Talking about the "things that matter most" on May 17
4:00 – Pastoral Theology: What is it and why does it matter?
Pastoral Theology is the branch of theology concerned with the practical application of theology in the pastoral context. This approach to theology seeks to give practical expression to theology. Normally viewed as an 'equipping' of ministers, practical theology is often considered to be more pragmatic than speculative, indeed, essentially a practical science. Hence its main interests are in those areas of theology which will aid the clergyman in ministry. Topics tend to include homiletics, pastoral care, sacramental theology, and ethics. All branches of theology, whether theoretical or practical, purpose in one way or another to make priests, pastors, and others in a pastoral role "the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1). Pastoral theology presupposes other various branches, accepts the apologetic, dogmatic, exegetic, moral, juridical, ascetical, liturgical, and other conclusions reached by the ecclesiastical student, and scientifically applies these various conclusions to the priestly ministry. We talk with Doug Bushman about “pastoral theology.”
4:40 – An Introduction to Transhumanism: Attempting to Make a New Type of Person
The ideas of the young international movement known as "transhumanism" are beginning to characterize the thinking of an increasing number of clinicians and bioethicists. Transhumanism is really a set of ideas that has developed in response to the rapid advance of biotechnology in the past 20 years (that is, technology capable of and aimed at manipulating the physical, mental and emotional condition of human beings). Conventional medicine has traditionally aimed at overcoming disorders that afflict the human condition; it has prescribed leeching, cauterizing, amputating, medicating, operating and relocating to dryer climates, all in order to facilitate health and militate against disease and degeneration; in other words, the purpose has been to heal. Technology is now making possible interventions that in addition to a therapeutic aim are intended to augment healthy human capacities. There is a gradual but steady enlargement taking place in medical ideals from simply healing to healing and enhancement. We are all too familiar with "performance enhancing drugs" in professional sports. But biotechnology promises to make possible forms of enhancement that go far beyond muscle augmentation. We explore this “brave new world” with E. Christian Brugger of the Culture of Life Foundation.
5:00 – Finalmente: Coming Into the Church
It was last October, the Red Mass, said on that first Sunday in October just before the opening of the Supreme Court on the first Monday. Hadley Arkes and his wife Judy were at the service at St. Matthew’s in Washington, and were on the way to the Hilton on Sixteenth Street for the lunch following the Mass. Suddenly, and happily, they were joined on the walk by Fr. Arne Panula, whom Hadley had met years ago at the Opus Dei house in New York. He had moved over to direct the chapel and programs at the Catholic Information Center at Fifteenth and K. In a bantering way, Fr. Arne confronted me: “You, the most notable figure at the threshold, never quite crossing it.” (Never actually coming into the Church.) “What’s holding you back?” Hadley dipped into the repertoire of Bert Lahr from the Wizard of Oz: “C-c-c courage! it’s what I haven’t got.” A few months later he was received into the Church. Hadley is with us to discuss his journey. He says - taking a line from Fr. Richard Neuhaus - it may be a story about, “How I became the Catholic I was.”
5:40 – A Report on Catholic Commencement Season / Marquette President Defends Catholic Identity
The U.S. bishops have stood publicly and in unison against Catholic honors for those who publicly and clearly oppose Catholic teaching, most dramatically in response to last year’s Notre Dame ceremony. So what happened this year? It appears that more than 95 percent of our Catholic college leaders this year have taken the high road, and Catholics should applaud that. For 17 years, the Cardinal Newman Society has encouraged the renewal of Catholic identity at Catholic colleges and universities. CNS has publicly identified Catholic institutions that choose commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients whose public actions and statements are contrary to key teachings of the Catholic Church. Recent years have seen a marked decline in these scandals, from 24 in 2006 to just nine this year. We review the commencement season with Newman Society President Patrick Reilly.
5:50 – Real Protection in a Hook-Up World: What Every Parent Needs to Know
If you think sex education is still about the birds and the bees, you're wrong. And it's not about science either. If you're a parent with children in the public school system, you need to know what's really going on. Dr. Miriam Grossman, M.D. rips back the curtain on sex education today, exposing a sordid truth. She is here to discuss real protection in a hook-up world – what every parent needs to know.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Catholic school girl who refused headscarf for mosque trip labelled a truant
Amy Owen, 14, and fellow girl pupils at a Catholic secondary school were told to cover their heads and wear trousers or leggings out of respect for their Muslim hosts.
