Christian anthropology versus the Sexual Revolution

PETER KREEFT

How does Christ revolutionize the Sexual Revolution? Not by turning back the clock, not by a new Victorianism, not by opposing religion to sex, but by showing their real and profound connection.

To see that the Sexual Revolution has been radical in thought as well as behavior, just look at the revolution in language. When people use the word "morality" today they almost always mean sexual morality. That's a remarkable new development, an astonishing narrowing; it's as if we started to use the word "state" to mean only Russia, or the word "technology" to mean only "computers". The reason for the new development is obvious from my two comparisons: sex, Russia, and computers are where there have been the most radical revolutions.

No one speaks of a revolution in any other area of morality. No one speaks of the Property Revolution or the Bearing False Witness Revolution. In fact the rest of the natural moral law is pretty much still in place. Almost no one defends terrorism, sadism, cannibalism, insider trading, nuclear war, environmental pollution, rape, hypocrisy, torture, or murder. We are still "judgmental" about those things. But if it has anything to do with sex we dare no longer be "judgmental".

Continue reading Christian anthropology versus the Sexual Revolution

Courtyard of the Gentiles to promote dialogue between believers and nonbelievers

From RomeReports.com

Top 10 Vatican news stories from 2010

From RomeReports.com

Catholicism Series - Trailer

From Fr Robert Barron and his Word on Fire website.

Al Kresta interviews Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin



Al Kresta

 One of my favourite Catholic commentators, Al Kresta, interviews one of my favourite Catholic Apologists, Jimmy Akin, about the Early Church Fathers on Ave Maria Radio.

Archbishop Dolan’s Critics Freak Out

November 17, 2010, Catholic League (USA)

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the way some of the critics of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan are reacting to his election yesterday as the new head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

NPR is worried that Archbishop Dolan is "overtly conservative," and Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times is fretting about his "confrontational approach." Dissident Catholics are upset as well: New Ways Ministry says the vote "sends an ominous message"; Call to Action also sees his election as "ominous"; Sr. Maureen Fiedler says "we now have our very own Catholic version of the 'Tea Party' movement"; DignityUSA concludes that Dolan's election means the hierarchy is "out of step" with Catholics. Similarly, the Human Rights Campaign, a gay secular group, says the vote means the hierarchy is "out of step." Not to be outdone, the website of the Tucson Citizen accused Dolan of evincing an "arrogant" attitude in winning (it is true that he was caught smiling).

SNAP, the professional victims' group, opines that Dolan's "winning personality obscures his terrible track record on abuse." Marian Ronan of Religion Dispatches says his election is "not a good sign," and her colleague, Sarah Posner, concludes—and this really is ominous—that "the bishops are targeting families with loved ones who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender." The Internet site Lez Get Real calls Dolan "the Vatican's spin-doctor," and the website of Time has a headline which reads, "More Bad News for Obama 2012: Catholics Elect Dolan." Edgeboston.com picked up the AP piece, but chose to give it a new headline: "Catholic Bishops' Vote to Mean Harder Church Stance Against Gay Families." And atheist Susan Jacoby is sweating over the fact that Dolan will be treated by the media "as if he is the voice of all American Catholics." She needs to get used to it.

Now it is tempting to conclude that some in the asylum have escaped. More likely, it means these are not good times for those who have sought—in many cases their entire adult life—to turn the Catholic Church, and America more generally, upside down and inside out. They gave it their best shot, but they lost. Maybe it's time they retired.

Catholic League: For Religious and Civil Rights

The New Missal Translation

What's in your Bible.

Sacred, Beautiful & Universal

From Corpus Christi Watershed
(56min 19sec)

SACRED, BEAUTIFUL, & UNIVERSAL: Colloquium XIX from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Six Stages of a Catholic Converts Life (post conversion)

Tridentine Mass, Novus Ordo Mass

Whilst I'm not a big fan of the Tridentine Mass and some of the problems with the Novus Ordo may be overstated, you have to wonder why the opposition to the tradition Tridentine Mass is so strong. I think Michael Voris is also right in saying the meal aspect of the Mass should be secondary to the sacrificial aspect of the Mass as seems to be indicated in the Cathechism.

Another stunning clear insight from the Pope

 By Phil Lawler | September 16, 2010 – CatholicCulture.org

Pope Benedict has a disconcerting way of hitting nails directly on the head. It's disconcerting, I say, because I struggle and strain to make a point, never satisfying myself that I've made it clearly, and then along comes the Holy Father, and he pounds home the same point in a simple, clear, remark.

For example, in writing The Faithful Departed I tried to explain that when Church leaders seek after public affirmation, they lose focus on the faith, and eventually lose public affirmation as well. To be honest, I've always had trouble summarizing that argument quickly; I have trouble boiling down the message of the book into a single paragraph.

Then today, as he met with the journalists who are accompanying him on his trip to Great Britain, the Pope made the point deftly, clearly-- and quite unexpectedly, I think-- in response to one journalist's question. The question was how the Church could be more attractive to the public. Notice how the Pope, in the very first phrase of his reply (which I emphasize below), steers the conversation off its predictable course to make a more important point:

“I would say that a Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path, because the Church does not work for her own ends, she does not work to increase numbers and thus power. The Church is at the service of another: she serves, not for herself, not to be a strong body, rather she serves to make the proclamation of Jesus Christ accessible, the great truths and great forces of love, reconciling love that appeared in this figure and that always comes from the presence of Jesus Christ.”

