Catholic Environmentalism Begins with the Human Person: Human Ecology

The first step toward a correct relationship with the world around us is the recognition by humans of their status as created beings. Man is not God; he is His image. For this reason he must seek to be more sensitive to the presence of God in his surroundings. In all creatures, and especially in human beings, there is an epiphany, or manifestation, of God.

The human being will be capable of respecting other creatures only if he keeps the full meaning of life in his own heart. Otherwise he will come to despise himself and his surroundings, and to disrespect the environment, the creation, in which he lives. For this reason, the first ecology to be defended is "human ecology."

This is to say that, without a clear defence of human life from conception until natural death; without a defence of the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman; without an authentic defence of those excluded and marginalized by society, not overlooking, in this context, those who have lost everything in natural calamities, we will never be able to speak of authentic protection of the environment.

(Excerpts from 9 March Message of Pope Benedict XVI to Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Mariana, president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil; taken from front page of The Wanderer 31 March 2011 Issue)

The Decalogue is Essential for Democracy

In his chapter "Modern Democracy" of Memory and Identity Pope Blessed John Paul II shows that freedom and morality go together saying that "...a State of law accomplishes the purpose of every democracy: that of forming a society of free citizens who jointly pursue the common good." p.132

"...Essentially, the Law [of Israel] consisted of the Decalogue: the ten commandments, the ten principles of conduct, without which no human community, no nation, not even the international community, can function...

"...The divine law of the Decalogue is also binding, as natural law, for those who no not accept Revelation: do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother...Each of these commands from the Sinai code seeks to defend a fundamental good of human and social life. If such a law is placed in doubt, ordered human society becomes impossible and mans's moral existence is put at risk. Moses is not the author of the tablets of the Commandments which he brought down from the mountain. Rather, he is the servant and the spokesman of the Law given to him by God on Sinai." p. 133

This text reminded me of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's historic address at the Synagogue of Rome last year in which he showed the fundamental agreement between Jewish and Catholic moral teachings. Here is the relevant text.

5. Many lessons may be learnt from our common heritage derived from the Law and the Prophets. I would like to recall some of them: first of all, the solidarity which binds the Church to the Jewish people "at the level of their spiritual identity", which offers Christians the opportunity to promote "a renewed respect for the Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament" (cf. Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Jewish people and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, 2001, pp. 12 and 55); the centrality of the Decalogue as a common ethical message of permanent value for Israel, for the Church, for non-believers and for all of humanity; the task of preparing or ushering in the Kingdom of the Most High in the "care for creation" entrusted by God to man for him to cultivate and to care for responsibly (cf. Gen 2: 15).

6. In particular, the Decalogue the "Ten Words" or Ten Commandments (cf. Ex 20: 1-17; Dt 5: 1-21) which comes from the Torah of Moses, is a shining light for ethical principles, hope and dialogue, a guiding star of faith and morals for the people of God, and it also enlightens and guides the path of Christians. It constitutes a beacon and a norm of life in justice and love, a "great ethical code" for all humanity. The "Ten Commandments" shed light on good and evil, on truth and falsehood, on justice and injustice, and they match the criteria of every human person's right conscience. Jesus himself recalled this frequently, underlining the need for active commitment in living the way of the Commandments: "If you wish to enter into life, observe the Commandments" (Mt 19: 17). From this perspective, there are several possible areas of cooperation and witness. I would like to recall three that are especially important for our time.

The "Ten Commandments" require that we recognize the one Lord, against the temptation to construct other idols, to make golden calves. In our world there are many who do not know God or who consider him superfluous, without relevance for their lives; hence, other new gods have been fabricated to whom man bows down. Reawakening in our society openness to the transcendent dimension, witnessing to the one God, is a precious service which Jews and Christians can and must offer together.

The "Ten Commandments" call us to respect life and to protect it against every injustice and abuse, recognizing the worth of each human person, created in the image and likeness of God. How often, in every part of the world, near and far, the dignity, the freedom and the rights of human beings are trampled upon! Bearing witness together to the supreme value of life against all selfishness, is an important contribution to a new world where justice and peace reign, a world marked by that "shalom" which the lawgivers, the prophets and the sages of Israel longed to see.

The "Ten Commandments" call us to preserve and to promote the sanctity of the family, in which the personal and reciprocal, faithful and definitive "Yes" of man and woman makes room for the future, for the authentic humanity of each, and makes them open, at the same time, to the gift of new life. To witness that the family continues to be the essential cell of society and the basic environment in which human virtues are learned and practised is a precious service offered in the construction of a world with a more human face.

7. As Moses taught in the Shema (cf. Dt 6: 5; Lev 19: 34) and as Jesus reaffirms in the Gospel (cf. Mk 12: 19-31), all of the Commandments are summed up in the love of God and loving-kindness towards one's neighbour. This Rule urges Jews and Christians to exercise, in our time, a special generosity towards the poor, towards women and children, strangers, the sick, the weak and the needy. In the Jewish tradition there is a wonderful saying of the Fathers of Israel: "Simon the Just often said: The world is founded on three things: the Torah, worship, and acts of mercy" (Avoth 1: 2). In exercising justice and mercy, Jews and Christians are called to announce and to bear witness to the coming Kingdom of the Most High, for which we pray and work in hope each day.

8. On this path we can walk together, aware of the differences that exist between us, but also aware of the fact that when we succeed in uniting our hearts and our hands in response to the Lord's call, his light comes closer and shines on all the peoples of the world. The progress made in the last forty years by the International Committee for Catholic-Jewish Relations and, in more recent years, by the Mixed Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and of the Holy See, is a sign of our common will to continue an open and sincere dialogue. Tomorrow here in Rome, in fact, the Mixed Commission will hold its ninth meeting, on "Catholic and Jewish Teaching on Creation and the Environment"; we wish them a profitable dialogue on such a timely and important theme.

9. Christians and Jews share to a great extent a common spiritual patrimony, they pray to the same Lord, they have the same roots, and yet they often remain unknown to each other. It is our duty, in response to God's call, to strive to keep open the space for dialogue, for reciprocal respect, for growth in friendship, for a common witness in the face of the challenges of our time, which invite us to cooperate for the good of humanity in this world created by God, the Omnipotent and Merciful...

Roe v. Wade plaintiff stars in pro-life film

Norma McCorvey stars in "Doonby", a pro-life film to come out this September. As you may know she is a great Catholic pro-life activist, having converted consequent to her pioneering for the 1973 pro-abortion law.

Here is a Reuters article on the new film. Click the line above for the trailer.

Cogito Ergo Credo!

Credo ergo cogito.
Credo ergo sum...

...et credo quia sum, quia sum cogitans.

Sum ergo credo.

(Turning an enlightened phrase.)

New Series on Prayer

Today the Holy Father began his second cycle of Wednesday audience catechesis. The first series was on the great Catholic saints and thinkers of all ages. Now he begins a series on prayer.

Bravo!

Christian Faith in the Village

Here is an amazing and young Christian community which has recently begun in New York's East Village! Check it out.

What I find most amazing is that the founder, Guy Wasko's, teachings seem so thoroughly Catholic!

Buy the way, I just sent that community a message inviting them all to the upcoming (15 May) Solemn High Traditional Mass for Artists at the Church of Our Savior in Midtown.

Perhaps I'll even go down to Manhattan with some flyers to hand out on the street to local artists who might be interested in that Mass for them!

