Notes: Friday, August 1-Wednesday, December 31, 2014 (part 2 of 2)

9. H.H. The Pope on, among other things, the death penalty

See the Speech to the delegates of the International Association of Penal Law, October 23, 2014, available at the "October 2014 Speeches" page at the Vatican's website:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/october/index.html

Labels: death penalty, Francis Bergoglio, justice

10. Dr. Brown on the content and structure of the New Order of Mass compared to that of the Traditional Latin Mass

See his comment of 1 November 2014 at 11:01 pm at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog post "GERMANY: Where the weird stuff comes from" of November 1, 2014 at Fr. Z's Blog:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/11/why-is-it-that-truly-weird-stuff-comes-into-the-church-from-germany/#comment-483619

Labels: N.O.M., theology, T.L.M.

11. Dr. Summers on, among other things, H.M.A. Government's continuing overseas Feminist propaganda

See the opinion piece "Forget the F-word, action is what counts", by Dr. Anne Summers A.O., dated November 15, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/forget-the-fword-action-is-what-counts-20141113-11m2g5.html?skin=text-only

(That article came to my attention via the version printed on p. 38 in the "COMMENT" pages of the "NEWS REVIEW" section of The Sydney Morning Herald, weekend edition, November 15-16, 2014, Issue No. 55256, ISSN 0312-6315, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: feminism

12. Ms Wilkinson on, among other things, "the growing body of “guilty until proven innocent” laws being made" in Australia

See the opinion piece "Politicians should be considered guilty until proven innocent too", by Cassandra Wilkinson, dated November 8, 2014, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/politicians-should-be-considered-guilty-until-proven-innocent-too/story-fnhuliiz-1227116002659

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline (though all the letters were in capitals), with the same author, on p. 22 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, November 8-9, 2014, Second Edition, No. 15570, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: burden of proof, law

13. Some recent articles regarding the State of Israel's proposed 'nation-state of the Jewish people' bill

See

• the article "Israelis fear a gathering intifada: ugly mood stalks neighbourhoods of Jerusalem", by John Lyons, dated November 8, 2014, downloaded from The Australian's website:
  
  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/israelis-fear-a-gathering-intifada-ugly-mood-stalks-neighbourhoods-of-jerusalem/story-e6frg6so-1227116392046
  
  (That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Israelis fear a gathering intifada", with the same author, on p. 11 in the "WORLD" section of The Weekend Australian, November 8-9, 2014, Second Edition, No. 15570, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

• the article "Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet backs 'Jewish state law' as tensions run high in Israel", by Isabel Kershner, dated November 24, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/world/benjamin-netanyahus-cabinet-backs-jewish-state-law-as-tensions-run-high-in-israel-20141124-11sdlx.html?skin=text-only

• the article "Two Arab suspects arrested in fresh Jerusalem knife attack", by Jodi Rudoren, dated November 25, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/world/two-arab-suspects-arrested-in-fresh-jerusalem-knife-attack-20141125-11t2z7.html?skin=text-only

• the article "Benjamin Netanyahu seeks early election, fires top ministers", by Jeffrey Heller, dated November 3, 2014, :
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/world/benjamin-netanyahu-seeks-early-election-fires-top-ministers-20141203-11ytvo.html?skin=text-only

• the article "Israel's nationality bill fuels debate over religious and democratic identity", by Jodi Rudoren, dated December 9, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website::
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/world/israels-nationality-bill-fuels-debate-over-religious-and-democratic-identity-20141209-12320i.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Confessional State, Jews, State of Israel

14. "Montini was moved out of the Vatican and made Archbishop of Milan in 1954 in an attempt by conservative factions in Rome to reduce his influence. But the next Pope, his friend John XXIII, in 1958 made him the first of his cardinals, and he succeeded John as Pope Paul VI in 1963."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "The renewed relevance of Paul VI", by The Rev. Fr. Bruce Duncan C.SS.R., undated, downloaded from the website of the Redemptorists of Australia and New Zealand:

http://www.cssr.org.au/contact_us/dsp-default.cfm?loadref=619

(That article came to my attention via this CathNews item.)

Labels: Paul VI. Montini

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Day within the Octave of Christmas, and the feast of St. Sylvester I., Pope, Confessor, A.D. 2014

Notes: Tuesday, May 21-Thursday, June 20, 2013

1. "But the State can preserve a religious identity provided it acts with neutrality and justice toward all religious groups in its territory."

The quotation in that headline comes from the Statement of His Grace The Titular Archbishop of Acelum C.S. in His Grace's capacity as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organisations in Geneva at the Twenty-Second Session of the Human Rights Council, Item 3, "Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief", dated March 6, 2013, downloaded from the official website of the Holy See Mission to the United Nations in Geneva:

http://www.holyseemissiongeneva.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14396:22nd-session-of-the-human-rights-council-report-of-the-special-rapporteur-on-freedom-of-religion

Msgr. Tomasi's Statement came to my attention via this AQ post, one of the sources for which was this CatholicCulture.org article.

See also the Vatican Radio articles "Religious freedom: cornerstone of dialogue and collaboration" (also available here) and "Archbishop Silvano Tomasi speaks on the abuse of Religious minorities in the world".

