Running Off At The Keyboard

CONFIRMATION OF THE WOMAN RIDING THE BEAST ON THE EURO COIN

can be seen at this Eurocoins.co.uk website.

The Italian Euro 1 carries that da Vinci painting made famous by Dan Brown/The Da Vinci Code.

Liberty, equality, fraternity--often associated with Freemasonry--is engraved on the French Euro.

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is engraved on the Spanish Euro.

Germany uses the eagle. Andorra is considering it.

JPII is on the Vatican coin.

Another coin collector's website shows the woman on the beast for the Greek Euro. (Click "Greek" at the top of the website.)

The Greek coin is pictured Here, as is the Tower Building.

Thanks to a reader who sent in most of these links.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TOWER BUILDING

Pictured Here.

For some reason pictures of this structure are few and far between. In fact, searching Google Image Search brings up a Tower Building in Washington, D. C. but not this one. Seems odd. There would be no pictures of it if this class photo had not been taken.

It's located in Strasbourg. And Strasbourg, historically, is a frequently mentioned center of occult activity. It was a base for Cagliostro, early well-known occultist cited by Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, among others. This website explains his activities in Strasbourg.

Could be merely a coincidence, of course.

WOMAN RIDING THE BEAST

Commemorative coin and stamp.

I'm still trying to corroborate this.


UPDATE

More pictures of the Woman Riding the Beast:

Here

Here.

Here.

And there is this blog in Free Republic:

"The Vacant Seat No. 666 in the European Parliament"

JOHN ALLEN

A couple of readers have sent in links to John Allen's column. This week he talks about the Pope's displeasure at the rejection of Christian roots by the European Union; the evidence of a still-living Catholic spirituality in Europe as seen at three Marian shrines; the absurdity of Vatican-American politics which saw a pope condemning the war in Iraq, while a president begged a Cardinal to bring the bishops into the argument against same-sex marriage; and the possibility of a papal visit to Ireland.

I found his observations at the shrines to be good evidence that traditional Catholic piety and spirituality might very well still be alive in the hearts and minds of many European citizens despite the concerted effort of modernized Catholicism to eradicate it.

One wonders what sort of "renewal" or "revival" might be possible if an attempt were made to recapture that pre-Vatican II spirituality, instead of designing a non-Scriptural "Third Age of the Holy Spirit" reminiscent of the LDS Church, via Pentecostalism.

ARCHBISHOP LIPSCOMB ON ABORTION AND THE KU KLUX KLAN

From the Associated Press: For some reason Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb of Mobile, Alabama, thinks it's appropriate to deny the Eucharist to someone who states that "nothing in Catholic teaching prevented active participation in the Ku Klux Klan." Apparently he will not, however deny the Eucharist to an abortion supporter.

The Klan is in favor of racial discrimination. Abortion supporters are in favor of killing babies. Neither of these are appropriate beliefs for a Catholic. One wonders, though, how an Archbishop can make this particular distinction between them.

NOW THAT ROWAN WILLIAMS IS FINISHED RECOMMENDING BIBLE TRANSLATIONS

he may be turning his attention to comedy...that is a different form of comedy...The Simpsons. According to eCentral:

THE Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the world’s 70 million Anglicans and a self-declared devotee of the US television hit The Simpsons, could soon be paying Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa a visit in Springfield.

Producers of the animated comedy have invited Rowan Williams, 54, to take part in an episode after he praised the programme for its humour and humility, Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper reported.

“We’d love to have him on the show. ... It’s a great thrill that the archbishop is such a fan,” executive producer Al Jean said.

“In the beginning, some religious groups in the United States disliked the show, so to have such a prominent religious leader defend it is great,” he added.

A spokesman for the archbishop said they had not yet received an invitation but that it would certainly be considered.

“It would be a very intriguing prospect,” he added.

Well, if St. Peter dubbed "Rocky" is your personal preference, I guess Homer Simpson will be right at home in your chancery. But one wonders how the producers of the program will be gratified by this endorsement from a religious figure who has just made a joke of himself. But then, The Simpsons are intended to be funny. So perhaps a foolish Archbishop is precisely the image of choice, especially if mocking religion is your source of comedy. Who can account for American taste?

Thanks to a reader for sending in the link.

THIRD TEMPLE OR DISNEYLAND OF JERUSALEM ?

The Third Temple built not of bricks and mortar, but rather of holographic projection equipment. The concept is the brainchild of Dr. Yitzhak Hayut-Man and his Academy of Jerusalem; and has been taken seriously enough by the Jerusalem Post to write an article describing the plan.

As Hayut-Man puts it, the religious will not build the Third Temple, the secular will. If it is built according to his vision, it will be of equal value to Israelis and Muslims alike. It will be surrounded by a city of Jerusalem combined of a Jewish section and an Arab section, with a dividing wall manned by soldiers. Everyone will know their neighbors on both sides of the fence, and there will be no weapons allowed. The Third Temple will be a temple dedicated to peace.

