Notes: Wednesday, April 4-Tuesday, April 10, 2012

1. "Up to 3 per cent of births in many developed nations involve ART"

… Up to 3 per cent of births in many developed nations involve ART, according to a complementary article by an Australian expert.
Circulation
2012;doi:10.1161/5
circulationaha.111.071183
(Scherrer U et al)
2012;doi:10.1161/
circulationaha.112.100479
(Celermajer D et al)
[I transcribed that from Adam Taor's weekly "Pulse" column, this time on page seven of the "Health" section of the "Weekend Professional" supplement in The Weekend Australian of March 31-April 1, 2012 (Second Edition, No. 14772; ISSN 1038-8761); it is also available at The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/good-week-for/story-e6frg8y6-1226313817562
That complementary article's (or rather, editorial's) abstract is available at Circulation's website:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2012/03/13/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.100479.abstract?sid=aa73822d-3f2b-4bff-ae70-2411ddda243b]

Labels: A.R.T.

2. "CHILDREN'S behaviour has grown considerably worse since the abolition of corporal punishment in Britain 25 years ago, teachers say"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/no-cane-no-gain-in-the-behaviour-of-students-20120405-1wflt.html?skin=text-only

Labels: corporal punishment, education, U.K., youngsters

3. According to new Australian research, "[o]verall, the more kids a [sixty years or older ]woman [had ]had, the less likely she was to die during [the sixteen-year period which the researchers studied]"

Good week for ...

WOMEN with lots of children, after NSW research showing they live longer than childless women. …
Age Ageing
2012;doi:10.1093/ageing/afs016
(Simons L et al)
[Bold type and the first ellipsis in the original,
I transcribed that quotation from Adam Taor's weekly "Pulse" column, this time on page five of the "Health" section of the "Weekend Professional" supplement in The Weekend Australian of April 7-8, 2012 (First Edition, No. 14777; ISSN 1038-8761); that column is also available, in slightly different form, at The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/good-news-for-mothers/story-e6frg8y6-1226318915633
That article's abstract is available at Age and Ageing's website:
http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/03/14/ageing.afs016.short?rss=1]

Labels: families, health

4. It's less than two weeks till St. George's Day 2012

and I note that there are two vacancies in The Order of the Garter; H.M. The Queen's website lists twenty-three (non-Royal/-Extra) Companions, but that does not take account of the death of Lord Ridley on the 22nd ult. The last St. George's Day on which there were no vacancies was that of 2009; in 2010, Lords Richardson and Bingham died, and in 2011, His late Grace The (11th) Duke of Grafton died; since Garter Day 2008, Her Majesty has admitted only two new Companions to the Order, so now there are still two vacancies.

Labels: Order of the Garter

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Easter Tuesday, A.D. 2012

Notes: Tuesday, February 7-Monday, February 27, 2012 (part 1 of 2)

1. "With identical twins, where the genetic heritage is identical, … if one twin is gay or lesbian, [then] there is 50 per cent likelihood the other twin is gay or lesbian"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/blogs/godless-gross/gayness-and-godliness-20120206-1r173.html

But if the genetic heritage is identical, i.e., 100% the same, then why is that likelihood so low, a mere 50%?

Labels: biology, G.L.B.T., genes

2. "Proposition 8 therefore could not have been enacted to advance California's interest in childrearing or responsible procreation," ["Judge Stephen Reinhardt"] wrote, "for it had no effect on the rights of same-sex couples to raise children or on the procreative practices of other couples"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/validation-for-us-as-a-couple-california-gay-marriage-ban-overturned-20120208-1r959.html?skin=text-only

Labels: discrimination, families, G.L.B.T., marriage

3. "Family Planning Queensland’s revolutionary book, Is This Normal? Understanding your child’s sexual behaviour"

http://fpq.com.au/pdf/media/MR_IsThisNormal.pdf

http://fpq.com.au/publications/fsBrochures/Br_Sexual_Behaviours.php

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/red-light-on-abnormal-child-sex-behaviour/story-e6freuzi-1226264151190

http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/parents-set-right-on-sex-myths/story-fn6ck45n-1226264102996

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/lifestyle/sexual-behaviour-in-children-whats-normal-20120206-1r1nm.html?skin=text-only

