Pope in Lebanon: "Reason must overcome passion"

From NY Times

Pope Benedict arrived in Lebanon today. In his arrival speech he said:

"The successful way the Lebanese all live together surely demonstrates to the whole Middle East and to the rest of the world that, within a nation, there can exist cooperation between the various Churches, all members of the one Catholic Church in a fraternal spirit of communion with other Christians, and at the same time coexistence and respectful dialogue between Christians and their brethren of other religions. Like me, you know that this equilibrium, which is presented everywhere as an example, is extremely delicate. Sometimes it seems about to snap like a bow which is overstretched or submitted to pressures which are too often partisan, even selfish, contrary and extraneous to Lebanese harmony and gentleness. This is where real moderation and great wisdom are tested. And reason must overcome one-sided passion in order to promote the greater good of all". (News.va)

With all that his happening around the Moslem world right now, this call to reason needs to be heard. These attacks on American and other western embassies and institutions are irrational.

From BBC

Christianity, as the Pope demonstrates, is a religion that has faith in reason. I'm honestly not sure how Moslems view reason. Extremists of any persuasion, of course, abandon reason and become "fundamentalists", another "ism" the Pope said must be abandoned.

"Religious fundamentalism seeks to take power for political ends, at times using violence, over the individual conscience and over religion," the Pope said.

"All religious leaders in the Middle East [should] endeavour, by their example and their teaching, to do everything possible to uproot this threat, which indiscriminately and fatally affects believers." (BBC News)

"I have come to Lebanon as a pilgrim of peace, as a friend of God and as a friend of men. ... Looking beyond your country, I also come symbolically to all the countries of the Middle East as a pilgrim of peace, as a friend of God and as a friend of all the inhabitants of all the countries of the region, whatever their origins and beliefs..." (News.va)

Bishops call Catholics' Attention to threat to Religious Liberty

Bishop Sample praying outside Marquette's Planned Parenthood facility March 25th 2011 (From 40 Days for Life Marquette Lent 2011)

[UPDATED January 26th 4:15pm to reflect the fact that Bishop Sample's letter is based on a model letter sent out by the USCCB.]

The Most Reverend Alexander K Sample, Bishop of Marquette, has published a letter to be read at all Masses this coming weekend. It follows the lines of a model letter suggested by the USCCB (United States Conferene of Catholic Bishops) that all the bishops have been asked to send to their priests and comes in the wake of the Obama Administration's decision to force all employers, including Catholic employers, to offer health coverage that includes sterlization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception thereby denying Catholics and the Catholic Church the freedom to practise and live according to their religious beliefs.
Letter from Bishop Sample on Religious Liberty The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has a web page dedicated to the issue of the protection of conscience in the light of the US Department of Health and Human Services announcement. Visit it to see how you can contact Congress to protest this directive. (As a non-US citizen I don't believe I can do this myself.)

Cardinal Di Nardo also preached powerfully about this attack on religious liberty in his homily at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception during the Mass in the evening before the Washington DC March for Life.

I'm not ashamed to publish this email regarding Tesco and Gay Pride

But I'm not going to watch the videos. Even if children are being exposed to this sort of evil (and I know they are) I don't want to watch it myself - I saw a bit of one from another website and found it offensive and disturbing - spiritually! But if you are not aware that this sort of thing happens, then maybe you should take a look. Ensure, however, you pray before, during, and after to Our Lady conceived without sin that she might keep your body pure and your soul holy, to St Michael the Archangel to safeguard you against evil, and to your Guardian Angel.

Since making the Conscecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary last Lent and since being in this remote part of the world, I have found it a great grace to have been protected from this sort of stuff for so long. There are those called to fight the battles, and this part of the world is not without them, but there is great wisdom - if I may venture to suggest - in keeping a wall around one's mind, one's heart, one's will, one's passions, and have Our Lady keep you as an enclosed garden. I think I have reached the stage in life where I do not need to see the evil to be able to know it exists.

Parents need all the support they can get to keep their children protected also.

