An open letter

From Amy, who got it someplace else: Terry McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is to be initiated into the Order of Malta in the US.

The following is the note I left in the Order's comment form.

To the officers of the Order of Malta in the United States:

Terry McAuffile's addition to your fine order will only result in scandal for you and for the Universal Church the order serves. A man who can proclaim his Catholic identity while at the same time supporting in the public square positions that are diametrically opposed to the doctrine of the Church he professes his loyalty to does not belong in the Order of Malta.

I ask you to reconsider offering him membership. I will pray for your members and your great works around the world.

In Christ,
Jacob

Coleridge would be proud

ANSA:

(ANSA) - Rome, January 31 - Dante could have been tripping on psychedelic drugs in his loftiest poetic flights, an Italian expert said Tuesday, commenting on cheeky speculation by eminent British Dantist Barbara Reynolds. "It's not just possible but probable," said Giulio Leoni, a scholar who has written three 'cowl and dagger' thrillers featuring Dante as an imaginary detective.
[...]

But Italy's Dante Association was sniffy about the idea, saying "this is not a credible hypothesis".

"There has recently been a widespread and regrettable tendency to project all our vices onto Dante, even the guiltiest ones," said the association's president, Guglielmo Gorni.

One of Italy's two great Dante popularisers, scholar and broadcaster Vittorio Sermonti, called the notion of an acid-dropping Dante "completely idiotic".

The other one, filmmaker Roberto Benigni, told an audience for his regular Dante reading and stand-up show Tuesday night: "People today take heroin to write a rock song. What was Dante supposed to do?"

If drugs aid in the creative process, then one would think that the songs coming out today would be a whole lot more interesting. Maybe, just maybe, Dante was just a really intelligent guy with insights most people will never have, even if they dope up.

One magazine's list

Inside the Vatican has a top ten persons of 2006 list out.

They are:

1. Anonymous
   
2. Bartholomew I of Constantinople
   
3. Pietro Parolin
   
4. Peter Erdo
   
5. Elisabetta Valgiusti
   
6. Caroline Cox
   
7. Yehuda Levin
   
8. Otto von Habsburg
   
9. Jesus Colina
   
10. Fernando Botero

Each person has a blurb on why he or she was chosen. Take a look.

This guy is so obviously messed up

Saint John Bosco

All Headline News:

Rome, Italy (AHN) - Fashion designer Stefano Gabbana has said the Roman Catholic Church is responsible for "an enormous delay" in the process of legally recognizing civil unions in Italy. Gabbana said the Vatican "fights every day against those who in its opinion cast doubt on the traditional concept of the family."

Gabbana said in an interview with the daily La Stampa that was published Monday that "hobbling politicians who were afraid of losing Catholic votes" have also prolonged the process.
[...]

Bolding is mine.

BREAKING NEWS! CATHOLIC CHURCH DOES ITS JOB!

They don't understand! It's a different reality!

Whoever wrote this article from IPS was not trying very hard to be organized. The most informative parts start about half way in that summarize the situation in concrete terms. I'll quote there.

Arizmendi has been bishop of San Cristóbal since May 2000, when he succeeded Samuel Ruiz, whom the Vatican also criticised repeatedly for his liberation theology tendencies. Ruiz was dubbed the "red bishop" by local ranchers.
[...]

What the bishop basically wants is for the Vatican to lift its ban on ordaining more indigenous deacons. "We have 330, but many are old and sick and unable to support the Church, so I hope we can ordain another 200 or more, which is what we need," he said.

The diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas is spread over an area of 37,000 square kilometres in Mexico's poorest state, and has a population of 1.5 million, the great majority of whom are indigenous people.

"For this whole area, where roads are bad or non-existent, we only have 330 deacons, 84 priests and 8,000 catechists, which is obviously insufficient," the bishop said.

In February 2001, the Vatican ordered the suspension of ordinations of indigenous people on the grounds that those already ordained appeared to lack "solid and balanced" training.
[...]

Religious expert and columnist Bernando Barranco said that the Vatican's mistrust about possible links between sectors of the clergy and the insurgent Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) may lie behind the ban, as well as the pro-indigenous rights policies that the Church has applied for 50 years in the San Cristóbal diocese.

