Richard Chonak: June 2004 Archives

A few days ago somebody linked to an article of Pete's here, and opined that CL seemed to be run by a crew of Canadians.
Of course that wasn't right, but it inspired a change in the blog decor to salute Pete's national day.
Cheers!

Woo-hoo! Tonight was the first of twelve rehearsals of the Harvard Summer Chorus, and I'm in it this year. We're meeting five hours a week to learn the Dvorak Stabat Mater under the direction of maestra Beverly Taylor, who taught at Harvard for 17 years and is back this summer. This is gonna be intense!

Prof. Taylor's account of her journey to being a conductor appeared in Gregory Wolfe's journal Image in 1997.

Pete hasn't popped in yet with any comments on the Canadian election result, so I'll fill in for the moment. While the newly merged Conservative Party failed to win a majority, it picked up seats: current CBC figures give them 99. The Liberals and the socialist NDP together got 155 seats in Commons, the bare minimum required to control the House, so they'll see a Liberal minority government up North for a while. Then if and when some by-election shifts a seat to the Conservatives or the Bloc Quebecois, giving them the magic 155, we may get to see a Con-Bloc coalition. They wouldn't agree on federalism vs. separatism, but they'd probably have some common ground on devolution. It appears that Canada has developed a lot of the same polarization as the US, with the Left carrying cities and conservatives stronger elsewhere.

I'm looking forward to Lifesite's take on the results. My guess is that the mild Conservative gain is a mild pro-life gain, judging by the opposition they evoked from pro-aborts before the election.

A 'real nun'
with a fake name
sends an e-mail
to a fake nun
to confirm that
she's a real nun.

Jeff Miller explains it all for you.

Betrayal: AOL staffer sells customer list to spammer

A friend says, "Now this is a case where even the USCCB might support the death penalty."

The Dallas Morning News series on molester priests transferred to other countries to protect them from the law started today. The photo with this particular story shows convicted molester Fr. Frank Klep handing out candy to kids after Mass in Samoa. The series will apparently be a big deal at the DMN: it gets its own Flash presentation.

The Vatican's chief official for relations with other Christians gave a speech Friday morning. Here's how our friends at Catholic World News led the story:

Cardinal Kasper backs "Eucharistic hospitality"

Vatican , Jun. 18 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, has said that "Eucharistic hospitality" is licit in some circumstances.

Speaking at a major conference of German Catholics in the city of Ulm on June 18, Cardinal Kasper said that "there are circumstances when a non-Catholic can receive Communion at a Catholic Mass."

The CWN writer suggests that the Cardinal is at odds with the Pope's recent writings and Vatican directives on the question of non-Catholics and Holy Communion:

In his 2003 encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope John Paul II devoted most of a chapter to the issue, stressing that non-Catholics should not receive Communion. The Pope argued forcefully that the practice of intercommunion is an offense against ecumenism, not an aid, because it creates the false impression that non-Catholics share the Church's teaching on the nature of the Eucharist.

In the recent instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum , the Congregation for Divine Worship reiterated that stand, emphasizing that under any normal circumstances "Eucharistic hospitality" is a grave abuse.

And as you might expect, readers chimed in with expressions of outrage:

"Kaspar is an embarrassment to Catholicism. His positions are heretical and reflective of an apostate who has lost the faith...."

"Cardinal Kasper should be given the boot out of the Vatican's door...."

"What a joke - the head of the council for Christian Unity doing everything he can to destroy unity in the Church. ..."

Now, I don't know where CWN got their impression of the Cardinal's speech, because their article does not reflect what he said on this subject. The term "Eucharistic hospitality" does not appear in the speech. The statement about circumstances in which non-Catholics may receive Communion isn't his opinion: he's citing the Code of Canon Law.

