October 2003 Archives

Big Idea, the producer of VeggieTales entertainment for children, has been bought by New York's Classic Media, owner of several other lines of TV programming.

St. Maria Goretti is famous both for forgiving her attacker and for fighting against his sinful attack. And she's still on the job!

A flasher who'd harrassed girls at Philadelphia's St. Maria Goretti High School got his comeuppance yesterday: three students who'd seen his act before chased him down, and another 20 students wrestled him to the ground, holding him until police could arrive.

"I'm happy he's off the street," said Caitlin Dalin, 14, a Goretti ninth-grader. The flasher exposed himself to Dalin twice, she said. About two times too many....

Dalin said she kicked the suspect with her Eastland black school shoes.

Some time ago, I posted an account of several teachers looking for music for various holidays, including Ramadan. I sneered about that. Well, one of them found a song for Ramadan here. This is most amusing. Here's why:

1. It is written in a Western key (A Major).

2. The text is concerned with only the outward appearances of the holiday.

3. A committed Moslem would probably have the same reaction to this as a committed Catholic to "As a Fire is Meant for Burning." Haugen-Daaz for Muslims! Ecumenical pain! Something in common!

Attention, everyone who thinks the United Nations can be a force for peace, at least as it's presently constituted: your heroes are running away after a few bomb attacks.

I do not bring this up to taunt anyone. (Well, at least that's not the primary reason.) How can an organization that pretends to be the ultimate arbiter of international law, and which has higher pretensions to be a world government and police force, possibly be taken seriously if they're such cowards in the face of relatively minor resistance?

The French, their sidekicks the Germans, and the rest of the hollow men in the Western world generally agree that the U.N. is the proper instrument for rebuilding and governing Iraq. They say they are altruistic, but really it's a cynical ploy because they know a U.N.-administered Iraq will be much more pliant than a U.S.-sponsored rebuilding effort. It would help their case greatly if the U.N. would show some backbone in standing up to thugs and terrorists.

I do think a reconstituted U.N. could be a force for good in the world, but they need to begin by kicking out the rogue countries like Cuba, North Korea, and Zimbabwe. Full membership ought to be reserved for countries which meet minimal standards of human rights and non-aggression towards its neighbors. You say that Cuba won't get kicked out, because it enjoys the support of so many left-leaning governments around the world? You are right, and that is the problem.

Number of people willing to die for their country or religion: millions.

Number of people willing to die for the U.N.: several hundred, but few of them work for the actual organization.

Cost of one U.N. retreat: 2-3 car bombs, sporadic gunfire, scary politico-religious talk.

Cost of one U.S. retreat, as long as G.W. Bush is presiding: not determined.

So yesterday, my older two kids were playing "church." My daughter Anna, who is 3, energetic, and mischevous, got up and ran away to the other side of the room, giggling all the way. Charlie, 4, got upset and ran after her, shaking a ruler in his hand and yelling, "Anna, you can't leave church early before it's done!"

At least one of my kids isn't going to do the Judas shuffle after communion when he grows up....

The National Catholic Bioethics Center offers a helpful guide to Catholic teaching on medical ethics and how it applies to decisions for a patient in danger of death. It mentions some of the main points that should be included in a morally sound "Advance Directive" document to regulate medical decisions in case a patient is incapacitated.

From Reuters:

"Yes, I'll sign the ban on partial birth abortion," Bush said at a White House news conference. "And no, I don't think the culture has changed to the extent that the American people or the Congress would totally ban abortions."

Note that he's not saying they shouldn't be banned, just that it isn't the right time -- not that our supreme judicial masters would permit that.

And I love this passage:

Under the bill that has gone to Bush, a doctor could face up to two years in prison as well as civil lawsuits for performing a "partial birth" abortion, defined as intentionally killing a fetus as it is being delivered. The bill's sponsors say it entails sticking a sharp object into the base of the fetal skull.

No, Reuters newswire, the abortionists say that's what they do. Inserting "the bill's sponsors say" before the statement is a clever way to cast doubt on a fact without explicitly denying it. Nevertheless, the truth is that pro-lifers didn't invent partial-birth abortion.

Is he referring to himself, or to one of us?

From the "you can't make this up" basket is this:

Democratic lawmakers in Washington are asking a North Dakota radio personality to take on Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other conservative talk show hosts.

Ed Schultz, who earlier considered running for governor, has been tapped by national Democratic leaders for a talk show to start in January.

Democratic lawmakers in Washington are raising money for the show, and Democrats have pledged about $1.8 million over two years to get it off the ground, Schultz said Monday. He said a half-dozen stations are looking at whether to carry it.

"The Democrats are getting the tar beat out of them constantly by Limbaugh and Hannity, and they feel they don't have a platform," Schultz said. "There's this conservative mantra that's being jammed down the throats of the American people, and the other side of the story is not being told."

So much to say about this article, so short a lunch break. This story should make any conservative's chest swell with pride, assuming it's accurate. They've got to go to Fargo to come up with a liberal talk-show host? Recall that Rush Limbaugh was wildly popular in New York City (pop. 7,348,000), not North Dakota (pop 635,000) before he went national.

And a "half-dozen" stations are interested in this guy? Wow. Limbaugh is carried on over 600 stations -- none of which has dropped his program after he announced his drug troubles -- and Hannity is on almost 400.

Maybe, just maybe, the thing that makes conservative talk shows popular isn't the personalities, but the...conservatism? When people say that conservatism is "jammed down people's throats," and that's why it's popular, it's a lot like news stories about the pope that say, "This pope is popular with young people, despite his ingrained conservative theological stances." Ever think that he's popular because he offers the perennial things, not the new and the transient?

Whom the gods would destroy, they first send on Larry King Live.

Update: A law student friend mentions:

The transcript isn't out yet, but Schiavo made an admission which seems to settle the issue in terms of Catholic bioethics, and should settle the matter in law. Even he admitted last night that there is not brain death. Until that happens, if it happens, his actions are objectively morally wrong, and there are no relevant issues in controversy.

So the YWCA decided after six months that having the bisexual adulteress Patricia Ireland as their CEO and role model for the youth of America wasn't working out, especially since she wanted to turn the group into an activist organization. Maybe soccer moms across the country notified National that they didn't want the local Y to be turned into a branch office of NOW.

American Life League's David Brandao wrote, back when Ireland was hired:

At first glance, it's tempting to ask if Patricia Ireland's task is to do for the YWCA what the Village People did for the YMCA. But the truth is, unfortunately, that the YWCA has been on the wrong side of the moral tracks for a long, long time. This bunch is already well entrenched as agents of the Culture of Death....The YWCA cannot become pro-abortion; it already is pro-abortion.

The Register reports that Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, a Catholic hospital, has been performing "early induction" procedures to terminate pregnancies of children with unsurvivable abnormalities.

The president of Alaska Right to Life, Ed Wassell, contacted the hospital about what appears to be a form of abortion.

The only therapeutic reason given by hospital officials for early induction was "to relieve familial distress," according to Wassell.

Providence officials did tell Wassell that if Archbishop [Roger] Schwietz told them to stop performing the procedure, they would.

From then on, Wassell said, Right to Life stopped talking with the hospital and started talking with the archbishop to persuade him to take action.

These directives say (among other things):

49. For a proportionate reason, labor may be induced after the fetus is viable.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California won its first anti-spam judgment on Friday when a court fined a marketing firm $2 million for sending out millions of unsolicited e-mails telling people how to spam, the state's attorney general said. The rest here.

The office of the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne has issued an invitation for composers to submit songs for use at the international event, including a contest for the WYD theme song.

If anyone's curious to see the ground rules for participants, here they are (in German). My translation follows.

Robert Novak reports:

The Senate chamber was filled with audible gasps last Tuesday when Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the pro-choice champion, clearly voted "yes" on final passage of the bill to ban partial-birth abortion.

I hesitate to call another human being self-righteous: it seems like presumption itself to think I know what someone else's inner attitude is. So let me limit myself to saying that the piece presents an image of animus and arrogance. The writer rises up and delivers condemnations: the object of his disapproval is "not Christian"; "none of that is Christian"; "an outdated, badly skewed version of Christianity"; "blatantly ignores the teaching of the church", "both devious and probably servant to another agenda".

Not that this guy is in a position to accurately represent the Catholic Church's teaching: he's a liberal Episcopalian clergyman writing a hatchet job about Mel Gibson's Passion movie.

In this guy's world, don't bother pretending there are two points of view. There's only your view. Just bash away.

Don't prove: assume. "Sure, Mel Gibson's film, The Passion, is probably anti-Semitic."

Don't document: use rumor. "Gibson, however, is rumored to be a 'traditionalist' Roman Catholic who repudiates the decisions of the Second Vatican Council held in the 1960s and considers all popes since the council usurpers."

Don't rely on direct evidence: use guesswork. "The movie, as reported by Christian and Jewish scholars who have read the script, turns the theological clock back to the middle ages...."

Rely on your target's critics; don't mention anyone who defends him from the very charges you present. Why, your readers might think there were two sides to the question.

By now, most of you are familiar with the Terri Schindler-Schiavo situation down in Florida. Now that her life has been spared through the intervention of the Florida State Legislature and Governor Jeb Bush, many of us can sit back and reflect upon the events as they unfolded.

From my own perspective as a canon lawyer and a baptized Catholic, the incident I found most troubling throughout this drama was the denial of Terri’s right to the sacraments. Terri is a baptized Catholic. As such, she enjoys certain basic canonical rights. Thus we should find it troubling that Michael Schiavo and his attorney George Felos – neither of whom are Catholic – were capable of denying Msgr. Malanowski permission to administer the sacraments to a dying woman. And even more troubling was the Diocese of St. Petersburg’s apparent refusal to back Monsignor up. Where was Bishop Lynch when the police threatened this eighty-year old priest with arrest?

As an aside, many also raise serious questions about Terri’s religious rights. Was Terri’s constitutional freedom to practice her religion, which the First Amendment ought to protect, violated? Indeed, this question should trouble every Catholic living in America. Because my legal training does not extend to civil law, however, I will limit my following commentary to the denial of Terri’s canonical rights. Nevertheless, as a concerned Catholic I would welcome the response of a qualified civil lawyer.

Of the canonical issues involved, the first concerns Terri’s right to the sacraments. The Church considers this a fundamental right of all those who are baptized or received into her membership. As canon 213 clearly states: “Christ’s faithful have the right to be assisted by their Pastors from the spiritual riches of the Church, especially by the word of God and the sacraments” (emphasis mine). There are very few exceptions where this right may be limited, and even then only in view of the common good (cf. canon 223) and according to an application of the law that is restricted to as few cases as possible (cf. canon 18). Neither applies in the Terri Schindler-Schiavo situation.

Beginning with the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, Terri may receive this sacrament more than once. Yet certain individuals in Michael Schiavo’s corner have reportedly attempted to deny Msgr. Malanowski permission to repeat the administration of Extreme Unction, claiming that this sacrament may only be administered once. Obviously these individuals are not familiar with the Church’s teaching concerning this matter, since the only sacraments that cannot be repeated are Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders. In other words, the sacraments that leave an indelible mark upon one’s soul.

One may even repeat the sacrament of marriage. For the death of one’s spouse dissolves the matrimonial bond and allows the surviving spouse to enter a valid sacramental marriage with another. Of course, if one killed one’s spouse in order to marry another particular individual, the marriage would still be invalid. For as canon 1090 states: “§1 One who, with a view to entering marriage with a particular person, has killed that person’s spouse, or his or her own spouse, invalidly attempts marriage. §2 They also invalidly attempt mariage with each other who, by mutual physical or moral action, brought about the death of either’s spouse.” While such incidents are fortunately rare, they nevertheless still happen in our day.

