The Vatican newspaper has gotten a makeover of late, with more photos, more secular news, and a different layout.
News Clips: October 2008 Archives
Archaeologists have found what one thinks is the oldest extant Hebrew writing dating to the kingdom of David, re-enforcing views of the Bible's veracity. It was found on a pottery shard. Not all archaeologists are convinced it is Hebrew, mostly because the alphabet was shared with other ethnic groups at the time.
(Thanks to RC)
Here is an inspiring story in today's world. A woman at a house auction keeping her son company heard a woman crying about her foreclosed home. She bought the house and now the woman is making payments to her instead.
Mostly because of the economy and the war. Not that there is any love lost between McCain and Christians. Of course, by their definition, 48% of all voters are "born-again Christians". That I don't believe.
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, a theologically conservative and evangelical-leaning diocese, has voted to sever ties with the Episcopal Church but will remain a member of the Anglican communion, by way of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America.
I say, good for them. But there is an interesting quote: The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding pseudo-bishop of the U.S. church, said schism "frequently been seen as a more egregious error than charges of heresy." Hmmm. I am remembering the book I recently read, My Visit to Hell (which is essentially an update of Dante's Inferno). In this book the sin of schism is in a much lower ring of hell than the sin of heresy. This is because schismatics tend to spurn authority and maliciously divide themselves from each other (anyone who's looked at the history of a schismatic Orthodox group, or for that matter a schismatic Catholic one, will recognize this), whereas heretics tend to be sincerely convinced of their errors. At least that was my take on it. So the good lady has a certain point. Then again, they are remaining in communion with the rest of the Anglicans. So it's not total schism.
They'd better change their website though. Presumably they are no longer Episcopal. The domain seems to be right though.
Actually it wasn't even that. All the pastor wanted was for an outside bingo group to contribute something (video). For twenty years the parish has been eating all the costs, providing the space for free. Now the pastor wants the group to help pay for the A/C and cover wear and tear on the equipment. But a woman they interviewed is convinced he's going to Hell for it.
(Disclaimer: I am friends with said pastor but I'd think this was ridiculous regardless of who it was.)
I'd like to ask the woman what commandment he's breaking. Thou shalt entertain thine elders and offer them big prizes? True, there is more to Christian morality than the commandments, but the point remains: Where does it say that it is wrong to ask for some reimbursement when using church property when the church can no longer give free rent to any group who wants it?
The leader of the bingo group — which, curiously, is never named, despite the fact that bingo is tightly regulated in Massachusetts and you can't just get some ad-hoc group together to do it — claims that they operate at a loss. This makes things even more interesting. How can you continue to do bingo if all you're doing is losing money? Either you have a big savings (and I'm not sure that's allowed), or someone is bankrolling you (which also seems doubtful). I suspect what she meant was that 1) we are struggling to break even; or 2) if we paid these fees, we'd be at a loss. The article said she's "stepping down" and bingo is ending. That almost sounds like she's part of a larger organization.
I haven't talked to the pastor so I don't know his reasons. The obvious reason would be to provide revenue or reduce expenses for a tight budget. That's easy enough to believe. It might also be that he's not thrilled with the concept of bingo and is trying to starve it out. I can't remember his stand on bingo so I can't comment on that.
I admit that this is sad, but I understand the need to have outside organizations pay for the use of church facilities.
A Roman Rite Catholic bishop in India got suspended for adopting a 26 year-old woman, one of the four daughters of an Orthodox Church priest from Pathnamthitta district. He was quoted as saying, "I have only fatherly love toward the woman who has spiritual powers. This relation is giving me spiritual refreshment." He is being investigated by the Kerala Catholic Bishop's Council. Canon law forbids adoption by clerics because of the financial and moral liabilities it would invite.
You have to admit, what he said about her sounded kind of creepy, like she was involved in a cult.
There is a trio of Irish priests who have recorded an album and embarked on a musical career.
I can't say they are particularly evangelistic — when asked if they "expect to offer help to wayward musicians" they said something mealy-mouthed about maybe having the opportunity to "do a little good", but "certainly we aren't setting out with that in mind."
Are they priests first and musicians second? Well, no, not really — music brought them into the priesthood. The question is, does that mean that chronologically music came first, or that music is first in priority? Although the latter doesn't seem so given some of their other comments.
But it is good to see priests getting some exposure like this even if they aren't singing Fr. Corapis. (Somehow I can't picture that anyway.)
Pope Benedict has done the first canonization of a woman saint from India. She was a member of the Syro-Malabar rite, and was from the state of Kerala, where the biggest concentration of Christians in India is. This is seen as a morale boost to a community facing violent Hindu persecution. The article said this was the first Indian woman saint but I can't help but believe that an apostolic church like that has some early saints that pre-dated the canonization process. I mean, Christianity has been there for 2,000 years, you'd think they'd have a woman saint by now. (Though they haven't been in communion with Rome that whole time.) Unfortunately attempting to do a Google search is somewhat futile; all the links are to this particular saint.
This was a surprise, to me at least, with all the focus on California. The dike is breaking, we now have three states that accept gay marriage.
