Moving to a beautiful city

I’ve taken a civil service position with the City of God, so I am calling De Civitate Dei, http://thecityofgod.blogspot.com, my new home.

Unam Sanctum is being retired. I am not going to delete it, but it will be inactive from now on. Please stop by De Civitate Dei and tell me what you think.

I have also changed my e-mail to ricklugari @ gmail.com (no spaces around the ‘@’ though).

I've had a lot of fun here during my relatively young blogging career, but this change was a long time in coming. Thank you all who have contributed to, or visited, Unam Sanctum; it's been a good time for me. I'm sure it will only get better at De Civitate Dei; I mean think about it - how could it not? ;)

Here's what's up...

You probably have noticed that I have hardly blogged a thing this week. I haven’t been visiting my favorite blogs very often either. However, it is a good thing that I have been able to avoid the temptation to read and post stories, etc. The reason I say that is I have a lot to do at work and I am in the process of creating a new blog.

I probably would have had it ready to roll out by now if it weren’t for my “discovering” numerous well-known bugs in Internet Explorer. Not having someone like Father Norbert to help me out makes me dependent on hacking multiple templates to find suitable methods of dealing with the IE issue. Then, when all is said and done, I still can’t do what I would like to because IE just won’t cooperate.

If you’re not already using Firefox, I would urge you to do so. It not only provides a much better browsing experience, but it adheres more closely to the standards. MS and their crippled and buggy browser make for a perfect example of why you need competition in the marketplace. Who knows, if enough people use Firefox, maybe MS will finally do something to improve their browser (and I don’t mean just fixing the security holes). Aside from all the tangible benefits offered by Firefox, according to Papa, it seems like it is the only real choice if you wish to be a good Catholic.

Anyway, I might be posting on a limited basis in the next day or so, and when the new blog is up, I will surely let you know. So please keep checking in.

Oh…and did you notice that Papa has a new musing up at Musum Pontificalis?

Disagreement among Catholics

Ron Rolling from A Wing and a Pray puts on his fisking hat to draw a distinction between what Catholics believe and how it affects the Roberts nomination.

Another explanation is that maybe religion is irrelevant to Supreme Court matters. If so, someone should tell the lobbyists on both sides of Judge Roberts' confirmation.

No, only those opposed to to the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr. being confirmed have made this an issue, because they fear the sand upon which the house of abortion is build may be swept away by the tides of proper judicial review and are using his religious affiliation as an excuse.

A Wing And A Prayer: Thoughtlessness

St. Louis seminary to be among first evaluated in gay inquiry

ST. LOUIS - A Catholic seminary in St. Louis will be among the first in the country to be visited by Vatican officials seeking evidence of homosexuality.

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Philadelphia will lead a five-member team that will visit Aquinas Institute of Theology Sept. 25-29, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday. The purpose, according to the Vatican, is to "examine the criteria for admission of candidates and the programs of human formation and spiritual formation aimed at ensuring that they faithfully live chastely for the Kingdom."

Seminaries across the U.S. will be visited through next spring. St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke and Belleville, Ill., Bishop Edward K. Braxton will be among the 117 bishops and seminary staff sent to the seminaries.

Visits will involve interviews with faculty, staff, seminarians and recent alumni, and will be overseen by the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education.

Interesting selection. For those critics who insist on analogizing the seminary visitations as a "hunt", consider this visitation as just shooting some clay pigeons before opening day.

Full story

HMH-464 transports special Vatican envoy

by Lance Cpl. Brandon M. Gale
MCAS New River

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Marines from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron-464 provided transportation to a special envoy sent by Pope Benedict XVI to survey the damage left by Hurricane Katrina and to bring a message of condolence to the people of the Gulf Coast.
...
The "Condors" of HMH-464 got involved in the mission because the air space over the area is still restricted to military and rescue flights, so Cordes and his entourage had no other means of transportation, said Lt. Col. Paul Power, HMH-464 commanding officer.
...
HMH-464's mission was to pick up Cordes, who was joined by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Washington D.C., and Alfred C. Hughes, archbishop of New Orleans, along with several other bishops, priests and assistants, in Baton Rouge, La., and fly them to Biloxi, Miss., where they met with local officials and visited parishes damaged by the storm.

