A Parish Reformed According to Vatican II

I read in the Wanderer yesterday that two parishes that qualifies as a model are those run by the Oratory in Toronto, Canada.

They have a beatiful rendition of Ave Regina Caelorum on the site--the Marian Antiphon sung at Compline from the Feast of the Presentation to Wednesday of Holy Week.

Vatican Rejects Attempt to Keep NH Churches Open

From the Manchester Union Leader:

The Diocese of Manchester said the churches in Ashland and Bristol would close and all congregations would meet in Plymouth.
A month later, Rep. Fran Wendelboe sent a letter of appeal to the Vatican linking the merger to a loss of respect for the state's Roman Catholic leaders because of the priest sex abuse scandal.
The Vatican recently rejected that appeal, but Wendelboe, R-New Hampton, said she isn't giving up.
She hopes to raise $10,000 to take the matter to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Roman Catholic Church's highest court.

School Bans Mother's Day Cards

Because some kids don't have them? Is that possible? I mean I realize that a mother may have died, but even that child still has a mother and might find it consoling to make his or her mother a card.

From Daily Mail:

A school has banned the making of Mother’s Day cards because the headteacher does not want to upset children without a mother.

Helen Starkey has ended the tradition in the interests of "sensitivity".

"More than five per cent of children here are separated from their birth mother and have either no contact or no regular contact with their mother," she said.

Study: Fertility Treatment Raises Birth-defect Risk

From The Seattle Times:

The biggest difference was seen in the rate of gastrointestinal problems, such as defects in the abdominal wall or organs not in the right place. Babies conceived through ART were nearly nine times more likely to have such problems —
one in 200 births versus six per 10,000 for the others.
However, "it's still pretty uncommon," said lead researcher Darine El-Chaar of the University of Ottawa.
The chance of cardiovascular defects was more than twice as high — 90 per 10,000 babies conceived through ART versus 40 among those conceived naturally. Defects such as malformed limbs also were slightly more common, but not facial defects such as cleft palate or problems such as spina bifida.
The researchers note that people who have trouble conceiving also may have underlying genetic or health factors that could partly account for the higher rates of birth defects.

The emphasis is mine on the last paragraph, because it struck me as something to think about.

Ugandan Seminarian Studying in US Implicated in Financial Scam

He wasn't claiming to be the recipient of a large fund, as far as I can tell....but

From All Africa:

A Ugandan catholic seminarian has been implicated in a financial scam in the United States, ending his studies only a month to ordination.
Jude Nanyumba, 28, a candidate for the priesthood at Notre Dame Seminary in New
Orleans, is accused of fleecing parishioners in the US of $12,000 (sh21m) and fleeing to Uganda.

Edwards, Once Again, Personally Offended but...

I could swear that he said something very similar about the issue of same-sex marriage that I read the other day. That he personally found it...but....

The question that this raises in my mind is "Is this guy totally unreal?" Is he personally against everything that he does and why is that?

And what does it mean when he says, "It's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk,"and then goes on to make excuses for them?

Can anyone say "charcter"?

From His Campaign Blog:

The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it's intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I've talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone's faith, and I take them at their word. We're beginning a great debate about the future of our country, and we can't let it be hijacked. It will take discipline, focus, and courage to build the America we believe in.

Cardinal Schoenborn "Science Alone Cannot Explain Creation"

From SignonSanDiego.com:

The cardinal said he found it “amazing” that a U.S. federal court ruled in 2005 that the Dover, Pa., public school district could not teach the concept of “intelligent design” as part of its science class. The judge had said that the theory, which says an intelligent supernatural force explains the emergence of complex life forms, was creationism in disguise.
The cardinal said the Dover ruling meant that schoolchildren would only be taught a materialistic, atheistic view of the origin of universe, without considering the idea that God played a role.
“A truly liberal society would at least allow students to hear of the debate,” he said.
Schoenborn's comments came in a speech Wednesday night sponsored by the Homeland Foundation, a philanthropy that funds cultural and religious programs, many involving the Catholic Church.
It is the latest in a series of remarks he has made on the topic. The cardinal, who is close to Pope Benedict XVI, has said he wants to correct what he calls a widespread
misconception that the Catholic Church has given a blanket endorsement to
Darwin's theories.