A student in Dublin came up with the idea of making bracelets with Pope John Paul's words "Be Not Afraid" on them to invoke his help with their studies.
News Clips: May 2005 Archives
The Diocese of Spokane claims that it does not legally own its parishes, and that this is the way the church has operated for 2,000 years. It's doing this to avoid liquidating them for the sake of a sexual abuse settlement. No indication on who actually does own them, but this comes as a surprise in the light of many lawsuits in which bishops have used their ownership to wrest control away from parishioners. Witness also that diocese in Canada that planned to sell all their parishes in order to settle abuse claims.
At the same time I think it's unconscionable that litigants would force a diocese to close parishes in order to settle abuse claims. That's essentially threatening to shut the diocese down; maybe only partially, but still, the concept is there.
According to News of the Weird, sufferers of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia actually invoke a quasi-divinity named 'Ana'. There are psalms, prayers, commandments, creeds, even blood rituals.
Sample creed: "I will devote myself to Ana. She will be with me wherever I go, keeping me in line. No one else matters; she is the only one who cares about me and who understands me. I will honor Her and make Her proud."
Weird stuff. These folks who venerate "Ana" deserve our prayers.
Officials in Washington State are trying to determine whether a Bible verse can be considered offensive after a nimrod complained about one such verse on a vanity license plate, according to KOMO-TV.
Jane Milhans of Tacoma has had a plate reading John 3-16 for some 21 years without a complaint, but a woman recently called the state to say it was an illegal endorsement of religion by the state.
The womans complaint read in part: "I was offended that I have to be 'prayed over' by a license plate... What happened to keeping church and state separate?"
Milhans will now have to defend her plate in front of a review committee, which will decide next month whether she can keep it.
In other news, employees drawing government salaries will no longer be able to buy Bibles with them or give money to their churches ... (ok I made that part up)
Can't say that I'm happy about it. A respected and credible source says that he is a bad pick. But I guess we'll see.
Pope Benedict puts Pope John Paul on fast track to canonization — waives the normal 5-year waiting period before beatification
Deo gratias!
Noting that this is still rumor, Archbishop William Levada is reportedly the new head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Pope Benedict's old position).
Here is an interesting article about a pastor who was run out of his church for demanded (before the last election) that anyone who wanted to vote for Kerry should either "repent or resign". He also announced that it was going to become a "politically active church". The pastor denies that the actions were politically motivated.
I see a lot of danger in being dogmatic about voting in the church. First of all, you risk jeopardizing your tax-exempt status if you endorse certain candidates (much less if you coerce people into voting a certain way). Second, you end up getting yourself involved in destructive controversies. I think it is better to address the issues and emphasize their importance, and leave it to the voter to draw the (usually obvious) implications about how they should vote. Sounds to me, based on this article (which naturally may be biased), that this pastor took a bull-in-the-china-shop approach. I'd be curious to see, though, if there is a more objective account of this on the web.
A question in my mind is how he would know how they voted. If they got enough people to refuse to answer when asked (including those voting for Bush), then that would make a statement. I suppose that's a big "if" though. He could always revoke the memberships of those who refuse to answer.
Here is a very frightening idea: "Members also discussed changing the church bylaws to state that all members had to sign a statement saying they supported the pastor's political views." What kind of justification is there for that? That's just ripe for abuse. It doesn't even make a provision for those political views that do not pertain to Christian morality.
I am reminded when I hear this of all the objections my liberal friends have about Christianity that I try to persuade them aren't that pervasive. In other words, I am embarassed when I hear of Christians behaving this way.
The Holy Father has appointed his first U.S. bishop, though there is nothing particularly notable about the appointment itself.
Diocese selling its churches to pay abuse claims
"A Roman Catholic diocese in eastern Canada plans to sell all its churches and missions to raise the money to pay the victims of sexual assault by a priest who was convicted more than a decade ago, a bishop said Monday."
(They are going to appeal to members to buy back 1/3 of the churches — ingenious way to get people to pay for abuse claims.)
Ringtones based on The Passion of the Christ soundtrack will be available soon (see third section at bottom):
'Los Angeles-based AG Interactive is making three snippets of the movie's soundtrack available to download as ring tones for cell phones, as well as 12 "premium images" from the film.'
Dutch Euthanasia Doctor Admits to Killing 4 Newborns With Lethal Injections
This is ever-more frightening as you listen to their logic. Already euthanasia is becoming "convenient", that is, not the last resort but something to stop things that are avoidable with treatment.
Particularly frightening, though only tangentially related to this news, is their description of a philosophy called Utilitarianism, that human beings are merely disposable biological machines. You may be aghast, but this is the logical consequence of materialism: we are nothing more than bags of chemicals that reacts in a certain way to stimuli.
eBay has changed its policies to make the Eucharist a forbidden item for sale. Thanks be to God!
Monastery reality TV show (free registration required) changes the lives of five people, including eliciting the conversion of a guy in the porno industry.
