Goodbye - We Will Miss You Our Beloved German Shepherd

Possibly our last image of now-Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. It is official: “Sede Vacante”

Final Images of Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI arrives to Castel Gandolfo, where he will retire temporarily



Benedict XVI leaves the Vatican


Benedict XVI promises 'unconditional obedience' to next Pope


How the pope got things ready before his resignation

Cartoon of the Day: Aid to Syria

Woodward's Not Alone - Fmr. Clinton Aide Davis Says He Received White House Threat

WMAL

WASHINGTON -- Bob Woodward isn't the only person who's received threats for airing the Obama administration's dirty laundry. It seems anyone is a potential target of the White House these days - even former senior members of the Clinton administration.

A day after Woodward's claim that a senior White House official had told him he would "regret" writing a column criticizing President Obama's stance on the sequester, Lanny Davis, a longtime close advisor to President Bill Clinton, told WMAL's Mornings on the Mall Thursday he had received similar threats for newspaper columns he had written about Obama in the Washington Times.

Davis told WMAL that his editor, John Solomon, "received a phone call from a senior Obama White House official who didn't like some of my columns, even though I'm a supporter of Obama. I couldn't imagine why this call was made." Davis says the Obama aide told Solomon, "that if he continued to run my columns, he would lose, or his reporters would lose their White House credentials."



Davis says he does not know if the White House official involved in his case is the same one who is alleged to have threatened Woodward, but he says the language used in both cases is very similar. In any case, Davis says his editor, Solomon, was not worried by the threat.

"He didn't take it seriously, because he didn't think that could ever happen. He thought it was bluster," Davis told WMAL. "I called three senior people at the White House, and I said, 'I want this person to be told this can never happen again, and it's inappropriate.' I got a call back from someone who was in the White House saying it will never happen again."

If it did happen again, Davis believes the administration did it to the wrong person.

"Firstly, you don't threaten anyone. Secondly, you don't threaten Bob Woodward," said Davis. "He's one of the best reporters ever. He's factual. You can disagree with facts that he reports, but he's factual. Don't mess with him about his facts. You can mess with him about the interpretation of his facts, but this is not a reporter you tangle with," he added.

Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - February 28, 2013

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Feb. 28

“Sede Vacante” Special Program

4:00 – The Theology and Legacy of Benedict XVI
Since 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time today, Pope Benedict XVI is now Pope Emeritus. Dr. John Love is a professor at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and joins us to look that the thought and legacy of the Pope Emeritus and he officially enters retirement.

5:00 – Papabili 101
The Pope has left the Vatican and is now officially retired. He is now Pope Emeritus and the Church has entered the period called “sede vacante” – “the seat is empty.” Now we move on the task of electing the next Pope. Speculation is inevitable. And speculation is beginning to swirl about the “papabili" - likely successors to Pope Benedict XVI. In recent years those who were elected pope even though they were not considered papabili include John XXIII, John Paul I, and John Paul II. There is a wry saying among Vaticanologists: "He who enters the conclave as Pope, leaves it as a cardinal.” We talk to Dr. Matthew Bunson about those being discussed and what the Church needs in its next leader.

Sanger’s Racist Legacy Lives on in New York City Schools

February 26, 2013
by Anne Hendershott, Crisis Magazine 

In 1930, Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau allied with the Urban League to bring birth control services to the women of Harlem. By 1939, Sanger had raised thousands of dollars to support an expansion of the initiative she named “The Negro Project.” Targeted toward reducing an African-American population described in Sanger’s June, 1932 edition of Birth Control Review as “breeding carelessly and disastrously,” these early birth control clinics seem to have provided a model for New York City’s School Based Health Centers.

Today, New York City’s public school students—underage and without parental knowledge—are given access to birth control pills, Depo-Provera injections, and the insertion of plastic IUDs to prevent pregnancy. In an analysis of the records of 40 school based health centers in New York City—most of them in schools with large minority populations, the New York Post revealed that about 22,400 students sought reproductive care from January, 2009 through 2012.
In addition to these routine contraceptives, the City’s schools are providing students with Plan-B, the “morning-after pill” to prevent pregnancy. The Post reports that “handouts of the morning-after pill to sexually active students have skyrocketed” from 5,039 doses given to teenage students during the 2009-10 school year, to 12,721 doses given in 2011-12. Under New York State law, minors can obtain reproductive services without their parent’s permission.
Like Sanger’s early alliances with the City, New York’s Bureau of Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health launched the current contraceptive project with a grant from the Fund for Public Health in New York. According to an internal report published by the City, and obtained by a Freedom of Information Law request by the Post, New York City spent $2.7 million on the centers this fiscal year. While the report lauds the reduction in teen pregnancies in the city, it seems that there are some parents, like Mona Davids, president of the NYC Parents Union, who have been critical of the program. According to the Post, Davids, an African-American, noted that most school based health centers are in poor neighborhoods: “This was population control on blacks and Latinos without our knowledge.”
Davids is correct. The National Assembly on School Based Health Care Census report documents that nationally, 70% of the student body in schools with school based health centers are members of minority groups. These groups have long been targeted for all reproductive services—especially abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the abortion rate for black women is almost five times that for white women.
The Reverend Clenard Childress, president of the largest African American evangelical pro-life group in the country identifies abortion providers as marketing reproductive services directly to black women. He blames the availability of these services within the poor urban communities—claiming that their presence in the minority neighborhoods decrease the stigma of such services by signaling social approval for these services—what economists call “reducing the psychic costs.”
The reality is that when an abortion clinic is located in the neighborhood, residents are more likely to see it as just another neighborhood service—like dollar stores and nail salons. Many children grow up in urban neighborhoods seeing abortion clinics on their street corners as they walk to school. Now, they are seeing reproductive services—including the morning after pill—dispensed at their own schools.
The Sanger legacy of encouraging population control for blacks to benefit society continues—even within academia. Professors John Donohue and Steven Levitt of the University of California at Berkeley provided a powerful economic argument in favor of abortion in 1999 that relied on the same stereotypes first promoted by the eugenicists of the Sanger era. In a paper published in the U.C. Berkeley Law and Economics Working Paper Series (No. 2000-18) entitled “The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime,” Donohue and Levitt used elaborate mathematical models to marshal evidence that legalized abortion has contributed to crime reductions. They concluded that more abortions by African American women result in fewer homicides for society, and warn that any restrictions on abortion will result in increased crime because “homicide rates of black youth are roughly nine times higher than those of white youths.”
It is likely that these abortion rates for African Americans will continue to rise. Now, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo—a Catholic who was described in a February 19th column in The New York Times by Ross Douthat as a “functionally post-Catholic creature of the Bloombergist center-left”—has recently moved to reduce any of the state’s restrictions on late-term abortions. Expanding access to late term abortion when the woman’s health is at stake rather than just, as the current law states, when her life is in danger, Cuomo continues to defy Catholic teachings in his quest to increase the number of late-term abortions in New York.
In an interview on TALK 1300 AM Radio, a local radio station in Albany, Dennis Poust, Director of Communications for the New York State Catholic Conference decried Cuomo’s decision to expand access to late term abortion. But, Catholic parents of children in New York City public schools have no choice in their children’s access to abortion and contraception. City officials seem proud that their teen pregnancy rates are declining. But, it is at a high cost for poor families. It is likely that Ms. Davids and the NYC Parents Union will continue to ask questions about a school-based program that appears to replicate the eugenics project implemented by Margaret Sanger back in the 1930s.