All in all, I think the CWN piece misrepresents the Cardinal's speech, so here's the relevant passage, available from the conference website (my translation):

Three Dallas Morning News reporters have found that much as some dioceses moved abuser-priests from town to town or across diocesan lines, some religious orders moved priests known to have molested children from country to country to spare them from public exposure and prosecution. Reporters found such priests still in active ministry with children. Any bishop who thinks the worst of these revelations are over is engaged in wishful thinking.

Biologists inject 'fidelity' gene into voles

These guys have good timing for publicity: with the remake of The Stepford Wives coming out, I suppose this is the right time to talk about love, fidelity, biology, and freedom.

The last 20 posts have been about the following topics:

• Middle East, including Iraq: 5
• Politics (including some humorous items): 4
• Media: 2
• Religion news: 1
• Other humor: 2
• Music: 3
• Food: 2
• Schools: 1

Did I ever mention I love Johnny Costa? He was the Pittsburgh jazz pianist best known for his role as music director of the children's TV show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He died in 1996 and there's a web site in his honor now.

For much of his career, he didn't make recordings: a few LPs in the '50s that are unavailable now, and then in the '90s, four CDs for Chiaroscuro Records. Now it turns out that he recorded one more album in '95, with Christmas and religious music, so I'll definitely be getting it. Will it be Catholic jazz?

Here's how the spammers are addressing me today:

Subject: Chonak visionary ecumenist iliad
From: "Ramona Perry" <mnvcsllrrtvdi@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 17:12:44 +0600
To: "Chonak" <chonak@-----.com>

Apparently I'm a "visionary ecumenist" now: I'm not sure I like that. Isn't that usually a species of heretic?

Anyway, I am reading the Iliad, so they got that one right.

Just when you think public life in Europe is a lost cause and thoroughly secularized, somebody lets you know that there are currents in the other direction.

I got an e-mail today about the European Parliament elections coming on Sunday, appealing for Christians in Germany to join in reviving the "Zentrum" (Center) Party. Zentrum was a Christian-oriented party that had functioned with considerable Catholic support until the Nazis forced it to disband in 1933.

Zentrum is apparently standing for a pro-life ethic, for the acknowledgement of God in the EU constitution, for authentic marriage, and for economic policies that benefit families with children.

Our German readers can tell us if this is really a sign of something credible or just a group on the fringe: I'm not in a position to know.

June 12: Atlanta

Sept. 24-25: Washington, DC

Oct. 10-17: International Congress in Guadalajara

Preacher: Today I'd like to talk about a man who died in God's service...

Parishioner: Which one: the 9:30 or the 11:30?

A Boston priest has adopted the nom de blog "Father Elijah" for his site Fides et Ratio, which approaches church affairs in Beantown with a refreshing frankness. Welcome, Father E!

If this story in the Portugal News is correct, then last fall's furor about non-Catholic groups conducting their own worship at the shrine at Fatima turns out to be wholly justified.

On May 5th, SIC and SIC Notícias carried a report on a Hindu religious service held in the Chapel of the Apparitions at the shrine.

SIC’s broadcast appears, to some extent, vindicate The Portugal News’ October report. Sixty Hindus led by a high priest had travelled from Lisbon to pay homage to the Goddess Devi, the divinity of nature. SIC’s reporter described how before leaving Lisbon the Hindus had gathered at their temple in the city to pray to and worship various statues of Hindu gods.

Arriving in Fátima the pilgrims made their way to the Chapel of the Apparitions, where from the altar a Hindu priest led prayer sessions. A commentary on the service was given by the TV reporter who explained: “This is an unprecedented unique moment in the history of the shrine. The Hindu priest, or Sha Tri, prays on the altar the Shaniti Pa, the prayer for peace.” The Hindus can be seen removing their shoes before approaching the altar rail of the chapel as the priest chants prayers from the altar’s sanctuary.

It's fine to let a non-Christian group visit a shrine, but it isn't right -- it's not even permissible, as far as I know -- that they be allowed to conduct their own rites in a consecrated church -- which is what the Capelinha is. Does anybody in the diocese of Leiria-Fatima have any idea of how bad this is?