My wife and I spent this past weekend visiting with the Sisters of Reparation in Steubenville, Ohio. Although the intent of our visit was to perform maintenance on their various chimneys and furnaces, we did get to spend some time socializing. I must say that I won’t soon forget the warmth and hospitality that these fine sisters showed to me and my wife.
The Catholic Spectator
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The Sisters of Reparation
July 21, 2009 by Eugene Michael
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Church “Expert” Spouts Off
July 11, 2009 by Eugene Michael
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend spouts off in Newsweek Magazine (selected excerpts):In truth, though, Obama’s pragmatic approach to divisive policy (his notion that we should acknowledge the good faith underlying opposing viewpoints) and his social-justice agenda reflect the views of American Catholic laity much more closely than those vocal bishops and pro-life activists. When Obama meets the pope tomorrow, they’ll politely disagree about reproductive freedoms and homosexuality, but Catholics back home won’t care, because they know Obama’s on their side. In fact, Obama’s agenda is closer to their views than even the pope’s.
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American Idol?
July 7, 2009 by Eugene Michael
Selected excerpts from CNA on Cardinal Cottier:Responding to Cardinal Georges Cottier’s recent article praising President Obama, Vatican analyst Sandro Magister has said the cardinal almost exalts Obama as “a new Constantine, the head of a modern empire that is also generous toward the Church.”
Magister responded by saying that Cardinal Cottier “denies that Obama can be considered ‘pro-abortion,’ and even attributes to him the desire to ‘do everything possible to make the number of abortions as small as possible’ just as did ‘the first Christian legislators, who did not immediately overturn the Roman laws that were tolerant toward practices inconsistent with or even contrary to the natural law, like concubinage and slavery.’”
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Undermining the Unity of the Church
July 4, 2009 by Eugene Michael
Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue on disobedience in the Church (selected excerpts):Bishops who have deep theological differences with the Pope are undermining the unity of the Catholic Church, a prominent English bishop has claimed.
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Bad News for Local Pius XII Bashers
July 3, 2009 by Eugene Michael
Bad news for some local Pius XII bashers:The Vatican’s secret archives on Pius XII should be ready for opening in about five years and will clear him of accusations that he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust, the archives’ head said on Thursday.
“He was a great pope, who, as you know, is under attack for his presumed silence on the Shoah,” said Monsignor Sergio Pagano, using the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. “But in reality he did many things for Jews and for prisoners of World War Two”.
“There will be some nice surprises, even as far as the Jews are concerned,” Pagano said, adding that the pope did not remain inactive when Jews were rounded up for deportation on October, 1943.
“Pope Pius took great risks, even very great personal risks, to save Jews. I can’t say more now but whoever wants to open their eyes in five or six years will be able to open them,” he said. Reuters News Agency
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Father Corapi
July 1, 2009 by Eugene Michael
Father Corapi on the state of the Church (from an interview in Legatus Magazine):I’ve been a harsh critic of ourselves, meaning the Church leadership – priests, bishops and theologians. I don’t think we’ve done a particularly good job in my lifetime. We’ve had great popes; the top of the hierarchy has always been fantastic. But we’ve had a serious problem with “middle management.” There has been a significant problem with bishops and priests. Although, it’s better now than it was 20 years ago. However, the vast majority of Catholics aren’t even going to Church, so we shouldn’t wonder that the Church has been losing its influence on an increasingly secularized society.