By Anne Hendershott

Anne Hendershott is Distinguished Visiting Faculty Member at The King’s College in New York City. Previously, she taught for fifteen years as a tenured faculty member at the University of San Diego. She is the author of Status Envy: The Politics of Catholic Higher Education and The Politics of Abortion.

Countdown to the Conclave, Day 1: Frequently Asked Questions

 

By Deal W. Hudson & Deacon Keith Fournier
February 27th, 2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Our reason for starting this "Countdown to the Conclave" is simple: Let's cut through all the media hype, the spin, the deception, and focus on the basic facts about, and narrative of, the Conclave. Our first offering is FAQ -- frequently asked questions -- about a papal conclave in general and the next one specifically.
WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Our reason for starting this "Countdown to the Conclave" is simple: Let's cut through all the media hype, the spin, the deception, and focus on the basic facts about, and narrative of, the Conclave. Our first offering is FAQ -- frequently asked questions -- about a papal conclave in general and the next one specifically. Here we go:
When will the Conclave be held?
The Conclave of Cardinals will most likely start next week, between March 5th and 8th, according toan informed observer. Vatican law requires a Conclave commence 15 to 20 days after the papacy becomes vacant.
How long will the Conclave last?
The Conclave will probably last one to three days. Benedict XVI was elected on the 4th ballot in 2005. The last Conclave to go more than five days was in 1831, which lasted 54 days.
How many cardinals will be voting?
Of the more than 200 cardinals attending the Conclave only those who are under 80 years of age are eligible, approximately 115. At least one cardinal is not attending: Cardinal Keith O'Brien has chosen to stay away because of allegations of improper relations with other priests.
What is the general make-up of the cardinals who are voting?
The United States will represent 9.4 percent of those voting. Europe will have 52 percent, Italy 24 percent, and 34 percent of the cardinals will come from third world countries -- Latin America will send 16 percent, Africa 9.4 percent, and the same percent will come from Asia. The average age of those voting is 72.
Where is the Conclave held?
The Conclave is held in various sites throughout the Vatican: the cardinals will first assemble in St. Peter's Basilica, then gather again in the Pauline Chapel before proceeding to the Sistine Chapel (singing the Veni Creator Spiritus.) The voting itself is held in the Sistine Chapel under the magnificent painted ceiling of Michelangelo.
How does the voting proceed?
The first ballot may be held on the afternoon of the first day. But if no one is elected or no ballot is held, four ballots are held on each day following, two in the morning, two in the afternoon. If there is no result after three days, a day of prayer and address by the Senior Cardinal Deacon is held, followed by seven further ballots. If there is still no result, another day of prayer and an address by the senior Cardinal Priest can be called. If there is no result after another seven ballots, the senior Cardinal Bishop makes the address on a day of prayer. If seven more ballots do not elect a pope, there will be a day of prayer, followed by a balloting on only two names -- those having received the most votes in the last ballot.
How many votes are needed to elect a new pope?
According to the procedures formalized by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, as modified on February 25, 2013 by Pope Benedict XVI in his apostlolic letter issued motu propio,(on his own authority), Regarding the Election of the Roman Pontiff,
a two-thirds supermajority vote is required to elect the new pope. Acceptance from the person elected is also a requirement.
What happens when a new pope is elected?
The Cardinal Dean meets with the Secretary of the College of Cardinals and the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebration, and the Cardinal Dean asks the pope-elect if he accepts: "Acceptasne electionem de te canonice factam in Summum Pontificem?"or "Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?" (Only one pope-elect in modern times has said "no," Giovanni Colombo in October, 1978.) If he accepts, the new pope immediately takes office, unless he is not a bishop and must be consecrated before assuming office. A priest or a lay person can be elected and would require intermediate steps before becoming pope.
What does the "white smoke" mean?
White smoke signifies a new pope has been elected, black smoke signals there has been no result. Since 1963 chemicals have been added to insure there is no misunderstanding. In 1958 there was confusion when the smoke did not appear either white or black.
When does the new pope choose his name?
After the pope-elect accepts, the Cardinal Dean asks him about his papal name, "Quo nomine vis vocari?" or "By what name do you wish to be called?" After the new pope chooses his name, he returns to the Conclave and the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies releases a document declaring the new name of the pope.
What happens at the end of the Conclave?
The new pope goes to a small room next to the Sistine Chapel, the "Room of Tears", and dresses himself, choosing a set of pontifical choir robes -- white cassock, rochet and red mozzetta -- from three sizes provided. The new pope puts on a gold corded pectoral cross, a red embroidered stole, and wears a white zucchetto on his head. The senior Cardinal Deacon comes out on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and proclaims the new pope's name, beginning with "Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam! or "I announce to you a great joy: We have a new Pope!" The new pope then comes out and gives his first apostolic blessing.

Deacon Keith Fournier and Deal Hudson

Article brought to you by: Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

 

 

 

 

 

Vatican to UN: What makes human rights universal?

(Vatican Radio) “A fundamental question ought always to be present in our minds: are human rights universal because a majority of countries recognizes them, or are they universal because of an ethical claim which is prior to their recognition by states and which comes from the dignity of every person?”: This was the question posed by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States, to the 22nd Session of the Human Rights Council.

Below we publish the statement by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti,
Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States, delivered at the High Level Segment of the 22nd Session of the Human Rights Council, Geneva, 26 February 2013:

Mr President,

Introduction

The need to prevent in the future the immense tragedies of the Second World War, when the dignity of the human person was profoundly violated and entire populations destroyed, created among the international community a convergence of understanding on the basic values that led to the establishment, in 1946, of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, - which was replaced, in 2006, by this Human Rights Council, - and culminated, two years later, in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and related Conventions.

Mr President,

Challenges for the protection of the dignity of the human person

Twenty years ago, the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights proclaimed the indivisibility and universality of all human rights. The effort, however, to give substance to the stated equal importance and interdependence of civil and political rights and of economic, social and cultural rights, still meets with serious obstacles in the path towards its achievement. The resulting gap shows the high costs that large segments of the world population have to pay as shown by their poor health and lack of access to necessary medicines, the lack of adequate education, especially for young girls, the lack of drinking water, of sufficient food, the ongoing political exclusion of millions of people, the lack of security in armed conflicts, the lack of assistance for migrants and refugees, and the lack of freedom of expression and religious liberty. Much remains to be done to make the indivisibility of human rights a reality.
Moreover, recent attempts to re-interpret the meaning of some critical terms in basic documents, like the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and related Conventions, by the introduction of ambiguous expressions and ideological positions appear to ignore the solid foundations of human rights, to weaken the successes already achieved, and to undermine the universality of human rights.
While for too many people fundamental human rights are still a practically unreachable aspiration, the mechanisms that the concert of nations has for the protection and promotion of these rights suffer from some serious contradictions, duplication of structures and limited capacity to implement effectively their mandate, because sufficient resources are not provided, clashes of convictions are increasing among groups, and private interests are pursued instead of the common good.