Yet returning to my initial point, Anointing of the Sick does not leave an indelible mark upon one’s soul. It may therefore be repeated. In fact, when necessary it should be repeated. With merely the most elementary of research, this would become apparent to even a non-Catholic attorney with no background in canon law. For canon 1004 §2 is clear concerning this issue: “This sacrament [Anointing of the Sick] can be repeated if the sick person, having recovered, again becomes seriously ill or if, in the same illness, the danger becomes more serious.” Starvation and dehydration obviously increase one’s danger of death.

Let us now turn our attention to the more serious abuse of Terri’s canonical rights, namely, that of denying her the possibility of receiving Holy Communion. Reception of the Holy Eucharist is not merely just another spiritual practice of the Catholic faith. Rather, following the Church’s sacred Tradition, the 1983 Code of Canon Law establishes the centrality of the Holy Eucharist to the spiritual life of Christ’s faithful. This is found in canon 897 which states:

“The most august sacrament is the Blessed Eucharist, in which Christ the Lord Himself is contained, offered and received, and by which the Church continually lives and grows. The Eucharistic Sacrifice, the memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord, in which the Sacrifice of the cross is for ever perpetuated, is the summit and the source of all worship and Christian life. By means of it the unity of God’s people is signified and brought about, and the building up of the body of Chris is perfected. The other sacraments and all the ecclesiastical works of the apostolate are bound up with, and directed to, the Blessed Eucharist.”

In short, the Eucharist is both the source and the summit of our spiritual life as Catholics. All our actions should flow from the Holy Eucharist, and all our actions should ultimately be directed toward the Holy Eucharist.

When the Holy Eucharist is administered to a dying person, this is known as Viaticum or food for the journey. Canon 921 §1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law establishes the basis for seeking Viaticum as follows: “Christ’s faithful who are in danger of death, from whatever cause, are to be strengthened by Holy Communion as Viaticum.” Under canon 864 §1 of the 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law, the Catholic faithful were bound by ecclesiastical precept to seek Viaticum when the danger of death presented itself.

Although the 1984 Code of Canon Law no longer binds under precept, it is clear that Christ’s faithful remain bound in spirit to seek Viaticum when the danger of death arises. This is in keeping with the canonical principle of canon 21, which states that “...later laws are to be related to earlier ones and, as far as possible, harmonized with them.” Additionally, when interpreting any canon it is important to follow the canonical principles of canon 17. One of these principles is “recourse to parallel places, if there be any...” In the case of administering Viaticum, canon 708 from the Code of Canons of the Eastern [Catholic] Churches speaks of “..the obligation of receiving the Divine Eucharist in danger of death...” Thus the reception of Viaticum is both an essential right and an essential obligation of all Catholics in danger of death.
But what if the individual either lacks consciousness or has fallen into a persistent vegetative state, as is alleged in Terri Schindler-Schiavo’s situation? Although much evidence suggests that Terri is merely severely brain-damaged and not in a persistent vegetative state, let us assume the latter for the sake of the argument. Does not canon 922 state the following: “Holy Viaticum for the sick is not to be unduly delayed. Those who have the care of souls are to take assiduous care that the sick are strengthened by it while they are in full possession of their faculties”?

This canon speaks of the ideal, namely, that the individual in danger of death receive Viaticum before losing consciousness. Its intention is obviously to stress the urgency with which Viaticum should be administered when the danger of death arises. This canon speaks nothing of how a pastoral agent should proceed if the individual merely possesses partial-consciousness or if the individual loses consciousness completely. Similarly, both the 1917 Code of Canon Law and the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches express the ideal, but are silent concerning the other possibilities mentioned.

Fortunately, the Church does not leave us without a means of resolving this pastoral and canonical dilemma. For drawing upon the Church’s great canonical tradition, the Roman principle of “favorabilia amplianda, odiosa restringenda” applies in such situations. English-speaking canonists commonly – although not literally – translate this revered principle as “favors are to be multiplied, and burdens restricted.” Without question, the favorable interpretation is to administer Viaticum to Terri Schindler-Schiavo.

Moreover, keep in mind that Viaticum is usually, although not always, intimately linked to the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. Therefore, canon 1005 offers another parallel place to which a pastoral agent may have recourse. This canon states: “If there is any doubt as to whether the sick person has reached the use of reason, or is dangerously ill, or is dead, this sacrament is to be administered.”

Finally, let us look at the reason why Michael Schiavo and his legal team continue to deny Terri her fundamental right to receive the Holy Eucharist. According to most press reports, they allege that allowing Monsignor Malanowski to administer Viaticum to Terri would “cause her distress.” As an aside, I am by no means a medical expert but it is inconceivable to me how someone who is truly in permanent vegetative state could experience distress at receiving the Most Holy Eucharist. What adds to my incomprehension is that these same individuals reportedly allege that Terri feels no distress from her starvation and dehydration. But setting aside this medical marvel, it is not inconceivable that someone in a persistent vegetative state could find the Holy Eucharist comforting since Viaticum is primarily food for the soul and not for the body.

Nevertheless, this is a significant admission on the part of Michael Schiavo and the legal and medical team assisting him. For if Terri possesses sufficient consciousness to potentially find reception of the Holy Eucharist distressing, then for pastoral and canonical purposes she also possesses sufficient consciousness to find Viaticum comforting. At the very minimum, Mr. Schiavo and his team have raised a doubt of fact concerning Terri’s condition. Thus following both the Church’s canonical and pastoral custom, a pastoral minister must err on the side of administering the Sacrament.

For as I have already stated, Viaticum is not food for the body but food for the soul. And as such, it is the fundamental right and obligation of every Catholic in danger of death to receive Our Lord as food for the journey. Thankfully, just as Michael Schiavo and the Florida judiciary prevented Msgr. Malanowski from providing Terri with food for the journey, so too did God, through the intervention of Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature, prevent Terri from making this journey.

I loathe daylight savings. I'm sitting here with an eight-month-old baby boy who doesn't know how to tell time -- someone who, until this morning, was getting up during the (far too early) hour of 5. Now he's getting up an hour earlier, because despite the best efforts of Paige and me, he can't tell time. Our older two know they're not supposed to get up before 7:00, and now we have to relax that rule because what their bodies think is 7:00 is really 6:00.

Besides the fact that I'm up way too early, here are some other reasons to dislike daylight savings:

-- It kills people. I've read in several places that traffic fatalities are slightly higher during the week when we "spring forward," and as far as I know that's not balanced out by fewer fatalities when we "fall back."

-- It doesn't save that much electricity. Even advocates of daylight savings say that it reduces energy usage by 3%. Granted, that's a lot of power, but does anyone take into account the lost productivity for people whose lives are disrupted? Besides, energy is meant to serve man, not man to serve energy.

-- It makes programming times and dates difficult. The content management system we built has to take into account the time change, because it runs a newspaper Web site and a 24-hour newswire. There are always users logged in at 2 a.m. on Sunday mornings (not many, but some).

-- It's hard to coordinate time with the rest of the world. Not only do you need to know how many hours they differ from GMT, but you have to know whether they're on daylight savings (probably not). Again, at work we have people filing stories from all over the world, and they have to figure out the EST vs. EDT distinction.

-- The daylight-savings junta says we're doing this "for the children." Whenever you hear that phrase, you know somebody is up to no good. Schoolchildren otherwise would be "coming home from school in the dark." So it's better that workers drive home in the dark? If the kids need daylight to wait for the yellow bus, adjust the time of the school day. Why do the rest of us need to adjust to them?

To save a small amount of electricity, we disrupt the entire nation and let people die on the highways. Smash your clocks!

A number of bloggers have speculated whether the whole Terri Schiavo situation is really massive spiritual warfare. Here's an interesting article on George Fellos, attorney for Mike Schiavo, from a past issue of the St. Pete's Times. I've reproduced some of the more salient quotes, but it is definitely worth reading in its entirety:

------------

Bibliographical info:

The spirit and the law:[SOUTH PINELLAS Edition]
SHARON TUBBS. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Fla.: May 25, 2001. pg. 1.D

---------
Felos, 49, has taken on about 10 right-to-die cases in the last decade. He balances his quest for spiritual growth with his lawyerly duty to fight.

[...]

Felos' spiritual and professional lives intersected in a public way 12 years ago, in the case of Estelle Browning. The case gained him a reputation as the person to see when you want to let someone die.

He wanted to see Browning for himself. She could not speak, but Felos says his spiritual side picked up on something. He says her soul cried out to his soul and asked, "Why am I still here?"

[...]

After the Browning case, Felos became a volunteer for the Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, sitting and talking with terminally ill patients. On his living room shelf sits a book for hospice training, Dying Well, by Ira Byock.

[...]

"I believe that Christ was God incarnate and was resurrected. But, by the same token, I believe that there were other incarnations of God as well," he says. "All the great religions in their essence express the same fundamental truths."

[...]

That is what is necessary, he says, "to accomplish what I believe are Terri's wishes."

Does Felos believe Terri Schiavo's soul has spoken to his?

Felos declines to answer, showing his lawyerly side. "It's a pending case," he says.

While I haven't had the opportunity to sift through it all, here's some interesting background on what allegedly goes on at the Hospice of the Florida $uncoast where Terri is warehoused for death receiving hospice care.

Now that he's spent a few days with Terri and her family, Fr. Rob blogs about his experience with Msgr. Malanowski and the Schindlers. It is much like our own, except that Fr. Rob does so with much more clarity and precision. While I have summarized his reflection below, Fr. Rob's entire reflection on Terri's personhood is worth reading. To begin, Father's follow description of Monsignor Malanowski is totally accurate:

Msgr. Malanowski is very impressive. He is zealous, energetic, and courageous. His courage was demonstrated on Tuesday night: He went in to visit Terri and give her Viaticum. When the husband-mandated "minder" (family members and Msgr. Malanowski aren't allowed to see Terri without one of Michael's representatives present) realized what he was about to do, she cried foul and told Msgr. he couldn't do that. He asked the police what would happen if he did it anyway. They replied that they would arrest him. His response was "so lock me up", or something to that effect. But then they added that they would physically prevent him from giving Terri communion. It was only the certitude that he would fail that dissuaded him, not the prospect of being arrested. [...] I know priests half his age (he's 81) who don't work half as hard as he does. [...] On Wednesday, he hadn't slept 4 hours in the last two days.

His following description of the Bob and Marie Schindler as good people is no less accurate:

One of the things that struck me very quickly is how level-headed, reasonable, and calm the Schindlers are. [...] I was half-expecting to meet people rendered emotional wrecks by their week-long ordeal of watching their daughter dying. They've also been portrayed, by the husband and his attorneys, and by unsympathetic media, as everything from religious fanatics to pathetic simpletons.

But they weren't, and aren't. They're very normal, solid people. They've been represented as people in denial of their daughter's sad state, blinded by their emotional attachment to her. But that is simply not the case. They are quite realistic about Terri's condition: she is severely brain damaged, and will almost certainly never come close to substantial recovery. But they see that the person they know and love as Terri is still there. And they cannot understand why the fact that she won't recover amounts to grounds for ending her life.

Finally, Fr. Rob does away with the myth that Terri is a vegetable, and compares her situation to that of one with Down's Syndrome before coming to the following conclusion: "People with Down's Syndrome won't 'get better'. The best you can hope for is to teach them enough skills so they can function in society, and many Down's patients will never even reach that point. But we don't (yet) kill the mentally retarded because they won't recover. Most of us still have sufficient vestigial humanity to recognize that killing of the retarded is inhuman and barbaric."

