difficult period in our commitment to affirm the freedom to announce the truth of the Gospel and the great achievements of Christian culture. The Pope also recalled the essential importance of liturgy in Church life, being the place of God's presence with us.

[...] Cardinal Bertone presented a panoramic overview of current attempts to restrict the freedom of Christians in various parts of the world, inviting people to reflect on the situation of religious freedom in Western States. We are witnessing, he said, a process of secularisation accompanied by attempts to remove spiritual values from social life. The Cardinal Secretary of State also elucidated the situation of religious freedom in Muslim countries, recalling the conclusions reached during the recent Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops. Finally, he explained the activities the Holy See and local episcopates make to defend Catholics, in both East and West. On this subject he also recalled the great efforts made by the Holy See in the international arena to promote respect for the religious freedom of believers.

Not perfect, but nevertheless refreshing in its focus on the only legitimate 'religious liberty': The liberty of the Church of Christ, namely, the Catholic Church, to preach the Gospel, i.e., Catholicism. Any other 'liberty' is really just licence.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Cecilia, Virgin, Martyr, A.D. 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Notes: Tuesday-Thursday, October 26-28, 2010 (Part 2 of 2)

6. Local government conference rejects motion to endorse the Declaration of Montreal

An item in the Diary section of yesterday's Herald:

TOUCHY-FEELY STUFF

What flies like a swift in the inner-city of Sydney can sometimes drop like a dead turkey in the outer suburbs. At the local government conference in Albury yesterday, Leichhardt Council asked delegates to condemn the federal government's refugee policies, a move derided by a Wollondilly councillor, Benn Banasik, who argued that refugees were not one of the ''three R's of local government'': rubbish, rates and roads. Malikeh Michaels from Auburn Council, demurred. She had seen the devastating effects of detention centres on recently arrived refugees and so supported Leichhardt. But the motion was lost, as was another, from the City of Sydney, endorsing the Declaration of Montreal, which recognises the human rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people. Banasik also criticised this, claiming discrimination did not exist at his council."
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/the-diary/sartor-sangas-off-the-menu-20101026-172f0.html?skin=text-only]

I hadn't heard of the "Declaration of Montreal". I'll have to check it out. (I was amused to see that the next Diary item's heading was "STARS ALIGN FOR SODS". Not over Albury, it would seem!)

7. Wise comment on how error advances

I was interested to read the following by the Lutheran "Harry" in a comment at Mr. Schütz's blog:

... Charles Porterfield Krauth said that Error creeps into the Church in three stages. First, it tell Truth that it will not make waves, jut leave it be. Second, Error tells Truth, that their position should have equal rights. Then Error tells Truth that Truth is causing disorder in the Church. ...
[http://scecclesia.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/our-st-mary-more-likely-to-pray-for-vocations-than-to-challenge-for-women-priests/#comment-17826]

Replace "Church" with 'Society' and you've got what could be a description of the philosophy and advancement of Liberalism (the inevitable consequence of Protestantism).

8. Vatican Information Service daily e-mail bulletin item, with an incongruous headline, on the death sentence handed down for Tariq Aziz:

In today's edition of the bulletin:

HOLY SEE CONDEMNS DEATH PENALTY AGAINST TARIQ AZIZ

VATICAN CITY, 27 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. released the following declaration yesterday afternoon:

"The Catholic Church's position on the death penalty is well known. It is hoped, therefore, that the sentence against Tariq Aziz will not be implemented, precisely in order to favour reconciliation and the reconstruction of peace and justice in Iraq after the great sufferings the country has experienced. As concerns the possibility of a humanitarian intervention, the Holy See is not accustomed to operate publicly but through the diplomatic channels at its disposal".
OP/ VIS 20101027 (110)

I don't see how that headline fits the content of the body of that item. The latter is a legitimate, if debatable, prudential judgment; hardly a 'condemnation'. Perhaps part of the 'condemnation' went unreported?

