News Clips: November 2007 Archives

Sorry that it's been so long since a post, I was out most of last week on vacation to a friend's house (a most gracious host) and had no opportunity to blog.

The latest news this week is that Iran may bring the pope into the conflict with the U.S.. They know the pope is opposed to war, and they've enjoyed somewhat warm relations with the Holy See for quite some time. It's a political ploy, of course, but it may work. The Holy See would act as mediator.

Should be interesting to see what position the Holy See takes vis a vis nuclear weapons.

The pope is releasing a new encyclical on hope soon. Also he is going to release another one further out on social issues. (No word whether the theme will be centered on "faith".)

After years of dialogue and no doubt lots of money, a join theological commission has concluded that Catholics and Orthodox agree on the primacy of the pope but disagree on its significance.

In other startling news, the pope is Catholic.

Sheesh, what did these folks do all this time? Was it just all bickering? Is this all they have to show for their time? So sad ...

It's official: The Pope is coming to the U.S., specifically New York (ground zero, U.N.) and Washington D.C. from April 15-20. This is like deja vu to me; I saw John Paul in New York in 1995 or 1996. And the folks I stayed with who were such generous hosts have since left and returned to the area. Things come almost full circle.

Of course, I got 20 feet away from Pope Benedict when I was in Rome, whereas I couldn't even make out John Paul's face with binoculars when I saw him in Central Park, so maybe I'll pass this time.

The New York times is conceding that the Latin (Tridentine) Mass is drawing interest — even from people too young to have experienced the Mass in the old days. Liturgies are drawing hundreds of people, they say. But it won't become a flood of people; nor will everything shift to the old Mass. In a way it is nice to hear that from them, because when Benedict instituted the greater freedom for the Latin Mass, some were acting as if everything was going to reverse itself and the old Mass would become the new norm. Such talk was absurd but it is good to hear it from a source they'd presumably be likely to believe.

I liked one girl's comment. She said she thought it was "prettier". Indeed as I was at Mass today looking at a felt banner spanning the altar that reminded me of an elementary school art project, I fantasized about replacing it with a silk banner woven with gold thread. Or at least, one that was a reasonable facsimile of gold. (Too much time in the Byzantine rite.)

This of course is in a sense my problem with the Latin Mass: There is no reason why the Ordo Mass (the current one) can't be celebrated with equal reverence and splendor. It's just that — nobody does (or, few do).

Well, that's the way things go, I guess.

One more thing I'd like to have from Rome: An elegant official term for this Mass so we can refer to it without any inaccuracies.

Relax, it's not so bad. Apparently someone discovered a hidden musical score in The Last Supper.

Pro-life pharmacists in Washington State won a victory when a judge ruled that they do not need to be forced to fill prescriptions for drugs they have moral objections to provided they refer patients to another pharmacist or pharmacy if no pharmacist is available.

This of course is good news. Of course you still have to refer people, and I'm wondering how that plays into the moral aspect. Once can certainly argue that referring people is as bad as filling the prescription yourself. Or one can argue that it's under compulsion so you're not culpable. But isn't it more meritorious to disobey an unjust law (one that compels you to do what is wrong) than to obey it? See this is why I think that pro-life people should stay out or get out of the pharmacy business.

Here is an unlikely pair: Pope Benedict XVI and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, probably one of the most oppressive regimes towards Christians in the whole world (the first ever meeting of a pope with a reigning Saudi king). Top on the agenda is working on softening the kingdom's treatment of Christians. It is illegal to practice Christianity publicly in the kingdom, to bring any Christian symbols into it, or for a Christian to set foot near the holy sites of Medina and Mecca or to serve in the government.

The meeting was warm.

UPDATE: I neglected to mention that the good king gave the Pope a gold sword as a gift. How thoughtful. Not sure if this was technically a threat or not. (Actually it's their standard gift, but that doesn't mean it isn't a threat.) Maybe it was a good faith effort to allow him to defend himself. (Yeah, with a soft metal weapon.)

Newsweek had an article this week about knocking yourself up — that is, independent-minded women who decide that fathers are a trifling thing and instead of finding a husband (or even just a partner) and settling down, they will break out the turkey baster and proudly (or is that shamelessly?) inseminate themselves. There is even a book: "Knock Yourself Up: A Tell-All Guide to Becoming a Single Mom."

Single motherhood by choice. According to the article, "Unwed births among 30- to 44-year-olds rose 20 percent from 1991 to 2006, and last year alone, four in 10 U.S. babies were born outside of marriage even though teen pregnancies hit their lowest point in 65 years. Fairfax Cryobank, one of the biggest sperm banks in the United States, says its single-female clientele jumped 20 percent in the last decade and now accounts for 60 percent of its customer base."

So feminism, after having achieved its goal of equality, now intends to eliminate the need for the opposite sex as best as it can. As I suspected the goal was never merely equality. Feminism has turned men into enemies or at least optional extras rather than equal partners.

Fact is children do a lot better with a mother and a father than otherwise, though they try to wave their hands over this one claiming that once you adjust studies on single parents for economic factors, the gap narrows. (I suppose a lot hinges on what you mean by "do better" and how you measure it.)

It does shock me still that we've come to this point in society where women willingly choose single motherhood with a turkey baster. It seems so selfish, so brash. Well soon enough we'll have women conceiving daughters by parthenogenesis. Then Jesus may not be the only virgin birth.