Friday, October 4

Oh, good. This will calm things down in Boston.
New photos of Joseph!
Someone is 18 months old today. And it's not me. I hope to get a couple of new pictures posted today, but I'm in a blur of writing - just finished Matt Talbot, now am going to try to get a good start on Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Sleep, baby...sleep....

Hot coffee used as weapon in string of robberies.

Who says people aren't creative anymore?

HHS distributes $30 million to faith-based providers

The recipients range from Catholic Charities in New Mexico and Associated Black Charities in Maryland, to the Mennonite Economic Development Associates in Pennsylvania, United Way in Massachusetts and the Northside Ministerial Alliance in Michigan.Operation Blessing International of the Rev. Pat Robertson also received $500,000 for one year. The religious broadcaster had criticized the faith-based initiative early last year, warning that non-Christian or exotic sects might get funded.

Lock her up and give her twice the time for refusing to take responsibility.

As a former high school teacher - in a Catholic school - I can tell you this is a huge problem. Make no mistake - if I ever heard about one of my underage kids being provided alcohol at the home of another adult, I'd be on the phone to the cops without a second thought.

While we're fretting about what priests are doing with boys and the priests are gathering above the bar to buck each other up , over in Africa, the Church is fighting a mighty battle against the ravages of HIV

The 234-bed St Mary’s serves a population of about 750 000 people in the west of Durban’s vast metropolis, 250 000 of whom are estimated to be living with HIV. It gets an 84 percent state subsidy and no one is turned away from the spotless hospital although the patient load has increased considerably as the HIV epidemic has turned into an Aids epidemic."Our patients are much sicker now than they were 10 years ago, and 50 percent of them are going to die," says Ross, who has been at St Mary’s for seven years. "We have had to change our expectations about who is going to get better, and also start to pay attention to caring for the carers."The hospital soon realised it could never deal with the demand, and has thus become heavily involved in community outreach. Its outreach team has trained a network of about 200 volunteers to help families to care for their dying relatives at home.

A A NYTimes article on the Voice of the Ordained, organized to protect priests' rights. Met above a bar in the theater district of Manhattan.

Okay. Moving on.

I would be more impressed with this gathering if part of it had included a strong public committment for priests to hold each other accountable and responsible, rather than covering up for one another. If I had some sense that what was at stake was a committment to truth - all around - truth in the face of false accusations, as well as truth - rather than silence - when confronted with the sight of your brother priest bringing teenage boys into the rectory.

Hispanic ministry in Battle Creek

Focus on Protestant efforts, natch.

The heat is on:

VOTF sends "stinging" rebuke to banning bishop

``By innuendo and implication,'' VOTF state in a letter to Merrimack Valley Regional Bishop Emilio S. Allue, a copy of which was also sent to Bernard Cardinal Law, ``you (have) accused our organization and its members of deceit and (of) creating scandal in the church.``These actions are devoid of principle . . . and lacking in Christian morality,'' states the letter, signed by VOTF's president, Boston University Professor James E. Post. ``We might expect actions (like) these from totalitarian rulers and repressive political regimes.''Archdiocese officials referred comment to Allue, who did not respond to telephoned messages.

Canon Law Society to meet next week in Cincinnati.

Gee. I wonder what they'll be talking about.

A look at the religious values of Maryland's candidates for governor, including the obligatory pro-abortion Catholic, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who spends a lot of time in the article rhapsodizing about going to daily Mass with her mother during the summers and about her Catholic education. But....

Townsend also favors the death penalty, and she supports abortion rights. Although the church is opposed to the death penalty, with both the pope and the U.S. bishops speaking out against it, church leaders tolerate dissent on the issue. But Catholic opposition to abortion is ironclad and has led some bishops to clash with politicians who support abortion rights.Townsend bristles at the notion, sometimes expressed by conservative Catholics, that differing with the church on some issues would call into question one's commitment to Catholicism. "I think the term Catholic means universal and it means inclusive," she said. "And that's what I think our church is."

Missouri Right to Life opposing increasing state tax on cigarettes

Missouri Right to Life, the state's largest anti-abortion group, will announce today that it opposes Proposition A, the Nov. 5 ballot measure that would quadruple Missouri's cigarette tax to pay for health-care services.State Right to Life president Pam Manning said Thursday that the group believes the proposition fails to include enough legal protections to prevent the money from being used for abortion-related services, including counseling or referrals, and for teen contraceptives."We feel it's a back-door way for the state to subsidize Planned Parenthood," Manning said. Gov. Bob Holden disagrees, as does the measure's chief sponsor, Citizens for a Healthy Missouri."I'm stunned they would come to that conclusion," said Brad Ketcher, a spokesman for the organization, a coalition of urban business groups and the state hospital association. "This proposition is about improving health and health care in the state. It's abortion-neutral."

Portland Archdiocese sees decrease in contributions to annual appeal

Vlazny wrote that 18,475 people pledged money to the archbishop's appeal this year, a decline of 3,300 donors. The average gift increased from $127 to $138, but that wasn't enough to compensate for those who did not donate, he wrote.

In Martha's Vineyard, Brazilians flocking to Assemblies of God churches.

Brazilians will tell you that for many of them, their religious awakening actually came when they arrived in America. "In Brazil, they never go to church. When they get here, they think they're alone," says Danielle Andrade, who manages the Copacabana restaurant, a Brazilian diner in Oak Bluffs. "You want something from your country, your language. The same things you think, they think. You feel good when you go to church."