Priests Can Refuse Communion on the Hands and Require Kneeling to Receive

Below is an article in which the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship says that priests can and should follow the universal norm of the Church of requiring that communicants kneel and receive directly on the tongue while kneeling. Very interesting! This is evidently the Holy Father's wish too!

May the bishops, priests and seminaries of the world take note!!!

There is something new going on and it is very traditional!

Our liturgists need now to get with the times; the Benedict era is underway!

The article comes from the current issue of the Adoremus Bulletin.

CDW Prefect on Kneeling for Holy Communion
An interview with Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW), appeared in the February edition of the Italian magazine 30 Giorni (30 Days), in which the cardinal responded to several questions on liturgy. Following are excerpts from the interview, in which he strongly endorses Pope Benedict's practice of administering Communion on the tongue to people who are kneeling.

30 Giorni: What are, beyond those which we already talked about, the issues you will have to address in carrying out this new mission?
Cardinal Canizares: To help the Church to follow completely what the Second Vatican Council has indicated in the Constitution, Sacrosanctum Concilium. To help to understand fully what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about the liturgy. To take to heart what the Holy Father--when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger--has written about the question, especially in the beautiful book The Spirit of the Liturgy. To take to heart how the Holy Father--assisted by the office for liturgical celebrations headed by Monsignor Guido Marini--celebrates the liturgy. The papal liturgies in fact have always been, and still are, exemplary for the whole Catholic world.

30 Giorni: In an interview granted in Spain [in the journal La Razon] you have praised the pope's decision to distribute the Eucharist, in the liturgies which he celebrates, only kneeling and only in the mouth. Are there changes to be expected in this regard in universal discipline of the Church?

Cardinal Canizares: As is known, the current universal discipline of the Church requires that as a norm Communion is distributed into the mouth of the faithful. Then there is an indult that allows, at the request of episcopates, to distribute Communion on the palm of the hand also. This is worth remembering. The pope, then, to give greater prominence to the due reverence with which we must approach the Body of Christ, wished that the faithful who receive Communion from his hands do so on their knees. This seemed to be a beautiful and edifying initiative of the Bishop of Rome. The present norms do not require anyone to do the same. But neither do they prevent it.

Great Christians

In his last Wednesday audience the Holy Father reiterated the purpose of this series of audiences on the great persons of our history:

"Dear Brothers and Sisters,

"The Church lives in people (nelle persone) and whoever wants to get to know the Church, to understand its mystery, must consider the people who have lived and who continue to live its message, its mystery. It is for this reason that I have spoken in the Wednesday catecheses of people from whom we can learn what the Church is. We started with the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church and have slowly arrived to the eighth century, the period of Charlemagne."

Above is the warrior statue of Charlemagne, the plaza of Notre Dame, Paris, the great eigth century defender and promoter of Christian culture.

Primate of England Joined Pope Benedict Condemning Condoms

Here is news which I first found in Italian from il Riformista and now in English at clericalwhispers.blogspot.com.
This prominent prelate joins the front line of the culture war. May God bless the See of Saint Thomas a Becket!
Also see his interview with the bbc on abortion advertising: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7992482.stm


Saturday, April 11, 2009
Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols defends Pope's stance on condoms

The new Archbishop of Westminster defended the Pope's stance on condoms and Aids and called for sexuality to be "humanised".

But he dodged the issue of whether the Church should advocate condom use as a health measure when one party in a marriage has aids or HIV.

The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, who will be installed at Westminster Roman Catholic cathedral in May, refused to comment on whether he would advise a faithful married couple to use condoms if one of them had Aids.

Instead, he argued that Pope Benedict XVI had been misrepresented in his recent comments and that his aim had been to defend African women.

The Pope was greeted by a chorus of international condemnation after he told journalists during his recent visit to Africa that the rate of Aids and HIV infection on the continent was "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems."

The Holy See did not dispute the Pope said this, but later altered the "official" record to indicate that what he had intended to say was that condoms "risk" aggravating the problems.

Archbishop Nichols, a conservative who, at 63, has a potential 27 years at Westminster, is likely at some stage to have no option but to state his position on an issue where the Catholic Church's official stance appears increasingly untenable.

Many Catholic and non-Catholic Christians have no issue with the Church's stance on life issues generally, supporting its oppostion to euthanasia, abortion and promiscuity. But the Church's refusal even to consider sanctioning condom use as a health measure in countries where Aids is rampant is being condemned at the highest levels of scientific and intellectual debate in the West as ill-informed, unscientific and inhumane.

Archbishop Nichols, asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the Pope's statement that condoms can make Aids worse, said: "I am not sure that's exactly what he said at all. What he actually talked about was the need to humanise sexuality. And I think to some extent he was speaking up in protection of African women. And I think we face the same challenge."

Urging Catholics to protest against plans to liberalise television advertising for condoms and abortion advice services, he said: "The adverts at present on television for contraception actually are demeaning of young people. They depict two people having sex on a street corner and some more just in a drunken orgy, and that is not a fair representation of young people today. We really need to do an awful lot to raise expectations of each other and to humanise sexuality, to use the Holy Father's phrase."

Asked whether he would suggest condom use to a married faithful catholic couple who came to him for advice where one of them had Aids, he said: "Well obviously that's a very sensitive point and obviously there are different views on that."

Asked what his own view was, he insisted: "No, no, that's not what this public debate is about."

He continued by arguing that he wanted to pursue the point about humanising sexuality.

"We really do have to raise people's expectatins about themselves. Today is Good Friday. What do we celebrate today? We celebrate this enormous gift of God's love to us, which teaches us how much dignity we have, and we have to encourage as a society people to live off their best instincts, their best generosity and not constantly be portraying our society as degraded and in need of elastoplast all the time."

Canizares Revives the Communion Rail and Kneeling for Communion and on the Tongue in Cathedral

The universal norm of receiving communion kneeling ("Fideles communicant genuflexi vel stantes, prout Conferentia Episcoporum statuerit..."[Insitutio Generalis Missalis Romani, 160] ) at the communion rail and directly on the tongue by the priest is gradually being reinstituted. First by the Pope and now in Toledo, the primatial see of Spain, by the Prefect of Worship himself, the preferential option for more profound reverence is prevailing! May the ordinaries and cathedrals of the world take note, follow suit! See my translation below of the article from www.abc.es.

Canizares recovers kneeling communion, "just like the Pope does it"

EP/Toledo Friday, 10 April 2009

The Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Antonio Canizares, announced yesterday, during the Holy Mass of the Lord's Supper, that beginning yesterday evening those who wished to receive communion could do so kneeling at the kneeler "to communicate with respect and as the Pope does it".

Canizares told the faithful present at the mass that it is necessary to "greatly guard, much more, the moment of communion, therefore this evening and from this evening on in the cathedral church the communion kneeler is put out as the Pope does, as the Pope wishes, who is the one who indicates to the rest of the Church what we should do".

From another angle, he urged "in a pressing way to deepen the renovation and transformation of our society and of our history which has so much to do with the eucharist, primordial and substantial transformation, and foretaste of a new and renewed world".

"We need to renovate the sense of eucharistic adoration in the priests, in the seminarians, in the consecrated persons, in the entire christian people".

As he pointed out, "we need to deepen in eucharistic adoration, and such deepening will be possible only through a greater knowledge of the mystery in complete fidelity to the tradition and increasing the liturgical life inside our communities".

For Canizares, "from participation in the eucharist, from proper eucharistic celebration, our church will turn out fortified for the new evangelization of which the entire world is so urgently in need". For all of that, he said, "we must intensify a true and profound, nothing superficial, eucharistic and liturgical formation in our diocese".

The cardinal explained that "the renovation of the world will not come about without eucharistic renovation and without the renovation of the liturgy, and for that we must greater guard the celebrations, the silence, the proclamation of and listening to the word,our kneeling, the way to communicate, the way to be in church (el templo), the singing (el canto), and the zeal and participation in the parishes of adoration".

Extraordinary Mass at Saint John Lateran

The new prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship will offer a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form tommorrow at the Papal Cathedral in Rome. Here is the announcement which I got from the Rinascimento Sacro blog.

Hopefully all the cathedrals of the world will also get on board with this newest and authentic liturgical reform: the Mass of Pope John XXIII, the only Mass of the Second Vatican Council.

If they should like to do that they will most certainly have to change, dissolve, or at least radically reeducate and catechize many of their "liturgical committees" which have wholly neglected this form of the Mass for too long.


Martedì 21 Aprile 2009 alle ore 10.00

Basilica Papale S. Giovanni in Laterano
Roma

PONTIFICALE NELLA FORMA STRAORDINARIA

Celebra Sua Em. Rev.ma il Signor
ANTONIO Cardinale di S.R.C. CANIZARES LLOVERA
Prefetto della S. Congregazione per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti

Actual Divine Mercy

Today, Divine Mercy Sunday, is a particular expression of God's magnanimity for us through the Petrine Office.

Divine Mercy is the day (the octave day of Easter) instituted by Pope John Paul II at the beginning of the new millenium under the aegis of Christ's mercy (as Christ Himself had requested in His revelations to Saint Faustina, the first saint to be canonized in the new millenium). Furthermore, it was Saturday evening (2 April 2005), just after the Vigil Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday that that great servant of God died. The Servant of God John Paul II died on the first Saturday of the month and on the Feast of Divine Mercy.