Duchess Catherine has always been Anglican

Contrary rumors notwithstanding, it is important to note that Catherine was never Catholic and therefore not bound to have the dispensation from the Catholic parish, which would otherwise have been necessary for the validity of the royal marriage. She was baptized Anglican on the 2 June 1982 at Saint Andrew's Bradfield.

Catholicity of the Royal Wedding

What struck me most about the Wedding of Prince William and his Princess was how thoroughly Catholic the entire ceremony was.

Everything from the kneelers to the vows (emphasizing fidelity, permanence and mutual self-gift) to the Our Father (omitting the typical Protestant addendum: "for thine is the kingdom..."), and even the sermon: quoting only Catholic authors: Saint Catherine of Siena and Chaucer. There was a prominent icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Child, and the Church of Westminster Abbey itself is the Church of Saint Peter!

The ceremony began with the clergy explaining the purpose of marriage: procreation, a check for concupiscence, and mutual spousal assistance.

The central theme of the sermon echoed the thought of Pope Benedict in Deus Caritas Est where he says that marital love must mature and reach a selfless nature in order to be real and truly satisfying.

It is, for this reason, very fitting that the Catholic Church declares that for baptized non-Catholics marriage is truly a sacrament.

It is a bit ironic however, that the Anglican communion and it's clergy should not blush at such a ceremony while officially upholding moral positions which directly contradict the sanctity of this august sacrament: e.g. contraception, divorce and "re-marriage", same-sex "unions". Is it any wonder that that community of believers is experiencing a mass exodus to the true Church of St. Peter: that of Rome?

Universal Call to Conversion

"Jesus did not turn anyone away, nor do we."

So reads a large banner, flanking the doorway with a homosexualist rainbow flag, on the front of a Montclair, New Jersey Protestant "Church"; just blocks south of Immaculate Conception, the prominent Catholic Church in town, and as an unmistakable implied attack against the Catholic Church's clarity on this matter of fundamental human morality: the absolute immorality of homosexual activity, as taught by God Himself and repeatedly recalled in Sacred Scripture and in the constant Christian Tradition.

As often as I see the bold and bigoted Protestant banners I think the neighboring Catholic Church should perhaps hang a banner of its own modestly proclaiming:

"Jesus taught THE TRUTH FOR EVERYONE....And so do we!"...

Catholics distinguish between tendency and act!

Immigration Crisis: No Standards for the Movement of Laborers

Here is the recent concise and provocative lecture given by the Most Reverend Jose H. Gomez, Opus Dei Archbishop of Los Angeles. It is an authoritative and responsible response to the immigration humanitarian crisis of our country which affects us all.

This is a must read for anyone who wants to get some Catholic clarity regarding this complex issue! I'll follow up later with an outline of the main points.


The Immigration Debate and U.S.- Mexico Relations:A Catholic Perspective
Most Rev. José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles
Chairman, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Committee on Migration
Catholic University of America
March 21, 2011

I want to say thank you to Archbishop Romo, Ambassador Sarukhan, and Assistant Secretary Schwartz for your participation in tonight’s program.

We are at an important moment in the relationship between Mexico and the United States. I want to talk about that relationship tonight as it relates to migration between our two countries, and especially the debate over immigration here in the United States.

I have three basic goals tonight: First, I want to outline what I believe to be the root issues with U.S.-Mexican migration. Second, I want to explain the Catholic Church’s approach to these issues. Third and finally, I want to make some suggestions and observations about the current debate in light of Catholic principles.

To start, I need to say two things. First, this issue is personal for me. I am an immigrant myself. My people come from both Mexico and America. I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. My ancestors have been in what’s now Texas since 1805, when it was still under Spanish rule. I still have family on both sides of the border.

I am also a proud citizen of the United States. I love this country and I love the values that it was founded to defend and promote.

I also need to point out something obvious. I am not a politician or a diplomat or an expert in the global economy. I am a Catholic archbishop. That means I am a priest and a pastor of souls. In everything, my concern is to be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to defend and promote the dignity of the human person who is made in the image of God.

I don’t have technical solutions or statistical analysis to offer. But I do think the Catholic Church has a unique and important perspective to offer on these issues.But before I talk about that I want to outline briefly what I think are the root issues underlying the immigration crisis facing our two countries.

For me, the issue is rooted in the processes of economic globalization.

Globalization has expanded opportunities for businesses and for workers. But it has also created new problems in the relationships between our nations. The biggest problem is that while we have developed laws and policies to govern the flow of capital and money, we have no standards for the movement of laborers.

For instance, the North American Free Trade Agreement eliminated tariffs and many restrictions on trade and business in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. But it didn’t include a treaty concerning the mobility of persons.

Money, capital, and other resources now flow more freely between our nations. But human beings — the men and women who do the work — cannot. In the new global economy, there are many safeguards for businesses and financial institutions but very few for workers.

Globalization has exposed — and in some cases made worse — the economic inequalities that exist within and between our nations. To put it very simply: As long as workers can earn more in one hour in the U.S. than they can earn in a day or a week in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, they will continue to seek, by any means necessary, to migrate to this country.

That’s my first point. The primary issues effecting migration between our two countries are economic. People are not so much fleeing tyranny or persecution as they are seeking work and a better future for their families.

My second point is this: The Catholic Church’s approach to immigration is not about politics or economics. It is rooted in the vision of human society that was taught to us by Jesus Christ.

The Catholic Church, from the time of the first Pentecost, has been a family of nations. By definition, the Catholic Church is "universal," one family of God drawn from all nations, peoples, and languages.

In fact, the Catholic Church in the United States is a kind of microcosm of what Jesus intended his Church to be. We are in this country a Church of nearly 60 different ethnic groups — from Asia, Africa, the Near East and Latin America. More than one-third of the Catholics in our country today are Hispanic.

The point is that in the Catholic Church and in the eyes of God, no one is a stranger or an alien. Practically speaking also, U.S.-Mexican immigration for us is a religious and family issue. Because the vast majority of the immigrants we are talking about are Catholics, they are our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

The Church’s approach to these issues starts from Christ’s command to preach the good news of God’s love for all peoples. It starts from Christ’s call that we transform the city of man into the family of God.

What many people don’t realize is that Jesus Christ himself was an immigrant and a refugee.

This is how the Church understands the account in the Gospel of how Jesus, Mary and Joseph were forced into exile in Egypt when Herod sought to kill Jesus.

Pope Benedict XVI has said this:

"In this misfortune experienced by the family of Nazareth, obliged to take refuge in Egypt, we can catch a glimpse of the painful condition in which all migrants live. … The hardships and humiliations, the deprivation and fragility of millions and millions of migrants. …. The family of Nazareth reflects the image of God safeguarded in the heart of every human family, even if disfigured and weakened by emigration."i

Those are beautiful words of concern. And they reflect a long tradition in the Church that goes back to the Gospels.

Christians have always practiced hospitality. The Church has always worked to defend the stranger and care for the immigrant. Even the Roman emperors, who hated the Christians, were amazed by their "benevolence to strangers."ii

Catholics care for immigrants because Jesus commanded it. Because he told us that we must seek God and serve God in the least of our brothers and sisters. Jesus said that when we serve those who are hungry and homeless, in prison and sick, we are serving him.

He even made a point of talking about immigrants and refugees. He said: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . . As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Matt. 25:35, 40).