9. Mr. Coyne's 'historical Jesus'

... Again though, when I use the descriptor "Jesus" I'm not alone speaking or thinking of the individual who I do believe roamed around Ancient Galilee and was executed in Jerusalem around 2,000 years ago give or take a few decades. The "figure" that is important to me is BOTH the historical figure — and the record left of his sayings and parables — but also the interpretation put on those by others. That process of placing a patina on Jesus I strongly suspect had begun before the first Gospels were written. They are theological stories rather than some "historical, factual record of the individual man named Jesus".
[http://www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?id=58901]

10. Blog comments by me

Three, all of them more or less the same:

10.1

Cardinal Pole said...

Dr. Bugg's article capped off four days of letters published on the topic of Catholic womenpriests, with the last two days' worth responding to this one from the second day:

"I think many Catholics saw the irony of the Mary MacKillop celebrations in a church in which women are still excluded from full participation. As I said at Mass last Sunday: "Today we celebrate a woman's canonisation; hopefully it won't be too long before we celebrate a woman's ordination."

"
Father John CrothersSt Declan's Church, Penshurst
[
http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/settlement-of-djs-case-doesnt-ease-the-tension-20101019-16sfb.html?skin=text-only
See
this blog post and comment by me in order to see all the letters collated.]

I wonder how Fr. Crothers's Local Ordinary has dealt or will deal with this scandal?

October 28, 2010 3:52 AM

Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval.
[http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2010/10/women-priests-and-st-mary-of-cross-sigh.html]

10.2

Cardinal Pole said...

Dr. Bugg's article capped off four days of letters published in the Herald on the topic of Catholic womenpriests, with the last two days' worth responding to this one from the second day:

"I think many Catholics saw the irony of the Mary MacKillop celebrations in a church in which women are still excluded from full participation. As I said at Mass last Sunday: "Today we celebrate a woman's canonisation; hopefully it won't be too long before we celebrate a woman's ordination."

"
Father John CrothersSt Declan's Church, Penshurst"
[
http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/settlement-of-djs-case-doesnt-ease-the-tension-20101019-16sfb.html?skin=text-only
See
this blog post and comment by me in order to see all the letters collated.]

(Something new to add to your "
Fr Crothers" label, my dear Cloistered ones?) I wonder how Fr. Crothers's Local Ordinary has dealt or will deal with this scandal?

October 28, 2010 4:13 AM

Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval.
[http://coo-eesfromthecloister.blogspot.com/2010/10/laura-bugg-er-awf.html]

10.3

Dr. Bugg's article capped off four days of letters published in the Herald on the topic of Catholic womenpriests, with the last two days' worth responding to this one from the second day:

"I think many Catholics saw the irony of the Mary MacKillop celebrations in a church in which women are still excluded from full participation. As I said at Mass last Sunday: "Today we celebrate a woman's canonisation; hopefully it won't be too long before we celebrate a woman's ordination."

"
Father John CrothersSt Declan's Church, Penshurst"
[
http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/settlement-of-djs-case-doesnt-ease-the-tension-20101019-16sfb.html?skin=text-only
See
this blog post and comment by me in order to see all the letters collated.]

I wonder how Fr. Crothers's Local Ordinary has dealt or will deal with this scandal?

(Before submitting this comment it occured to me that I had better do a Google search in order to see whether His Eminence is already dealing with this, and lo and behold, I found that Coo-ees has a whole blog label devoted to Fr. Crothers! Here's the U.R.L.:

http://coo-eesfromthecloister.blogspot.com/search/label/Fr%20Crothers)
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
[http://scecclesia.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/our-st-mary-more-likely-to-pray-for-vocations-than-to-challenge-for-women-priests/#comment-17853]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles, A.D. 2010

Notes: Tuesday-Thursday, October 26-28, 2010 (Part 1 of 2)

1. Some interesting figures on S.T.I.s in Australia

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/hiv-rate-rising-but-other-infections-less-common-20101018-16qxf.html?skin=text-only

2. Mr. Foley with "Eight Reasons Why Men Only should Serve at the Altar"

http://www.insidecatholic.com/feature/eight-reasons-why-men-only-should-serve-at-mass.html

Brought to my attention by this post at Cath Pews, Mr. Foley's article doesn't quite hit the nail on the head, and there are some points on which I might disagree with him, but there are nevertheless some good point in there, with implications for why women are ineligible for Ordination.