Labels: Confessional State, religious liberty, Silvano Tomasi

2. "Wealthy Russians dominate the purchase of country houses[ in England] and make up a quarter of buyers in the above-£5m bracket."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Mind your manors", by Ben Power, dated May 25, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/prestige-property/mind-your-manors/story-fn6njxlr-1226649405628

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline (though with all the letters capitalised), by the same author, on pp. 12 f. in the "WEEKEND PROPERTY" section of the "WEEKEND A PLUS" supplement of The Weekend Australian, May 25-26, 2013, First Edition, No. 15125, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: Russia, U.K.

3. A couple of recent items on income distribution in Australia

3.1 Prof. Ergas on income distribution in Australia

See the opinion piece "Taxes put bite on middle-class families", by Prof. Henry Ergas, dated May 27, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/taxes-put-bite-on-middle-class-families/story-fn7078da-1226650920952

Labels: economics, families

3.2 Prof. Whiteford on income distribution in Australia

See the article "Who gets what? Who pays for it? The welfare state debate revisited", by Prof. Peter Whiteford, dated June 4, 2013, downloaded from the Inside Story website:

http://inside.org.au/who-gets-what-who-pays-for-it-the-welfare-state-debate-revisited/

(That article came to my attention proximately via this webpage and ultimately via this blog post by Miss Edwards.)

Labels: economics, families

4. Mr. Russell on euthanasia

See the article "EUTHANASIA: NSW parliament rejects euthanasia bill", by Mr. Paul Russell, dated June 8, 2013, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=5603

Labels: euthanasia

5. "While it is estimated that 70-80 per cent of Australians with HIV were infected through homosexual contact, about 15 per cent were infected through heterosexual contact, and 3 per cent through unsafe injecting practices."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "At-risk groups focus of concern for HIV", by Sean Parnell, dated June 3, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/foi/at-risk-groups-focus-of-concern-for-hiv/story-fn8r0e18-1226655484603

Labels: G.L.B.T., H.I.V./A.I.D.S.

6. A couple of points of interest from the article "Children of same-sex couples thriving: study", by Vince Chadwick, dated June 6, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

Most same-sex couples are now having children through assisted reproductive technology. Dr Crouch said that 10 years ago most children came from previous heterosexual relationships.

According to the 2011 Census, there were 6120 children under 25 in same-sex-couple families. However, Dr Crouch said due to under-reporting, the true figure could be more than double this.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/children-of-samesex-couples-thriving-study-20130605-2nqjy.html?skin=text-only]

(For more on the Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families, see the National Review Online article "Assessing the Australian Study", by Associate Professor Mark Regnerus, dated June 6, 2013 (which came to my attention via this Australian Christian Lobby post), and this post at MercatorNet's "Conjugality" blog.)

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

7. "For the first time [in Australia ]more than one million children (1,030,970) attended approved child care during the [September ]quarter, an increase of 3.9 per cent since the September quarter 2011."

The quotation in that headline, excluding my square-bracketed interpolations, comes from p. 1 of Child Care Update, September quarter 2012, ISBN: 978-1-74361-057-2, © Commonwealth of Australia, 2013, produced by the Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations (D.E.E.W.R.) on behalf of the Australian Government, and published by the D.E.E.W.R., downloaded from the "Reports" page of the Australian Government's mychild.gov.au website:

http://mychild.gov.au/pages/ResourcesReports.aspx

(Child Care Update, September quarter 2012 came to my attention via an article at The Australian's website which (article) is apparently no longer available there.)

Labels: childcare, families, social trends

8. Mr. Baker on religious liberty in America

See the article "AMERICA’S PROBLEMS WITH RELIGIOUS LIBERTY", by Mr. Michael Baker, dated May 19, 2013, downloaded from his Super flumina Babylonis website:

http://www.superflumina.org/America_problem_rel_freedom.html

Labels: religious liberty

9. "the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new LGBT Global Development Partnership" which (Partnership) "will strengthen the capacity of LGBT civil society organizations, train LGBT individuals to participate more fully in democratic processes, and undertake research on the economic impact of discrimination against LGBT individuals"

The quotations in that headline come from the press release "USAID Announces New Partnership to Promote LGBT Human Rights Abroad", from the USAID Press Office, dated Monday, April 8, 2013, downloaded from the official USAID website:

http://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/usaid-announces-new-partnership-promote-lgbt-human-rights-abroad

(That press release came to my attention ultimately via this blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg and proximately via the LifeSiteNews.com articles "Obama administration begins training homosexual activists around the world" and "Despite sequestration, Obama funds homosexual groups in other countries".)

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

10. The Australian's position on abortion: "Our view on this matter reflects the view of the vast majority of Australians: all women should legally have access to a safe abortion if they need it, but we hope they never do."

The quotation in that headline comes from the editorial "Leave abortion out of politics", dated June 14, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/editorials/leave-abortion-out-of-politics/story-e6frg71x-1226663471678

Labels: abortion, Australian

11. Past Theological Studies articles are available here:

http://www.ts.mu.edu/readers/content/get-past-articles.html

(That came to my attention via the second comment at this Mirror of Justice post.)

Labels: theology, morality

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Silverius, Pope, Martyr, A.D. 2013

Notes: Tuesday, May 22-Monday, June 25, 2012 (part 1 of 2)

1. "Twenty-two US states after the Second World War supported past motions that supported world Government."