Now, today, 19 April 2009, is the forth anniversary of the prodigious election of Ratzinger, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, to the chair of Peter, which he fills so well with the vigilance of the Good Shepherd, warding off the wolves who constantly attack and destroy the flock of Christ, and with the shepherd's staff that also gently and strategically draws the sheep into the one fold of Catholicity.

Bless God Who in His infinite mercy continues to lead the Church and the world with the leadership and teaching of this most able and necessary Cooperator Veritatis.

The good Lord shows us today, by this Divine Mercy "coincidence" of the death of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI that the Petrine Office in every age is a grand manifestation of His merciful love, not least in our own day. Deo Gratias pro Papa Benedicto!

test post

This is a map of Europe:



Here are some steps:

Easter Prayer

May I grow ever more devoted to You, the Only Living and True God, Jesus Christ, Conquerer of sin and death. Amen.

The Vesting Priest!

The deacon's bench blog just posted this new and most excellent priesthood video.

Check it out! Pass it on!

http://brooklynpriests.org/

Taboo on Sexual Immorality

In this morning's newspaper there is an article on sex education in the public schools which is prohibited by the Catholic schools because of the explicit and amoral nature of the secular presentation and the impossibility of a meaningful discussion of right and wrong given the exclusion of God.

Adjacent that article is the report of a 33 year old live-in "boyfriend" killing his cohabiting 33 year old "girlfriend." Can't anyone see the evil of concubinage of which domestic homicide is one of the most recurring crimes? Sexual molestation is also most frequent in these experimental and most unstable types of homes. A useful study would be to compare the incidents of domestic homicide and domestic sexual abuse in "living-together" homes versus stable homes with a man and woman in a legitimate life-long marriage having and raising their own children.

The taboo on fornication is no taboo but really necessary for healthy youth, healthy marriages, healthy families in healthy homes to create a healthy society. How can something which was so universally condemned by our ancestors suddenly be deemed acceptable especially as we see and suffer the deadly social consequences (not to mention the hygienic and emotional, the personal, consequences)?

America needs to reject sexual immorality in all its forms in order to be "the land of the free." Christ and His chastity are necessary for true freedom. Because anyone who sins is a slave to sin. But anyone who loves God does so with the love and mercy of Christ with purity of life.

What the Pope Really Said

Cameroon Bishops' Statement on AIDS

"The Holy Father Has Put Man at the Center of His Concern"

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon, MARCH 26, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the statement of the episcopal conference of Cameroon on the negative media response to Benedict XVI comments on the role of condoms in the fight against AIDS.

* * *After the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Cameroon, a certain press echoed the supposed unease created by the Holy Father's statements on the use of condoms and on HIV/AIDS. This press continues to label the Pope's position on the use of condoms as irresponsible, and leads one to understand that his statements on this subject had a negative effect and affected his visit to Cameroon negatively. Conscious of the consequences that such misinformation could cause, the national bishops' conference of Cameroon, through the voice of its president, Archbishop Simon-Victor Tonyé Bakot, specifies the following:

When the Pope was on the plane that would bring him to Cameroon, he granted a press interview on board the plane itself. This interview was limited to six questions, of which the fifth was the controversy posed by the journalist of France 2, Philippe Visseyrias: "Holiness, among the many evils that afflict Africa, in particular is the spread of AIDS. The position of the Catholic Church on the way to fight against it is often considered unrealistic and ineffective. Will you address this subject during your trip?"

Here is the Holy Father's complete answer:

"I would say the contrary. I think that the most efficient reality, the most present at the front of the struggle against AIDS, is precisely the Catholic Church, with her movements, with her various organizations. I am thinking of the Sant'Egidio Community that does so much, visibly and also invisibly, for the struggle against AIDS, of the Camilliani, of all the sisters who are at the disposition of the sick.

"I would say that this problem of AIDS can't be overcome only with publicity slogans. If there is not the soul, if the Africans are not helped, the scourge can't be resolved with the distribution of condoms: on the contrary, there is a risk of increasing the problem. The solution can only be found in a double commitment: first, a humanization of sexuality, that is, a spiritual and human renewal that brings with it a new way of behaving with one another; and second, a true friendship, also and above all for those who suffer, the willingness -- even with sacrifice and self-denial -- to be with the suffering. And these are the factors that help and that lead to visible progress.

"Because of this, I would say that this, our double effort to renew man interiorly, to give spiritual and human strength for correct behavior with regard to one's body and that of another, and this capacity to suffer with those who suffer, to remain present in situations of trial. It seems to me that this is the correct answer, and the Church does this and thus offers a very great and important contribution. We thank all those who do this."

The bishops of Cameroon are astonished by what the journalists retained from this very complete statement of the Pope, focused only on opposition to condoms, concealing the whole action of the Church in the fight against AIDS and the care of the sick. They are astonished above all that the press attempts to make people believe that there is unease in Cameroonian opinion on the Holy Father's visit, as a consequence of his statements.

The Cameroonian episcopate underlines very strongly that Cameroonians welcomed Pope Benedict XVI with joy and enthusiasm, thus confirming their legendary hospitality. But by this, it does not deny the reality of AIDS, or its devastating effect on families in Cameroon. The Holy Father has put man at the center of his concern and has reminded us of the teachings of Christ and of the Church.

The Catholic Church's commitment to persons living with the AIDS virus, the support of infected and affected persons, are priorities for the Catholic Church. The support of persons and families as well as the teaching of the Church allow each one to appreciate himself in his dignity as adoptive child of God. This dignity obliges one to look at others and at the world in another way. Instead of seeking his own interest, the Church proposes to man everlasting values. The Catholic Church everywhere is committed daily in the fight against AIDS. In this connection, she has created structures adapted for the reception, control and treatment of HIV infected persons. This assistance is at the same time moral, psychological, nutritional, medical and spiritual. Herein lies the Holy Father's first message on AIDS.

Together with this multifaceted and constant action, the Church, as moral force, has the imperative duty to remind Christians that all disordered sexual practice outside of marriage is dangerous and favors the spread of AIDS. This is why she preaches abstinence for single people and fidelity within the couple. It is her duty. She cannot subtract herself from it. Herein lies the Holy Father's second message. Consequently, the bishops of Cameroon lament that the Western media have clearly forgotten other essential aspects of the Holy Father's African message on poverty, reconciliation, justice and peace. This is very serious, knowing the number of dead that other sickness cause in Africa, and on which there is no true publicity; knowing the number of dead that fratricidal fights cause in Africa due to injustice and poverty.

With the Pope, the bishops of Cameroon remind all Christians and all Cameroonians:

1) That sexual relations have as their first end the procreation desired by God himself at the beginning of creation. Marriage between a man and a woman is the ideal framework willed by God for this procreation.

2) That the Catholic Church does not reject AIDS patients and in no way encourages the spread of the sickness as certain media lead one to believe. She is and will always be active in the multifaceted fight against the sickness.

The bishops of Cameroon

Condoms Can't Be Right

Great media criticism has been erupting over the Holy Father's 17 March statement that condoms cannot solve but rather contribute to the AIDS problem. In light of Pope Benedict's statement and the ensuing controversy I was very surprised to find The Catholic Advocate (with a Catholic News Service article) speculating about "the specific question of whether, in certain circumstances, condom use was morally licit in AIDS prevention..." which the article claims the Pope did not address and that that question "...is under study by Vatican theologians." (The Catholic Advocate 25 March 2009)



The implication is that condom use might be permissible. That position has always been categorically condemned by Sacred Scripture, by the Tradition of the Church and by the Magisterium. Condom use is intrinsically immoral in that it separates the two intrinsic meanings of the marital act (procreative and unitive). Condom use will never be permissible as long as it directly impedes the proper giving over and the proper receiving of the sperm into the vagina, which is the ultimate material purpose of the conjugal act. Any altering of that life giving aspect of the act is a mortal sin and a form of adultery, the improper use of the sexual power. cf. Genesis 38:8, Humanae Vitae 14, The Catechism of the Catholic Church 2362-2367. As recently as the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2006) Pope Benedict reiterated this constant and unchangeable teaching of God: "The conjugal act has a twofold meaning: unitive (the mutual self-giving of the spouses) and procreative (an openness to the transmission of life). No one may break the inseparable connection which God has established between these two meanings of the conjugal act by excluding one or the other of them." (Compendium 496)



Rather, it is precisely the type of sexual immorality represented by condom use (typically used for fornication, adultery and sodomy) that causes and fosters sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS. The diseases are symptoms of the sexual sins that cause them. The behavior needs to change, first of all. The only clean sex is the holy act of marriage. All else is dirty and necessarily kills (the soul and the body, cf. Proverbs 5:3-6). That is the truth and no "Vatican theologian" authorized by Pope Benedict is studying any loopholes to that.



