Zook Fired

From OrlandoSentinel.com: Gators:



"Florida coach Ron Zook has been fired, and a meeting has been scheduled with the players for 2:30 p.m. to announce the news, wide receiver Andre Caldwell told the Orlando Sentinel.



A press conference has been scheduled for later this afternoon, but no time or place has been announced.



'I'm shocked,' Caldwell said. 'I don't know what to think about it. I had a feeling, but I didn't think it was really going to happen.'



Zook will finish out the rest of the season, which includes four games against Georgia, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Florida State.



'We've just got to play for ourselves now,' Caldwell said. 'We've got to give it all we've got. It's time to just make ourselves better players.'"

More on Cardinal Hickey from Peter Robinson

From Peter Robinson on Cardinal Hickey on National Review Online:



"James Cardinal Hickey, who stepped down as archbishop of Washington in 2000, died Sunday morning at 84. Seldom eloquent, too self-effacing to convey a sense of gravitas or presence, Cardinal Hickey possessed a single attribute that made him a critical figure all the same: holiness. "

Cardinal Hickey Dies (RIP)

From Cardinal James Hickey Dies at 84 (washingtonpost.com):



"Cardinal James Aloysius Hickey, 84, a champion of orthodoxy in church dogma and a compassionate shepherd of the area's half million Roman Catholics while head of the Washington Archdiocese for 20 years, died this morning at a nursing home in Washington.



His health had been in decline for the past year."

Liberal Priests Join Forces in Milwaukee

Funny they have an Orthodox (as in Eastern) priest pictured on their web site. I feel sorry for Archbishop Dolan who is a good and holy bishop, he doesn't deserve this but I guess it is predictable. The problem it is very clear to me with the Catholic Church in the United States is that many of the pastors who should be leading us in worship are following someone other than Christ and the Church he founded.

John Allen Receives a Mild Rebuke for His Speculation on Who the Vatican Supports for US President

From Cardinal Martino...



As reported in Allen's Word for Rome in NCR:

Your e-mail message, received here on 15 October, left me as confused as

the original article, published on 8 October. You wrote that your "analysis was

based on wide conversations with people at all levels, along with a reading of

the public record." And I have to wonder, "To whom did you speak, and what did

you glean from that 'public record?"



While I have made statements against the war in Iraq it would be

inappropriate for me, any member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

or any other official of the curia to make statements in favor or against any

particular political candidate.



I believe that your article did grave damage to the understanding of

your readers. They have been led to believe that certain offices and officials

within the Roman Curia have actually committed themselves to support one

candidate over the other. While I am certain that many have personal opinions

about particular candidates, these could never be an official reflection of or

interpreted as the position of all those who work within a certain congregation,

pontifical council or the Secretariat of State nor that of the offices

themselves.



To say that a particular office was more supportive of President Bush

or Senator Kerry is a sort of accusation that those working within an office

have taken sides in the partisan politics of the democratic process. Nothing

could be further from the truth, at least as far as this pontifical council is

concerned. At the same time, this pontifical council cannot and will not remain

silent in the face of positions taken or policies espoused by any politician or

political candidate, especially when those issues touch upon subjects that fall

within the competencies and responsibilities of the Council for Justice and

Peace.



As far as public statements are concerned, some issues may indeed

outweigh others. However, it must go without saying that the Pontifical Council

for Justice and Peace will never shrink from its responsibility to preach the

message of the Gospel or call attention to those situations in the world where

the tenants of justice and peace are violated.

A Site Devoted to A Bushism

Plays a snipet of Bush saying "I hear there's rumors on the Internets."



One of the most linked web sites on this day.

Another Setback for Terri Schiavo

From Times Against Humanity O tempora, o mores!:



"Reuters reports today that the Florida Supreme Court has refused to reconsider its 7-0 ruling overturning Terri's Law, a state statute supported by Gov. Jeb Bush that put a halt to the forced fatal starvation of Terri Schindler Schiavo by her unfaithful husband.



In a 4-3 opinion, the court rejected a request by Bush's attorneys to rehear the case. The court ruled unanimously last month against the hastily crafted law that prevented Michael Schiavo from withholding food and water from his wife, Terri. She has been on life support since suffering a heart attack in 1990.



It is not known what action Gov. Bush will take next to continue to protect Terri's life from Florida's killer courts. According to Bush spokeswoman Jill Bratina, 'Our lawyers are looking at the legal options before us. We will be looking to make a decision on our next step very soon,' possibly today."