The United States Marine Corps, the president's own, prides itself on following orders to the letter. There was no mention whether any of the prelates had attempted to alter the orders of the mission.

Full story - dcmilitary.com

Diocese criticizes 'cult-like' group

Ashley Fahey of McGregor was packed for college. The bright, energetic student and athlete had already purchased Loras College sweat shirts for her family. With an $18,000 scholarship in hand, she was eager to start her education and become a high school teacher one day.

Then on Aug. 20, the night before her parents were to take her to college, she radically changed her plans. She was going to become a "sister" in a new religious order called Love Holy Trinity Blessed Mission.

By the next day, she was gone. Fahey's mother and stepfather, Lora and Roger Knott, say they have been cut off from her since, and they are stunned.

"In one day, our whole life turned upside down," Lora Knott said.
...
On Thursday, officials of the Diocese of Dubuque joined the growing criticism of the group. The Rev. Jerome Hanus, archbishop of Dubuque, said he can no longer remain silent. He ordered Catholic officials in the 30-county diocese to refuse permission for the group to meet in church facilities and cautioned Catholics against participation.

After its own investigation, the diocese became concerned about the secretive nature of the group, the authoritarian approach of its leader, possible harm to families and evidence of "characteristics of a cult."

Among the characteristics cited is isolating members from their families. The Knotts have not been able to contact their daughter, who they are told is at the group's "convent" in Chicago.

The dioceses of Rockford, Ill., and Madison, Wis., have also denounced the group, and diocese officials there say they have ordered church leaders and parish priests to cease involvement with it.
...
Donna Backstrom of Davenport has been investigating the group for 19 months, since her 25-year-old niece joined the "convent."

"They prey on the vulnerable," she said. "If you look at the people involved, it fills a void in their life. Yet they become detached from their families."

Like others, including The Des Moines Register, she has called the group's Chicago telephone number countless times and left messages that were never returned.

"They do a helluva job of brainwashing," said Jerry Pins of Dubuque, who says 11 family members are in the mission, including his daughter, son-in-law and five grandchildren. "They tell them they will all go to hell if they leave."

Full story.

A nun in full

George Weigel reviews Raymond Arroyo's new biography of Mother Angelica.

No one in their right mind would have expected Rita Rizzo, whom the world would later know as "Mother Angelica," to build the first global Catholic media empire. Not to put too fine a point on it, clan Rizzo's misadventures give the words "dysfunctional family" new depths of meaning. A cruel father and an endlessly neurotic mother weave in and out of a story that, while set in the same period of time, certainly isn't "Going My Way." Nor are her early days in the convent easy for Angelica, as she's beset by unimaginative superiors, not always sympathetic colleagues, and serious health problems.
...
Sometimes those tensions can be creative; sometimes they get nasty. It would be difficult to describe the tensions between EWTN and the U.S. bishops' conference as "creative;" but those tensions, which Arroyo describes without rancor, are, at the very least, instructive --- although one can wonder how well the conference has learned the lessons of its expensive failure to create a Catholic presence on television.

I think Mother Angelica is a living saint, so I'm looking very forward to reading this book.

Full review

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful

Today is a special day for me. It is the one of the two days that we honor Our Lady of Sorrows, to whom I have a particular devotion, and it happens to be my birthday. If you have never read St. Alphonsus Liguori’s the Glories of Mary, I highly recommend it. I’ve actually read it cover to cover twice, and some sections numerous times. My favorite treatments concerning our Holy Mother are the wedding at Cana and her Seven Dolors. For whatever reason, those subjects provide the most fodder for contemplation for me, and I am eternally grateful to St. Alphonsus for sowing those seeds as well as inspiring a deeper devotion to Our Holy Mother.