Mr President,

Role of the Human Rights Council

These challenges surely urge the international community to recall the important role the Human Rights Council is due to play in three main areas:
The Human Rights Council has the mandate and the ability permanently to monitor respect for human rights and to ensure they become a universal standard of achievement for all peoples and nations, and an important milestone of the universal common good;
The Human Rights Council, through its activities ought to promote international respect of human rights in fostering both duties and rights at the same time, and further the concrete freedoms and responsibilities of human beings all around the globe;
The Human Rights Council has grown by supporting the concrete universality and indivisibility of human rights, and it should protect, promote and adhere to these principles in order to resist the slide of human rights into a rhetorical void, an ideology or an instrument of power for imposing political agendas.

Mr President,

Through its mechanisms and procedures, especially the Universal Periodic Review, the Human Rights Council is a key driving force for human development, and a positive service to member States that can progressively improve the implementation of all human rights for the benefit of their fellow citizens and other persons found in their territory.
However, the way so-called “new rights” are discussed and recognized by the Human Rights Council puts at risk the universality and indivisibility of human rights and, consequently, the credibility of the Council as a promoter and defender of the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. A fundamental question ought always to be present in our minds: are human rights universal because a majority of countries recognizes them, or are they universal because of an ethical claim which is prior to their recognition by states and which comes from the dignity of every person? The Holy See firmly believes that human rights should be judged by their reference to the founding principles and objectives enshrined in the basic documents where the nature and innate dignity of the human person are key elements. In his 2009 Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI rightly observed: “A link has often been noted between claims to a ‘right to excess’, and even to transgression and vice, within affluent societies, and the lack of food, drinkable water, basic instruction and elementary health care in areas of the underdeveloped world and on the outskirts of large metropolitan centres. The link consists in this: individual rights, when detached from a framework of duties which grants them their full meaning, can run wild, leading to an escalation of demands which is effectively unlimited and indiscriminate.”
Thus the protection of the dignity of every human person, on one hand, and the full implementation and respect of the Resolutions of this Council, on the other hand, urge all States to work together, in a spirit of dialogue and openness, to adopt Resolutions in a consensual way. In fact, the number of resolutions is less important than their effectiveness, the imposition of new rights and principles should be replaced by respect for and strengthening of those already agreed upon. In this way, the common good will be sought, cooperation among nations will be reinforced, and the principle of subsidiarity will be fully respected.
In this context, the Holy See will continue to contribute to this Council’s discussions, so as to offer an essentially ethical reflection upon its decision-making, and so as to help safeguard the dignity of the human person.

Mr President,

Allow me to address some specific concerns that appear particularly urgent today, and that would give greater credibility and status to the Council.

Freedom of religion

One of the challenges the international community has had to face in recent years is the right to freedom of religion. International law is quite substantial in this regard. So why does it remain one of the most frequently and widely denied and restricted rights in the world? Authoritative studies have recently shown that violations of freedom of religion are not abating, but have in fact increased over the last decade. More than 70% of the world’s population lives in places where religious freedom is not fully guaranteed, with high restrictions on religious beliefs and practices, and religious minorities pay the highest price. It seems then that, despite all the legal instruments available, a minimal protection of freedom of religion has not yet been achieved in many countries.
Reasons for this include poor state legislation, lack of political will, cultural prejudice, hatred and intolerance. These factors often accompany the violation of freedom of religion. However, key to upholding freedom of religion is its recognition as grounded in the transcendent dimension of human dignity. The freedom safeguarded in the freedom of religion cannot be reduced simply to its political or even civil dimension. It is a freedom that signals a limit upon the state, and a protection of the conscience of the individual from the power of the state. That is why when a state safeguards it properly, freedom of religion becomes one of the sources of the state’s legitimacy, and a primary indicator of democracy.
A full recognition of religious freedom, therefore, requires a state, which recognizes the transcendent dimension of human dignity. The issue at stake, then, is the recognition of the positive dimension of religions in the public square as a force for peace and freedom. This is accompanied by a correlative duty on the part of religions to participate in public debate, an exercise that is part and parcel of democratic life.
Among the many concerns linked to freedom of religion, the fate of religious minorities stand in particular relief, including Christian communities suffering violence and cruelty. As the last Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion shows, more can and should be done to protect the freedom of religion of religious minorities.

Mr President,

Confronted by conflicts in various regions of the globe and by the constant risk of fresh outbreaks of violence, the international community is struggling to find new ways to ensure peaceful coexistence, as the Charter of the United Nations requires and as the current debate on the right to peace argues in a convincing way.

Peace as a condition for human rights

No lasting peace can be achieved without a true recognition of the dignity of every human person. Peace is not only reached when armed conflict ends, however important a step this might be; peace is earned by a society in the long term when the rule of law translates into action the standards of human rights as recognized by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and by the international Conventions on human rights, a task that the Holy See constantly advocates in the most diverse circumstances.
Key to this search for international peace in a globalized world is, once again, the preservation and promotion of the universality and indivisibility of human rights. In today’s context of an ever-growing inter-connection between societies, adhering to the standard of human rights becomes both increasingly more important and a condition for social harmony and peace. This requires defending the life of the human person, from conception until natural death; protecting the rights of the child, especially the right to have a family, founded on marriage between one man and one woman, and upon whom falls the primary responsibility of education of children; defending the rights of disabled people, of migrants and of refugees; protecting freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of association and so on; combating discrimination based on sex, religion, race and colour; and combating violence against women.
In the context of the discussion on human rights and how they should be given concrete and practical application, special attention must be paid to the right to life, to its promotion and to the deepening of our understanding of it. No peace can come without the true recognition of the value of human life. Respect for the value of life is by no means a limitation or contradiction of expressions of freedom. On the contrary, freedom of choice flourishes where the deeper and prior value of human life is acknowledged and safeguarded. Indeed, “openness to life is at the centre of true development ... By cultivating openness to life, wealthy peoples ... can promote virtuous action within the perspective of production that is morally sound and marked by solidarity, respecting the fundamental right to life of every people and every individual.”

Mr President,

The Catholic Church’s contribution to human rights

The Catholic Church’s acknowledgement of the legitimacy of human rights is not only a moral or political duty. It has deep roots in its convictions and beliefs. This is due to the way the Church views the human person and his or her dignity. Fifty years ago Blessed Pope John XXIII wrote: “Any well-regulated and productive association of men in society demands the acceptance of one fundamental principle: that each individual human being is truly a person. His is a nature that is endowed with intelligence and free will. As such he has rights and duties, which together flow as a direct consequence from his nature. These rights and duties are universal and inviolable, and therefore altogether inalienable. When, furthermore, we consider a human being's personal dignity from the standpoint of divine revelation, inevitably our estimate of it is incomparably increased. Men and women have been ransomed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace has made them sons and friends of God, and heirs to eternal glory.”
Therefore, millions of individuals and thousands of Catholic communities and NGOs around the world have taken up the task of promoting respect for the dignity of the human person and his or her inherent human rights as one of their responsibilities and de facto are engaged in practical actions to support and promote awareness of the critical importance of human rights.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mr President, the Holy See cooperates with all people of good will who work to ensure that the Charter and the principles of the United Nations are not only proclaimed, but also recognized in their genuine formulation, meaning and application. Several decades ago, the late Pope Paul VI appealed for the world’s commitment to close the gap between the ideal and the reality. He wrote: “The vastness and the urgency of the action to be carried out call for the united contribution of all. How can we see to it that international resolutions be applied among all peoples? How can we ensure the fundamental rights of man, when they are mocked? How can we intervene, in a word, to save the human person wherever it is threatened? How can we make those in charge realize that it is a question of an essential heritage of man that no one can harm with impunity, on any pretext, without making an attempt on what is most sacred for a human being and thus ruining the very foundations of social life? All these are grave problems and we cannot make any mystery of the fact: it would be useless to proclaim rights if at the same time we did not do everything in our power to ensure the duty of respecting them, on the part of everyone, everywhere and for everyone.”

