John Schultz: January 2006 Archives

The good men at the Youth Apostles helped me remain Catholic in high school when I nearly lost my way. I haven't been actively involved for years, but I've kept wonderful friendships and are grateful for their teaching and example.

My company had an opportunity to help them with their Web site, which launched today.

Here are some highlights of their ministry. Like every community, they have a wish list and a prayer list (see the link at the bottom of the page.) For those of you would aren't familiar with them and want quick answers, there's a FAQ here.

For you techheads out there, we used Joomla for the CMS. We like to say: a little Joomla goes a long way.

"It's comin' right for us!" in Spanish?

full story here.

Why the Catholic Church Is Wise to Ban Condoms

You see, the fatal flaw in the pro-condom argument is both simple and devastating: Condoms aren't working to stem AIDS in Africa.

South Florida Catholic schools seek to silence cyberbullies

The article has some good ideas/methods for keeping kids' internet use from getting out of hand. Like: don't let them have their own blog.

President Chávez demands apology from Catholic church

Someone look over this article about permanent deacons in India and let me know if I'm nuts.

First, the article says, "For the first time in the history of the church in India, laymen will be allowed to perform the functions of a full-fledged priest, except for conducting mass and hearing confessions."

Permanent deacons are not considered laymen after ordination, right?

The next one is a real groaner: "Married men who take up the vocation are expected to embrace the vow of celibacy." Wouldn't the word "chastity" be more appropriate? It's probably just an issue of a Hindu journalist being less familiar with Catholic teaching and terminology.

A sad story of a priest who left the Church to join up with folks who want Catholic sacramental trappings but none of the doctrinal baggage and moral responsibility of the actual Truth. The priest's heresy conviction means he'll be officially defrocked.

Here's how the journalist contrasted Catholic church teaching to the gentlemen's new gig:

His denomination considers itself Catholic in the sense of celebrating its sacraments. But it does not believe in the infallibility of the pope and permits married and female clergy. It also permits same-sex unions and holds more liberal views than the Vatican on divorce and birth control.

So after that night and day laundry list, his new denomination is "more liberal?" Winner - understatement of the week.

Full article here.

Hardly a resounding condemnation of the Venezualean Cardinal's remarks I posted recently.

The Nuncio does have a point that "no religious act should be turned into a political one." Yet, isn't that the same retort that "Catholics" who are pro-choice throw at priests who are strong enough to preach about the evils of abortion and that Catholics should remember that when they vote?

Finish this headline:

"US Catholic Worker Community Draws Spotlight on..."

a) Appalachian Coal Mine Safety
b) Lack of Increases in the Minimum Wage
c) Walmart's Unfair Business Practices
d) Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility
e) All of the above

If you guessed E, you'd probably be right.
But the actual article is about d.

So is it unjust to hold 500 enemy combatants? That's just 1/5 of the people who were actually killed on 9/11. And it turns out that "Some former Guantanamo detainees have become fighters in Pakistan — or rejoined the armed struggle in Afghanistan — since their release." [source]

I used to work on the same block as St. Joe's in Old Town Alexandria. I made it to the early morning Mass there a handful of times.

Apparently today is a big day at that parish, since it was founded nearly 90 years ago to serve the African-american community in that area.

The pulsing gospel beat had Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde clapping his hands and singing along at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Alexandria. ...more

Someone has some 'splaining to do!

Call for Catholic primary to be changed to Muslim faith school

An Islamic campaign group has called for a Catholic primary school to be based on the Muslim faith. The Campaign for Muslim Schools said 90% of pupils at St Albert's Primary, in Pollokshields, Glasgow, were Muslim.

And the last line of the piece:

A spokesman for the Catholic Church was not available for comment.

Makes me think of: Islamification of Europe.

Latin America has a history of political unrest with violent results. Now tensions are rising between "President" Hugo Chavez and Cardinal Rosario Castillo.

From the good Cardinal:

"A government democratically elected seven years ago has lost its democratic path and shows signs of dictatorship, where all powers are in the hands of one person who exercises them in an arbitrary and despotic way,"

From the mild-mannered Chavez:

Chavez, who often brandishes a crucifix and evokes Christ when vowing to fight poverty, has clashed with Venezuela's Catholic leaders before, calling them a "cancer" and once branding Castillo a "coup-mongering bandit".

Let's pray we don't get more of these in the 21st century.

How about giving Cubans who flee their country the benefit of the doubt if they make it to the 7 mile bridge?

This is an amazing cop-out on the part of our immigration officials.

"Kaine will be Virginia's first Catholic governor"

For his unabashed support of abortion while mentioning his missionary work when he was in his 20s, Kaine deserved to be called "Catholic" with quotes.

"Catholic" when it will score points, pro-abortion when it will score more points.

I had no idea that Muslims sacked Rome in 846.

I mean, the whole world is waiting for a definitive answer on this from an authoritative source:

Italian Court to Decide Existence of Jesus

What's wrong with hospital staff refusing to perform procedures that they find morally objectionable?

Ask the legal bucketheads at the European Union:

Slovak-Vatican abortion deal criticised by EU experts

Slovakia has been challenged by EU legal experts over an agreement with the Vatican, aimed at reducing the number of abortions in the country...

The EU’s Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights, a group of member state analysts created by the European Commission, has indicated Slovakia could be "violating its obligations" as an EU member, according to the UK paper.

The Slovak-Vatican "concordat" would enable health workers in hospitals founded by the catholic church to refer to "conscience" grounds in saying no to women demanding abortion or in vitro fertilisation (IVF)...

The EU legal panel said that in principle "certain religious organisations" should have the right not to perform "certain activities where this would conflict with [their] ethos or belief."

However, the experts added "It is important the exercise of this right does not conflict with the rights of others, including the right of all women to receive certain medical services or counselling without any discrimination."

Banning casino fundraisers for the classroom will be on the table next week for Calgary's Catholic school board, thanks to a motion filed by dissident trustee Michael O'Malley.

Calgary's top Catholic, Bishop Fred Henry, has said using casinos to collect cash for school projects fosters greed and is a detriment to family values. ...more

St. Louis archbishop ousts Polish parish

St. Louis’ Roman Catholic archbishop has issued a "decree of suppression" of St. Stanislaus Kostka, ending the historic church’s standing as a Catholic parish in the St. Louis Archdiocese.

The traditional Polish parish, which is at odds with the archdiocese over control of the parish’s property and assets, is appealing the suppression, along with last year’s interdict and last month’s excommunication of its lay board of directors and priest.

German faithful want more energetic Catholic teaching

The great majority of German Catholics believe it is important that children and young people be given a more active and intense presentation of the faith, according to a poll carried out among some three thousand German Catholics.

Minsk, Jan. 06 (Forum 18/CWNews.com) - Two Catholic priests from Poland who have served in Belarus for more than a decade have been ordered to leave the country by year's end 2005, as their religious visas have not been renewed. ...more

ASK Francis Campbell whether he sees his appointment as Britain’s first Roman Catholic ambassador to the Vatican since the Reformation as controversial, and he laughs. “The Pope is a moral figurehead for the world, not just for Catholics,” he says. “The days when a Catholic could not represent the Queen to the Pope are long past.” But is he a devout Catholic? More laughter. “Well, I haven’t been to Santiago de Compostela on my knees.” ...more