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Commentary and links to news of the wonderful, weird, interesting and cutting edge through the lens of our Catholic faith. Updated daily by Our Sunday Visitor staff. Email us with question or comments or link suggestions: feedback@osv.com.
Drawing young people to vocations The Telegraph
Facing a dramatic decline in the number of vocations, the Catholic Church in England and Wales is using the Japanese manga comic book art form to attract teenagers to the priesthood. Manga refers to a distinctive style of comic artwork from Japan featuring characters with large eyes, a small mouth and an "unreal" hair color. About 5,000 schools have been sent posters promoting a website that features a manga comic strip based on five young Catholic characters. The Church hopes that its comic, which shows nuns and monks playing pool and surfing the Internet, will show religious life as fulfilling.
Delivering us from 'evil'? The New Republic (registration site) After the Virginia Tech massacre, news media insisted on referring to the murders as a "shooting" and to Seung-Hui Cho as "the shooter," rather than murderer. A commentary in The New Republic points out that calling someone a "shooter" is to say he was holding a firearm that discharged, but to imply nothing about any moral choice involved or the fact that it's bad to aim a pistol at a helpless person and pull the trigger. According to the commentator, the use of the "shooter" reveals the Western press's rejection of the concept of evil and the fact that human wickedness causes terrible events.
Mexican Church fights law The Washington Post A week after Mexico City legalized abortion in the first trimester, the Mexican Church is urging doctors not to perform abortions. City officials have said doctors at city-run hospitals cannot refuse to perform them based on personal moral objections. A letter read Sunday by Cardinal Norberto Rivera said they could, The Associated Press reports. "We call on all of those of good conscience not to be responsible for the abominable act," the letter stated. "We remind the doctors, nurses, health care workers and all those affected by this unjust law, that they can invoke their human right to conscientious objection."
Jewish groups and the Tridentine Mass
BBC News
News of Pope Benedict XVI's rumored proclamation widening the use of the Tridentine Mass has some Jewish and Christian groups concerned, BBC News reports. Those concerns focus largely on the liturgy for Good Friday, which contains a section praying for the conversion of Jews. Many in the Church see the broadening of the use of the Tridentine rite as a move aimed at ending a liturgical dispute between the Vatican and followers of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who bucked at the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In the more than 40 years since Vatican II, the Church has put much effort into ecumenical dialogue with non-Christian religions, including Judaism. In fact, during a January general audience address, Pope Benedict XVI said, "Friendship between Jews and Christians, in order to grow and be fruitful, must be founded on prayer. I ask everyone to pray insistently so that Jews and Christians may respect each other, appreciate each other and work together for justice and peace in the world.
Catholics on the high court
The New York Times
In the wake of the Supreme Court?s 5-4 decision to uphold the ban on partial-birth abortion, the inevitable debate over the justices who formed the majority is well under way. They are all Catholic. The New York Times reports that pundits on blogs and television are raising questions about how their religion influenced their ruling. The story notes that some legal scholars believe the justices? Catholicism means less than their conservatism and that the role of Catholics in public life is anything but monolithic.
No fan of Sheryl Crow
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke used an upcoming performance by rock singer Sheryl Crow as a teaching moment on the Church?s opposition to embryonic stem-cell research. The archbishop was so disturbed by Crow?s appearance at a fund-raising event for the cancer center at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, a Catholic institution, that he resigned from the hospital foundation?s board. Crow, known for hit songs such as ?My Favorite Mistake? and ?Soak Up ...
"Hail, Persephone ..." The Chicago Tribune (registration site)
Pagans and Neo-pagans have appropriated Catholic rosary beads for worshipping Celtic, Norse, Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. Some pagans are former Catholics who have retooled the Catholic rosary of their youth, while others are discovering the beads for the first time, a story in The Chicago Tribune reports. Many are adapting rosaries or creating their own, with charms of goddesses, pentagrams and bones instead of crucifixes and medals of the Virgin Mary. One Catholic scholar makes clear the distinction between the appropriate use of Catholic rosary beads for devotion to the Blessed Virgin and "prayers" used in pagan ritual. "The neo-pagan 'rosary' has no connection whatever to the Catholic devotion ... other than the use of beads and repetition," said Msgr. Robert J. Wister, an associate professor of church history at Immaculate Conception School of Theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
Latinos and the U.S. Church Pew Hispanic Center A new study by the Pew Center for Hispanics and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life sheds light on religious practices among Latinos in the United States and how they could transform the Catholic Church. One-third of all U.S. Catholics are Latinos, with more than half of Hispanic Catholics identifying themselves as charismatic. Unlike most non-Hispanic Catholics, many Latinos have witnessed or experienced occurrences typical of spirit-filled or renewalist movements, including divine healing and direct revelations from God. In fact, the desire for a more direct, personal experience of God emerges as a large factor in Latinos leaving Catholicism for evangelical churches. The study should help Catholics understand this rapidly growing demographic within the U.S. Church.