Thank you, Mr President.

Obama administration to federal judge: We can force your wife to violate her religion

 

by Joe Carter, Life Site News

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 26, 2013, (Acton Institute) - Has there ever, in the history of America, been a presidential administration as dismissive of religious liberties as the Obama Administration?
The Administration seems to truly believe that when religious beliefs come into conflict with one of the President’s pet policies—such as employers being forced to pay for contraceptives and abortifacients—that religious liberties must be set aside. A prime example is the Administration’s idea that by forming a business entity intended to limit liability, a person loses their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.
As CNSNews reports, during an oral argument in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last fall, a lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge that the Obama administration believed it could force the judge’s own wife—a physician—to act against her religious faith in the conduct of her medical practice.

Here is the exchange, from the official court transcript, between this Obama administration lawyer and Judge Walton:

Benjamin Berwick: “Well, your honor, I think, I think there are two distinct ideas here: One is: Is the corporation itself religious such that it can exercise religion? And my, our argument is that it is not. Although again, we admit that it is a closer case than for a lot of other companies. And then the second question is, can the owners–is it a substantial burden on the owners when the requirement falls on the company that is a separate legal entity? I think for that question precisely what their beliefs are doesn’t really matter. I mean, they allege that their religious beliefs are being violated. We don’t question that. And we don’t question that that is the belief.
Judge Reggie Walton: But considering the closeness of the relationship that the individual owners have to the corporation to require them to fund what they believe amounts to the taking of a life, I don’t know what could be more contrary to one’s religious belief than that.
Berwick: Well, I don’t think the fact this is a closely-held corporation is particularly relevant, your honor. I mean, Mars, for example–
Judge Walton: Well, I mean, my wife has a medical practice. She has a corporation, but she’s the sole owner and sole stock owner. If she had strongly-held religious belief and she made that known that she operated her medical practice from that perspective, could she be required to pay for these types of items if she felt that that was causing her to violate her religious beliefs?
Berwick: Well, Your Honor, I think what it comes down to is whether there is a legal separation between the company and—
Judge Walton: It’s a legal separation. I mean, she obviously has created the corporation to limit her potential individual liability, but she’s the sole owner and everybody associates that medical practice with her as an individual. And if, you know, she was very active in her church and her church had these same type of strong religious-held beliefs, and members of the church and the community became aware of the fact that she is funding something that is totally contrary to what she professes as her belief, why should she have to do that?
Berwick: Well, your honor, again, I think it comes down to the fact that the corporation and the owner truly are separate. They are separate legal entities.
Judge Walton: So, she’d have to give up the limitation that conceivably would befall on her regarding liability in order to exercise her religion? So, she’d have to go as an individual proprietor with no corporation protection in order to assert her religious right? Isn’t that as significant burden?

In reference to the judge's concerns, the government lawyer says, “I actually don’t think it is that important.” What he does believe is important is contraceptives, since they are “important to the health and well-being of women and to advancing gender equality.” Yet even if we concede this point, the Administration has given no rational explanation for why is it necessary for an employer to violate their conscience in order to pay for someone else’s contraceptives.
Fortunately, on Nov. 16, Judge Walton granted Tyndale a preliminary injunction preventing the Obama administration from forcing the corporation to violate the religious beliefs of its owners. Hopefully, when the issue is taken up by the Supreme Court the judiciary will, once and for all, put an end to President Obama’s trampling of religious freedom.

Benedict’s Men: U.S. Vocations Strengthen During His Eight-Year Papacy

Seminarians and young priests credit the Holy Father’s example of fidelity with opening their own hearts to the call of Christ.

by PETER JESSERER SMITH, 02/26/2013, National Catholic Register

Pope Benedict speaks April 19, 2008, to a Young Catholics event at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.

– Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images

 

WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy may have lasted eight years, but the retiring Holy Father and his reforms have left their mark on the American priesthood and sparked a new uptick in vocations.
Father Michael Roche, 34, remembers when he left his desk at a Pittsburgh accounting firm to watch the news of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s election to the papacy in 2005.
“I was just thrilled and filled with tremendous joy,” Father Roche recalled. He had walked away from his cubicle at the Grossman, Yanak and Ford building upon hearing the news of “white smoke” to watch the television in the company cafeteria. He was a layman asking questions about his vocation at the time and felt a surge of excitement to learn that Cardinal Ratzinger, whom he viewed as “a figure of strength in the Church,” had accepted the call to take the Chair of Peter.
Father Roche recounted the words of Pope Benedict to young people at his inauguration Mass that inspired his priestly vocation: “Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. ... Open wide the doors to Christ — and you will find true life.”
“That was pivotal in my life,” Father Roche told the Register. “I can’t say I had been afraid of Christ, but I was not convinced that a vocation to the diocesan priesthood could be lived in this day and age.”
But Benedict’s words filled the young Catholic with a new confidence to discern his vocation. Less than a year later, he joined the seminary to become a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
As Pope Benedict leaves the papacy to make way for a new successor, U.S. vocations directors say they’ve seen a surge in new applicants to their seminaries in recent years.
Father Carter Griffin, vice rector at Blessed John Paul II Seminary in Washington, said the Archdiocese of Washington’s new seminary opened its doors in 2011 and is already near capacity.
“Benedict was able to open up new vistas to people,” Father Griffin said. “For them, to see this man of profound faith, love and hope on the world stage has been an enormous benefit on the world and on vocations.”
It’s a scenario that is also playing out at already established seminaries such as Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md.
“We’re experiencing the largest numbers that we have had in years,” said Msgr. Stuart Swetland, who teaches pre-theology to seminarians at the Mount.
Msgr. Swetland said that most of the men he teaches are between the ages of 21-25 and were teenagers when Blessed John Paul II died.
“They are more affected by Benedict,” he said. “I think the young are responding to the fact that he takes them seriously enough to do something beyond themselves.”