3."Athanasius"'s transcript of an article on "The Response due to non-definitive exercises of the magisterium"

http://athanasiuscm.blogspot.com/2010/10/response-due-to-non-definitive.html

4. Former chief Sephardi rabbi of The State of Israel: "Non-Jews exist to serve Jews"

http://mauricepinay.blogspot.com/2010/10/israeli-chief-rabbi-gentiles-exist-only.html
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34388

5. "The Sybil" on the cancellation of The Diocese of Wollongong's pastoral planning process's third plenary session

http://wollongongensis.blogspot.com/2010/10/wollongong-diocese-pastoral-plan.html

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles, A.D. 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

Notes: Saturday-Monday, October 16-25, 2010 (part 1 of 2)

1. Some recent media items on abortion

1.1 "Abortion legalised [in Queensland] by pair's acquittal"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/abortion-legalised-by-pairs-acquittal/story-e6frg97x-1225939895811

1.2 "Anti-abortion while remaining firmly pro-choice"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/anti-abortion-while-remaining-firmly-pro-choice/story-e6frg6zo-1225939077008

1.3 A little snapshot from Australia's abortion culture

From time to time one hears reported that some certain huge proportion of women will have an abortion at some point in their respective lives or that some similarly huge proportion of pregnancies will end in abortion, but such figures, appalling yet abstract and impersonal as they are, perhaps don't sink in in such a way as for us to understand the culture of abortion which they involve (and perpetuate). The following paragraph in a recent news/opinion article helps to 'personalise' one's understanding of Australia's squalid but widespread abortion culture:

[Tegan Leach] turned to boyfriend Sergie Brennan, now 23. They agreed to abort. Together they told their parents. Both had sisters who’d been through a suction curette and told them, if a little bluntly, “it gets sucked out and scraped out’’.
[http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-abortion-trial-should-never-be-repeated/]

1.4 Mr. Schütz contra Ms O'Brien on abortion

A mostly good fisking of some pro-abortion nonsense published in the Melbourne Herald Sun:

http://scecclesia.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/truth-is-dispensible-if-it-makes-you-feel-guilty/

1.5 Dr. Durie (Anglican minister) on late-term abortions in Victoria

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34355

2. Msgr. Fellay on, among other things, Vatican policy on the S.S.P.X as a policy of "contradictions"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34323http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34323

See also

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34360

3. Interesting series of items in the Herald regarding Catholic womenpriests

The first was a letter published, with other letters, under the heading "Lapses - and laps - of Catholic faith":

I think many Catholics saw the irony of the Mary MacKillop celebrations in a church in which women are still excluded from full participation. As I said at Mass last Sunday: "Today we celebrate a woman's canonisation; hopefully it won't be too long before we celebrate a woman's ordination."

Father John CrothersSt Declan's Church, Penshurst
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/settlement-of-djs-case-doesnt-ease-the-tension-20101019-16sfb.html?skin=text-only]

Then came a response published, with other letters, under the heading "Where science meets miracles" the next day:

Father John Crothers (Letters, October 20) will rejoice if women are ordained priests. Frankly I will celebrate when, as a Catholic priest ought, he upholds definitive Catholic teaching on non-ordination of women, instead of encouraging dissent and scandalous confusion.

Father John George Randwick

[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/ten-more-years-floundering-in-afghanistan-20101020-16u65.html?skin=text-only]

The day after that came two (or three) more letters, published, with one other, unrelated letter, under the heading "Grassroots Catholics ready for change":

Thank you, Father John George (Letters, October 21), for reminding me how fortunate I am to be a parishioner of St Declan's, Penshurst. Father John Crothers understands we can think for ourselves and, far from encouraging dissent, I expect he reflects the views of most Catholics in the universal church, practising and non-practising. That is why his church is packed every Sunday, many people travelling from other parishes because their own parish priests express views such as those of Father George.

Mary Lawson Mortdale

No good deed goes unpunished, it seems. According to Father John George, Father John Crothers, by advocating the ordination of women in the Catholic Church, is spreading ''dissent and scandalous confusion''. Some said Our Lord spread a bit of dissent in his time, too.