Several indigenous former catechists and missionaries are known to belong to the leadership of the EZLN, which took up arms in the state of Chiapas in January 1994, only to lay them down a week later to become a non-violent group advocating political change and indigenous rights in Mexico.

Bishop Ruiz, who was in charge of the diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas for 40 years until he reached mandatory retirement age, promoted the training of indigenous deacons and priests, following the principles of the "Autochthonous Church" called for by the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (Vatican II), the conclave carried out in 1962-1965 which revolutionised Catholicism.

Ruiz's work encouraged indigenous social organisation and their demands for better living conditions. The Zapatistas built on this legacy for their armed uprising, against express opposition from the San Cristóbal diocese.

Advisers of the late Pope John Paul II who had questioned Ruiz's work decided to put an end to the ordination of indigenous deacons in order to "normalise religious life" in San Cristóbal. Under Pope Benedict XVI, the same attitude has prevailed.

Arizmendi, who has continued along the same theological lines as Ruiz, is still requesting that the prohibition against ordaining deacons should be lifted. In Chiapas, deacons are nominated by the indigenous communities, although the bishop has the final word.

The number of deacons in San Cristóbal de las Casas is the highest among Mexico's Catholic dioceses, and the Vatican considers it to be excessive.

According to Arizmendi, this opinion stems from a lack of knowledge of the reality of his dioceses, where many indigenous communities are isolated from urban centres and from roads.

The bishop stated that the rapid growth of "other (Protestant) religious denominations" among the indigenous peoples of Chiapas is due to the shortfall of Catholic Church ministers, including deacons. (END/2007)

At beginning, the bishop is quoted:

"I regret the misunderstanding with the Pope, but we shall insist on clarifying that we are not promoting an autonomous church here, but an autochthonous (authentically inculturated) one, as fully accepted by the Second Vatican Council," the bishop said in an interview with IPS.

Long time readers may remember when Cardinal Arinze's letter came out. This ongoing long distance 'conflict of realities' (though I really don't believe that) is interesting to watch. As I said before, "Ordaining a lot of permanent deacons [...] would be an excellent way of slowly indoctrinating the masses in the idea of a married clergy."

An atmosphere of cordiality?

AsiaNews:

Holy See- State of Israel: “Some progress” in today’s meeting
by Arieh Cohen

Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) - The Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel has met today, 29 January, for the first time since 13 December last year.
At the end of the three hour meeting, it issued a Joint Communiqué, which spoke of the negotiations as taking place "in an atmosphere of great cordiality," and of having made "some progress" in the attempt to work out the long-awaited agreement on tax and property issues between the Church and the State. The Communiqué further says that the next meeting of the Bilateral Commission will take place at the "Plenary" level, and "at the Vatican". The last meeting of the Plenary Commission took place as long ago as 12 March 2002, also at the Vatican, after two previous meetings (in 1995 and in 1998) held in Israel.

I read this and I see words like 'cordiality' and phrases like 'some progress' and I think... They're still deadlocked on the big questions.

When life stops

Saint Martina
Feria

Sandro Magister has an article out putting in context of his past statements Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini's comments from January 21. In those comments in a leading Italian newspaper, the cardinal proposed that as Magister summarizes, "the seriously ill person has at every moment the right to interrupt the care that keeps him alive."

It's a long back-and-forth of statements and counter-statements with the Welby case in Italy at their center. Be sure to read the entire article. A few of them stuck out. Bolding is mine:

This set of norms – the cardinal clarifies – need not imply “in any way the legalization of euthanasia.” The objective is “difficult, but not impossible: they tell me that, for example, the recent French law in this matter seems to have struck a balance that, if not perfect, is at least able to realize a sufficient consensus in a pluralistic society.”

[Bishop Giuseppe Betori, secretary general of the Italian bishops’ conference] “On a topic like this, politics wants to make too many laws. It seems to me that there is a desire to strip the doctor’s role and assign decision-making instead to the will of the person, who is then influenced by very clear ideological pressures.”

Returning to the Welby case, the paradox is that while cardinal Martini declines to see this as an act of euthanasia, it has been defined as such a number of times by Welby’s relatives and by the supporters of the legalization of euthanasia in Italy. The most prominent of these, professor Umberto Veronesi, an oncologist of worldwide fame, defined it in a parliament hearing, without mincing words, as “a suicide.”