But when her mother objected, saying she did not want her daughter to 'dress as a Muslim', she received a sternly worded warning letter from the headmaster saying she had no choice.
Peter Lee, head of Ellesmere Port Catholic High School in Cheshire, informed her that the local diocese 'requires' pupils to have an understanding of other religions.
In the letter - with words in block capitals and underlined - Mr Lee said the visit was 'as compulsory as a geography field trip'.
He added: 'There are two reasons for these visits. One is that the scheme of work in religious studies REQUIRES children to have knowledge and understanding of other world religions.
'A failure to do this could result in an unwelcome inspection judgement. None of us would relish that.
'Whilst I may not require you to pay for this I must require your child to participate.'
Amy's mother Michelle Davies refused to back down and, after being told no teachers would be back at school to keep an eye on her daughter, she kept her at home, citing religious objections - as did as many as ten other families.
Yesterday, after the school acted on its threat to class Amy's absence as truancy, Miss Davies accused it of discriminating against Christian pupils.
Read more here...
CA Univ. Student Admits to Wanting Jews Dead
A Muslim and supporter of genocide is flushed out by David Horowitz at a speech during "Israel Apartheid Week" at the University of California San Diego. Watch all the way to the end (about 3 min.) and see her finally admit that she wants all Jews "hunted down" and killed. This is a student at the University of California San Diego. Horowitz was hosted by Young Americans for Freedom. Watch the video below or here.
Can a Baby Sling Bring You Closer to Christ?
A guest commentary from our friend Clare - Especially interested in you comments on this one!!
"It occurred to me recently that slings - you know, those variously shaped and sized baby-holders that parents use to hold their babies - all the rage since attachment parenting burst on the scene over a decade ago - could lead to a religious revival.
My thinking goes something like this: it seems to me there is a catch-22 between the breakdown of the family and the breakdown of faith in modern society. It's hard to say which came first, but it does seem that conversely, the reconstruction of either one would lead to the reconstruction of the other.
Since children have grown up in broken families, without anyone really knowing or loving them, it only makes sense that they would have a hard time understanding the filial love of the Father or feeling any real obligation to reciprocate that love in some way.
And while we will always have broken families among us, this new phenomenon of the baby sling has arisen in the last ten years or so. When I had my first child almost eleven years ago, I received a sling as a gift and as far as I remember, it was the only type of baby sling being made at the time. Today, my go-to website for baby carriers, milkface.com, offers upwards of fifty varieties of slings, including the Blue Celery, the Chimparoo, and the Peekaru. I do believe that the rise in the baby sling's popularity offers some small measure of hope for those of us who pray for the healing of the family. Here you have parents who are committed to attachment parenting. They "wear" their babies for hours, developing the parent-child bond as well as the child's ability to bond later in life with other people.
The thought of it kinda makes me want to strap my 10-month-old on right now!"
"It occurred to me recently that slings - you know, those variously shaped and sized baby-holders that parents use to hold their babies - all the rage since attachment parenting burst on the scene over a decade ago - could lead to a religious revival. Since children have grown up in broken families, without anyone really knowing or loving them, it only makes sense that they would have a hard time understanding the filial love of the Father or feeling any real obligation to reciprocate that love in some way.
And while we will always have broken families among us, this new phenomenon of the baby sling has arisen in the last ten years or so. When I had my first child almost eleven years ago, I received a sling as a gift and as far as I remember, it was the only type of baby sling being made at the time. Today, my go-to website for baby carriers, milkface.com, offers upwards of fifty varieties of slings, including the Blue Celery, the Chimparoo, and the Peekaru. I do believe that the rise in the baby sling's popularity offers some small measure of hope for those of us who pray for the healing of the family. Here you have parents who are committed to attachment parenting. They "wear" their babies for hours, developing the parent-child bond as well as the child's ability to bond later in life with other people. SO, if the sling thing works, then these children would be more bonded to their parents, more able to bond to other people, and - presumably - more able to understand, receive and reciprocate the love of God the Father, Jesus the Good Shepherd, and the Holy Spirit, the Advocate.
And if they are more able, don't you think we might see real faith begin to grow - a real Revival?
The thought of it kinda makes me want to strap my 10-month-old on right now!"
