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Iraqi Catholic Bishop on the War
2007-03-20 23:06:00
Due to comments that were made in the previous post about the war, I decided to post something else that caught my attention.Many of us are, in general, good-natured people, who do not like to see other people suffering and especially due to oppression of certain regimes. We all have a common purpose, but somehow we differ in how to achieve it. Pope John Paul II did not hesitate nor apologize in repudiating the war and many of the faithful (myself included) struggled with his position. At the same time, those of us who do not support the war will not apologize either when repudiating unjust situations. Personally, I do believe that it is irresponsible to take a position like Nancy Pelosi who wants to pull the troops out immediately. We are there, we caused the chaos in Iraq , now we have to fix it at all cost, but that does not mean that we are going to paint this war as a just (and good) one.But what does the Church in Iraq have to say about the war? Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemo...
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Fr. Tom Euteneuer on EWTN Radio
2007-03-20 04:50:00
If you have been following the exchanges between Hannity, Fr. Jonathan Morris, and Fr. Tom Euteneuer, you may be interested in listening to Fr. Euteneuer who will be on EWTN radio Open Line with Barbara McGuigan today, at Noon PDT till 1:00 pm, (3-4 EDT), Tuesday, March 20th.Thanks to John Mallon for the tip. Also, take some time to check out Mallon's blog.
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Four Years Later...
2007-03-19 15:57:00
Four years later... what do we have?More than 3,200 troops killed in combat(only counting US troops)More than 60,000 Iraqis killedNo weapons of mass destructionNo signs of coming peace in the Middle EastAnd who is winning this battle against terrorism? Who are those really suffering the consequences? Perhaps it is time to go back to Pope John Paul II's address to the Diplomatic Corps in which he touches upon what was at the time an imminent war on Iraq:"War itself is an attack on human life since it brings in its wake suffering and death. The battle for peace is always a battle for life!'NO TO WAR'! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity.And what are we to say of the threat of a war which could strike the people of Iraq,the land of the Prophets, a people already sorely tried by more than twelve years of embargo? War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations. As the Charter of the United Nations org...
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Sundays with Augustine
2007-03-19 03:35:00
"The intercourse necessary for generation is without fault and it alone belongs to marriage. The intercourse that goes beyond this necessity no longer obeys reason but passion. Still, not to demand this intercourse but to render it to a spouse, lest he sin mortally by fornication, concerns the married person. But, if both are subject to such concupiscence, they do something that manifestly does not belong to marriage. However, if in their union they love what is proper rather than what is improper, that is, what belongs to marriage rather than that which does not, this is granted to them with the Apostle as an authority. They do not have a marriage that encourages this crime, but one that intercedes for them, if they do not turn away from themselves the mercy of God, either by not abstaining on certain days so as to be free for prayers, and by this abstinence as by their fasts they put their prayers in a favorable light, or by changing the natural use into that use which is contrary...
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Great game by Xavier University
2007-03-17 20:34:00
Update: OK, so thanks to our reader from Ohio who has pointed out that this Xavier is not the one in New Orleans, but hey it was still a good game and a good opportunity to talk about the second American-born saint :)I am not too much into College Basketball (not as much as Michael, that is) until the school founded by my confirmation saint plays against the number one team in the country. Seconds before the end of the game, Xavier had a shot at victory, but Ohio State shut them down during overtime.St. Katharine Marie Drexel founded Xavier Univ ersity in 1925 at New Orleans since no Catholic school in the South accepted blacks at the time. In her quiet way, she still claimed justice for those who were oppressed. During her lifetime, she devoted herself to work towards providing education for blacks and Native Americans. St. Katharine founded the congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament."Christ wishes the Christian Community to be a body that is perfect because we work t...
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Zakaj sem Katoličan?
2007-03-17 18:14:00
The "Why am I Catholic?" video in Slovenian. Also available in English and Spanish. If you would like to have this video translated to your own primary language, e-mail us the translated transcript and we will be happy to translate it and make it available to you.A warm salute to our brothers and sisters in Slovenia!