The quotation in that headline comes from Dr. (at the time, Senator) Bob Brown as recorded in the transcript for the Monday, April 23, 2012 episode of ABC TV's Q&A programme, which (transcript) is available here:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3478779.htm

It came to my attention via the opinion piece "Brown displays special version of free speech", by Andrew Bolt, p. 13, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Thursday, April 26, 2012, Vol. 1, No. 2525, available on-line here:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/brown-displays-special-version-of-free-speech/story-e6frezz0-1226338208014

Labels: U.S.A.

2. The text of the questions to, and answers from, Msgr. Coleridge at a press conference on April 4, 2012:

http://www.catholicleader.com.au/news.php/features/leading-a-missionary-church_79228

Labels: Mark Coleridge

3. More from Prof. Feser in relation to A Universe from Nothing:

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/steng-operation.html

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/05/not-understanding-nothing

(The last of those came to my attention via this blog post by Prof. Feser.)

Labels: atheism, God's Existence, philosophy, theology

4. "I[ , Dr. Robert Brown,] have little use for the theology (and its method) that dominated the Church from 1500 to 1950"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/05/hans-kung-wont-celebrate-50th-of-vatican-ii-prefers-funeral-service/#comment-341431

Labels: Robert Brown

5. How heterosexual degeneration is a precondition for the implementation of the Gay agenda

5.1 A "child, born in April, 2010, now has [a Gay couple] as parents, with the birth mother agreeing to no longer be recognised on the birth certificate"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-news/two-dads-and-a-surrogate-create-legal-landmark/story-e6freuzi-1226377828528

(That came to my attention via the version of it which was published as "Two dads and a surrogate create legal landmark", by Amy Dale, p. 04, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, June 1, 2012, Vol. 1, No. 2555.)

Presumably, birth certificates for I.V.F.-conceived and surrogate-carried babies record, and have recorded for some time, as parents the opposite-sex couple which commissioned the surrogacy and the I.V.F. conception rather than recording the surrogate mother and the respective sperm and ovum donors as parents, so there would have been, from a legal positivist perspective, no great logical, legal, or practical difficulty in doing likewise for a same-sex couple.

Labels: birth certificates, G.L.B.T., law

5.2 The legalisation of divorce as a precondition for so-called Gay marriage:

[John ]Pilger's same-sex marriage blind spot is not uncommon among left-wingers his age. Many older lefties retain an outdated view of marriage as an instrument of male domination over women, the middle class's domination over workers, and God's domination over us all.

They refuse to see that the institution has been reformed, at least in the West, so that women, workers and non-believers now have much more autonomy to decide how, when and if they wed, how they conduct their marriage (including whether or not they have kids), and if and when their marriage will end.

They refuse to acknowledge that it is precisely this change which has made same-sex marriage an issue: now that marriage is a choice for the majority, it makes sense to ask why it isn't a choice for the minority.
[http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4023802.html]

(That article came to my attention via this Australian article.)

See also the letter by one John Challis here.

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

5.3 "Only when husbands and wives have legal equality and are approaching economic parity does it make sense for there to be a household made up of two husbands or two wives."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/defenders-of-marriage-risk-jumping-at-shadows/story-e6frgd0x-1226368648235

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

5.4 Prof. Bouma on the recent history of marriage

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/churchs-fight-to-control-marriage-20120618-20k81.html?skin=text-only

Labels: divorce, G.L.B.T., history, law, marriage

6. Ms Bryce summarises the victories of Feminism:

AS the first female Governor-General and former federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, you've been a trailblazer for women. What do you regard as the biggest steps forward for women during your lifetime?

The most important steps have been in education - girls completing secondary education and going on to tertiary education and training in every field. Family planning advice, maternity leave, the Sex Discrimination Act and childcare have been the others.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/quentin-bryce-governor-general-69/story-e6frg8h6-1226362579263]

(That came to my attention via the version of it which was published as "10 Questions", Greg Callaghan interviewing "Quentin Bryce, Governor-General, 69", in the "Foreword" ("People & Observations") section, p. 8, The Weekend Australian Magazine, May 26-27, 2012, The Weekend Australian, May 26-27, 2012, Second Edition, No. 14819, ISSN 1038-8761.)

Labels: feminism

7. "the federal Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, is holding an inquiry into consolidating the Commonwealth's four separate anti-discrimination laws. Her Department's position paper says that there will be exemptions for churches, schools and other oganisations. Yet, numerous GLBTI and radical human rights groups have told the Attorney General's inquiry that there must be no such exemptions."

http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2012/jun2012p3_3790.html

Labels: discrimination

8. Dr. Wiker on 'Gay marriage' in ancient Rome

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1367/gay_marriagenothing_new_under_the_sun.aspx

(That came to my attention via this AQ post.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., history, marriage, Roman Empire

9. Some recent releases from the Australian Bureau of Statistics

9.1 Some figures regarding childcare

http://www.smh.com.au/national/grandparents-bear-greater-share-of-childcare-duties-20120516-1yr9w.html

Labels: childcare

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

Notes: Wednesday, March 21-Tuesday, March 27, 2012

1. "There were 44 million abortions worldwide in 2008 according to last month’s issue of The Lancet."

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=7&articleID=9733&class=Features&subclass=Cardinal's Comment

Labels: abortion

2. Prof. Albert on Lawrence M. Krauss's A Universe From Nothing

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/a-universe-from-nothing-by-lawrence-m-krauss.html?_r=2

(That came to my attention via this blog post by Prof. Feser.)