In the course of 2,000 years, the Church has developed a body of social teachings that are based on the principles of reason and the values of the Gospel. I wish more people knew the Church’s social teaching — including more Catholics. Because this teaching is a real contribution to human civilization. It offers us a powerful vision for how human society can function for the common good and the dignity of all people.

On immigration, the Church has formed three basic principles.The first principle is this: The human family is one, although we have different ethnic origins and we are spread across different continents, regions, and national boundaries. God has made us to be one family.

And God did not create the good things of this earth — its natural resources and opportunities — only for the privileged few. Or only for people in certain countries. God intends the good things of his creation to be shared by all, no matter where we are born or where we find ourselves living.

The second principle is the sanctity of the human person and the family. Our right to life comes from God. That right does not depend on the whims of politicians or powerful people. That right does not depend on economic or political forces. Our rights come from God. And no man, no institution, and no set of circumstances can justify denying those rights.

On this point of the inalienable rights of the person, we should notice that the Church’s teachings are consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and also with the charter of liberties in the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

For us, the universal human rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness imply the right to emigrate — to leave our country if we must, to seek a better life for our families and ourselves. In a world divided by war, famine, persecution, and economic dislocations, immigration becomes a crucial guarantee of our right to life.

The Church’s third principle is that governments have the right to control migration into their countries and to defend their borders. This is important. It means that nations must look at their security and their economic interests in making decisions about who and how many people they allow into their countries. It means that immigrants must respect the laws of the countries they emigrate to.

But the Church also teaches that national sovereignty should never be used as an excuse to deny the rights of needy and decent people who are seeking their livelihood. No country can deny this basic human right to migrate out of exaggerated fears for national security or selfish concerns about threats to domestic jobs or standards of living.

Those are the Church’s principles. Based on these principles, the American bishops have supported a comprehensive reform of our immigration policies that would secure our borders and give undocumented immigrants the chance to earn permanent residency and eventual citizenship.

Also based on these principles the bishops have started our "Justice for Immigrants" campaign. And back in 2003, the U.S. and Mexican bishops wrote an important joint pastoral letter called "Strangers No Longer." All of these initiatives are intended as a thoughtful response to the crisis facing our two countries. I recommend them to you. I believe you will find in them many concrete proposals that could be embraced by all people of good will.

As my final point tonight, let me offer some observations on the current impasse we have reached in the debate over immigration in this country.

I understand the political frustration over this issue. There has been a failure of leadership — and this failure of leadership cuts across party lines. The reasons for the stalemate on this issue are understandable — from a political standpoint. But from a moral standpoint, the results are intolerable and inexcusable.

Again, I am not a politician, but a pastor of souls. As a pastor, I am deeply concerned about the costs of this impasse in the lives of millions of men, women, and children.

Not just the souls of the 12 million without papers who are living at the margins of our society. I am worried about their physical, moral, and spiritual health. When you are a stranger in a strange land — and unwanted — you are easy prey for exploitation. But more than that. When you are a stranger who is despised, it gets harder every day to hold onto your cultural identity, your moral compass, your religion, your dignity. You start to believe what people say about you — that you are no good.

But I’m also worried about our social fabric and civic debate. Right now in this country, there are a lot of people — a lot of good people — who are saying things they know they should never be saying about immigrants. Their anger and frustration is understandable. But their rhetoric and many of their political responses are not worthy of America’s proud history as a beacon of hope for the world’s poor and persecuted.

Our current policies of enforcement — detentions, and deportations — are a humanitarian tragedy. We are destroying families in the name of enforcing our laws.

It is true that many immigrants are in our country illegally. That bothers me. I don’t like it when our rule of law is flouted. And I support just and appropriate punishments. But right now, we are imposing penalties that leave wives without husbands, children without parents. We are deporting fathers and leaving single mothers to raise children on little to no income.

We are a better people than that. We have always been a nation of justice and law. But we have also been a nation of mercy and forgiveness. We can find a better way. I think it begins with the Catholic perspective. It begins in seeing immigrants as human beings. As mothers and fathers. As children of God.

Practically speaking, I would like to see a moratorium on new state and local immigration legislation. And, as the U.S. bishops have called for, I would like to see an end to the severe deportation policies.We need to push for protections of the most vulnerable migrants — children and women, who often fall prey to unscrupulous traffickers and others. We also need reforms in how we issue visas, especially for immigrants and people here illegally who have families.

I also would like to see our two governments begin to talk about some of the underlying issues. We need to find ways to encourage economic reforms and developments throughout Latin America, especially in the poorest countries in the region. We need to find ways to target economic development so that far fewer Mexicans will feel compelled to leave their homes to seek jobs and money in other countries. It is especially important that we work to promote small business and agriculture.

All of these measures would make a real difference in the lives of millions of people. But they are only temporary. We need to muster the political will to fix our broken immigration system. We need to find a way to make the strangers in our midst our fellow citizens.

I believe that today’s immigrants — like generations of immigrants before them — are the hope for tomorrow’s America.

I appreciate your attention tonight, my brothers and sisters. And I am grateful for all that you are doing — and will continue to do — to promote the cause of human dignity and the common good in every aspect of the relationships between our two countries. I look forward to continuing our conversation.

i Message for 93rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees (2007).
ii See the comments of Julian the Apostate in Macmullen and Lane, Paganism and Christianity, 100–425 C.E.: A Sourcebook, 271–272.

Baptizing the Historical-Critical Method

The Holy Father clearly states the purpose of his new work, Jesus of Nazareth in the foreword to the second volume of that work. He intends to help the scientific approach to Sacred Scripture progress beyond it's limited materialistic framework which has brought it to a dead end.

"One thing is clear to me: in two hundred years of exegetical work, historical-critical exegesis has already yeilded its essential fruit. If scholarly exegesis is not to exhaust itself in constantly new hypotheses, becoming theologically irrelevant, it must take a methodological step forward and see itself once again as a theological discipline, without abandoning its historical character. It must learn that the positivistic hermeneutic on which it has been based does not constitute the only valid and definitively evolved rational approach; rather, it constitutes a specific and historically conditioned form of rationality that is both open to correction and completion and in need of it. It must recognize that a properly developed faith-hermeneutic is appropriate to the text and can be combined with a historical hermeneutic, aware of its limits, so as to form a methodological whole.

"Naturally, this combination of two quite different types of hermeneutic is an art that needs to be constantly remastered. But it can be achieved, and as a result the great insights of patristic exegesis will be able to yeild their fruit once more in a new context, as Reiser's book (Murius Reiser Bibelkritik und Auslegung der Heiligen Schrift [2007]) demonstrates. I would not presume to claim that this combination of the two hermeneutics is already fully accomplished in my book. But I hope toa have taken a significant step in that direction. Fundamentally this is a matter of finally putting into practice the methodological principles formulated for exegesis by the Second Vatican Council (in Dei Verbum 12), a task that unfortunately has scarcely been attempted thus far." p. xv

The point about the need of the method to correct itself based on its own principles was made by Cardinal Ratzinger at his historic 1988 Erasmus Lecture in New York City. Click on the link in the text above for a full treatment on that topic.

WQXR, NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO'S ANTI-CATHOLIC BIAS

Someone needs to inform the directors of WQXR that it is Easter! We are presently in the Octave of Easter en route to the Ascension and Pentecost, and the classical station of the metropolitan area is apparently unaware. As far as I can tell there was no scheduled programming for music on the radio to commemorate the Sacred Triduum for which some of the greatest music has been created over the centuries by the greatest composers and with countless historic performances.