Hugh Sturgess Balmain

Apparently it is not just atheists who find diversity of opinion discomforting. The letters page is full of Christians who seem to find diversity of opinion among other Christians discomforting. Maybe we all need to be a bit more relaxed about what other people believe.

Robin Herbert Hornsby

[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/absence-reveals-leaders-contempt-for-debate-20101021-16vwc.html?skin=text-only]

On the same day, the Herald also published an opinion piece, brought to my attention by a post by Terra, by Dr. Laura Beth Bugg:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/catholic-women-need-to-challenge-hierarchy-for-good-of-the-church-20101021-16vxh.html?skin=text-only

Interesting how the Herald has facilitated the debate.

4. New tactic for ethics classes advocates to neutralise opposition

[...] The Australian Christian Lobby called for more consultation with the government following Ms Firth's announcement.

Its NSW director, David Hutt, said nothing in the report allayed fears of church groups that having ethics classes at the same time as scripture classes would mean that scripture students ''will be forced to forgo ethics teaching''.

However, Ms Firth said ethics course material would be made available to scripture teachers.

Simon Longstaff, the executive director of the St James Ethics Centre, which ran the trial, said providing the material would ''help ensure that no child is drawn away from scripture simply to explore material provided in the ethics course''.

[my emphasis,
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/lock-in-ethics-classes-say-greens-20101020-16ud8.html?skin=text-only]

Quite clever, from a P.R. perspective, but it still fails to invalidate the (in my opinion cleverer, again from a P.R. perspective) objection of ethics class opponents that pupils and their respective parents will be forced to choose between S.R.E. and the ethics classes, because the same trade-off between S.R.E. content or ethics class content remains.

5. Latest figures on Australian popular support for so-called gay marriage

MORE than three-quarters of Australians support a conscience vote on same-sex marriage and an increased majority want gay and lesbian couples to be able to marry.

Findings from a new poll of 1050 respondents came as the independent MP Andrew Wilkie called on the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, to move on the issue, saying she was ''out of step with the people''.

[...] The Galaxy poll showed support for same-sex marriage increased from 60 per cent of respondents in 2009 to 62 per cent this year.

The survey, which was conducted over two days earlier this month, showed uniform support for a conscience vote across party lines with 80 per cent of Labor and 75 per cent of Liberal voters agreeing to the idea.

While supporting a conscience vote, Liberal voters were much less likely to agree to allow same-sex couples to marry, with less than half supporting the change. Nearly three-quarters of Labor voters and four out of five Greens voters support same-sex marriage.

The survey also shows that younger Australians are more likely (80 per cent) to support same-sex marriage than those aged over 50 years (46 per cent). [...]
[http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/pm-should-let-the-people-vote-on-gay-marriage-20101022-16xx8.html?from=watoday_ft?skin=text-only]

6. Impending naming-and-shaming of insufficiently pro-G.L.B.T. businesses by a new initiative of the Sodomites' League

One can't even read the careers section of a newspaper these days without finding gay propaganda. An article on page three in the public sector section of The Weekend Australian's "Weekend Professional" supplement last Saturday entitled "'Homophobia keeps employees in closet'" (apparently not available on-line) brought an interesting new initiative to the attention of readers:

The Pride in Diversity program was created by community-based LGBT health and HIV/AIDS group ACON , in partnership with Diversity Council Australia and Stonewall, a London-based LGBT advocacy group. Since being launched in February, a broad range of employers have signed up as foundation members, including the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Defence, Telstra, KPMG and IBM.

So KPMG goes LGBT. A double serving of alphabet soup.

[...] Pride in Diversity will launch the first workplace equality index in November, whereby employers will be able to measure how inclusive their workplace is of LGBT staff.

Something to look forward to.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria, Martyrs, A.D. 2010

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Notes: Saturday-Wednesday, August 7-11, 2010

T.R.H. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark are expecting

From Amalienborg Palace:

The Crown Prince Couple is expecting twins

Issued Friday August 6, 2010


Amalienborg Palace, August 6, 2010

Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince and The Crown Princess are happy to announce that The Crown Princess is expecting twins.