Again, I strongly urge you to stop by Fr. Rob's blog and read his reflection after spending a couple days at the prayer vigil.

This will be my last update from the vigil until after the baby is born, as Sonya is pretty close to going into labor and the doctors have asked us to stick close to home. Terri's parents are among the kindest and most decent people I have ever met. Before we left to return home, Terri's father took us aside and asked if he could speak with us because he had heard from some of the nurses and paramedics at the vigil (the ones on our side) that Sonya looked like she was only a few days away from labor. He was concerned we might try and sneak up to the vigil between now and then.

To be honest, this wasn't an unreal possibility since the hospital is about half-way between where we live and the hospice where Terri is staying. Nevertheless, Mr. Schindler said: "As a father, I'm here for my baby. We really appreciate your prayers and support, but you two need to be there for your baby now. We know you're with us in prayer. But please come back with the baby as soon as you're rested and able to travel." I mention this because it is typical of the wisdom and compassion one finds with Terri's parents. Even as they undergo such a tremendous cross, they show great consideration in generosity in wanting to make sure we weren't neglecting our own family needs for the sake of theirs. Needless to say, we were stunned. "How could they even worry about us at a time like this?" Sonya asked. For my own part, I don't think I could be this self-less if that was my daughter in the hospice. However, this is just one example that reveals the character of Terri's family.

1) According to Terri's family, who visited her yesterday, it looks like her condition is much improved. The color has returned to her face, she does not look so gaunt, and she's responding to her family's presence and attempting to communicate with them. It is impossible to know for sure, because Michael Schiavo is now reportedly denying Terri's family access to her medical records under the Medical Privacy Act. Again, Terri's family expresses their appreciation to everyone for our prayers and the rosaries.

2) Fr. Rob was out there yesterday. He spent most of the day with Terri's parents, which allowed Monsignor to attend to a number of doctors appointments he had been putting off as well as get some rest. We spent some time together at the vigil, and he will try and update us whenever he can. Both Monsignor and Terri's family are very grateful for his presence, especially since given Monsignor's age, these three-hour nights are taking their toll on his health. Fr. Rob sends along his greetings.

3) It was also Mr. Schindler's birthday yesterday. So we all sang him happy birthday just before he and his family went in for their evening visit with Terri.

4) If you listened in to the mainstream media on the ground, most of the reporters are actually quite sympathetic to Terri. This wasn't the case when they arrived, but they're becoming more sympathetic every day. What's really interesting is watching them fight with the producers and the suits back in the head office over how the report is edited and spun. For this reason, some of the big news stations are starting to rotate their news teams after a couple days, while others are getting an earful as the reporters become increasingly less docile when asked to re-spin their report.

The one exception, of course, seems to be Fox News which is simply allowing their crews to call it as they see it. In fact, I spent a few minutes with the Fox crew yesterday, and thanked them for their unbiased reporting. (Okay, so they aren't perfect, but they're doing a better job than the rest of the television networks.) That being said, the other reporters are not nearly as biased as they are made to look on air, and we may possibly see a press revolt before too long.

5) Although the networks (I will not longer say press) continue to present Terri as a vegetable or in coma, from the descriptions of those I have spoken with who visited her, as well as from the video footage, etc. she actually ressembles someone with Cerebral Palsey. In fact, if you weren't a lawyer or a doctor familiar with the history of her situation, you would probably conclude that this is what she has. I mention this because while Cerebral Palsey patients require a lot of assistance, most of us would be appalled if someone tried to murder them through starvation and dehydration.

6) I am grateful to everyone for your prayers and assistance in keeping everyone updated. Yet there's a particular individual who is consistently and faithfully in the right place when I need his help, but always in the wrong place when it comes time to expressing my gratitude. This individual is Karl Maurer, a fellow regular contributor at the Wanderer. Anytime I need to reach someone from the vigil but don't have their number on me, I'm on the cell phone to Karl who either looks up the number for me or emails the individual in question. He also keeps a pretty large distribution list going through the Catholic Media Coalition, and has faithfully gotten action alerts out within seconds. Thanks Karl, it is greatly appreciated.

7) On that note, here's a sample letter Karl wrote:

To: Mr. Roosevel Freeman
OCRcomplaint@hhs.gov
Office of Civil Rights
District Office in Atlanta
PHONE: 404 562-7886

RE: TERRI SCHINDLER SCHIAVO

Dear Mr. Freeman:

I am writing to ask that your office take immediate steps to remove Terri Schindler Schiavo from the care and guardianship of her husband Michael, who is currently under investigation for spousal abuse and criminal neglect.

Your immediate attention to this matter would be appreicated, as Mr. Schiavo has repeatedly attempted to have his wife killed. This email complaint is being filed in lieu of formal documents due to the critical nature of Terri's case.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

Sincerely,

Karl Maurer

Karl J Maurer CPA
[Snail Mail Address]
[website]
[Phone]

"...genuine inculturation has nothing to do with the product of the over-fertile imagination of an enthusiastic priest who concocts something on Saturday night and inflicts it on the innocent Sunday morning congregation now being used as a guinea pig."

The text of the Cardinal's address is at EWTN.

CNN reports a story from Variety magazine: Lightning has struck actor Jim Caviezel on the Passion set, but he's fine. An assistant director was struck for the second time! As reader eje says, "This is just way, way too weird."

So, I opened the Arlington Catholic Herald last night and saw this letter to the Editor:

Mass ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’ts’

I hope that the way in which the canonization Mass for the three missionary priests (ACH 10/06/03) was celebrated by the pope in Rome on Oct. 5th, 2003 sends "loosen up" signals to those who, citing the new GIRM, are trying to lock the celebration of the Mass into a series of strict "do’s" and "don’ts". At that canonization Mass (according to CNS) "Catholics...held three-tiered yellow umbrellas over the Book of the Gospels, while women and men ... stood alongside holding flowers or pots of incense. Sixteen dancers ... accompanied the offertory procession. During the consecration, dancers ... performed the ‘Atari rite’ standing before the altar making slow circles in the air with platters of flowers and incense sticks." While some bishops, priests and laity may shudder at those activities as unnecessary, irreverent, or not allowed by the GIRM, I believe they were beautiful expressions of the People of God celebrating our newest saints.

And I thought... oh brother. Haven't we had enough "loosening up" sessions?

The fact is, in liturgies at the Vatican there's been liturgical dance performed when the celebration of the Mass has involved canonizations of Saints from countries in which dance is sacred and an acceptable part of the liturgy. And yes, they can be beautiful, authentic expressions of worship. But that doesn't mean what is sacred in one culture and sacred in another.

It's just intellectually dishonest to take the actions from that liturgy out of context and tell everyone else to "loosen up" about how we would do our liturgies. The West is the land of dancing being an integral part of music videos, free love, abandonment of moral restraint, lasciviousness, etc. Do I need to go on?

The GIRM exists to have a consistent framework of prayer and worship, in large part to make sure that our liturgies are prayerful and consist of authentic worship - not just some cultural ejaculation of what seems fun and exciting on any given day. Whenever I hear someone say we need to "loosen up" it's always followed by some crazy idea about a way to make the liturgy more "relevant."

People are dying for consistent, authentic Catholic liturgies instead of being bludgeoned with the latest misguided fad or irrelevant cultural act that just doesn't fit in the West. That's what the "Do's and Don'ts" are all about.

A public-school faculty came up with the following at an Imagineering [sic] session recently. My mother-in-law pointed out that "most of these goals, even the more stupidly expressed ones, would be accomplished by closing down the government schools and getting parents to homeshool."

Somebody's tax money is paying for this, you people!
________________________________________________

I want my school to be a place where …

-Students exhibit shared responsibility to grow academically, emotionally, and
socially.
-We are safe.
-Classes are small (no more than 20).
-Learning is exciting and challenging.
-Testing does not take priority over learning.
-Everyone looks forward to coming every day.

I wasn't expecting Italy's "Northern League" party to emerge as a defender of Christian values, but that seems to be happening:

The European Union's elite are determined to destroy Europe's Christian heritage, Italy's reform minister, Umberto Bossi said yesterday.

He described the elite as "filthy pigs" who wanted to "make paedophilia as easy as possible".

Mr Bossi, leader of the Northern League, said Brussels was "transforming vices into virtues" and "advancing the cause of atheism every day".

Dear all,

I just got off the phone with Monsignor and Fr. Rob. Fr. Rob got in safely, and Monsignor brought him up to date over dinner. Fr. Rob has also been in contact with Terri's parents. Monsignor is very grateful to the St. Blog community for sending Fr. Rob. Since this whole thing began, Monsignor has been putting off his own medical appointments and whatnot in order to remain accessible to Terri and her family. So Fr. Rob's presence comes as a great relief. Fr. Rob gives everyone his best and asks for prayers.

The good news is that the feeding tube was reinserted and Terri is now getting nutrition as well as liquids. Additionally, Michael Schiavo backed down from his prohibition against Terri's family visiting her. Nevertheless, he is now refusing Terri's parents access to her medical records and condition -- citing the privacy act. This is why we're not getting any updates on her medical condition. It should also be noted that an independent guardian ad litem only applies to the specific court case. Mike Schiavo remains Terri's legal guardian in all other matters.

There's also some other troubling news. Today, Terri was secretely moved back to the "hospice" where she had been left to starve and dehydrate. One of my friends at the Wanderer sent me some pretty troubling background information on this particular hospice. Nevertheless, according to Mike Schiavo et al, Terri is receiving fluids and feeding. But it shows that the culture of death still has a strong hold over the situation. The vigil, which had shut down last night, has now resumed.

Tomorrow I have to take Sonya up to Sarasota in the afternoon to pre-register at the hospital and visit the ob-gyn. Afterward, we hope to head up to the vigil and link up with Fr. Rob. (I say "hope to" because Sonya is now experiencing some stomach pains.) Until then, please keep praying.

As far as action alerts, what we need now is for people to contact the Attorney General's office -- both federal and for the State of Florida -- and urge an independent investigation into Terri's condition and possible abuse. Email Deal Hudson over at Crisis magazine and request that he use his political clout to lobby the President and Governor Bush to do the same. And please email Fox News and request that they keep investigating this.

Finally, I just email Karl Maurer and John Pacheco a pdf copy I have of Chris Ferrara's ammended legal brief. It pretty much sums up all the alleged irregularities in this case. I've asked them to alert Carl Olson and Mark Shea if they can get it up on their website, so that we can blog a link ASAP.

Nice to see the dictum attributed to Churchill confirmed again: "There is nothing so exhilarating as to be shot at without result." Here's a case in point.

Geez, man, Bp. Sheen coulda told ya life is worth living.

Everybody knows that Jeb Bush is Catholic, right?

Barbara Bush Calls Democrat Line-Up a 'Sorry Group'

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Lawmakers sent Gov. Jeb Bush a bill Tuesday that will give him the power to order a feeding tube reinserted into a brain-damaged woman who is at the center of one of the nation's longest and most bitter right-to-die battles. From the AP.

My question is: when will this be called a "right-to-live" battle?

Gov. Bush promises to sign bill to stop Terri Schiavo's court-approved starvation.

Ken Shepherd is one of our frequent commenters, and I have appreciated his comments on these pages (especially on the Clowning for Christ discussion thread.) In response to RC's entry about the pope retiring, Ken says, "I'm just a Protestant with a strong penchant for sola scriptura."

Before I continue, I'll say that some of my best friends are Protestants, as are practically all of my relatives by blood and marriage. I don't mean to single you out, Ken, and I'll delete this post if this is embarrassing. But since I suspect you won't mind, I'll ask you this: where in the Bible do you find sola scriptura?