(Since publishing and after a comment from Damask Rose, I took a look at the three videos. I had to stop the reading of the poem: not only blasphemous but pornographic. And the others just made me think: what has London come to? There is nothing benign in this at all: it is in-your-face exhibitionism.)


Parents: exercise your discretion.

Dear Friends

I am writing again to Tesco about its links with London and World Pride.  Complaint has thus far been futile.

By Tesco leading this year’s London Pride, with Tesco staff carrying the rainbow flag and promising money and resources for next year ---  providing a “safe, relaxed and chilled out place with family-friendly entertainment and activities aimed at younger children” --- it may attract the Pink pound, but badly damages its public image.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060559/Outrage-Tesco-backs-gay-festival--drops-support-cancer-charity-event.html

The public will soon need to accept not just homosexuality but an increasingly extreme range of sexual orientations. The main resistance to this pressure to conform comes from Christians who, apart from losing their jobs, having their businesses shut down, being dragged through the courts and threatened with physical violence, are being held up for public ridicule.

It seems that Tesco is already experimenting with this tactic. The Head of Research and Development at Tesco.com, Nick Lansely, did a dramatic reading of  James Kirkup’s “The Love That Dares to Speak its Name”, videoed and posted it on Youtube.

It is a description of a necrophilial (an ‘orientation’) soldier having sex with/on the crucified body of Christ. [WARNING EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE; but remember before you avert your eyes, judging by what  our children are already exposed to in schools, this, in time, is what they will be led to accept.]

“The Love That Dares to Speak its Name”

http://annoy.com/history/doc.html?DocumentID=100045

Nick Lansely, Head of R&D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG7lf2tlkKk

Nick Lansley, reading the Blasphemous poem on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=0mGBJsTJDbs

Nick Lansley is on the team of Out at Tesco that organised Tesco’s leading this year’s London Pride 2011

http://home.outattesco.com/newsletter/index.php?page=newsletter-manua

Nick Lansley is clearly visible at the 2-minute mark on this Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HOYJhMSZjA

Nick was also on hand to record an event held in June 2008, when the National Secular Society (NSS) gathered in a London restaurant to celebrate the repeal of the Blasphemy Laws. Here Sir Ian McKellen OBE gave a spirited rendition of the above poem and boasted of ripping pages from the Bible – something he proudly confesses to doing whenever he finds one in a hotel room. At the bottom of the NSS web site we read:  “Nick Lansley recorded the event.” http://www.secularism.org.uk/bbbpartyreport.html

Had McKellen distributed cartoons of the dead body of Mohammed being sodomised, whilst tearing pages out of the Q’ran all hell would have been let loose - globally. 

Why is it that Christian employees and customers don’t have the same human right to feel that they are victims of incitement to religious hatred as are Muslims? Why are Muslims protected from such hatred by Tesco and Sir Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and yet the sensibilities of Christians can be openly mocked and trampled on?

Why can Nick be publicly identified with promoting Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual and Transsexual (LGBT) rights whilst  simultaneously encouraging what many people of faith (and others) would consider profoundly blasphemous --- even an incitement to religious hatred?

Other Tesco employees, especially Christians cannot make a critical remark of the LGBT for fear of being sacked. I received this recently from a concerned Tesco employee:

“Let me open by apologizing for my going through the absurd necessity of using a fake email address – my employer (Tesco) has been known to take action against members of staff who are identified as making any remarks online which could be considered derogatory. (This is advice handed out by our union, USDAW – never, ever mention Tesco on Facebook, Twitter, etc). I simply cannot run the risk that my real name would be associated with the comments I am about to make. (which is not meant to question your personal integrity, it is simply a risk I cannot take).”

Tesco should be in the business of providing essential goods and services. Homosexuality is not a state of being like being black; it is an emotional and psychological disorder. When a black woman goes to sleep she is no less black than when she is awake. There is nothing that a black woman can do to make herself either less or more black. On the other hand a homosexual is only homosexual when his imagination leads his emotions, desirers, actions, habits and character to become homosexual.  This orientation can either become stronger or weaker. Movement into and out of homosexuality can and does travel in both directions. But it seems that this travel is only allowed in one direction: from heterosexuality to homosexuality – never the reverse.