I find devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows to be quite edifying and highly recommend practicing it, though I have been rather neglectful of it myself lately. The seven sorrows of Our Lady are:

1. The Prophecy of Simeon.
2. The flight into Egypt.
3. The loss of the Child Jesus.
4. Mary meets Jesus carrying His Cross.
5. The crucifixion.
6. Mary receives the body of Jesus from the Cross.
7. The body of Jesus is placed in the tomb.

You can find the chaplet here and these beautiful prayers here.

O Sorrowful Mother, pray for us!

Judge declares Michigan's abortion law unconstitutional

In a decision sure to tickle the fancy of the 'Catholic' Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm (D), U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood struck down Michigan's hard-fought-for partial birth abortion ban.

Hood said the law is confusing and vague, and its exceptions for the health or life of a mother are meaningless and unconstitutional.

"The act does not describe any specific procedure to be banned," Hood wrote. "The act also does not distinguish between induced abortion and pregnancy loss."
...
Proponents of the law said they were attempting to ban a procedure they call "partial-birth" abortion. Previous attempts by state lawmakers to stop the abortion procedure were struck down by federal courts in 1997 and 2001.

Doctors label the practice "intact dilation and extraction," or D&X. During the procedure, generally performed in the second trimester, a fetus is partially removed from the womb and the skull punctured. Some doctors say it is the safest option for women in some circumstances.

Hood agreed, however, with abortion rights groups that argued the law would ban all pre-viable abortions, including "dilation and evacuation," or D&E, the most common method of second-trimester abortion.

The judge said its exception for the life of the mother unconstitutionally requires doctors to balance the interests of the woman and the fetus. Hood also ruled the law's exception for a mother's health is meaningless because it requires doctors to not know of any potential harm to the fetus.

This a real disappointment. A lot of people worked really hard to get this law on the books. I think most of them would to you that collecting the enormous amount of signatures that they did was easy compared to overcoming the obstacles placed by various Democratic public servants.

Full story

The Michigan Catholic Conference responded to Judge Hood's decision with the following press release.

To: State Desk

Contact: Dave Maluchnik of the Michigan Catholic Conference, 517-242-9623 (cell)

LANSING, Mich., Sept. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Michigan Catholic Conference President and Chief Executive Officer Sister Monica Kostielney, R.S.M. today made the following statement immediately following Judge Denise Hood's decision to rule Michigan's partial-birth abortion ban unconstitutional:

"Obviously today's ruling is a setback; a setback for women, for unborn children and for the protection of innocent human life. Consequently, the dedicated fight to end heinous partial- birth abortions will continue. It is the sincere hope of the Michigan Catholic Conference that the Attorney General will appeal Judge Hood's decision to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court.

"The Michigan Catholic Conference disagrees with the judge's decision that the Legal Birth Definition Act presents an 'undue burden' and is unconstitutionally vague. We look forward to the Sixth Circuit Court upholding the state law based on the adequate health protection as previously ruled in the Taft decision."

The Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.

New blogging Catholics

St. Blog’s has two new bloggers, both of whom you may recognize as fairly frequent commentators in the parish comboxes.

Ron Rolling has taken flight on A Wing and a Prayer, and M. Z. Forrest is getting his feet wet as The Discalced Yooper.

M. Z. started out of the gate with a story about Oregon Press assisting the Church in India with their liturgical needs. You know about the India problem, right?

VOTF-India coordinator commented, "With all the priests available, how will women participate in the mass? It is difficult enough currently finding places for women to be RE directors and parish administrators. My goodness, we can't even get parishes to allow Eucharistic Ministers because of the abundance of priests."

Please pay these guys a visit and check back with them as they get established.