The birth is expected to take place at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen (Copenhagen University Hospital) in January, 2011.

Lene Balleby
Head of Communication
Tel.: +45 30 40 10 10

[http://www.crownprincecouple.dk/7f22774/Year/2010]

Discussion on H.H. The Pope's dropping of the Papal title of 'Patriarch of the West'

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/08/dropping-patriarch-of-the-west-and-changing-titles-of-roman-basilicas-to-papal/#comments

Why (among other reasons) women can't be priests (and shouldn't be altar servers, either)

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/08/whither-losservatore-romano/#comment-217182

Another web-page on that disgraceful L'Osservatore Romano article:

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33085

"Mexico's Separation of Church and State"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33055

"Judge’s anti-Prop. 8 decision ‘finds as a fact’ that Pope Benedict’s teachings are harmful to homosexuals"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33072

"NSW to consider adoption agencies right to reject gay couples"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=22748

Interesting books reviewed/mentioned in the weekend papers:

Reviewed in The Weekend Australian:

"Legend's makeover gives thieving hero a licence to kill"
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/legends-makeover-gives-thieving-hero-a-licence-to-kill/story-e6frg8nf-1225900606998
"Holy Warrior
"By Angus Donald
"Sphere, 344pp, $29.99"

"Do worry and don't always be happy"
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/do-worry-and-dont-always-be-happy/story-e6frg8nf-1225900609218
"The Uses of Pessimism: And the Danger of False Hope
"By Roger Scruton
"Atlantic Books, 232pp, $35"

Reviewed in The Sydney Morning Herald:

Griffith Review 29: Prosper or Perish
(It was only one of the short reviews, presumably not available on-line, so here's the U.R.L. for the book's official web-page:
http://www.griffithreview.com/editions.html)

And I was interested to see that ranking at no. 8 on the Herald's list of the top ten "Political/social science" bestsellers was, would you believe, The Communist Manifesto.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Sts. Tiburtius, Martyr, and Susanna, Virgin, Martyr, A.D. 2010

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Mr. Farrelly on how to get Catholics back to the practice of the Faith

For Christ's sake, will the Church please wake up!

I am not being blasphemous. I am making a prayerful plea and at the same time venting my frustration at what I have suddenly realised is perhaps the real reason seven of my eight grandchildren remain beautiful little pagans. No offence to all the other beautiful pagans out there – God made us all.

So far, so good. And I, and no doubt many others, shared the following sentiments too:

But my real frustration, my real anger, is directed at the Church and hence my opening prayer: For the sake of Christ, wake up.

Cardinals and bishops, please listen: Many of you are largely responsible for what is happening here. You are among the main reasons so many adults have stopped going to Mass and hence deciding that their children need not go to a Catholic/Christian school. You are in large part responsible for these little children remaining unbaptised and having only a secular education.

I know that you face extraordinary obstacles; I know that the you have not brought about the rampant materialism that so distracts people of all and of no faith from God and morality. But many of you seem unwilling or unable to deal with these challenges.

But then in the next paragraph the article, with which I was thitherto largely in agreement, took an ugly turn:

And to the minority of courageous bishops and cardinals who are trying to come to grips with these challenges and who know that the Church has to become more relevant to people's everyday lives, I say God bless you and thank you. And likewise to the many priests, nuns and brothers who walk the same path.

Ah, I see, so the Conciliar Church isn't 'relevant' enough for Mr. Farrelly and, according to him, lapsed Catholics. Hence:

It's long past time to accept that God made women and men equal. It's time to ask ourselves: if Jesus was standing physically among us right now, would he say women cannot be priests? Would he say priests can never marry? Would he come out of Sunday Mass feeling refreshed and stimulated by a homily that inspired and challenged him? Would he have an open mind to this suggestion: Allow single young men and women to become priests for a fixed period, say five to ten years, after which they could decide to stay on or leave to follow a different vocation.

This rightly elicited the following comment from one of the readers there:

Really? Did I miss the bit where Jesus commissioned apostles for 10 year contracts? If we're going to invoke the WhatWouldJesusDo clause, we need to be mindful of what Jesus did.