In 2 Peter2 it describes how God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. It says that “He  rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless, for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.” Are we prepared to be distressed or do we wish to bury our heads in the sand?

Please write to Tesco letting them know your views and intentions:

richard.broadbent@tesco.com: Chairman of Tesco

philip.clarke@tesco.com: International and IT Director

richard.brasher@tesco.com: Commercial and Marketing Director

Andrew.higginson@tesco.com: Chief Executive of Retailing Services and Group Strategy

cr.enquiries@uk.tesco.com

customer.service@tesco.co.uk

ceo.customerservice@tesco.co.uk

I am

Yours in Jesus Christ

David Skinner

http://www.notashamed.org.uk/

Father Barron on the obsession of atheists with religion - and why we need to pay attention to them.

Thanks to Accepting Abundance.

Will they let me in?

Parishioners whom I visit for First Friday Communion had this picture on display in their house and I expressed my admiration for it. As typically happens there, they very kindly arranged for a copy of it to be printed for me.

Does anyone know its orgin?

Happy Thanksgiving

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.


And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.


*Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Thanks to Dustin Katona, youth worker at St Peter's Cathedral, for putting this on his Facebook page and allowing me to copy it here.
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Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist on Oprah Winfrey tonight

I received the following information from the Sisters recently:

The Dominican Sisters of Mary will be featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday, November 23rd.

This is a new show that includes interviews with Mother Assumpta, Sr. Joseph Andrew, Sr. Mary Samuel, Sr. John Dominic and other Sisters; as well as on-site filming of the First and Final Profession Masses and this year’s Entrance Day, during which we welcomed 22 Aspirants.

The show will feature the experience of a Sister entering religious life and the meaning of religious profession as being ‘married’ to Christ.

You may recall that Oprah first reached out to our community on February 9th of this year due to an interest in the hidden aspects of religious life. Click here to watch an excerpt from that program.

The response from the first show was so positive that the Sisters were asked if we would be open to another opportunity to share our life. We have accepted this invitation in the hopes of reaching an audience we might not otherwise reach with the witness of our life and the Gospel. Please join us in praying that the show will be for the good of souls and the honor of God.

The show goes out from 5pm to 6pm ET.

The scheduling at TV6 gives the following fuller details of the show:

The Oprah Winfrey Show: The Mom Who Married a Killer Behind Bars & Other Astonishing Weddings (HD, New, TV-PG) Scheduled: the reasoning behind a mother marrying a convicted killer serving two life sentences; inside a group of nuns most sacred ceremony.

So, a bit of the sublime and bit of the ridiculous - all of life is there!

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Archbishop Patrick Kelly speaking at University of Kent in Canterury

I have just received news of this lecture taking place ... TOMORROW! I will try to attend in spite of the short notice. Please do so if you can.

Tuesday 8 June 6pm Lecture Theatre Woolf College UKC
(Woolf College is situated Giles Lane on left hand side opposite Gulbenkian Theatre)
Bishop Patrick Kelly: ‘Chalcedon:a Charter for Christian engagement with politics’
Host: Dr Stefan Rossbach
The Centre for the Study of Politics and Spirituality (CSPS) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Canterbury Lectures on Politics and Spirituality. The lecture series will provide political and religious leaders with an opportunity to reflect on the complex relationship between politics and spirituality.

No tickets are required. Apparently, 5.45pm is a good time to arrive (car park situated next to Woolf College), lecture at 6pm with Q&As at the end.

The Dogmatism of Secular Humanism

Polly Toynbee did not miss the opportunity in yesterday's Any Questions to speak pompously as usual as President of the British Humanist Association and insist on the 'privatisation' of religion. Could we have secularist humanism 'privatised' too? When religion was banned from the public square in the Soviet Union and the satellite states of the USSR, China, Cuba, Cambodia... or in fascist Germany how humane did the society become? How many people died? And in our society today, how many innocent babies are killed in this 'civilised' 'enlightened' western culture of ours? I really get fed up with religion being blamed for the evils of the world. It was completely disingenuous of Ms Toynbee to move from the difficulties caused by religious fanatics to the privatisation of religion. Mind you, Simon Hughes MP gave her the perfect opportunity to do so.

