David at Cosmos-Litugy-Sex has provided a valuable service by thoroughly investigating the claims made by the POW Network that Fr. John Corapi had been claiming to have been a Green Beret in Vietnam. It certainly looks like Fr. Corapi is totally innocent of the charge on his part, though there have been some web sites that made the claim about him. Sites that he had nothing to do with.
Bangkok – The United Nations will send nearly a quarter of a million condoms into cyclone-hit Myanmar to help needy survivors with no access to contraceptives, a UN official says.
So far, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said it had sent 72 800 condoms to survivors struggling to maintain their family planning after the storm hit in early May.
A total of 218 400 condoms would be delivered, UNFPA aid advisor Chaiyos Kunanusont said.
"We don’t want regular use of contraception disrupted. An emergency usually damages the health system, so people don’t have access to condoms and contraceptives," said Chaiyos.
Flights were also carrying reproductive health kits, which included razors for cutting umbilical cords, clean sheets for delivering babies and enough contraceptive pills and injections to last 3 390 women three months.
Via The Anchoress
This is the same basic trend just as in Africa where they have a surplus of condoms given to them but basic medicines are totally lacking. The contraceptive culture is a sickness where the first response to the immensity of so many lives lost is to prevent more lives.
Here is what appears to be the sad story of Michael Galloway the founder of Catholic Online and multiple other sites who is currently in court because a lot of money has dissapeared.
Deal Hudson describes a meeting today that occurred between himself, Bill Donahue and Pastor Hagee and his wife that occurred at Catholic League headquarters in New York. The meeting was very positive and ended with Bill Donohue saying:
"Pastor, you are my friend from this point forward and nothing’s going to change that. We have our theological differences but we Catholics and Evangelicals need to work together — that is the liberals worse nightmare."
I thought this was pretty funny.
As we were leaving, a reporter from the San Antonio Express called Donohue for interview. Donohue did the interview as we stood there. It was obvious that Donohue’s report on the meeting was not what the reporter wanted to hear. When the reporter asked if Donohue was trying to help John McCain, I thought the answer was unassailable: "If I am trying to help John McCain why would I have called Rev. Hagee anti-Catholic in the first place?"
I think it is pretty cool that started out as something negative has developed into something positive, though the media isn’t going to like this happy ending since they much rather like the Hagee equals Wright meme.
Bishop Fulton Sheen once said:
There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing.
The real dialogue that has gone on since Donohue original denouncement only proves this to be true.
Canberra, May. 13, 2008 (CWNews.com) – The Australian Catholic bishops’ conference has issued a public statement warning of "doctrinal difficulties" in a book by the retired bishop.
Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, who was an auxiliary bishop of the Sydney archdiocese for 20 years prior to his retirement in 2001, is the author of Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus. Bishop Robinson is currently on a promotional tour, speaking about the book to audiences in the United States.
At their May meeting, the Australian bishops warn that Confronting Power calls into question "the authority of the Catholic Church to teach the truth definitively." The book reflects "Bishop Robinson’s uncertainty about the knowledge and authority of Christ himself," the bishops report.
The bishops’ statement goes on to note problems with the bishop’s book on "among other things, the nature of Tradition, the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, the infallibility of the Councils and the Pope, the authority of the Creeds, the nature of the ministerial priesthood and central elements of the Church’s moral teaching."
The Australian bishops express their gratitude for the work Bishop Robinson did before his retirement, particularly his work with victims of sexual abuse. "However," their statement continues, "people have a right to know clearly what the Catholic Church believes and teaches."
I guess Bishop Robinson is the Australian version of Bishop Gumbleton. Bishop Gumbleton was also an auxiliary bishop for 20 plus years (around 27) and seems to have a similar attitude on church teaching and involvement with victims of sexual abuse.
I don’t know anything about Providence
College in Rhode Island, but this
article by their president Rev. Brian J. Shanley
is pretty excellent.
He reflects on one Pope Benedict said on a Catholic education and its ends
and I certainly agree with what Rev. Shanley writes on the subject.
Sydney, Apr. 30, 2008 (CWNews.com) – Cardinal George Pell of Sydney has argued against the adoption of a bill of rights for Australia, saying that he fears the eruption of "culture wars" that would be settled by arbitrary court decisions rather than the normal democratic process.
In an address to the Brisbane Institute, the cardinal pointed to the controversial judicial decisions that have given rise to fierce political divisions in the United States and Canada. "We don’t have a culture war here in Australia in the way the United States does, but a bill or charter of rights could help provoke one," he said, according to a report in Western Australia.
Court rulings on human-rights issues have frequently thwarted the popular will, Cardinal Pell observed. "Rights are best protected by the common law and by parliament when the people are equally aware of their responsibilities," he argued.
A reader let me know about Fr. Paul McNellis, S.J. who was a Green Beret in Vietnam, an AP freelancer there, refugee worker on the Cambodian frontier during the Killing Fields, Jesuit priest, and philosophy professor at Boston College.
He is also totally faithful to the Church and yesterday he was award the Mary Kaye Waldron Award at BC which is the highest honor students can bestow on a teacher.
Here is a video tribute his students have made to honor him.
Pastor John Hagee with a "Thank you, Pope Benedict"
Surely his meeting with Deal Hudson has born some fruit. My headline was just in fun and not representative of the article.