Pssst. Where the devil is the exorcists convention?

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Orthodontists have national conventions, as do lawyers and computer salespeople. So, some might say, why not exorcists?

At the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday Pope Benedict greeted Italian exorcists who, he disclosed, are currently having their national convention, presumably in Rome.

The Pope encouraged them to "carry on their important work in the service of the Church."

Problem was, that until the Pope spoke, few people outside the inner circle knew that a convention of Beelzebub busters was going on, presumably in Rome.

And where are they holding it? A church, a hotel, a graveyard?

"They try to keep these things quiet," said a Catholic professor who has dealings with exorcists.

The Roman Catholic Church has shown growing interest in exorcism in Italy.

I sure would love to be a fly on the wall at that convention. Can you imagine the stories?

Full story

Katrina-displaced author answers critic

By Matt C. Abbott

Jason Berry, author of the books "Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II" and "Lead Us Not into Temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children," and a contributor to the National Catholic Reporter and other publications, is not pleased with William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
...
Said Berry: "I have a 14-year-old daughter who has Down Syndrome. If, God forbid, she were to be impregnated by a rapist, I would not hesitate to have the pregnancy terminated."

Berry does, however, consider abortion-on-demand to be "repugnant."

He would not hesitate to have his grandchild aborted, but finds abortion-on-demand to be repugnant. Apparently, unhesitatingly hauling your daughter down to the abortion mill to procure an abortion isn't 'abortion-on-demand'. In a circumstance like that I wonder what makes that child so unworthy of life; is it because his/her mother has Down Syndrome or because his/her father committed rape?

Is that Jesus' idea of social justice?

Full story

Yeah, right.

Here's one of those stories that I would have just let slip if it weren't for one little thing that ticked me off.

(AP) - The American prelate overseeing a sweeping Vatican evaluation of every seminary in the United States told a weekly newspaper that men with "strong homosexual inclinations" should not be enrolled, even if they have remained celibate for years.

Archbishop Edwin O'Brien made the comments to the National Catholic Register newspaper as Roman Catholics await word of a much-anticipated Vatican document on whether homosexuals should be barred from the priesthood. O'Brien and several other U.S. bishops have said they expect that document to be released soon.

I had actually read Archbishop O'Brien's comments last week, but this story has something more.

The exact number of gay seminarians is not known. Estimates vary dramatically from one-quarter to more than half of all American priest-candidates. However, several Catholic leaders say the gay presence is so large that heterosexual seminarians feel alienated and many have dropped out over the years. Yet, even these leaders concede there is no easy way to enforce a ban on gay priest-candidates, since many do not discover they are homosexual until after they enroll and others may simply hide their sexual orientation from seminary administrators.

I'm not going to dispute the numbers, because we don't really know how many gay priests (and bishops) there are, though I am afraid that high estimates may be accurate. I just want to point out the absurd remark that many seminarians don't know they are gay until after they are enrolled. Do they really think we are that stupid or are they applying that thought process to cases where seminarians were seduced or indoctrinated into homosexuality? I only offer the latter possibility because we had a rector of a seminary who developed an "educational program" which introduced seminarians to gay porn (unfortunately he was later rewarded with a diocese to destroy).

Here's the real whopper though. Debbie Weill, executive director of DignityUSA states:

"There's a long history in the Catholic Church for centuries of gay priests serving the church well," Weill said. "For the Catholic Church now to suddenly ban gay priests, it would be a very foolish decision and harmful for the church overall."

A centuries long history of gay priests? Show me the source of this information, Ms. Weill. Just saying it, doesn't make it so. As far as them serving the Church well, I would like to see some examples of that too. Name names, please.

Where do you fall on the Wojtyla-Ratzinger Continuum?