For the Archdiocese of Newark official newspaper to misrepresent these fundamental Catholic truths in reprinting an article twisting the Holy Father's statement is at best sloppy and devious and betrays an ignorance and or opposition to the ordinary Magisterium of the Catholic Church in her consistent moral teaching. I suggest that the paper consult the Archbishop John Joseph Myers on how to rectify this doctrinal error published by his newspaper. And for the future I would recommend that the Catholic Advocate stop getting its news from CNS which apparently composed the heretical article. A heretical news agency should not even go by the name Catholic. I would recommend the Catholic News Agency (CNA) http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/ as a reliable and really Catholic news source.

Retreat 2009

L'Abbaye Saint-Joseph de Clairval of Flavigny, France was the place for my annual retreat this year (16th-21st March). It was five full days of The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola preached by priests of the historic monastery of that quaint medieval town which overlooks the pastoral French countryside. We retreatants ate with the monks and joined in their gregorian chants of the office and Mass. In addition, the monks facilitated my daily Traditional Mass, with first class vestments in their relic chapel. It would be no exagerration to say that this was the best retreat of my life (at least one a year for the past 25 years) given it's depth, rhythm, personal direction, silence and liturgical beauty and piety.

The priests of Flavigny run dozens of retreats for men each year, in French and in English. However, none of the English retreats are at the monastery. I highly recommend that all men get in touch with these monks who are, in my estimation, the perfect implementation of what the Second Vatican Council actually said regarding the liturgy (e.g. the sung office in Latin, the promotion of gregorian chant, the permission to use the vernacular [the monks use the vernacular for the readings at their Novus Ordo masses]).

I came to know of the monastery through an excellent monthly newsletter (on the lives of holy modern Catholics) which they send worldwide and my parents and I have received in our home for decades.

For the full 2009 retreat schedule or to contact go to http://www.clairval.com/retraites.en.php
You will also find their newsletter through their home web-page.

Benedict's Defence

At the Mass of His installation as Pope, Benedict XVI promised that he would not run away from the wolves which attack Christ's sheep. Now, with his letter to the bishops, chiding them for detraction and calling them to conversion, he is directly taking on the wolves. Not that all of the bishops are wolves, but most of them are more like sheep than shepherds! They cow before every heretical and immoral lobby or propaganda of the worldly powers. Thank God that our chief shepherd is not tainted with the sheepish spirit. We can affectionately say "Thank Christ for our German Shepherd. "

"[His brother] hated [Joseph] so much that they would not even greet him." (Gen. 37, the first reading the Mass of Friday of the Second week of Lent) The one loved most by Israel, his father, is most hated and rejected by his brothers. Here we have an echo of what the Holy Father has experienced in his reconciling the Lefebvrists. "At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. And should someone dare to approach them--in this case the Pope--he too loses any right to tolerance; he too can be treated hatefully, without misgiving or restraint." (10 March 2009 Address to all Bishops). The Holy Father's fatherly love and mercy for the outsiders cannot be tolerated by those who are the first to criticize and question the authority of Papal excommunications. Now they reject even Papal lifting of excommunications. Some people will never be pleased!

These days of Lent the first readings of the daily Mass emphasis great old testament confessors of the faith who exposed and even gave their lives for love of God and His people, victim souls that fearlessly offered themselves to God in sincerity and truth, and God saves His people through them. They are the ones who over the ages exemplified true human freedom, that true human freedom is not freedom from authority and license to do whatever you want but rather the capacity to master self and to be for God. Christ, therefore, is the icon of human freedom. Christ on the cross is the icon of human freedom of which the old testament witnesses (marturia) were a reflection.

--Esther exposes her life and reputation and thereby saves the Jews of Persia from genocide.
--Jeremiah the prophet is condemned and martyred by his own Jewish people for exposing the sins of the Jews and condemning those sins.
--Joseph is rejected and condemned by his brothers and is thereby enabled to save the whole world from famine, including his own people.

We could add the countless Christian witnesses to Christ's saving mission and to them the present Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI is valiantly reconciling the divisions in the Church in order to reconcile the divisions in humanity, to thereby reconcile man with God. As he said "[I]f the arduous task of working for faith, hope and love in the world is presently (and, in various ways, always) the Church's real priority, then part of this is also made up of acts of reconciliation, small and not so small. That the quiet gesture of extending a hand gave rise to a huge uproar, and thus became exactly the opposite of a gesture of reconciliation, is a fact which we must accept. But I ask now: Was it, and is it, truly wrong in this case to meet halfway the brother who 'has something against you' (cf. Mt 5:23ff.) and to seek reconciliation? Should not civil society also try to forestall forms of extremism and to incorporate their eventual adherents--to the extent possible--in the great currents shaping social life, and thus avoid their being segregated, with all its consequences? Can it be completely mistaken to work to break down obstinacy and narrowness, and to make space for what is positive and retrievable for the whole?...Can we simply exclude them, as representatives of a radical fringe, from our pursuit of reconciliation and unity? What would then become of them?" For this 'arduous' undertaking the Holy Father himself is unjustly treated as if he were an enemy of unity.

Pope Benedict is hereby joining himself to the great company of witnesses who make present Christ on the Cross. They give themselves for God to humanity (which is not worthy of them) so that every man may live--be saved--by the hand of God and His faithful witnesses in Christ.

Homosexualist Indoctrination

Last 4th of November marked a great victory for common sense in America and the promotion of basic decency in California's Proposition 8 referendum law which passed, we are told, because of the Hispanic and the black vote, with the Hispanic vote being the strongest.

I propose that one reason for minorities' support of that law, perhaps the main reason, is that immigrants and minorities, who have less access to our "enlightened" atheistic a purportedly amoral schools (especially higher education) have not yet been fully deprogrammed with the homosexualist brainwashing to which America is presently heavily subject. They still have common sense! Thank God! And thank the Catholic Church, the greatest proponent of common sense and the moral life, the Body of Christ!

Carpooling Etiquette

"Start carpooling by inviting one person to ride with you."


Here are some helpful tips (from "The Star Ledger" of New Jersey, 10 February 2009) on starting and keeping a carpool. I think the main benefit of carpooling is people helping each other. Some people have the custom of making the sign of the cross and saying a short prayer as they begin and end any car drive. Praying the Rosary can be very effective on longer rides. It is most appropriate to invite the others to a routine of prayer or to let them know of your own.

Sharing a ride can cut stress and gas bill

by Prue Salasky (McClatchy-Tribune News Service)

Everyone knows the economic and environmental reasons to carpool. It saves gas, which saves money, though the drop in price at the pump may have reduced that incentive. It also saves on greenhouse-gas emissions, and importantly for this region's congested roads, it cuts down on the number of vehicles on the road.

I areas where there are HOV lanes, it allows for a quicker commute.

Another, often overlooked, reason to carpool is that it can provide a low-stress commute for passengers--if it doesn't, then you should change carpool [manners or] partners.

Start slowly. Don't be overambitious in how rapidly you get a system started. Start by inviting one person to ride with you. If that works out, you could add more. If you think the idea of "carpooling" would be a turnoff to the independent-minded, then simply ask for a ride when your car's in the shop/getting an oil change, and offer to return the favor. That way no one feels tied to an arrangement that may not be suitable. If it works, then it can lead to a regular arrangement. Start by alternating rides once a week. If that works and schedules allow, gradually increase the number of days and number of passenger.

Be flexible. Consider the possibility even if you don't live in the same neighborhood, or if your workdays don't mesh exactly. By making small adjustments to your routine, it can become a viable new habit.

It's fine to be committed to the idea of ride-sharing, but treat it as a goal, not as a written-in-stone agreement. If one person wants to do all the driving or always be the passenger, consider that as an option and work out a payment agreement. Be prepared to add a little time to your compute if you have to drive out of your way for pickup or drop-off. Be open to sharing any errand time during the day.

Be considerate. Communicate clearly and be punctual. Don't play loud music. Find a car temperature that's acceptable to all. It is accepted etiquette to not open or close the windows, and not touch the radio--riding with a friend or colleague doesn't have to be so rigid, but these make fair guidelines for starters.

Inform your workplace. This has a twofold purpose. It alerts others to the existence of your arrangement and gives them an opportunity to approach you for ride-sharing, or for the company to set up a formal arrangements when more than a handful of people are interested. It also lets colleagues know that your time frame may be different or less flexible on particular days. If you work for a large employer or if your route/work schedule is likely shared by several others, consider a ride-share program.

Finally, if there is one available, sign up with your local commuting agency for help organizing shared rides.

The Image of the Merciful Jesus

The Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday (10 April 2009) and finishes on the Saturday of the Octave of Easter, just before the Divine Mercy Sunday (the Octave day Sunday of Easter). By way of reflection to get in the mood for the promotion of the Novena and the Feast we provide a few quotes from the Diary of Saint Faustina regarding the divine mercy image.


Jesus said:

"Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: 'Jesus, I trust in You.' I desire that the image be venerated, first in your chapel, and throughout the world. (47)

"I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as My own glory. (48)

"My image already is in your soul. I desire that there be a Feast of Mercy. I want this image, which you will paint with a brush, to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy. (49)

"[This image] is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works. (742)

"By means of this image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it." (570)

apologia benedicti

Here is His Holiness' response to his detractors in the episcopacy. Bravo Benedicte!


Thursday, March 12, 2009


LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
concerning the remission of the excommunication
of the four Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre

Dear Brothers in the Episcopal Ministry!