I tried to find it, and was unsuccessful; that's one reason I left Protestantism for Catholicism. You say, "Traditions are fine and good if they are based solidly on Scripture and are in accordance with the move of the Spirit in the Church." That leads to a few more questions, like...

1. How do you know what is scripture, and what isn't?
2. How does one determine an authentic "move of the Spirit," as opposed to a move of the devil masquerading as the Spirit?
3. Who can authoritatively answer questions #1 and #2?

Again, this isn't to attack you or anything. It's one of those perennial questions, and it's well worth discussing.

Iran says it will stop enriching uranium, and will allow unlimited inspections of its nuclear program. (Let's wait to see whether it follows through.) The U.S. has been pressuring Iran to do these things for months, and according to this AP story, the winner here is...France.

Do you think Iran changed its mind because of the 130,000+ Coalition troops on their border? Or the tens of thousands of courageous Iranians demonstrating against the repressive thugs who run their country? Nope -- it's all because of France, not to mention good, soothing, multilateral dialogue.

If you believe that words alone are enough to ensure peace in the world, you'd probably believe anything.

Dom Bettinelli posts about the wishful thinkers who keep suggesting that the Pope should retire and get out of the way for them.

But they don't get it: the papacy is not a mere elective office defined by some functionalistic description: it's an iconic role and a divine vocation. To resign would be to diminish that aspect of divine calling, and treat the papacy as a humanly-conferred role that can be laid aside on grounds of human prudence and convenience. To reinforce the convenience culture is not a message this Pope will ever want to send.

Some of the people who wish the Pope would retire seem to have forgotten that the Church has dealt with ailing and infirm popes before, and has survived quite well, thank you.

An age limit, even as a matter of "voluntary" custom, has political implications, in the Church where custom is a powerful force. Making the papacy subject to an arbitrary age restriction moves the Pope away from his rightful position of being the supreme legislator in the church, and closer to being a functionary subject to legal process, check and balance. It will be no surprise to recall that the canonist quoted in the article is an advisor to VOTF, which certainly favors notions of making the papacy part of a "constitutional government".

Well, yes:
A wedding at Wal-Mart just seemed like the perfect fit.

Amen! Okay folks, we all know what we need to pray for today!

At the risk of looking like an ass for interrupting the continuing coverage of judicially sanctioned murder, I'd like to ask you all for some help. At long last, I'm going to finish my master's thesis, hopefully in the spring, and I need to get a new web hosting company to do it.

I need mySQL, PHP, Perl, and the ability to host at least two domains (plus all the regular stuff like e-mail accounts). Shell access would be quite nice, but I could live without it. I don't need lots of bandwidth or disk space, and I do want to pay less than $10 a month. I've found one company, Lunarpages, that has such a plan, but I don't want to jump in without knowing my other options. Can anyone else make a suggestion?

As promised, here are some pictures from the Vigil for Terri.......

Terri's friends and family gather in front of the hospice to protest.

Monsignor at the press conference after he unsuccessfully tries to give Terri viaticum. The lady sitting next to him in the blue dress is Pat Anderson. She is the attorney for Terri's family. Chris Ferrara credits her with being the heart, soul and backbone of the Terri's legal team. Please keep her in prayer as well.

A young protester calls it as it is.

Terri's father comforts Terri's sister with hug after a tough day.

Open Letter to Governor Jeb Bush
Concerning Terri Schiavo

Dear Governor Bush:

As members of the Catholic media, we beg you, in the name of our Lord Jesus, to intervene in the case of Terry Schiavo, and, by extension, in the lives of the millions of persons with special needs in Florida and throughout our country whose lives will be greatly endangered if Ms. Schiavo is left to die, or, more accurately, murdered through the present withdrawal of food and water.

The judge in this case is acting on a remarkable doctrine: That food and water are medicines which may be granted or withheld based on a judicial order. What legal or moral authority gives anyone the right to withhold food and water from an innocent person? Starvation is a most painful and difficult death. If one were to propose it as a method of execution for death row prisoners, it would be instantly opposed by society under the Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. If starvation is cruel and unusual punishment, it should not have the imprimatur of the State of Florida for any innocent citizen.

We admire your seeking the assistance of the St. Thomas More Society concerning what is legally just. And we are strengthened in our hearts by their response that, at the very least, you have the authority and the duty to protect her life and to conduct a proper and thorough investigation. We appreciate the difficulty of this matter and that the right course of action before God may not be the popular one in today's culture.

The moral and just path, however, is clear to us who believe that human life is God's to give and His alone to take. History has shown the truth of the statement, The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. We would go a step further in saying that those who have the power to do good, and yet do nothing, participate in the triumph of evil, whether or not their withholding of the good seeks or intends such evil.

It may be that our Lord has put you into office, like Queen Esther of old, for such a time as this . The God who saved Esther, and through her, the people of God, will not abandon you, dear Governor. He is faithful. May our Lord Jesus Christ be your comfort and guide in this urgent hour, and may you be His instrument to save the life of one of His little ones , and through her, the dignity of every soul made in His image.

With gratitude and prayer,

Rosalind Moss,
Catholic Author and Speaker

Father Richard John Neuhaus
Editor in Chief, FIRST THINGS
The Institute on Religion and Public Life

Pete Vere, Editor
The Alhambran Magazine

Mark Shea
Catholic Author and Speaker

Philip F. Lawler
Editor, Catholic World Report and Catholic World News

Carl Olson
Editor, Envoy Magazine

John Pacheco
Catholic Author and Speaker

Domenico Bettinelli, Jr
Managing Editor, Catholic World Report magazine

Amy Welborn
Columnist, Our Sunday Visitor

Martin K. Barrack
Catholic Author and Speaker

David Pearson
Features Editor, National Catholic Register

Mike Mohr
Chairman, St. Bernadette Soubirous Chapter of Catholics United for Faith

Dave Armstrong
Catholic Author and Speaker

Gerald Korson
Editor, Our Sunday Visitor

Steve Ray
Catholic Author and Television Host

Rod Bennett
Editor, WONDER Magazine

Matt C. Abbott
Columnist, the Wanderer

Tim Drake
Staff Writer, National Catholic Register

Dr. Paul Thigpen
Executive Director, The Stella Maris Center for Faith and Culture

Mary Kochan,
Contributing Editor, Catholic Exchange

Sandra Miesel
Catholic Journalist

David Moss
President, Association of Hebrew Catholics

Maureen and Robert Wittmann
Catholic authors and speakers

Steve Kellmeyer
Bridegroom Press

Mike Aquilina
Vice President, St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

Mark Brumley
Catholic Author

Greg Popcak
Catholic Author and Radio Host

Patty Bonds
Catholic Author and Speaker

Jeff Cavins
Catholic Radio and Television Host

Fr. Joseph F. Wilson
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn

I hope to be posting some pictures later on, but there's been some serious happenings go on today at the prayer vigil for Terri.

1) The most serious is that Monsignor attempted to give Terri Holy Communion today, but was stopped by the police and the nursing staff. Although Monsignor was willing to be arrested, he was stopped by all present. This is a serious violation of Terri's First Ammendment rights. The civil attorney for Terri's parents was on the phone with Chris Ferrara almost as soon as it happened, and I can now confirm that Chris is working away on this as hard as he can. Chris and I shared a few candid words about the situation, and we're pretty much in agreement about a lot of things here, although he obviously is better versed in the civil legalities of what's going on. It goes without saying that he's very concerned for Terri. He refuses to give up the fight, however, but he needs everyone's prayers right now.

2) I spent about half an hour with Terri's parents. They are good people who are being held together by our prayers and the strength of their son Bobby. Sonya and I presented Terri's father with a St. Benedict Rosary that a St. Blog parishoner and Alhambran had asked us to give the family on behalf of everyone at St. Blog's and the Alhambra. It just happened that Terri's father had misplaced his rosary and so he was very happy to receive it, as well as our prayers, because he has been borrowing rosaries for the past month. The rosary he misplaced had been blessed by the Holy Father. I told him that there is someone at St. Blog who has a rosary blessed by the Holy Father that they would be willing to share with Terri's parents. If that individual is you, please email me at petevere@msn.com . I will be more than happy to reimburse the overnight shipping costs. It would mean a lot to Terri's family right now.

3) Both Monsignor and Terri's parents would be extremely grateful if Fr. Johansen could join us. Monsignor is visibly tired, as he maintains a full Mass schedule in addition to being present at the vigil whenever he's not saying Mass. Not only would Fr. Rob not be a burden, but they were very specific they could really could use his assistance in the coming days.

4) There was a special on double-cheeseburgers at the McDonalds nearby. So once again the evangelicals insured that we were well-fed. They also had some bananas and muffins. Apparently, the evangelicals have really settled into their ministry of providing food to those who come and pray. It is appreciated by everyone there. Tomorrow, a number of local evangelical churches will be holding their service just outside of the hospice where Terri is being starved.

5) Terri's father and mother are extremely grateful for all the prayers they are receiving from St. Blog and the Alhambra. He is getting over a thousand messages a day from people praying and supporting Terri. Since he cannot physically answer them all, he and Terri's mom asked me to express their gratitude to St. Blog parishoners and the Alhambra.

The following was sent to the Children of God for Life email list today:

This afternoon at the Hospice Center Terri Schiavo, whose feeding tube was removed on Wednesday, was denied Viaticum. Monsignor Malanowski was told by police and the attorney for her husband that she could not receive the 1/4 Host he had brought her. (Mrs. Schiavo is fully capable of swallowing.)
She has been visited by Msgr. Malanowski for over three years and today, as always, she reacted with joy at his presence as she sat in her chair and turned to greet him.

This is no longer about removing artifical life support (if one considers a feeding tube life support); it is about a cruel and vicious murder of an innocent woman.
Please, spread the word of this outrage to as many people as you can. Call your own dioceses, pastors, civil rights leaders and let them know what has happened to Terri. The local press picked this up at 5:00PM, and this news should be distributed nationally and worldwide. Thank you for anything you can do to help restore this woman's rights. Terri's case will set far-reaching precedents for all disabled people nationwide. Consider this: the attorney for Michael Schiavo believes that anyone who cannot lift a spoon to his mouth should die. He is the director for Florida's Right to Die.

Children of God for Life

For more information on Terri visit www.terrisfight.org

Sonya and I are planning to head up to the vigil for Terri Schiavo this afternoon. We hope to arrive around 3:30 and stay until about 5:30. We would like to stay longer, but Sonya's nine months pregnant so we can only manage a couple hours at a time. (Unfortunately, I cannot go alone either since I need to stay within twenty minutes of Sonya at this point.)

For any other Catholic Light readers in the area who are going to be there, please come over and introduce yourselves. We're kinda hard to miss. I'm wearing a red Alhambra golf shirt and of course Sonya is nine months pregnant. We've also got a spunky red-headed toddler in tow. I'm hoping to blog some pictures once we get back.

St. Anthony's Chapel in the holy city of Pittsburgh has the most prominent collection of relics in the U.S., but a Catholic in Reading (or is it a little lay group?) is no slouch: he's doing his part to foster veneration of the relics of the saints.

(Via Fr. Sibley.)

Hey, Pete, what does this mean for moral conservatives? Here are the headlines, and commentary from NRO and the NaPo.

Georgetown University has an incipient music program (the orchestra has no trombonists, which confines them to playing the first three movements of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and a bunch of Haydn). Guess where the Jesuits decided to put them for ensemble rehearsals as well as individual practice? In the basement of the New North building, directly underneath the Department of Theology's study area. Apparently there has been some tension. Can't imagine why.

A number of people around St. Blog's, following the lead of the conservative media, have pointed out that Michael Schiavo stands to make a nice lump of cash as soon as Terri is gone. This may be true -- he reportedly stands to make something -- but I personally question whether money is what is truly at stake with Mike Schiavo.