Can a Third Temple conceived as separate from God have any validity in this region? Somehow I have my doubts.

WOMAN RIDING THE BEAST

From Canada Free Press via a blog reader:

It’s not likely John Paul II has ever visited the EU’s crystal palace in Brussels or would be as familiar with its trappings as outspoken protestant minister, Rev. Ian R.K. Paisley, MPP, MEP.

While political Pooh-Bahs visiting EU headquarters are often photographed with the giant oil painting of a cherub as the main backdrop, Paisley goes behind media headlines.

The Man of the Cloth has written eloquently about the crystal palace, the millions of pounds it cost to build it, and he even lavishes details on the EU’s chosen symbol: The Woman Riding the Beast.

The Woman Riding the Beast is of course, distasteful to Bible-reading Christians the world over. Yet, the depiction of the same symbol was reproduced on the centenary stamp of the E.U. and in a huge painting in the Parliament’s new building in Brussels.

And if that weren’t enough, it was repeated again in a huge sculpture outside the new EU Council of Ministers office in Brussels, for good measure.

"A massive crystal palace tower--officially called the Tower Building–houses the fifth parliament of Europe," Paisley wrote. "It is certainly a building of the space age. The seats of its massive hemicycle are designed like the crew seats in the Star Trek space machines. There are 679 of them--but wait for it! While these seats are allocated to members, one seat remains unallocated and unoccupied. The number of that seat is 666."

The number 666 seems to be a favourite, if not an obsession with the EU. In 2000, with help from France, Solana created a military command structure in the EU, purportedly to compete with the U.S. for government dominance in the Mediterranean by implementing Recommendation 666.

The EU is coming at the world out of left field. With 25 members already signed up and three other applicants Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey waiting in line, it’s a force to be reckoned with.

It's no secret that JPII has favored the UN. He was quite outspoken about the need for UN involvement in the War on Terrorism. The EU decision to avoid mentioning the Christian roots of Europe in the Charter was a major defeat for him.

Now Free Press likens the question "Is the UN anti-Christian?" to asking "Is the Pope Catholic?"

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

WHY DOES KOFI ANNAN HAVE THE BLACK BOX

from the plane crash that killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, and sparked the African massacres which the UN estimated, killed more than 600,000?

Canada Free Press would like to know. A reader sent this story:

It took the accusation of the French attorney-general, who charged the UN of obstructing his investigation into the 1994 crash by hiding the flight recorder, to get at the truth.

"There is no black box, I don’t know what you’re talking about," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters, reinforcing his comments with the pretext of peeking under his desk.

Within days Eckhard was backtracking and was now admitting that a black box had indeed been found. No further information would be provided he said, until the data was analyzed.

By this time, Stanislas Kamanzi, Rwanda’s UN ambassador was wondering aloud whether some sort of cover-up was involved. "The whole thing smells fishy," he told CNN.

MODERN DAY OCCULTISTS IN HIGH PLACES

From Canada Freepress.com:

With the media spotlight trained on scandals like the oil-for-food boondoggle, Kofi Annan and the Old Boy’s Network running the United Nations are making a cottage industry out of the occult.

Indeed, the idea of employing the occult as a means to manipulate people seems to be making the greatest UN comeback since the days when Rasputin was lording it over the Romanovs.

The United Nations’ promise of peace on earth hasn’t materialized, but meanwhile you can sign up for the occult at UN headquarters.

There are the twice-a-week meditation sessions held by the UN’s official Indian meditation instructor Sri Chinmoy, whose specialty is lulling audiences into trances with music. You don’t have to wait for Halloween, either.

Chinmoy, who says he was Thomas Jefferson in another life, also happens to be a champion weight lifter. An Ottawa telephone caller told Canadafreepress.com that she had witnessed Chinmoy hold "the much heavier" Desmond Tutu over his head at a recent UN function in New York City.

Although it sounds like something straight out of science fiction, in the aftermath of 9/11, the sloop Clearwater sailed the Earth Charter to New York, following the charter’s ceremonious, mega mile trek through open farmfields. Covered in goatskin and gilded, the Earth Charter is the replacement for the Ten Commandments, as devised by UN Old Boy Network members Maurice Strong and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Finish reading the story at the website.

Thanks to a reader for sending this in.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

SENATE TRIES AGAIN TO GET HATE CRIMES BILL PASSED

From Windy City Times:

The U.S. Senate passed hate-crimes legislation that includes protection for GLBTs on June 15 by a 65 to 33 margin. Officially called the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, the measure was added as an amendment to a spending bill for the Defense Department. It has passed the Senate twice before, only to be striped out in a conference with the House.

“When someone is being stoned in the public square, we should all come to their rescue, and that includes the federal government,” said lead sponsor Gordon Smith, R-Ore., during floor debate.

Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., another leading supporter, called hate crimes “domestic terrorism plain and simple, and it’s unacceptable.”