The remission of the excommunication of the four Bishops consecrated in 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre without a mandate of the Holy See has for many reasons caused, both within and beyond the Catholic Church, a discussion more heated than any we have seen for a long time. Many Bishops felt perplexed by an event which came about unexpectedly and was difficult to view positively in the light of the issues and tasks facing the Church today. Even though many Bishops and members of the faithful were disposed in principle to take a positive view of the Pope’s concern for reconciliation, the question remained whether such a gesture was fitting in view of the genuinely urgent demands of the life of faith in our time. Some groups, on the other hand, openly accused the Pope of wanting to turn back the clock to before the Council: as a result, an avalanche of protests was unleashed, whose bitterness laid bare wounds deeper than those of the present moment. I therefore feel obliged to offer you, dear Brothers, a word of clarification, which ought to help you understand the concerns which led me and the competent offices of the Holy See to take this step. In this way I hope to contribute to peace in the Church.

An unforeseen mishap for me was the fact that the Williamson case came on top of the remission of the excommunication. The discreet gesture of mercy towards four Bishops ordained validly but not legitimately suddenly appeared as something completely different: as the repudiation of reconciliation between Christians and Jews, and thus as the reversal of what the Council had laid down in this regard to guide the Church’s path. A gesture of reconciliation with an ecclesial group engaged in a process of separation thus turned into its very antithesis: an apparent step backwards with regard to all the steps of reconciliation between Christians and Jews taken since the Council – steps which my own work as a theologian had sought from the beginning to take part in and support. That this overlapping of two opposed processes took place and momentarily upset peace between Christians and Jews, as well as peace within the Church, is something which I can only deeply deplore. I have been told that consulting the information available on the internet would have made it possible to perceive the problem early on. I have learned the lesson that in the future in the Holy See we will have to pay greater attention to that source of news. I was saddened by the fact that even Catholics who, after all, might have had a better knowledge of the situation, thought they had to attack me with open hostility. Precisely for this reason I thank all the more our Jewish friends, who quickly helped to clear up the misunderstanding and to restore the atmosphere of friendship and trust which – as in the days of Pope John Paul II – has also existed throughout my pontificate and, thank God, continues to exist.

Another mistake, which I deeply regret, is the fact that the extent and limits of the provision of 21 January 2009 were not clearly and adequately explained at the moment of its publication. The excommunication affects individuals, not institutions. An episcopal ordination lacking a pontifical mandate raises the danger of a schism, since it jeopardizes the unity of the College of Bishops with the Pope. Consequently the Church must react by employing her most severe punishment – excommunication – with the aim of calling those thus punished to repent and to return to unity. Twenty years after the ordinations, this goal has sadly not yet been attained. The remission of the excommunication has the same aim as that of the punishment: namely, to invite the four Bishops once more to return. This gesture was possible once the interested parties had expressed their recognition in principle of the Pope and his authority as Pastor, albeit with some reservations in the area of obedience to his doctrinal authority and to the authority of the Council. Here I return to the distinction between individuals and institutions. The remission of the excommunication was a measure taken in the field of ecclesiastical discipline: the individuals were freed from the burden of conscience constituted by the most serious of ecclesiastical penalties. This disciplinary level needs to be distinguished from the doctrinal level. The fact that the Society of Saint Pius X does not possess a canonical status in the Church is not, in the end, based on disciplinary but on doctrinal reasons. As long as the Society does not have a canonical status in the Church, its ministers do not exercise legitimate ministries in the Church. There needs to be a distinction, then, between the disciplinary level, which deals with individuals as such, and the doctrinal level, at which ministry and institution are involved. In order to make this clear once again: until the doctrinal questions are clarified, the Society has no canonical status in the Church, and its ministers – even though they have been freed of the ecclesiastical penalty – do not legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church.

In light of this situation, it is my intention henceforth to join the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" – the body which has been competent since 1988 for those communities and persons who, coming from the Society of Saint Pius X or from similar groups, wish to return to full communion with the Pope – to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This will make it clear that the problems now to be addressed are essentially doctrinal in nature and concern primarily the acceptance of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar magisterium of the Popes. The collegial bodies with which the Congregation studies questions which arise (especially the ordinary Wednesday meeting of Cardinals and the annual or biennial Plenary Session) ensure the involvement of the Prefects of the different Roman Congregations and representatives from the world’s Bishops in the process of decision-making. The Church’s teaching authority cannot be frozen in the year 1962 – this must be quite clear to the Society. But some of those who put themselves forward as great defenders of the Council also need to be reminded that Vatican II embraces the entire doctrinal history of the Church. Anyone who wishes to be obedient to the Council has to accept the faith professed over the centuries, and cannot sever the roots from which the tree draws its life.

I hope, dear Brothers, that this serves to clarify the positive significance and also the limits of the provision of 21 January 2009. But the question still remains: Was this measure needed? Was it really a priority? Aren’t other things perhaps more important? Of course there are more important and urgent matters. I believe that I set forth clearly the priorities of my pontificate in the addresses which I gave at its beginning. Everything that I said then continues unchanged as my plan of action. The first priority for the Successor of Peter was laid down by the Lord in the Upper Room in the clearest of terms: "You… strengthen your brothers" (Lk 22:32). Peter himself formulated this priority anew in his first Letter: "Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you" (1 Pet 3:15). In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai; to that God whose face we recognize in a love which presses "to the end" (cf. Jn 13:1) – in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The real problem at this moment of our history is that God is disappearing from the human horizon, and, with the dimming of the light which comes from God, humanity is losing its bearings, with increasingly evident destructive effects.

Leading men and women to God, to the God who speaks in the Bible: this is the supreme and fundamental priority of the Church and of the Successor of Peter at the present time. A logical consequence of this is that we must have at heart the unity of all believers. Their disunity, their disagreement among themselves, calls into question the credibility of their talk of God. Hence the effort to promote a common witness by Christians to their faith – ecumenism – is part of the supreme priority. Added to this is the need for all those who believe in God to join in seeking peace, to attempt to draw closer to one another, and to journey together, even with their differing images of God, towards the source of Light – this is interreligious dialogue. Whoever proclaims that God is Love "to the end" has to bear witness to love: in loving devotion to the suffering, in the rejection of hatred and enmity – this is the social dimension of the Christian faith, of which I spoke in the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est.

So if the arduous task of working for faith, hope and love in the world is presently (and, in various ways, always) the Church’s real priority, then part of this is also made up of acts of reconciliation, small and not so small. That the quiet gesture of extending a hand gave rise to a huge uproar, and thus became exactly the opposite of a gesture of reconciliation, is a fact which we must accept. But I ask now: Was it, and is it, truly wrong in this case to meet half-way the brother who "has something against you" (cf. Mt 5:23ff.) and to seek reconciliation? Should not civil society also try to forestall forms of extremism and to incorporate their eventual adherents – to the extent possible – in the great currents shaping social life, and thus avoid their being segregated, with all its consequences? Can it be completely mistaken to work to break down obstinacy and narrowness, and to make space for what is positive and retrievable for the whole? I myself saw, in the years after 1988, how the return of communities which had been separated from Rome changed their interior attitudes; I saw how returning to the bigger and broader Church enabled them to move beyond one-sided positions and broke down rigidity so that positive energies could emerge for the whole. Can we be totally indifferent about a community which has 491 priests, 215 seminarians, 6 seminaries, 88 schools, 2 university-level institutes, 117 religious brothers, 164 religious sisters and thousands of lay faithful? Should we casually let them drift farther from the Church? I think for example of the 491 priests. We cannot know how mixed their motives may be. All the same, I do not think that they would have chosen the priesthood if, alongside various distorted and unhealthy elements, they did not have a love for Christ and a desire to proclaim him and, with him, the living God. Can we simply exclude them, as representatives of a radical fringe, from our pursuit of reconciliation and unity? What would then become of them?

Certainly, for some time now, and once again on this specific occasion, we have heard from some representatives of that community many unpleasant things – arrogance and presumptuousness, an obsession with one-sided positions, etc. Yet to tell the truth, I must add that I have also received a number of touching testimonials of gratitude which clearly showed an openness of heart. But should not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas? And should we not admit that some unpleasant things have also emerged in Church circles? At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. And should someone dare to approach them – in this case the Pope – he too loses any right to tolerance; he too can be treated hatefully, without misgiving or restraint.

Dear Brothers, during the days when I first had the idea of writing this letter, by chance, during a visit to the Roman Seminary, I had to interpret and comment on Galatians 5:13-15. I was surprised at the directness with which that passage speaks to us about the present moment: "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another." I am always tempted to see these words as another of the rhetorical excesses which we occasionally find in Saint Paul. To some extent that may also be the case. But sad to say, this "biting and devouring" also exists in the Church today, as expression of a poorly understood freedom. Should we be surprised that we too are no better than the Galatians? That at the very least we are threatened by the same temptations? That we must always learn anew the proper use of freedom? And that we must always learn anew the supreme priority, which is love? The day I spoke about this at the Major Seminary, the feast of Our Lady of Trust was being celebrated in Rome. And so it is: Mary teaches us trust. She leads us to her Son, in whom all of us can put our trust. He will be our guide – even in turbulent times. And so I would like to offer heartfelt thanks to all the many Bishops who have lately offered me touching tokens of trust and affection, and above all assured me of their prayers. My thanks also go to all the faithful who in these days have given me testimony of their constant fidelity to the Successor of Saint Peter. May the Lord protect all of us and guide our steps along the way of peace. This is the prayer that rises up instinctively from my heart at the beginning of this Lent, a liturgical season particularly suited to interior purification, one which invites all of us to look with renewed hope to the light which awaits us at Easter.