Today on Kresta - May 14, 2010
Talking about the Things That Matter Most on May 14
4:00 – Kresta Comments
4:20 – Next Acts in the Legionary Drama
Over the past year, members and friends of the Legionaries of Christ and its affiliated lay movement, Regnum Christi, have worked hard in trying to “save what can be saved” from the wreckage created by revelations that the founder of these communities, Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, lived a vicious and duplicitous life of moral turpitude for decades, during which he fathered several children; sexually abused seminarians; violated the canons respecting the Sacrament of Reconciliation; deceived popes, curial officials, bishops, his brother Legionaries, and the lay members of Regnum Christi; and funded all of this by the misdirection of contributions given to support the religious work of the communities that called him Nuestro Padre or Nuestro Padre Fundador. On May 1, the Holy See released a statement on the Legion case and the initial steps being taken to save what can be saved. George Weigel has an analysis.
4:40 – “Robin Hood”
Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as Robin Hood, whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people. Steven Greydanus is here with the review.
5:00 – Kresta Comments
5:20 – Heroic Media – Making a Difference in Changing Opinion on Abortion
Heroic Media is a faith-based non-profit that reduces abortion by creating a Culture of Life through television, billboard and internet advertising which connects women in crisis with life-affirming pregnancy centers. In April 2004, Brian Follett founded Majella in Austin, Texas with the goal of reducing abortion through mass media education. He’d seen it work in other states like Wisconsin, Missouri and Pennsylvania and believed that if women in crisis could learn of hopeful alternatives, they would choose life. Since then, the abortion ratio has dropped 24 percent in markets where our campaigns have consistently run. Brian joins us.
5:40 – Cross International Catholic Outreach – The Kobonal Haiti Mission
Cross International Catholic Outreach is an international Catholic relief and development ministry that assists the poorest of the poor around the world, reaching countless souls with the love of Christ and the message of the “good news’ of salvation. They work in more than 40 countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Cross International President Jim Cavnar is here to talk about their Kobonal Haiti Mission. The mission provides good schools and clean water. Teen pregnancy is down; Voodoo has disappeared; and the village enjoys a vibrant Catholic community. But there is still a long way to go.
4:00 – Kresta Comments
4:20 – Next Acts in the Legionary Drama
Over the past year, members and friends of the Legionaries of Christ and its affiliated lay movement, Regnum Christi, have worked hard in trying to “save what can be saved” from the wreckage created by revelations that the founder of these communities, Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, lived a vicious and duplicitous life of moral turpitude for decades, during which he fathered several children; sexually abused seminarians; violated the canons respecting the Sacrament of Reconciliation; deceived popes, curial officials, bishops, his brother Legionaries, and the lay members of Regnum Christi; and funded all of this by the misdirection of contributions given to support the religious work of the communities that called him Nuestro Padre or Nuestro Padre Fundador. On May 1, the Holy See released a statement on the Legion case and the initial steps being taken to save what can be saved. George Weigel has an analysis.
4:40 – “Robin Hood”
Oscar winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as Robin Hood, whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people. Steven Greydanus is here with the review.
5:00 – Kresta Comments
5:20 – Heroic Media – Making a Difference in Changing Opinion on Abortion
Heroic Media is a faith-based non-profit that reduces abortion by creating a Culture of Life through television, billboard and internet advertising which connects women in crisis with life-affirming pregnancy centers. In April 2004, Brian Follett founded Majella in Austin, Texas with the goal of reducing abortion through mass media education. He’d seen it work in other states like Wisconsin, Missouri and Pennsylvania and believed that if women in crisis could learn of hopeful alternatives, they would choose life. Since then, the abortion ratio has dropped 24 percent in markets where our campaigns have consistently run. Brian joins us.
5:40 – Cross International Catholic Outreach – The Kobonal Haiti Mission
Cross International Catholic Outreach is an international Catholic relief and development ministry that assists the poorest of the poor around the world, reaching countless souls with the love of Christ and the message of the “good news’ of salvation. They work in more than 40 countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Cross International President Jim Cavnar is here to talk about their Kobonal Haiti Mission. The mission provides good schools and clean water. Teen pregnancy is down; Voodoo has disappeared; and the village enjoys a vibrant Catholic community. But there is still a long way to go.