Labels: education, Holly Brennan, Judy Graham, vice, youngsters

4. "The thrice-married [French] President[, M. Nicolas Sarkozy,] … lauds the importance of traditional marriage and opposes moves to legalise homosexual marriage on the grounds it would lead to gay adoption"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/nicolas-sarkozy-woos-far-right-vote-to-see-off-marine-le-pen-juggernaut/story-e6frg6so-1226268138630

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

5. "[At] a Mardi Gras meeting in the early '90s[,] a vote barring bisexuals from membership was carried"

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/about-town/showgirl-returns-20120213-1t0t0.html?skin=text-only

Labels: discrimination, G.L.B.T., Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

6. Some recent figures on Australian popular support for so-called Gay marriage

http://www.smh.com.au/national/new-poll-backs-samesex-marriage-20120213-1t1h4.html?skin=text-only

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

7. "There's no such thing as a good divorce: the kids always suffer"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-good-divorce-the-kids-always-suffer-20120210-1sl3d.html?skin=text-only

Labels: divorce, families, marriage, youngsters

8. "Some months ago [Catholica Australia] had nearly 750 registered members and ["an assistant administrator on Catholica" has] now cut it back to about 560. By the time he's finished[, Mr Brian Coyne, C.A.'s editor and publisher,] said to him [that Mr. Coyne] expect[s that] it might get down to somewhere between four and five hundred."

http://members7.boardhost.com/TrueCatholic/thread/1328095044.html

Labels: Catholica Australia

Reginaldvs Cantvar
27.II.2012

Notes: Tuesday, September 6-Wednesday, September 14, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. A couple of recent posts from Mr. Muehlenberg:

1.1 On the latest initiative for propagating multiculturalism

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/05/force-fed-multiculturalism/

Labels: education, multiculturalism

1.2 On his new book, on the challenge of homosexuality

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/04/strained-relations/

Labels: G.L.B.T.

2. The latest evidence for a link between abortion and mental health problems

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38771

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/study-links-abortion-to-mental-health-problems/story-e6freuy9-1226127657384

Originally I wasn't going to bother logging that AQ post, since anyone who opposes abortion--myself and, presumably, my readers among them--would regard the findings as unsurprising, but then I saw the print-edition version of the article to whose on-line version I link above here taking up about a quarter of page twenty-five of the Sydney Daily Telegraph of Friday, September 2, 2011, and so I thought that I'd better log it, since it's so rare for one of the mainstream media to highlight the adverse consequences of abortion (needless to say, the mainstream media tend not to regard the death of an unborn baby as a necessarily adverse consequence) that the findings must be important. Here are the key excerpts from that Tele article:

The research by American academic Priscilla Coleman, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, said abortion was linked with a 34 per cent greater chance of anxiety disorders and a 37 per cent higher possibility of depression.

This was more than double the risk of alcohol abuse, three times greater risk of cannabis use at 220 per cent and 155 per cent greater risk of attempted suicide.

[...] "Overall, the results revealed that women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81 per cent increased risk of mental health problems, and nearly 10 per cent of the incidence of mental health problems were shown to be directly attributable to abortion."

The study was based on an analysis of 22 separate projects, which together analysed the experiences of 877,000 women, of whom 163,831 had had an abortion.

Labels: abortion, mental health

3. Dr. Sammut on, among other things, "the disturbing significance of the controversial [recent] NSW birth certificate decision"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/womens-rights-push-dads-aside/story-e6frgd0x-1226128389989

Worth reading in full, but the final paragraph is what I want to log here:

This is the disturbing significance of the controversial NSW birth certificate decision. That no gay spokesperson has expressed concern for the father and child stolen from each other speaks volumes about their priorities. Traditionalists have long argued in defence of marriage that the institution is fundamentally about the rights of children and that advocates of gay marriage just don't get this. Based on the "sperm donor dad" case, they appear to have a point.

Labels: birth certificates, child-rearing, families, G.L.B.T., marriage, parenthood, youngsters

4. "THE well-being of Australia's children and young adults has declined sharply in the past decade - and sliding marriage rates are partly to blame"; "marriage makes a difference, not just the characteristics of a child's parents, because of the commitment involved"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/falling-marriage-rates-hurting-children-report-20110905-1jubf.html?skin=text-only

Labels: child-rearing, families, marriage, parenthood, youngsters

5. "A member of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s government is calling for a ban on marriages at Christian churches if they refuse to also perform same-sex unions"

http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/thread/1315540178.html

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38865

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

Apparently, such a ban would involve adopting the system, which is used in some Continental countries, in which prospective spouses who intend to wed in a religious ceremony have to get a 'civil marriage' as well.