Come visit Iran

Saint Francis de Sales, Bp of Geneva
Feria

AKI: IRAN: POPE MAY BE INVITED TO TEHRAN

Tehran, 26 Jan. (AKI) - Pope Benedict XVI could soon be invited to visit Iran, Iranian news agencies reported on Friday, citing foreign ministry sources. Though the Islamic Republic has not yet formally invited the pontiff, Iran's ambassador to the Vatican, Mohammad Javad Faridzadeh, allegedly told Benedict XVI that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country's supreme leader, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, would be happy to have him as a guest in Iran in what would become the first visit ever by a pontiff to the country.

The inauguration of the church of Hazrat Maryam - the most ancient Catholic church in Iran in Isfahan, central Iran, which is currently being renovated - could provide the right occasion for the pope's visit, Iranian sources say.
[...]

The Pope went to Turkey because he was invited by a Christian. I doubt he'd accept an invitation from Muslims for a convenient photo op. But Benedict keeps his own counsel and we shall see if anything comes of this.

The geopolitics of space

AsiaNews:

As affirmed by a senior Chinese military Official, who confirms the inevitability of an arms race in space. According to officials of the US Government, if military competition increases, the USA could reconsider commercial relations with Beijing.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Angency): “There will be increasingly more weapons in outer space during our lifetime.” Despite the general will to protect a pacific use of space, the rapid growth of arms in space is inevitable, retains Yao Yunzhu, a senior Colonel in the People's Liberation Army.

Yao, who heads the Asia-Pacific Office at the Academy of Military Science in Beijing, during a dinner at the Davos World Economic Forum (Switzerland), observed that “what China really wanted was that humanity would use space for peaceful purposes alone”. But, she added, in apparent reference to the United States, if there was going to be "a space superpower, it's not going to be alone, and China is not going to be the only one". {space superpower]
[...]

But US government circles say that a military escalation would have consequences in commerce as well. Christopher Padilla, assistant Secretary of Commerce visiting Beijing, comments that the Chinese missile had confirmed the worst fears of Washington, and that, “none of this will lessen international anxieties about the growth in China's military capabilities”. "Even as we work to encourage China's peaceful development and civilian trade, we must also hedge our relations with China."

In the commercial field, the trade deficit of the US with China is expected to show an increase of up to 230-240 billions of dollars during 2006. For a long time Washington has been asking Beijing to revalue the yuan, protect intellectual property, and to consent to full access to US goods and services in the Chinese market, measures that would allow the reduction of the deficit. China has never directly refused, but has always procrastinated in adopting these measures.

Now the new military concern could make the commercial issues even more urgent. The United States is worried that China's programme to build or buy advanced ships, missiles and other weapons could eventually catch up with US military might.

In the post-9/11 military shake-up, an increasingly independent US Space Command with control over US assets in space and their protection was gutted and subsumed into Strategic Command. Ever since, certain circles have lamented the fact and called for the recreation of an independent command with one one mission: outer space.

Given the threat of the People's Republic of China, this could happen, though not immediately.

Why would an independent command serve the US and its allies and the world in general better? As it's often noted, something that does many things at once usually does none of them well. This usually is said of things like fighter planes and naval ships, but it also applies for the most part to bureaucracies as well. When Space Command got folded up into Strategic Command, it became just another component of a command with a completely different mission: strategic defense based around the nuclear deterrent with all the attendant submarines, planes and missiles on earth. A change in focus usually leads to reappropriation of funds and a lessening of concern for certain other areas. When your superiors are fighting it out for dollars in Congress, they may not always be looking out for your particular sub-command's best interest because they have their own pet projects and priorities.

An independent Space Command would have its own mission and its own well-being in mind: the effective defense of US space assets. Just what are those assets? Think of how much fun it would be if the PRC just starts shooting down GPS satellites or commercial communications satellites? When people think 'militarization of space', they usually think of nukes and laser systems and the like, but in the here and now, we're talking just what mainland China has done, the destruction of orbiting satellites.