TV still too violent The Los Angeles Times (registration site) Hollywood's efforts to shield children from violent programming have fallen short, a new Federal Communications Commission report concluded. The report stated that lawmakers have the authority to give the FCC the power to restrict when broadcasters can air gore and mayhem. The FCC also determined that Congress can require cable and satellite providers to allow viewers to purchase only th ...
A cure for thinness obsession Christian Science Monitor A recent survey about girls' obsession with thinness leaves one author wondering if the destructive trend occurs because of a lack of faith. "We were raised largely without a fundamental sense of divinity," Courtney Martin writes. "In fact, our worth in the world has always been tied to our looks, grades, and gifts -- not the amazing miracle of mere existence." A movement should be afoot to cherish a person's spirit and sacredness as a human being instead of their size.
Who are Mormons? Religion and Ethics Newsweekly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the fourth largest religion in the United States today, and one of the most misunderstood, according to PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. With the church in the limelight because of the presidential candidacy of Mormon Mitt Romney, church leaders answer questions about what they believe and respond to critics? claims, such as those who say there is little historical documentation for their teachings.
Kids behave with religion Fox News Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development, according to a new study by a Mississippi State University sociologist. The conflict that arises when parents regularly argue over their faith at home, however, has the opposite effect. Religion is beneficial to children for several reasons, not the least that it promotes values that are pro-family and self-sacrificial, the sociologist says.
No painless executions Los Angeles Times (registration site) Two of the three drugs used in lethal injection are not administered in a way that reliably produces painless death for inmates, leaving at least some to die of suffocation and be conscious enough to realize it, according to a new analysis of executions in California and North Carolina. This analysis may make states throughout the country rethink the death penalty. The Catholic Church has long opposed the death penalty “but it does not exclude the death penalty ‘when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor,’ ” the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church tells us.
Learning from Virginia Tech Godspy.com Respected author and speaker Johann Christoph Arnold offers a reflection on the importance of peace and prayer in the aftermath of last week’s Virginia Tech shootings. “We may have trouble believing it, but God was there when the killer stalked the campus. He was there as each life was snuffed out, and he received each one of them,” Arnold wrote.
‘Reciprocal respect’ Washington Times In time for a brief visit to Milan by Pope Benedict XVI, the local Muslim community gave a letter to him through the city's bishop telling him they were committed to "a common path of understanding and reciprocal respect." However, that previous Friday a Moroccan man who had married a local Italian woman and converted to Christianity was beaten by Muslims and needed hospital treatment, according to Italian news reports.
More Latin American countries legalizing abortion Christian Science Monitor Despite repeated public protests from Church leaders and pro-life advocates, more countries are legalizing abortion and relaxing laws on issues such as same-sex marriage. Mexico City is expected to legalize abortion for any reason on Tuesday, and a similar bill has been introduced in the national government. The move is seen as a decline in the influence of the Church in the world’s second-largest Catholic country.
Baffled by Cardinal Egan New York Times (registration site) In the dusk of his half-century-long career, New York Cardinal Edward Egan has shuttered half-empty churches, faced down disgruntled parishioners and retired an unsightly $20 million deficit, all in the name of putting the Archdiocese of New York on sturdy fiscal legs. At 75, the cardinal has submitted his resignation to the Vatican in accordance with Church law.
No more menstrual cycle, but is that a good thing? San Jose Mercury News For many women, a birth-control pill that eliminates monthly menstruation might seem a welcome milestone. But many view their periods as fundamental symbols of fertility and health, researchers have found. Rather than loathing their periods, women evidently carry on complex love-hate relationships with them. The Church stands against the premarital sex and, subsequently, the use of contraception and, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, it is an offense against the Sixth Commandment, “You shall not commit adultery” (No. 2331-2400).