It is unconscionable that classical public radio for the metropolitan area, which is composed largely of Christian believers, should neglect to air these all time musical treasures during the feasts for which they were created! Besides, there are many non-Christians who appreciate the great artistic quality of those works and love to hear them, even during these most sacred days!

It seems that the Anti-Christian conspiracy noted in today's Gospel reading (Mathew 28:8-15) continues with our public radio station.

At WQXR 105.9 FM Good Friday 2011 was replaced by "earth day"! whatever that is. Holy Saturday was replaced by the celebration of "Shakespeare's birthday", the date of which is uncertain. And Easter Sunday was simply apparently ignored. No "Happy Easter" from anyone on staff at classical radio. And the greatest records of all time are simply collecting dust in their studios under the present bigoted leadership (or, at the very least, negligently and culpably ignorant).

Francesco and the Pope

Check out the trailer for a new film which was just released in Germany and Switzerland featuring His Holiness Pope Benedict XXI. It is an inside look into the life of an 11 year old member of the Vatican Boys Choir who sings solo for the Pope. Superb!

Francesco und der Papst

Jewish Vicarious Expiation is "Astonishing"

In his remarks on the end of the Temple, Pope Benedict XVI says that the idea that the blood of bulls offered in the Temple touches God and thereby presents and purifies humanity is "an astonishing idea both in its grandeur and its incompleteness, an idea that could not remain the last word in the history of religions or the last word in the faith history of Israel." Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two p. 39

The idea that sacrificing animals and their blood can somehow make things right between a sinner and God is sheer superstition except in its fulfillment in the Suffering Servant, foretold by the prophets: the death and life giving Redemption of the Messiah. Jesus Christ is the true Lamb, Who takes away our sins.

Sluggish Disciples

The Holy Father gave an extraordinary spontaneous reflection, in today's General Audience, on the lack of vigilance of the apostles in Gethsemane, saying that throughout history Christ's disciples often are asleep with their complacent insensitivity to the great horrors of evil, which lethargy comes from personal insensitivity to God: ignoring God.

Bravo Benedetto! as you usher in your seventh year as the Vicar of Christ (yesterday being your sixth anniversary) and your 85th year (having turned 84 last Saturday). Ad multos annos pluros!

Vanitas Mundanorum

Today, Spy Wednesday, is the day of Judas' treason. Judas' pusillanimous sycophancy reminded me of a footnote in the Douay Rheims Bible on the weakness and futility of worldly pursuits:

Psalm 89:9b "Our years shall be considered as a spider..."

"As a spider. As frail and weak as a spider's web; and miserable withal, whilst like a spider we spend our bowels in weaving webs to catch flies."

Simple Non-Sexual Indiscretion Must be Distinguished From Acts of Sexual Abuse

The recent Philadelphia skewed report coupling 21 innocent priests with 2 priests accused of sexual misconduct highlights the need to distinguish accusations regarding non-sexual indiscreet conduct and accusations of sexual actions, and that the procedures for assessing and handling these claims should likewise be quite different given the difference in gravity in the two types of cases.

Father Robert Connor of Opus Dei has posted an article detailing the gross mishandling of that case and the general injustice and lack of support by diocesan officials nationwide for their accused priests, generally treating the accused with the same absolutely intolerant rigor instead of carefully applying the proper procedure for each case for the sake of justice for all parties involved, even the clergy.

In the present reactionary and quite anti-clerical environment it is ironic that the Ordinary/Diocesan Bishop has become the priests' greatest enemy!!!

This general lack of understanding and personal and confidential assistance for accused priests (including priests who might approach their bishops with personal problems in the area of boundaries) should only serve to isolate, reject and destroy many completely innocent and loyal priests.

Homosexualism = Theophobia

Pope Benedict states, in the below citation from a 2005 Address, that the homosexual agenda promoting the confusion and immorality of homosexualism is ultimately an attack on the reality of God, being a contradiction of reality itself. It is an attempt to destroy God the Author and Guarantor of reality.

"Dear Brothers and Sisters, [the] profound bond between God and man, between the love of God and human love, is...confirmed by some negative tendencies and developments, whose weight we all experience. The degradation of human love, the suppression of the authentic capacity to love appears in our time as the most effective weapon for man to crush God, to remove God from man's sight and heart. However, the desire to 'liberate' God's nature makes one lose sight of the very reality of nature, including man's nature, reducing it to an enable of functions, which can be disposed of according to one's pleasure to build a so-called better world and a happier humanity. But on the contrary, the plan of the Creator is destroyed as is the truth of our nature."

In the first part of that same Address he clearly condemns the anarchy which is being promoted in the name of freedom:

"The different forms of the dissolution of marriage, as well as free unions and 'trial marriage,' including the pseudo-marriage between persons of the same sex, are on the contrary expressions of an anarchic freedom that appears erroneously as man's authentic liberation. A pseudo-freedom like this is based on a banalization of the body, which inevitably includes the banalization of man."

Homosex is a Sin

SOME CITATIONS FROM SACRED TRADITION ON HOMOSEXUALITY

Tertullian (2nd century): All other frenzies of lusts which exceed the laws of nature and are impious toward both bodies and the sexes we banish…from all shelter of the Church, for they are not sins so much as monstrosities.” (De pudicitia, IV).

The Council of Elvira (305-306) excluded from communion, even in articulo mortis, the
corrupters of boys…

The Council of Ancyra (314) established penances of at least 15 years for sodomy

St. John Chrysostom (4th century): “… There is nothing, absolutely nothing more mad
or damaging than this perversity.” (Homilia in Epistula Pauli ad Romanos)

The Third Lateran Oecumenical Council (1179) decreed: “Anyone caught in the
practice of the sin against nature, on account of which the wrath of God was unleashed upon the children of disobedience (Eph. 5:6), if he is a cleric, let him be demoted from his state and kept in reclusion in a monastery to do penance; if he is a layman, let him be excommunicated and kept rigorously distant from the communion of the faithful.

Saint Albert the Great (12th to 13th c) gives four reasons for condeming homosexuality: they are born from an ardent frenzy; they are disgustingly foul; those who become addicted to them are seldom freed from that vice; they are as contagious as disease, passing quickly from one person to another. (In Evangelium Lucae XVII, 29).

St. Thomas Aquinas (13th c): Just as the ordering of right reason proceeds from man, so the order of nature is from God Himself: wherefore in sins contrary to nature, whereby the very order of nature is violated, an injury is done to God, the Author of nature. Hence Augustine says (Conf. iii, 8): Those foul offenses that are against nature should be everywhere and at all times detested and punished, such as were those of the people of Sodom, which should all nations commit, they should all stand guilty of the same crime, by the law of God, which hath not so made men that they should so abuse one another…(ST II, II, Q. 154, a. 12, Reply Obj. 1)

Saint Catherine of Siena (14th c) recorded a mystical locution from Our Lord in which
He said: “For Me, this sin against nature is so abominable that, for it alone, five cities were submersed, by virtue of the judgment of My Divine Justice, which could no longer bear them…”

Pope Saint Pius V on April 1, 1566, during his attempt to counter Renaissance
homosexuality, ordered those guilty to be abandoned to the secular arm.

The 1917 Code of Canon Law punished guilty priests, saying: “Let them be declared infamous and suspended from every post, benefit, dignity, deprived of their eventual stipend and, in the gravest cases, let them be deposed” (Canon 2359, par.2).

Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two, Chapter Two

The second chapter is more complicated than the first, but basically there are three points:

1) The Temple disappeared because it's purpose in salvation history was accomplished: Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

2) The Jews will be with us until the time appointed by God.

3) Any talk of the end of the world is properly focused on Christ. Christian vigilance and fidelity to Christ under trial is the main concern here: the urgency of following Him in this life. This is the theme of the Holy Father's encyclical on hope Spe Salvi--that heaven is a Person, and is personal; insofar as we are with Christ we are in heaven, and insofar as we are not with Christ we are lost and indeed doomed to confusion and auto-destruction: Hell, here and hereafter.

The End of the Temple: Christ

"[T]he early Church's conviction [was] that long before its outward destruction, the era of the Temple in salvation history had come to an end--as Jesus had declared with his references to the 'deserted house' and the new Temple...Saint Paul taught that the belief that all sacrifices are fulfilled in the Cross of Jesus Christ, that in him the underlying intention of all sacrifices is accomplished, namely expiation, that Jesus in this way has taken the place of the Temple, that he himself is the new Temple..." p. 38 In Romans 3:23-25 he says "'Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith...'"

The word expiation comes from the Greek hilasterion with the Hebrew equivalent kapporet "designating the covering of the Ark of the Covenant. This is the place over which YHWH appears in a cloud, the place of the mysterious presence of God. This holy place is sprinkled with the blood of the bull killed as a sin-offering on the Day of Atonement--the Yom ha-Kippurim (cf. Lev 16), 'whose life is offered up to God in place of the life forfeited by sinful men'...The thinking here is that the blood of the victim, into which all human sins are absorbed, actually touches the Divinity and is thereby cleansed--and in the process, human beings, represented by the blood, are also purified through this contact with God: an astonishing idea both in its grandeur and its incompleteness, an idea that could not remain the last word in the history of religions or the last word in the faith of Israel." p.39

"When Paul applies the word hilasterion to Jesus, designating him as the seal of the Ark of the Covenant and thus as the locus of the presence of the living God, the entire Old Testament theology of worship (and with it all the theologies of worship in the history of religions) is 'preserved and surpassed' [aufgehoben] and raised to a completely new level. Jesus himself is the presence of the living God. God and man, God and the world, touch one another in him. The meaning of the ritual of the Day of Atonement is accomplished in him. In his self-offering on the Cross, Jesus, as it were, brings all the sin of the world deep within the love of God and wipes it away. Accepting the Cross, entering into fellowship with Christ, means entering the realm of transformation and expiation...The risen Lord is the new Temple, the real meeting place between God and man..." p.39


The End of the World:Christ

"...First, we must of course note the element that is genuinely new: the coming Son of Man, of whom Daniel had spoken (7:13-14), without being able to give him personal features, is now identical with the Son of Man addressing the disciples. The old apocalyptic text is given a personalist dimension: at its heart we now find the person of Jesus himself, who combines into one the lived present into the mysterious future. The real 'event' is the person in whom, despite the passage of time, the present truly remains. In this person the future is already here. When all is said and done, the future will not place us in any other situation than the one to which our encounter with Jesus has already brought us..." p.50

"This personalistic focus, this transformation of the apocalyptic visions--which still corresponds to the inner meaning of the Old Testament images--is the original element in Jesus' teaching about the end of the world: this is what it is all about." p.51

Distinguishing Tendency and Act at the UN

Holy See Statement on "Sexual Orientation"


"Human Sexuality ... Is Not an 'Identity'"


GENEVA, MARCH 24, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, permanent representative of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, delivered Tuesday at the 16th Session of the Human Rights Council on "sexual orientation."

* * *

Mr. President,
The Holy See takes this opportunity to affirm the inherent dignity and worth of all human beings, and to condemn all violence that is targeted against people because of their sexual feelings and thoughts, or sexual behaviors.

We would also like to make several observations about the debates regarding "sexual orientation."

First, there has been some unnecessary confusion about the meaning of the term "sexual orientation," as found in resolutions and other texts adopted within the UN human rights system. The confusion is unnecessary because, in international law, a term must be interpreted in accordance with its ordinary meaning, unless the document has given it a different meaning.[1] The ordinary meaning of "sexual orientation" refers to feelings and thoughts, not to behavior.[2]

Second, for the purposes of human rights law, there is a critical difference between feelings and thoughts, on the one hand, and behavior, on the other. A state should never punish a person, or deprive a person of the enjoyment of any human right, based just on the person's feelings and thoughts, including sexual thoughts and feelings. But states can, and must, regulate behaviors, including various sexual behaviors. Throughout the world, there is a consensus between societies that certain kinds of sexual behaviors must be forbidden by law. Pedophilia and incest are two examples.

Third, the Holy See wishes to affirm its deeply held belief that human sexuality is a gift that is genuinely expressed in the complete and lifelong mutual devotion of a man and a woman in marriage. Human sexuality, like any voluntary activity, possesses a moral dimension: It is an activity which puts the individual will at the service of a finality; it is not an "identity." In other words, it comes from the action and not from the being, even though some tendencies or "sexual orientations" may have deep roots in the personality. Denying the moral dimension of sexuality leads to denying the freedom of the person in this matter, and undermines ultimately his/her ontological dignity. This belief about human nature is also shared by many other faith communities, and by other persons of conscience.

And finally, Mr. President, we wish to call attention to a disturbing trend in some of these social debates: People are being attacked for taking positions that do not support sexual behavior between people of the same sex. When they express their moral beliefs or beliefs about human nature, which may also be expressions of religious convictions, or state opinions about scientific claims, they are stigmatized, and worse -- they are vilified, and prosecuted. These attacks contradict the fundamental principles announced in three of the Council's resolutions of this session.[3] The truth is, these attacks are violations of fundamental human rights, and cannot be justified under any circumstances.

Thank you, Mr. President.

NOTES

[1] Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties, Article 31(1): "A treaty shall be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose" (emphasis added). Article 31(4): " A special meaning shall be given to a term if it is established that the parties so intended. " These rules of treaty interpretation are based on customary international law, and are applicable to "soft law."

[2] Moreover, many publications have given definitions of "sexual orientation," and all of the ones that we have seen are similar: they do not refer to behavior; they refer to sexual feelings and thoughts.

(1) "sexual orientation means the general attraction you feel towards" another person or persons. Equality Commission (The United Kingdom); See, www.equalityhumanrights.com, under "What does sexual orientation mean?

(2) "sexual orientation may be broadly defined as a preference for sexual partners …." International Labour Office, ABC of Women Workers' Rights and Gender Equality (2nd ed., 2007), p. 167). A "preference" is a mental-emotional state; it is not conduct.

(3) "sexual orientation refers to a person's sexual and emotional attraction to people …." Amnesty International, Crimes of Hate, Conspiracy of Silence (Amnesty International Publications, London, 2001), p. vii (emphasis omitted).

(4) "'Sexual orientation' refers to each person's capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to, and intimate and sexual relations …." Asia Pacific Forum, ACJ Report: Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (15th Annual Meeting, Bali, 3-5 Aug. 2010), p. 8.

[3] L-10 on freedom of opinion and expression; L.14 on freedom of religion or belief; L. 38 on combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization.