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, U.K.

6. "Irish government backs down on confessional bill"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38855

Labels: Alan Shatter, Ireland, sexual abuse

7. "Lesbian foster couple put six year old boy in girl's clothes and post photos on Facebook"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/lesbian-foster-couple-put-six-year-old-boy-in-girls-clothes-and-post-photos-on-facebook/story-e6freuzr-1226134422557

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/12/more-outrages-from-the-rainbow-warriors/

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/same-sex-parents-should-foster-not-play-politics/story-fn6b3v4f-1226135313446

I wonder whether there has been any scholarly research into the phenomenon of one of the members of a same-sex couple undergoing a 'sex change'?

Labels: child-rearing, families, G.L.B.T., parenthood

8. "MEN'S bodies hardwire them to become caring fathers by dropping their testosterone levels after a child is born, a landmark investigation has found"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/fathers-give-up-mojo-after-children/story-fn6b3v4f-1226135425389

Labels: families, medicine, parenthood

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

Notes: Wednesday, June 30-Wednesday, July 6, 2011

1. "[In the U.S., n]o state referendum or initiative to outlaw same-sex marriage has ever been defeated at the ballot box"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/new-york-decision-sparks-hope-for-gay-marriage-movement-20110627-1gnj0.html?skin=text-only

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

2. "... an approximation [of pi] appears in the Bible ..."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/maths-mutineers-say-numbers-up-for-pi/story-e6frg6so-1226083546779

Anyone know the chapter and verse for that approximation?

Labels: Scripture

3. Mr. Timbs on the origin of the Sacraments

Here is an excerpt from a comment by one of CathNews's frequent commenters, one David Timbs:

... in fact, Jesus never ordained anyone to anything nor instituted any sacraments of any kind. That sacramental system developed over time in the Church
[http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=26981]

Labels: David Timbs, Priesthood, Sacraments, theology

4. "Many Successful Gay Marriages Share an Open Secret"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/us/29sfmetro.html

(Brought to my attention via a comment in the combox of this CathNews post.)

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

5. Talk soon. Talk often--scandalous new "sex education guide"

Available here:

http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/2/1276/2/parentcaregiver.pm

(Brought to my attention by a short article in one of the editions of the Sydney Daily Telegraph last week, an expanded edition of which article is available here.)

That guide's title reminds of that old joke about how to vote in some kinds of corrupt electoral systems--'vote early and vote often', which is fitting, given that that guide would do to the virtue of chastity in a youngster what electoral corruption does to civic virtue in a citizen.

Labels: education, Jenny Walsh, vice, youngsters

6. A couple of recent items regarding the Russian Orthodox Church

6.1 "The Myth of Orthodox Revival in Russia"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37998

Labels: R.O.C.

6.2 "Russo-Orthodox cleric in Vatican ceremony: closer ties?"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37988

Labels: Diocese of Rome, R.O.C.

7. Death of H.I.&R.H. Archduke Otto of Austria

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38012

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.

Labels: Otto Habsburg-Lorraine

Reginaldvs Cantvar
6.VII.2011

Notes: Wednesday, June 22-Wednesday, June 29, 2011

1. A couple of items regarding women in the paid workforce

1.1 Mr. Thompson on several points regarding women in the paid workforce

Here is an excerpt from an article entitled "They have babies, pay them less" and which appeared on page three of the print edition of the Sydney Daily Telegraph on Friday, June 24, 2011:

Alasdair Thompson, chief execu-tive of the New Zealand Employers & Manufacturers' Association, also claimed women were less pro-ductive because they took career breaks to have babies.
"Why do they take the most sick leave? Women do in general. Why? Because once a month they have sick problems," Mr Thompson said during a live radio interview to argue against a law aimed at reducing the wage gap between men and women.
"The fact is women have babies, they take time out with their careers," he added, admitting his statements were "contentious".
[...] Mr Thompson later tried to hose down the controversy, apologising for his comments.
[dashes in the original, my square-bracketed ellipsis]

I wonder what the evidence is for whether women take more sick leave than men, whether, if they do indeed take more sick leave, it is because of women's problems, and whether maternity leave hampers women's productivity?