At least two friends of Terri's family alleged to me at the vigil that on the day she went into the coma she had decided to divorce Mike. Her family also maintains, if I understand correctly, that there had been a history of domestic violence between her and Mike. I know that at least one of Mike's former girlfriends alleges something simliar. In addition, the family's attorney has mentioned evidence that suggests Terri may have been the victim of domestic violence at the time she collapsed.

That being said, my job as a canonist is to examine and question evidence for inconsistencies. So doing so has simply become second nature for me. I have a few questions after reflecting upon recent events. These are: 1) if this is just about money, why does Mike appear to have refused the family's offer that he simply take the money in exchange for giving them back custody of Terri? 2) If Terri is really in a permanent vegetative state, why the strong objections to her parents videotaping her? Shouldn't the videotape in fact support his position?

Thus obviously some other motivation is at play here. At one extreme, the possibility is misguided love. In other words, he truly loves Terri and mistakenly believes that this is what is best for her. I don't think this is the case, however, since such behavior would appear to be inconsistent with his getting engaged to and having a child with another woman. Actions speak louder than words.

Other middle possibilities include the following. He wants the money, but taking it and running would make him look like an even bigger jerk, so pulling the feeding tube gets him what he wants while saving him much embarrassment. The only real objection I can think of to this scenario, which I admit is rather weak, is why would he engage in such lengthy and costly litigation if this was the case?

Another possibility is that he now wants to move on with his life and start over again with his present girlfriend. But in today's culture of marital instability, would the majority within society really fault him for throwing in the towel, turning Terri over to her parents, divorcing her and giving her parent what money remains? Again, if the issue is calling it quits, why the endurance on his part when it comes to lengthy and costly litigation? Why not just walk away?

Thus I'm left wondering whether there isn't another reason behind his actions. Given his reported history of domestic violence, is he now trying to beat the rap for something truly incriminating that would come to light if Terri recovered? I don't know the answer to this. I can only speculate, however, something simply isn't lining up here in my opinion.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 16, 2003
Catholic Media Coalition
www.catholicmediacoalition.org
Contact: Mary Ann Kreitzer
(540) 459-9493

CATHOLIC MEDIA COALITION CONDEMNS EUTHANASIA OF TERRI SCHIAVO

The euthanasia murder of Terri Schindler Schiavo by starvation and dehydration which began yesterday at 2:00 p.m. is a violation of her right to life and a crime against humanity. The Catholic Media Coalition condemns it unequivocally and calls on every Catholic bishop in the United States to express public outrage against this violation of Terri's right to life and her human dignity. We also call on her bishop, Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg to defend her right to receive the sacraments and the comfort of the faith in this time of trial.

The Catholic Church, of which Terri is a member, teaches that food and water are ordinary means of life and may never be removed unless an individual is imminently dying (within a few hours or days) or cannot receive benefit from them. Terri clearly does not meet that standard. She is not dying and has obviously benefited over the years from tube feeding. Legal decisions allowing the deliberate killing by neglect of the weak and defenseless are always immoral.

Pope John Paul II addressed this issue in his letter to the Bishops of the World issued June 21, 1991. "When legislative bodies enact laws that authorize putting innocent people to death and states allow their resources and structures to be used for these crimes, individual consciences, often poorly formed, are all the more easily led into error. In order to break this vicious circle, it seems more urgent than ever that we should forcefully reaffirm our common teaching, based on sacred Scripture and tradition, with regard to the inviolability of innocent human life."

On October 2, 1998 the Pope specifically addressed the issue of nutrition and hydration affirming a statement of the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee saying it, "rightly emphasizes that the omission of nutrition and hydration intended to cause a patient's death must be rejected and that, while giving careful consideration to all the factors involved, the presumption should be in favor of providing medically assisted nutrition and hydration to all patients who need them." The Pope made this statement the same day former Louisville, KY anchorman, Hugh Finn, had his feeding tube removed by legal order at the request of his wife Michele and against the wishes of his parents and siblings. Hugh died an agonizing death nine days later. [See here]

Mary Ann Kreitzer, President of the Catholic Media Coalition, expressed profound sorrow at the tepid response of the Catholic bishops to this crisis of euthanasia. "I'm ashamed as a Catholic to say that our Coalition contacted every bishop in the country asking for their support for Terri and received only a handful of replies. Most of those responding told us they would not take a stand. Her situation is not unique. Murder by neglect is occurring with greater frequency around the country with the complicity of medical staff and the courts. If the Catholic hierarchy fails to speak with authority their silence will be construed as consent. Bishop Lynch's behavior has been baffling. It took incredible pressure from the CMC to finally get a statement from the Florida bishops, and even that is tainted with inaccuracies. We desperately need men of courage like Bishop Clemens von Galen who mounted his pulpit in Munster Cathedral on August 3, 1941 and blasted the German euthanasia program that was murdering the helpless. He did not stop it, but most certainly reduced the death toll. Doctors and judges were responsible for that deadly program and the United States is now on the same road they traveled. Unless we vigorously defend the innocent, like Terri Schiavo, and repress these evil judges and the doctors who are complicit with them, we will have euthanasia on a massive scale.

"Think of the police officers surrounding Terri's bed and the Hospice building to make sure no one interferes with her deliberate premeditated murder. Think of Judge Greer who ordered Terri's execution and the Supreme Court of Florida and the federal judge who would not stop him. Then consider Bishop von Galen's words. 'None of us will be safe.There will be no police to protect the victims, no court of appeal..Woe to mankind, woe to the German people, if we thus transgress God's commandment, delivered amid thunder and lightning from Mount Sinai and implanted in the heart and conscience of man, Thou shalt not kill.'"

The Catholic Media Coalition stands with Terri and the Schindler family in this terrible trial and offer our prayers. We share their moral outrage at this cruel injustice. We beg all people of good will to storm heaven for redress and to enter the political arena to restore morality to this country which has strayed so far from our founding principles. We urge citizens to continue contacting Governor Jeb Bush begging his intervention. It is time for a showdown between the executive branch of government and a runaway judiciary that has embraced the murder of the innocent.

END

Right now, I'm listening to the overture from "The Marriage of Figaro" for the second time. (if I were John, I'd have typed "Le Nozze di Figaro," but I'm not as cultured as he is.) I can't listen to it just once -- like Al Franken and pie a la mode, I have to have more and more until I'm satiated. What a little gem of a piece -- sprightly and tuneful, one of the few perfect earthly things.

When I tell my older son Charlie that living in heaven is better than anything in this life, he says, "But I like living on this planet." (He's under the impression that heaven is a different world.) There are a few pleasures that incline me to agree with him.

I don't always agree with her, she is manifestly a bomb-thrower, and her language and reasoning sometimes go off the rails. But damn do I love Ann Coulter's columns sometimes. She's in fine form as she rails against Rush Limbaugh's detractors:

"In liberals' worldview, any conservative who is not Jesus Christ is ipso facto a 'hypocrite' for not publicly embracing dissolute behavior the way liberals do."

Judging from their reaction to Rush's predicament, many liberals' souls are black with hatred, spite, and envy. That's a far worse problem than a chemical addiction or buying medication without a prescription.

Half of U.S. Catholics say Pope should go

Let me say for the record this poll and article is TOTAL CRAP.

"The poll of 227 U.S. Catholics was taken between Friday and Sunday. Fifty percent say John Paul should resign for health reasons, and 49 percent call for him to remain in office until he dies. In a similar survey in spring 2002, 36 percent said the pope should step down."

227? That's half my graduating class from Mount Vernon High School. There's probably 227 baggage screeners working at Dulles Airport today. Perhaps they called 227 Catholics that darken the doorway of a parish on Christmas and Easter.

How can this even appear in the news? Here's the full USA Today story. Bleah.

...about the quandry the Anglican's are in over actively and openly gay ministers, bishops and gay marriages.

From the Washington Times:
Anglicans Seek Consensus on Gay Policy

How do you get consensus on such an issue?

Today was very gut-wrenching. Sonya, the girls, our friend Marina and I frequented the prayer vigil and news conference for Terri Schiavo in Tampa. The bad news is that they pulled her feeding tube. I was with her brother Bobby, my friend Carlos from the National Catholic Register, and some reporter from the New York Times just before it happened. It was really sad. I was on the cell with Pat Madrid when we got the news, and we had to cut the call short because I couldn't stop crying for Terri. My three-year old daughter was with me and I just could not help but ask, "What if it was her in that bed while Sonya and I were being deprived the right to fight for her life?"

Monsignor said it best when he said that Terri's parents now know how Our Blessed Mother felt on Good Friday. One thing I should note, and although it pains me to admit this, many of the people there were extremely disappointed with what they saw as a weak response from the Florida bishops. In fact, there was probably more anger expressed against Bishop Lynch than against Terri's husband and the judge who took his side. Please pray for Terri's friends and family, and please pray for the Catholic clergy as well.

Nevertheless, there was some good news that gives us hope. First off, Governor Jeb Bush is really concerned and contacted the family to let them know he has his legal team working on trying to open another possibility for his intervention. He is extremely concerned, and not just as a politician. He has been very supportive of the family throughout this ordeal, but he wants his interventions to accomplish as much as possible to save Terri and not simply to be a example of political grandstanding that does nothing. Jeb is a very decent human being. Secondly, and more importantly, the misunderstanding between the Monsignor who is providing pastoral and spiritual support for Terri and her family, and the lawyers for the other side, came to some sort of resolution that restores Monsignor's pastoral visitation privileges (as well as the visitation privileges of Terri's family). It still is not ideal, in that the other side has added more restrictions, but barring a miracle, at least Terri won't die alone -- deprived of family and pastoral assistance. Please continue to pray for a miracle, however...

Posted below is my wife's press release for the Alhambra which we just submitted to the Wanderer and various other Catholic news organizations. Please feel free to pass it along, and please pray:

---------------------------

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Catholic Fraternal Organization Requests Prayer For Terri Schiavo

Sonya K. Davey

PINELLAS PARK, Fla (OrderAlhambra.org) – Responding to the court-imposed removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, the International Order of Alhambra called for prayer in support of Terri. “Following our Holy Father’s intervention, it goes without saying that my prayers and the prayers of the entire Order of Alhambra are with Terri Schiavo and her family,” Edward Fiorella stated.

Fiorella is the Order of Alhambra’s Supreme Commander, which makes him the highest ranking official of this hundred-year-old Catholic fraternal organization. The Alhambra’s primary focus is service to the needs of the mentally and cognitively disabled. “As Catholics belonging to a Catholic organization,” Fiorella continued, “we support the Church’s teaching on the dignity and value of every human life. This includes Terri’s. Therefore, I have asked our members and the members of our ladies’ auxiliary to keep praying for Terri.”

Pete Vere is a canon lawyer who specializes in the rights of mentally and cognitively disabled. He is also a supreme officer of this five-thousand member Catholic fraternal organization. He attended the October 15th prayer vigil held by Terri’s friends and family outside the hospice when doctors removed her feeding tube. “This is just a sad day for every Catholic concerned with the Culture of Life and the rights of those with some form of cognitive or mental disability,” Vere said. “Not only is the state sanctioning involuntary euthanasia, but this sets an awful precedent in which society judges an individual by his or her perceived utility. God created us human beings, not human doings. All human life is valuable in His eyes.”

As Vere prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet with other Catholics gathered at the vigil – many of whom were from the local special needs community – the mood was visibly somber. “We cannot begin to imagine the threat this poses to our special brothers and sisters in Christ,” Vere stated. “I am particularly concerned for those who suffer from more severe forms of cognitive and mental disability. Under this new utilitarian ethic and definition of human life, will their right to life be challenged as well? In terms of mental and cognitive capacity, how far are they removed from Terri?”