A Seminarian’s Perspective
Pope Benedict’s challenge to young people to embrace the faith and the New Evangelization captured the imagination of Andrew Buonopane, 24, now a second-year seminarian for the Washington Archdiocese.
“The Year of Faith and the call to the New Evangelization are right up my alley, personally,” Buonopane said. “It addresses the concerns of skeptics and non-believers in ways that make sense to them.”
Buonopane knows this from personal experience. Encountering the Pope during his historic April 2008 visit to Washington played a key part of Buonopane’s return to the Catholic faith during his college days at George Washington University.
“It’s solely during his papacy that I’ve been conscious of God and my faith life,” he said, adding that he continued to deepen his faith by reading the Pope’s works. “As I started to learn more about my faith, Benedict was there for me.”
Worldwide, the Catholic Church has seen an increase of more than 6,000 priests during Benedict’s papacy, most of them to the diocesan priesthood, according to data collected by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). The number of diocesan priests in the world exceeded 277,000 in 2010, levels higher than those recorded in 1970, the year Paul VI introduced the new form of the Roman liturgy.
Father Sean McKnight, executive director for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee of Clergy, Religious and Consecrated Life and Vocations, said that the United States experienced the depths of its decline in the numbers of new priests and seminarians during the 1980s and 1990s.
The U.S. defied a global turnaround in the Church’s vocation decline that occurred under Blessed John Paul II. Worldwide, the annual number of new diocesan priestly ordinations had increased by nearly 2,500 between 1985 and 2005, when 6,614 men were ordained. Graduate-level seminarians increased from more than 43,000 to about 58,500.
Yet, over the same time period in the U.S., the annual number of priestly ordinations had dropped from 533 to 454, and new seminarians had declined from 4,000 to 3,300.

Halting the Decline
Father McKnight said that Blessed John Paul II did much to staunch the hemorrhaging of U.S. vocations, but Benedict was able to take additional action that helped change the priesthood’s image of corruption and embolden “good, healthy candidates to come forward.”
“Benedict has helped ensure that Catholics know there is a very good program and norms for the formation of our priests in place at seminaries,” Father McKnight said.
Under the authority of Pope Benedict, the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education put in place new strict directives for seminaries in 2005, calling for screening requirements that barred candidates with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” or psychological immaturity from entering the priesthood.
The same congregation also launched an apostolic visitation of U.S. seminaries, sending teams of three and four to inspect more than 200 U.S. seminaries and formation houses between 2005-2006. The teams were tasked with examining the seminaries' intellectual and moral formation of candidates, especially in the area of chastity, their fidelity to the magisterium and their criteria for evaluating candidates to the priesthood.
The final report recommended that seminary rectors keep “barriers to ordination high,” encouraged bimonthly confession for seminarians, advocated a return to traditional acts of piety and a shoring up of seminarians’ intellectual formation and training in moral theology.
Benedict’s encouragement of the U.S. bishops to look for “quality not quantity” in potential new priests also relieved bishops of the pressure to try to remedy the priest shortage by accepting unsuitable candidates, Father McKnight said. And U.S. seminaries greatly benefited from the influx of highly qualified and credentialed formators the bishops commissioned in response to the Vatican’s report, according to Father McKnight.
“The seminary-formation programs require a critical number of priests that are properly credentialed in the various philosophical and theological fields,” he said. “In general, the more we improve the quality of formation in our seminaries, the more vocations we retain, and the more ordinations we have."
Father McKnight said his committee has witnessed a steady increase in new ordinations and seminarians since 2006. According to CARA, new U.S. ordinations rose to 480 in 2012, and the number of seminarians had increased to more than 3,700.

Bishop Bruskewitz
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., said the Church needed to screen out candidates with same-sex attraction, which he said has fueled “a great deal of sexual scandal and misconduct” that has roiled the Church.
“The priesthood is a precious and wonderful gift that God gave to his Church,” Bishop Bruskewitz said. “There are certain people who are just not suitable to the priest’s function of standing in the person of Christ.”
Father Griffin, who is responsible for directing vocations at Blessed John Paul II Seminary, said the clear norms put in place by Benedict assist the Washington Archdiocese in ensuring they are forming priests as good pastors.
“If someone is not mature in all respects, it will be impossible for him to be properly formed,” Father Griffin said. “It doesn’t mean he can’t become a saint, but it does mean he can’t be a good candidate for holy orders.”
Bishop Bruskewitz oversaw a surge of vocations in the Diocese of Lincoln under both John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He said that both Popes were “in sync” with each other and inspired seminarians to adopt the “authentic interpretation” of the Second Vatican Council and its spiritual reforms. But he said Pope Benedict brought to the papacy a much stronger emphasis on liturgical prayer and the learning of Latin.
Bishop Bruskewitz cited the Holy Father’s 2007 motu proprioSummorum Pontificum, which authorized wider celebration of the old form of the Roman rite, and said Benedict’s own example in celebrating the liturgy had increased “attention to liturgical tradition [among priests and seminarians] more than in years before.”

Lesson of Humility
Benedict XVI’s last act in the papacy has left the priests and seminarians whose vocations he inspired with a profound lesson of humility.
“It’s a reminder that the priestly ministry is never about me,” Buonopane remarked. “It’s not based off what a great person I am, my particular gifts, charisma or anything that I might provide for myself. It’s only founded on the instrumentality God entrusts me with.”
Buonopane said Benedict’s influence will forever leave its mark on his vocation.
“The Church is certainly worth my life,” he said. “Benedict gave me confidence in the Church that I was dedicating myself to.”

Peter Jesserer Smith writes from Rochester, New York.

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Cartoon of the Day: Sequester

Thousands go to St. Peter's Square to say farewell and thank you to the Pope

In an emotional address at the last weekly public audience of his pontificate, Benedict XVI promised the faithful that he would continue to serve the Church through prayer after his resignation.

The Pope remarked that “whoever assumes the Petrine ministry no longer has any privacy. He belongs always and entirely to everyone, to the whole Church. His life, so to speak, is totally deprived of its private dimension.” After resignation, he said, “I am not returning to private life, to a life of trips, meetings, receptions, conferences, etc. I am not abandoning the Cross.” He said that he would remain entirely devoted to the Church, in the service of prayer.” Pope Benedict said that throughout his pontificate he had felt the strong support of the Holy Spirit and of the faithful. “Thank you; I am truly moved,” the Pope said to the tens of thousands of people who crowded into St. Peter’s Square for the Wednesday audience, and interrupted him repeatedly with loud applause. The Pope added the light-hearted comment that “we also have to thank the Creator for the beautiful weather that He is giving us now, even in winter.”

Pope Benedict devoted his prepared remarks to a retrospective look at his pontificate, thanking his collaborators. He again explained his decision to resign:

In these last months I have felt that my strength had diminished and I asked God earnestly in prayer to enlighten me with His light to make me make the right decision, not for my own good, but for the good of the Church. I have taken this step in full awareness of its seriousness and also its newness, but with a profound peace of mind. Loving the Church also means having the courage to make difficult, agonized choices, always keeping in mind the good of the Church, not of oneself.

As he prepares to step down, the Pope told the crowd, “I feel that I am carrying everyone with me in prayer in this God-given moment when I am collecting every meeting, every trip, every pastoral visit.” He offered thanks to God, and spent several minutes thanking his collaborators: the cardinals, the members of the Roman Curia, the Rome diocese, the Vatican diplomatic corps, and “the many people around the world who, in recent weeks, have sent me touching tokens of concern, friendship, and prayer.”

