If it's not normal, where do babies come from?

LifeSite News reports that researchers at the University of Michigan have concluded that the love stories told in classic Disney and other G-rated children's films - such as the Little Mermaid - are partially to blame for the pervasiveness of what they label "heteronormativity."
Apparently this term is intended to describe the misguided belief that "normal" sexuality consists in the the interaction of one man and one woman.
I must confess, I have been one of those misled by this apparent heresy. However, I am confused because it is still my understanding that the preservation of the species essentially depends upon such relationships. Obviously that can't be correct... maybe babies really do come from cabbage patches.

(with thanks to The Deacon's Bench)

Roman version of "Who is buried in Grant's tomb"

When I was a wee child, I recall my father many times posing the question, "Who is buried in Grant's tomb?" I was never startled by the answer. However, there is a good deal more excitement to the disclosure that scientific testing points to the authenticity of the tomb of St. Paul.
In many respects I believe that this announcement bolsters confidence that other shrines which have a similar long and unbroken tradition of belief of authenticity -- such as the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity -- may well be the actual sites of historical events. The living memory of believers passed from one generation to the next is quite persuasive and more reliable than many tend to believe..

College administrators: "Will no one rid us of these meddlesome bishops?"

The Cardinal Newman Society has reacted to the call of the directors of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities for the bishops of the United State to, in essence, leave them alone.

...yesterday the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, which represents more than 200 Catholic institutions, released its summer 2009 newsletter including a report on the ACCU’s board of directors meeting last week. The ACCU directors concluded “that it would be desirable for the [U.S. bishops] to withdraw” their 2004 policy, according to the newsletter.

Worse still, the ACCU leadership suggests “that juridical expressions of bishops’ or universities’ responsibilities should be kept to a minimum” in order to maintain a good relationship between the bishops and educators.

In other words, Catholic colleges and universities would prefer that there are no clear rules to govern their conduct. Their statement also implies that they believe that the bishops, not college leaders, are responsible for tensions arising from scandalous activities on Catholic campuses.

It appears that the educators consider themselves to be separate from and at least equal to the bishops in determining what it is to be authentically catholic. Moreover, it would appear that they deem themselves free of any responsiblility for moral leadership in terms of catholic values.
Patrick J. Reilly, president of The Cardinal Newman Society commented, "The lesson of the Notre Dame scandal is clear: even our leading Catholic universities have lost their way."

Newman Society statement here. ACCU summer newsletter here.

Ogden, you make a good point

Always in ministry there seems to be a tension between trying to remain orthodox, and the desire to be pastoral. Perhaps it was this type of situation that led Ogden Nash to pen the following...

I often wonder which is mine:
Tolerance, or a rubber spine?

After decades of defamation, is the tide turning?

A couple of items of interest appeared were reported by Zenit pertaining to Pope Pius XII.
First, it reported a statement by the director of the Vatican's daily newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in which he contends that the Black Legend surrounding Pope Pius XII and Nazism has two causes: Communist propaganda and division within the Church.

Giovanni Maria Vian affirmed this when he talked with ZENIT about a book that he edited titled "In Difesa di Pio XII: Le Ragioni della Storia" (In Defense of Pius XII: The Reasons of History).

In a second article, they reported that the Pave the Way Foundation, announced that it has more than 2,300 pages of original documents illustrating Pope Pius XII's efforts to help Jews in the face of Nazism. The Foundation describes itself as "a non-sectarian public foundation, which identifies and eliminates non-theological obstacles between the faiths."

The papers give clear evidence of the Pope's support for and efforts to save Jews from Nazi tyranny. These records seem to run counter to the myth that has been perpetrated in recent years by such works as John Cornwell's book "Hitler's Pope" which, despite haven been largely debunked, still sticks in the mind of the public.

An extensive range of documents and videos regarding Pope Pius XII may be found here.

I certainly hope that the availability of the documents might lead the public to an honest reassessment of Pope Pius, however I am very aware of how ardently people cling to other anti-catholic myths in regards to such things as the Inquisition and the trial of Galileo. Facts are too often inconvenient when a belief is deeply held.

