I avoided reading the news over the weekend to better focus on properly celebrating Easter, so I missed this exchange between two archbishops over the abuse scandal in Ireland: Archbishop Williams, the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which claims 70 million adherents, was unusually blunt. “I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who … Read more
Given the day, it didn’t seem quite right to go with the usual free-for-all round-up of news and offbeat links, so here instead are two Good Friday links — Cardinal Ruini’s meditations for the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome today, and Paul Robeson’s beautiful rendering of “Were You There.” Feel free … Read more
Public art or public eyesore? The mayor of London — the host city for the 2012 Olympic games — has commissioned a tower for their Olympic Park meant to be their own “mini-Eiffel.” Some 400ft high – admittedly a little shy of the Paris landmark’s 1,063ft, but higher than the Statue of Liberty – the … Read more
Challenges to the New York Times piece on the abuse scandal in Milwaukee keep on coming, and they damage is piling up. The latest comes from a priest who directly oversaw the case against Father Lawrence Murphy, though he was never contacted by the Times for comment. Now, he says, he wants to set the … Read more
Hubble images: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1ivSpc/coolvibe.com/2009/100-epic-images-from-hubble-space-telescope/ Sistine Chapel: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1kpcQm/www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html
You’ll recall the law recently passed in Baltimore requiring crisis pregnancy centers to advertise that they don’t provide birth control or abortions (thanks to some prodding of the city council by Planned Parenthood). The archdiocese, however, isn’t taking the ruling lying down: Archbishop Edwin O’Brien announced yesterday that they are suing the city of Baltimore, … Read more
The apostolic visitation of the Legion of Christ was wrapped up this month, and the contents of the final report will be revealed in late April. Meanwhile, the organization has come forward with an official statement about their founder, Father Maciel, and the future of the order: We had thought and hoped that the accusations … Read more
A few links to kick off your Friday: CNS on the Vatican’s response to the New York Times article yesterday claiming that the Holy See was involved in covering up the horrifying abuse of boys at a school for the deaf in Milwaukee. Social security goes into defecit for the first time, six years ahead … Read more
I found Todd’s post particularly interesting today, especially as I had just stumbled across a very different take on Stupak’s health-care capitulation over on Ross Douthat’s New York Times blog. While he would agree with Todd that the executive order is “probably meaningless,” and that the new health-care legislation “effectively tilts public policy in a … Read more
A huge hat-tip to our friend Lizzie Scalia for posting a link to this 360 virtual tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. As someone who has never been to the Holy Land (and has no immediate hope of going), I find this totally mesmerizing, and moving. A nice way to gear up for … Read more
According to a panel of obesity experts, the Last Supper has been getting super-sized in artistic representations through the years: The Cornell University team studied 52 of the most famous paintings of the Biblical scene over the millennium and scrutinised the size of the feast. They found the main courses, bread and plates put before … Read more
It’s raining here in Baltimore today, and the mood on the Web is similarly bleak, so I thought we could all use a little reprieve from the doom and gloom — hence, the awesomeness in the trailer below for the Discovery Channel’s Life series. I managed to catch the premiere on TV last night, and … Read more
Happy Feast of St. Joseph! The Church’s calendar of saints designates today a solemnity, so you should really be celebrating more than you did for St. Patrick’s Day. (And yes, that means you can eat meat. The pope would surely insist, being his namesake and all.) On to the morning’s links: Twelve more Christians — … Read more
Contrary to the letter released yesterday by NETWORK that claims the backing of all 59,000 American women religious in support of the health-care bill, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious today released their own letter disputing that figure. The president of CMSWR, Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, writes: In a March 15th statement, Cardinal … Read more
As new clergy sex-abuse allegations come to light in Germany, some in the media seem eager to tie them in whatever way possible to the German pontiff. Damian Thompson of the Telegraph points to a Times headline — “Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry” — as just one of … Read more
Lewis Theobald was dismissed as a hack in the 18th century when he published Double Falsehood and claimed that it was an adaptation of a lost Shakespeare original. Now, some Shakespeare scholars believe that he was telling the truth all along: ”There is definitely Shakespearean DNA,” said English literature professor Brean Hammond, who has worked … Read more
I’m a sucker for charts and graphs, so this preliminary study on “The Economics of Sainthood” had plenty to entertain me. The authors explain their purpose: Saint-making has been a major activity of the Catholic Church for centuries. The pace of sanctifications has picked up noticeably in the last several decades under the last two … Read more
Good morning! Time for your Friday links: Holland proposes extending the option of euthanasia to healthy people over 70 who simply “consider their lives complete” and want to end it. ‘How I found God and peace with my atheist brother’: Peter Hitchens discusses his truce with brother Christopher after 50 years. How will the world … Read more
Dallas received word today that Pope Benedict has appointed two new auxiliary bishops to the rapidly growing diocese: Father J. Douglas Deshotel and Monsignor Mark Seitz will take up their posts in late April. But this won’t be the first time that Monsignor Seitz will have made the local news. He’s already gained some notoreity … Read more
Everyone remembers this awkward moment from January’s State of the Union address: Justice Alito made headlines at the time for his “not true” comment, but now Chief Justice Roberts is speaking out on the incident. When asked about it while visiting the University of Alabama School of Law yesterday, Roberts responded, “To the extent the … Read more