Hold fire, earn a medal
The proposal is now circulating in the Kabul headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, a command spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
“The idea is consistent with our approach,” explained Air Force Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis. “Our young men and women display remarkable courage every day, including situations where they refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, in order to prevent possible harm to civilians. In some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different than those seen in combat actions.”
Soldiers are often recognized for non-combat achievement with decorations such as their service’s commendation medal. But most of the highest U.S. military decorations are for valor in combat. A medal to recognize a conscious effort to avoid a combat action would be unique.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, called the idea ridiculous and dangerous.
Said Thompson, “Our troops are already doing an admirable job following the Rules of Engagement (ROE). But when the Taliban purposely uses civilians as human shields, civilian casualties are a tragic, but not uncommon result. The proposed medal will only cause the Taliban to increase their reliance on this cowardly tactic. It will encourage U.S. soldiers to do nothing in the face of danger. And it will lead to the institutionalization of inaction. We need a military that has a basis for action, not inaction.”
The Thomas More Law Center is a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Law Center played an instrumental role in the successful defense of Marine LtCol Jeffrey Chessani against criminal charges arising from the so-called November 19, 2005 “Haditha Massacre.”In that case, a Marine convoy was ambushed by insurgents after a roadside bomb went off destroying a Humvee, killing one Marine, and seriously injuring two others. The Marines immediately received fire from the ambushing insurgents, who were shooting from nearby, civilian-occupied homes.
Continued Thompson, “We can’t have soldiers hesitating at a crucial moment when facing the enemy. It could mean their death, or the death of their comrades. Ultimately, the ‘restraint’ promoted by this award will cost American lives.”
Hip-Hop Megastar Discusses Her Abortion
Thanks to Jill Stanek for the below post:
On the May 9 episode of the VH1 reality show, What Chilli Wants, TLC hip hop girl group member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas opened up about her abortion.
In the video Chilli described aborting at age 20, about 1991, for sadly common reasons, because she "didn't have the support" and "was so scared."...
So Chilli opted to "not have it" (couldn't say "abortion"), which turned out to be "one of the biggest mistakes," because she "didn't want to do that."
Then Chilli began to describe what abortion proponents say doesn't exist, post traumatic stress syndrome* as a result of her abortion. "It messed me up," she said, "I don't know, it broke my spirit."
Chilli felt she lost her "strong self," and that she "gave in, broke to what someone else wanted." Obviously, she felt pressured to abort.
She said she began to break down, to cry "because I wasn't a mommy" - almost every day for almost 9 years.
I very much appreciate Chilli's honesty.
Ironically - or perhaps subsequently - according to zvents.com, TLC's "musical formula was augmented by the girls' brightly-colored videos and curious costuming: each girl wore unwrapped condoms on their clothing (Left-Eye also wore one in a pair of glasses over her left eye), apparently advocating contraception." See top photo for Left Eye's eye condom. (Tragically, Left Eye was killed in a car accident 8 years ago.)
On the May 9 episode of the VH1 reality show, What Chilli Wants, TLC hip hop girl group member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas opened up about her abortion.
This was also at the beginning of her musical career, she said, and she didn't know how she could do both it and motherhood.
So Chilli opted to "not have it" (couldn't say "abortion"), which turned out to be "one of the biggest mistakes," because she "didn't want to do that."
Then Chilli began to describe what abortion proponents say doesn't exist, post traumatic stress syndrome* as a result of her abortion. "It messed me up," she said, "I don't know, it broke my spirit."
Chilli felt she lost her "strong self," and that she "gave in, broke to what someone else wanted." Obviously, she felt pressured to abort.
She said she began to break down, to cry "because I wasn't a mommy" - almost every day for almost 9 years.
Chilli decided the only way to "fix it" was to have a baby with the same man, her 1st record producer, Dallas Austin.
Chilli doesn't talk about this in the video, but she indeed had a baby with Austin, son Tron, now ~13 years old, pictured right with her.
Ironically - or perhaps subsequently - according to zvents.com, TLC's "musical formula was augmented by the girls' brightly-colored videos and curious costuming: each girl wore unwrapped condoms on their clothing (Left-Eye also wore one in a pair of glasses over her left eye), apparently advocating contraception." See top photo for Left Eye's eye condom. (Tragically, Left Eye was killed in a car accident 8 years ago.)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Bishop Vasa on immigration: "Church will provide comfort, solace and perhaps even sanctuary"
“I do not think the Church would propose hiring ‘coyotes’ to help bring people to the United States illegally,” he writes. “Yet, once people are here and in distress then the Church will provide comfort, solace and perhaps even sanctuary because that is what the Church does. There may be some of this that is technically ‘illegal, but splitting up a family or sending a family-wage earner back to Mexico where he can no longer provide for his family is not in accord with what we are to do as members of a church. It is not consistent with the dignity of human persons.”