Related web-pages:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/gender-row-exec-has-a-point-expert/story-e6freuyi-1226081435028

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/kiwi-employers-head-castigated-over-claims-women-take-more-sick-days-than-men/story-e6frev00-1226080815733

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/new-zealand-employers-group-chief-says-women-dont-deserve-equal-pay/story-e6frg6so-1226080763729

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/kiwi-employers-head-castigated-over-claims-women-take-more-sick-days-than-men/story-e6frez7r-1226080755986

Labels: economics, gender differences, work

1.2 Some facts and figures regarding women in the paid workforce and children in childcare

http://www.smh.com.au/national/childcare-rebate-put-paid-to-staying-home-longer-20110624-1ghsr.html?skin=text-only

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/numbers-add-up-as-mothers-return-to-work-sooner-20110623-1ghjk.html?skin=text-only

Labels: economics, work, youngsters

2. Darwin on something which would invalidate his theory of evolution

This is an extract from a very small article entitled "Insights unveiled as Darwin's scribbles enter the digital era" and which appeared on page twenty-four of last weekend's (June 25-26, 2011) edition of The Sydney Morning Herald:

Darwin wrote alongside this: "If this ["that there were definite limits to the vari-ation of species"] were true adios theory."

Labels: evolution

3. "Russian Orthodox Church to tinker with its liturgy"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37841

Labels: R.O.C.

4. A couple of recent reported facts regarding the death penalty

4.1 "Since 1978, [Californian] voters have consistently opted to widen the capital punishment net so that the state now has the most sweeping laws in the country, with some 39 eligible crimes"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/executions-cost-300m-each-in-california-study-20110621-1gdfu.html?skin=text-only

Labels: death penalty

4.2 "Australia ... annually co-sponsors a resolution of the UN Human Rights Commission that calls for all nations to abolish [capital] punishment"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/subtle-shifts-offer-hope-of-abolition-20110626-1glm2.html?skin=text-only

Labels: death penalty

5. "A Bibliography of the Current Crisis in the Catholic Church"

http://truerestoration.blogspot.com/2011/06/bibliography-of-current-crisis-in.html

That came to my attention via this AQ thread:

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37842

Labels: modernism, N.O.M., Vatican II

6. "Liechtenstein archbishop in Mass 'boycott'"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37862

Labels: Church and State

7. "Students get insight into Holocaust horrors"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=26928

This bit was particularly evocative:

This year three Santa Maria College students ... prepared a liturgical movement in response to ... Walter Rapoport, Chairman of the Council of Christians and Jews Victoria.

(In the Australian Conciliar church, "liturgical movement" means liturgical dance.) It brings to mind pagan dancing girls swirling around an idol of "The Holocaust".

Labels: Jews

8. "Kremlin eliminates Putin challengers"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/kremlin-eliminates-putin-challengers/story-e6frg6so-1226080860884

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, A.D. 2011

Notes: Friday, November 12, 2010

1. Prof. Schäfer on the depiction of Our Lord in the Talmud

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8383.html
(Brought to my attention by this AQ comment.)

2. "Israel recruits 'army of bloggers' to combat anti-Zionist Web sites"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=386884#386884

3. Mr. Muehlenberg on the age of consent in Victoria

Appalling though this is, it doesn't really surprise me all that much:

Sadly – and incredibly – in the humanist utopia of Victoria the age of consent is ten! I kid you not. As long as you don’t have sex with anyone more than two years older than yourself, any ten-year-old (up to 15) can legally have sex in this state.
[http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/11/11/more-pc-mischief-and-mayhem/]

4. H.H. The Pope on religious liberty and freedom of conscience

Far from encouraging:

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION "VERBUM DOMINI"

VATICAN CITY, 11 NOV 2010 (VIS) - At midday today in the Holy See Press Office, the presentation took place of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Verbum Domini" of Benedict XVI, on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church.

