How Do You Solve a Problem Like The L’Osservatore Romano?

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

I have long thought that the Vatican newspaper,  L’Osservatore Romano is a disaster and an embarrassment.  Every time they print something that is misleading about the Church, it is brought up by a participant in our RCIA.

What can I say? It is just a newspaper. The paper has absolutely no authority magisterial or otherwise. The Pope is not the editor in chief.

Unfortunately they seem desperate to be the very model of a major modern newspaper.

Over at the blog In light of the Law, cannon lawyer Ed Peters weights in:

“Worse, L’OR chose to highlight what is probably the single most speculative and controversial papal paragraph in over 200 pages of print, and to offer that snippet out of context and without explanation. Unbelievable.

Instantly, of course, the world formed exactly the wrong understanding of that paragraph that anyone could have predicted. Now, instead of being able to present the pope’s interview as a positive and even vigorous affirmation of unified truth, Catholic theologians and spokesmen must respond defensively against secular attacks and distortions, resorting (for the most part) to a level of sophistication that befits a graduate seminar in moral theology, not a reader-friendly presentation of ideas. I mean, great scot, the book is not even published yet, and already the Vatican Press is Office is having to issue hasty corrections and unconvincing clarifications!

And it’s all because of L’OR.

Again.”

Read the entire blog post, The continuing mess at L’Osservatore Romano.

Posted in Catholic Church, Media | 2 Comments

Islam in the West: The Dangers of Diversity And Tolerance Without Assimilation

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

I thought that it was a wee bit over the top when voters in Oklahoma voted to ban Islamic law in their state. I thought that the possibility of the US allowing Shariah law was, well, impossible.

On a side note: I am perplexed by political liberals and progressive Christians who accuse the Catholic Church of being anti gay and anti women, but are silent on Islam’s treatment of homosexuals and women.

Oh dear. It seems that worshiping the gods of diversity and tolerance can have unintended consequences.  Now we have this report from our cousins in the United Kingdom. Perhaps voters in Oklahoma were not seeing black helicopters.

“Up to 5,000 pupils attending weekend schools across Britain are being exposed to textbooks claiming that some Jews were transformed into pigs and apes, and that some offences could be punished with stoning. One book for six year-olds warns that those who do not believe in Islam will be condemned to “hellfire” in death.

Another text for 15 year-olds teaches that thieves who break Sharia law should have their hands cut off for a first offence and their feet amputated for a subsequent crime. Teenagers are presented with diagrams showing where the cuts should be made.

Tonight’s Panorama on BBC One will claim that the books were discovered at a network of 40 private schools teaching the Saudi Arabian national curriculum. The programme claims to have uncovered evidence apparently linking the schools to the Saudi embassy. Officials at the embassy deny any link.” Read the entire article from the Telegraph: Muslim pupils learn to cut off hands of thieves.

According to this BBC report on “Saudi school lessons in UK“,  the UK Government has suddenly acquired common sense.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said there was no place for the Saudi teachings with regard to Jews or homosexuals in Britain: “To my mind it doesn’t seem to me that this is the sort of material that should be used in English schools.”

To present it cold as it seems to be here just part of the teaching of Islam, no it’s not wise”

Posted in Culture Wars, Islam, Politics | Leave a comment

Excerpts From The Book On the Pope

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

Exerpts from  Light of the World: The Pope, The Church and The Signs Of The Times, Peter Seewald’s book-length interview with Pope Benedict XVI is available on line.

The first excerpt from the book still has the media in a feeding frenzy. The deluded and deliberately ignorant media is, for the most part, still declaring that the Pope has had a “Condom Conversion”. I addressed the non controversy in the post Pope Allows Condoms. and in the post The Pope, And Condoms And the Media: Oh My!

William McGuran has a sensible take on the Pope and the Condom in today’s Wall Street Journal.  His article is available on line here.

On the Square, the First Things blog has more excerpts from Seewald’s book-length interview with Pope Benedict XVI:

On the Abuse Scandal

Yes, it is a great crisis, we have to say that. It was upsetting for all of us. Suddenly so much filth. It was really almost like the crater of a volcano, out of which suddenly a tremendous cloud of filth came, darkening and soiling everything, so that above all the priesthood suddenly seemed to be a place of shame and every priest was under the suspicion of being one like that too. Many priests declared that they no longer dared to extend a hand to a child, much less go to a summer camp with children. . . .