Quote of the Week
2007-03-17 17:05:00
Increasingly the energies of our civilization are pointed toward destruction--toward destruction of the poor, toward destruction of those who speak for life and justice, toward destruction of family and community, toward destruction of our precious earth, toward destruction of the human race. At their root, these energies of destruction are extinguishing the image of God in humanity and in all of creation. They become demonic.The classic secular Left has rightly perceived the great drive toward social destruction at the heart of modern civilization. But it has generally failed to perceive the destructive blocking of divine creativity, which flows from an ever-deepening "progressive" secularization of society. The classic Left thus challenges social destruction, but cuts itself off from the religious root of creativity.As a result, its efforts to stop the destruction often prove sterile, and sometimes even compound the crisis. The flat vision of secular scientific socialism, or of a ...
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Meditations before Mass
2007-03-17 16:36:00
How many times don't we arrive to Mass in a rush and we really don't have time to prepare in silence for the sacred celebration? And if we get there early enough and sit in our pew, we don't seem to just sit still and in silence, but whisper to the person who is with us or look around to see who is there or turn the pages of the Missal. Sometimes we are able to sit still and in silence, but sometimes we can't. But what does stillness mean? For Msgr. Romano Guardini, stillness is so important that he considers it the starting point for liturgical life. Here are his words on stillness from his book Meditation s before Mass.I. Stillness"What does stillness really imply? It implies above all that speech end and silence prevail, that no other sounds--of movements, of turning pages, of coughing and throat-clearing--be audible. There is no need to exaggerate. Men live, and living things move; a forced outward conformity is no better than restlessness. Nevertheless, stillness is still, a...
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Do Catholics worship Mary? The Saints? Statues and images?
2007-03-16 21:04:00
How many times as Cat holics (and even Orthodox) we get asked if we worship Mary or the Saints or statues and images in general? Many times. Although it takes more than just a few words to explain ourselves, for the sake of brevity, let us look a little bit of history and terminology.The Iconoclastic ControversyAlthough we know that the early Church seemed to have no problem with images as we see depictions of martyrs and even Christ in catacombs, for instance, the controversy over the use of images in the Church arose in the 8th and 9th centuries. The iconoclastic controversy was based on the question of whether the veneration of icons or images should continue in the Church or not.The controversy had two parties: the iconoclasts and the iconodules. The iconoclasts, literally destroyers of images, considered veneration of images to be idolatry and that any depiction of Christ, for instance, was mere superstition. On the other hand, the iconodules believed that although Christ was fu...
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Only because I'm writing a 20 page paper on him
2007-03-16 19:28:00
John Locke 1632-1704Nationality: EnglishGroup Alliances:"Brutal" British Empiricists"Sorrow-causin'" Social Contract TheoristsAKA: Locke-downLocke-jawShock-em LockeRock-em LockeClock-em LockeSock-em Jock-em LockeLocke-upPrimary qualities: invulnerability, super strengthSecondary qualities: smells great, facility with proseNotes: The face in Locke's nineteenth-century schoolboy slate is Leibniz. Children can allegorically act out the innateness debate which was so thrillingly portrayed in Leibniz' New Essay Concerning Human Understanding by having two dolls fight. Leibniz' contribution to the debate is, of course, all very posthumous as far as Locke is concerned, but that doesn't stop one from pretending the dolls are fighting. And a barrel-chested action figure with an enormous wig is objectively funny.
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Hugo Chavez Interview Tonight
2007-03-16 16:34:00
Time to see if Hugo Chavez really has the intellectual horsepower to read and comprehend Noam Chomsky, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels!Tonight at 10:00pm EST, the Barbara Walters interview with Hugo Chavez airs on ABC. Click here for info.Chavez's thoughts on a CIA/Venezuelan dissidents conspiracy to assassinate him, President Bush's imperialism and the 2008 U.S. presidential race are among the topics discussed. Tune in, it should be interesting.College basketball and Venezuelan socialists...how much better can a Friday evening get?
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No Ambiguity, No Apology for Brownback
2007-03-16 16:13:00
How wonderful to have a Catholic politician speaking on behalf of and not against his own faith!As General Peter Pace begins to back peddle, senator and presidential hopeful Sam Brown back (R-KA) unabashedly declared in a letter addressed to President Bush:"I do not believe being a homosexual is immoral, but I do believe homosexual acts are. I'm a Catholic and the church has clear teachings on this."Brownback also called the firestorm of criticism Pace received "both unfair and unfortunate...In fact, we applaud General Pace for maintaining a personal commitment to moral principles." Before the letter is sent to President Bush, Brownback's office is attempting to garner signatures from other lawmakers.Compare Brownback's clear and unequivocal statement to the sidestepping done by Barack Obama (D-IL), Hilary Clinton (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ) and Mitt Romney when asked this week whether or not they supported General Pace or agreed with his remarks.For more on this, see CNN's write...