Read more of his statement here...
Fatima prophecy still relevant today, Pope says
From Catholic World News:
An estimated 500,000 people attended a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at the Fatima shrine on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
"I too have come as a pilgrim to Fatima," the Pope said in his homily. He referred to Fatima as the place "from which Mary chose to speak to us in modern times."
"We would be mistaken to think that Fatima's prophetic mission is complete," the Holy Father told the congregation. He reminded them that on the eve of World War I-- "when the human family was ready to sacrifice all that was most sacred on the altar of the petty and selfish interests of nations, races, ideologies, groups and individuals"-- the Virgin Mary appeared to three simple shepherd children with an urgent message calling for conversion and repentance. That message is equally urgent today, the Pope said.
Referring to the Virgin's promise that ultimately "my Immaculate Heart will triumph," the Pope concluded his homily with a prayer that the 7 years leading up to the centenary of Mary's apparitions at Fatima will "hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy."
After the Mass the Pope blessed a group of sick people who were in attendance, and reminded them that their suffering could be united to the suffering of the crucified Christ. "In your suffering," he advised them, "you will discover an interior peace and even spiritual joy."
The Pope then prayed at the tombs of Fatima seers before leaving the shrine to have lunch with the Portuguese bishops.
Read the text of the Pope's homily here...
An estimated 500,000 people attended a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at the Fatima shrine on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
"I too have come as a pilgrim to Fatima," the Pope said in his homily. He referred to Fatima as the place "from which Mary chose to speak to us in modern times."
Referring to the Virgin's promise that ultimately "my Immaculate Heart will triumph," the Pope concluded his homily with a prayer that the 7 years leading up to the centenary of Mary's apparitions at Fatima will "hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy."
After the Mass the Pope blessed a group of sick people who were in attendance, and reminded them that their suffering could be united to the suffering of the crucified Christ. "In your suffering," he advised them, "you will discover an interior peace and even spiritual joy."
The Pope then prayed at the tombs of Fatima seers before leaving the shrine to have lunch with the Portuguese bishops.
Read the text of the Pope's homily here...
Outrageous Statement of the Day
Glen Beck claims that social justice is a "perversion that started in the early 1900s to get the Progressives into the church." We all know that often "social justice" can be perverted by politics into something that the Church does not approve of, however to imply that social justice is a "perversion" is a recent invention of the left is a miserable misreading of history and a disservice to the Church.
Today on Kresta - May 13, 2010
Talking about the Things That Matter Most on May 13
4:00 – Cardinal Schonborn attacks Sodano; Calls for new look at gays and remarried Catholics – Really?
Did Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna “attack” Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals and former Vatican secretary of state? Did he say the Church should reconsider homosexual relationships? Did he say the Church should find a way for divorced and remarried Catholics to access the sacraments? If The Tablet weekly in London were your only source of information, you’d think so, because that’s what the headline screamed. What happened? Fr. Joseph Fessio is here to explain.
4:20 – Pope Benedict XVI Visits Fatima on Our Lady’s Feast Day
Benedict XVI is encouraging the faithful to imitate Mary in her surrender to the will of God, recommending the rosary as a method to contemplate her participation in our lives today. The Pope reflected on Our Lady's role and the rosary today during a pilgrimage at the Fatima Shrine. The Holy Father is in Portugal for the second day of a four-day trip. On this feast of Our Lady of Fatima we look at the visions, the seers and the “third secret” of Fatima. Mark Miravalle our guest.
5:00 – Viewing The Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin, one of history’s most controversial and perplexing relics, is drawing millions to Turin, Italy to see the ancient burial cloth. The Pope saw it a few weeks ago and now Teresa Tomeo has had her chance. Teresa joins us to share her experience from earlier today.