Pope’s book a bestseller already Briebart.com The Pope's new book, “Jesus of Nazareth,” is a runaway success in Italy, with 50,000 copies sold the first day and a second edition already planned. An English version should appear soon. Some see the volume as a response to the misguided historical claims about Christ made in The Da Vinci Code and similar books.
No justice for the baby LifeNews.com Ryan Ross, of Spring Valley, N.Y., was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison for killing his girlfriend after she refused to have an abortion. The baby also died. Under New York law, Ross was not held accountable for the death of his unborn child because New York has a conflicting unborn victims law.
Unobjective reporting Crisis Magazine A look at the state of media bias from Emmy Award–winning journalist Shelia Gribben Liaugminas, who reported for Time magazine for more than 20 years.
Pro-lifers moving on Court ruling Los Angeles Times (registration site) Elated and emboldened, pro-life activists in state after state are planning to push for stringent new limits on second- and third-trimester abortions in the hope of building on their victory Wednesday in the Supreme Court. Advocates on both sides of the abortion debate predicted that the ruling would spur a flood of legislation.
Don’t worry, be happy Chicago Tribune (registration site) Clergy ranked tops in both job satisfaction and general happiness, according to the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Physical therapists and firefighters were second- and third-ranked in job satisfaction, with more than three-quarters reporting being "very satisfied." "The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits," said Tom W. Smith, director of NORC's General Social Survey, a poll supported by the National Science Foundation.
Stars line up to record Bible Los Angeles Times (registration site) Jim Caviezel, who starred in "The Passion of the Christ," will again play Jesus in a new audio version of the Bible that includes other Hollywood performers. With the first series coming out this fall, "The Word of Promise," a lavishly produced, word-for-word dramatic reading of the Bible, will fill 70 CDs when it's completed.
Shutting down foster program Chicago Tribune (registration site) Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago will close their foster program, responsible for more than 900 children in Cook and Lake Counties, on June 30 after a $12 million lawsuit payout related to abuse by a foster parent prompted the agency's insurer to drop its coverage. The foster care program, which is one of the oldest and largest such programs in the state, is shutting down after 90 years, a move that is sending shock waves through the child welfare system. Experts say that losing an agency like Catholic Charities, which has a long history of finding foster homes for children around the nation and monitoring their progress, is an ominous sign of the future of relationships between insurance companies and non-profits.
No fear of death BBC Zimbabwean Archbishop Pius Ncube says he accepts that his opposition to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe may cost him his life. The archbishop called for mass street protests in March and said people must be prepared to stand in front of "blazing guns" to force President Mugabe from power. The country is experiencing the world’s highest rate of inflation, 1,700 percent, and little is being done by the government to help its people.
Pope John Paul II not perfect, but a saint Beliefnet.com Those who say Pope John Paul II shouldn’t be made a saint because he was against such causes as the ordination of women and those who say he was flawless so should be made a saint are both wrong, say Jesuit Father James Martin. “Even though I disagreed with some of Pope John Paul's positions ... for me the late pope was clearly a saint. Not simply because of his well-catalogued achievements, but also because of his astonishing personal faith, nurtured in the pious atmosphere of early 20th-century Polish Catholicism, forged in the terrors of mid-century Nazi and Communist rgimes and, finally, allowed to blossom, like a tall tree, for the good of the late-century world,” the priest writes.
Church offers support to Virginia Tech students Catholic News Service The April 16 shooting spree at Virginia Tech that left at least 32 people dead is "tremendously sad," said Bishop Francis DiLorenzo of Richmond. In a phone interview just hours after the shootings, Teresa Volante, Catholic campus minister at Virginia Tech, said she had sent out an electronic notice that the Newman Center chapel was open for anyone who wanted to stop in and pray.
Muslims face penalties Washington Post (registration site) Muslim cab drivers at Minnesota's biggest airport will face new penalties including a two-year revocation of their taxi permits if they refuse to give rides to travelers carrying liquor or accompanied by dogs, the board overseeing operations ruled Monday. A large number of taxi drivers in the area of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are Muslim Somali immigrants. Many say they feel the faith's ban on alcohol consumption includes transporting anyone carrying it.
U.S. Christians try to help Christian Science Monitor A German family is fighting to regain custody of their child after authorities took her away from the family for being home-schooled. The country outlaws home-schooling and is holding the girl in a psychiatric ward. American Christians are reaching out to help the family. It marks a trend of more evangelicals seeking to influence European law.