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Socialists? Liberals?
2007-03-15 17:31:00
Many times on this blog, and on other Catholic blogs, too, when we have expressed the need to defend the most vulnerable members in society (e.g. the homeless, the immigrant) and to ensure human rights are not violated (e.g. opposing capital punishment or enforcement-only illegal immigration policies), we have been called "liberals," or "communists," or "social justice aficionados." As if for some reason, that to demand "social justice" and the restoration of the social order automatically makes one unorthodox or a threat to orthodoxy. These false dichotomies between orthodoxy and social justice might be created by those who see social justice through political lenses, rather than seeing it in the light of Church teaching. For many Catholics, the phrase "social justice" smacks of liberal or Democratic ideals of social engineering and the workings of a welfare state. These same Catholics identify the Democratic party as the "Party of Death" or as the pillar of the "Culture of Death"...
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Philosophical Powers!!!
2007-03-14 21:47:00
NYU Law student Ian Vandewalker has developed philosophy action heroes representing the greatest minds of Western thought. These are hilarious! Check out Augustine, Anselm and Aquinas:Augustine354-430Nationality: from Numidia, a Roman province in northern AfricaGroup Alliances:"Nefarious" Neoplatonists"Thorny" Theists"Sadistic" SaintsAKA: Bustin' AugustineCussin' AugustineA-Gustin' WindAurelius AugustinusPower s: cognition aided by divine illumination; shape shifting abilityWeaknesses: inability to do anything that will earn the divine grace necessary to make up for original sinNotes: These toys come with with a 224-page minicomic, Concussions of Saint Augustine, explaining the character's origin and describing some of his amazing adventures!Saint Anselm 1033-1109Nationality: ItalianGroup Alliances:"Scoundrel" Schoolmen"Thorny" Theists"Belligerent" Benedictines"Sadistic" SaintsAKA: Handsome AnselmDancin' AnselmAnselm of "Count 'n' Bury"An-SalmonellaAnselm of CanterburyPowers ...
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CWNews reports false news on Sobrino
2007-03-14 16:04:00
The Vatican made public today its NOTIFICAZIONE SULLE OPERE DEL P. JON SOBRINO, S.I.: "JESUCRISTO LIBERADOR. LECTURA HISTÓRICO-TEOLÓGICA DE JESÚS DE NAZARET (MADRID, 1991) E "LA FE EN JESUCRISTO. ENSAYO DESDE LAS VÍCTIMAS" (SAN SALVADOR, 1999). Contrary to three stories by CWNews in which it was first reported that Fr. Jon Sobrino would be restricted from teaching at Catholic institutions and publishing his works, and then supposed confirmed by three sources, Fr. Sobrino was not disciplined in any manner by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.The Notificazione briefly touches on six points in Sobrino's Jesus the Liberator and Le Fe en Jesuchristo that constitute "imprecisions and errors": method, divinity of Christ, and consciousness of Christ, the Kingdom of God, the communicatio idiomatum, and soteriology.The CDF is very clear as to the purpose the Notificazione serves: The purpose of this Notification is precisely to make known to all the faithful the fruit...
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Official Vatican notification to Fr. Jon Sobrino, SJ
2007-03-14 14:25:00
Thanks to Grant Gallicho from dotCommonweal for providing this link. You can read the document here. We will be commenting on the document later on after we read it. The document is available in English, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. However, it is worth noting that Amy Welborn who has read the notification agrees with dotCommonweal in that the rumors were wrong in one respect: Sobrino is not being banned from teaching or writing.
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Latest on Fr. Sobrino
2007-03-13 22:28:00
H/T: dotCommonwealWe just received an e-mail from Grant Gallicho, the Associate Editor of Commonweal Magazine, informing us that CWNews has made misleading assertions about Sobrino's "disciplinary notice." Gallicho has read the 10-page notification and reports that the CDF puts Sobrino "on notice" instead:The story hasn't made much of a splash Stateside, but Fr. Jon Sobrino, SJ, a well-known liberation theologian, is the subject of a "notification" by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which takes issue with several aspects of his Christology. The Spanish newspaper El Mundo broke the embargo on the document, and Catholic World News has run two stories on the matter, both of which contain a serious error. Their most recent story again claims that Sobrino has been sanctioned. Calling the ten-page notification a "disciplinary notice" is misleading, and claiming it stipulates that Sobrino cannot publish theology or teach at a Catholic school is simply false. Unlike the ...
