This well sell a lot of Hyundais... but not to me.

Hyundai apologists will certainly say that they are not mocking Catholic liturgy, merely using this to demonstrate the rabid loyalty of their customers. However, I believe that they are complicit in using the mockery of others in an attempt to sell vehicles.



Maybe this is part of a series of commercials and the next one shows a muezzin calling people to prayer from a minaret and then chanting in Arabic, "There is no God but God, and soccer is his game!" while people face Mecca and prostrate themselves.
But somehow I think that is not the case.

Quote of the day....

It is a "...particularly regrettable irony that the one person in all of occupied Europe who did more than anyone else to halt the dreadful crime and alleviate its consequences is today made the scapegoat for the failures of others."
Jewish Holocaust scholar Jeno Levai speaking of Pope Pius XII. (story on Zenit)

Here is a commentary I didn't expect to see...

For men of my generation, Raquel Welch was the icon for the sexuality of the '60's and '70's.
For that reason I was surprised to see this quote on The Deacon's Bench

if an aging sex symbol like me starts waving the red flag of caution over how low moral standards have plummeted, you know it's gotta be pretty bad. In fact, it's precisely because of the sexy image I've had that it's important for me to speak up and say: Come on girls! Time to pull up our socks! We're capable of so much better.

Her full commentary is on CNN (here)

There's a whole lotta shakin' goin' on...

An Islamic cleric asserts that "...attractive women who wear makeup, snub traditional Islamic attire and dress 'inappropriately' incite extramarital sex, which causes more earthquakes." (story here)
Well, back in the day -- i.e. before I promised celibacy -- I acknowledge that a comely lass could easily turn my head, cause my heart to skip a beat, or perhaps even set my knees to a knockin'. But I don't think I ever met the one that could rock my world in the way this cleric envisions.
Perhaps I don't get around enough.

Just tell the truth and own up to your bias...

You have to admire Archbishop Dolan for his forthrightness and willingness to speak the truth even when that involves stepping on toes.
Witness this post on his blog.

Putting the record straight

It seems the presiding judge for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the trial of the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy is dismayed at the lack of competence and professionalism exhibited by reporters of the New York Times in reporting on this matter and their apparent haste to find a means to implicate Pope Benedict in the (mis)handling of this case.
Had the NYT been interested in accurate reporting it seems to me that someone would have tried to contact those intimately involved in the case -- especially when they are quoting those persons.
Fr. Thomas Brundage's article in the Catholic Anchor is quite illuminating.


h/t The Deacon's Bench

Who caused the delay?

It seems that the retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland, former head of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, in an interview with the BBC stated that he thought it took the Vatican took too long to address the child sexual abuse case of the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy who was accused of abusing many of his charges during his time running a school for the deaf in Milwaukee in the 1950's, '60's and '70's. (story here)
This is in regards to the 2-year span between the time that Archbishop Weakland sent a letter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1996 and the recommendation in 1998 by the Congregation to not pursue canonical proceedings against Murphy who was not in public ministry, had no allegations of misbehavior in the intervening 25 years, and was in poor health. Indeed, Murphy died a few months later.
Isn't it disingenuous of the former Archbishop to make a claim of an unwarranted delay on the part of the Vatican in responding to his letter, when he had been Archbishop of Milwaukee since 1977, or about 19 years before he got around to sending the letter in the first place?