John Kerry, D-Mass., and Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., both cosponsors of the bill, did not vote. All of the other Democrats and 18 Republicans supported the amendment.

Expansion of federal hate-crimes legislation to include gays was first introduced in 1998 and passed the Senate as an amendment to another appropriations bill in 1999. They tried again in 2000, increasing the margin to 57 to 42.

VATICAN HAS PROMOTED AN ABUSER

Lee Penn e-mailed this the link to this Dallas News story a few days ago, and I haven't gotten to it until now. From the website:

The Vatican promoted a U.S. priest through its international diplomatic corps despite high-level warnings in the 1990s that he had sexually abused a girl, according to interviews and records.

The case is believed to be the first in which the Vatican has been found harboring an abuser in its ranks. In a message to American Catholic leaders during last year's abuse crisis, Pope John Paul II said: "There is no place in the priesthood or religious life for those who would harm the young."

Alerts about Monsignor Daniel Pater went to the Vatican from his home Archdiocese of Cincinnati and a former official at an elite seminary in Rome. That official told The Dallas Morning News that nothing happened after he twice spoke with Bishop James M. Harvey, a friend who was a longtime Vatican state department executive and now heads the pope's personal staff.

Bishop Harvey acknowledged Friday that he had known "there'd been some problems" with the American priest but said that he hadn't known details and was not in a position to affect the priest's career.

"I presumed everything was OK, that there wasn't anything to it or the accusations were false," the bishop said in a telephone interview from Rome. "I just presumed that when he continued, that everything was OK."

In fact, a lawsuit against Monsignor Pater had ended with a confidential payment to his accuser in 1995 and the priest's stay in a treatment center. Monsignor Pater said in a brief interview Friday that he had recently quit his Vatican job and was "very sorry for what happened."

At the time of his resignation, he was the Vatican's No. 2 diplomat in India. He is now visiting family in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, where he abused a young parishioner before joining the Vatican's foreign service in the early 1980s.

It's a long story. Go to the website for the rest of it.

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF THE SSJ PRIESTS

Did Fr. Urrutigoity and Fr. Ensey molest minors? Someone from Bishop Timlin's office must have thought there was a possibility they did, since a psychological evaluation was ordered. Now the attorney for the Fathers has attempted to keep the victim's lawyer from seeing the evaluation. A judge has ruled they cannot claim this is attorney-client nor therapist-client privileged information not intended for Diocesan eyes, since it was the Diocese that ordered the evaluation.

The issue in point is whether the victim's lawyer will get the information contained in the evaluations. Urruigoity's evaluation is the one being considered. Ensey's has been delayed. Considering the legal maneuvering, the report must be damaging. Had it exhonorated Urrutigoity, it would have been willingly turned over to the victim's attorney.

Here is the Scranton Times Leader version of events. The Scranton Times Tribune story is similar.

It's seems likely an appeal will be sought since the judge has ruled this can take place immediately. Trial is scheduled for September. St. Gregory's Academy belongs to the FSSP. Ensey and Urrutigoity were both staying there prior to the SSJ establishing the organization in Pennsylvania. Whether or not the FSSP was aware of the alleged abuse when it was taking place is another matter being disputed.

This is hardly what a faithful traditional Catholic parent expects to find when they send their son to a traditional facility. The fact that an organization uses the Tridentine Mass and preaches traditional Catholicism does not guarantee that corruption has not set in.

Discernment prior to making contributions to these organizations is essential.

CHENEY USES F-WORD

seems to be the most attention getting Catholic news of the morning.

Does that mean this is a good day to shut down the computer and go weed the flower beds? Probably not...the sky here is the color of two-week old snow on the devil strip. For all of you California Sun Bunnies, that means rain is expected. Again.

ECUMENISM, THY NAME IS HERESY

The Article about the Rowan-Williams-Recommended New Scripture

It mentions John Henson and the "One" organization.

John Henson's "One" organization called ONE for Christian Exploration

Henson's books are listed under "Our Publications"

Their upcoming "Celebration" in October 2004 is scheduled to take place at the Sion Centre for Dialog & Encounter conference area, which is occupied by the Sisters of Sion, and is home to the Christian Jewish Library.


The Sisters of Sion

The order is mentioned in this handbook for Parish Core Communities, [Catholic] Diocese of Westminister which says, under the subheading "Catholic- Jewish Dialogue in the Diocese of Westminster:

Since the Second Vatican Council...the Sisters of Sion have been entrusted with the task of keeping alive the scriptural teaching that God's covenant with the Jewish people has never been revoked....From their Study Centre for Christian-Jewish Relations in Notting Hill, with its specialist Christian-Jewish library...

confirming that the ONE organization and the Ctholic Sisters of Sion have a business arrangement. Here are the nuns--this group is in Ireland. Click the link for "Sisters of Sion" to see that apparently they are all over the world.