Steve at the Speculative Catholic, playing off of Arthur Jones' worst nightmare has a funny piece called The Wojtyla-Ratzinger Continuum. Not satisfied stopping there he created a quiz so we can find out where we fall in the The Wojtyla-Ratzinger Continuum. Here are my results:

Ratzinger! Your personality reflects that of the
shy but friendly Benedict XVI. You prefer
thoughtful, refined themes in your music and
liturgy, and a smaller, purer Church.


Where do you fall on the Wojtyla-Ratzinger Continuum?
brought to you by Quizilla

No surprises there. Good job, Steve.

Quote of the day

Amid the turmoil in the Philippines regarding the calls for President Arroyo to step down, here are the words of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago:

"If the Church comes in and tries to pressure or to advocate among Catholics that there should be disrespect or disregard for the judgment of the House, under the guise of calling for the so-called truth, then I am very concerned," she said at a briefing.

I haven't been following the goings-on in the Philippines as of late, so I don't know if many of the bishops are doing what they should be doing or going too far, but I thought the terminology regarding "so-called truth" to be quite worthy of a Roman procurator. Then again, I can actually picture a Senator from Massachusetts using those words as well.

Full story

Wholly Sacrilege of the Lass

Michele Birch-Conery, one of the women who claimed to be 'ordained' to the Catholic priesthood this past July celebrated her first Wholly Sacrilege of the Lass.

LADYSMITH -- It was, in some ways, a conventional Roman Catholic Church service that drew 100 people on Saturday afternoon. There was a chorus, teachings from the Gospel, prayers and communion.

But it was also unconventional: The service wasn't in a church building, and was held under a tent on a residential front lawn. And the officiant was Michele Birch-Conery, whose status of priest is a matter of controversy -- the Church's official position is that women aren't allowed to be priests.
...
The 90-minute service in Ladysmith, dubbed a celebration of Birch-Conery's priestly ordination, was held at the home of Francois Brassard, a marginalized Roman Catholic priest for his marriage to Connie Kurtenbach, a former nun.

"Today we are celebrating the first eucharistic service of Michele Birch-Conery, the first woman Roman-Catholic priest in Canada," said Kurtenbach in an interview before the service. The couple offered to host the service because they mentored Birch-Conery along the road to ordination, Kurtenbach said.

"We're just big trouble-makers and we like to see changes happen," Kurtenbach said with a smile. "We thought we'd have a big celebration and welcome her into the larger community because I don't think the traditional church is going to be able to do that very well."

We've had 2000 years of people putting themselves at odds with the Church, so none of this is a surprise. It always boils down to pride and the desire to put one's will over that of God's. Here's the thing though. Have you noticed a common denominator among the contemporary dissenters? It seems to me, that whether it be Bishop Gumbleton and the NCR crowd, Fr. Nugent and Sr. Gramick, or the character quoted above, they seem to pride themselves on being 'troublemakers'. They value being a 'troublemaker' even more than their pet heresies. I would find it interesting if someone would have psychological testing done on them to find out what really makes them tick. Who knows, maybe we could fix them. ;)

Full story - 2 pages

What Kind of Cross are You?

HT to Julie D. at The Happy Catholic for bringing to my attention another silly quiz. Who thinks up these things up anyway?

You are the Corpus Christi Crucifix: The cross that
bears the body of Christ is the most venerated
of all the crosses. It hangs in the most sacred
places in the world and inspires the faithful
to contemplate the suffering of Christ.


What Kind of Cross are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Frankly, I am quite pleased with the result, I was praying that wasn't going to be a resufix (boy, would that have been embarrassing!). I love the crucifix, and the more realistic it is, the better. I kind of need that visual stimulation to focus on what it's all about, because all too often I am just too ungrateful if left to my own devices. Now that I think of it; that admission is probably more embarrassing than if I was considered a rusifix.

More on the teacher of the Eighth Sacrament

Regarding the post below, The Eight Sacraments of Detroit. I ran a google on Fr. Norman Thomas, which help me to recall who he is. Here are some excerpts from an op-ed piece in the Detroit News written by Larry Giroux. This was published in September of 1999.

