Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Catholic

Ontario's Education Minister goes one step too far

Ontario's embattled Minister of Education, Laurel Broten Laurel Broten, the Education Minister of Ontario,  — a professing Catholic who sends her children to Catholic schools — declared October 10th that the province’s publicly funded Catholic schools may not teach students that abortion is wrong because such teaching amounts to “misogyny,” which is prohibited in schools under a controversial anti-bullying law. “Taking away a woman’s right to choose could arguably be considered one of the most misogynistic actions that one could take,”  Broten said during a press conference. “Bill 13,” (The Accepting Schools Act) she asserted, “is about tackling misogyny.” Passed in June, Bill 13 was formulated in response to a series of teen suicides by students who were victims of bullying from their peers. It requires schools to provide “a positive school climate that is inclusive and accepting, regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, se...

Proof that the Robinson Family of “Lost in Space” Were Catholics | Why I Am Catholic

Maybe this is why I've grown up a Catholic priest. 'Lost in Space' was an absolute 'must see' when I was a kid. Cool parents, big brother robot to protect you, SPACE SHIP... it was every kid's fantasy to travel with the 'Robinsons'. If they were 'subliminal Catholic agents', they were following in the great tradition of J.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis et al. who used the media of their day (print) to teach the Christian message through metaphor and story. Their books fired my imagination as a youth. So such mass exposure to all these 'Catholic' forces, it's a wonder everyone in the western world isn't a believing Christian! Proof that the Robinson Family of “Lost in Space” Were Catholics | Why I Am Catholic

Single-Sex Dorms Spark Legal Controversy in D.C. - Law Blog - WSJ

The Catholic University of America wants to re-instate single sex residences. While I question how effective this would be in reducing people having sex, it is fascinating to see people threatening to sue over the issue. Precisely what part of 'Catholic' are they having trouble understanding? Single-Sex Dorms Spark Legal Controversy in D.C. - Law Blog - WSJ

Memorial Day: A Catholic Understanding of Freedom and its Cost - U.s. - Catholic Online

In tribute to my American friends who today honor those who serve in the Military, I offer this article from Catholic Online. Memorial Day: A Catholic Understanding of Freedom and its Cost - U.s. - Catholic Online

RealClearPolitics - Boehner's Catholic Lessons

WASHINGTON -- Sometimes we learn more from the dogs that don't bark and the wheels that don't squeak. It's likely you didn't hear much about the controversy over House Speaker John Boehner's recent commencement speech at Catholic University. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is that Boehner's critics were civil and respectful. The media, it turns out, don't cover you much if you are civil and respectful. This would be the same media that regularly disparages incivility and divisiveness in politics. Click on link below to read the entire column from E.J. Dionne. It's well worth the read. RealClearPolitics - Boehner's Catholic Lessons

The 'Hard Road' of Catholics

Beautiful inside & out! Dianne Wood, a friend of this blog and a frequent letter writer within the virtual and real pages of the National Post remarked the other day that Catholics are called to walk a 'hard road' in these times. She offered this in defense of an argument that such a journey can be successfully accomplished with faith, discipline and the grace of God. As always, she is so RIGHT ON! I wanted to let her know of my appreciation for her witness that I posted the comment below in the relevant thread on the Holy Post . I post it again here to ensure that she (and others who do the same) might find it to be of encouragement in this difficult times for those who argue in defense of the Catholic faith and Church. --------------------------- Dianne: You are so right! It is a road made hard by the sinfulness of clergy who both enabled and committed these heinous crimes. Yet we continue to believe in the truth the Church contains, soiled but not stained ...

National Post: Are there two "Catholic Churches"?

Philip Mathias of The National Post blog writes today that there are two Catholic Churches; essentially the church of believers and the hierarchical structure of the Church. The allure of this duplicitous argument is that it opens the possibility in the minds of believers that they can attack one while remaining faithful to the other. Alas he undermines his own argument by proceeding to venture into the realm of defined teaching of the Church (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, infallibility of the Holy Father in matters of faith and morals) and denouncing them as simple constructs of the hierarchy of the church. In doing so, he breaches his own arbitrary division of the church into two forms by questioning what the church actually believes and equating it with the malfeasance of Bishops who improperly dealt with the spate of sex abuse scandals that have been exposed in the past 20+ years. Whereas it is possible to offer criticism of the hierarchy and remain united with the Church ...

The effects linger for years, and years....

I have spent the better part of an hour on the phone today talking with a woman whose family had been devastated by the scourge of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest. She had discovered my blog and took the steps to find and contact me to share her story, her fears and even a few successes in the wake of the injury her family experienced. Even though the priest has been uncovered as an offender, was sentenced and completed his prison term; even though he is forbidden from ever working as a priest again - all necessary issues to pursue justice, she states that the effects upon her siblings and parents continues to metastasize in horrific ways even now, years after the event. Her parents marriage collapsed under the weight of guilt and recriminations at having not only bringing this "priest" into their lives as a "family friend", but also for the fact that they were unable to see the predator that lurked behind the friendly face and laughter that marked his vis...

Randy Cohen (New York Times) comments on media coverage of religion

Check out this link for an interesting column of the obligations (and problems) involved in media coverage of the media. While certainly not written in a fashion that is complementary to the Catholic Church, as well as his holding of liberal/left wing positions, he does raise some interesting points. http://ethicist.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/can-we-talk-about-religion-please/

Fr. Raymond de Souza (National Post Columnist) addresses current scandal in Canadian Church

Check out this article published in the National Post by Fr. Raymond de Souza (Kingston). He provides a balanced and nuanced perspective on the Bishop Lahey scandal. A link to his column archive at the National Post is included in my "favorite links" section of this blog. The article that this link will bring you to was published on 8/10/09. http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=41d8fc0f-6db1-4fb0-ba8b-d425d6d650d4

The Dickwad Theory

Written by: Rev. Tim Moyle, p.p. 2009-10-21 NET WORTH: Contribution of the Internet to public discourse and debate. John Gabriel, an internet games theorist/programmer, in 2005 developed and published what has come to known as the “Dickwad Theory of the Internet. Understanding this phenomena is as simple as 1 + 2 = 3. Although it has become popularly expressed graphically as a tee shirt design it can be expressed as follows: One person + anonymity + audience = one “dickwad” opinion The popularization of this theory is often used to discount comments that are posted in the of comments sections that accompany most online news websites. The virulence and brutish tone of such postings has resulted in most authors, analysts and commentators on current events closing their minds, or at least developing a “tin ear” regarding these virtual expressions of opinion. Fr. Raymond de Souza , a columnist who writes in the “National Post” expressed this well when he recently wrote about commen...