The one man show

Daily Herald:

“I’ve served three popes and done what I was told. I blessed myself with one hand and counted their money with the other. They wanted to arrest me. They couldn’t ’cause I had Vatican diplomatic immunity … but they fought that every day. I outlasted ’em.”

Those words will be spoken this coming weekend by Paul Marcinkus, which may seem odd because the notorious Catholic archbishop from Cicero has been dead for nearly a year.

They won’t be spoken from the grave, rather by an actor in a one-man stage drama entitled “Marcinkus.”

That's about it actually. The article is just rehash of all the theories and such that have been alleged over the years. It makes much of the idea that the archbishop had John Paul I strangled.

The playwrite:

“Nobody could get this guy (Marcinkus) to say anything,” Flannery told me. “So all we’re really left with is the evil our imaginations could conjure up. And based on what the guy was accused of, that’s enough for about 50 plays.”

The Asian Church

Saint Polycarp, Bp of Smyrna
Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops

Vietnam
The newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam:

At the meetings, PM Dung informed the Pope Benedict and Cardinal Bertone about Vietnam's achievements after 20 years of implementing renovation policies aimed at openness and international integration.

PM Dung affirmed that the Communist Party and the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have always respected democracy and the right to freely practise one's beliefs and religion, which have been written into laws, and consistently implementing them to facilitate the advancement of religious groups, considering this as an important element to ensure national unity.

All the other news stories out there say pretty much the same thing as far as there was a meeting, it lasted about half an hour, the PM met with Cardinal Bertone and everyone came away saying relations ought to improve.

Korea
Sandro Magister has up an interview with the Archbishop of Seoul from the CEI newspaper from November 22 of last year.

“Over the past ten years the Catholic Church in Korea has gone from less than three million faithful to over five million,” recounts cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, who has been archbishop of Seoul since 1998. “And vocations also continue to flourish. By now we are 10 percent of the population, the highest percentage in Asia after the Philippines and Vietnam. In Seoul, we make up 14 percent of the population, and we have launched an initiative called the Evangelization Twenty Twenty Movement, with the aim of reaching 20 percent by 2020. Particularly promising is missionary activity among the young soldiers, whose ranks have swelled to 18 percent Catholic as of last year.”
[...]

A: I think of the defense of human life beginning with conception, and of clear opposition to any attempt at genetic manipulation. Unfortunately, our country has become famous throughout the world for the activities of a pseudoscientist who manipulated more than two thousand embryos for research that turned out to be phony. Another challenge that our society and our Church are facing concerns the family. Currently, one marriage out of three ends in divorce after just three years. Not to mention the problem of young people besieged by a mass culture saturated with sex and violence. With respect to these issues, the Catholic Church in Seoul, but also in other places, is on the front line of spreading the Gospel and defending those Christian values that are so valuable for personal happiness, but also for harmonious coexistence.
[...]

China
Last but not least, Cardinal Zen's interview with the AP has been published by the International Herald Tribune. It is all worth reading, but this caught my attention as it applies not only to Vatican policy, but everyone's policy.

"I think in this moment the most important thing we have to do is to assess the situation, to assess what we have done in many years and realize that we must change strategy," he said. "Because in so many years we have accepted compromises which in the beginning were good and necessary, but after so many years we can see there is a bad side effect."

Vietnamese PM to visit visited

Monsters & Critics:

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI held talks at the Vatican on Thursday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the first ever such meeting between the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the head of government of the South-East Asian communist state.

The 25-minute private audience, described as 'cordial' by Italy's Ansa news agency, saw the two leaders exchange gifts and discuss bilateral relations.

Tan Dung later met with the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
[...]

But Thursday's meeting appeared to confirm reports that diplomatic relations between the two countries may soon be restored under Benedict XVI.

Catholics in Vietnam welcomed the talks, expressing hope that the meeting would improve their condition back home.

'I hope the meeting will be good for Catholics and the Church,' said parishioner Nguyen Thuy Luyen prior to Tan Dung's visit to the Vatican. 'Better relations with the (Vietnamese) government will improve the situation of Catholics in Vietnam.'

The communist regime, which once tightly controlled religious activities, has loosened its grip on both Catholics as well as Buddhists.