You can't make this stuff up...

A call comes into the parish office.
"Hello, may I help you?"
"Yes, I just saw on TV that they were celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi."
"Yes."
"Just one question. Who was he?"

Ya' gotta love the people of God.

The cynical may find this surprising...

STATEMENT OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO REGARDING
IMPORTANT ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT DECISION
June 10, 2009

Today, the Illinois Appellate Court held that, under the First Amendment, two individuals who brought child sexual abuse allegations to the Archdiocese of Chicago Review Board could not be sued for defamation by the accused priest.

The Archdiocese of Chicago supports this important decision regarding the protection of children. The Court agreed with the Archdiocese that a person has the right to bring child sexual abuse allegations to the Review Board without fear of a defamation lawsuit.

Equally important, the Court reaffirmed that, under the First Amendment, a church has the exclusive right to determine for itself who shall be its ministers and to communicate freely in making that determination.

The case is Stepek v. Doe, et al., No. 1-08-2140 (Illinois Appellate Court, First District, June 10, 2009).

Tough times make for tough decisions...

How we react to adversity forces us to face up to who we are and what we really value. Oft-times that might leave us feeling disappointed in ourselves.
I was caught by a story in the New York Times about the difficult decision forced upon Reed College in Portland, Oregon due to the economic downturn.
After reviewing grades, scores and essays, the admissions team had decided upon the makeup of their freshman class for the fall. Then financial realities set in. It seemed that there were more students in need of financial aid than there was aid available. So before acceptance letters were sent out, the director of financial aid informed the team that they needed to reduce the number of students who require financial aid in favor of students who have the resources to pay the full tuition. Deserving students will be denied admission strictly on the basis of their need.
I am heartened that the college officials recognize and anguish over the choice they have been forced to make.

The whole idea of excluding a student simply because of money clashed with the college’s ideals, Leslie Limper, the aid director, acknowledged. “None of us are very happy,” she said, adding that Reed did not strike anyone from its list last year and that never before had it needed to weed out so many worthy students. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m still doing this.”

A sad irony...

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Milt Priggee - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Are we that bad!?

BBC World News today reported that United States prisons hold 25% of the total prisoners in the world. The land of the free is home to greatest number of prisoners. The war on drugs, 3-strike laws and mandatory sentencing are pointed to as major reason behind the large prison population.
Whatever the reasons, the raw numbers certainly give me pause.

It may look bad... but it's legal

The extremes we went to to justify "enhanced interrogations techniques" tortures legal interpretation as much as the language. At least the lawyers agreed on the legality of the techniques even if some recognized the public relations pitfalls (if not the moral ones) that using such techniques would entail. Story here.
I wonder if the lawyers who convicted Japanese officers as war criminals following WWII also found such techniques legal.

It's not just a Catholic thing...

New York State Assemblywoman Margaret Markey amended her bill on the sexual abuse of children to include those who were molested in public school and not just private institutions.
Revelations of abuse that had taken place in Catholic institutions have been prominent in the headlines for years. What has received little notice has been the rates of abuse in other churches and in public institutions, as if child sexual abuse were simply a Catholic problem. The scandal in the church is not that Catholic clergy were guilty of child sexual abuse at a rate greater than that of society as a whole, but that the clergy abused at almost the same rate as is witnessed in society as a whole. One story here.
Assemblywoman Markey’s bill allows for a one year suspension of the statute of limitations, thus permitting anyone to file a claim regardless of when the abuse occurred. If this bill were to pass, the rate of child sexual abuse in public schools which has been a dirty little secret, may finally be made plainly evident.
I in no way wish to minimize the sufferings of those who were abused by Catholic clergy, however I feel it is important for society as a whole to face up to the reality of sexual abuse in society and recognize that this is a societal and not strictly Catholic problem. All the victims have a right to healing.

I'm confused... How offended should I be?