Today's press conference was presented by Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and Archbishop Nikola Eterovic and Msgr. Fortunato Frizza, respectively secretary general and under secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

The Apostolic Exhortation, which is dated 30 September, Memorial of St. Jerome, is the fruit of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which was held in Rome from 5 to 26 October 2008. The document, which has been published in Latin, Italian, English, French., Spanish, German, Portuguese and Polish, is made up of an introduction, three parts and a conclusion.

[...] "The Word of God and Inter-religious Dialogue" is the title of chapter four. "Having established the value and topicality of inter-religious dialogue, 'Verbum Domini' ... supplies some important guidelines concerning dialogue between Christians and Muslims, and with members of other non-Christian religions, within the framework of a religious liberty which involves not only the freedom to profess one's faith in private and in public, but also freedom of conscience; in other words, of choosing one's religion". [...]
EXOR/ VIS
20101111 (970)
[my square-bracketed ellipses]

Presumably it was Msgr. Eterovic who spoke the words quoted in the last of the paragraphs of that excerpt, since His Grace is also the one quoted in the paragraph immediately before and in the paragraph immediately after it.

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Martin I., Pope, Martyr, A.D. 2010

Facts and figures: On sexual activity by Australian high school pupils

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/teenage-girls-more-sexually-active-than-a-decade-ago-20101005-1669s.html?skin=text-only

Body of the Herald article:

YEAR 12 girls are more likely to have had sex than boys, and teenagers are likely to have had sex with more partners than a decade ago, a national survey has shown.

More than 61 per cent of year 12 girls said they had had sex, compared to 44 per cent of boys of that year, the study by LaTrobe University's faculty of health sciences researchers found.

In a trend the report links to heavier drinking by adolescents, the proportion of sexually active year 12 girls who reported having had sex with three or more partners in the previous year more than doubled to 27 per cent in the decade to 2008. Among boys, 38 per cent said they had had three or more sexual partners in the year.

The survey of 8800 year 10 and year 12 students in 300 schools around Australia was taken in three snapshots between 1997 and 2008.

The proportion of year 10 boys who had had sex rose slightly from 23 per cent to 27 per cent between 1997 and 2008, while for year 10 girls the rise was more significant, up from 16 per cent to 27 per cent.

In year 12, the number of boys who reported having had sex dipped slightly from 47 per cent in 1997 to 44 per cent in 2008, while the rate for girls rose from 48 per cent to 61 per cent.

The report, published in the latest Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, said the increased numbers of students having multiple sexual partners was significantly higher than that found in a large survey in the US and may be linked to heavier drinking among Australian teenagers.

''In Australia, rates of alcohol consumption among secondary students have increased markedly, as has the proportion of young people engaging in sex while under the influence of alcohol or drugs - these factors may be associated with the increases observed in sexual activity here,'' the report says. The report said that given the increases in sexual activity and still moderate levels of knowledge about sexually transmitted infections among young people, it was ''of some concern'' that the levels of safe sex practised by adolescents had not increased in Australia since 1997.

It was significant that year 10 students showed lower levels of knowledge about STIs than those in year 12, even though they had comparable rates of sexual partnerships to year 12 students.

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

Notes: Saturday-Monday, October 2-4, 2010

(I have not finished reading the weekend papers yet, so there might be more items to come from Saturday. There were many book reviews of interest to me and perhaps to you in the weekend papers, so I'll cover them in a separate post.)

Two recent Vatican Information Service daily e-mail bulletin items mentioning religious liberty

First one:

ARCHBISHOP MAMBERTI ADDRESSES U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

VATICAN CITY, 1 OCT 2010 (VIS) - On 29 September Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Holy See secretary for Relations with States, addressed the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. [...]

[...] On the subject of the Millennium Development Goals, the archbishop remarked on the importance of "bearing the great moral imperatives in mind: ... fulfilment of the promises of aid for development given by rich nations to weaker nations, and a guarantee of a more favourable financial and commercial climate". At a global level, the secretary for Relations with States identified the need "for more decisive and effective concern for refugees, displaced persons and the great migratory flows". In order for there to be integral human development there must also be a guarantee "of the exercise of religious freedom, ... the cornerstone of the entire edifice of human rights", he said [...]
DELSS/ VIS 20101001 (660)
[my square-bracketed ellipses, other ellipses in the original]

I'll have to find out what that ellipsis after "of the exercise of religious freedom" replaced.