With a special Apostolic Blessing, I remain
Yours in the Lord,

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

From the Vatican, 10 March 2009
posted by New Catholic at 10:58 AM

Ignatian Spiritual Exercises with Taditional Mass

Here is a retreat in Italy. The only problem is that it appears to be co-ed.

Brescia: Esercizi Ignaziani e liturgia EF sulle rive del Lago d'Iseo
Don Morselli ci segnala che sono aperte le iscrizioni per un occasione di crescita spirituale da non perdere.
Dal 3 all'8 Agosto 2009presso l'Oasi Beata CapitanioConvento delle Suore di Maria BambinaLovere(Brescia)ESERCIZI SPIRITUALI DI SANT'IGNAZIO DI LOYOLApredicati dal Rev.Sig. ALFREDO MORSELLI
Gli Esercizi seguiranno l'autentica tradizione ignaziana e saranno strettamente legati alla celebrazione della liturgia quotidiana nella forma straordinaria.
I posti sono limitati. Il costo è di euro 270,00 euro comprensivo di vitto, pernotto e sostegno del Predicatore. Per iscriversi o avere maggiori informazioni rivolgersi al Sig. Luca Ghirardi tel. +39 328 1298771 - luca_ghirardi@virgilio.it
***
A chi servono gli esercizi
Una prima risposta, un po’ troppo frettolosa, potrebbe essere: “A tutti!”. In realtà, però, gli esercizi spirituali di sant’Ignazio manifestano una finalità specifica ed esercitano una loro precisa funzione all’interno della vita della Chiesa.Nel testo dei suoi Esercizi spirituali sant’Ignazio ne ha spiegato la finalità dicendo:
“Con questo termine «esercizi spirituali» si intende ogni modo di esaminare la coscienza, meditare, contemplare, pregare vocalmente e mentalmente, e altre attività spirituali, come si dirà più avanti. Infatti, come il passeggiare, il camminare e il correre sono esercizi corporali, così tutti i modi di preparare e disporre l'anima a liberarsi da tutti gli affetti disordinati e, una volta che se ne è liberata, a cercare e trovare la volontà divina nell'organizzazione della propria vita per la salvezza dell'anima, si chiamano esercizi spirituali” [ES 1].Vediamo ora di spiegare alcuni punti di questo testo perché non passino inosservati.Sant’Ignazio usa un’espressione che non si deve qui trascurare: “ogni modo” [todo modo]. Tale espressione ritorna ben due volte nel testo citato e rivela che la prospettiva ignaziana sulla preghiera non è esclusiva bensì inclusiva, nel senso che non esclude l’uno o l’altro tipo di preghiera o di esercizio ma li contempla tutti, sottoponendoli poi ad una valutazione sulla loro efficacia nel “cercare e trovare la volontà divina” [para buscar y hallar la voluntad divina].La dimensione della concretezza è indicata molto bene nel testo ignaziano citato poiché si dice: “nell’organizzazione della propria vita” [en la disposición de su vida]. L’organizzazione concerne le disposizioni concrete delle cose che ci appartengono.Cercare e trovare la volontà di Dio nel concreto della propria vita è quindi la finalità ultima del percorso ignaziano.Con questa luce si può ritenere che gli esercizi spirituali sono particolarmente adatti alle persone che desiderano riconsiderare la loro esistenza alla luce della Parola di Dio per orientare tutte o alcune delle loro attività ad un maggiore servizio di Dio e della sua Chiesa. L’esperienza del discernimento degli spiriti e della chiamata di Dio nel concreto della propria esistenza costituisce l’elemento discriminante del buon rendimento di questa profonda esperienza spirituale personale.Fermandoci ora in particolare sul mese ignaziano, cioè sull’itinerario completo degli esercizi di sant’Ignazio. Si può dire che il mese sia utile alle persone che cercano la loro vocazione e il loro ruolo nella Chiesa e nella società, ma anche per coloro che l’hanno già trovato, come ad esempio i sacerdoti, i seminaristi e le religiose, i quali hanno già uno stato di vita acquisito ma desiderano perfezionarlo e rinnovare il loro rapporto con Dio e con gli altri.Ecco alcune finalità del mese ignaziano per i seminaristi, i sacerdoti e le religiose: *fare una profonda esperienza di Dio e della sua rivelazione, rivivendo la sequela di Cristo.*rivisitare le motivazioni della propria vocazione, in vista di un loro irrobustimento.*esplicitare la propria spiritualità personale, per un maggiore servizio alla Chiesa e agli altri.*acquisire una metodologia per la preghiera personale nella vita quotidiana.*interiorizzare e personalizzare i contenuti acquisiti negli studi, filosofici e teologici.*vivere un’esperienza di accompagnamento spirituale personale, per poi saper accompagnare altri.Oggi, per lo più, il mese ignaziano è svolto con una apertura alle diverse vocazioni. Vi partecipano molti laici, sia in ricerca della loro vocazione sia per perfezionarsi nello stato di vita che hanno già assunto, a servizio di Dio e dell’umanità.Svolto bene, il mese d’esercizi ignaziani dà alla persona che prega una maggiore conoscenza di sé alla luce della Rivelazione divina, porta ad un chiarimento del proprio ruolo nella Chiesa e ad una crescita nel servizio di Dio e dei fratelli.Fonte Gesuiti.it

Catholicism and Economics

There will be a conference in Long Island on Catholicsm and Economics. Here is the advertisement for it.

Three Way Debate Set for April

From our friends at The Society For Distributism comes this great announcement:

Garden City, NY, USA.

A conference hosted and sponsored by the Nassau Community College for Catholic Studies in Long Island, New York, is confirmed for April 4th, 2009 at the College Center Building.

The debate will present and contrast the Capitalist, Socialist, and Distributist positions in economics.

The Conference, Catholicism and Economics, will present and compare the intellectual arguments about the compatibility of Catholicism with, respectively, democratic socialism, democratic capitalism, and distributism.

Thomas Storck will speak for the distributist position.

Dr. Charles Clark will be the speaker on democratic socialism.

Michael Novak will be the main speaker for the democratic capitalist position.

From 11:30am until 12:30pm there will be a luncheon for all in attendance (speakers and audience) including sandwiches, salads, cake, coffee/tea/cold beverages. Following lunch, there will be a brief tribute to the recently deceased Catholic scholars, Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., and Msgr. Michael Wrenn.

The debate will begin at 1pm with a half hour presentation by each participant. Subsequently, there will be an opportunity for the participants to respond critically to one another, with a brief summary statement made by each main speaker. Dr. Stephen M. Krason, President of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists, will close the event with a short reflection on the conference from the perspective of Heinrich Pesch and Solidarism. The event will conclude by 4:30pm.

Thomas Storck is an author, a member of the Editorial Board of the Chesterton Review and of The Society for Distributism.

Dr. Charles M.A. Clark is a Professor in the Department of Economics and Finance, Peter J. Tobin College of Business, St. John's University, Jamaica, Queens, New York.

Michael Novak is the George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute of Washington, D.C.

Stephen M. Krason is Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.

All conference attendees must register.

In order to register for the conference, contact:

Nassau Community College Office of Life Long Learning

One Education Drive

Garden City, New York, 11530

516-572-7472.

The Office of Life Long Learning will send you registration material and a mandatory parking permit through the mail. Parking on campus without a valid permit could result in being issued a parking ticket. Those lost on campus and in need of directions to the College Center Building can contact the Office of Public Safety, 516-572-7100.

For more information, contact:

Richard Aleman

The Society for Distributism

P.O. Box 37Hicksville, NY 11802

516-508-1871

societyfordistributism@gmail.com

Posted by Roy F. Moore at 8:50 PM
Labels: capitalism, debate, distributism, socialism

The True Best Movies of the Year

2009 Culture of Life Movie Awards

Winners Include "Juno" and "Bella"

MADRID, Spain, FEB. 25, 2009 (Zenit.org).- This is the week for movie awards, and the results are out for the best picture, actors and screenplay, from the perspective of a culture of life.The Madrid archdiocesan weekly magazine, Alpha and Omega, distributed by the newspaper ABC, gives special awards for the production of major films in defense of life.

The Alpha and Omega awards highlighted five pro-life films released in 2008, four related to abortion and one to euthanasia: "Juno"; "Bella"; "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days"; "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; "The Princess of Nebraska."

The magazine director, Miguel Angel Velasco, said: "Given the tendency to reward movies that represent the 'culture of death', [we] wanted to reward others that, in one way or another, defend the 'culture of life.'" The awards announcement stated: "At a time when the dignity of the weakest human beings is trampled with impunity by politicians and legislators of numerous civilized countries, movies seem to emerge that run against the current, celebrating the positive value of life, even in circumstances of extreme pain." It continued: "And these are not militant, discursive or reactionary films, nor are they directed by pro-life leaders. They are heartfelt and poignant human stories that give testimony of the simple joy of living."