New Life

Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 2 is filled with provocative thought on taking Christ seriously in the modern world, with the modern mind, perhaps especially for the Jew, for those Jews of our day who are sincerely searching for the truth. It seems to me that the Holy Father's purpose with this work is to take the perspective, perhaps especially, of his Jewish readers, and to honestly answer their legitimate questions, so that they may believe, so that we may all believe more, in the one true God.

He is focusing on, and being especially sensitive to, the legitimate sensibilities of the Jewish people. In the introduction (p. xvi) he explicitly states that this is not just another presentation of the life of Christ.

He says that he is attempting to do what Saint Thomas Aquinas did in his treatise on the mysteries of the life of Jesus in the Summa Theologiae (S. Th. III, qq. 27-59), in a different historical and spiritual context, and therefore with a different inner objective which determines the structure of the text in essential ways: viz., trying to appeal to the modern disbelief. Pope Benedict uses the Enlightenment mentality with the Historical Critical Method to prove the truth of God, Jesus Christ, the Gospels and salvation. Saint Thomas Aquinas appropriated aristotelianism and answered the Islamic interpretations of Christ and of Aristotle. Pope Benedict is appropriating all of the post-enlightenment scientific rigor while answering the present day interpretations of Christ, which are most characteristically beset with woeful ignorance. So, in the process, he is educating the Jews on the deep and unadulterated meaning of Judaism, which many have perhaps forgotten. A Jew who does not know what the scripture says about Judaism cannot know anything about the coming of the Messiah, and, therefore, of the truth of God.

One of the Pope's numerous insights, which, since I read it a couple of days ago, has given me renewed evangelical enthusism and a largely different perspective, is his definition of eternal life. "'Eternal life' is life itself, real life, which can also be lived in the present age and is no longer challenged by physical death. This is the point: to seize "life" here and now, real life that can no longer be destroyed by anything or anyone...[A] distinguishing feature of the disciple of Jesus is the fact that he 'lives': beyond the mere fact of existing, he has found and embraced the real life that everyone is seeking. On the basis of such texts, the early Christians called themselves simply 'the living' (hoi zontes). They had found what all are seeking--life itself, full and, hence, indestructible life." p. 83

That idea is also present throughout the Old Testament. For example, the last verses of the book of Tobias (Douay Version) says: "[Tobias--the younger] saw his children's children to the fifth generation. And after he had lived ninety-nine years in the fear of the Lord, with joy they buried him. And all his kindred, and all his generations continued in good life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to God, and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land."

Life on earth should not, shall not, be drudgery for those who live the new life of God, viz. the life of Christ. Everything is a joy when you live for Him, even death! That is eternal life, that my life should depend on nothing except on the love of the one true God, my communion with Him in all things, starting in this life!!!...and, later, passing joyfully to the life hereafter, at His good will.

Prince of Peace

That is my title for the first chapter of Pope Benedict's newly published book Jesus of Nazareth, Volume 2 (Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection), with my summary of the content below. The Holy Father's title of that first chapter is "The Entrance into Jerusalem and the Cleansing of the Temple"

Christ enters regally into Jerusalem and "cleanses the temple" not in violent revolution but peaceably. Because "[v]iolence does not build up the kingdom of God, the kingdom of humanity. On the contrary, it is a favorite instrument of the Antichrist, however idealistic its religious motivation may be. It serves, not humanity, but inhumanity...The cruel consequences of religiously motivated violence are only too evident to all." p.15

His fundamental purpose in cleansing the temple is to open a space for God in the world by "...remov[ing] whatever obstacles there may be to the common recognition and worship of God..." p.18 And He does that "...with the 'zeal' of self-giving love." p.22 His numerous Temple healings show "...the true cleansing of the Temple...Jesus brings his healing goodness...Jesus does not come as a destroyer." p.23

Jesus never killed anyone, nor encouraged the harming or killing of anyone, and healed everyone who came to Him for healing. "He reveals God as the one who loves and his power as the power of love." p.23 "The 'zeal' that would serve God through violence He transformed into the zeal of the Cross." p.22

The Two Wings of Prayer

Prayer has two wings. One is fasting and the other is alms.


"Lent...is a privileged time for prayer. St. Augustine says that fasting and almsgiving are 'the two wings of prayer,' which give it greater impulse to reach God. He states: 'In this way our prayer, made with humility and charity, in fasting and almsgiving, in temperance and the forgiveness of offenses, giving good things and not returning bad things, removing ourselves from evil and doing good, seeks peace and obtains it. With the wings of these virtues our prayer flies safely and is taken with greater certainty to heaven, where Christ, our peace, has preceded us' (Sermon 206, 3 on Lent: PL 38, 1042). "

(Quote from Pope Benedict XVI Ash Wednesday General Audience 9 March 2011)

El Sol de Buenos Aires

On my recent visit to Buenos Aires I happily noticed the ubiquitous town seal with the Holy Spirit hovering above with the brilliance of the Sun. Would that Argentina should be bathed once again by the light of the Holy Spirit and prosper in the light of it's foundational Catholic faith, in the light of Christ with the guidance of the Pope.

Andrew Cusack has an article on a hopeful Pilgrimage to Argentina's National Marian Shrine of Nuestra Senora de Lujan.

Wicca Teen Becomes Catholic

How a ‘teen witch’ found the Church

By Liz Dodd, UK Catholic Herald
2/20/2011
The Catholic Herald (UK) (www.catholicherald.co.uk/)

In her teens Elizabeth Dodd delved into the world of Wicca, casting spells and conjuring 'spirits'. Then one day she went to Mass in secret. 'One day I came across the Teen Witch Kit by Wiccan author Silver Ravenwolf. It comprised a thin introduction to witchcraft, a pop-up cardboard altar, charms (from a small bell to a pentacle necklace, the five-pointed emblem for Wicca). The book laid out the basic tenets of witchcraft and, crucially, the practice of "magick"


LONDON, England (UK Catholic Herald) - My parents bought me a cauldron for my 16th birthday. Providing no explanation, I had asked for that and a chalice. At a loss, mum suggested it would look nice outside with the geraniums.

My interest in Wicca began as I entered my teens. Wicca and Witchcraft: Understanding the Danger, the booklet I wrote recently as part of the Catholic Truth Society's Explanations series, condenses - after some factual basics about the philosophy and practice of "white" witchcraft - the conversations I had with a Catholic friend and her family that eventually led to my conversion to the Catholic faith. The booklet has caused controversy on the blogosphere: it sold out on Amazon.com and cropped up on the websites of the Telegraph and Daily Mail. What began as a small document to inform Catholics about the realities of Wicca - eg that it isn't Satanism - appears to have re-ignited the persecution complex among Wiccans that I was hoping to diffuse.

I am concerned that as a culture, perhaps as a Church, we can too easily dismiss the spiritual needs of young people. In my family, religion was something to explore and debate. Both my parents are Oxford graduates and historians, my father a Doctor of Maths and Philosophy. His atheism prevailed over my mother's Anglicanism, and neither I nor my sister were baptised.

One day I came across the Teen Witch Kit by Wiccan author Silver Ravenwolf. It comprised a thin introduction to witchcraft, a pop-up cardboard altar, charms (from a small bell to a pentacle necklace, the five-pointed emblem for Wicca). The book laid out the basic tenets of witchcraft and, crucially, the practice of "magick". Wiccan spell casting is governed by two ethics: karma (that what you send out will return threefold) and "an' it harm none, do what you will". I cast my first spell, for protection, when my mother travelled abroad for a work trip: it was the first time she'd been in an aeroplane. As a teenager, with only a limited amount of say in what I'd have for dinner, for example, the idea of unmitigated supernatural power, coupled with such a self-governed morality, was very appealing.