Posted By: Raphael Hythloday, West Melbourne

Basically, Mr. Farrelly and those of his ilk want the Church to follow the path of the Anglicans and the Uniting Church. But as the commenter "Barry" rightly observed,

I see no evidence of a better rate of adherence and practice in the Anglican and Uniting Churches.

Or as a commenter at Coo-ees more pungently put it (in a different discussion, but perfectly apposite here),

somnambulist said...

Brian when all the traces of catholicism are gone, especially the fancy clothes- you've got a bit of a fixation on that haven't you?- all the 86% will come flooding back to the inclusive, pro-gay, pro-divorced, pro adultery, believe anything Uniting Church type structure you wish we were. And we'll have a 100% attendance rate just like the Uniting Church has. Right.

December 01, 2008 7:33 PM

I'll finish here by dealing with a particularly perplexing comment at that CathNews article:

Margie Back is right: God has no grandchildren.
There is wholesale confusion between what Catholics call 'the faith' and the reality of Christian faith, an entirely different mode of being. It consists, as the Catholic Church teaches, in the surrender of one's whole being to Christ, True God and True Man. It is impossible to lose Christian faith once it has been given, since it requires submission of one's past, present and future to Christ Jesus.
It also means surrendering one's children and grandchildren, in fact all of one's possessions to Jesus the Christ. The faith on the other hand can be lost as soon as other cares occur.

Posted By: Alex Reichel, Oyster Bay

How odd. Usually one thinks of 'the Faith' as either the truths which God has revealed and to which we are required to assent or as the theological virtue with which one assents to those truths. One can truly have the virtue of Faith but later lose it by sinning against it, as Trent taught, but Dr. Reichel seems--and I stress seems; I don't want to make a rash judgment--to disagree. It's hard to tell, though, because having explained what he means by "the reality of Christian faith"--which would seem to correspond to 'the Faith' considered as a virtue--Dr. Reichel fails to explain what he means by "the faith", simply concluding that "[t]he faith on the other hand can be lost as soon as other cares occur". Can someone clarify this for me?

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Gregory Barbarigo, Bishop, Confessor, A.D. 2010

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Notes: Thursday, June 10, 2010

"[Coptic Orthodox] Pope defies court: will not accept divorce and remarriage"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32025

Full text (very short):

Pope Shenouda II, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, has confirmed that his church will refuse to abide by a decision of Egypt's highest court, which ruled that the Coptic Church must allow divorce and remarriage.

In May the court ruled that because "the right to family formation is a constitutional right," no religious body can deny that right. In Egypt all marriages must be endorsed by a religious body. The court said that the Coptic Church must alter its teachings to allow for the civil rights of divorced people.

Pope Shenouda said that the Coptic Church will disregard the ruling, insisting that the court has no authority to dictate religious beliefs and practices.

The latest rant from Fr. Kelly

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=21653

According to Fr. Kelly,

One of the heresies common among Catholics - I've even heard it from priests - is that the supreme significance of priesthood is that from Ordination on, the priest has the power to change bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord. It was put that starkly by one commentator responding to my recent blog on the Real Presence of Christ in the celebration of the Eucharist.

(The comment to which Fr. Kelly refers seems to be the one by "Byzcat" here.) Let me simply quote the teaching of the Council of Trent on doctrine on the Sacrament of Orders, in its twenty-third sesssion:

From Chapter 1, on the institution of the Priesthood of the New Law:

... that to the apostles and their successors in the priesthood was handed down the power of consecrating, of offering and administering His body and blood, and also of forgiving and retaining sins, the Sacred Scriptures show and the tradition of the Catholic Church has always taught ...
[http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma10.php]

Canon 1 of the Canons on the Sacrament of Order:

If anyone says that there is not in the New Testament a visible and external priesthood, or that there is no power of consecrating and offering the true body and blood of the Lord, and of forgiving and retaining sins, but only the office and bare ministry of preaching the Gospel, or that those who do not preach are not priests at all: let him be anathema [cf. n.957 960].
[square-bracketed interpolation as in the source for this quotation,
ibid.]