International issues
The statement also commented on movies such as "Oh, Jerusalem" and "The Kite Runner" that give a "hopeful look at the most worrisome international conflicts" and treat the issues "with intelligence," with the goal of uniting people rather than dividing them. Similarly, judges considered that movies such as "In the Valley of Elah" give a critique on the new forms of war and military intervention, separated from moral codes. Other movies, such as "The Wave," can alert us to populist and authoritarian temptations that can easily flourish in countries facing a moral, economic and cultural crisis."

Juan Orellana, film critic and one of the judges for the awards, says that, these movies "confirm the good health of the American independent cinema, the German cinema and animated film." Orellana pointed out that there is now an exciting mix of family films. In 2008, he explained, several films defended novel and original forms of life and there are others -- like "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" -- that have managed to grasp "the gravity of the historical moment" in which we find ourselves, and offer a response of hope and transcendence.

The film awarded best Christian picture to "Guadalupe," a family drama that shows the power of the image of the Virgin Mary. A scientific study of the image becomes a journey of personal discovery for a family that must confront its past.

Great works
Auxiliary Bishop César Franco of Madrid, who chaired the judges committee, lauded the good movies as "works of the human spirit that address the human question." He continued: "There are two ways to make movies, just like there are two ways to live:" one "open to the values of the individual," and the other closed. Man will always do great works in all fields, and humanity will bear fruit in works of art, he said -- "man is called to beauty." The prelate stated that viewing movies can be "a catharsis" that brings a person "to the depths of human beauty."

Other winners of the 2009 Alpha and Omega awards are:

Best Film, Best Screenplay: "Juno," director Jason Reitman and screenplay writer Diablo Cody
Best Film, Best Director for Life: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Julian Schnabel
Best Leading Actor: Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"
Best Supporting Actor: Ciarán Hinds, "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day"
Best Leading Actress: Tammy Blanchard, "Bella"
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Clarkson, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Best Cinematography: Sergey Trofimov and Rogier Stoffers, "Mongol"
Best Film With Christian Theme: "Guadalupe," director Santiago Parra
Best Soundtrack: Alberto Iglesias, "The Kite Runner"
Best Family Film: "Horton Hears a Who!," directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino
Best Historical Drama: "O, Jerusalem," directed by Chris Kraus
Best Educational Film: "The Wave," director Dennis Gansel Best Animated Film: "Wall-E," director Andrew Stanton

"Gay" Anger = Maritalphobia

Decency and the promotion of marriage are demonized in America today. Anyone who is not pro-Homosexualism is automatically considered a violent hater of "gays". This article shows that it is really the "gays" that are the violent haters of those who stand for marital and family decency.



Targeted Proposition 8 supporter urges Catholics to ‘stand up’ despite critics

Sacramento, Calif., Feb 26, 2009 / 06:05 am (CNA).- The owner of a family-owned ice cream shop and restaurant in Sacramento who has been targeted by angry phone calls and e-mails and obscene Valentine’s Day cards because of his support for the Proposition 8 campaign says Catholics should “stand up” for marriage despite the consequences and the “lies” of extremist activists.

The passage of Proposition 8, which overturned a California Supreme Court decision instating same-sex “marriage,” prompted major protests from homosexual activists and their allies.
Allan Leatherby, 46, told CNA that he and other family members decided to contribute to the Yes on 8 campaign after Bishop of Sacramento Jaime Soto personally called him to ask for his support.

Members of the Leatherby family, which owns Leatherby’s Family Creamery, gave $20,000 to the campaign. “It was a response to his personal request. Otherwise we might not have supported it in that amount,” he explained to CNA.

“Obviously as Catholics we value marriage,” he said, saying they saw some “huge red flags” about the effects of same-sex marriage.

When the family’s support for Proposition 8 became public, protesters targeted their business. The ice cream shop was picketed, employees in company sweat shirts were harassed and angry callers phoned the business. The business reportedly received hundreds of angry e-mails and was targeted by bloggers.

Leatherby also received obscene Valentine’s Day cards in the mail.

“There is no way we could have prepared for the kind of reaction we got,” he said. “Business is actually down and that worries me. Can a business sustain that kind of negativity in the long-term? God only knows.”

After the election, business increased because Proposition 8 supporters deliberately frequented the business, but their numbers have decreased.

Leatherby’s Family Creamery and its owners enjoy a good reputation in the Sacramento area because of the business’ donations of ice cream to area charities. Leatherby himself is an active volunteer and built stairs and helped renovations at Hope House, a former AIDS hospice.

Speaking with CNA on Wednesday, Leatherby explained his support for Proposition 8, saying he disagreed with characterizations of same-sex marriage as a civil rights issue.

“I have men’s and women’s restrooms in my establishment. Is that discrimination? No. Why? Because men and women are different!

“They’re equal in dignity but they’re different. A relationship between a man and a woman is different than a man and a man or a woman and a woman, hands down,” especially when children are considered.

Leatherby explained how Leatherby’s Family Creamery didn’t know what would transpire on the day after the election as angered opponents began to organize protests.
He said a friend overheard a protest group say they were going to start picketing and contacted him. Some opponents of Proposition 8 and some members of the gay and lesbian community also called to warn they would be boycotting.

There were rumors of a “sitdown” where protesters would not allow customers to enter the ice cream shop.

“We got a call from police department and the sherrif’s department saying ‘we are concerned for your safety’.”

Angry and violent e-mails and blogs increased concern about the protests, leading law enforcement to ask if they could position a patrol car at each location.

Leatherby then contacted members of his and his wife’s large families, asking for their support.

Others heard about the protests against the Leatherbys, resulting in an “outpouring of support” from those who wanted to make sure they didn’t go out of business.

When the shop opened, picketers were stationed out front carrying “vulgar, crazy signs.”
However, there was also a long line of people waiting to go into the store to show their support.

“That was just tremendous, to have that support,” Leatherby told CNA.

“Now I know how George Bailey felt at the ends of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’,” he added. “It’s nice to have friends.”

Asked to describe the kind of critical comments he had received, Leatherby said Proposition 8 opponents have been “all over the board.”

“Most of them associate me and my family with hateful, spiteful people that would drag homosexuals out into the street and beat them up.

“It’s amazing. Because of the lies that are told about this, about how supporters are hateful, so many people have bought into that!”

“A majority of Californians are not hateful people. It’s a lie to say that.

“They don’t hate gay people, they support marriage.

“You can’t hold those beliefs any longer unless you’re considered hateful?” Leatherby asked.

“Is Mother Teresa a hateful person? She has the same beliefs I do.

“One of the first houses she opened in San Francisco was an AIDS house for gay men. Some of the first people she reached out to were gay men,” Leatherby noted.

“If it wasn’t so horrible, it would be silly,” he said of the criticisms.

He said the phone calls accusing his family of hate are “vulgar, swearing, for the most part just angry,” explaining his mother took one such call on Tuesday.

“You accuse me of hate, could you please listen to what you are saying?” she said to the caller, according to Leatherby.

“They’re so emotional and so angry that they don’t’ take time to sit back and think about it,” he said.

He noted that he and his business had even been threatened.

“Our employees, little 16-year-old girls, have been threatened physically because of my family’s stand,” he said.

Not all the interactions with critics have been negative.
Leatherby recounted his meeting with a 70-year-old man who was critical of his support for Proposition 8.

“After talking with him, I said I used to work at a certain house for gay men dying of AIDS.

“He broke down in tears and said, ‘one of my partners died there’.”
Leatherby offered to buy him lunch, where he learned that the man had grown up in a Catholic orphanage.

“The man said ‘the Catholic church had done more for me than anyone else in my life.’

“He said he had been abused before he entered the orphanage, and said he wouldn’t have been gay if he had had a strong man in his life.”

Relatives of gays tell Leatherby they support him, but it’s “very difficult” for them.

“Some gays come in and say ‘I wasn’t for Proposition 8, but we don’t agree with the boycott, and how they’re treating you, so we’d like you to know we’re not in favor of that.’”

He recounted how one man had told a television station he had voted for Proposition 8 after noticing the difference between the two sides and the different examples of their advocates.
CNA asked Leatherby what he would say to those Catholics who are wary to support marriage publicly for fear of economic and social consequences.

“I think we have to stand up,” he replied. “The biggest fear is: if you don’t, you’re going to be in violation of hate crimes very soon,” warning that people “could be dragged to jail.”

He predicted others will “stand up” following his lead.

“To stand alone is always difficult,” he said, adding that many people have come in and spoken with his family in support.

“We’ve been very public when the news media has asked us to step up and I hope that would encourage other people to step up” and not “cower,” Leatherby told CNA.

Copyright @ CNA (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com)

Obama Needs to Change

FIAMC Statement on Obama and Life Issues

"Obama Promised to Be a Force for Positive Change"

ROME, FEB. 17, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is the statement released today by the World Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations about new threats to human life under the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.

