Normally, when seeing author James Carroll write things like, “Celibacy cuts to the heart of what is wrong in the Catholic Church today,” I would roll my eyes and move on. But over at America Magazine, Father Jim Martin isn’t taking the insult lying down. Father Martin first quotes from Carroll’s article: No, celibacy does … Read more
Despite protests from human rights groups, Sani Ahmed Yerima, a 49-year-old senator in the Nigerian government, has just married a 13-year-old girl. This will be his fourth wife, and he bought her for… er… paid her Egyptian parents a dowry of $100,000. Of course, Senator Yerima doesn’t much care what the critics say. He has … Read more
Over at Catholic Advocate I’ve described the sad situation, once again. The USCCB is a member of the Leadership Counsel for Civil and Human Rights, and one of its projects, The Coalition for Constitutional Values, has just published a video endorsing pro-abortion nominee for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan. How can it be that the … Read more
I missed this article in the Washington Post when it appeared last week, but it deserves a mention now. William Wan talks with seminarians graduating from Mount Saint Mary’s this year about studying for the priesthood under the shadow of the sex-abuse scandal: “In the last six years alone, I’ve been fingerprinted four times,” said … Read more
Yesterday, 150,000 people (give or take) packed St. Peter’s Square for Pope Benedict’s noon address. My view was literally a sea of people. In fact, that was my view from all sides. Normally, I hate crowds, but this was really inspiring. It always is when thousands of people are quiet, listening to the pope, and … Read more
News channels and parenting blogs have been on fire the past few days over a video of 8-year-old girls dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” during a dance competition. The girls do a lot of gyrating and are dressed in bikini-like dance costumes. ABC interviewed one set of parents who justified the dance by saying the … Read more
Today the Vatican released details of its upcoming sex abuse defense. The AP has learned the Vatican will argue that bishops are not its employees and were not required to remain silent by a 1962 document, “Crimen Sollicitationes,” meaning “crimes of solicitation.” The Vatican attorney in the U.S., Jeffrey Lena, will argue not only that … Read more
Today the Vatican released details of its upcoming sex abuse defense. The AP has learned the Vatican will argue that bishops are not its employees and were not required to remain silent by a 1962 document, “Crimen Sollicitationes,” meaning “crimes of solicitation.” The Vatican attorney in the U.S., Jeffrey Lena, will argue not only that … Read more
A “bad guy” has dressed up as a gorilla to cause a panic in the amusement park owned by Uncle Harry. However, Harry’s friend Fud is also dressed up as a gorilla, taking care of the baby gorilla inside the cage. Insanity ensues, as only Frank Borth can depict it. This week’s sequence, as always, … Read more
So, this guy Kenny “K-Strass” Strasser has been taking his mad yo yo skillz* on a moderately-sized whirlwind tour of TV stations around the midwest. The only problem with his act is that it goes like this: “I . . . I don’t have the muscle memory.” Nice job by the host, though. He really … Read more
So, this guy Kenny “K-Strass” Strasser has been taking his mad yo yo skillz* on a moderately-sized whirlwind tour of TV stations around the midwest. The only problem with his act is that it goes like this: “I . . . I don’t have the muscle memory.” Nice job by the host, though. He really … Read more
Well, you don’t often get pro-life pieces at the Huffington Post. Though to be honest, the piece I found isn’t explicitly pro-life. In fact, it doesn’t mention abortion or euthanasia at all. But the ideas he expressed are thoroughly pro-life (though I’d predict the author would deny the connection). Writer Bryan Young, nominally Catholic, recently … Read more
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is becoming quite a political star, and for good reason: He’s facing down a terrible state financial crisis and he’s doing it with courage and principle. Happily, some in the mainstream press are noticing: Christie is tackling the nation’s worst state deficit — $10.7 billion of a $29.3 billion budget. … Read more
Please consider signing the Catholic League’s petition in response to the decision made by the owners of the Empire State Building to reverse an earlier decision to light its towers in white and blue on August 26, the day the U.S. Postal service issues a stamp honoring the 100th anniversary of her birth.
A few links for your Friday morning: News outlets are shocked — shocked! — that Pope Benedict doesn’t approve of gay marriage. Much like the recent Denver case, a boy in Massachussetts was denied re-enrollment in a Catholic school because of his parents’ homosexual relationship. Unlike the recent Denver case, the archdiocese has offered to … Read more
Today is Pope Benedict’s final day in Portugal. He departed from Fatima this morning for the northern city Opporto, where he celebrated Mass. Opporto is a port city (famous for Port wine), the second largest in the country, and significant not only as a commercial center but because of the large number of immigrants. In … Read more
I must admit to feeling a bit lost in the sea of ink being spilled over the BP oil spill. It’s not that I want to ignore the drastic impact it’s having on the surrounding area. I just find myself having a difficult time comprehending what exactly is happening down there in the Gulf. I’m a visual person, and written descriptions of … Read more
In his New York Times column this week, Ross Douthat examined the thesis of the recently released book Red Families vs. Blue Families, which argues that, with all their emphasis on no sex before marriage, families in Red States are “trying to sustain an outdated social model” that leads to “teen childbirth, shotgun marriages and … Read more
Today is the Feast of the Ascension, at least at the Vatican. Elsewhere, though, it’s the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. And that is the Mass the Pope celebrated this morning at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, where many thousands of people were gathered. The official text of the Holy … Read more
Steve Jobs has been getting a lot of flak lately for his decision to keep porn off the iPhone. In April, he said Apple was staying away from that: So where should you go to get naked people on mobile phones? The Android. “Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone,” says Jobs. … Read more