But the Vatican remains frustrated that the Vietnamese government retains final say over Church issues, such as senior leadership appointments.

Church officials in Hanoi have refused to comment on Thursday's historic meeting but in a recent interview with the religious news service AsiaNews, Cardinal Pham Minh Man, the archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City, said that diplomatic ties 'should not face obstacles anymore.'

'I think through meetings and dialogue, the Vatican and the Vietnamese government will understand each other better and their relations will improve,' Man was quoted as saying.

With an estimated 6 million followers, Vietnam has one of the largest Catholic populations in Asia.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Bolding mine. Just to reiterate, a better Vatican-Vietnamese relationship is a harbinger of wider Catholic influence throughout Asia. Mainland China suppresses the Church and Indian Catholics face persecution at the grassroots level. Vietnam on the other hand, though restricting the Church to some degree, does not seem overly recalcitrant in working with the Holy See.

Adopting we will go, adopting we will go... Oh no!

Conversion of Saint Paul, Com. of St Peter
Conversion of Saint Paul, apostle

Bolding is mine throughout.

Ekklesia:

As government ministers last night (24 January 2007) made it clear that they would not bow to strong pressure from Catholic and Anglican leaders who wish to retain the right for church-sponsored adoption services to refuse lesbian and gay couples, Harriet Harman, Minister for Justice at the Department for Constitutional Affairs, has reminded churches that it is not possible to be “a bit opposed to discrimination”.

Ms Harman, a QC, MP and former UK Solicitor General, made the comment in an interview which appears today (25 January 2007) in the News Statesman magazine. Ms Harman is bidding for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party, and she has been backed by US Catholic politician Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to have run for national office in the USA as the nominee of a major party – the Democrats.
[...]

The article goes on, describing how critics think the Church is blackmailing and how the Archbishop of Westminster's efforts have backfired...

Guardian Unlimited:

Tony Blair today sought to quell the row over gay adoptions, insisting he was "committed to finding a way through this sensitive and difficult decision".

Proposals to resolve the dispute will be brought forward next week, the prime minister said in a statement.

Reports today suggested that Mr Blair had "caved in" to cabinet colleagues who do not want to see any exemption for Catholic adoption agencies from new regulations that will require them to offer children to same-sex couples.

Mr. Blair's comments from the same article:

Mr Blair said: "There is one last aspect within the new regulations to resolve and it concerns adoption.

"I have always personally been in favour of the right of gay couples to adopt. "Our priority will always be the welfare of the child."

He added: "Both gay couples and the Catholic agencies have a high level of success in adopting hard-to-place children. It is for that reason we have taken time to ensure we get these regulations right.

"How do we protect the principle of ending discrimination against gay people and at the same time protect those vulnerable children who at the present time are being placed through, and after-care provided by, Catholic agencies, who everyone accepts do a great job with some of the most disturbed youngsters?

"We will announce a decision next week and then vote, probably next month.

"I am committed to finding a way through this sensitive and difficult decision."

Oh ho! So it's about ending discrimination against gay couples versus the welfare of the child? I guess freedom of conscience doesn't weigh in there at all...

From the same article:

Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon), a member of the National Secular Society, told Today: "In my view, if people want to provide services, or engage in welfare work using state money, or under a system co-ordinated by the state, they have to accept they can't discriminate."

Dr Harris added that, at the same time, such people should not "proselytise" either.

Remember, readers, what other system of thought in the world does not like it when Christians 'proselytise'? An instructive thought, is it not?

EDIT: I forgot an article I wanted to which I wanted to link: the one at Gay.com. It's a great article.

After much spin, threats of blackmail and swirling rumours, it seems that for now, the Catholic church will have to accept gay adoptions. Despite the Anglicans joining the fray, the education secretary, Alan Johnson, today confirmed reports that the Catholic church has lost its battle for special treatment over gay adoption rules.

The no-frills statement brings to an end weeks of speculation over the issue, fuelled by the idea that Tony Blair and the communities secretary, Ruth Kelly - were sympathetic to the concerns of the Catholic church. It seems that the apparent Catholic fringe have been forced to back down at the prospect a full-blown cabinet revolt.

That is a powerful intro! Progressive journalism at its best!