“Recent video footage clearly shows Terri positively responding to stimulation from her friends and family,” Vere added. “She smiles, she laughs, and she opens her eyes, turns her head and raises her eyebrows. A number of medical experts assure me that these are not the responses of one who has fallen into a persistent vegetative state as the courts and Terri’s husband maintain.”

Besides medical, ethical and political considerations, Vere also feels that Terri’s situation involves a religious and spiritual dimension. “As members of the Order of Alhambra,” Vere explained, “we must implore the intercession of our patron St. Francis of Assisi. He will obtain for us the grace to stand firm for the culture of life and assert the basic human dignity of our special brothers and sisters in Christ. I invite members of all other Catholic fraternal organizations to make this stand as well. Unless we take action now, Terri will die from starvation and dehydration within the next two weeks. This involves a most cruel and painful death. As my friend Fr. Rob Johansen recently noted, ‘she will die not of any disease, but because a judge has ordered her to die. She will die in spite of ample evidence that her condition is treatable and improvable.’ In short, there is no tomorrow for Terri and others like her. Now is time to pray, contact your legislators and make your voice heard.”

Many of Terri’s friends and family still hope for a miracle. One such individual is Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski who has provided pastoral care to Terri and her family throughout this difficult ordeal. “It is no coincidence that today is the feast of St. Theresa of Avilla – Terri’s namesake,” Msgr. Malanowski shared with those who had gathered outside the hospice to pray. “Additionally, the Holy Father has scheduled Mother Teresa’s beatification for this Sunday. I spent twenty years as a missionary among Mother Teresa and her sisters. Mother was a great apostle of the Gospel of Life in our time. I have asked that she intercede from above for Terri.” Msgr. Malanowski grasped a relic of Mother Teresa as he shared his hope for a miracle with others who had gathered at the prayer vigil.

For more information on the efforts of Terri’s friends and family to save her life, please visit the following website at: http://www.terrisfight.org

[Sonya K. Davey is the mother of two children, including one in the womb, and a pro-life activist. She possesses a bachelor of science with a concentration in biology. In her spare time she volunteers with the Sultanas, which is the women’s auxiliary of the Order of Alhambra.]

Today is the day she will have the starvation process imposed on her if there's no further legal intervention.

More info here.

Leave them in the comments boxes.

Here's a weird one: two reporters infiltrated the Quebec-based "Raelian" sect for nine months. Their report is a five-part series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

And get this: the claim that the sect had cloned people wasn't even true! Who'd have thunk it?

(Via Religion News Blog.)

Sensible David Morrison has left the Babylon of Blogspot and moved to a new home on Typepad. Enjoy.

From a source that would prefer to remain anonymous.

Advent
A time to implement various, innovative ways of including dogs, cats, gerbils, small children and dancing nuns in the lighting of a wreath with four candles.

Ash Wednesday
A very special day since the congregation gets to sing "Ashes."

Cantor
The liturgical cheerleader that by the juxtaposition of their charisma, talent and poise can render any congregation mute.

Choir
A group containing at least 3 guitars, a flute and a person holding a plastic, half-moon shaped tambourine. Does not need to include actual singers.

David Haas
The Thomas Tallis of the post-Vatican II era.

Easter Vigil
Four hours of "full and active participation" containing lots of Haugen, Haas and liturgical dancing.

Funeral
A celebration of the 5 songs we do over and over again in order to make the event a truly joyous occasion.

Gregorian Chant
Who let Greg in here?!? Call security!

Guitar, Tambourine, Flute
The organ of the post-Vatican II era.

Holy Thursday
The one time of year to wash womens' feet during Mass.

Hymn
A homonym for a word that cannot be used to describe the nature of or refer to the Supreme Diety.

Inculturation
The act of the congregation of a large suburban parish singing songs that originate from Subsahara Africa, the Caribbean or the Far East. Inculturation is particularly effective where there is no one from the place of origin of the song present. See Self-congratulation.

Improperia
Latin for the Good Friday Reproaches, to be replaced with the "Good Friday Affirmations" by Marty Haugen.

Kyrie Eleison
Isn't this latin? Get it out of here now.

Latin
Not the vernacular and therefore to be despised as both useless and discriminatory toward non-Latin congregants.

Lent
The period starting with "Ashes" and ending with the washing of Women's feet.

Liturgical Dance
The proper function of nuns over 50 who took one semester of Modern Dance at a local community college. To be effective, it must contain the element of surprise, that is - when the liturgical dance begins, at least 73% of the congregation must stare dumbstruck at the spectacle. Seeking permission of the pastor or ordinary to engage in liturigcal dance is not recommended.

Marty Haugen
The Palestrina of the post-Vatican II era.

Microphone
An amplification device that works best if placed between the cantor's tonsils.

Organ
Something to donate when you die.

Palestrina, di Lasso, Tallis, de Victoria, Gabrielli
All dead.

Participation
Measured in decibels with a direct correlation to the amount of self-congratulation that occurs following the Mass. Also something to harp on over and over until the congregation gets it right or the pastor removes the acoustical tile meant to deaden the sound in the church.

Ratzinger, Josef Cardinal
Evil man and enemy. Dares to write about liturgy even though he didn't get a Masters at Notre Dame.

Sacrament of Reconciliation
A communal celebration to acknowledge the faults of those who don't agree with us.

Sanctuary
A place generally around the altar that is meant for small children, dogs, gerbils, banners, flowers, signs and dancing nuns.

Self-Congratulation
A right and proper act that should be performed by the liturgist following the execution of liturgical dance or inculturation. Also occurs at liturgy conferences when colleagues are regaled with stories of what happened on Holy Thursday or the Easter Vigil.

This one is goes out to all your Red Sox fans:

In case you didn't know, the Red Sox have been denied a victory in the World Series ever since Harry Frazee, the owner of the Red Sox, sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in order to raise money for the musical production No, No, Nanette.

From today's G-File over at NRO.

A Cypriot bishop suggests offering confession in schools.

Italian actress Rosa Lembo sings during a performance of 'Mother Teresa, The Musical' at the Brancaccio Theatre in Rome October 14, 2003. The two-hour musical is a celebration of the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta who died six years ago.

The mic. Just weird.

"Would you like the senior discount?"

No, Miss, it's a little early for that.

Heavens. Either the 55-and-up set is looking good these days, or I'm really decrepit for 45.

To put it bluntly, I have a few reservations about canon 1398. “A person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication,” the canon states. Please do not mistake my reservations as support for abortion. In no way do I condone this intrinsically evil act, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches “is gravely contrary to the moral law” as well as an “abominable crime” (2271).

Yet my experience in ministry has taught me that most women who abort their child act under some sort of emotional, mental and/or psychological duress. Despite what many feminists claim, I seldom come across an abortion that is freely chosen – that is, chosen without coercion from some outside individual or organization. Sometimes this pressure comes from a boyfriend who refuses any responsibility for the pregnancy. Other times, parents seek a quick fix for their teenaged daughters. “Get rid of it or get out of the house!” is, sadly, the execution decree of all-too-many grandchildren. But even more reprehensible, in my opinion, is the coercion a distraught pregnant mother finds among the very women’s organizations that claim to uphold her freedom of choice. As my friend Mark Shea often reminds me, abortion is the principal sacrament of initiation into the culture of death. Therefore, a woman often discovers when dealing with feminist pregnancy crisis centers that her choices do not include bringing the child within her womb to full term.

Thus abortion is a traumatic choice often made under duress. As the reality of the choice to end the life of one’s child sets in, the woman is left in need of the Church’s help and compassion. For once her child is dead, the woman will find neither help nor compassion from the abortion industry. Yet alone and ashamed, the perception of canonical censures only further drives these women away from the Church in many instances. This compounds the problem.

These women know abortion is wrong. They feel it in their soul every time they see a mother with a stroller pass by on the sidewalk. Their heart cries out with every advertisement for diapers that flashes across the television screen. What these women need is Christ’s healing touch in the confessional, as well as sustained pastoral support from pro-life organizations like Project Rachel. This is the approach Christ took with Mary Magdalen’s adultery: He did not excuse the sin, but He did not turn away the sinner. He invited her to repentance and forgiveness.

Nevertheless, I feel no such compassion toward those who profit – whether financially or politically – from abortion. As a canonist, I firmly believe in the use of canonical censures to combat this intrinsic evil. Yet these canonical censures should be aimed where they are most deserved. Thus in reflecting upon the carnage wrought by the culture of death over the past thirty years, the Church must strengthen and enforce canonical censures against the so-called "Catholic" politicians, doctors, pregnancy counselors, nurses and lawyers who continue to support and protect an industry dedicated to the willful butchering of children in the womb.

Of course, there is no need to excommunicate the doctors, nurses and other medical staff directly involved in the abortion industry – the Code of Canon Law already provides for their automatic excommunication. As canon 1329, §2 states: “In the case of a latae sententiae penalty attached to an offence, accomplices, even though not mentioned in the law or precept, incur the same penalty if, without their assistance, the crime would not have been committed, and if the penalty is of such a nature as to be able to affect them..." Since the abortion would be impossible without the direct assistance of the medical staff, this makes them direct accomplices to the abortion. So they are automatically excommunicated if they happen to be Catholic. No canonical trial is necessary. The competent ecclesiastical authority need only declare the penalty.

Unfortunately, the canonical situation is a little more complex when it comes to Catholic politicians who support abortion. For their participation in the scandal of abortion is more indirect. The politicians and lawyers draft, legislate and protect laws that permit this evil. Most do not, however, directly participate from the abortion chamber. Therefore the automatic excommunication envisioned by canons 1329 and 1398 would not apply to these lawyers and politicians since, in keeping with the principle of canon 18, “Laws which prescribe a penalty [...] are to be interpreted restrictively.”

Nevertheless, a competent Church authority may use other means to impose excommunication upon pro-abortion Catholic politicians. Moreover, there are other penalties the Church may impose. At the very minimum, the Church can and should prohibit pro-abortion lawyers and politicians from receiving Holy Communion. In fact, any bishop may invoke canon 1399 to do so. “Besides the cases prescribed in this or in other laws,” the canon states, “the external violation of divine or canon law can be punished, and with a just penalty, only when the special gravity of the violation requires it and necessity demands that scandals be prevented or repaired.”

Now some canonists will object to my interpretation of this canon, arguing that reception of Holy Communion is a right of Christ’s faithful. However, this right is in no way absolute. As canon 223, §2 states: “Ecclesiastical authority is entitled to regulate, in view of the common good, the exercise of rights which are proper to Christ’s faithful.” One is hard pressed to see how permitting pro-abortion Catholic politicians to go unchallenged contributes to the common good – either of the Church or of society as a whole. Rather, abortion destroys the common good in that it destroys the right to life. This is the right upon which all other rights, as well as the common good, are based.

Moreover, canon 912 states: “Any baptized person who is not forbidden by law may and must be admitted to Holy Communion.” In short, canon law provides an exception for to the right to receive Holy Communion, namely, for those who are forbidden by law. Canon 915 clarifies one such exception as follows: “Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”

In the end, there is no lack of pertinent canonical legislation granting a competent ecclesiastical authority the right to refuse Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who are obstinately pro-abortion. What the Church needs is the will to enforce this proposed course of action. Undoubtedly, some will denounce such refusal of the sacraments as too severe. Yet what is the alternative? For according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, through abortion “irreparable harm [is] done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society” (2272).

[Since I am already being asked, permission to reproduce in whole is hereby granted by the author, provided proper attribution is given to "Pete Vere, JCL" as the author and http://catholiclight.stblogs.org as the original source.]