Second one:

MISSION, AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE MISSION OF THE BAPTISED

VATICAN CITY, 4 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (North region 1 and Northeast region), who have just completed their "ad limina" visit.

[...] "Sometimes we hear the objection that imposing the truth - though it be the truth of the Gospel and of salvation - can be a violation of religious freedom", said the Holy Father, in which context he quoted words of Paul VI: "It would, of course, be a mistake to impose anything on the conscience of our brothers and sisters, but propounding knowledge of the truth of the Gospel and the salvation of Jesus Christ, with absolute clarity and full respect for the free choice of conscience (hence without coercion or dishonest persuasion), ... far from being an attack on religious freedom, is a homage to that freedom, which can choose a route that even non-believers consider noble and edifying. ... To present Christ and His kingdom in a respectful way, more than a right, is a duty of evangelisation".
[...]
AL/ VIS 20101004 (530)
[my square-bracketed ellipses, other ellipses in the original]

A startling figure on sexual activity by U.S. minors

From The Australian:

The National Survey of Sexual Health and Behaviour found sexually active 14 to 17-year-olds - 80 per cent of boys and 69 per cent of girls ...
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/us-teens-use-more-condoms-than-adults-survey/story-fn3dxity-1225934015781]

Transalpine Non-Redemptorists still waiting for canonical regularisation

From a U.K. Catholic Herald article brought to my attention by Terra:

They have not been ecstatically welcomed, either. It is more than two years since they first approached Rome, yet they are still waiting for their bishop, Bishop Peter Moran of Aberdeen, to grant them legal status within the Church.

[...] On the advice of Fr [Josef] Bisig [F.S.S.P.], they arranged a meeting with Fr José Monteiro Guimarães, a Redemptorist official in the Congregation for Clergy (he is now Bishop of Garanhuns in Brazil). They travelled to Rome, staying in a hotel. It was, he says, very daunting. “We had the feeling that we should go back, that we had made a big mistake. We were completely out of our camp.”

In the months that followed they met officials at Ecclesia Dei, the body set up to negotiate with the SSPX. They met its prefect, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos. Their priestly suspensions were lifted. Later they wrote a constitution, lifting parts of old Redemptorist constitutions from 1921 and 1936. That has been approved. All that is needed now is for Bishop Moran, their local bishop, to issue a “decree of erection” that will put them in canonical good order. (Last Friday Bishop Moran issued a statement which said he was waiting for guidance from the Congregation for Religious, to whom the matter has now been passed.)

[...] “Nobody expected it to take this long,” says Fr Michael Mary.

“Nobody expected it to take this long”. Seriously?

Sydney Archdiocese Life, Marriage and Family Centre publication "Euthanasia: Myths and Reality"

http://www.lifemarriagefamily.org.au/RLS2010.pdf

As well as refuting the standard pro-euthanasia talking points, it contains some useful facts and figures, such as that

Government-sanctioned studies in the Netherlands have found that: 50% of cases of assisted suicide and euthanasia are not reported, more than 50% of Dutch physicians feel free to suggest euthanasia to their patients, and 25% of these physicians admit to ending patients’ lives without their consent (more than 1000 people each year).

Caius on the death of Sts. Peter and Paul at Rome

From a Catholic Encyclopedia article brought to my attention by last Sunday's Sydney Catholic Weekly:

We owe to Caius a very valuable evidence of the death of Sts. Peter and Paul at Rome, and the public veneration of their remains at Rome about the year 200. It is taken from the above-mentioned disputation with Proclus, and reads as follows (Eusebius, Church History II.25): "But I can show the trophies of the Apostles. For if you will go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way you will find the trophies of those who laid the foundations of this church". By "trophies" is of course understood the memorial chapel that preserved in each case the body of the Apostle (cf. Barnes, St. Peter in Rome, London, 1900, p 145).
[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03144a.htm]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Placid and Companions, Martyrs, A.D. 2010

Notes: Saturday-Tuesday, September 4-7, 2010

Mr. Slattery on Shakespeare's plays

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/to-know-the-bard/story-e6frg6zo-1225912730308

Mrs. Shanahan on the lack of Catholic military chaplains with Australian forces in Afghanistan

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/catholic-padres-frozen-out-in-afghanistan/story-e6frg6zo-1225913630026

Dr. Biddulph on parenting

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/father-lode/story-e6frg8h6-1225912838609

