Good Friday

Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:32)

And do see this wonderful essay from Elizabeth Scalia - Today, On Good Friday, Here's Why I Remain Catholic

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More On The Catholic Church Sex Scandals & The Celibacy Rule

More on the growing scandal in Germany regarding young boys abused by priests.




As to the allegation in the video that then Cardinal Ratzinger was involved in authoring an effort to impede the investiation of sexual abuse charges a decade ago, that remains to be proven. But the scandal touches Pope Benedict XVI in another way. This from the NYT:

A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged Friday that a German archdiocese made “serious mistakes” in handling an abuse case while the pope served as its archbishop.

The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest’s transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he had no comment beyond the statement by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which he said showed the “nonresponsibility” of the pope in the matter. . . .

In the wake of these recent scandals - and coming on the heels of similar scandals in Ireland and the U.S. - more people in the Church are calling for a reexamination of the celibacy rules for priests - this time from the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Schönborn, and Alois Kothgasser, the Archbishop of Salzburg. This from the NYT Lede:

On Thursday two senior Catholics in Austria, where reports of the sexual abuse of children by priests and nuns have been in the news, suggested that the role of priestly celibacy may need to be discussed as Catholics seek to understand and end scandals that have erupted across Europe and in the United States in recent years.

The Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Schönborn, wrote in an article for a Catholic magazine that it was time for the Church to undertake an “unflinching examination” of what might be at the root of the problem of celibate clerics sexually abusing children.

As The Guardian’s religious affairs correspondent, Riazat Butt, explained on Thursday, Archbishop Schönborn wrote that the discussion should “include the issue of priest training, as well as the question of what happened in the so-called sexual revolution,” as well as “the issue of priest celibacy and the issue of personality development. It requires a great deal of honesty, both on the part of the church and of society as a whole.”

On Thursday night, Archbishop Alois Kothgasser of Salzburg told Austrian television, “In the Church’s current situation, the question must be asked whether celibacy is an appropriate way of life for priests and an appropriate way of life for believers.”

It does not appear, however, that the Pope is willing to entertain such a discussion:

Despite all these calls for a discussion of the issue, Pope Benedict defended “the value of sacred celibacy” in remarks on Friday and said that the ancient rule would not be changed because of “passing cultural fashions.”

True, celibacy in the priesthood is an ancient tradition, but it is not as ancient as Christ himself who in fact had at least one apostle, Peter, who was married and had children. I blogged on this issue several days ago and received some interesting comments from at least one indvidual who strongly disagrees with changes to the celibacy rule or the ordination of women. You can find that post here.

The core values and morals of the Church, based on the Biblical text, must never be compromised. Having said that, the Church is foolish indeed if it is not willing to reexamine dogma not explicitly required by Biblical text when appropriate. I deeply love and respect the Catholic Church and I believe that the West, and Europe in particular, will falter and fall if it does not enjoy a resurgence in the West. Christianity is a central pillar of Western Civilization. To call the death of the Church in Europe anything other than a critical tradgedy, or to refer obliquely to the outrage and scandals of priests abusing young boys within the context of a "passing cultural fashion," is very wrongheaded indeed.

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What Would Jesus Do?

A Catholic school in Colorado is dealing with the question of whether to allow a child to attend whose parents are lesbians. Charles Johnson, lizard that he is, reported on this issue with a variant of the question "What would Jesus do?"

That is a question one hears with fair regularity these days. The questioner is invariably a member of the secular left with next to no knowledge of Christianity or what is written in the Bible. The question is meant to be condescending and incredibly derisive of both Christianity and the 'dumb gun loving, bible toting, homophobic nut' being asked to ponder their Lord. The question is always meant to suggest hypocrisy on the part of Christians.

There was the CNN reporter a few weeks ago who asked "what would Jesus do" when it came to questioning the Christian owner of a car dealership who was offering a free AK-47 with the purchase of a pickup. The reporter obviously knew little to nothing about the Bible. She did not know that one of the last acts of Jesus was to acknowledge that use of force would at times be necessary, commanding of his apostles that "one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one" (Luke 22:36). She did not know the rich history of defending one's self in the Old Testament and that it is honored by Christians. She obviously had never heard of the Catholic Church's Just War Theory.

And today we have this story from Colorado:

A preschooler is caught in the middle of a fight between religion and sexuality. Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School, in Boulder, has refused to readmit a preschooler because the child has two moms. Her parents are lesbians.

. . . The priest addressed the situation in his sermon.

"He feels like it's a calling to be strict with upholding the Catholic principles," said Dave Ensign, president of the Board of Directors of Boulder Pride, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organization.

"People who understand the Catholic teaching will understand why the decision was made," said Fabien Ardila, a member of the parish.

However, not everyone in the parish agreed with the decision.

"I just feel the Catholic Church is a church that should be teaching acceptance and tolerance. I just don't think this is an example of that," Juli Aderman-Hagerty told 7NEWS as she was leaving Mass. "Father Breslin said it right. We're all sinners. Why discriminate against this end of sinners?"

