Ignatius Press is having its Summer Super Sale — Books as low as $3.00, with titles by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, Thomas Howard, G. K. Chesterton, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Adrienne von Speyr, Josef Pieper, Joseph Pearce, Ronald, Knox, Jean Galot, Manfred Hauke, and many others. Videos as low as $5.00, with titles featuring Steve Ray, Scott Hahn, and Fulton Sheen. Prices are good through August 31, 2009.
Quite a bargain, I ordered several books myself.
Parents have spoken of their shock after it emerged a popular headteacher at a Catholic primary school in Sheffield is quitting his job because he plans to remarry.
Michael Cassidy has written to parents at St Patrick’s Primary on the last day of term informing them of his decision.
He told them: “This is a decision that has been taken for me as a result of the forthcoming change in my personal life which is that I am to remarry in the autumn.
“As a consequence my position as headteacher is no longer compatible with the conditions and services of my contract. Therefore I have no option but to leave.
“It goes without saying that leaving St Patrick’s will be very difficult for me as I have become very much part of this special community.”
Mr Cassidy, who has been head at St Patrick’s for the past four years, is believed to be a divorcee who is marrying his long-standing partner. He will be leaving the school at the end of the autumn term.
John Cape, director of schools for the Hallam Diocese, said he was aware of Mr Cassidy’s resignation with effect from December 31.
He added: “It is a matter of personal choice made by a man of great integrity. As director of schools I will continue to offer pastoral and professional support to him in the decision he has taken.”
It is believed parents are drawing up a petition in protest about Mr Cassidy’s departure and are planning a campaign on social networking website Facebook.
One mother, Claire Bolsover, told the Sheffield Star: “Mr Cassidy is a fantastic head and both children and parents are really upset. Any school occasion and he’s there, and he knows every child’s name. There are a lot of upset and angry parents.”[reference]
I guess this headmaster is doing the right thing after planning to to do the wrong thing. At least he is resigning knowing he would provide scandal by remaining, too bad some of these parents don’t seem to understand that. I guess not wanting a headmaster of a Catholic school to be an adulterer is passe.
Plus why is it that in every story about some teacher who gets into trouble always a “popular” teacher? Never seen a story where a “unpopular” teacher got into trouble.
This morning, (Monday, July 20th) Dr. Jack Sites, Academic Vice President of Ave Maria University, flew from Houston, where he was attending a meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, to San Francisco, to inform me personally that I was being dismissed from Ave Maria University. Our meeting was amicable and Dr. Sites, as always, acted as a Christian gentleman.
He said that the reason for my dismissal stemmed from a conversation I had in November of 2008 with Jack Donahue, then chairman of the board of AMU. At that time I felt it an obligation to speak to the board chairman before the upcoming board meeting, to make sure he was aware of the urgency of the university’s financial situation. After I had informed him, using projections based on publicly available documents and statements, he asked me what I thought was the solution. I told him that there were policies being followed that were at the root of the problem, that the present administration was irrevocably wedded to those policies, and that without a change of administration the university was at great risk.
Dr. Sites said that Jack Donahue related this conversation to Tom Monaghan, and it was decided (I don’t know specifically by whom) that the university could not have a faculty member making these criticisms of the administration and thus undermining the university.
Dr. Sites told me that there were unspecified others who had similar substantive concerns that I was undermining the university.
I continue to support the university. I pray for its success. I have great admiration for the faculty, students, and many of the staff. I do disagree with some of the policies of the administration. This seems to be the reason I was fired the first time, in March 2007, since the official explanation was “irreconcilable administrative differences”.
Nevertheless, I think it is an accurate summary to say that I am being dismissed as a faculty member because of a private conversation with the chairman of the board in which I made known my criticisms of the university administration; and because of allegations which have not been made known to me and to which I have not been given an opportunity to respond.
I will continue to recommend AMU to students and parents. And I will continue to think my dismissal is another mistake in a long series of unwise decisions. [reference]
I guess it is that time of year again. Back in March of 2007 he was also dismissed from Ave Maria University as provost and as I remember there was quite an outcry until hired back as a theologian. I don’t know Fr. Fessio personally, but he certainly seems to be one who speaks his mind and as this letter shows while remaining quite charitable. He founded Campion College of San Francisco, though had to leave when his order made him go. Though as with all actually obedient priests he does not whine about something being unfair and is actually obedient to his superiors even when I think they were being jerks.