I spent many months, and 264 pages, trying to get at that point. Pope Benedict nailed it down in one stroke with an extemporaneous comment. Disconcerting. But beautiful!

From Catholic Culture : On The News : another stunning clear insight from the Pope

The Journey Home - Scott and Kimberly Hahn

The Journey Home program on EWTN is one of the networks best. In this episode Marcus Grodi interviews Scott and Kimberly Hahn about their conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism. The Hahn's converstion story retold in their book "Rome Sweet Home" is one of the all time favourite conversion stories.

STATISTICS FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GREAT BRITAIN

From the Vatican Information Service (VIS) – September 2010

For the occasion of Benedict XVI's forthcoming apostolic trip to the United Kingdom, due to take place from 16 to 19 September and during which he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, statistics concerning the Catholic Church in that country have been published. The information, updated to 31 December 2009, comes from the Central Statistical Office of the Church.

Great Britain has a surface area of 230,762 square kilometres and a population of 59,381,000 of whom 5,264,000 (8.87 percent) are Catholic. There are 32 ecclesiastical circumscriptions and 2,977 parishes. Currently there are 59 bishops, 5,225 priests, 6,497 religious, 160 lay members of secular institutes and 34,669 catechists. Minor seminarians number 2, and major seminarians 245.
Continue reading at VIS News

Married priests from the first centuries practiced celibacy

From RomeReports.com

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI) Foreword to U.M. Lang's "Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer"

Ignatius Insight

To the ordinary churchgoer, the two most obvious effects of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council seem to be the disappearance of Latin and the turning of the altars towards the people. Those who read the relevant texts will be astonished to learn that neither is in fact found in the decrees of the Council. The use of the vernacular is certainly permitted, especially for the Liturgy of the Word, but the preceding general rule of the Council text says, 'Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites' (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36.1).

Continue reading Cardinal Ratzinger’s Foreword to U.M. Lang's Book "Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer" at Ignatius Insight

St Mary’s South Brisbane

St Mary's South Brisbane

It’s been more than a year since the departure of Peter Kennedy and his followers from St Mary’s Catholic Church South Brisbane. The following article discusses the issue that ultimately brought the dispute to a head.

BY WHOSE AUTHORITY?...A BISHOP HAS ULTIMATE AUTHORITY IN A DIOCESE

The following article was written by Rev Dr David Pascoe, Associate Professor of St Paul's Theological College at the ACU National Brisbane Campus:

The Second Vatican Council is one authority that has not been questioned in the sad division within the Catholic Church around the standoff between the parish priest of St Mary’s, South Brisbane, and Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane.

On the one hand, Fr Peter Kennedy publically appeals to Vatican II for how St Mary’s is an expression of the council’s teaching.

On the other hand, Archbishop Bathersby grounds his assessment that St Mary’s is not in communion with the Catholic Church on the council’s theology of communion.

For some, of course, the above opposition might be all too easily resolved. My side is in the right; the other is in the wrong! But going beyond this all too simplistic view one way toward some resolution is to go back to the sources and ask the question: what does Vatican II teach on the legitimate authority for the ongoing formation of the Church?
Continue reading at Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane: Media Releases

An Interview with Archbishop Basil Georges Casmoussa, Archbishop of Mosul for the Syrian Catholic Church in Iraq.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) News - Interview on 19/7/2010.

Since the first century Christians have been present in Iraq and have contributed actively to the cultural development of the Arab world. Today Christians make up only 3% of the Iraqi population. Rev. Basil Georges Casmoussa is the Archbishop of Mosul for the Syrian Catholic Church. In 2005 he was abducted at gunpoint only to be released 24 hours later unharmed.

Continue reading - An Interview with the Archbishop Basil Georges Casmoussa

Book Review: The Borgias and Their enemies

Father Steve at Word on Fire reviews Christopher Hibbert's The Borgias and Their Enemies, taking a closer look into the lives of the notorious family of Pope Alexander VI.

The scandalous pontificate of Alexander VI represents a nadir of the papacy. Many might prefer that this notorious pope and his family disappear from historical reckoning, but the memory of the Borgias continues to be remarkably persistent.  Showtime will release a dramatic interpretation of Alexander VI and his intrigues in 2011, testimony to the enduring cultural fascination for Borgias. News of this upcoming series might stir some consternation among the Catholic faithful. Alexander VI has been used for centuries as a source for the opposition to the claims of the Church in regards to the papacy. He has become a symbol of the potential abuses of power, particularly within the Church.

Continue reading at Fr. Robert Barron's Word On Fire Blog - Books: Borgias Behaving Badly

Vatican communications official visits EWTN and Mother Angelica :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Irondale, Ala., Jun 11, 2010 / 08:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications visited EWTN’s headquarters in Irondale, Alabama on June 1. He visited the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, where he met with EWTN foundress Mother Angelica and gave her a rosary from the Pope.
Michael P. Warsaw, president and chief executive officer of the EWTN Global Catholic Network, told CNA that Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli’s visit was “certainly a great honor” and a “tremendous boost” to the broadcaster’s efforts.
He reported that the archbishop visited Mother Angelica and presented her with a rosary “as a personal gift from the Holy Father.”

Continue reading at Catholic News Agency (CNA)

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