Labels: atheism, God's Existence, Lawrence Krauss, philosophy, physics, theology

3. The Royal Irish Academy's website on the historical St. Patrick:

http://www.confessio.ie/

(That came to my attention via this comment at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog.)

Labels: St. Patrick

4. "[A Catholic-Voices-commissioned ComRes] poll also found overwhelming majority support (70%[ "of British people", presumably]) for retaining the current definition of marriage as a between a man and a woman"

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/03/15/3454073.htm

(That came to my attention via this blog post by Mr. Schütz.)

Labels: Catholic Voices, marriage, U.K.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Damascene, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 2012

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

1. More Modernism from Dr. Elmer?

Ultimately, the scriptures are not straight-forward historical and objective texts that yield reliable information akin to say a police crime report or a thoroughly researched documentary on current events. Ultimately the Gospels specifically and the Bible generally are the products of faith communities that have preserved, augmented and passed on these stories as relevant to their lived faith experience. …
[…] I agree with Johnson’s view that the only “real Jesus” is not the one found in history books, but “he” who we encounter in the lived and living traditions of the community of faith. …
[http://scecclesia.com/?p=6111&cpage=1#comment-27258]

Labels: Ian Elmer, modernism, Scripture, theology

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

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

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

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

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

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

(In posting "STATE RELIGION? III" at AQ, the poster omitted the following formatting of the e-mail version:

• In the second paragraph: The text from the start of the paragraph up to, but not including, the word "Answer" was italicised in the e-mail, and the "not" in "Our Lord is not here separating Church from State" and the "social beings" in "what they owe to him as social beings, namely" were underlined.

• In the third paragraph: The text from the start of the paragraph up to, but not including, the word "Answer" was italicised in the e-mail, and the words "cannot" and "will not" in "that is not because its citizens cannot discern, but because for a variety of reasons they will not, or do not" was underlined.

• In the fourth paragraph: The text from the start of the paragraph up to, but not including, "It is for the glory of God" was italicised in the e-mail.

There were also "Â"s distributed here and there throughout the e-mail version, but presumably that was just a typographical problem.)

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

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

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

Labels: civil unions, Paolo Urso

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

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

4. Dr. McGavin on the "pastoral function" of "Magisterial teaching" in the thought of Benedict XVI.:

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

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Magisterium, modernism, theology

5. "Benedict XVI to Further Alter 1962 Missal"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: families, political science

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

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

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

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

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Jews, theology

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

Notes: Some previously-unpublished items from 2011 (part 1 of 2)

In no particular order:

1. "HUMANITAS MAGAZINE TO HAVE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION"

"HUMANITAS MAGAZINE TO HAVE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION"
VIS 20111129 (280)
http://www.news.va/en/news/humanitas-magazine-to-have-english-language-editio

This is the linked U.R.L. for Humanitas Review's website:

http://www.humanitas.cl/

Of particular interest in the first issue of Humanitas Review is the posthumous contribution on pp. 27-41 by His late Eminence Avery Robert, Cardinal Dulles S.J. on Bl. John Paul II. and Dignitatis humanæ (though you might be familiar with the content of that contribution already, since that contribution is based, according to footnote 21, on a lecture given at Oxford University under the sponsorship of the Becket Fund on October 26, 2000).

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, Dignitatis Humanæ, John Paul II. Wojtyla, religious liberty

2. Some points of interest from a recent AD2000 article on Russia:

[…] In early July this year, the Russian Orthodox Church declared it was against becoming the state religion: "The Moscow Patriarchate's position on what relations between the state and the Church should be is invariable. We do not want the Church to become part of the state apparatus, state machinery, to assume secular functions," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, said.

He was commenting on a poll conducted by the Sreda Agency along with the Public Opinion foundation, of 1,500 people across 44 Russian regions, 100 towns and villages. According to the poll, 30% of Russians want Orthodoxy to become the state religion, 48% are against it and 23% did not have an opinion.

[…] According to Russia's census, the country's population plummeted by more than 12 million between 1992 and 2008, and stands at around 143 million today. Legalised abortion has accounted for a significant part of that drop, with some 1.5 million abortions reported in the country in 2007 - nearly the same as the number of children born in that year. Unofficial estimates indicate that there are nearly four million abortions per year in Russia yet only 1.7 million live births. The UN has predicted that by 2050 the Russian population will have dipped to 116 million. Russia's population will not be able to support its elderly citizens and the nation faces an acute worker shortage.

[…] WCF [World Congress of Families] Managing Director, Larry Jacobs, noted the Summit was coming at a crucial time. "It's not Russia alone that's experiencing demographic winter," Jacobs observed. "Worldwide, birthrates have declined by more than 50% since the late 1960s. By the year 2050, there will be 248 million fewer children under five years of age in the world than there are today. This birth dearth will be one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity in the 21st century," he said.

[…] A member of the Duma (Russia's parliament) Viktor Zvagelsky, said ads for abortion had made "young girls believe they won't have any problems interrupting a pregnancy." Another Duma member, Valery Draganov, said the "number of abortions in our country reaches six to eight million a year. Every minute, two abortions are carried out in Russia. Due to botched abortions, 20 percent of families lose the ability to become parents. One in every five pregnant women who dies, dies as a result of abortion. These are catastrophic statistics."