In an overview of his term as Roman Pontiff, the Pope observed:

It has been a stretch of the Church's path that has had moments of joy and light, but also difficult moments. I felt like St. Peter and the Apostles in the boat on the See of Galilee. The Lord has given us many days of sunshine and light breezes, days when the fishing was plentiful, but also times when the water was rough and the winds against us, just as throughout the whole history of the Church, when the Lord seemed to be sleeping.

Pope Benedict concluded:

In our hearts, in the heart of each one of you, may there always be the joyous certainty that the Lord is beside us, that He does not abandon us, that He is near and embraces us with His love. Thank you.

A Reporter's Big "Oops"

Remember Mo Farah, the British runner who won two golds in London? His win over training partner Galen Rupp was one of the most thrilling moments of the 2012 Olympics. The British crowd roared as he crossed the finish line, and he became one of the biggest celebrities of the Olympics.

But an anchor at a New Orleans television station must not have remembered the moment. After Farah won the New Orleans Half Marathon with a time of 61 minutes, she asked him if he had ever run before.




It also appears that she doesn't know the difference between a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and a marathon (26.2 miles.)   Regardless of her gaffe, Farah completed an amazing run. After spending most of his career on distances of 5,000m - 10,000m, he transitioned to a half-marathon by running it in an hour and 59 seconds and setting a course records.

Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - February 27, 2013

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Feb. 27

4:00 – Kresta Comments

4:20 – Papal Resignation a “Striking Example” of Personal Vocation
For the last several weeks Russell Shaw has been teaching an online course about the role of the Catholic laity. They had just gotten to the subject of personal vocation when the startling news came through: Benedict XVI was stepping down as pope. Posting a question that Monday morning to get his students' discussion rolling for the week, he began by remarking that Pope Benedict's action was "the most striking example of personal vocation that I've seen in a long time." The very first of them to respond said this: “Personal vocation is just that, personal. Not every man who is pope will retire as Benedict XVI just did. It is part of God's plan for this man, at this time, in this case.” Russell joins us to discuss personal vocation in light of the Holy Father’s decision.

5:00 – Kresta Comments

5:20 – The Morning-After Pill: What Does it Do?
On Feb. 21, the German Bishops' Conference announced that Catholic hospitals under their jurisdiction could prescribe the “morning-after pill” to rape victims, a policy shift that reflects the position of the U.S. bishops. The German bishops stated that Church health-care facilities could provide the medication as long as it would have “a preventive and not an abortive effect.” Hours after the news from Germany, some U.S. media cited the policy change as evidence that the Catholic Church no longer believed that Plan B acted as an abortifacient. Further, commentators suggested that the news raised questions about the Health and Human Services' mandate legal challenges filed by Christian business owners, who said they could not provide abortion-inducing drugs, like Plan B and “ella,” in their employee health plans. We sort this out with Fr. Tad Pacholczyk of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

5:40 – Kresta Comments

Benedict’s New Name: Pope Emeritus, His Holiness Benedict XVI, Roman Pontiff Emeritus

Vatican discloses the new forms of address for the Pope, whose last day in office is on Thursday

by  EDWARD PENTIN 02/26/2013, National Catholic Register

– miqu77/Shutterstock.com

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI will officially be called “His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus” or simply “Roman pontiff emeritus” after he steps down from the papacy on Thursday.
Following Vatican tradition upon the death of a pope, his ”Fisherman’s Ring” also will be destroyed and he will return to wearing his episcopal ring from his time as Cardinal Ratzinger.
These were just two of a series of significant aspects concerning the papal resignation and the following interregnum disclosed by the Vatican today.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters the Holy Father had chosen his new title after consulting with others. Contrary to recent reports, he said the Pope preferred not to use the title “Bishop Emeritus of Rome” that some had predicted, including a senior Vatican canonist.
The Vatican disclosed that in retirement, the Pope would also wear a simple white cassock but without the mozzetta (elbow-length cape). And instead of red shoes, he will wear brown ones he was given last year in León, Mexico, a city “famous for beautiful and comfortable shoes.”
Father Lombardi stressed that the Holy Father is “spending these last days in the apostolic palace in a spirit of prayer” and will have no meetings, talks or audiences today. His aides are currently packing his belongings; those related to his office as Pope he will leave behind for his successor, while files from his time as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are being sorted and packed.
The Vatican spokesman said that Benedict XVI has been receiving “hundreds of messages from all over the world from heads of state, world leaders and others.” Archbishop Georg Gänswein, prefect of the Pontifical Household, is reading a selection of them to him, Father Lombardi said, so that he knows “of the love, gratitude and affection from people throughout the whole world.”

His Final Day
Fifty thousand tickets have been requested for tomorrow’s general audience, the Pope’s final appearance in St. Peter’s Square, but many more people are expected. The Holy Father will be driven around the square so many of the faithful can see him up close, but he will not be having the usual bacciamani — the brief personal greetings that take place after the ceremony — because too many want to personally say goodbye to him.
Instead he will be having a private audience afterwards in the Clementine Hall with a small delegation of heads of state from nations including Slovakia, San Marino and Andorra, as well as Horst Seehofer, minister-president of Bavaria, Germany.
At 11am on Thursday, the final day of his pontificate, the Pope will meet cardinals in the Clementine Hall. After a short address from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals, each cardinal will have a chance to say something personally to the Pope.
At 4:55pm, the Pope will be taken down to the San Damaso courtyard in the apostolic palace where Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and other senior staff from the Secretariat of State will bid him farewell.
He will then be driven to the heliport in the Vatican Gardens where he will take his leave from Cardinal Sodano and others, before boarding the helicopter for the 15-minute flight to the apostolic palace at Castel Gandolfo. There he will be greeted by civil authorities and Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano. The Pope will greet the faithful from balcony in the courtyard of the apostolic palace.
At 8pm, the gates will symbolically close and the Swiss Guards will leave the premises as their duty is to protect the Pope - the office that Benedict will no longer hold from that moment forward. However, the Vatican reassured that Benedict XVI will continue to have security protection from the Vatican police instead.
The Pope’s ring and his papal seal are to be destroyed soon afterwards, according to the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis (On the Vacancy of the Apostolic See and Election of the Roman Pontiff), but the exact time is to be determined by the College of Cardinals, the Vatican said.