He [the Archbishop of Dublin] said that ecclesiastical penal law functioned until the late 1950s; admittedly it was not perfect—there is much to criticize about it—but nevertheless it was applied. After the mid-sixties, however, it was simply not applied any more. The prevailing mentality was that the Church must not be a Church of laws but, rather, a Church of love; she must not punish. Thus the awareness that punishment can be an act of love ceased to exist. This led to an odd darkening of the mind, even in very good people.

Today we have to learn all over again that love for the sinner and love for the person who has been harmed are correctly balanced if I punish the sinner in the form that is possible and appropriate. In this respect there was in the past a change of mentality, in which the law and the need for punishment were obscured. Ultimately this also narrowed the concept of love, which in fact is not just being nice or courteous, but is found in the truth. And another component of truth is that I must punish the one who has sinned against real love.

Get thou over to The Square for more excerpts!

Posted in Media, Pope Benedict XVI | Leave a comment

Petition to Canonize Iraqi Martyrs

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. John 15:19

From the Christian Martyrs of Iraq web site. H/T Deacon Greg Kandra

“On 31 October, 44 Iraqi Christians were killed during a hostage drama after gunmen stormed the main Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad, then blew themselves up.

Among them were Father Thair Sad-alla Abd-al and Father Waseem Sabeeh Al-kas Butros who died along with the faithful who were at prayer with them.

Their names join a long list of Christians who have died for their faith in Iraq, as Christians across the entire region face a growing threat.

Despite this barbaric act, we, as Arab Christians, want to reaffirm our joy and our desire to live out our Christian faith in the same land where Christ died and rose again for our salvation, and where his apostles told the good news to our ancestors.

The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity. We have lived here since Pentecost, when the Spirit inspired our forefathers who expressed their faith through diversity as Greek Catholics, Syriac Catholics, Copts, Maronites, Armenians, Latins, Lutherans and Anglicans – all of whom confess on holy, catholic and apostolic church.

In the tradition of the early Church, we ask that those who died as martyrs be honoured as saints. We call for the canonisation of the following fallen brothers: Continue reading →

Posted in Anti Christian, Saints, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

St. Cecilia

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

Today is the memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr.

St. Cecilia
Cecilia was so highly venerated by the ancient Roman Church that her name was placed in the Canon of the Mass. Already in the fourth century there was a church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, erected on the site where her home had stood. Her martyrdom probably occurred during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus, about the year 230. In 1599 her grave was opened and her body found in a coffin of cypress wood. It lay incorrupt, as if she had just breathed forth her soul. Stephen Maderna, who often saw the body, chiseled a statue that resembled the body as closely as possible. Since the Middle Ages, Cecilia has been honored as patroness of Church music, a practice having its source in a false application of a passage from the Office (cantantibus organis). Read more at Catholic Culture.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

TSA: Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

If this is true. Well. I have no words.

So we’re in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they’re going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:

TSA Guy: You can’t take those on the plane.

Soldier: What? I’ve had them since we left country.

TSA Guy: You’re not suppose to have them.

Soldier: Why?

TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.

Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I’m allowed to take it on.

TSA Guy: Yeah but you can’t use it to take over the plane. You don’t have bullets.

Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?

Read the whole account here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Pope, And Condoms And the Media: Oh My!

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

Well the saga continues. Did the Pope say that condoms are suddenly fine and dandy?  Well I covered this briefly in a post early this morning provocatively titled Pope Allows Condoms.

The short answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Jimmy Akin has a detailed frisk on the whole debacle in a NCR article titled The Pope Said WHAT about Condoms.

Man I wish the Vatican would get  rid of the nut jobs at L Osservatore Romano (the Vatican News Paper), and hire a good PR person to communicate to the secular world.

As Jimmy points out about the wacky Vatican news group:

“Among the disservices L’Osservatore Romano performed by breaking the book’s embargo in the way it did was the fact that it only published a small part of the section in which Pope Benedict discussed condoms. As a result, the reader could not see the context of his remarks, giving the reader no way to see the context and guaranteeing that the secular press would take the Pope’s remarks out of context (which they would have anyway, but perhaps not this much). Especially egregious is the fact that L’Osservatore Romano omits material in which Benedict clarified his statement on condoms in a follow-up question.

So L’Osservatore Romano has performed a great disservice to both the Catholic and non-Catholic communities.”