[…] Russian lawmakers have now passed a bill requiring all abortion advertisements to carry health warnings. Under this law, passed by the the Duma in early July, ten percent of the space used in abortion ads must carry a list of possible negative consequences for women, including infertility. The bill also stipulates that mothers who don't want to keep their babies will be able to leave their newborn children anonymously in special adoption centres.

Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, followed the Duma in approving the measure and President Dmitry Medvedev signed the legislation into law in mid-July.

[…] One of Russia's most visible pro-life leaders, is Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev. At a "Sanctity of Motherhood" forum last year Mrs Medvedeva spoke about the "rights of a child to life," and about the "general lack of support" that usually drove women to "artificial termination of pregnancy."

[…] In a recent speech, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged to raise the nation's birthrate by up to 30% in just three years. Putin's plan calls for spending the equivalent of $53 billion to encourage Russian families to have more children. But Larry Jacobs says that more than cash incentives and government benefits will be needed to raise Russia's well below replacement birth rate. Family & Demography Foundation, which represents the World Congress of Families in Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has announced the launch of its latest project: The Life-Family Medical Centers Network. These will be opened in all of the major cities in Russia and the CIS.
[My square-bracketed interpolations, everything else as in the original,
"Glimpses of a new dawn in Russia", by Babette Francis, from the September 2011 issue of AD2000, downloaded from the AD2000 website:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/sep2011p8_3606.html]

Labels: abortion, Church and State, Confessional State, demography, R.O.C., Russia, Vladimir Putin

3. Fr. Harrison on God's creation of Eve

"Old or young earth?", a letter by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., from the October 2011 issue of AD2000, available on-line here:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/oct2011p14_3634.html

"First Parents", a letter by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., from the November 2011 issue of AD2000, available on-line here:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/nov2011p13_3657.html

"DID WOMAN EVOLVE FROM THE BEASTS?[:] A DEFENCE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC DOCTRINE - PART I", by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., in Living Tradtion, No. 97, January 2002
http://www.rtforum.org/lt/lt97.html

"DID WOMAN EVOLVE FROM THE BEASTS?[:] A DEFENCE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC DOCTRINE - PART II", by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., in Living Tradtion, No. 98, March 2002
http://www.rtforum.org/lt/lt98.html

I was glad to see that there was someone else who agreed with me that "we must necessarily admit the special creation of … Eve" (source). For convenience, here are Fr. Harrison's sources, taken from those two letters to AD2000, for his contention:

• the Profession of Faith of Pope Pelagius I., DS 443, Dz. 228a, available here:
  http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma3.php

• the Profession of Faith of The Ecumenical Council of Vienne, DS 901, Dz. 480, available here:
  http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma5.php

• the Encyclical Letter Arcanum, Leo XIII., A.D. 1880, available in English here:
  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_10021880_arcanum_en.html
  and in the original Latin, from the Acta Sanctae Sedis, 12, 1879-1880, p. 386, available here:
  http://www.vatican.va/archive/ass/documents/ASS%2012%20[1879]%20-%20ocr.pdf

• the Response of the Biblical Commission, June 30, 1909, to Question III, Dz. 2123, available here:
  http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma22.php

• I Cor. 11:8, 12

Labels: Adam (Patriarch), Creation, theology

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

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

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

1. Some recent data on the respective ages of Australian women who have given birth:

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

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

"The proportion of mothers aged 35 and over also continues to rise -- up from 17.1 per cent in 2000 to 22.8 per cent in 2009," AIHW national perinatal epidemiology and statistics unit spokeswoman Elizabeth Sullivan said. "And mothers aged 40 and over made up 4 per cent of women giving birth in 2009 compared with 2.6 per cent in 2000."
["Happy to labour later in life, first-time mums push the age barrier", by Stephen Lunn, dated December 21, 2011, downloaded from The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/happy-to-labour-later-in-life-first-time-mums-push-the-age-barrier/story-e6frg8y6-1226227102521]

Labels: demography, families

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

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

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

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

Labels: abortion

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

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

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

4. "Navy rumour"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: philosophy, St. Thomas Aquinas, theology

6. Fr. Gleize on the teachings of Vatican II

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

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

Labels: Vatican II

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

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

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

Labels: liturgy, theology, Together At One Altar

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

Notes: Tuesday, November 15-Tuesday, November 29, 2011

1. The November 2011 issue of the Regina Coeli Report (from the United States District of the S.S.P.X.)

http://sspx.org/rcr_pdfs/2011_rcrs/november_2011_rcr.pdf

(I log that for its information on the 2011 Angelus Press Conference on the Kingship of Christ. It came to my attention via a recent edition of the S.S.P.X. U.S. District's e-mail update, to which you can subscribe at that District's website (see this blog's links section).)

Labels: Social Reign of Christ

2. "HUNDREDS of doctors have formed a coalition to support voluntary euthanasia and lobby state governments to decriminalise the practice"

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/news/national/national/general/doctors-form-lobby-for-right-to-die-with-dignity/2356069.aspx

(That came to my attention via this CathNews page.)

Labels: euthanasia

3. The latest on Australian popular support for so-called Gay marriage

http://www.smh.com.au/national/voter-opinion-adds-weight-to-shift-in-marriage-policy-20111114-1nfkj.html?skin=text-only

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/australia-is-not-ready-to-say-we-do-to-gay-marriage-20111124-1nwy2.html?skin=text-only

In The Australian's editorial on some of those findings, that newspaper reminds us that it "believes that consenting adults should be free to make their own lifestyle choices". So why does it put the word "marriages", when writing of "unregistered polygamous … Sharia "marriages" among Muslims", in inverted commas when, in line with its aforementioned belief, it does not do likewise for so-called Gay/same-sex marriage?