When the news broke last week that Vice-President Al Gore was scheduled to be honored at Sacred Heart Church in Detroit during the Labor Day weekend, I was among many who called Cardinal Adam Maida’s office to ask that the event be cancelled .
…
To be sure, Sacred Heart is no typical parish, which makes this event particularly significant. Its pastor is Fr. Norman Thomas, a veteran of both politics and controversy. Fr. Thomas is one of four priest-advisers to the Catholic Caucus, the aggressively liberal lobbying group formed nine years ago by Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton.

Yes, that was Fr. Thomas’ smiling face you saw repeatedly on TV last year in those paid political advertisements endorsing Geoffrey Fieger for governor. If you have a really long memory, you will recall that Fr. Norman Thomas almost a dozen years ago was repeatedly quoted in the local newspapers criticizing Cardinal Edmund Szoka for his closing of 26 parishes in Detroit. You could say he’s an independent sort of guy, accustomed to defying authority.

...and instituting sacraments.

So it seemed obvious that Gore’s visit was going to be thoroughly political. And it was.

Yet, from start to finish in this unfortunate fiasco, Cardinal Maida, through his various spokesmen, defended Gore’s right to be at Sacred Heart. Complainers were told, correctly, that the church welcomes everyone to the altar of God. But some of those who called to complain were told emphatically that Gore was not going to speak in the church and that this was not a special mass, but a regular 10:30 Sunday morning mass.

Events showed that Gore was not a visitor but the central figure in the two-hour event. Gore arrived at least 30 minutes late, and Fr. Thomas held up the proceedings for his arrival. When Gore and his contingent of politicians arrived, Fr. Thomas met them at the back of the church. Gore and the pastor then proceeded side by side to the front of the church, where Gore sat in the front row.

Gore spoke at the pulpit during mass after the homily for a good 15 to 20 minutes, which is a violation of liturgical law, which says only an ordained person may speak at the time of the homily. News clips of his talk were broadcast around the country, including photos of Gore on the pulpit and outside the church with several priests.

That’s the Church in Motown alright.

Full story

Of prophets and auxiliary bishops

NCR has posted the latest Bishop Gumbleton homily, given in the land of the Eighth Sacrament on September 4, 2005.

Being gifted with the unique talent of making every reading of scripture a condemnation of the United States and/or the vindication of left wing tyrants, Bishop Gumbleton identifies a prophet in our midst. Pope Benedict XVI? Cardinal Arinze? Archbishop Chaput? Mother Angelica? Anonymous Dominican priest from a remote region? No, no, no…!

This prophet of the Most High is none other than Cindy Sheehan. Yes, Cindy Sheehan. Here’s the good bishop on prophets:

No, a prophet is someone who speaks for God. They do this either with words or by the way they live, their lives give a lesson. That's what a prophet does.
…
So a prophet is someone who has insight, someone who is in touch with God, someone who can be truly a conscience for the rest of us.
…
At least one person has become very clearly a prophet in this instance, Cindy Sheehan.

I genuinely feel sorry about Ms. Sheehan’s loss, I can only imagine what it would be like to lose a child, and even doing that much is too painful. I also feel sorry for her because I believe that she is being taken advantage of by the leftist political machine (including Bsp. G.). Elizabeth from A Little Flower Garden aptly summed up my thoughts on Ms. Sheehan here.

Other notables from this homily are:

The blaming of the destruction from Hurricane Katrina on man’s creation of ‘global warming’.

Fifteen out of every 1,000 people born in Detroit die. [apparently 985 out of 1000 of us won't die…Woo hoo!]

Accusing the Church (or archdiocese) of abandoning the poor in favor of the rich [which would be a problem if there were any evidence for it…closing nearly vacant schools is hardly abandoning a population].



Please Papa; it's the resignation on pink stationary that smells like Cuban cigars.