At the 2002/2003 Program link you can see a listing of their courses including homeopathy, reflexology and relaxation, yoga, Enneagram, Christian Jewish Bible Course, Fellowship of Contemplative Prayer directed by "Mr." Tony Dunton, Dream Retreat, Women's Clergy/Lay Conference, Myers-Briggs, and Seekers Weekend.

Considering that line-up of courses and the working relationship with the Jews, is it reasonable to assume they would object to the new Scripture translation?

Incidentally, going back to the ONE for Christian Exploration website, listed under "Recent additions to the collection" is the Gnostic "Gospel of Thomas." And that is only the beginning of the heresy contained in that website. If you want more, read through "The ONE Creed Project" where they spell out their replacement for the Nicene Creed.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!



UPDATE


JOHN HANSEN IS
Minister (guest?) at St. David's Uniting Church (Presbyterian, apparently) which links ONE for Christian Renewal on its website.


FRANK PYCROFT IS

A member of ONE for Christian Exploration.

The Secretary of Catholics for a Changing Church which is part of RENEW.


LESLIE CRAM IS

The webmaster for ONE for Christian Renewal.

A writer for Renew/Catholics for a Changing Church.

A writer for Spiritech Virtual Foundation

Editor of ONE for Christian Renewal's ONE Creed Project which promotes "Diversity of practice in a unity in belief."


MEIC PHILLIPS IS

In charge of membership for ONE for Christian Renewal

Press/Media contact for Action Earth program Maydays Day of May.

A participant in a revival of the "Beating of the Bounds" ceremony according to the Guardian.

NEW BIBLE TRANSLATION

The story came out yesterday, and it is so bizarre that I've been wondering what to make of it and hoping for some sort of confirmation. So far there doesn't seem to be any.

According to WorldNetDaily, this strange new translation made by Baptist Minister John Henson, for the "One" organization has the approval of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterberry.

The "One" organization, or ONE for Christian Renewal has a curious "address"--Sion Centre for Dialog & Encounter.

Sion. As in "Priory of" of Baigent, Lincoln, and Leigh--Holy Blood, Holy Grail--fame? As in The Da Vinci Code?

The organization seems to be promoting a universal religion with the help of "Sisters of Sion." It is also the home of the Christian Jewish Library.

On 9/11/01 three news websites ran an article on an anticipated new translation of Scripture--The Times, The Guardian, and Dawn. The Twin Towers news eclipsed these announcements, and there was no follow-up until this announcement of a new translation made yesterday.

Richard Owen's article has been picked up by this website and is identical to my printout from the Times on 9/11.

Here is the Dawn article.

The Guardian article is no longer available.

Is this new translation being pushed by the Archbishop the same translation talked about on 9/11, I wonder? Owen's article mentions Michael Baigent and Richrd Leigh who claim the Vatican has suppressed material from the Dead Sea Scrolls because they contained material at odds with accepted Christian belief.

This would be easy to dismiss as just another kooky notion if Rowan Williams had not applied his endorsement. That endorsement requires taking this seriously.

Is the Gorsedd somehow involved?

I've blogged some of these comments at Bettnet where some discussion of this is taking place. The thread is titled "Satan's Bible".



UPDATE

Miec Phillips handles membership for ONE for Christian Renewal. He has written for a webzine called "Web Renew". Take a look at the other authors on the list. The webzine is subtitled "We Are Church" - "Catholics for a Changing Church."

Web Renew #19 includes an article by Rowan Williams titled: "From Hegel to Homosexuality."

In the September 2002 issue Rowan Williams writes on "The Future of the Papacy."

KABBALAH MADONNA-STYLE

My article on the Kabbalah Centre is up at the Crux News website.

CARL OLSEN AND SANDRA MIESEL'S BOOK RELEASED

Yahoo News reports: The Definitive Debunking of The Da Vinci Code Released by Ignatius Press

SAN FRANCISCO, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Ignatius Press has just published the most comprehensive expose available on the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code. While Code sales top 7 million copies - with many of its most avid readers being Christians, including many Catholics - The Da Vinci Hoax is the first full-length examination of the Code by Catholic writers that exhaustively refutes the Code's claims about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Catholic Church.

The Da Vinci Hoax is a 375-page dissection which unravels Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown's claim that his book is well researched and accurate. Olson and Miesel set out to document Brown's anti-Catholic vision behind his novel. Olson is also author of Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"? (Ignatius Press, 2003), a careful analysis of the popular Left Behind novels and their theology. Associated Press selected Will Catholics Be "Left Behind"? as one of the top religious books of 2003. Miesel is a historical researcher and a novelist in her own right.

Olson and Miesel provide what Cardinal Francis George of Chicago - who wrote the Introduction to the book - calls "the definitive debunking" of The Da Vinci Code. "The title of this book says it all," says Cardinal George. "The authors of The Da Vinci Hoax deserve our gratitude for exposing in considerable detail and with a sure touch the fabrications of Dan Brown's book." They systematically refute Brown's charge that the Catholic Church is behind what he calls "the greatest conspiracy in the last 2000 years."