I wish him well on whatever his next endeavor is and will always be thankful to him just for founding Ignatius Press beyond his orthodox awesomeness.
Here is a timely post from Fr. Murphy at Jesus goes to Disney World
There’s a story here in Baltimore about our beloved Archbishop-emeritus-emeritus, William D. Borders. He was ordained bishop in 1968 and made the first Bishop of Orlando, Florida. The new diocese encompassed central Florida and included Cape Canaveral, from where, the following year, Apollo 11 launched, bound for the moon. After that historic launch and lunar landing, with all the images of our astronauts walking, golfing, and planting the flag, Borders made an ad limina visit to Rome to meet with Paul VI. During their meeting, Borders rather nonchalantly observed, “You know, Holy Father, I am the bishop of the Moon.” Pope Paul looked at him rather perplexed – probably wondering where along the line this American prelate lost his mind. Borders then continued by explaining that by the existing (1917) Code of Canon Law, he was the de facto ordinary of this “newly discovered” territory.
Archbishop Borders is 96 years old now, and he is still a beloved part of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. I hope he is as beloved in his former diocese – and on the moon.
Italy, July 18 – Pope Benedict XVI slept well and celebrated his regular daily mass Saturday with his wrist in plaster, the day after his operation on the fracture, his spokesman said.
“He is learning to live with a right wrist in plaster,” Federico Lombardi told AFP. “The most difficult thing for him is having to give up writing.”
Lombardi said the 82-year-old pontiff, who is on a two-week holiday in northern Italy, would fly by helicopter on Sunday as planned to Romano Canavese, in the neighbouring Piedmont region, to recite the evening Angelus prayer.
Some 10,000 people are expected at the ceremony in the town, the birthplace of Vatican number two Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Lombardi said the rest of the pope’s programme during his vacation, which is due to end on July 29, was also unchanged.
The German-born pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church since April 2005, had two metal pins inserted into the broken bone in a “routine” operation under local anaesthetic at Aosta hospital on Friday.
He had slipped and fallen in his bedroom during the night, a Vatican statement said.
The headline for this was “Pope celebrates mass in plaster“, which is rather silly – though better than “Plastered Pope celebrates Mass.”
Reports also say that he uses a voice recorder to write things out, so hopefully his injury will not effect rumors that he is working on his book to followup “Jesus of Nazareth” during his vacation.
I have been remiss in not thanking those who voted for me in this years Catholic New Media Awards.
Best Blog by a Man
American Papist: Not Your Average Catholic: 223
What Does the Prayer Really Say?: 144
The Curt Jester: 65
Fallible Blogma: 55
Catholic and Enjoying It: 33
Funniest Blog
American Papist: Not Your Average Catholic: 107
The Curt Jester: 103
What Does the Prayer Really Say?: 86
Creative Minority Report: 73
lolSaints: 54
Most Entertaining Blog
American Papist: Not Your Average Catholic: 123
What Does the Prayer Really Say?: 115
The Curt Jester: 73
Creative Minority Report: 57
Conversion Diary – The Diary of a Former Atheist: 48
Thomas Peters of the American Papist beat me out this year in funniest blog. That is a good thing since my web hosting company has complained about the bandwidth for all my banners from previous year wins.
Normally each year I would run attack ads against those competing against me in this category, but this year I didn’t and you can see what happened. Attack ads work so next year I will be ready. In fact I am going to start by looking more closely at Thomas Peters. Notice how he puts “American” first instead of “Papist” showing his priorities. A real Catholic would put Papist first such as “Papist American.” And what is up with his motto “American Papist: Not Your Average Catholic!” Pretty prideful I would think. Not exactly showing the humility of a true Catholic. So remember Thomas I am keeping at eye out on you.