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What is your favorite line/passage/phrase from your favorite written work?
2007-03-13 18:23:00
I know we have asked you in the past what is your favorite book or work that has influenced you the most in your spirituality or academic theology/philosophy. But let’s narrow it down.Many times we talk about those books that “changed our lives forever.” What book or any other written work has brought your heart rate up or almost brought you to tears that you just needed to put it down and had to stop reading for a few minutes? And from that work, which specific passage or line has stuck with you for years or even changed the course of your life, your spirituality, your faith, or your worldview? If you can, share with us that specific section that changed you forever and why it did so.My pick is very difficult as I know yours will be. The Bible and so many great works by saints and theologians that have changed me throughout the years. But I have to say that two specific papal encyclicals did the most to me: Rerum Novarum (Leo XIII) and Quadragesimo Anno (Pius XI), because the...
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A Chastened Fr. Jonathan?
2007-03-13 16:44:00
FoxNews contributor Fr. Jonathan Morris has posted a follow-up to his obsequious Open Letter to Sean Hannity. Fr. Morris' UPDATE: Sean Hannity and Fr. Euteneuer has a more conciliatory and less sanctimonious tone than the "Open Letter". Here is the entirety of the UPDATE interpolated with my remarks:The avalanche of messages I received from all of you in response to yesterday's column reflects the widespread interest in confronting difficult issues about faith and morality in a clear, respectful, and effective way.Since Fr. Morris always likes to relay how positive his email responses are to his posts, I'm willing to bet that this rare omission of any mention of public praise is due to an overwhelmingly negative response to his "Open Letter".Indeed, we are in need of a clear and effective way of confronting difficult issues about faith and morality. One way to muddle things is to post a bootlicking letter to Sean Hannity, who publicly disagrees with the Church's teaching on cont...
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Evangelical-catholicism.com is up and running again
2007-03-13 16:41:00
Our domain name is back up and running: www.evangelical-catholicism.com. Sorry for the inconvenience. And no, we did not delete the blog and I'm back to blogging. Michael threatened me with breaking up if I stopped blogging... just kidding :) But seriously, Michael said that he would stop blogging if I didn't help him out, because the idea has always been to do this together and balance our posts out due to our different backgrounds, so I'm back...
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Sacramentum caritatis available online
2007-03-13 16:25:00
Pope Benedict XVI's Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis is now available at the Vatican's official website.
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MSNBC special
2007-03-13 04:36:00
We just received an email from MSNBC 's Media Relations asking us to post the following advertisement for an upcoming special on Jesus. It sounds interesting, especially the references to American Christianity's apparent blessing of certain economic trends:From the Roman Empire forward, no force has shaped western civilization like Christianity. In America, most founding fathers professed faith in Jesus and now almost 200 years later, many in Washington and in Hollywood have taken a more expansive view toward faith. MSNBC's "Scarborough Reports," hosted by Joe Scarborough, takes a look at how faith has become a multi-billion dollar message, this Wednesday, March 14th at 9 p.m. ET. The one-hour special delves into the fast-growing Christian movement in America - Evangelicals, whose beliefs and bank accounts have made Jesus Christ a superstar once again.
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Father Marcial Maciel to Appear in Court
2007-03-13 04:03:00
A tough week for the Legionaries of Christ.As if FoxNews contributor Fr. Jonathon Morris' embarrassing and disappointing display of syncophant politics in defense of Sean Hannity's on-air barrage of Fr. Thomas Euteneuer during the Hannity and Colmes program last week (you can view that segment here and read Fr. Euteneuer excellent response to Fr. Morris here) were not alarming enough, new troubles are surrounding the embattled founder of the Legionaries.According to an article in El Excelsior, a newspaper published in Mexico City, Fr. Marc ial Mac iel must appear in civil court in Mexico City to answer questions regarding sexual misconduct and abuse within Legion sponsered institutions. Here's a snippet from the article followed by the original Spanish:Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, will have to appear before the nineteenth civil court in Mexico City to answer questions related to crimes of pedophilia, allegedly committed by him as head of the legion, as well...
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You notice them, but do you really see them?