* * *The election of Barak Obama as President of the United States marked an important watershed in American history and culture. Running for office in a time marked by economic and geo-political turmoil, Obama promised to be a force for positive change, political reconciliation and effective government. Unfortunately, President Obama has begun his term with actions that will undermine respect for human life, human dignity and religions freedom. We call upon Catholic physicians and health care providers, and all people of good will, to spare no effort in convincing President Obama to reverse these decisions.During the 2008 campaign, some Catholics and self-identified Catholic advocacy groups endorsed Barak Obama for President based in part on his support for economic justice and foreign policy, and in part on his pledge to try to reduce the number of abortions by increased social spending on support for pregnant women. Yet as a legislator and as a candidate,

Obama had taken positions utterly opposed to respect for human life.

For example:

-- Obama has long been an advocate of abortion on demand, and has touted his 100% approval rating from Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortion in the United States;

-- Obama opposed every limitation on abortion, including laws requiring parental notification and consent before minors could obtain abortions;

-- Shockingly, as a state senator, Obama actively opposed any protections for infants born alive after failed abortion procedures and misrepresented his record on this issue during the 2008 campaign;

-- Finally, during the campaign, Obama proudly proclaimed his support for the “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA)

-- the most radical expansion of abortion license in the world

-- and promised to sign the law as President.In addition to his unqualified support for abortion, Obama has promised to provide federal funding for stem-cell research that destroys human life at the embryonic stage.Since taking office, President Obama has engaged in a series of actions that indicate that he is prepared to implement his prior support for abortion.

-- Within the first few days of taking office, Obama overturned the “Mexico City Policy,” a U.S. government policy that denies federal funding to international agencies that promote or perform abortion as a means of birth control;

-- More ominously, when overturning this policy, President Obama indicated his willingness to provide financial support to the United Nations Population Fund, an organization that lost U.S. government funding after it collaborated with the Chinese government’s coercive “one child” population policy.

-- President Obama is filling his Cabinet and Administration positions with supporters of abortion, including Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State (who has long been a proponent of abortion “rights” in the United States and around the world); Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff (who had a 100% voting record with the National Abortion Rights Action League as a member of Congress and a reputation as an aggressive pro-choice politician); Dawn Johnsen, nominee for Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (who was the Legal Director for NARAL and part of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project); Eric Holder, Attorney General (who has been a longtime supporter of abortion “rights”); Melody Barnes, Chair of the Domestic Policy Council (who has been a member of the boards of directors for both Planned Parenthood and Emily's List); Ellen Moran, White House Director of Communications (who is the current executive director of Emily's List); and Thomas Perelli, nominee for Associate Attorney General (who collaborated with pro-euthanasia attorney George Felos to successfully starve Terri Shiavo to death).

-- While he has made no move to encourage the passage of FOCA, many are still concerned that the provisions of FOCA will be added piecemeal to other bills and legislative acts.

-- Finally, President Obama has declared his opposition to the new HHS rule that protects the conscience rights of health care providers. The rule was enacted in the last days of the Bush administration in response to many threats to the conscience rights of physicians, pharmacists and health care providers in the United States.In light of these actions and appointments, we are issuing an urgent appeal to President Obama to reconsider his support for abortion and research that can succeed only by destroying innocent human life. In addition, we offer our prayers, encouragement and appeals to Catholic physicians in the United States to educate the public and to oppose these efforts to promote abortion. Finally, we appeal to all members of FIAMC to be vigilant in opposing the new threats to human life and dignity that could now come from the Obama administration officials in foreign policy positions and at the United Nations.

© Innovative Media, Inc.

Catholics Must Not Abandon Society in the Face of Secularism

Cardinal Agustin Garcia-Gasco, the Apostolic Administrator of Valencia writes to warn against a Catholic retreat from public participation in the present culture, indicating the dire need for faithful followers of Christ owning every aspect of human activity. We must not allow the culture to be hijacked by the enemies of the Gospel.


06:51 pm VALENCIA, 22 Feb. 09 (ACI).- El Administrador Apostólico de Valencia, Cardenal Agustín García-Gasco, llamó a los católicos a ejercer la libertad religiosa en el ámbito público porque de lo contrario "condenan la vivencia y expresión de su fe a la clandestinidad social, limitando su creatividad y empobreciendo su aportación al bien común".En su carta semanal "Cultura del amor frente a laicismo de Estado", el Purpurado advirtió que si se acepta esa restricción a la clandestinidad "¿no estaríamos negando el derecho a existir en la sociedad de nuestras tradiciones, costumbres, arte y cultura de inspiración religiosa?".


Domingo 22 de Febrero de 2009

Cultura del amor frente a laicismo de Estado

La historia reciente muestra la debilidad y el fracaso de una cultura social y política basada en el laicismo radical. Ningún Estado es Dios ni puede pretender ocupar su lugar ante la persona humana.Las mismas relaciones familiares no pueden ser comprendidas desde un esquema de egoísmo materialista. Es más, cuando estas concepciones tan reductoras se imponen, las relaciones familiares se ven afectadas y dañadas en su mismo núcleo pues la estructura de la familia se apoya en el pilar del amor incondicional entre esposos y consanguíneos y en el extraordinario universo de virtudes humanas que hace aflorar la conservación, crecimiento y restauración amorosa, generosa, abnegada de cada uno de los vínculos familiares. Mientras el Estado es incapaz de amar, la familia es el santuario del amor y de la vida personales, la fuente primaria de humanización de la entera sociedad.El triunfo del laicismo radical como ideología de Estado pasa también por el silenciamiento de Dios en la vida pública. En ocasiones, dicho silenciamiento se disfraza bajo nobles finalidades. Esto sucede cuando se quiere conseguir el consenso entre las diversas posturas pagando el peaje de mantener la ausencia de Dios, de omitir los principios de la ley natural o de prescindir del potencial humanizador del Evangelio vivido activamente desde la libertad religiosa.El compromiso social y político de los católicos no puede en modo alguno aceptar esa censura intelectual y moral. Al contrario, la actuación de los católicos en la sociedad y en la política está impulsada por una cultura que acoge y da razón de las instancias que derivan de la fe y de la ley natural, y las sitúan como fundamento objetivo de proyectos concretos. La libertad sirve también para liberarnos de las presiones que intentan reducir la libertad religiosa a la conciencia singular o, como mucho, a la intimidad privada y familiar, sin derecho a que cada persona pueda expresarse legítimamente en sus ámbitos profesionales, artísticos y culturales, sociales y políticos.Si falta ese ejercicio de la libertad religiosa, los mismos católicos condenan la vivencia y expresión de su fe a la clandestinidad social, limitando su creatividad y empobreciendo su aportación al bien común. Si aceptásemos esa restricción a la clandestinidad ¿no estaríamos negando el derecho a existir en la sociedad de nuestras tradiciones, costumbres, arte y cultura de inspiración religiosa? Este patrimonio es fruto de muchas y sucesivas generaciones, que lo han trasmitido vivo a las actuales para que éstas, incorporando su propia creatividad, la transmitan a las futuras. Esta sociedad no es patrimonio del Estado, sino de las personas, de los ciudadanos. Entre ellos están también los ciudadanos de religión católica.El compromiso social y político del fiel laico en el ámbito cultural comporta hoy algunas direcciones precisas. La primera es asegurar a todos y a cada uno el derecho a una cultura humana y civil, que viene exigido por la dignidad de la persona, sin distinción de raza, sexo, nacionalidad, religión o condición social. Se trata de un principio básico que implica el derecho de las familias y de las personas a una escuela libre y abierta; la libertad de acceso a los medios de comunicación social, sin monopolios ni controles ideológicos; la libertad de investigación, de divulgación del pensamiento, de debate y de confrontación. El compromiso por la educación y la formación de la persona constituye, en todo momento, la primera solicitud de la acción social de los cristianos.La segunda dirección para el compromiso del cristiano laico se refiere al contenido de la cultura, es decir, a la búsqueda de la verdad. La cuestión de la verdad es esencial para la cultura. El compromiso del cristiano en el ámbito cultural se opone a todas las visiones reductivas del hombre y de la vida, porque el compromiso cristiano está con la verdad y contra las diversas formas históricas de falsedad, mentira y alienación humanas.En tercer lugar, los cristianos deben trabajar generosamente para dar su pleno valor a la dimensión religiosa de la cultura, que eleva la calidad de vida humana en el plano social y en el individual. En el centro de toda cultura está la pregunta que remite al misterio más grande: el de Dios. La verdadera religiosidad da vitalidad e inspiración. Cuando se niega, se relega, o se excluye la dimensión religiosa de una persona o de un pueblo se niegan también legítimos valores artísticos y culturales que entroncan en el derecho a la personalidad.Animo a todos los fieles católicos y a toda persona de buena voluntad a romper con la cultura de la vaciedad y la desesperanza, para construir el nuevo modo de vivir que surge del Evangelio. Una cultura de la dignidad humana para todos con libertad, con verdad y con apertura a Dios. Tomando inspiración en unas palabras de San Vicente Mártir, pronunciadas durante su martirio, considero que la libertad y dignidad de cada persona humana, sus derechos innatos fundamentales, la verdad de la vida y de la familia no podemos simplemente “susurrarla”. Debemos proclamar la Cultura del Amor alto y claro. Este es el horizonte de progreso irrenunciable. Que ésta sea hoy la inspiración de todos los que buscamos hacer una sociedad mejor.Con mi bendición y afecto,