The Cardinals Assemble
Not until the period sede vacante begins can Cardinal Sodano send a letter to the cardinals asking them to come to Rome.
The Vatican said prelates will not be housed in the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence until the eve of the beginning of the conclave so that the rooms can be prepared. They will be assigned rooms by lot beforehand.
The meetings of cardinals prior to the conclave, called the general congregation, will take place in the New Synod Hall, in the Paul VI hall. During these discussions, the assembled cardinals will prepare for the election of the new Pope, examine the conclave rules and, similar to a synod, discuss the challenges facing the Church.
One of the first and most pressing duties is deciding on whether to move the date of the conclave forward, as allowed in the Pope’s motu proprio, published Feb. 25. Usually a conclave can only start from a statutory 15 days after the death or resignation of a pope.
The Vatican stressed the formal convocation of cardinals is a formality as some are in Rome already, but it still has significance. Father Pius Pietrzyk, a canonist from Zanesville, Ohio, told the Register that the new motu proprio “requires all cardinals to respond to the convoking of the conclave” and that “only those who are unable to attend by reason of illness or other grave impediment are excused.” Moreover, he added, “it is up to the cardinals to decide what that means.”
This may be particularly pertinent to Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien, the former archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, who, along with Indonesian Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, has said he will not be attending the conclave. Although Cardinal O'Brien is ill, his resignation statement suggested he would not be voting due to the media attention his presence is likely to bring on account of allegations of misconduct, allegations Cardinal O’Brien denies.
“What if the Cardinal-Electors decide that is not a sufficiently grave reason? Then they have to wait for him to attend before they can set an earlier vote,” noted Father Pietrzyk, who is currently based in Rome. All voting cardinals, except those legitimately impeded, must be present before they can vote to begin the voting early.
“A cardinal can always refuse to attend,” Father Pietrzyk said, “but unless excused, the cardinals may not vote before the lapse of the 15 days.”
Father Pietrzyk is wary of beginning before the required 15 days as it might add “a degree of ambiguity” to the election.
“If it’s just one cardinal, I don’t think anyone will seriously question the election,” he said, but added, “If we as a Church have learned anything over the last 2,000 years, it’s that we must avoid at all costs anything that would, even in the slightest, question the legitimacy of the Holy Father.”

Edward Pentin is the Register’s Rome correspondent.

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Interesting Fact: There's a Yawning Need for Boring Professors

The Study of Monotony Sees a Burst of Activity; Are Parliamentary Proceedings Too Exciting?

By RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN, Wall Street Journal

In John Eastwood's subterranean lab at York University in Ontario, Canada, young adults sit watching video clips: They are part of a test to see just how deeply bored they can get.
Dr. Eastwood, a Canadian psychology professor, is one of a growing number of researchers in what is becoming an exciting field of inquiry: boredom studies. The young adults in his lab watch dry instructional videos all in an effort to help researchers understand how we experience boredom, what causes it, and eventually, how to relieve it.
Boredom researchers are used to the jokes, but they contend that theirs is a fascinating field. For one thing, boredom has serious consequences for health and productivity, they say, linked to depression, overeating, substance abuse, gambling and even mortality—people may, indirectly, be "bored to death." One 2010 study found that the boredom-prone are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease than their more-engaged brethren.
With the debut of new academic papers and symposia on boredom in the workplace and cross-cultural experiences of inactivity and boredom, there is a boomlet in boredom studies. November marked the third annual Boring Conference in East London, where speakers delivered PowerPoint presentations on such topics as toast—yes, toast—and a discontinued portable keyboard, to a sold-out audience of about 500 rapt attendees.
From a scholarly perspective, "boredom is a gold mine," says Mark Fenske, a neuroscientist and researcher at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
To define and measure boredom, Dr. Eastwood and other researchers simulate extremely dull conditions in the laboratory for participants, typically college students.  A blend of repetitive tasks and time-stretching delays usually does the trick, bringing on the condition of what Dr. Eastwood jokingly describes as "super-boredom."
Researchers rely on several tried-and-true techniques to bore study subjects. Among them: Counting the appearance of a certain letter in a long list of bibliographic references; tracing circles over and over agai

n; having subjects wait for longer than they expected before beginning a task, while remaining seated; or watching particularly dull videos, such as a 25-minute video on learning English as a second language.
One scientific paper fairly raves, calling the clip "monotonous, well below participants' skill level…highly understimulating."
Wijnand van Tilburg, a psychology professor and boredom researcher at the University of Limerick in Ireland, says that he has bored students in the lab by having them watch an educational film about setting up a fish farm, including scenes with fish tanks and nets and "a very monotone voice-over," he says. Participants "do not find this particularly exciting."
While such research is done in a number of countries, Canada seems to be a hotbed of boredom studies. James Danckert, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo, in Canada, recently conducted a study to compare the physiological effects of boredom and sadness.
To induce sadness in the lab, he used video clips from the 1979 tear-jerker, "The Champ," a widely accepted practice among psychologists.
But finding a clip to induce boredom was a trickier task. Dr. Danckert first tried a YouTube video of a man mowing a lawn, but subjects found it funny, not boring. A clip of parliamentary proceedings was too risky. "There's always the off chance you get someone who is interested in that," he says.

 

John Eastwood

Finally, a colleague shot her own video of family members hanging laundry and asking for clothespins. The nearly four-minute clip turned out to be just dull enough, Dr. Danckert says.
To better research the condition, Dr. Eastwood and colleagues developed a standard measure of boredom levels that asks participants to respond to statements such as "I wish time would go by faster," "Everything seems repetitive and routine to me," along with "I feel like I'm sitting around waiting for something to happen."
Neurologically, scientists are still working to understand boredom's effects on the brain, but they theorize that the state involves a failure in the neural networks that control attention.
In another recent paper, Dr. Eastwood and two colleagues set out to write the ultimate scientific definition of boredom, culling through decades of research papers to assemble a description of the phenomenon. Their definition describes an unpleasant state of "wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity," caused by problems with the brain's ability to pay attention.
Bored people typically blame their environment, not themselves, for the state, thinking "this task is boring" or "there is nothing to do," the paper found.
Australian anthropologist Yasmine Musharbash says that people experience boredom differently across cultures. She spent nearly three years studying boredom among the Warlpiri people, an aboriginal group in the central Australian settlement of Yuendumu.
Unlike most Americans, the Warlpiri spent virtually no time alone, so they felt boredom as a group. "Nobody would say 'I am bored.' They would say 'It is boring,' " Dr. Musharbash says.
Smartphones and digital devices may also change the way people feel boredom, researchers say. Mobile devices offer entertainment with a single touch, but researchers speculate that may leave some feeling even more bored when they aren't plugged in. Resorting to "Angry Birds" and other passive entertainment prevent people from actually engaging with others or with their surroundings, which are more proven ways to keep boredom at bay, Dr. Eastwood says.
Connecting a dull activity (scoring tests, say) to a meaningful purpose (determining scientific results) can help maintain attentiveness. And physical activity, such as going for a walk or even fidgeting and doodling, can keep people engaged, researchers say.
Even boredom researchers fall prey to the occupational hazards of their jobs. Some of their work, like data entry, is tough to make stimulating for even the most keen boredom scholar. But Dr. Musharbash, the anthropologist, says her work has helped her pep up potentially dull situations in her own life.
She turns tedium into academic opportunity while waiting in long lines at the bank or the market. "I watch how exactly everyone else is bored," she says.

 

Call Me the Optimist – A Meditation on Recent Reports of Crisis and Conclave

 

By: Msgr. Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

 

I’ve been asked by a few readers of this blog to record a few thoughts about the events surrounding the resignation of Pope Benedict. Over the weekend especially, many rumors circulated, regarding a seedy backstory to the resignation.

I am not surprised to read of such rumors in secular media sources, but I must admit I was surprised to read some of these things reported in Catholic sources.

As for me, it remains a rumor, and rumors are best unrepeated.

I prefer simply to take Pope Benedict at his word. He indicates that, given the effects of age, he thinks is best step back for the sake of the Church. I know of no other walk of life where we have, or expect 85-year-old man to hold a position that would tax a man half his age.

