I like how SpiritDaily refers to these type of stories as "Our Strange Times"...
From Duluth News Tribune:
Former priest James Porter, a convicted pedophile who once lived in Minnesota and is now awaiting trial on the state's bid to keep him locked up indefinitely as a sexually dangerous person, got married in prison this week.
Porter married Anne Milner, a former nun he met more than 40 years ago while he was a young seminarian. The two met again three years ago after Milner wrote him a letter in prison.
Porter, 69, was convicted in 1993 of sexually abusing 28 children. Although he completed his prison sentence in January, Porter has remained in custody while state prosecutors seek to have him committed.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Hint: There is Nothing to Be Anti-Catholic About, if Being Catholic Doesn't Mean Anything Concrete...
Who Are the Leaders of the Catholic Church in the US?
From MSNBC:
Forty-eight Roman Catholic members of Congress have warned in a letter to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington that U.S. bishops will revive anti-Catholic bigotry and severely harm the church if they deny Communion to politicians who support abortion rights.
The letter's signers, all Democrats, include at least three House members with strong antiabortion voting records.
"For many years Catholics were denied public office by voters who feared that they would take direction from the Pope," they wrote. ". . . While that type of paranoid anti-Catholicism seems to be a thing of the past, attempts by Church leaders today to influence votes by the threat of withholding a sacrament will revive latent anti-Catholic prejudice, which so many of us have worked so hard to overcome."
From MSNBC:
Forty-eight Roman Catholic members of Congress have warned in a letter to Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington that U.S. bishops will revive anti-Catholic bigotry and severely harm the church if they deny Communion to politicians who support abortion rights.
The letter's signers, all Democrats, include at least three House members with strong antiabortion voting records.
"For many years Catholics were denied public office by voters who feared that they would take direction from the Pope," they wrote. ". . . While that type of paranoid anti-Catholicism seems to be a thing of the past, attempts by Church leaders today to influence votes by the threat of withholding a sacrament will revive latent anti-Catholic prejudice, which so many of us have worked so hard to overcome."
Up With the Monks
Woke up this morning at 4:00 A.M. and prayed with the monks from 5:30-8...something very right about getting in a block of prayer before a bit of work is done...sets the right tone for the day.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
American Cardinal Stafford Accuses President of Moral Failure
From Politics News Article | Reuters.com:
"A senior American cardinal in the Vatican has accused the U.S. administration of 'moral failure' and deception in Iraq and warned the war had severely compromised future relations with the Arab world.
In an interview due to be published in the June edition of 'Inside the Vatican' magazine, Cardinal James Francis Stafford also said the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was the work of 'barbarians.' An advance copy was made available to Reuters.
Stafford, the former archbishop of Denver who has been working in the Vatican since 1996, said the reasons for starting the war in Iraq were a 'moral failure' because there had been no conclusive proof of weapons of mass destruction.
'Why did the president, the vice-president and the secretary of defense say there was an immediate danger to the peace of American society by the proximate use of weapons that would come from Iraq, either directly or through al Qaeda?' he said. "
"A senior American cardinal in the Vatican has accused the U.S. administration of 'moral failure' and deception in Iraq and warned the war had severely compromised future relations with the Arab world.
In an interview due to be published in the June edition of 'Inside the Vatican' magazine, Cardinal James Francis Stafford also said the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was the work of 'barbarians.' An advance copy was made available to Reuters.
Stafford, the former archbishop of Denver who has been working in the Vatican since 1996, said the reasons for starting the war in Iraq were a 'moral failure' because there had been no conclusive proof of weapons of mass destruction.
'Why did the president, the vice-president and the secretary of defense say there was an immediate danger to the peace of American society by the proximate use of weapons that would come from Iraq, either directly or through al Qaeda?' he said. "
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Great News--One of My Classmates Made a Bishop!
Congratulations Martin!
In the very small environment that is a Catholic seminary Martin was one of the twenty-two students who I was in class with for three years of my life. Much liked by everyone, appointments like this always amaze me!
From the Vatican Information Service:
Appointed Fr. Martin David Holley, of the clergy of the diocese of Pensacola-Tallahasee, U.S.A and pastor of Little Flower Parish, as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Washington (area 5,447, population 2,571,395, Catholics 581,900, priests 1,060, permanent deacons 61, religious 1,608), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in 1954 in Pensacola, U.S.A. and was ordained a priest in 1987.
In the very small environment that is a Catholic seminary Martin was one of the twenty-two students who I was in class with for three years of my life. Much liked by everyone, appointments like this always amaze me!
From the Vatican Information Service:
Appointed Fr. Martin David Holley, of the clergy of the diocese of Pensacola-Tallahasee, U.S.A and pastor of Little Flower Parish, as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Washington (area 5,447, population 2,571,395, Catholics 581,900, priests 1,060, permanent deacons 61, religious 1,608), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in 1954 in Pensacola, U.S.A. and was ordained a priest in 1987.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Pope Wonders if He Hasn't Been Hard Enough
The title of this book which recounts his years as a bishop in Poland, is from the Gospels when Jesus comes back to his sleeping disciples and says, "Get up, let us go, see my betrayal is at hand." I always find it interesting when someone uses scripture for a title to see it in the context and wonder what does it mean for that person.
From New York Post Online Edition: news:
"In a new autobiography, Pope John Paul II wonders if he has been strict enough in his leadership.
In excerpts printed by Il Giornale newspaper yesterday, ahead of the book's publication tomorrow, the pope says church leaders must admonish people as well as lead them in faith. 'I think that in this aspect, maybe I have done too little. There is always this problem of how to balance authority and service. Perhaps I need to criticize myself for not having tried hard enough to lead,' the pope writes in the book, titled 'Get Up! Let Us Go!' "
From New York Post Online Edition: news:
"In a new autobiography, Pope John Paul II wonders if he has been strict enough in his leadership.
In excerpts printed by Il Giornale newspaper yesterday, ahead of the book's publication tomorrow, the pope says church leaders must admonish people as well as lead them in faith. 'I think that in this aspect, maybe I have done too little. There is always this problem of how to balance authority and service. Perhaps I need to criticize myself for not having tried hard enough to lead,' the pope writes in the book, titled 'Get Up! Let Us Go!' "
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