Anyway Jimmy does a good job of dissecting the situation.  Please take the time to read his entire article, The Pope Said WHAT About Condoms.

Mollie, at Get Religion, has a great (non Catholic) take down on the MSM breathless and idiotic coverage of the mythical Pope and the condom controversy.

Thomas Peters, The American Papist, also has a good post on the Pope and Condom issue.

Posted in Catholic Church, Catholic Moral Teaching, Pope Benedict XVI | 1 Comment

Pope Allows Condoms

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

Did I get your attention?

My. My. The MSM is quite breathless after a translation of the Peter Seewald’s book hit the wires. Here are some of the headlines

Pope says condoms sometimes permissible to stop AIDS

Pope Says Condoms to Stop AIDS May Be Acceptable

Pope Benedict says that condoms can be used to stop the spread of HIV?

Pope signals historic leap in fight against Aids: Condoms can be justified

Pope says condom use is acceptable in ‘single justified cases’

Pope says some condom use ‘first step’ of morality.

And the award for the stupidest tweet by a journalist goes to religion writer Ruth Gledhill: Pope’s Condom Conversion.

First read what the Pope really said about condoms. Here is an excerpt:

“There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.

Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?

She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality. “

I have to get ready for Church, but here is a quick unpacking of the not so controversial comment by the pope.

Homosexual activity is gravely immoral.

Those with homosexual inclinations should develop the virtue of chastity and live celibate lives.

Homosexuals, often, do not follow the Church’s teaching on homosexual activity.

Homosexual activity is intrinsically sterile. It is neither unitive or fruitful. Procreation is not possible. Contraception is not possible.

While condoms are not the best way to combat AIDS, it could be permissible for male prostitutes, for example, IF it is a first step to a more moral understanding of human sexuality.

Posted in Moral Theology, Pope Benedict XVI | 6 Comments

Warning. God Recalls Human Beings

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

According to Mosnsignor Pope, God has put out a recall notice on all human beings.

“The maker of all humans beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units (code named Adam and Eve) resulting in the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed “Sorrow Inducing Non-morality (S.I.N.). Some of the symptoms include:

  1. Loss of direction
  2. Foul vocal emissions
  3. Amnesia of Origin
  4. Lack of peace and joy
  5. Selfish or violent behavior
  6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
  7. Fearfulness
  8. Idolatry
  9. Rebellion
  10. Sometimes the units are just plain mean.

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault  for this defect is providing factory-authorized repair and service, free of charge, to correct this defect. The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most graciously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. Some of the following procedures will be necessary in this repair:

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault  for this defect is providing factory-authorized repair and service, free of charge, to correct this defect. The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most graciously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. Some of the following procedures will be necessary in this repair:

  1. The disk in the heart component must be scrubbed clean of all viruses.
  2. The mental component must be overwritten with new software, (especially WORD of God 3.0)
  3. Virus Protection software (such as Pure Eyes 2.0) must be installed to protect the unit from further damage.
  4. Connection to the Maker of all all human beings (GOD) must be re-established through the restoration of communication software in the unit. This is done by installing COMMUNION 2.0 Software.
  5. Communications protocols must be upgraded to make sure that the unit says “only the good things men need to hear” and to be sure the unit speaks only that which is true.

Please bring your unit to the nearest Catholic Parish for immediate service.” Read more here.

Posted in Christianity, Humor | Leave a comment

Jesus Is King

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Susan Kehoe

Sunday is the Solemnity of Christ the King, and the last Sunday of the Liturgical

Christ the King Poland

Year. Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent and the first Sunday of the new liturgical year.

Father Z reminds us that Jesus is not just a friend and all around nice guy.

Excerpt:

The Solemnity of Christ the King brings to our attention the fact that the Lord is coming precisely as King and Judge not merely as friend or savior or role-model.

In the great Dies Irae prayed at Requiem Masses for so long (and still today), Christ is identified as “King of Fearful Majesty” and “Just Judge”. Read More here:

Fr. Barron, has an excerpt from his soon to released Catholicism project Amazed and Afraid. He makes a strong case for a Jesus who is an unnerving and divisive figure. Just read the actual words of scripture. Jesus says scary things. He is always challenging people to repent. To change. To follow him.

“They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.” Mark 10:32

Watch the Video. Be amazed and afraid.

Posted in Catholic Church, Jesus Christ | Leave a comment