From Catholic News Service: The Vatican and the Internet

The proposed site also is likely to come up against hard questioning from Vatican officials concerned about even the slightest appearance of compromise in Rome's role as ultimate guardian of church teaching.

The safe route -- the one pursued until now -- is to post only official texts of church teaching or material that first have been carefully vetted by the Vatican's Secretariat of State.

But that approach, as well as the fact that the pages for many Vatican offices are buried deep in the site, has driven some heads of Vatican offices to launch their own Web sites independent of the official www.vatican.va.

One of the pioneers of this trend was Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, who is known as a technophile, a hands-on administrator, and someone who doesn't like taking no for an answer.

His bare-bones site -- www.clerus.org -- offers documentary resources for priests, deacons and catechists, as well as periodic live Web casts of theological conferences with speakers in studios around the world.

Other breakaway sites include www.fides.org, site of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; www.healthpastoral.org, of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers; and the self-explanatory www.swissguard.org.

A very interesting article.

Ah...my alma mater.

Instapundit is, of course on the scene and has more links.

My only question is, how can white boys present themselves as the Jackson 5 without darkening their skin?

Update Heh. Very funny, Larry. (see comments)

Envoy Magazine has a blog !

LA Archdiocese denies 5 top administrators quit because of cuts.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles denied Thursday that the resignations of its five highest-ranking executives had been related to cuts in the church budget, but through a spokesman it said none of the five was available to answer questions about their departure.

Through press spokesman Tod Tamberg, two of the five issued written statements. Msgr. Richard Loomis, director of the Secretariat for Administrative Services, said he wanted to return to parish ministry. Thomas Chabolla, director of the Secretariat for Pastoral and Community Services, said he decided to step down to allow an incoming vicar general -- the second-highest-ranking executive after Cardinal Roger M. Mahony -- to name his own senior management team. One of the five whose resignations became public Wednesday is the current vicar general, Msgr. Terrance Fleming.

A saints’ day, a day for saints, and in the morning, children are all I see.

The back of the church is filled with babies, the pews in front of us with children in their Sunday best, and way at the very front, two neat rows of fourth-grade saints with their gold-painted cardboard papal tiaras and crosiers and veils and tiny birds glued on St. Francis’ shoulders.

And, I pray when I can in between trips to the vestibule and negotiations with an 18-month old, I pray that with us too are little ones from across the sea, buried by an indifferent earth. More saints here today. More than yesterday.

After the struggle that is Mass, that is the Holy Sacrifice in more ways than one, I return rented movies and drive back by the school. Another mother, who also struggled with her two little ones during Mass with, it seemed at the time, less patience than I, if that could be possible, is walking down the sidewalk back home. Laughing with her babies, who are laughing, too. A song is playing on the radio. A country song by Tim McGraw about a red rag top car and the life that was made in that car by two young people. A life created then ended, the singer says, with the determination that there would be no regret. Implicit through the deceptively simple lyrics is, however, nothing but regret and an acknowledgement of loss and selfishness. The song plays and the regret mounts, and at that very moment, the school doors open and little ones stream out, in neat lines, bound for the playground in the dark fall coats. They just keep coming, skipping, running, flowing out onto the sidewalk, and the song doesn’t end, and I swear, beside the living, I see another faint line of dark fall coats,not from across the sea now, but from right here, buried by our own indifference, streaming out beside them. More saints, for all martyrs – holy innocents included - are saints.

A Blessed All Saints' Day!

I am on my way to experience the adventure called Mass With Joseph. For you reading enjoyment while I'm gone, you might take a look at a couple of old columns on saints:

What's In a Saint's Name?

Swallowing St. Gaspar: The Wacky World of Catholic Saints

I have a new column on saints that will be in this Sunday's OSV. I'll try to post it later this morning. If I survive Mass.