My interest in Wicca increased, even in the face of frequent magickal failure. In the booklet I suggest that Wicca can be an important stage in spiritual growth for a young person. Like many of my generation, I was looking for a religious home. Wicca is far removed from mainstream western religion; it has no hierarchy or clergy, no central texts or commandments. It is a framework upon which young, spiritually hungry people can construct a religious identity independent of their parents. Wicca suited me because it was, quite literally, an unorthodox religious choice. I embraced the Wiccan "holy days" and the duotheism - belief in a goddess and god - that underpinned them. I lobbied my school to include "Wicca" as an option on their registration database; I gave presentations in Religious Studies classes about the heroines of modern witchcraft.

But within a year I had exhausted the canon of literature marketed to teenage Wiccans. An innate respect for history, if not tradition, led to an uncomfortable awareness that the religion as I knew it had existed for little over 20 years, and had manifestly been created by people. I began to study Wicca's older literature: books written by Gerald Gardner, the witch who ostensibly re-introduced Britain to witchcraft and others of his circle (literally and figuratively), including the notorious Victorian occultist Aleister Crowley. I learned about ceremonial magic, branched out into the Jewish Kabbalah and familiarised myself with H P Blavatsky's works on Theosophy. I bought a book about self-initiation into the Golden Dawn tradition - a quasi-Masonic occult order - and began to follow the steps toward its first grade. But my interest in politics, environmentalism and feminism had expanded beyond the questions Wicca could address. If the earth was a deity, did earthquakes suggest she was malicious? Worse, despite some feminist trappings, the occult witchcraft I was studying was at core misogynistic. Crowley wrote some unpleasant things about women; in the works of Anton LaVey, the self-appointed Satanist and a friend of Crowley's, I encountered rants about women's intellectual inferiority.

Finally, inevitably, about three years into my study of witchcraft - like any teenager who has ever played with a Ouija board - I became convinced I had communicated with a "spirit" whom I had failed to banish. The accompanying sense of dread lasted for weeks. A Catholic schoolfriend wrote out the Hail Mary for me - I'd never heard it before - and suggested I say it when I felt spiritually threatened. I stopped practising witchcraft soon afterwards.

My subsequent conversion to Catholicism was gradual. I had been exposed for years to the best means of evangelisation in the Church: the example of a generous, loving Catholic family (the parents and siblings of my schoolfriend) who were ready to argue philosophy over the dinner table. I had always known my friend was a better Catholic than I was a Wiccan. She took my foray into witchcraft with a seriousness that I didn't, challenging me intellectually and morally. She lent me books to explain her Christianity; out of loyalty, I fought her side in the RS lessons in which she was the only vocal Christian. I went to Mass with her family on the eve of a school trip we were taking together. Finally, I sent her a faltering, confused email about where I was, spiritually. Her discretion and her patience were inspiring: it took another three years until I was received into the Catholic Church.

By then I was a fiercely Left-wing, politically active Buddhist vegan: rumours of my conversion would have startled most of my schoolmates. Recognising this, we kept the process low-key. I would accompany her family to the Easter Vigil, amazed by the beauty of the liturgy. I began attending Mass after school, in secret. My life was turbulent. I'd sit in the peace of the Church until the last person was leaving. I realised that the spiritual core of the Buddhism I was trying to practise was Catholicism. I believed in God. From the example of the Catholic family I had grown up around, I believed that Catholicism made you a better person, that it increased your capacity to love.

Soon after leaving school, in my gap year before university, my schoolfriend put me in touch with a wonderful priest. We met almost every week; I studied the Catechism and he, somehow, managed to handle the demands of an intellectually stubborn teenager about to leave to study Theology at Cambridge. After a year's catechesis I realised that nothing intellectual or spiritual separated me from a faith to which I had never imagined I would subscribe. I was baptised and received into the Church at the Easter Vigil - my schoolfriend was my sponsor and "fairy godmother".

My experience of neo-pagans had in fact been largely positive: many Wiccans are intelligent, kind, sincere people. Wicca attempts to meet the needs of a generation terrified of hypocrisy: if even our coffee is Fairtrade, a faith needs to be outstanding to convince us. I was now surrounded by outstanding Catholics; as a Catholic, I know the example I should be setting.

Wicca was an important step in a spiritual journey that led me to Catholicism, but when I was asked to write about it in a booklet, written by a Catholic for Catholics, I felt it would be irresponsible not to mention its inherent dangers - not least the lack of a real support structure. Wicca may be adaptable and relevant; but ultimately I found it intellectually and spiritually unfulfilling.

I still struggle with and face challenges in my faith; I know there are areas I need to better understand. But you can love a work of art without translating every reference. If it is beautiful enough, you can accept that there are elements you won't understand until you meet the artist. The values that brought me into Wicca - ecological, feminist, pacifist - are addressed more deeply by the Catholic Church. It is our responsibility as Catholics to let young people know that these are issues we care about, questions which are posed and answered throughout salvation history.

I passed the cauldron on to my sister: she stores magazines in it.

Wicca and Witchcraft: Understanding the Danger by Elizabeth Dodd is available from the CTS, priced £1.95

Edify

It is much easier to scramble an egg than to unscramble it.

Criticism is cheap; counsel is laborious.

Strive to unscramble the world.

Schedule for Beatification of Blessed John Paul II

The Vatican has released a schedule of events for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, outlining “a major ecclesial event” that will be divided into 5 separate ceremonies.


•On Saturday evening, April 30, a prayer vigil will be organized by the Rome diocese in the Circus Maximus. Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the vicar for Rome, will preside; Pope Benedict XVI will participate by a video link to the Vatican.

•The beatification ceremony will take place in St. Peter’s Square beginning at 10 on Sunday morning, May 1. The Vatican has already announced that no tickets will be required for the ceremony, which is expected to draw 2 million people or more. However the announcement notes that “access to the square and surrounding areas will be regulated by the police.”

•Immediately following the ceremony itself, the remains of Pope John Paul II will be exposed for veneration in St. Peter’s basilica, in front of the Altar of Confession, “for as long as the faithful continue to arrive.”

•On Monday, May 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, will preside at a Mass of thanksiving in St. Peter’s Square.

•Finally, the remains of Blessed John Paul II will be re-interred in the Vatican basilica: in the chapel of St. Sebastian, near the main doorway. This ceremony will be held privately, the Vatican has indicated.

Police will undoubtedly close streets near the Vatican as the time of the beatification approaches, and even pedestrian traffic will be slow on the morning of May 1. Security measures and procedures for gaining access to St. Peter’s Square will be announced as the date approaches.

MSNBC PRO-ABORTION ADVERTISEMENT

The network is airing an incendiary advertisement explicitly maligning the pro-life stance as anti-woman, with the worn out and patently erroneous argument of making abortion "safe."

"Safe abortion" is an oxymoron! Legal abortion kills women and abuses girls and distorts femininity, in addition to destroying maternity in the destruction of the child. It is anti-woman and anti-girl and especially anti-mother; not just anti-baby, though it is also that.

The point in all of this is that pregnancy is a relationship, a personal relationship. Abortion destroys the relationship in destroying one (and at times, both) persons in that most intimate maternal, filial relationship. When that relationship is violently destroyed both persons are violated and damaged.