The clothing

With the approaching ordination of Paul Cremona in Malta to the episcopate, the Maltese news site di-ve.com takes a look at the office and its clothing, a very handy guide with terms, definitions and pictures.

A new head of the CEI

AKI:

Vatican City, 23 Jan. (AKI) - The successor of the powerful president of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) could be announced on 7 March, the anniversary of Camillo Ruini's appointment 16 years ago - the longest tenure ever at the helm of CEI. The Italian media reported on Tuesday that Pope Benedict XVI has not chosen Ruini's successor yet but intends to do so by the first week of March. Three cardinals are widely believed to be the frontrunners for the post - Angelo Scola, patriarch of Venice, Dionigi Tettamanzi, the archbishop of Milan, and Ennio Antonelli, the archbishop of Florence.

Long time readers may remember the circumstances surrounding the last time Cardinal Ruini was reappointed as recounted by Magister:

In 1991, 1996, and 2001, John Paul II, each time before he made Ruini head of the CEI, asked for the advice of the presidents of the sixteen regions into which the Italian episcopacy is subdivided.

But this time – and this was at the end of January – rather than the pope, the secretariat of state extended the consultation to all of the 226 bishops in office. To each one, the nuncio in Italy Paolo Romeo sent a letter under the seal of pontifical secrecy, asking the recipient to “indicate ‘coram Domino’ and with gracious solicitude the prelate that you would like to suggest.”

But there’s more in the letter. It begins by stating in no uncertain terms that “next March 6 the mandate of the Most Eminent Cardinal Camillo Ruini as president of the CEI will come to a conclusion.” And it continues by asserting that “the Holy Father thinks that a change in the office of the presidency is in order.”

The letter bears the date of January 26, and the only one to whom it was not sent was Ruini. But he was immediately made aware of it. And Benedict XVI was also informed, and discovered that it said the opposite of what he was planning to do.

On February 6, the nuncio who signed the letter, Romeo, was called by Benedict XVI for an audience. The pope asked him how and why this initiative came about. Romeo left the audience in shambles, but Sodano was the one who was really trembling.

On February 9, Benedict XVI received Ruini together with his right hand man, the secretary general of the CEI, bishop Giuseppe Betori. They both received the pope’s reassurances. News of the letter had not yet leaked to the outside.

But a few days later, the news agencies and newspapers were writing about it, attributing the idea for the letter to the pope and to his desire to decide “more collegially” on a replacement for Ruini. And in fact, on the morning of February 14, as soon as he saw the complete text of the letter published in two newspapers, a very irritated Benedict XVI picked up the telephone and ordered that his confirmation of Ruini as president of the CEI be made public immediately. The pope’s order was so peremptory that the Vatican press office released the news before any of the other communications of the day.

By confirming Ruini, the pope invalidated the letter of Romeo, alias Sodano, which had pegged Ruini as a has-been.

Of course, Cardinal Sodano is now retired and Benedict's man Bertone is safely installed in the Secretariat.

Reaction to the Chinese letter

Saint Timothy, Bp of Ephesus
Saint Francis de Sales

I was going to sort through the news on the letter to China, but everything floating around out there is just rehash of the basic story. We'll really just have to wait until the letter makes its appearance to judge just what the Pope's intentions are regarding mainland China and Taiwan.

China, again (and again)

There is all this talk in the media about some kind of olive branch to be offered to the People's Republic of China. The Pope will be sending a letter to Chinese Catholics.

What will the letter say?

Is this one of those times when we will see the Vatican perform its usual act of feel-good diplomacy? Or is it possible that this in fact could be a real example of Benedict's call of a smaller Church, dedicated to its core beliefs?

As I've said again and again here, the PRC is not to be trusted. The Communists and their Patriotic Association lackeys have done nothing to earn any kind of special compromises. They arrest bishops, priests and laity. People disappear into the bamboo gulag forever. Cardinal Zen has written the preface to a collection of writings by various Chinese martyrs. He recounts one episode from his hometown:

The most relevant episode happened on the tragic day of September 8, 1955, when police conducted a gigantic raid, arresting hundreds of Catholics - from the bishop to priests, from catechists to members of the faithful belonging to [religious] associations, above all the Legion of Mary. They were brought to the dog racing stadium, where the bishop, the heroic Ignatius Gong Pinmei - created a cardinal in pectore in 1979, while he was still in prison - instead of renouncing the faith, cried out amid the distress of the Catholics huddled there and the disdain of the guards: “Long live Christ the King, long live the pope!”