5:20 – The New Mormon Challenge
Current facts about Mormonism • Over 11 million members. • Over 60,000 full-time missionaries—more than any other single missionary-sending organization in the world. • More than 310,000 converts annually. • As many as eighty percent of converts come from Protestant backgrounds. (In Mormon circles, the saying is, "We baptize a Baptist church every week.") • Within fifteen years, the numbers of missionaries and converts will roughly double. • Within eighty years, with adherents exceeding 267 million, Mormonism could become the first world-religion to arise since Islam. You may know the statistics. What you probably don’t know are the advances the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is making in apologetics and academic respectability. Francis Beckwith is here to discuss the New Mormon Challenge.
4:00 – Cardinal Schonborn attacks Sodano; Calls for new look at gays and remarried Catholics – Really?
Did Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna “attack” Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals and former Vatican secretary of state? Did he say the Church should reconsider homosexual relationships? Did he say the Church should find a way for divorced and remarried Catholics to access the sacraments? If The Tablet weekly in London were your only source of information, you’d think so, because that’s what the headline screamed. What happened? Fr. Joseph Fessio is here to explain.
4:20 – Pope Benedict XVI Visits Fatima on Our Lady’s Feast Day
Benedict XVI is encouraging the faithful to imitate Mary in her surrender to the will of God, recommending the rosary as a method to contemplate her participation in our lives today. The Pope reflected on Our Lady's role and the rosary today during a pilgrimage at the Fatima Shrine. The Holy Father is in Portugal for the second day of a four-day trip. On this feast of Our Lady of Fatima we look at the visions, the seers and the “third secret” of Fatima. Mark Miravalle our guest.
5:00 – Viewing The Shroud of Turin
The Shroud of Turin, one of history’s most controversial and perplexing relics, is drawing millions to Turin, Italy to see the ancient burial cloth. The Pope saw it a few weeks ago and now Teresa Tomeo has had her chance. Teresa joins us to share her experience from earlier today.
5:20 – The New Mormon Challenge
Current facts about Mormonism • Over 11 million members. • Over 60,000 full-time missionaries—more than any other single missionary-sending organization in the world. • More than 310,000 converts annually. • As many as eighty percent of converts come from Protestant backgrounds. (In Mormon circles, the saying is, "We baptize a Baptist church every week.") • Within fifteen years, the numbers of missionaries and converts will roughly double. • Within eighty years, with adherents exceeding 267 million, Mormonism could become the first world-religion to arise since Islam. You may know the statistics. What you probably don’t know are the advances the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is making in apologetics and academic respectability. Francis Beckwith is here to discuss the New Mormon Challenge.
Life Without Limits - No Arms - No Legs - No Worries - God's In Charge
He was born without arms nor legs. However, God is using Nick Vujicic to share the gospel around the world.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Father Fessio explains Cardinal Schönborn’s remarks on homosexuality
The cardinal had been characterized as saying that an enduring same-sex union is preferable to a series of encounters, telling the journalists that “a stable relationship is certainly better than if someone simply indulges in promiscuity.”
Fr. Fessio will be with us on KPM tomorrow (Thursday) at 4:00 Eastern Time to expound on this story.
He wrote the following in Reuters today:
The Church attempts to lead men to their ultimate happiness, which is the vision of God in his essence. Moral norms are meant to do that; they have that as their end or purpose. The norms themselves are unchanging. However, our approach to obeying them is gradual and our efforts are a mixture of success and failure. This means that while certain moral norms are absolute, that is, they hold in all circumstances without exception, our approach to obeying them may be halting and imperfect.
This is commonly referred to as “the law of gradualism” and is opposed to “the gradualism of the law,” as if the law itself were somehow variable.
This is the context for the cardinal’s saying: “We should give more consideration to the quality of homosexual relationships,” adding: “A stable relationship is certainly better than if someone chooses to be promiscuous.” This does not at all mean that the cardinal was advocating or even suggesting that the Church might change her teaching that homosexuality is a disorder and hmosexual activity is always a grave evil. It is always grave, but there can be gradations of gravity—or, to call it by its true name, objective depravity. This is also the context of the Tablet’s statement: “The cardinal also said the Church needed to reconsider its view of re-married divorcees ‘as many people don’t even marry at all any longer’.” This “reconsideration” does not mean a change in the Church’s teaching that a valid marriage is indissoluble, and that someone who is validly married cannot remarry validly. It means that perhaps—but only perhaps, because this is an opinion that does not have the authority of a magisterial pronouncement—the Church should find new ways of leading the weak and confused to the difficult but liberating challenge of Christ’s demands.
