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Christian Witness, Media,

Helping

The folks at the Fellowship of St. James, the publishers of Touchstone, Salvo, and more are in need of our help.

I’ve been a Touchstone subscriber for a few years. What I love about the journal is the commonality of orthodox Christian witness found there.

For more info, check out the reasons beyond this request for help in the Mere Comments post This Is What We Need.

Please, find it in your heart to say a prayer and make a donation in support of FSJ’s worthy efforts. Make your donation here…

Thanks to Fr. Joseph Huneycutt of Orthodixie for pointing to this in Imagine [there’s no] Touchstone.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Political,

Deacon dustup

The commentary across blogs over the recent conflict in the R.C. Diocese of Buffalo goes on.

Michael Liccione of Sacramentum Vitae has a pretty balanced take on this issue in Buffaloed. He comments on the root causes of the frustration felt by that deacon in Buffalo and lays the charge squarely at the feet of negligent pastors and weak bishops.

Babsnc of Daily Kos goes the way of the rest of the ultra-liberal elite. If you’re in a church or a member of a church please shut-up (ok, no please was said or intended, just shut-up). Only Babsnc and friends have rights, people of faith have none, Churches have none. See House Rep. Criticized by Deacon /During memorial mass/ for Yes Vote on Stem Cell Research. It appears, unbeknown to me, that the Founding Fathers intended that free speech rights only apply to some. We’re all equal on the farm, some are just more equal than others.

The writer concludes by making a plea for decency – if only that plea were made on behalf of innocent children.

The Society and politics Blog sticks a pin in Babsnc argument in Deacon calls out CINO*. The other pertinent quote taken from a commentator at The Cafeteria is Closed is:

WE NEED MORE PRIESTS LIKE THIS DEACON!

Of course, those neo-con Catholics who frequent sites like Cafeteria should understand that that would mean giving up the celibate priesthood… ooops.

*CINO = Catholic in name only

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Blair and Catholics

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will not grant an exemption from compliance with ‘gay’ rights laws for faith based organizations who provide about 30% of the adoption services in Britain, often dealing with the most difficult to place children. From Ekklesia UK: Blair confirms that Catholic adoption agencies will not be able to discriminate.

The UK government has announced there will be no exemption from anti-discrimination laws for Catholic adoption agencies, but that they will get 21 months to prepare for change, which will make it illegal to discriminate against lesbian and gay people.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, himself a practicing Anglican married to a Catholic, called the outcome “a sensible compromise”. The Catholic Church in England and Wales said it was “deeply disappointed” that no exemption had been offered.

The 2006 Equality Act will face a vote in Parliament in February before coming into effect on 6 April 2007.

A spokesperson for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement told Ekklesia this evening that the decision looked like a —reasonable outcome overall—. Secular groups and the Liberal Democrats have said that the change period is too long.

It remains to be seen whether Catholic adoption agencies will eventually hand their service over to others in the voluntary sector. A similar thing has happened in the USA, after pressure from the Vatican.

Mr Blair commented: “There is no place in our society for discrimination. That’s why I support the right of gay couples to apply to adopt like any other couple. [This is why] there can be no exemptions for faith-based adoption agencies offering public funded services from regulations that prevent discrimination.”

No place for discrimination, except against people of faith, and faith based organizations, who abide by their Church’s teachings. See particularly Now, all our English liberties are becoming orphans by William Rees-Mogg in The Times:

The issue of the Roman Catholic adoption agencies, and their refusal to arrange adoptions for same-sex partnerships, I find altogether fascinating. It involves fundamental questions of liberty, of freedom of religion, of European law and of political philosophy. In our collapsing political society it may prove to be only one week’s wonder, but it is important to think it through.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political,

Of deacons, polls, and charity

The Buffalo News has featured two reports over the past two days regarding a R.C. deacon who publicly reproved Congressman Brian Higgins from the ambo (pulpit) last Sunday.

From today’s report: Deacon hailed for pulpit blast at Higgins

The Buffalo Regional Right to Life Committee on Wednesday hailed a deacon who criticized Rep. Brian Higgins during Sunday Mass in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.