Interesting to read that interview with the N.S.W. same-sex adoption Bill in mind. Here are some excerpts:

By almost every social indicator – self-esteem, educational achievement, law abidance – children seem to do better when a father is present. Why is this the case?
Fathers show boys how to be good men. They share the workload. They are fun. They make mothers feel more secure and relaxed. A good man is a huge benefit. Of course, a bad man is worse than none at all. But if a man is safe and reliable, and willing to learn and try, he will almost always be a plus for his son.
Fathers matter hugely in the development of girls as well, because they give a girl confidence around males. It’s the simple things that achieve this, such as walking the dog together, playing a ball game, helping with homework. He sends a powerful message to his daughter that she is interesting and worthwhile. Girls who are close to their dads get involved with boys later, and show better judgement when choosing partners. They are generally more confident and do better at school and work.

In The New Manhood you write that whenever a boy seems unmotivated, at home or at school, look to a lack of male role models as the cause. Why do boys become so easily unstuck without good role models?
Because they don’t see any adult that they want to emulate. A well-raised young person is like a collection of all the great people they have spent time with. Peer groups often only really pass on their own emptiness. We need to see people like us, but further along. You can’t become a good man unless you have spent time around good men. You can’t learn patience, kindness, courage or even love, unless you have seen it and known it in someone else.
Fathers need to join other fathers, especially when their sons are in their mid-teens, and go camping, fishing, and to the beach. By getting away for a few nights with the kids they will have the opportunity to meet other men who are doing great things in the world like building, healing and teaching. Teenagers can then talk to other fathers and develop ideas about manhood. [...]

A loving and focused mother can get a boy “almost to wholeness”, you write in The New Manhood. But the one thing she cannot teach is “how to be a man”. What does “being a man” amount to in a 17 or 18-year-old male?
By this age a young man should have been initiated into manhood. In The New Manhood we look at schools and communities that are actively doing this. It isn’t just the ritual or mystery that helps, but the message that is crucial: a man looks out for others. A man knows life is sometimes hard and he works withothers to protect life. Boys rise to the heroism of that, instead of the dumb heroism of drink-drivingor gang involvement. The energies are the same, but are redirected for good. [...]

So what can we do [about the problems affecting young women today]?
Well, don’t buy fashion magazines for your ten-year-old – or yourself. And don’t leave the TV running all the time; just watch programs you have chosen. But the big thing is that women have disappeared from the lives of girls. Girls get only a quarter of the mothering, and “auntying” from other women, that they used to. It is older women who help girls to gain a perspective on boys and realise that their ideas and actions matter more than their hairstyle. Parents with a strong relationship with their child are in a better position to give them good self-esteem and belief in themselves beyond looks or fashion. [...]
[bold type and italics in the original, my square-bracketed
interpolations]

Interesting books reviewed/mentioned in the weekend papers:

Just one this week:

Learning to be a Minister: Heroic Expectations, Practical Realities
By Anne Tiernan and Patrick Weller
Melbourne University Publishing, 351pp, $39.99
WITH a new government in office this book is already out of date, despite some of its research being barely a year old. But this does not matter because, while the names have changed, the functions described stay the same. And what fascinating functions they are. This is a field guide to what occurs in the corridors of power, where ministers and mandarins intersect, where the way we are governed is decided. This is a must for anybody interested in where the real work of politics occurs. Perhaps the egotism and exhaustion of the minister and staff, and the suspicion they share of public servants, could be clearer but the authors are experts on the Australian system of ministerial government, and it shows.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/field-guide-to-the-corridors-of-power/story-e6frg8nf-1225912909446]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
7.IX.2010

Facts and figures: On sexual activity by high school pupils

From an article entitled "Students as young as 12 to get free condoms at school under new plan":

Recent research showed a quarter of year 10 students reported having had sex, and this rose to half by year 12.

A La Trobe University survey of 3000 students found they were also having sex with more partners than previous research suggested, with many having had sex with three or more partners in the previous year.

Sixty per cent of the young men and just 46 per cent of young women always used condoms.

About 5 per cent of female students became pregnant.
[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/students-as-young-as-12-to-get-free-condoms-at-school-under-new-plan/story-e6frf7kx-1225901838473]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, A.D. 2010