Media Twist: The Williamson Interview Was Not Released Until the Lifting of the Excommunications

A conspiracy against the Pope behind the negationist bishop
By Andrea Tornielli (Il Giornale)

It is an unofficial dossier, of only a few pages, dedicated to the origins of the Williamson case, much read in the sacred palaces [that is, the buildings of the Vatican where the offices of the Curia are, especially the Apostolic Palace] these days. It is a dossier that reached the desks that count in on the Vatican side of the Tiber and that puts together dates and circumstances, suggesting that what happened in these latest days could be more than a series of coincidences. According to the dossier, the filming and airing of the interview with the prelate denying gas chambers and the reality of the millions of Jews dead during the Shoah, in the eve of the remission of the excommunication of the Lefebvrist bishops was somehow orchestrated by circles seeking to put Benedict XVI in trouble. Circles that might have been helped by some opposition from within, someone contrary to the reconciliation with the Fraternity St. Pius X.The dossier minimizes neither the absurd words pronounced by Williamson, nor the gravity of their coincidence with the Day of Memory, which especially hurt the sensibility of the Jewish world, but it hints to the possibility of interventions aimed at creating the case. Williamson – says the dossier – was interviewed on November 1st 2008 “at the Bavarian seminary of the Fraternity St. Pius X”. The bishop was in Regensburg where he came to ordain to priesthood a Swedish former Protestant pastor. The bishop is reached by the journalist Ali Fegan, of the TV show “Uppgrad Gransking” (“Mission Research”). They talk for one hour. At some point, Fegan reminds Williamson certain negationist statements on gas chambers he had released many years earlier in Canada. The bishops answers by saying the well-known enormities, knowing that his words, in Germany, constitute a criminal offence: “for the things I am saying you could take me to jail since we are in Germany…”The interview was aired on January 21st, the very day of the signing of the decree of remission of the excommunication.


The authors of the show guarantee that it was a coincidence, while the “Dossier Williamson” does not rule out the possibility that the info about the remission of the excommunication was somehow leaked to the Swedish network. During the same show there was also an interview with the French journalist Fiammetta Venner, a well-known militant of the homosexual movement and active in pro-choice campaigns. On the eve of last september’s journey of Benedict XVI to Paris and Lourdes, together with her lover Caroline Fourest – with whom she shares many anti-religious battles and ties to the Grand Orient of France – she authored a book titled “The New Papal Army. Legion of Christ, Opus Dei, Traditionalists”, very harsh against the Pope and against the Lefebvrists, accused of connections with the circles of the French far-right. The dossier insists on the French origin of the case and on the role played by Venner and Fourest in this story. On January 20, on the eve of the airing of the show, the German weekly Der Spiegel revealed in advance the contents of the interview and will go as far as to write that “the Central Council of Jews in Germany “ had been “already informed” of the negationist statements of the bishop.But the decree had been already penned and personally delivered into Fellay’s hands by Card. Giovanni Battista Re, the head of the Fraternity St. Pius X, called to Rome for the occasion. Therefore, when the news of the Williamson interview begun to spread around, it was already to late to do anything. On January 20th, the Diocese of Stockholm and the head of the German Lefebvrists release two distinct communiqués to deplore all forms of anti-Semitism. The news was already in the open, but its scope and its consequences are not perceived in the sacred palaces.A complicated mystery, then, or a series of coincidences? The dossier circulated does not contain evidence. It limits itself to compare hypothesis and data. One thing is sure: not many, in the Vatican, believe that the Williamson case was just a coincidence.
Paolo Rodari also has an interesting story.
(wdtprs.com, 3 February post)

Prayer for the Maligned Pope

Aid Group Invites Prayer for Pope on Sunday
Says He "Incarnates Rationality" in Midst of Attacks


KOENIGSTEIN, Germany, FEB. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Noting that this Sunday is the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, the charity group Aid to the Church in Need is inviting believers to a day of prayer for the Pope.

In a statement today signed by the president of Aid to the Church in Need, Father Joaquín Alliende, the international charity pointed to attacks against Benedict XVI. It noted a "resurgence of the unsavory and aggressive attitudes that many thought belonged to the past."

Though the statement makes no mention of specific issues, it alludes to the turmoil surrounding Lefebvrite Bishop Richard Williamson and an interview in which the prelate denied the gassing of the Jews during the Holocaust.

That interview aired at about the same time as the bishop, along with three other Society of St. Pius X prelates, had their 20-year excommunication lifted, in the framework of Benedict XVI's continuing efforts to heal the schism with the society. Despite repeated reiteration of the Vatican's respect for the Jews and the Pontiff's motives in lifting the excommunication to seek Church unity, the issue was still seen by some as an affront to Jewish-Catholic relations.

Aid to the Church in Need contended that the "dignity of the papacy and the person of Benedict XVI himself have been crudely insulted." They noted manipulation of facts and an "unworthy dealing with the truth."

This, they said, "does grave damage to the dialogue between civil society and the great religions."

However, the statement continued: "In the midst of these strident attacks, the historical personality of Benedict XVI emerges untouched, as a figure who incarnates rationality, lucid wisdom and courteous kindness. That is why many young people find in him a living image of the Good Shepherd."

"For next Sunday we are inviting all those who believe in a God of truth and love to join us in a day of special prayer," the statement concluded. "Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may enlighten and strengthen Pope Benedict XVI as a prophetic witness of the Gospel of Jesus and a guide for a humanity that longs for peace."

© Innovative Media, Inc.
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Firefighters Win Lawsuit Against Vicious Homosexualists

God bless these noble firefighters who have won a fight against homosexualism.

The news story below shows the true face of and devouring nature of the homosexual vice!

Here is a true hate crime and a crime against every type of moral decency. It reminds me of the same crime reported in the book of Genesis when the homosexualists of Sodom sought to rape Lot's guests (the Angels of God: the Triune God Himself: Genesis 19). We must admit that, at it's root, that is what homosexualism is, the attempt to violate God Himself by a complete perversion of the truth. Homosexualism is not about human rights it is a direct attack on decency and a mockery and denial of true religion.

In the face of violent attacks against the decent citizens of our nation we need to coin an appropriate term for the now popular hatred directed toward us who will not tolerate this onslaught of licentious activity and accompanying propaganda. Call it homosexualism (the ideology which denies the immorality of homosexual acts and actively promotes that activity; here we are no longer talking about weaknesses or tendencies but of an ideology which calls evil good and promotes it as if it were good; nor are we dealing with the rights of citizens in the privacy of their homes, this ideology is in the school books and in civic parades, it is promoted by public and private businesses and is prevalent in popular culture [e.g. 2009 Grammy Award performances] brain washing the American people and particularly corrupting our youth, even our girls!). We may also call this ideology disguised Christophobia because, as I have said, the ultimate end of such perversion is a complete rejection of (and renewed attempt to destroy) God whose name is Jesus Christ, perfect man and perfect God.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/

Firefighters forced to participate in ‘gay pride’ parade win lawsuit

San Diego, Calif., Feb 19, 2009 / 09:45 pm (CNA).- A California jury found on Tuesday that four firefighters, who were ordered by their superiors to participate in the city’s “gay pride” parade were sexually harassed, and awarded them monetary damages from the city.
The case dates back to July 2007 when four San Diego firefighters were informed by their superiors that they would be participating in San Diego’s annual “Gay Pride” parade. Though the four men protested, they were ordered to dress up in full uniform and ride on the fire engine along the parade route.

During the event, explains a statement from the Thomas More Law Center, the firefighters were subjected to “vile sexual taunts and gestures.”

Some of the comments hurled at the firefighters along the parade route included: “you can put out my fire; you’re making me hot; give me mouth-to-mouth.” When the firefighters did not respond, some people in the crowd turned hostile and started yelling obscenities at them.

Other bystanders directed lewd acts at the firefighters, such as exposing their genitals, grabbing their crotch, and blowing kisses.

Shortly after the parade, the four firefighters filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego. The first trial ended in a hung jury. However, the jurors of the retrial, which ended yesterday, found in favor of the four firefighters “on all nine questions in the verdict form,” reports the Thomas More Law Center.

The four men were awarded a combined total of $34,300 for emotional distress. In addition, Fire Chief Tracy Jarman has stated that participation in future parades will be voluntary.
Charles S. LiMandri, West Coast Director of the Thomas More Law Center, reacted to the ruling, saying, “This is a victory for all people who are willing to stand up for what is right when it comes to defending our basic freedoms of speech and religion. No one should be forced to be subjected to sexual harassment on the job – not even male heterosexual firefighters who are being harassed by homosexual men at a Gay Pride Parade. All city officials should now think twice before ever making such a wrongheaded decision to violate their employees’ rights in such an improper manner again.”

Co-counsel in the case, Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Joe Infranco added in a statement, “Many people may mistakenly think the ‘gay pride’ parade is merely a ‘fun’ event. They never would have imagined the crude sexual harassment these firefighters were forced to endure.”

Deputy City Attorney Don Shanahan stated that the city will appeal the verdict.
Copyright @ CNA (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com)