First, the Archbishop of Edinburgh called for "full and open discussion" on celibacy and contraception. Orthodox Catholics everywhere were aghast at such a suggestion from a Cardinal-designate.

And a few days later, in an appendix to the Profession of Faith required of new Cardinals, the Archbishop seemed to reverse himself by affirming the points of law and doctrine he had called into question:

I further state that I accept and intend to defend the law on ecclesiastical celibacy as it is proposed by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church; I accept and promise to defend the ecclesiastical teaching about the immorality of the homosexual act; I accept and promise to promulgate always and everywhere what the Church's Magisterium teaches on contraception. So help me God and these Holy Scriptures which I touch with my hand.

Critics seized on the statement, claiming it had been ordered by the Vatican.

However, Archbishop O’Brien denied that any pressure had been brought to bear on him from Rome and rounded on conservative elements of his Catholic flock. He told The Scotsman: "Having recently restated my loyalty to the Church, its teachings and the Pope, I would hope that Catholics everywhere will join with me in respecting the decisions of the Pope and demonstrate their own loyalty by not questioning them."

The archbishop added that his Profession of Faith amounted to the start of a "healing process" for the Church.

It's a little hard to believe that nobody in Rome asked the Archbishop to make the extra profession and publish it to the press. After all, bishops don't routinely add extra affirmations to a canonically required Profession of Faith on their own initiative.

This was a special case, the start of a healing process, a matter of unity.

Peter Kearney, the media director of the Catholic Church, last night described Archbishop O’Brien’s affirmation of belief as being similar to a politician toeing the party line.

(Thanks, Diogenes.)

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. My wife and I are expecting in under a month, so things are slowing down a little. Anyway, in response to Eric Johnson's inquiry below, I already have the Maltese Cross tattooed on my shoulder blade.

It's October and time for the Nobel Prizes to be awarded, including the Peace Prize. This year's winner seems to be a courageous person. Since Pope John Paul, a nominee several years running -- and the subject of speculation this time around -- was passed over again, it's also apparently time for Catholics to whine a little about the slight.

Not me, though. After all, some of the winners make it look like a prize for effort rather than achievement. Jimmy Carter's and Kim Dae Jung's efforts in Korea seem to have sputtered, and John Hume's and David Trimble's brave effort in Northern Ireland limps along inconclusively. Arafat, Peres, and Rabin got the prize in 1994, and Yasir's still calling in his bloodthirsty way for more "martyrs". Kissinger and Le Duc Tho -- well, enough of that.

A few winners have been plainly undeserving: Rigoberta Menchu appears to have won mainly by presenting a phony image that appealed to leftist sympathies.

It's hard to argue that Catholics have been particularly disfavored by the Nobel Institute: Kim's a Catholic; Bp. Belo of East Timor won in '96; I presume John Hume's a Catholic; of course there's Lech Walesa and Blessed Teresa.

Anyway, I figure the prize does more good if it goes to some relatively unknown figure whose efforts will be strengthened by it. The Pope's work for peace isn't going to change one whit. Yes, giving the Pope the prize would be instructive to the world's elites, but I'm not convinced they'd get much benefit from the lesson.

Update: David Brooks weighs in with an NYT op-ed.

Larry has found a music professor's nice explanation of why congregations enjoy singing square old hymns more than newer and rhythmically more complicated compositions.

(via Victor)

A student in my philosophy class argued yesterday that we can't know if invertebrates think deep thoughts just because they haven't built up any civilizations, written books, or discussed philosophy.

Maybe, he said, they are communicating telepathically and have decided that a life in the mud at the bottom of the ocean is better than our wars, poverty, &c.

This would be less of a problem if I thought the student were arguing for the sake of annoying me, but he seemed to be earnest in his beliefs.

We're starting the Summa tomorrow.

...were more like the Russian Orthodox, the bulldozers would be busy. From the Washington Times.

This appeared on a message board for elementary general music teachers:

[...]I am hoping people can help me to locate some songs about the following:

[...]

Costume Holidays (Halloween, although more about dressing up than ghosts and goblins, Mardi Gras - I'd love a song related to that!)

[How about the De Profundis?]

Independance Days (anything other than American)

[Of course.]

[...]

Feasts (Thanksgiving, Ramadan/Eid – I can’t find Ramadan music anywhere!)

[There’s a reason for that.]

Robert Frost once said, "Don't be an agnostic. Be something."

Let me add to that: being a syncretist in religion is a cop-out too.

Because he's not a syncretist, it's always refreshing to hear the Dalai Lama's remarks to the press. The Tibetan Buddhist leader seems to be a clear and logical thinker, which contrasts strongly with the vague concepts some people have about merging religions. ZENIT quotes him:

there "cannot be unification" between Christianity and Buddhism. "If you mean having a closer relation, understanding, that is happening in religions," he noted. ... "If by unifying you mean mixing, that is impossible, useless."...

"In the United States I have seen people who embrace Buddhism and change their clothes," he said, laughing. "Like the New Age. They take something Hindu, something Buddhist, something, something. ... That is not healthy."

A believer who picks and chooses elements from multiple religions really is making himself the permanent authority to judge truths. This is not the way to humility and spiritual progress. It's very fitting that a Buddhist agrees that this is not wise, because (if I understand it correctly) his doctrine teaches the unimportance of the self.

Keep talking to those reporters, your Holiness! Maybe people who don't accept the irreconcilability of religions will be more ready to accept it from you.

I have been a bit absent lately from posting because I recently started an MBA program. The program is part time and 21 months in duration. I'll need to see how I settle into the reading/study/team work schedule and then I'll get back to posting Catholic Light goodness. Please keep me in your prayers as I've been out of school for nearly 10 years and the closest thing I've got to regular reading is here and here.

Episcopalians used to have a charism for good taste. Oh, well, that illusion's shattered.
(Thanks, Mark.)

Psychiatry professor Robert Spitzer of Columbia is back in the news: some time ago, he interviewed 200 volunteers who reported a change from homosexual orientation to heterosexual orientation with the help of various therapeutic means, and often with a religious motivation for the effort. His report has now been published, and NARTH has a summary.

Good. Thanks, John. Let me be the first to say that I'm glad Gray Davis is going down hard. True, his replacement will be a pro-abortion nominal Catholic, like him. However, his replacement has never had a spokesman publicly rebuke a bishop for daring to teach the faith.

Other people have lost, too, including

• The Los Angeles Times. They just happened to finish its dirty story on Arnold a few days before the election, which didn't exactly lend credibility to their tales.

• Feminists. Even Maureen Dowd says that feminism died in 1998 when Gloria Steinem defended Bill Clinton's dalliance with a subordinate. They tried to make a stink about Arnold's boorishness...but who listens to them now? And speaking of Clinton...

• Former president Bill and his lovely wife Bruno. Showing the political acumen that lost the House and Senate to the Republicans for at least a decade, the Clintons campaigned hard for Gray Davis and he still took a dive. As opposed to 2000, when Algore lost, and 2002, when most of the Senate candidates they supported lost. Yet people still praise their "political skills," which demonstrably don't extend past their own self-promotion.

I am not going to post anything else until another Catholic Lighter posts something. That is all.

After spending a lot of time reading through the Navarre Gospels, I've decided to step back in time to the Old Testament. Specifically, I want to learn more about the prophets and the psalms. One thing that's always struck me about the latter is that they are impossible to reconcile with the squishy, saccharine God of the Suburbs. (Who is a false image, an idol deserving to be smashed.)

The smug bumper sticker that says, "God is too big to fit into one religion" is true if they're talking about the anorexic, consumerist version of religion that passes for Christianity in far too many American churches. The God of the psalms is shown in his plenary nature, and is too big for an emaciated religion. The psalmist regards each aspect of the deity with love one moment, fear the next; he cries out for mercy because of his sinfulness in one psalm, then begs God for his enemies' destruction in another. The hearts of the lion and the lamb truly dwell within this eclectic collection of songs.

If you consider yourself a movie fan and have never seen www.moviemistakes.com, you'll find it fascinating. They pick apart movies' errors with meticulous care -- to the point that it might ruin a film for you.

This is great fun for a crap-fest like "Titanic," which, among, other atrocities, invented the stinking lie that the men on the ship were all cowards, except Leo the man-child. If you've ever sat through any movie, bewildered at the liberties Hollywood takes with real events, places, and objects
("Hey, did Picasso's 'Les Desmoiselles d'Avignon' really sink to the bottom of the Atlantic? I swear I saw it when it came to the Met"), you'll enjoy rifling through the entries.

"Gladiator," one of my favorite movies from the last few years, has more "mistakes" than almost any other. Some of them are examples of criticism gone too far, like:

Factual error: The snake with red-yellow-brown skin you see in a night-shot in Rome lives only in deserts in North America.

Ooooh! Ridley Scott must be ashamed! Then there are the mistakes that aren't mistakes:

Just before the battle with the germans begins, while the germans are taunting the romans [sic], there are many arrows in the trees and in the ground. Twice we see this. Problem is that the disciplined romans had not fired a single arrow at that point and no skirmishers, which could have been authorized to shoot before the order to "loose", can be seen in the open area in front of the defensive position.

Maybe they're right and the filmmakers didn't intend it, but there's an easy explanation for this. The Romans had ample time to prepare the battlefield before that scene, and one thing they would have done is to test the range of certain parts of the battlefield. Archers would have loosed a few arrows to gauge the distance, and so they'd know how to shoot when the battle began. The technique is used today by professional machinegunners, who will fire bursts to test the distance of objects on the battlefield, if possible.

One of the worst aspects of the Web is that people can get too carried away with all the scoffing and debunking, because there's nobody to reign them in. On the other hand, it's good to have a medium with which to take down the proud a notch or two.

P.S. If you get the DVD of "Gladiator," you can see two deleted scenes with explicit Christian references, including a Christian family about to be devoured by lions.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-Camelot) has found something about which to disagree with Governor Howard Dean (D-Berkeley). The issue, oddly, is guns. Dean doesn't mention it much, but in order to win statewide office in Vermont you have to be pro-gun, and he's received top NRA ratings throughout his tenure as governor.

To a Democratic primary voter, this is almost as bad as running as a pro-lifer. Recall that the 100%-pure pro-abortion Algore attacked the 100%-pure pro-abortion Bill Bradley in 2000 for being insufficiently zealous about the abortion license. Dean doesn't mention his pro-gun past, but expect that to come up more often if it looks like the establishment Dems are going to lose.

Kennedy -- one of the dimmest members of an overhyped family -- comes up with this tasteless attack on Dean:

"This is a personal issue with me, and I'm very disturbed at the fact that people are not paying attention to Dr. Dean's record" on guns, said Kennedy, nephew of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, both of whom were assassinated by guns.

I wonder if he considers statutory rape to be a "personal issue" with him, since his late campaign manager/brother admitted to sex with a babysitter over five years, beginning when she was 14 (though to be fair, after five years she was no longer underage.) This is the Kennedy equivalent of "waving the bloody shirt" -- trotting out the corpses of John and Robert Kennedy to remind the public of the Kennedys' "sacrifices" for their lowly subjects (that's us).

The extended Kennedy family has homes scattered around North America, all guarded to keep the cruel world at bay. What kind of weapons do the guards carry? Sharp sticks, perhaps?

The other issue in higher education is that the liberal arts curriculum is dead. I managed two music degrees at a Virginia university without ever taking a foreign language, philosophy, logic, or a good natural science course. Instead, I had to take a bogus course in Sociology (a bogus subject in the first place) and my only foray into maths at university was called MATH 106: Concepts of Math. We studied percentages and voting and other issues appropriate to a seventh-grade curriculum.