Unsurprisingly, the commenters at the CathNews combox (which has lately, and sadly, degenerated into a cosy little mutual admiration society) failed to challenge Fr. Kelly on this, but surprisingly, neither have any bloggers. Nor did any of the commenters at CathNews challenge Fr. Kelly when he spoke of "the alcoholic cultures that have infected the clergy of many dioceses in Australia". It doesn't surprise me that CathNews published an heretical 'blog', but it does surprise me that it has published one with such a gratuitous, unsubstantiated slur against Australian clergy.

An interesting observation regarding priestesses

By Fr. Zuhlsdorf in an interpolation in a comment by someone else at his blog:

Temple prostitution was the inevitable result in the ancient world of the cult of priestesses.
[http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/06/prepare-to-be-amused-wymynprysts-protesting-vatican-blah-blah-blah/#comment-208889]

N.S.W. review of its laws on those who kill unborn children

From yesterday's Sydney Daily Telegraph, p. 18:

Laws for unborn

THE fight for "Zoe's Law" inched closer this week with the release of the terms of reference into a review of the laws involving unborn children.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Michael Campbell was appointed to head up the review after a campaign by The Daily Telegraph in support of Brodie Donegan's unborn child Zoe. The 32-week-old foetus was killed after an alleged drug-affected driver slammed into Ms Donegan on Christmas Day.
The review will consider if the century-old Crimes act 1900 -- which holds that if a child has not taken a breath, it is not human -- enables justice to be served in the criminal death of a foetus in modern society.

More on this in this earlier story from Sydney Archdiocese's Catholic Communications service.

Blog comment by me

At Mr. Schütz's blog:

Cardinal Pole
June 10, 2010 at 3:52 am

“[You] cannot imagine and did not as a Catholic know a single person who would so express that they were Catholic, let alone some construction like a member of the Archdiocese of Omaha as a church, in communion with the bishop of Rome”

So how would you imagine and/or how did Catholics when you were a Catholic express that they were Catholic?

[http://scecclesia.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/revisiting-the-summit-i/#comment-15215]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland, Queen, Widow, A.D. 2010

Monday, July 28, 2008

Secularism vs. The Church after WYD08: war of attrition

http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s2316508.htm

No, the word ‘deaconess’ was not used (not even once!) but we did hear the classic “trying to learn new ways to be church”! This week’s installment of Compass was, perhaps unsurprisingly, even worse than last week’s drivel, since it was even weaker and less substantial. Again we had a group of interviewees who all either dissented from or failed adequately to stand up for the impossibility of women’s ordination. With this week’s interviewees it became all the clearer to me how unprofessional and open to abuse this ‘documentary’ format (as opposed to the traditional, formal question-and-answer interview) is. Although the tone was not as stridently tendentious as last week’s episode, it was clear that the producers wanted to portray the invalidity of women ‘Orders’ as a matter of injustice, and the style of interview facilitated this nicely; it seemed that it drew the interviewees into either agreeing with or at least not dissenting from the editorial position. What exactly were the questions put to them?

But the producers of this tripe are not fools; they know that there is no theological basis for women’s Orders, as one can tell by their failure to involve any expert commentators, such as theologians or canon lawyers, like in last week’s episode. But this only weakened the story further, since the thoughts of the interviewees were wishy-washy at best, a grab-bag of the usual talk of ‘exclusion’ and vague feelings of injustice. Also absent from this programme was a failure to involve any women who were both perfectly happy with their state in life and able eloquently to stand up for women’s contributions to the Church (our Holy Mother) in marriage and family or the religious life. But we have come to expect this kind of bias.

Interestingly, Cathnews indicates that next week’s Compass will be another Catholic story, reporting on an Irish Priest who, among others things, conducted an affair with his housekeeper. Presumably this is meant to reinforce last week’s attempt to portray celibacy as unrealistic. It seems that the A.B.C. is perfectly prepared to prosecute its anti-Catholic campaign as a war of attrition. And we here at this virtual Lambeth Palace are prepared to man the trenches for as long as it takes.

Reginaldvs Cantvar