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

4. "Purgatory in Scripture: New Developments"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39762

Labels: Purgatory, Scripture, theology

5. Some recent findings on Australian demography

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/one-million-kids-wont-move-out-of-home/story-e6frg6nf-1226205401109

The findings which are of most interest to me are, in the order in which they appear in that article, that "[o]ver 6.3 million families were couples with children and 14 per cent were one-parent families", that "[o]ne million children or one in five of those aged 0-17 had a natural parent living outside the household", that "[i]n the 12 years since 1998 the percentage of couples with children in which both parents were employed increased from 56 per cent to 61 per cent", that "31.5 [is] now the median marrying age for men and 29.2 the median age for women", and that "[t]he median age of Australians is 37.6".

Labels: demography, families, marriage, work

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Saturninus, Martyr, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, November 1-Tuesday, November 8, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. "The [Jewish] organizations represented [at Assisi III] are: ... the Anti-Defamation League (Rabbi Eric Greenberg), B’nai B’rith International (David Michaels), ..."

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=422380#422380

(That quotation apparently comes from a report published before Assisi III got underway, strictly speaking, though I'm not aware of any cancellations other than the unrelated cancellation, on his own initiative, of A. C. Grayling.)

Labels: A.D.L., Assisi III, B'nai B'rith, Jews

2. "Pepsi Shareholders Demand It Stop Using Aborted Fetal Cells"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39467

Labels: abortion, Pepsi, Senomyx

3. H.H. The Pope on "healthy secularism", "freedom of worship", and religious education

His Holiness's speech of October 31, 2011 to the new Ambassador of Brazil to the Holy See is not yet available in English at the relevant Vatican web-page so I took the following quotation from VIS 20111031 (530), "BRAZIL: FRUITFUL COOPERATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE", an item in a recent edition of the Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin:

One important chapter of this "shared fertile history" was the agreement the Holy See and the Brazilian government signed in 2008, which "officially and juridically sealed the independence and collaboration of the two parties". In this context, the Pope also expressed the hope that the State would recognise that "healthy secularism must not consider religion as a mere individual sentiment, relegated to the private sphere, but as a reality which, being organised into visible structures, requires public recognition of its presence".

"It is therefore up to the State to ensure that all religious confessions enjoy freedom of worship, and the right to practice their cultural, educational and charitable activities, when these do not contrast with morality or public order", he said. ...

Benedict XVI identified a number of fields of mutual cooperation, including that of education in which the Church has "many institutions which enjoy prestigious recognition in society. The role of education cannot, in fact, be reduced to the mere transmission of knowledge and abilities for professional formation", he explained. "Rather it must comprehend all facets of the individual, from social factors to the longing for transcendence. We must, therefore, reiterate that the teaching of a particular religion in State schools, ... far from indicating that the State assumes or imposes a certain religious belief, is recognition of the fact that religion is an important value in the formation of the individual. ... Not only does this not prejudice the secularism of the State, it guarantees parents' rights to chose the education of their children, thus helping to promote the common good".
[all ellipses, except the one at the end of the second paragraph, in the original]

The State imposing Catholicism on those who were never Catholic is one thing, but what's wrong with the State assuming Catholicism?

(That speech was also reported at CathNews and AQ:

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=28834

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39563)

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, education, religious liberty, secularism

4. An interesting discussion on H.M. The Queen's authority in Australia

http://scecclesia.com/?p=5898#comments

Labels: Constitution

5. St. Ambrose on how the civil ruler is a minister of God:

St Ambrose affirmed in his Commentary on Luke’s Gospel: “The institution of civil power derives so clearly from God that whoever exercises it is also a minister of God” (Expositio evangelii secundum Lucam 4:29). ...
[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2011/october/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20111014_prefetti-italia_en.html]

Labels: political science, St. Ambrose, theology

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Four Crowned Martyrs, A.D. 2011

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

1. Some figures on abortion in South Australia

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

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

The highest abortion rates were among women aged 20 to 24 (30 per cent) followed by those aged 25-29 (22 per cent) and under 19s (18 per cent).
[http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/abortions-unlikely-to-rise-due-to-ru486-20110922-1kmuz.html?skin=text-only]

Labels: abortion, S.A.

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: Ireland

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

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

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

Also, AQ has had several threads on the matter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

From a recent edition of the Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin:

POPE HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY [...]

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

"All the same", he added, "a binding basis for our coexistence is needed; otherwise people live in a purely individualistic way. Religion is one of these foundations for a successful social life. 'Just as religion has need of freedom, so also freedom has need of religion'. These words of the great bishop and social reformer Wilhelm von Ketteler, the second centenary of whose birth is being celebrated this year, remain timely.
[...] PV-GERMANY/ VIS 20110922 (630)

I agree with the comment by Mr. Keener in the combox at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog post on that Papal address.

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Confessional State

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

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

Labels: philosophy, theology

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

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

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

Labels: Peter Dresser, theology

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

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

9. Dr. Tighe on what makes a Council Ecumenical

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: Anglicans, U.K.