You can listen to it here (19 minutes 43 seconds into the show)

"Can I just add to that (Simon Hughes MP had made reference to fundamentalists of all faiths, not just Moslem, Christian too - fair enough but it gave Toynbee the opportunity to come in with her dogma) because I am president of the British Humanist Association (oh, so you speak with authority and we must all listen up!) that also it's not just about faith; it's about making sure that we keep faith quite separate, quite private and away from the public sphere; that there is a definite distinction between public life, what government does, and what people do in their private life and we don't let the two get mixed up and I think we've given rather too much over emphasis to faith..."

It was rather ironic that she was speaking in the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Morden, Surrey on the outkirts of London, the largest mosque in Western Europe, the international headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and claimed on the programme to be possibly the most outstanding building of the 21st century. According to the Jonathan Dimbleby's introduction, three thousand people were gathered earlier in the day for Friday prayers, it is a building of this age with outreach programmes and vibrant inter-faith dialogue. They have a 24 hour satellite TV network that transmits its sermons and other events around the globe.

Good luck to them. They have every right to promote their activities and to be present in the community. Maybe the Catholic Church should plan a mega-Church in a London suburb, with satellite TV etc. I hope the planners would welcome it in the same spirit as this mosque is clearly admired and respected.

Jonathan Dimbleby informed listeners that the mosque, opened in 2003, was built at a cost of £15 million, the money raised entirely by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. If the Catholic Church spent £15 million pounds, raised entirely by voluntary contributions of the Catholic faithful, on a 3,000 capacity mega-church, I'm sure it wouldn't be long before complaints about the riches and wealth of the Church would be heard!

Child Abuse: Bash the Catholic Church but respect 'religious sensitivies' of other religious groups

This from Zenit.

New York Busy With "National Pastime"
Archbishop Dolan Laments Anti-Catholicism on His Blog
NEW YORK, OCT. 29, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Baseball is not America's only pastime, according to the archbishop of New York. Anti-Catholicism is another, and it's as prevalent as ever.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan reflected on anti-Catholicism in a post on his blog today, offering his readers an article that was rejected by the New York Times.

He contended that it "is not hyperbole to call prejudice against the Catholic Church a national pastime."

"Scholars such as Arthur Schlesinger Sr. referred to it as 'the deepest bias in the history of the American people.' [...] 'The anti-semitism of the left,' is how Paul Viereck reads it, and Professor Philip Jenkins sub-titles his book on the topic 'the last acceptable prejudice,'" the archbishop noted.

Making the news

He then cited four articles appearing in just over two weeks in the New York Times.

The archbishop wrote: "On Oct. 14, in the pages of the New York Times, reporter Paul Vitello exposed the sad extent of child sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. According to the article, there were 40 cases of such abuse in this tiny community last year alone.

"Yet the Times did not demand what it has called for incessantly when addressing the same kind of abuse by a tiny minority of priests: release of names of abusers, rollback of statute of limitations, external investigations, release of all records, and total transparency. Instead, an attorney is quoted urging law enforcement officials to recognize 'religious sensitivities,' and no criticism was offered of the DA’s office for allowing Orthodox rabbis to settle these cases 'internally.'

"Given the Catholic Church’s own recent horrible experience, I am hardly in any position to criticize our Orthodox Jewish neighbors, and have no wish to do so ... but I can criticize this kind of 'selective outrage.'"

"On Oct. 16," the archbishop continued, "Laurie Goodstein of the Times offered a front page, above-the-fold story on the sad episode of a Franciscan priest who had fathered a child. Even taking into account that the relationship with the mother was consensual and between two adults, and that the Franciscans have attempted to deal justly with the errant priest’s responsibilities to his son, this action is still sinful, scandalous and indefensible.