The fact is, the Papacy has changed, even in my own brief lifetime. When I was a child, it was common to refer to the Pope as the “prisoner the Vatican.” For, when a man was elected pope, he went into the Vatican, and was not seen outside again except at the window.

Pope Paul VI began to change this when he flew to the United Nations, and made other trips to the Holy Land and a few other places. At that time it was a stunning and bold move, that the Pope would actually emerge from the Vatican, get on a plane, and go somewhere!

This move opened the door on the modern papacy. Pope John Paul II obviously ushered it in full force. And now the papacy is a jet-set and very vigorous public presence in the world. The Pope is expected to be out and about, and make quick responses to worldwide issues. The pace is quick and the mileage long. All day, there are exhausting meetings with heads of state, and many other significant individuals who expect to meet with the Pope.

Yes, the days are very long and taxing. Even at age 51 I think I would be taxed by such a pace such high expectations. That an 85-year-old man thinks it’s best for younger man to take the position makes a lot of sense. The other alternative would be to dramatically scale back Pope Benedict’s calendar and duties. But his judgment is the Church needs a Pope to meet the current duties and that these are reasonable expectations for the office of the papacy.

This is how I understand the Pope’s resignation, according to what he himself is said. And the rumors and accusations of grave scandals are of no interest to me. Scandals will inevitably arise, but woe to those through whom they come (Lk 17:1).

In all of this let me also state my firm position that I remain very optimistic about the state of the Church today. Not only does she have the promise of the indefectability from the Lord, but I am seeing sure signs of great renewal especially here in America.

While I am less certain about the state of the Church in Europe, here in America our seminaries are beginning to fill again, many new and reformed religious communities are coming back alive, many superb Lay movements, and great clerical and lay leadership is developing. Our numbers in the pews do continue to decline, but I see many things being put in place that will address and prepare the Church for the near future.

It may well be, that a smaller and disciplined army is necessary for what may be difficult days ahead for Western culture as it continues to descend into deeper darkness. Yes, the Church is getting increasingly focused on her main mission, which is to be a light in the darkness, to continuously strive to make disciples, and to bring people into a life-changing, transformative relationship with Jesus Christ.

I think persecutions will probably arise in the near future but maybe that’s just what we need. And besides, the Church has a good track record of not only enduring persecution, but thriving in the midst of it

Even this weekend I have been able to celebrate many great signs of life. In Lent, the preaching circuit really lights up for me, and I’ve had a very busy weekend. I spent Friday and all day Saturday preaching a retreat 30 seminarians from the Archdiocese of Washington. Altogether we have well over 70 seminarians, and we are having to add a new wing to the seminary to accommodate more. These are good men, men who love the Church, who love the truth and are preparing to speak the truth in love. I am confident that all them I met will make great priests. The Seminary named for Blessed John Paul II, is a great place. The Priests who staff the seminary and teach are very solid and orthodox. Liturgies are well celebrated and in the men, both priests and seminarians show a strong faith.

In my parish convent we are blessed with the Servant Sisters of the Lord, a newer order who outgrew their last Juniorate and recently had to move to larger quarters. These are great religious sisters, joyful and passionate for the Lord and His Church. Vocations for their order and of several other orders like them are going strong.

Having completed preaching the retreat at the seminary, I was privileged to celebrate masses of my own parish on Sunday, the Church was filled with many lively and wonderful Catholics, who came to hear the Word of God and to receive Holy Communion.

And then, just this evening, I am returning from Southern Maryland where I preached the first night of a three-night revival in one of our parishes. The Church was filled with people eager to hear a word from God and have their faith strengthened.

Yes, God is alive and he’s gathering his faithful. Even if the overall numbers in the Church are down a bit, those who remain are becoming increasingly vigorous and vibrant in their faith, more clear about what it means to be a Catholic in these days and times.

So put me in the optimist camp, I think God is doing great work in purifying his Church. So many things are improving! I remember some very dark times in the early and mid-80s when I was in seminary and I must say that, in many ways, the tide has completely turned. On-going purification is necessary, but so much has been accomplished!

The Lord Jesus loves his Bride the Church, and His love for the Church is becoming increasingly evident to me.

Yes, call me an optimist, and call me uninterested in the rumors swirling, about Vatican corruption. If there is need for reform in the Vatican bureaucracy, the Lord Jesus will accomplish it. Jesus loves his Bride. I know that first-hand experience what he can do by way of reform.

I realize there are some who read this who will consider my remarks wrong or naïve They will recite to me let me of things they think are still wrong, everything ranging from liturgy to authority and discipline. I do not say the Church is perfect and I know on-going reform is still necessary. But I am saying that I see what God has done is doing and I know He will continue to do.

As we head for conclave, call me the optimist, call me the joyful son of Mother Church, everything will be alright, indeed, everything already is alright because Jesus is the Head of the Body the Church, and the beloved groom of the Church the Bride.

If you call me a fool, at least add that I was a fool for Christ. Call me naïve but at least said that my naïveté is rooted in an undying confidence in the love of Jesus for his bride the Church.

Was that a lightning bolt that struck the Vatican or was it a divine dose of refining fire and dynamic power from on high?

This pope has been a very good father

February 24, 2013 New Advent

By Father George Rutler

The meteorite that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains with the force of thirty atomic bombs had the biggest impact since the one that exploded over Tunguska in 1908 with a force more powerful than all the bombs, including the atomic ones dropped in the Second World War. But such a force of nature, when observed passing safely by with breathtaking speed, can also be a sign of the beauty and brevity of all things.
So it was in “The Year of Three Popes” when the death of Paul VI was followed by the death of John Paul I just four weeks after his election, and then the election of John Paul II. Cardinal Confaloniere said of John Paul I, in the exquisite Latin for which he was famous: “He passed as a meteor which unexpectedly lights up the heavens and then disappears, leaving us amazed and astonished.”
The impact of that pope's sudden death seemed at the time to be immeasurably hurtful, and yet he made the way for many providential events. Now the gracious abdication of Pope Benedict XVI also amazes and astonishes. When he assumed the papacy, he knew the work would not be easy: “Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.” Without histrionics or self-pity, he quietly took up his burden in the succession of St. Peter to whom the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not; and that when you are converted, you will strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31-32).
In many glorious ways, Benedict XVI has done just that. With unerring fidelity he has explained the sacred deposit of the Faith to its opponents, both cultured and uncultured, with patient eloquence and stunning insight. Many reforms in the Church’s structure and the purification of abuses were his intense initiatives. Rather like St. Francis of Assisi going to meet with the caliph of Egypt clad only in simplicity, Benedict XVI refused to wear a bullet-proof vest when he went to Turkey, turning the anger of many to respect. A new reverence and beauty in worship has been his gift to the Church through his renewal of the sacred rites, and the provision of an ordinariate for whole groups seeking full communion with the Church “amazed and astonished” many.
Now, his renunciation of the Keys entrusted to him, teaches the essence of the papacy as a stewardship that transcends the charisms of any individual. Officially, a pope is Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God. But to the world, this Pope has also been a very good Father.
Father Rutler is Pastor of the Church of Our Saviour in New York City.