In mainland China, all suffer for Christ. Countless martyrs have died and will die before the political landscape of the PRC is changed for the better. The question is will some kind of detente between the Holy See and the PRC help or hurt?

Let us ask this question instead...

The Red Chinese agree to give the Holy See final say over ordinations, which is allegedly the key sticking point. In return, the Pope plans on visiting at the time of the Olympics in 2008. Between then and now, the Red Chinese go on with persecuting others, Christians of other churches, Falun Gong, political dissidents.

Has in this hypothetical the situation of Chinese Catholics been helped or hurt?

Apocalypses and disaster movies on the same night: bad

Father Elijah: An Apocalypse was slightly disconcerting. The events of the novel take place in the last year of the millennium as a priest who lives in a monastery in Israel is called to Rome because the Pope wants him to go see the newly elected leader of the European Union to convert him back to the Faith. The Pope and his senior lieutenants are convinced that this leader, who is very rich, very powerful, very influential worldwide, through his efforts to bring about a world government and a casting off of any kind of faith in an exterior divinity in favor of an interior humancentric divinity will bring about the reign of the Anti-Christ.

O'Brien's story was well constructed and his characters were well designed, if slightly one-dimensional here and there. Obviously, they served a purpose and didn't need to be more than they were. The main character was of course the most well thought out of them all.

Of course, this book is old and I expect many of you out there have read it already. But it's new to me, right? I finished this book in the evening and then I went out to watch TV for awhile. The movie Deep Impact was on. Comets flying into the earth and all that. Quite disconcerting.

Where I've been

Saint Anthony

Starting last weekend, the cable internet here was down. Apparently there was something wrong with where the cable met our building. Since I don't like to blog on my laptop (loading times for all the graphic intensive stuff out there is just too frustrating), things ground to a halt here.

I will be only lightly blogging the next few days while I get up to speed.

Civil unions are counterproductive

AKI:

Vatican City, 11 Jan. (AKI) - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday warned Italian lawmakers against the planned approval of legal rights to civil unions. "Projects aimed at granting improper legal recognition to forms of unions other (than marriage) appear dangerous and counterproductive as they inevitably weaken and destabilise the legitimate family based on matrimony," the pontiff told a gathering of local administrators with the city of Rome, led by mayor Walter Veltroni, the capital's province and the Lazio region.

The pope first stepped into a debate on highly controversial legislation proposed by Italy's progressive government on 22 December, when he condemned the legal recognition of civil unions, including gay couples. "I can't hide my concern about legislation on de facto couples," the pontiff said at the time in a Christmas speech to the Rome clergy.

Benedict moreover harshly criticised last month the possibility that gay couples could be given the same rights as a husband and wife.

The Italian government announced on 7 December it would draft legislation giving legal rights to civil unions including homosexual couples by the beginning of next year despite the opposition of some Catholic coalition members.

Family minister Rosy Bindi, a practising Catholic, shocked many in her coalition and in the conservative opposition when she announced in May, shortly after the new government was sworn in, that Italy had a duty to discuss some kind of recognition of civil unions - even in the face of warnings from the Roman Catholic Church that it opposed any move perceived as a threat to the traditional family.

Her coalition and the conservative opposition were shocked... Does that equal scandalized?

The measure was not part of the electoral programme of the broad eight-party progressive coalition of premier Romano Prodi whose members, including one prominent Catholic party, are deeply divided on the issue.

The Vatican warned Prodi before the vote it condemned civil unions and gay marriages.

When one has broad coalitions, it's wise not to rock the boat on divisive issues, no matter how progressive the coalition parties may be. Prodi doesn't have absolute control like the Socialists in Spain. Of course, floating the issue like this could simply be a ploy to see how it will do. If it goes down in flames, no harm no foul. I ought to find the numbers for the coalition and the opposition as far as seats. That would be instructive. (I looked, 348 to 281. Prodi's majority, if stable enough, has a chance.)