"However, one still has to wonder why a quarter-century old story of a sin by a priest is now suddenly more pressing and newsworthy than the war in Afghanistan, health care, and starvation-genocide in Sudan. No other cleric from religions other than Catholic ever seems to merit such attention."

Widespread

Archbishop Dolan clarified that anti-Catholicism is hardly limited to the pages of the New York Times.

"Unfortunately, abundant examples can be found in many different venues," he said.

The prelate went on to note inaccurate comments made by a Congressman regarding the Church's stance on health care reform, and a bill in the New York state legislature that will cost Catholic schools thousands of dollars.

"The Catholic Church is not above criticism. We Catholics do a fair amount of it ourselves. We welcome and expect it," Archbishop Dolan said. "All we ask is that such critique be fair, rational, and accurate, what we would expect for anybody. The suspicion and bias against the Church is a national pastime that should be 'rained out' for good." "I guess my own background in American history should caution me not to hold my breath," the prelate added. "Then again," he quipped, "yesterday was the Feast of St. Jude, the patron saint of impossible causes."

Full text of Archbishop Dolan's article.

Christian Concern about proposed European Harassment & Discrimation Legislation

Local Christians have brought to my attention the possible dangers of proposed anti-harassment and anti-discrimination legislation emanating from the European Union. If enacted, these laws could prevent Christians living out and speaking about their deeply held Christian beliefs for fear of being accused of discriminating against or causing harassment of a particular person or groups of persons. The criterion for bringing an action to court is that one has perceived that one has been harassed or discrimated against. The burden of proof shifts from the accuser to the accused who will have to prove that the accuser has not in fact been harassed or discriminated against. This could affect a Christian bed & breakfast owner, a pastor who rents out his church hall, Christians who run adoption agencies, etc.

The warning comes from Christian Concern for our Nation who write as follows:

Video on EU Directive on Equal Treatment: Professor Wagner Explains Concerns

Please watch the video (above), where Professor Wagner explains how this Directive has a potentially horrendous impact on Christians and the Christian way of life.

The measures could have the effect of silencing Christians for fear of being sued for ‘harassment’.

Freedom of speech and the exercise of religious conscience are at risk. The stark choice for Christians could be – ‘be silenced’ or ‘be sued’.

Proposals would extend the definition and the reach of harassment. Key concerns are:

• The vagueness of the definition of harassment which will make it far too easy to bring an accusation
• The alarming shift in the burden of proof onto the accused to demonstrate that the person alleging harassment did not, in fact, perceive offence. In practice this could mean that anyone could potentially accuse a Christian of harassing them, leaving the Christian the almost impossible task of proving that the alleged victim had not, in fact, been offended.

The proposals would also extend harassment to harassment by association. For example, a heterosexual could perceive offence because of something said about his homosexual relative, friend or work colleague whilst being provided with goods or services.

The UK Government who support Equality measures even recognise its negative impact on:

• Freedom of speech
• Freedom to speak to non-Christians about the Gospel
• Academic freedom
• Religious groups delivering public services (due to the possible chilling effect on free speech)

We expect the Council of Ministers (with representation from all Member States) to vote in November 2009, so there is little time left to act.

Action to take:

1. Watch the Video.
2. Prayer. We serve a Mighty God. Pray that Nations will say No to the Directive and veto it. Without a unanimous vote in favour it will not be passed.
3. Please read the first 10 pages of the pack and Appendix 1 (example letters). If you have the time or interest, the other Appendices provide more details. To access the pack, please click here.
4. Use the example letters in Appendix 1 to write to your MP and Equality Minister.
5. Encourage your Christian friends in other European countries to do the same and write to their political representatives and Ministers responsible for Equality. The pack contains a list of Ministers from each EU country that might be responsible for equality matters. It is vital that Christians across the EU realise the seriousness of the situation and that Equality Ministers are informed that they can vote “no”.

The final decision-making is now with the Nations themselves in the Council of Ministers, so MPs and the Equality Ministers are the best choice. You can also write to your MEPs to make them aware of our concern not only for our own nations but also for Europe.

Thank you for your support in protecting religious liberties.

Andrea Minichiello Williams
Christian Concern for our Nation