. . . the Archdiocese of Denver did issue this statement:

"To preserve the mission of our schools, and to respect the faith of wider Catholic community, we expect all families who enroll students to live in accord with Catholic teaching. Parents living in open discord with Catholic teaching in areas of faith and morals unfortunately choose by their actions to disqualify their children from enrollment."

. . . Protesters said they'd like to see the decision reversed in this case. At the very least, they're glad their voices are being heard. . . .

The decision whether to enroll this child presents competing, legitimate arguments. That said, no one familiar with Catholicism or Christianity can argue that the Archdiocese has articulated anything other than a reasonable position in line with the moral teachings of the Church. Further, this is not a situation where the child has no other options. There are numerous private and public schools which, one can assume, are available to her. It is not apparent from the article whether the "two mommies" picked the Catholic school for their child out of the best interests of their child, or whether it was a choice made to advance acceptance of their homosexual lifestyle.

All of this is not a difficult question, though, for the secular and newly minted leftie, Charles Johnson. His take on this was:

What can you even say about an appalling story like this? Punishing the innocent doesn’t seem like something Jesus would have approved of.

I will grant that the child herself is innocent. But, as is obvious to anyone looking at this issue without an anti-religious bias, this is not about punishment of a child. The real issue is concern with the Church that they would be seen as condoning an immoral relationship. As the Church response suggests, if the parents forgo their relationship for the benefit of the child, then the child would be allowed entrance.

Certainly Jesus preached hating the sin but loving the sinner. That said, I know of nothing that suggests he would condone ongoing sin. Consider the money-changers in the Temple (Matthew 21:12). He certainly didn't accept their presence. Likewise, consider the parable of prodigal son (Luke 15:11). The father of the wayward son did not embrace him while he was gone. He did not go looking for him. But when the son returned and asked forgiveness, the father embraced him.

At any rate, Mr. Van Der Luen of American Digest made an interesting point the other day in a tongue in cheek post, Frequently Answered Questions.

What would Jesus do?

Why don't you ask Him? He will tell you. The hard part is for you to act on it. . . .

For people like Charles Johnson - they don't ask "Jesus;" rather they look upon people who do as somehow less intelligent, hypocritical yahoos. What they embrace is a deconstruction of Judeo Christian morality - the bedrock of Western Civilization - and a "feel-good" permissiveness in its stead. The left has been warring on Christianity since the socialism was birthed in the crucible of the French Revolution two centuries ago (and indeed, the left's war is far more advanced across the pond, though our left is doing their best to catch up). The attempt to have the Catholic Church in the instant case roll over and condone a lesbian relationship is certainly a part of that war, whether that was the intent of the "two mommies" or not.

The reality is that remaining true to one's morals and ethics is rarely easy and sometimes, as in the instant case, very messy indeed. That is what is at issue in Denver - and while there are many ways to characterize the situation, "appalling" is not among them.

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Interesting Posts From Around The Web - 25 April 2008

The interesting posts of the day, all below the fold

Art: Music, Hans Bauldun Grien, 1529
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Stop the ACLU tries their hand at creating Pelosi-esque biblical quotations.

Transterrestrial Musings ponders the incredible policy disaster of the ethanol program. Interestingly, they note a scientific advance that may provide us with an alternative for using agricultural land and crops for the creation of ethanol. The rush to adopt alternative energy is problematic in that many alternative forms of energy are far less reliable or are, for other reasons, far more problematic than originally thought. In this regard, Deleware Crumudgeon notes that Texas is learning now about all the problems associated with making wind turbines a significant piece of their power generating scheme.

Villagers With Torches discusses the real danger posed by William Ayers to our country. It is in his pushing a radical left "social justice" curriculum into our grade school systems – something which the right should be fighting tooth and nail. As VWT states, "The next time Obama--the candidate who purports to be our next "education president"--discusses education on the campaign trail, it would be nice to hear what he thinks of his Hyde Park neighbor's vision for turning the nation's schools into left-wing indoctrination centers."

At Blonde Sagacity, commentary on possibly the most asinine oped of the political season, a British op-ed claiming that America is simply too racist for a black president. It is sophomoric and delusional anti-Americanism. Right Truth hits the nail on the head. "Race doesn't matter to [conservatives] -- give us a qualified man OR woman of any race, and we will be more than happy to support them with our time, money and votes. It's about the PERSON, not the color of their skin." As Discriminations notes, someone needs to pass the message to Joe Klein.

Barking Moonbats uses a Time magazine prop to show the application of math to modern politics, demonstrating that two halves make "a hole." Heh. This type of lesson is important because, as pointed out by No Oil for Pacifists, our liberal media has a real problem with basic math.

KG at Crusader Rabbit is distinctly unimpressed by the nonsensical musings of a Harvard Professor whose specialty is "’post-colonial studies,’ i.e., a reader-proof species of anti-Western multicultural claptrap." This is the second Harvard Prof I have been exposed to in the past month - Orlando Patterson being the other - whose intellectual prowess is, to put it tactfully, lacking.