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

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

(I first read that biography in the Sydney Catholic Weekly last Sunday.) These are the parts which were of most interest to me and for which I log that biography here:

His most famous work is his three-volume Disputations on the Controversies of the Christian Faith. Particularly noteworthy are the sections on the temporal power of the pope and the role of the laity. He incurred the anger of monarchists in England and France by showing the divine-right-of-kings theory untenable. He developed the theory of the indirect power of the pope in temporal affairs; although he was defending the pope against the Scottish philosopher Barclay, he also incurred the ire of Pope Sixtus V.

[...] ... The process for his canonization was begun in 1627 but was delayed until 1930 for political reasons, stemming from his writings. In 1930, Pope Pius XI canonized him and the next year declared him a doctor of the Church.

Labels: Papacy, political science, St. Robert Bellarmine, theology, William Barclay

13. Two recent opinions pieces from Mr. Steyn

13.1 "Using rights to gag free speech"

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

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

Labels: hate speech

13.2 "FOURTH TRIMESTER ABORTION"

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

Labels: abortion

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

Notes: Tuesday, August 9-Tuesday, August 16, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

7. A scandalous opinion piece, by an Australian Conciliar Bishop, on marriage

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/marriage-worth-preserving-as-it-stands/story-e6frg6zo-1226113612074

(CathNews also linked to that article here.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., James Foley, law, marriage, morality, theology

8. A little more on the 1824 upgrading of New South Wales's colonial status

In this issue of Notes from about this time last year I quoted an interesting item from the "on this day" section of the Sydney Daily Telegraph's history page. This year's version of that item gave a little bit more information:

1824 London upgrades NSW from a penal colony to a "crown colony" with its own legislative council and supreme court - a milestone on the roadway to democracy and nationhood.
[p. 76, Thursday, August 11, 2011]

It's still not clear from that whether a legislative council and a supreme court are of the essence of a British crown, as distinct from penal, colony or whether those were additional, non-essential features.

(The day of that upgrading was itself the anniversary of another event in British colonial history, as the second item before the 1824 one reported:

1784 The British government introduces a Bill to the House of Commons allowing it to resume transportation of criminals, with the destination unstated after the revolt of the American colonies but NSW in mind.
[ibid.])

Labels: colonialism

9. "I struggle to think of a stronger attack by a western European leader on the church than Enda Kenny's"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/irish-pm-lashes-vatican-on-childabuse-reparation-20110815-1iunt.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Ireland

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Joachim, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, August 9-Tuesday, August 16, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. Dr. Sudlow on an essay which, according to him, "reframes the problem [of whether Dignitatis humanæ is in continuity with pre-Conciliar teaching] completely"

http://thesensiblebond.blogspot.com/2011/08/coercion-and-liberty-reframing-debate.html

The core of this 'reframing' seems to be, in Dr. Sudlow's reading, as follows:

the Church has only dogmatically asserted its power of coercion over the baptised, and any State which acts as the civil arm to help the Church in this matter does so by delegation of the Church and NOT by its own power.

The problem with that, and the reason for which I disagree that it is "game-changing", is that although the State does indeed exercise coercive power over the Baptised in matters of religion by delegation of the Church, nevertheless, the State is competent to act by its own power when it seeks to repress offences against the Catholic religion; trying to make someone do what he does not want to do (coercion) is quite different to preventing him from doing what he wants to do.

Labels: Church and State, Dignitatis Humanæ, morality, religious liberty, theology, Thomas Pink

2. A Herald letter which corrects misconceptions about religious exemptions from taxation

Under the heading "Churches do pay" here:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/show-some-humanity-and-let-them-remain-20110808-1ijd4.html?skin=text-only

Labels: taxation

3. "Report finds boys exhibit behavioural problems earlier than girls"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/report-finds-boys-exhibit-behavioural-problems-earlier-than-girls/story-fn59niix-1226111957815

Labels: gender differences

4. A couple of recent comments from Dr. Brown

4.1 On the Eucharist as memorial

Mainly his third point here:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/08/on-the-matter-of-ad-orientem-worship/#comment-288650

Labels: liturgy

4.2 A joke

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/08/waiting-for-zagano/#comment-288765

Labels: liturgy, N.O.M., T.L.M.

5. Mr. Brent on voting turnout

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/mumble/index.php/theaustralian/comments/turnout_schmurnout/

Labels: voting

6. An attempted defence of sodomite-catamite 'parenting' which (defence) backfires

From a letter to the Herald last week:

Maurie Stack and Martin Bell (Letters, August 11) should not assume that two lesbians raising children are depriving those children of a relationship with their biological father.

[...] [The Lesbian letter-writer's children] also know who their donor father is and we have always fostered contact and a relationship with him. We are not alone in this family model.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/love-not-biology-determines-good-parenting-20110811-1iorr.html?skin=text-only]

The problem with this line of argument is that once they acknowledge that contact and a relationship with the biological father is a good thing, one has to ask them Why do you deprive the children of the best form of contact and relationship, which is that in which the biological father lives with his children? I suppose that defenders of depriving children of this good would try to deflect the argument by pointing out that it is not just Lesbian households in which the biological father does not live with the children. This attempted evasion is answered by pointing out that fathers who legitimately live away from their respective families do so for some greater good, e.g. in the case of overseas military service, whereas Lesbian couples do so for an evil, namely, the indulgence of their disordered preferences. (And as for fathers who illegitmately live away from their respective families, one need only point out that two wrongs don't make a right.)