2007-03-12 17:19:00
You've noticed him, but do you really see him? That is, do you see a person? The homeless, the hungry and the forsaken are all around us. Jesus promised us that, but he did not choose it to be so: "The poor you will always have with you" (Mt 26:11). We, collectively, have made it so.Those of us who live in moderately urban areas are faced with this reality almost daily. We are given a perpetual reminder of how our economic system can be so giving to some, but so forgetful of others. But unlike secular economists and capitalists, Catholics are not called to monitor unemployment statistics or compare poverty in America to poverty in other countries and ages. Instead, we are called to serve an irreducible end--one that is not disclosed by employment rates or invisible hands. That end is the human person, and when we see that human person suffering, we do not first run through a list in our heads as to why that person is suffering. We do not ask ourselves questions like "What did that ...
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Fundamentalists target our friends
2007-03-10 20:29:00
We were driving down I-70 the other day around Kansas City and we saw this sign... we had to take a picture of it.
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How important is social justice to the Catholic life?
2007-03-10 19:56:00
Ask John Paul II or consult Canon Law!The Church's social doctrine is not a "third way" between liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism, nor even a possible alternative to other solutions less radically opposed to one another: rather, it constitutes a category of its own. Nor is it an ideology, but rather the accurate formulation of the results of a careful reflection on the complex realities of human existence, in society and in the international order, in the light of faith and of the Church's tradition. Its main aim is to interpret these realities, determining their conformity with or divergence from the lines of the Gospel teaching on man and his vocation, a vocation which is at once earthly and transcendent; its aim is thus to guide Christian behavior. It therefore belongs to the field, not of ideology, but of theology and particularly of moral theology. (John Paul II, Sollicitudo rei socialis 41)CANON 222 §1. The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs o...
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Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth available for pre-sale
2007-03-09 22:16:00
Though Benedict X VI's forthcoming book, Jesus of Nazareth, will not be released until May 15th, it is available now for pre-order in two hardcover editions through Amazon.com.
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Fr. Jon Sobrino to be silenced?
2007-03-09 19:14:00
There are rumors circulating around that say that Fr. Jon Sobrino, a Jesuit theologian who has worked in Spain and El Salvador, may be banned from teaching at Catholic universities and seminaries, and may be instructed to cease publication of his works. If these rumors, reported by El Mundo, are true, then this would be the first high-profile disciplining of a theologian under Cardinal Levada's guard over the Pontifical Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.Here's CWNews' distilled and vague report:Madrid, Mar. 9, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A Jesuit theologian who is a leading exponent of liberation theology will soon be disciplined by the Vatican, according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Father Jon Sobrino will be barred from teaching in Catholic schools and instructed not to publish written works, El Mundo reports, citing informed sources at the Vatican. The newspaper claims that the disciplinary measures will be announced by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wit...
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Michael's early favorite: Mike Huckabee
2007-03-08 16:51:00
I must confess, I like Mike Huckabee . In my opinion, he is the closest thing there has been in recent decades to a solid candidate for Catholics who embrace the hope of an established pro-person society. He's not perfect, no, but he is pretty good.Huckabee is a former Baptist preacher and current Governor of Arkansas. He's described himself as a "Paradoxical Republican": pro-life to highest degree, comfortable with schools teaching both evolution and creationism, fiscally conservative but not at the expensive of social services to the most vulnerable of society, pro-immigration reform and pro-immigration rights, supportive of aid for families who do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford prescriptions...the supposed paradoxes continue. I just call it decent politics.For now, Huckabee is my early guy for the presidential race. He's a good choice over pro-choice Giuliani, Clinton, Obama and Biden. He's more moderate in his support of the war in Iraq than McCain. He has a bigge...
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Quote of the Week
2007-03-06 19:19:00
Down the centuries Christians have contemplated this mystery of light, seeking to understand more fully why God chose to become man. An answer to this question can be found in the joyful song of the angels on the first Christmas: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace among those whom he favours!" (Lk 2:14). God’s glory, shining on the face of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 4:6), brings that peace which is the crowning of his messianic gifts. Saint Irenaeus tells us that the Word became flesh in order to give us a share in God’s glory: "The glory of God is the living man, and the life of man consists in the vision of God" (Adv. Haer., 20,5,7). Ultimately, the Incarnation is the fruit of God’s infinite love for humanity; it reveals, in von Balthasar’s insightful phrase, that God is not primarily absolute power, but absolute love, a love revealed in the complete gift of himself. May the song of the angels inspire us to give "glory to God" and to build "peace on earth", by humbly receiving...
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