Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Priest Tells Parishioners he was Sexually Abused, Plans to Resign

A friend of mine. He is a Benedictine. I remember having a discussion, one that turned heated where I suggested sending child abusing priests to monasteries as sort of a "penitentiary," Lawrence who was in a monastery at the time was horrified at this--I understand why even more now than I did back 12 years ago when we had the discussion.



Remember him in your prayers!



From AP Wire | 08/31/2004 | Priest tells parishioners he was sexually abused, plans to resign:



"It was anything but a standard homily - a Roman Catholic priest said he was sexually abused by a priest when he was a boy and will resign rather than undergo a church-ordered psychological assessment.



Parishioners at St. Brendan Catholic Church in this suburb northeast of Seattle were stunned by what they heard from the Rev. Lawrence Minder at three Masses on Saturday and Sunday.



'There was an audible gasp at the Sunday Mass, there was spontaneous crying at the Saturday Mass,' said Richard Foudray, 60. 'People were devastated.'



'My heart just broke when he said he had been raped,' said Kathleen Foudray, 58. 'When he told us he was resigning his position, I felt like I had a death in the family.'



According to churchgoers, Minder, 43, said a priest sexually abused him about 30 years ago and remained on assignment after he reported what had happened.



Minder said he would reject a request to undergo a psychological assessment that would be disclosed to the Archdiocese of Seattle and will resign instead, witnesses said."

Ex-Priest Who Interferred with Olympic Marathon Faces Other Charges

The Greeks let him walk...



From News 31st August 2004 | OneinFour.org:



"NEIL Horan is facing child sex abuse charges in London next month. He is due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court charged with two counts of indecency with a child under 16. Horan is currently on bail on those charges as he awaits trial on September 21 for the alleged offences.



Meanwhile, calls for Horan's Irish passport to be revoked are likely to prove fruitless. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday that it does not have the power to revoke passports. A spokesperson said that the option of suspending or revoking someone's passport was a matter for the courts. "

Monday, August 30, 2004

Amy in the Indianapolis Star

From Best seller draws Christian fire:



"Fort Wayne's Amy Welborn is author of 'De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code,' published in April by Our Sunday Visitor.



The most egregious error in the novel, according to Welborn?

'Brown asserts that early Christians didn't believe in the divinity of Jesus,' she said.



Most scholars date the Gnostic Gospels from the middle second century A.D. or later, which is several generations after the canonical Gospels.



If the canonical Gospels contain historical details from the life and times of Jesus, and the Gnostic Gospels don't, and if the canonical Gospels appear to have been written earlier, then the canonical Gospels must be the authentic ones, or so the reasoning goes."

Sunday, August 29, 2004

Not What You Want to See When You Are Heading to Florida

A hurricane named Frances, already a category 4, heading for the same place we are this weekend.



Plymouth State Track Map and Positions Based on Tropical Prediction Center Data

A Persistent Rumor--Cheney Out?

McCain would be a popular choice.



From CBS News | Dan Rather's Convention Journal | August 29, 2004?09:32:44:



"Not much of it, really. Only a few people besides workmen inside the hall. Among the few who were there, the most popular topic of conversation was whether President Bush might surprise and announce during the convention that Vice President Cheney would not be running with him this year.



This rumor has swirled around a bit from time to time throughout the year, the chatter being that Mr. Bush would prefer to run with Sen. John McCain "

Friday, August 27, 2004

Terrorism Blamed for Russian Jet Disaster

Group claiming to be members of "peace" religion claim responsibility.



From My Way News:



"One of two Russian airliners that crashed nearly simultaneously was brought down by a terrorist act, officials said Friday, after finding traces of explosives in the plane's wreckage. An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a Web statement.



The planes, with 90 people aboard, went down within 20 minutes of each other Tuesday night. In Washington, a Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is mounting evidence that both crashes were acts of terrorism.

Traces of the explosive hexogen were found in the remains of one of the planes, a Tu-154, security service spokesman Nikolai Zakharov said. No results from the investigation of the other crashed plane, a Tu-134, have been announced."

Thursday, August 26, 2004

I Wonder if She Experienced All Five Stages Before Dying?

From USATODAY.com - Kbler-Ross finds final comfort in 'Dying':



"Swiss-born psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, whose provocative books revolutionized how the living talk about death and advocated a belief in the afterlife, died Tuesday in Scottsdale, Ariz., of natural causes. "