Deacon Tom McDonnell’s rebuke of the Buffalo Democrat for voting for federal funding for embryonic stem cell research led Higgins to walk out of the church during his sermon.

“God bless the deacon a thousand times. He did his job. If every bishop, every clergy member of all faiths did their jobs, we wouldn’t have the shedding of innocent life in our country,” said Stacey Vogel of the Buffalo Regional Right to Life Committee.

The anti-abortion group’s position was in stark contrast with the phone calls and e-mails at Higgins’ Buffalo and Washington offices, which were running in his favor by a nearly 4 to 1 ratio, according to a staff member.

According to the latest polls people deem the earth to be flat – therefore it must be.

Higgins said his relationship with St. Thomas Aquinas Church, where he was baptized and married, is “very deep, very meaningful and very long.” He apologized earlier for the congregation’s having to be subjected to criticism of him during the morning Mass.

“The lesson here is that the Catholic Church has enough problems and should take greater care before allowing nonpriests to use the church as a forum to advance what clearly was a political agenda,” Higgins said…

Based on his long and loving relationship with the Church he has stepped to the fore in opposing attacks on human life… oops, maybe not.

Also, I see that he has taken a strong interest in his faith and that he has been properly catechized. See, there’s priests and non-priests, that’s about all there is to my faith. Also, life is a subjective good and no one can tell me what to do, unless of course they let Senator Clinton or some other womyn preach – and I’ll make an exception for Michael J. Fox.

All this being said, I do believe the deacon was wrong for the following reasons:

  • The deacon is not the pastor. Mr. Higgins’ pastor is the Rev. Art Smith, and as pastor this responsibility falls to him. The problem with some deacons (me especially) is that we want to step-up and fill-in wherever and whenever we see something lacking. We are not the answer. We need to be more humble, more in tune with our ministry, and this is a good reminder of that fact.
  • The homily serves two purposes, cracking open the scriptures in such a way so as to edify and teach all the people you minister to, and as a call to apply that scripture to our everyday lives. It is not an occasion for political showmanship or the airing of one’s personal grievances, regardless of how in-tune those grievances are with Church teaching.
  • Charity, scripture, and Catholic polity demand that one reprove one’s brother in private first, then in front of witnesses, and finally, if he is obstinate, before the community. If that communal reproof is to have any meaning it must come from the Church’s representative in the community – the Bishop.

In conclusion, the lack of leadership on the part of some Bishops and pastors and their acquiescence to political power provide fertile soil for these types of events. They also make taking sides in issues like this the go-to thing to do.

From the original story: Pulpit barb prompts walkout by Higgins

A deacon upbraided Rep. Brian Higgins during Sunday morning Mass in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church for voting in favor of embryonic stem cell research, prompting the congressman and his family to walk out during the sermon.

The Rev. Art Smith, pastor of the South Buffalo church, said he felt “horrible” about the Higgins family’s departure on “Respect Life Sunday” and offered an apology from the pulpit after the congressman had left.

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo later issued a statement also criticizing Deacon Tom McDonnell’s action.

“I can’t tell you how terrible I felt,” Smith said Tuesday. “While we have to always uphold the church’s teachings regarding life, I don’t think it’s ever fair to publicly criticize someone who serves our community and our parish so well.”

The right-to-life community, with the deacon will be on one side, the congressman – obviously obdurate in error will be on the other, and the leaders of the Church will appear to be weak on the sanctity of life.

Please, pray for the protection of all human life and for us deacons.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Political

Raise your voices, cry onto the Lord

Roe v. Wade – the march of death goes on. So raise your voices today and every day.

Lord have mercy on us and on our nation for we have sinned grievously.

It’s not just abortion, but our wanton rush toward death as an answer for every problem. War, put ’em out of their misery (especially those without a voice such as handicapped children and the mentally retarded), euthanasia, the death penalty, war again. It is the Pandora’s box of death.

Beseeching the Lord to save oneself or those one loves was not enough. Now we must pray, O man, kill me and my kin. Lead me into the grave and shut the door – there is no more.

So we pray, march, and witness. O Lord, save us and have mercy.

There’s some great stuff out in the blogsphere on this. Fr. Jim Tucker covers it well in Abortion and Freedom.