BISHOP HOWARD HUBBARD CLEARED

From the Times Union:

A former federal prosecutor who spent four months investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against Bishop Howard Hubbard said there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations against the bishop.

Mary Jo White announced her findings at a news conference at Albany Law School. She said a copy of the report has been given to the Sexual Misconduct Review Board of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

DMN REPORT GETS RESULTS

According to f2 network:

Samoa has castigated the Catholic Church in Australia for sending a priest to the country without warning that he was a convicted pedophile. The country's most senior official described the action as a cynical exercise that impugned the integrity of the Catholic Church. ...The country's most senior public servant, Auseugaefa Vaasatia Komiti, said last night that senior officials of the Catholic Church in Australia had failed in their moral obligations, adding that the man who was in charge of the Salesian order in Australia between 1994 and 1998, Father John Murphy, now also faced deportation from Samoa. Another priest, also subject to past allegations, is also facing deportation.

Mr Komiti said Father Murphy had witnessed Klep's visa application, which stated that Klep was a person of good character who had never been convicted. He said the Archbishop of Samoa was apparently not informed about Klep's criminal past and may have been "deceived and misled" by senior officials of the Australian Catholic Church.

"We have evidence that shows that the people who sent him here knew about his convictions," Mr Komiti said.

The head of the Salesian Order in Australia, Father Ian Murdoch, has declined to be interviewed about the Klep case.

However, the executive officer of the Australian Catholic Church's national committee for professional standards, Julian McDonald, has said Klep should not have been sent to Samoa.


What was it that the Salesians said as reported by Zenit on June 21?...oh yes:

The Salesian statement said that the newspaper asserted that religious involved in cases of sexual abuse of minors "are systematically moved from one country to another to remove them from judicial investigations."

"Insofar as the Salesian congregation is concerned, it is emphasized that this does not correspond to the truth," the statement affirmed.

I guess the Salesian who made that statement had his fingers crossed. If our hierarchy were trying to destroy the Catholic Church they could hardly improve on current efforts! (Can you tell I'm totally disgusted? Yeah, I thought so.)

THE MODERN FACE OF THEOSOPHY

From the website of Grace Valley Christian Center, a lecture by Dr. Peter Jones discusses "The Future of New Paganism," delivered in May 1998. The following is a portion of the text:

As this group [Episcopal Bishop William Swing's United Religions] has developed in recent years, they have worked with a group called the Temple of Understanding. Together they have conducted spiritual summit conferences in conjunction with United Nations political summits. The Temple of Understanding is one arm of the Theosophical Society. And a little later I want to show you how Mikhail Gorbachev is related to the Theosophical Society. The first Theosophical Society was founded in Chicago in 1870 by a Russian princess, Madame Blavatsky, who communicated with "ascended masters," namely the occult.

The Temple of Understanding is affiliated with the Gaia Institute and with the United Nations Global Committee of Parliamentarians on Population Development. In that group there is a very well known New Age leader, a Canadian billionaire by the name of Maurice Strong, who also proposes a one-world government. Maurice Strong, who has recently been asked by Kofi Annan to reorganize the United Nations, has a ranch in Colorado, where he has built a Babylonian sun god temple which serves as a center of New Age religious activities. He was the organizer of the first U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

HOUSES HAVE STOPPED BURNING FOR THE PRESENT

in the Italian town that in February reported spontaneous unexplained fires in several houses. Residents are moving back, but still no one has an explanation of what happened. Some are talking about exorcism. If you're interested, read the story here.

RCIA BEING SOLD WITH A NEW AGE IMAGE

at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Naples, Florida. Please!...put some clothes on that body! Scroll down to the picture of Paul Todd. Did someone make a typo by forgetting to put the "a" at the end of this person's name, or is that a man? I guess a crucifixion would be a really inconvenient event during a Dinner Date with God. I wonder if they provide doggy bags?

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Oh, I almost forgot. This lovely website is brought to you courtesy of Novus Ordo Watch.

EMMAUS CATHOLIC CHURCH

in Lakeway, Texas has a rather unusual crucifix. The same image appears here where it is easier to see.

The links for this comes from Novus Ordo Watch.

If you scroll down at this Emmaus webpage, you will see that it's being called the "Resurrection Crucifix."

I don't think our theology will support a concept of Christ rising from the cross. Death on the cross was and is a central tenet of the faith. This image seems to deny that. Resurrection took place out of the tomb according to Scripture, not off of the cross. That is such a basic dogma that there should be no need to spell it out. But faced with this resurrection image, it becomes necessary to reiterate the dogma.

Holy Name Cathedral Parish in Chicago also has a resurrection crucifix, though in this case the image is not nearly as contradictory to dogma.

There is a resurrection cross at Eastern Christian Supply, but again this crucifix is not nearly so dogma-denying as the image at Emmaus.