A special congratulations to Jennifer at “Conversion Diary – The Diary of a Former Atheist” who won Best Blog by a Women. I have read her blog from before she became Catholic and she is certainly one of the best blog writers. Though in St. Blogs there is a wealth of excellent women bloggers. Best new blog went to Faith & Family which is contributed to by Daniel Bean and a solid team.
So look over the list of blogs and podcasts that made the top 5 in voting. I can certainly recommend every single blog, site, podcast listed (except that Thomas Peters guy I am keeping my eye on).
Thanks once again to Josh LeBlanc and the other people who make these awards possible in the first place.
A leading scientist who helped unravel the human genetic code and is known for finding common ground between belief in God and science is President Barack Obama’s choice to lead the National Institutes of Health.
An administration official said Dr. Francis Collins, arguably the nation’s most influential geneticist, is the president’s soon-to-be-announced pick. The official spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday pending the formal announcement.
The NIH is the nation’s premier medical research agency, directing $29.5 billion to spur innovative science that leads to better health. Collins, an early gene-hunter, would come to the job not just with the scientific credentials, but with a reputation for translating the complexities of DNA into language the everyday American can understand.
The folksy Collins led the Human Genome Project that, along with a competing private company, mapped the genetic code or, as he famously called it, “the book of human life.”
“It is humbling for me, and awe-inspiring, to realize that we have caught the first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God,” he said at a 2000 White House ceremony marking release of the genome’s first draft.[reference]
I have heard this rumored for awhile, but didn’t give it much credence. Though this will freak out some on the left whose philosophy is scientism or that anything that can be achieved by science should be done. For example the announcement today that sperm was created out of embryonic stem-cells is pure science without moral boundaries. The pope pointed out in his latest encyclical the problems with the misuse of the word ethics and I can only hope that Dr. Francis Collins will bring a correct view of ethics to the NIH.
Nevermind: Didn’t realize that he supported embryonic stem-cell research in his book. Should have know better.
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has given embryonic stem-cell researchers the green light to apply for federal funding of their work with minimal restrictions under new guidelines that took effect July 7. However, the NIH rejected the overwhelming public input expressing concerns over the morally questionable research, which thus far has failed to yield any beneficial therapies, unlike adult stem-cells.
In a press release, the NIH states that the new guidelines “will ensure that NIH-funded research in this area is ethically responsible, scientifically worthy, and conducted in accordance with applicable law.”
The NIH directives were a response to President Barack Obama’s Executive Order (EO) 13505 that rescinded an earlier executive order from the Bush administration in 2001. That order prohibited federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, except for those stem-cell lines already in existence, and mandated voluntary informed consent without financial incentives on the part of the parents of human embryos.
Under the current NIH regulations, “voluntary and informed consent” on the part of the individuals donating their embryonic offspring becomes the overriding ethical principle, along with the specification that stem-cells derived from human embryos must have been created originally for “reproductive purposes” through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and not for the sake of scientific research. The NIH guidelines state that individuals donating their human embryos to research must give “voluntary written consent” without payment of any kind, and must be informed of the available options at the IVF facility.
Yes “ethical” murder of the innocent.
Yes the long awaited encyclical has finally arrived after many false publication dates rumored. By the way this encyclical is not for reporters in general since it is addressed to people of “good will”
English version on Vatican’s web site.
I also converted the encyclical as an eBook for those with eBook readers.
ePub format. For use with Stanza on iPod Touch/iPhone and many other eBook readers.
prc version, can be used with Amazon Kindle
By the way this is the last day of voting in the Catholic New Media Awards, so vote for your favorite blog, website, podcast.
I have been working closely with ACORN to get the vote out.
[The Rt Rev John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester] argued that the free beer was intended to be symbolic of “the generosity of God”.
Men at St Stephen’s church in Barbourne, Worcester, will be handed bottles of beer by children during the service. A prayer will be said for the fathers before the gifts are distributed.
The Ven Roger Morris, archdeacon of Worcester, who will be leading the service at St Stephen’s today, said that it was a practical way of sending a message to fathers.
“I don’t see any other time that we can stop and remember fathers, and this is a gesture saying ‘Here’s something that will bless you,'” he said.[reference]
Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use beer.