Christian Witness, Political,

Pro-Life Blogger Conference

Blogs4Life has announced the Second Annual Conference of Pro-Life Bloggers to be held January 22, 2007.

The following group of influential and noted pro-life leaders are expected to speak at the event:

The one-day event will take place on January 22nd, 2007 prior to and after the annual March for Life in Washington DC.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Family Research Council, the conference is located just a few blocks from the March at the FRC’s headquarters.

Joe Carter, the FRC’s Director of Web Communications, is organizing a virtual symposium leading up to the conference on various life issues.

Blogs4Life will include a capstone session for the symposium and various workshops ranging from online activism to stem cell research.

This is an excellent opportunity for individuals and organizations to network with pro-life bloggers and develop an understanding about how weblog technology can be strategically used to promote life and turn ideas into action. It is also a unique occasion for bloggers to meet face to face and brainstorm about how to work together more effectively.

Please check out the conference website and register if you are able to attend.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

The urge to surge

To President Bush’s Administration and the plan to send upwards of 20,000 more young men and women to Iraq:

  • It won’t work – it’s too late.
  • It’s a useless waste of more young lives.
  • It’s a waste of our national resources and treasure.
  • It does not protect our country.
  • The Democrats will talk it up, but owing to politics will let the Republicans hang for the error. They will do nothing to stop it. They’re co-dependent.
  • Pray.
  • Speak-up, even though your witness may seem like words into the wind, speak-up.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, by whose grace we look for the day when nation shall not any more lift up sword against nation, and when men shall live without fear in security and peace, grant to us in this time of strife the will to labor for peace even while our sword is drawn to resist the foe. Let not the evil we oppose turn us from our purpose, to achieve unity and concord among the nations of the earth, to Thy honor and glory. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political

More on the Wielgus affair

The fallout continues:

Wielgus misled Pope by failure to disclose communist-era links: reports

Ex-Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus in effect misled the pope by his failure to disclose the true nature of his links with the former Polish communist regime, Italian media reports say, as news breaks of the resignation of another high level church official in the late Pope John Paul II’s home diocese of Cracow.

And this is why the whole affair is so unseemly. If a man slated to be Archbishop places himself and his interests so far in front of the R.C. Church and the Pope then he really doesn’t deserve to be in a position of responsibility. This sort of thinking indicates:

  • A lack of faith – confession and forgiveness are nice for the pew sitters, but mean nothing to him
  • A lack of discipline – you can cry Pope, Pope, Pope all you want, but if you yourself don’t believe in the guy, why bother.
  • A failure to abide – rules are great for everyone else. Like celibacy (especially in Poland) is a nice concept, but I’d rather have a woman, lover, and family without being tied down by marriage. Gee bishop, she’s becoming a real pain, can you transfer me to the other side of the diocese.

Cardinal Glemp touched on a piece of the truth in his homily, the part about forgiveness and not believing every last assertion made by the secret police, but ended up flubbing that one as well.

The Cardinal had a great teaching moment thrust in front of him. He could have talked about getting the truth out, how such lies hurt all, how honesty, repentance, and forgiveness is necessary and essential for a Catholic nation. How lustration, at least in the form being practiced by right-wing zealots, will destroy the country, how Poles should come together in truth, repentance, and forgiveness. All solid Catholic teaching. Instead he focused on one man as a good guy who should be given a break. It was R.C. duck and cover (and the Polish and International press are drawing parallels to the same duck and cover that was part of the sex abuse scandals in the U.S. and elsewhere)

A new chapter begins for Voice of the Faithful – VotF – Polska.

Next up: The Rector of Wawel Cathedral has resigned for the very same reason. See: Another Polish Priest Resigns Over Secret Service Charges

The prelate of Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, Janusz Bielanski, offered his resignation to Cardinal Stansilaw Dziwisz and it was accepted immediately, TVN 24 reported…

The body count has just begun. The R.C. Church in Poland needs to do what is right by Catholic/Christian standards, not what is right politically. The Church needs to exert leadership. Otherwise the damage will be deep and more permanent, a society split – something the Nazi Germans and Russian Communists couldn’t achieve.

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