You can get a resurrection cross at LuckyFish tatoo parlor. They offer a lot of Celtic images as well. And astrology images. But that's sort of off topic.

Ministry for Christ asks that we join their new Easter tradition of the resurrection cross to be set up in the church yard.

This is the first time I've seen this cross referred to as a resurrection cross.

Cardinal Egan tells a story about his resurrection pectoral cross.

Mater Dei Imports sells a hand-painted resurrection cross that looks more like something Rosicrucian than like something Catholic, probably because the Rosicrucian cross (scroll down) also uses a lot of color. (No human images on the Rosicrucian Cross, though.) Ditto for this one. Who knows what to make of this one. Of course none of these appear in a church.

Take a moment to read about the Gnostic Conception of the Crucifixion. Specifically:

When on the cross, Christos and Sophia left his body, and returned to their own sphere. Upon his death, the two took the man Jesus," and abandoned his material body to the earth; for the Gnostics held that the true Jesus did not (and could not) physically suffer on the cross, and die...

Christos and Sophia leave the body that has been crucified. Now take a look again at the picture of that original resurrection crucifix.

THANKS TO THE DMN STORY

Samoa is taking action to return Fr. Klep to Australia where he will have to face the charges made against him. Check out Bettnet for a discussion on this.

THIEVES HAVE TAKEN THE TABERNACLE

This article is linked at Bettnet.

From the website:

In addition to the tabernacle, the perpetrators took every picture of Jesus that was in the church, along with several replicas of the Last Supper, including one that was believed to be several generations old.

Also stolen were table candles, angels, food and beverage items, a cooler, large rolls of aluminum foil and Saran wrap and two floral arrangements that had been dedicated in memory of deceased members of the church.

"It appears they tried to remove the ciborium but were unable to get it out because the tabernacle is locked with a key," said Prunty. "They couldn't find the key, so they took the tabernacle, although they left the lid behind."

Over at Bettnet, Dom says of this report:

This smacks of Satanic worship. We pray in reparations for the sins against our Eucharistic Lord.

SPANKING

Withhold not chastisement from a boy; if you beat him with the rod, he will not die. Beat him with the rod, and you will save him from the nether world. Prov. 23:13

Spanking children has become a controversial topic. In a commentary at Crosswalk.com, Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, delves into it:

Earlier this year, the Canadian Supreme Court turned back an effort to outlaw spanking in that country. Nevertheless, the Canadian Parliament is expected to take up the issue in the near future, with human rights agencies lobbying for a change in Canadian law to eliminate corporal punishment in all Canadian provinces.

Spanking is already outlawed in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Cypress, Croatia, and Latvia. Nations considering a ban on corporal punishment include Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Belgium, and the Republic of Ireland. Much of this is now driven by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is pressuring countries to ban corporal punishment or face censure and public criticism. Anti-spanking activists claim that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires a ban on all physical punishment.

Now, the British government is poised to deal with corporal punishment, and the Church of England appears to be joining the anti-spanking bandwagon. The issue of spanking has received a good deal of attention in England, with a notorious case resulting in the prosecution of a British father by an international court, simply for spanking his son.

Kenneth Stevenson, the Bishop of Portsmouth, is leading the effort in Great Britain to remove the allowance for "reasonable chastisement" from British law.

The British government has declined thus far to support a total ban on spanking (known there as "smacking"), but with backing from the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, and Methodist churches, the anti-spanking proposal will not go away anytime soon.

The website was linked at Spirit Daily.

It is hard to overlook the fact that those advocating for outlawing corporal punishment are not parents. The commentary opens with the example of Brookline, where a psychologist and non-parent is attempting to get a local anti-spanking law onto the books. So far he has failed, but he doesn't appear to be discouraged. The Boston Globe offers more details on the regulation rejected by Brookline.

The Catholic Church wading into this debate on the wrong side is an unpleasant surprise. What do a bunch of "celibate" males know about raising children? Recent sexual abuse evidence shows they know precious little. It boggles the mind to think the Church leaders would cover up and enable sexual abuse while at the same time attempting to outlaw spanking. Someone needs to issue a reality check.

As a parent of a 25-year-old, I have some experience with this. First, it's necessary to say that spanking is not the same thing as physical abuse. We are not talking about cuts and bruises here. We are talking about a slap on the hand or on the soft place God provided. We are talking about five minutes of stinging flesh combined with a parent who is definitely not pleased.

The experts argue for other methods. Stuff.com headlines an article on the topic with this:

Physical punishment can turn children into violent offenders, lower their IQ, spark suicidal thoughts and is unlikely to teach them anything, a new report says.

This article states further along that:

The report, by Otago University Children's Issues Centre and the Office of the Children's Commissioner, was made public today. It said half of Kiwi parents physically punished their children at least once a week, often oblivious to the long-term harm it was doing.