I knew at the time that this was not a classical education and doubled up on my literature coursework and seminars to compensate, but most of my confreres did not. Granted, we were all spending the majority of our days in rehearsals and in the practice rooms (some actually practicing), but most of the other music students looked at "gen ed" requirements as something to get out of the way as quickly as possible. No one cared if we learned anything, and none of our advisors seemed to care if we did or not.

The bottom line is that every university student should be taught a core set of liberal arts courses, and, if my experience is indicative, few are.

I will stop, as I feel an E.D. Hirsh rant coming on.

The further I get from being a full-time student, the more I'm convinced that higher education has become a scam.

Think of education as an industry like any other. The industry's leaders have convinced taxpayers to subsidize their industry by telling them the product improves future workers, and thus the economy. Then convince employers that any job paying more than $8 an hour should be filled by people with a certificate from your industry. Then show teenagers (and their parents) that unless they want to work retail, or -- horror of horrors -- do manual labor or learn an honest trade, they need to spend between $20,000 to $120,000 to get the industry certificate.

These thoughts are occasioned by this article in the New York Times detailing the amenities that universities offer their students today, and how much money is being spent on them. Remember that whether a university is public or private, it's your tax money being spent because of our middle-class welfare system...er, federal student loans.

I graduated from a slightly above-average state university, whose president was mainly known for getting drunk with frat boys and convincing legislators to dump loads of money into our campus. The most bewildering thing about the whole experience was figuring out that 80% of the other kids had almost no intellectual curiousity. I'm not saying that's a virtue, and I'm sure there are plenty of saints in heaven who never cracked a book. However, when you're shelling out $11,000 a year for an "education," you'd think more people would act like they're interested.

I have had some outstanding professors, and I greatly benefited from them. By that I mean that I felt wiser after taking their classes. To say that a college degree ought to mean more than a job qualification is dorky or incomprehensible to most people today. But what other real justification is there? If your understanding of God, man, and the universe is unaffected by your classroom time, then that's at least four irretrivable years of your life gone by, and in reality you're not even a better worker bee. You're just a worker bee with a fancy certificate.

[The Academy Girl, whose blog I just discovered, voices related thoughts on her blog.]

CL co-founder Steve Schultz and I had a good time today attending a symposium at his seminary in Philadelphia. The moral teaching of Pope John Paul was the theme, and it's fair to say the highlight...

I'm going to get a new tattoo soon, and it will look something like the image on the right. Normally, I would not solicit opinions about something this personal, but I'm curious about others' opinions on this one.

The tattoo will be on my left bicep, and will be covered by a normal short-sleeved shirt. I have another one that says "USMC" on my right bicep in the same place. The cross itself is a variation of the one worn by the Knights of Saint John, a.k.a. the Hospitallers, a.k.a. the Knights of Malta. A colloquial name for it is the Crusader's Cross, which is why I like it -- in a sense, every Christian is a crusader, right?

While I like the cross itself, I have a few concerns, namely:

-- Is the shield outline too much?
-- Does the design remind you of a nurse?
-- Does the design remind you of the Luftwaffe?

Both nurses and the Germans used a modified Maltese cross, though they are distinctly different than this one, which I found in a book on the military religious orders. (I hasten to add that the cross used by the Germans in WWII, called the Iron Cross, predated Hitler by a century and a half.) What do you all think? I don't want to spend the rest of my life saying, "No, it's not a Nazi symbol," or "I'm not a nurse, darn it! Not that there's anything wrong with that."

Charles Krauthammer, the Washington Post's best columnist since Michael Kelly died (man, do I miss that guy!), chides commentators for imagining they could run the Iraqi occupation better than the Bush administration.

Since I returned from the Middle East, I've run into a lot of people who are similar experts. Our company's chief accountant told me things were "pretty bad over there." Actually, I replied, things are only bad in a small portion of a very big area. He laughed condescendingly and said, "Well, I don't think so." I wanted to yell, "Really? How much time have you spent in Iraq recently?" but I refrained.

I've had similar conversations with other people who are shocked to hear that the vast majority of Iraq is relatively safe, and public services are operating mostly at pre-war standards (which, granted, were not that high). Let me say again that I'm not an expert on Iraq either, but I do keep up with events over there, and I pay attention to sources I trust. Or rather, I learned that most news organizations are untrustworthy, so they can be safely ignored.

Krauthammer alludes to the most persistent criticism of the Bush administration: they are not clairvoyant. The most likely problems never materialized, and other problems occured. Now, the most likely problems (population displacement, mass starvation, mass murders) were worse than what's happening right now, but don't expect the Democrat presidential candidates to point that out.

And if by some calamity one of them gets elected next year, they'll find that they'll have to rebuild Iraq just as much as a second Bush administration would.

Difficulties show men what they are. In the case of any difficulty, God has pitted you against a rough antagonist so that you might be a conqueror, and this cannot be without toil.

                                          — Epictetus

This photo of the "Sombrero Galaxy" was taken from the Hubble Space Telescope. It's called the Sombrero Galaxy because the technician to first view the photo was eating a fiesta burrito from Taco Bell.

Now, I wouldn't recommend that just anybody try this. The web site says this "radionic energy is a powerful force", and warns that you shouldn't use it "for any malicious or illegal purposes". However, if you want to use if to get money and revenge, here's the product for you!

Right now, I'm using my computer to send out waves of radionic energy to quash internet scams.

I can't actually attest that this site isn't some hoax, but there are various neo-pagan sites out there that seem to take it as legit.

...its own traffic record, that is. And I'm not talking about anything connected to the DMV. No, we're talking Web traffic. Here are the stats:

Total page views: 32,639
Total visits: 18,019
Average page views per day: 1,087
Average visits per day: 600
Top countries: Italy (!), U.K., Australia, Canada, Netherlands

Even discounting 30% of the traffic as bots or Catholic Light contributors -- probably a high estimate -- that means about 400 people visit the site every day. Not too bad for a little blog like ours. Break out the holy water! Let's get CRAZY!

How can you spend a year and a half in the late '90s saying that it's okay if a governor and president...

1. Uses public employees to procure sex;
2. Cheats on his wife countless times;
3. Gropes and fondles a job-seeker;
4. Carries out a sexual affair with a very junior subordinate;
5. Lies under oath about the affair;
6. Encourages others to perjure themselves ("We were never alone, right?")

...and then pretend it's a big deal when a movie star, who holds no position of public trust, is accused of being an obnoxious boor?

I hold no brief for Arnold, and I would vote for McClintock if I were in the land of my California ancestors. That being said, nobody's accused him of rape, perjury, or abuse of government power. He didn't do anything extraordinary, by Hollywood's alleycat moral standards -- and I thought if "everyone does it," as Clinton-lovers were so fond of telling us, then it's tolerable?

I'm not trying to square Catholic morality with Arnold's alleged behavior, just pointing out the blatant hypocrisy on the part of Democrats and the media. I can't resist referring you to something I wrote six weeks ago:

"The media love 'moderate' Republicans. All you have to do is favor abortion under just about any circumstance, and you get to be a moderate....Then when election time comes, the 'moderate' Republican finds that his buddies in the press, along with previously friendly Democrats, have turned against him. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the latest to find out that just because you favor abortion, gun control, and scads of money for 'the children,' you're not immune from being lumped in with the snake handlers."

Before the 15th century, books were for important information: Holy Scripture; recording baptisms, marriages, and deaths; noting important events in a kingdom; great works of literature. As the demand for literature grew, a German printer named Johannes Gutenberg invented a way to print large numbers of pages, leading to cheap books, and ever more widespread literacy.

The printed word reached its apogee in the 19th century, as there were no competing media for entertainment or news. Since the inventions of radio, television, and film, print has lost its exclusive hold on the public. Indeed, there are indications that it is in decline, hastened by the appearance of the Internet.

Personally, I hope it declines faster. I can't stand paper anymore. Oh, I love books and magazines just fine, and I even love attractive catalogs with beautiful objects in them, though they are overstuffing our mailbox these days. What I don't like are the transient papers: bills, receipts, reports, pickup stubs...all the printed effluvia of modern-day life.

The day when print returns to its pre-Gutenberg status as a privileged medium will not come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned. It's tough to search through paper as easily as the Web, thanks to Google, or your hard drive. We must act now to ensure the revolution does not stall at its present level.

There is much work to be done, fellow paper-deprecators. We must stop our co-workers from printing 500-page manuals, of which they will only read 13 pages. Encourage your financial institutions to send electronic reports instead of paper ones. Stop writing checks and pay bills online. Eliminate paper, and the future is ours!

This rant was precipitated by a small yet daunting mound of papers here on my desk, which I have not gathered the courage to sort through. I am now going to bed, with the mound fully intact.

Bret Stephens, editor in chief of the Jerusalem Post, outlines his reasons for being a Clinton hater. The occasion was a birthday party for Shimon Peres, where Clinton bemoaned the lack of peace in the Mideast, and sang John Lennon's atheist anthem "Imagine." The lyrics are below:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

Does he really believe this dreck? Would the good folks in Arkansas who elected him 392 times to state office agree that "no religion" is an ideal world? Would the plurality of U.S. voters who put him in office supported the elimination of the nation-state?

Of course not. He's one of the Hollow Men, the Men without Chests, the Last Men, the New Class. He will pick up an instrument of traditional religion -- the Bible -- and without a hint of shame carry it into church while surrounded by the press. Then a few years later he'll turn up at a party and start singing about how traditional religion is an enemy of peace and mankind. If you point out the inconsistency, you are a fool, a rube. You don't get the postmodern joke: Clinton dwells in Nietzsche's land beyond good and evil, where there is no standard with which to evaluate him except how good his performance is. Consistency is for absolutists, and absolutists are the kind of people John Lennon hates, people who believe in religion, possessions, countries, and all the rest. They're the only real enemies.

Bill Clinton keeps on going, never in a state of being, always in a state of becoming. He's still got some game left -- his wife must be elected president, and he's flailing around trying to codify his "legacy." Let Stephens have the last word:

...there never was a "President Clinton." There were, instead, two incarnations of Candidate Clinton: first the challenger, then the incumbent. In both cases, no such thing as "policy" could be said to exist; Mr. Clinton moved where political convenience dictated.

In some cultures, it's still conventional that fathers aren't present at childbirth, but in the technological West, when women started having to bear their children in a room full of strangers, it became accepted and even expected that fathers would attend and assist at births, somewhat as an advocate for the mother vis-a-vis the medical professionals.

So says obstetrician Dr. Michel Odent. However, his experiences have led him to believe that in many cases the father's presence and his excitement make labors longer and more difficult for the mother.

With words, most modern women are adamant that they need the participation of the baby's father while they give birth; but on the day of the birth the same women can express exactly the opposite in a nonverbal way. I remember a certain number of births that were going on slowly up to the time when the father was unexpectedly obliged to get out (for example to buy something urgently before the store is closed). As soon as the man left, the laboring woman started to shout out, she went to the bathroom and the baby was born after a short series of powerful and irresistible contractions (what I call a "fetus ejection reflex").

Twenty-four years ago today, the Pope was here.

An enterprising record company offers audio highlights of the trip.

The Archbishop of Birmingham has pointed out what many Catholics have thought: that the BBC has a pattern of bias and hostility toward the Catholic Church.

It shows up occasionally on the entertainment side: long before Popetown, the BBC presented insulting cartoons about Sister Wendy Beckett, even as it raked in cash from her art-appreciation shows.

But the news side matters more, and there the Archbishop runs down a laundry list of the Beeb's cheap shots and underhanded efforts.
[Thanks to Religion News Blog.]