(And of course, the same goes, mutatis mutandis, for Gay 'co-parents' whose children have only intermittent contact with their respective biological mothers.)

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

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Joachim, Confessor, A.D. 2011

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

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

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

Labels: atheism, philosophy, theology

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

From a Herald letter from one David Harris of Manly:

Fred Nile ... entered the NSW Upper House in 1980 with a single issue - to stop members of the gay community from celebrating their own identity.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/dilemma-solved--abolish-the-upper-houses-20110801-1i8df.html?skin=text-only]

That seems inaccurate in at least two points: Mr. Nile was never a one-issue politician, and in 1980 New South Wales law did not, as far as I know, prohibit anyone "celebrating their own identity" (though it did, of course, prohibit buggery until, if I'm not mistaken, 1984, but that prohibition applied irrespective of whether the sodomite was homosexual or heterosexual and irrespective of whether the catamite was male or female, so clearly it involved discrimination neither on the basis of sex nor of sexual disorientation).

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

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

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

Labels: Alan Shatter

4. Point-counterpoint in the Herald letters page:

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

One Philip Cooney of Wentworth Falls wrote that

Surely it can't threaten our children to ask why there was not open access to the curriculum material prior to its introduction ...
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/little-virtue-in-labors-games-with-education-20110802-1i9si.html?skin=text-only]

I too had the impression that there was a lack of open access to the 'ethics class' material before its introduction, but then the next day a letter was published which said that

[t]he ethics course syllabus was reviewed and approved by the NSW Education Department.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/dont-play-russian-roulette-with-our-aquifers-20110803-1ibl2.html?skin=text-only]

Did the "ethics" folks give access only to the Department, then? (I don't ask that rhetorically; does anyone know the answer?)

The day after that, Mr. Nile had a column published on the matter, in which he wrote that there are some who

wrongly believe that when Sir Henry Parkes introduced free and ''secular'' state education, he meant ''non-Christian'' or ''non-religious''. That was never his intention. In the 1880s, ''secular'' was used to prohibit denominational teaching in NSW classrooms, not scripture classes, which Parkes decreed should fill one hour per day.

But I thought that 'secular' as in 'secularist' was precisely what the likes of Parkes intended. One Keith Parsons of Newcastle affirmed my point of view in a letter published, with others, under the heading "Reason v dogma: Fred's no Socrates" here:

The only reason Sir Henry Parkes, almost 130 years ago, supported religious instruction in public schools was to get the churches that dominated school education to support the concept of a universal, free, public, secular education system.

Are any readers here knowledgeable on the motives and intentions of Australia's late-nineteenth-century proponents of 'free, compulsory, and secular' schooling (I won't say education)?

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

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

Last week the Herald gave us a reminder of the insanity of some of New South Wales's laws:

Sperm donors have no legal parental status even if they are on a birth certificate and even if they have court-ordered access visits.

But retrospective laws introduced in 2008 gave lesbian partners of women who conceive through artificial insemination legal parenting status.
[http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/keep-me-named-as-father-donor-begs-court-20110802-1i9yf.html?skin=text-only
Or alternatively:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/sperm-donor-could-lose-his-status-20110802-1i9wq.html?skin=text-only]

The coverage elicited a terse little letter, published under the heading "Donor delisting" here, from one Samantha Chung of Newtown, but the next day one Eva Elbourne of Gordon provided quite a good rejoinder (though I'm not sure that I agree with it completely), published under the heading "Donor parents must remain on record" here.

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

5. "Russia is Most Religious Nation In Europe"

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

Labels: R.O.C., Russia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: liturgy, Roman Curia

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

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

A revised version of one of that book's chapters, by Dr. Kevin Donnelly, was published at The Punch last week. Of particular interest were its last half-dozen or so paragraphs; this is the last of them:

Given that all Australian schools, under the banner of the ALP’s education revolution, will be made to teach a national curriculum after 2012, it should not surprise if the Greens pressure the Gillard Government to incorporate a positive view of LGBTI lifestyles in the new curriculum.[http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/green-with-class-envy-and-bent-on-change/]

Labels: Australian Labor, education, G.L.B.T., Greens

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

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

Labels: God's Existence, philosophy, theology

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: Russia

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

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 15-Tuesday, June 21, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

6.2 A blog comment on sola Scriptura: "[T]he phrase “Sola Scriptura” ... is not found in the Bible"

The comment of 17.6.11 / 1am in the combox here:

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/06/15/politics-religion-and-the-dalai-lama/

Labels: Protestantism, Scripture, theology

7. "[A] growing number of parents are having more than two children" ("[d]espite the nation's fertility rate falling slightly")?

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/bigger-families-are-growing-on-us/story-fn6e0s1g-1226077320962

I would like to copy and paste that whole short article here, but I think that that would involve a copyright infringement; the one part of that article which I will highlight is this one:

Although the vast majority of Australian parents still have two children, Bureau of Statistics [A.B.S.] figures showed 29.3 per cent of women who gave birth in 2009 were having their third or subsequent child, with most mothers aged between 35 and 44.
[my square-bracketed interpolation]

I looked at the A.B.S. website but did not see anything under the "Media Releases" heading which might have occasioned that article, and I don't have time to conduct a thorough search of that website (though I would appreciate it if anyone could point out where, if at all, the relevant figures can be found there).

Labels: Australian fertility rate, demography

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