I guess this means that Kiwi must be half-filled with suicidal violent offenders of low intelligence. Would anyone normal really want to live there?

WISH TV Indianapolis offers a viewpoint on school paddling:

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry opposes corporal punishment in schools. In a policy statement it says paddling signals to children that physical force is a way to solve conflicts.

“There is no evidence that it works and there is evidence that it can cause harm,” said Dr. Matthew Galvin, child psychiatrist at the St. Vincent Stress Center.

Did Dr. Galvin check with any parents before making that statement, one wonders? I tend to be doubtful.

The Telegraph reports on an organization called the Children are Unbeatable! Alliance:

The alliance believes in "positive discipline" that gets children to behave without the need for punishments that hurt or humiliate. "Negative discipline rests on the power parents have over children and assumes that children have to be forced to behave well," says spokesman Tony Samphier. "It focuses on bad behaviour, expects it, watches out for it, punishes children for it and hopes that will frighten them into doing the opposite."

Had to chuckle over this passage in the article:

Ruth Andrews, whose children are grown up, recalls with shame smacking her younger son, Luke, when he went through a difficult phase around the age of eight. "I felt as if there was no alternative. The argument would boil up - usually over something trivial - until I knew it would end with me spanking him but unable to stop myself. There seemed no other way to end our dispute. I now wish I had shut myself in another room.

Somehow I don't think running away is a suitable technique for handling children's misbehavior. If they get away with it at home, they are likely to experiment with public places where there is no extra room where the parent can escape responsibility.

In my experience, time out can work, though sometimes it simply fails. It takes more parental effort and the punishment and rejection continues for a longer period of time for the child than a spanking requires. Rewards for good behavior were little more than a make-work project for mom that the kid barely paid attention to. I abandoned the gold star chart on the fridge after a couple of weeks of trial and failure.

However, I'm a staunch advocate for giving a kid a lot of positive feedback for good behavior. Children tend to do things to get their parents' attention, so giving attention to the good things they do works out well. But the time comes when mom's prohibitions are simply being ignored. That's the time for some negative feedback on a surface intended for that purpose.

I learned the hard way during a visit to the mall, when obnoxious behavior was the message of the day from the short stuff, that you can't spank a kid in a snowsuit. Smack the snowsuit-clad bottom and your hand will bounce. The sound of "whoof" is somewhat lacking in impact. I'm not sure which of us was the more surprised on that occasion.

There was one memorable time when I got out the ruler after repeated warnings not to go into the street. Yeah, the ruler hurt. Enough to result in the desired behavior. It hurt a lot less than the results of an encounter with a speeding car, so I have no regrets.

And there was that school morning when the kidlet decided she could "take" mom, and spewed out a line of sass that earned her one red cheek almost before she blinked. This failed experiment with talking back to mom cured her of any future attempts.

She still remembers both of these incidents, and we have laughed over them a few times. She also tells me she believes in corporal punishment for children.

I know of at least one parent who did not. Were the days spent in Juvenile Detention and Juvenile Court, the abuse of drugs and alcohol, the pregnant girlfriend, the need to get a GED after dropping out of school, a better choice than corporal punishment? Oh, what a few well-placed swats in childhood might have accomplished!

The experts argue for mutual respect between parent and child. There is a place for respect of children. They are gifts God loans to us and for which we must answer to Him. That is no small responsibility. But they are not equal to a parent until they become an adult themselves; and reciprocal, identical respect is unwarranted and unhealthy. We are not their friends until we have first been their parents.

I hope I never have to live in a country where corporal discipline is outlawed, because I suspect it will bring about a culture that is out of control. We can't reject the good advice of Scripture without some temporal consequences.

ARE THE POPULATION CONTROLLERS HAPPY NOW ?

From San Francisco Faith:

In March, I thought it nearly fortuitous that, when I was writing an article on the Sierra Club controversy over immigration -- and touching on the club's stance on population control in general -- the United States Census Bureau should issue a report noting that fertility rates were dropping worldwide. Could it be, I wondered, that the Sierra Club might consider changing its position on population control, given the Census Bureau's report? At least, mightn't it consider taking a stance of neutrality on population growth (as it has on immigration), seeing that fertility rates are not increasing, but declining? Eagerly, I called the Sierra Club to get its take on the Census Bureau's report.

After being shuffled around a bit, I was directed to Annette Souder, who works in the club's population division. Souder, as I expected, was familiar with the Census Bureau's report. She knew all the salient points -- that, though we hit the six billion mark in 1999, the pace at which world population is growing actually peaked a decade earlier. Indeed, the rate in 2002 (1.2 percent) is down quite from what it was in 1963-64 (2.2 percent). Souder was familiar with the more interesting point, that not only was the rate of world population growth decreasing, but the Census Bureau projects that if trends continue, "the level of fertility for the world as a whole will drop below replacement level before 2050." This, of course, means that in the not too distant future, world population may actually begin to decrease.