Thanks to Deacon Richard Hudzik for making me aware of the ruling of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals supporting the City of San Francisco's resolution defaming the Catholic Church. It seems the city council of San Francisco was upset that Cardinal William Levada (former archbishop of said community) in his role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a directive to Catholic Charities in San Francisco to stop placing children for adoption with homosexual couples.
In their righteous anger, the city council passed a non-binding resolution labeling the moral position of the church as callous, insensitive, hateful, ignorant and insulting. The Catholic League for some reason took umbrage at the resolution and brought suit under the non-establishment clause of the First Ammendment prohibiting government hostility toward religion. Details are available on the Thomas More Law Center's site here.
But I'm confused. How offended would I be if the city fathers of Sodom were to call me names?

British legislation threatens Catholic adoption agencies

A British tribunal has ruled that Catholic adoption agencies may not discriminate against homosexual couples in adoptions. The Labour Party implemented sexual orientation anti-discrimination rules in a 2007 bill. Story here.
Now the Catholic church which has been involved in the care and adoption of children far longer than most public agencies, must decide whether to forsake prinicples or close.
What's next?

Tianamen Square, 20 years after

While the authorities continue to clamp down, at least one former soldier tries to deal with his role in the Tianamen Square massacre of two decades past in his art. The New York Times has a story on Chen Guang who was a 17-year old soldier at the time and who, in defiance of instructions from security officials, spoke publicly on his role in the events. Full story here.

Constitution State ignores the Constitution

The Constitution State seems to be going out of its way to rewrite the constitution in an effort to attack the Catholic Church.
Following the failed attempt by legislators in March to dictate management of church parishes and institutions, the state is trying to tell the church it needs to register as a lobbyist to hold rallies and use its Web site to oppose legislation. State officials are claiming that the diocese acted as a lobbyist when it made statements on its Web site urging members to contact their state lawmakers to oppose the finances bill and another bill on same-sex marriage.
The Diocese of Bridgeport headed by Bishop William Lori, is asking a U.S. District judge to stop the Office of State Ethics from what it calls an unconstitutional application of Connecticut lobbying laws. Stories here and here.
It appears to me that what has been an underground war against the Catholic Church in America seems to be moving more out into the open. Yeah, I may be paranoid... but that doesn't mean they are not out to get me.

What's good for General Motors...

Charles E. Wilson while president of the General Motors Corporation made a statement that is oft-misquoted as "What is good for General Motors is good for the country." He actually said in reply to a question posed at a congressional hearing whether he could make a decision in a governmental capacity that might run counter to the interests of GM that he thought, "What is good for the country is good for General Motors and vice versa."
That statement certainly emphasized the degree of importance the manufacturing sector held for the national economy. The cruel reality is that the United States is no longer the manufacturing powerhouse it once was, in fact we have gone a long way toward becoming what Douglas Adams so brilliantly lampooned in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a nation of "telephone sanitizers."
Methinks that General Motors filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection gives serious cause for national introspection.

Wichita bishop statement on George Tiller's death

Bishop Michael O. Jackels

The Catholic community extends sympathy to the family of Dr. George Tiller, a victim of violent crime made even more heinous, if that is possible, by being committed in a church as he was preparing for worship.

Many Catholics have over the years engaged in peaceful protest outside of Dr. Tiller's clinic, praying for an end to abortion, and especially late-term abortions; I have on occasion joined them for this purpose. This position and hope cannot however serve as a justification for committing other sins and crimes, like the willful destruction of property and, even worse, murder.

It is my prayer that the Tiller family find consolation, that Dr. George Tiller find mercy and the fulfillment of the great hope of Christians, and that all will find peaceful and legal means to resolve differences.

With sorrow and regret

The tragic killing of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas yesterday has done much to unravel the little progress that has been made in the pro-life debate. It is hard to keep discussion focused on the value of human life when those who oppose abortion demonstrate a willingness to kill or to struggle to mitigate the evil of killing because of the actions of the victim. I can only mourn the death of Dr. Tiller even as I mourn the deaths of all those lives that will be terminated due to the actions of others today.
In opposing a culture of death it is imperative that I remove myself as much as possible from that culture. I offer prayers today for Dr. Tiller and his family.