Abortion is against women and especially against the most innocent women, the young women, the girls, and it is a cover-up for the abuse of women, especially minors. Abuse of women is the major cause of abortion! It is false and deceptive, not to mention, way out-dated, to portray it as their salvation: "safe."

Go to liveaction.org for exposure of Planned Parenthood's conspiracy against women.

Muting the Screen

In line with the last blog entry, I suggest a new function on television and video controls: a "mute" for the screen. In other words, to facilitate home censorship of gratuitous sex scenes on the screen, we need (and have long needed) a "shield", "screen", or "block" button to blacken the screen (at will) during the sexually explicit scenes.

A more advanced form of the same thing would be to have a firewall feature built in to all videos and all television programing to make them decency friendly with one press of a button, sort of like what is already widely available for the Internet.

At the very least, what the ubiquitous mute button is for the audio, we also need for the video a "shield" button.


This could greatly facilitate seeing Jesus in our home theater for "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God". It could also help create a safer home environment especially for the youth.

Censored Cinema Need

What might be of great use would be a sort of league of decency to clean up the blockbuster films and market them under a trademark such as "Decency Films". Perhaps EWTN or even Vatican Television could do that.

This is necessary and, with digital technology, should be very easy. Excise the gratuitous sex scenes from many of the top movies world-wide and you would open the cinematic world to many men and women who hitherto refuse to watch, show or promote those very films because of their indecency and pornographic scenes. Opening that world to holy people might increase the involvement and influence of virtuous people on that world, which is presently so corrupt.

Volume 2 Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus of Nazareth second volume is coming to bookstores on 10 March, published in English by Ignatius Press. The theme is the final phase of Christ's life on earth: His passion, death and resurrection.

The Holy Father, a world-wide best selling author, is meanwhile working on Volume 3 of Jesus of Nazareth which will treat the infancy of the Lord: drawing from Matthew and Luke texts on the annunciation and nativity narratives.

This information comes from Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli's great Italian blog.

Condoms are Bad for Your Health

That was basically the corrective message of Pope Benedict en-route to Africa a couple of years ago and more recently in his comments in Light of the World. The point is that condoms do not technically prevent sexually transmitted diseases, and, more importantly, their use damages the very logic of true love (which is all or nothing) and thereby kills people interiorly (in the depths of their beings [the soul]). That is what we call mortal sin. An act such as condomastic sex is mortally sinful because it destroys the person interiorly and the interior destruction has exterior consequences, viz. venereal disease.

Cardinal Ratzinger clearly made these points in his 29 May 1988 letter to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the full text which I include below.

On "The Many Faces of AIDS"
Letter to Archbishop Pio Laghi
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
May 29, 1988

The lively discussion, widened and sometimes distorted by the press worldwide, which followed the publication of the NCCB Administrative Board's well-known document, "The Many Faces of AIDS," and in which were involved distinguished representatives of the episcopate, has generated in many of the faithful, and not only in the United States, a good deal of confusion regarding the authentic Catholic position on the moral problems involved. The Holy See wishes, therefore, to express its deep concern that the unity so necessary among the bishops in the teaching of Christian moral doctrine be clearly and publicly demonstrated.

In the first place, and on a more general level, one must keep in mind the problem posed by the worldwide reaction which accompanies certain documents issued by various episcopal conferences. This requires a particular sense of responsibility and prudence in the choice of themes to be treated and in the manner in which these statements are published, not to mention a careful composition of the texts themselves. At least in some cases, when the subjects under discussion are of interest to the universal church, it would seem advisable to consult in advance with the Holy See.

Secondly, regarding the precise moral issue in question here, I want to draw attention to the clarification which appeared in the March 10 edition of L'Osservatore Romano, in an unsigned article entitled "Prevention of AIDS: Christian Ethical Aspect," and I quote,

"To seek a solution to the problem of infection by promoting the use of prophylactics would be to embark on a way not only insufficiently reliable from the technical point of view, but also and above all, unacceptable from the moral aspect. Such a proposal for 'safe' or at least 'safer' sex -- as they say -- ignores the real cause of the problem, namely, the permissiveness which, in the area of sex as in that related to other abuses, corrodes the moral fiber of the people."

In the case here under discussion, it hardly seems pertinent to appeal to the classical principle of tolerance of the lesser evil on the part of those who exercise responsibility for the temporal good of society. In fact, even when the issue has to do with educational programs promoted by the civil government, one would not be dealing simply with a form of passive toleration but rather with a kind of behavior which would result in at least the facilitation of evil.

The problem of educational programs in specifically Catholic schools and institutions requires particular attention. These facilities are called to provide their own contribution for the prevention of AIDS, in full fidelity to the moral doctrine of the church, without at the same time engaging in compromises which may even give the impression of trying to condone practices which are immoral, for example, technical instructions in the use of prophylactic devices.

In a society which seems increasingly to downgrade the value of chastity, conjugal fidelity and temperance, and to be preoccupied sometimes almost exclusively with physical health and temporal well-being, the Church's responsibility is to give that kind of witness which is proper to her, namely an unequivocal witness of effective and unreserved solidarity with those who are suffering and, at the same time, a witness of defense of the dignity of human sexuality which can only be realized within the context of moral law. It is likewise crucial to note, as the board statement does, that the only medically safe means of preventing AIDS are those very types of behavior which conform to God's law and to the truth about man which the church has always taught and today is still called courageously to teach.

I am confident that these considerations, which are known to His Holiness and have his fullest support, will be welcomed by the cardinal and bishop members of the conference and I wish to express my sincerest hope for a successful conclusion of this important meeting of the entire episcopate of the United States."

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Prefect, Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Great Films From Around the World

Yesterday, having watched "Adam's Apples" (Denmark, 2002) I concluded that it was among the best movies I had ever seen in it's technical quality combined with it's deep intellectual creative genius--and no nudity or sex scenes!!!


This movie is one of hundreds of selections distributed by Film Movement (based in New York) which seeks to give wider access to the top films from the worlds' top film festivals. Bravo, Film Movement!


A word of caution regarding the nudity in many of their offerings, which is typically limited to one or two skip-able scenes.


Where did I find this resource? My local library!


P.S. This post replies to a previous post.

There Be Dragons

In New York last Wednesday evening I saw a pre-release screening of There Be Dragons. It is a most secular movie. In fact, it is probably the most secular movie you'll ever see about a saint. That is my assessment.

I would say that it is an honest portrayal of a saint as he might be viewed by a non-believer, and can therefore be very effective for our time. Every agnostic, atheist or any non-Christian or lukewarm Christian should see it. It is not a religious movie though religion is featured in it. It is extraordinary for it's lack of triumphalism and it's lack of clericalism. It is a testimony to the unobtrusiveness of holiness. The saint never draws unnecessary attention to himself. This movie is remarkable in that the saint simply passes by without any flare, so that, if you don't pay close attention, you won't even notice that he was there or what his presence did. The bar is very low here. The message is that a saint (like Christ) does none harm and is only humbly trying to help fix a very broken world in which everyone needs to cooperate for the necessary repair. And he does not need center stage to do it!

This movie very well portrays what is said of Christ in Matthew 12:15-21.

"Jesus withdrew from the place; and many followed him and he cured them all, and warned them not to make him known; that what was spoken through Isaias the prophet might be fulfilled, who said, 'Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will declare judgment to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle, nor cry aloud, neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoking wick he will not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory; and in his name will the Gentiles hope.'"