April 25 is Anzac Day, when our cousins to the West honor their fallen soldiers. John Ray posts an explanation at a Western Heart. MK posts a poem for the occasion written by a 12 year old boy that is exceptional.

France is not so much policing its Muslim population as it is using military raids to enforce some order.

At Ankle Biting Pundits, a telling juxtaposition of two vastly different reports on the same McCain visit. There’s the upbeat local news, then there is the agenda journalism coming out of the MSM spin cycle.

At Jammie Wearing Fools, Supreme Court Justice Scalia has a message for the morons (with video) – its time to get over the Florida recount.

There is a disconnect between reality and the MSM Iraq narrative. It is tough to reconcile MSM reports with the reality of Iraqi refugees returning in droves.

Seraphic Secret has a series of exceptional posts on the Muslim uprising in Algeria over half a century ago.

Gay Patriot has an interesting post on Dutch gays and the limits of tolerance.

On the cultural corner, Pen and Spindle ponders the development of the romance novel and famous authors of the genre who are still relevant. And also blogging on themes of history and literature is Dave in Boca with an exceptional post.

ABC did very shoddy journalism if not outright fabrication in their recent story claiming that guns available in America were fueling the drug wars in Mexico. Confederate Yankee has the story.

A point worth emphasizing at the Common Room, that civil liberties are for all. It is, at times, hard to keep that elementary point in perspective.

The Midnight Sun ponders the case of Brigitte Bardot and the unfortunate overlap of racism and anti-jihadism in parties labled right-wing. She rightly notes a looming the danger to the anti-jihad movement if they do not seperate themselves from the racists.

Reality is usually spun a full 180 degrees when it comes to the UN and anything to do with Israel. Meryl Yourish has an excellent post on the topic. But, as Rightwing Conspiracy notes, the people at the UN are all on the invite list for former President Carter.

Since the partisan dems cannot force a legislated surrender in Iraq with the next bill to fund the Iraq war, they are changing tack and larding the bill with pork and vastly expanded Democratic pet projects. These people truly are despicable.

From Consul at Arms, reports that the State Dept. is about to issue guidance requiring employees to stop using the term jihad are, as of yet, unsubstantiated.

From the Jawa Report, the problems in Pakistan continue to grow as the government tries yet again to gain peace with the terrorists in their midst by granting concessions. In the words of Churchill, this is feeding the alligator in the hopes that it will eat you last.

Root causes of social ills and common sense prescriptions at Liberty Corner.

BDS and 9-11 have been very bad for Hollywood’s bottom line.

Did you ever wonder how to spot a Persian prostitute?

The Shield of Achilles sees clear of evidence of Britain voluntarily submerging its anglo-saxon identity in response to Islamists. Britian is being led by the socialists into oblivion.

Finally, an answer to that burning question, "what’s the deal with all those medieval midgets?"

"C’mon baby. Moo like a cow." (shiver).

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Interesting News From Around the Web - Chrismas Eve Edition

From across the pond, see this wonderful post on George Washington, the founding of our nation, and Christmas.

Saudi money is purchasing influence at Fox News. This is very bad news indeed.

And if they can’t buy the coverage they want, the Saudis are using libel tourism to silence free speech here in America. See this sad update to Rachel Ehrenfeld’s lawsuit to protect her free speech against Saudi assault.

President Sarkozy is about to take on France’s socialist labour laws. One can already hear loud pig-like squeals emanating from Paris - literally.

Robert Novak documents "accusations [that the CIA is a] rogue agency," consciously acting to undermine the President.

"I will not accept if nominated, and I will not serve if elected." General W. T. Sherman, 1864; General David Petraeus, 2007 (The Weekly Standard’s Man of the Year).

The odious Paul Krugman and his revisionist history of a racist Democratic Party.

More criticism of the recently passed energy bill. It certainly seems to have its problems.

Defining "jihad" and assessing its importance. A scholarly article by Menahem Milson, the Chairman of MEMRI.

See this post on one of the countless effects of centralizing power and control in the EU, this time in local bus service. It almost seems like a load of manure – oops, that’s a separate problem, courtesy of the EU concern with nitrate leaching. Do see the comments section from Chris Booker on that post. "Bah, humbug" would seem the only appropriate response to this raft of insane overregulation.

Omar Bakri sends his warm "radical Muslim" Christmas message across the pond. He probably need not be concerned. Aheminejad has stated that he intends to establish a global caliphate and that he expects Europe will become a Muslim continent within 12 years. Hey, let’s hold unilateral talks with these guys. I am sure there is something we can give them to fully placate them . . . Let me just get out my Neville Chamberlin "Peace In Our Time" State Department handbook. While we talk, perhaps Iran can start killing women without veils (not suitable for work).

A Clash of Civilization’s books at the Economist. Marketing and distributing the Bible and the Koran.

And finally, the real health benefits of dark chocolate. I solve the bitterness problem by stirring a big teaspoon full of unsweetened dark chocolate into coffee. Its wonderful. And on that note . . . . a Merry Christmas to all.

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