New US bishop was one of nation’s most successful vocation directors
Thanks to Phil Lawler at Catholic World News for this report.
Pope Benedict XVI has named Father Eduardo Nevares, the vice-rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum, as Auxiliary Bishop of Phoenix. Father Nevares served as co-vocations director of the Diocese of Tyler (Texas) from 2001 to 2008.
A 2007 Catholic World Report analysis found that in three of the previous four years, the Diocese of Tyler was one of the nation’s dozen most vocation-rich dioceses-- that is, dioceses with the highest ratios of seminarians to Catholics. Father Nevares attributed the diocese’s success in attracting seminarians to Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio, SJ., who, he said, "has called all of the pastors to follow the newest directives from Rome concerning the renewal of the liturgy so that our faithful Catholics may enjoy the beauty of the Catholic liturgy in all of its fullness. He has called all of the faithful to be as faithful to their individual vocation . . . Bishop Corrada hopes that this new awareness and love for the truths and beauty of our Catholic faith will lead to a new evangelization . . . showing forth the splendor of truth found in the Catholic Church."
Pope Benedict XVI has named Father Eduardo Nevares, the vice-rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum, as Auxiliary Bishop of Phoenix. Father Nevares served as co-vocations director of the Diocese of Tyler (Texas) from 2001 to 2008.
A 2007 Catholic World Report analysis found that in three of the previous four years, the Diocese of Tyler was one of the nation’s dozen most vocation-rich dioceses-- that is, dioceses with the highest ratios of seminarians to Catholics. Father Nevares attributed the diocese’s success in attracting seminarians to Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio, SJ., who, he said, "has called all of the pastors to follow the newest directives from Rome concerning the renewal of the liturgy so that our faithful Catholics may enjoy the beauty of the Catholic liturgy in all of its fullness. He has called all of the faithful to be as faithful to their individual vocation . . . Bishop Corrada hopes that this new awareness and love for the truths and beauty of our Catholic faith will lead to a new evangelization . . . showing forth the splendor of truth found in the Catholic Church."
Do gays face 'stained glass ceiling' at Catholic colleges?
Meanwhile, this afternoon we will be interviewing Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society about this year's Catholic Commencement season. It's good news. It appears that more than 95 percent of our Catholic college leaders this year have taken the high road, and Catholics should applaud that. For 17 years, the Cardinal Newman Society has encouraged the renewal of Catholic identity at Catholic colleges and universities. CNS has publicly identified Catholic institutions that choose commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients whose public actions and statements are contrary to key teachings of the Catholic Church. Recent years have seen a marked decline in these scandals, from 24 in 2006 to just nine this year. Here's the start of the USA Today piece:
"W. King Mott, associate professor of political science and gender studies at Seton Hall University, clearly has earned respect from colleagues at the Roman Catholic institution. He has tenure. He recently finished a term as chair of the Faculty Senate. He served on the search committee for a new president.
But he's quite certain he'll never be an administrator. "There is no way the current hierarchy will allow a gay person to hold a position of authority unless they are closeted and self-loathing. They will never permit a scholar who publishes a point of view" promoting gay equity to hold a position of real authority, he said. Mott was demoted from associate dean back to the faculty ranks in 2005, the day after he wrote a letter to the editor of a New Jersey newspaper in which he questioned church leaders for criticizing gay men while "permitting and hiding pedophiles within the priesthood."
Mott is facing scrutiny once again — this time for a course he is planning on the history of the legal and political fights over marriage, in which he will discuss gay marriage and his views as a gay man in favor of it. Although the new course went through standard approvals, it is now being subject to an additional review by the Mission and Identity Committee of the university's Board of Regents. That review was requested by the Rev. John J. Myers, archbishop of Newark, who denounced the course for seeking "to promote as legitimate a train of thought that is contrary to what the church teaches."
Catholic colleges are of course regularly the site of debates over the role of religious teachings in the context of American higher education. At commencement time, most notably last year at the University of Notre Dame, honorary degrees for or speeches by political leaders who support abortion rights are questioned by some church leaders. Valentine's Day is an annual barrage of press releases and counter-releases about productions of "The Vagina Monologues" on Catholic campuses."
Read more here...
Outrageous Statement of the Day
Gloria Steinem: Abstinence Only Education Increases Abortions - the "price of abstinence"
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