DALLAS MORNING NEWS - 4TH INSTALLMENT IN ABUSE SCANDAL

ALBISSOLA MARINA, Italy – Inside a 16th-century Catholic church by the Mediterranean Sea, the priest dresses as a man of God and preaches about the Holy Spirit.

Outside, he tells lies.

"I'm not a functioning priest," he says, until he realizes a reporter has just seen him celebrate Sunday evening Mass. Then he says he only "occasionally" leads a service and isn't in active ministry. "Ministry means one has to be in a parish," he says.

In fact, the Pakistani has been serving here since last fall as associate pastor of Nostra Signora della Concordia. He has also been leading a smaller congregation in the nearby village of Ellera.

JAMES JOYCE A THEOSOPHIST ?

According to the Sunday Herald, it may be so. From the website:

László Najmányi, a theatre director and organiser of the Szombathely Bloomsday festivals explained why Joyce chose to immortalise Virag in metamorphosing him into the Dubliner Bloom.

The key, he argues, was Joyce’s fascination with the Virags, especially Lipot. But there are further clues. During the 11 years Joyce spent teaching English in Trieste, he belonged to the “Szombathely circle”, which used to be a magnet for aficionados of literature, spiritualism and the quaint principles of theosophy.

One of the Trieste circle’s most famous members was Madam Blavatsky, a key expounder of the bizarre religious and philosophical system of theosophy, which claims to provide an intuitive insight into the divine nature. The “Szombathely circle” is still functioning today.

Najmányi claims that Joyce was absorbed by Hungarian culture and language. “In his Finnegans Wake there are over 50 pages of Hungarian dialogue to make things as inscrutable as possible,” he said.

He added that both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake have Hungarian influences.

MADONNA ECLIPSES RABBI MICHAEL BERG

at his birthday bash. Berg is the son of the Director of the Kabbalah Centre, Rav Berg.

Meanwhile Ireland Online takes note of the Vatican disapproval of Madonna's new religion.

L.A. Daily News is not kind in their analysis of Madonna's faddiness: Always grabbing headlines, always finding our hot buttons. There had to be one too many. She had to jump the shark at some point, and I think Madonna as the Hebrew prophet just may be the one giant leap into the abyss. Of course, 10 years from now, when Madonna is doing an Apache rain dance onstage in Las Vegas, we may look back fondly on these days.

Why do celebrities go off on these flights of fancy? Why do they change religions the way most of us change socks? Because they have money, free time and an army of sycophants who tell them only what they want to hear. While most of us are busy trying to pay our Visa bill and keep a roof over our heads, Madonna can grab a new belief system, and David Hasselhoff can record a rap album. In short, these people have no one to say, "What in the world are you doing? Stop acting like a jackass."

Is this to imply that a genuine interest in other religions and cultures is wrong? No. But Madonna is not reading and learning; she is parading the thing around as if she invented it. She is wearing traditional Hebrew garb in her videos and flashing Kabbalah texts on the jumbotron at her concerts. That such gaudiness is seen as sacrilege by devout Jews is as lost on Madonna as, well, her virginity.

NEWS FROM PLANET ZIRCON

Yesterday I posted a link to This website without including a comment, because frankly I couldn't think of a single thing to say about it that would put it in context. On this website which claims a monumental scandal in the Roman Catholic Church (as though we needed another one!) is the following statement:

Dr. Wilson Bryan Key, famed author, world-renowned professor, and the definitive word on such imagery, examined Calace's findings, giving full corroboration. Upon verifying the images, Dr. Key said that there is "no question it's present" and added, "They're using this to recruit kids and corrupt them."

A reader has found Dr. Wilson Bryan Key mentioned in another website. Check out ClamPlate.

If you look at the URL, you will see it comes from "uiowa.edu" which is the University of Iowa domain. Once again, I have no idea how to put this into context, and so Planet Zircon will have to be its resting place for now.

SELESIANS RESPOND

to charges by Dallas Morning News. From Zenit (June 21, 2004)

The Salesians have issued a warning about a negative newspaper campaign targeted at religious congregations and orders in the United States.

"It all began with an investigation carried out by The Dallas Morning News," said a press statement issued today by the congregation.

The Salesian statement said that the newspaper asserted that religious involved in cases of sexual abuse of minors "are systematically moved from one country to another to remove them from judicial investigations."

"Insofar as the Salesian congregation is concerned, it is emphasized that this does not correspond to the truth," the statement affirmed.


Blog crdit to Spirit Daily

Hmmm. DMN has pictures, names, dates, some of which is taken from court testimony. Zenit has a denial. Perhaps the denial would be more convincing if each of the priests targeted by the DMN were addressed individually by the Selesians in their denial. Somehow I don't find this blanket statement credible, especially given the current climate in the Church.



UPDATE

This Zenit article is being discussed at Bettnet.

DALLAS MORNING NEWS LATEST ARTICLE

in its investigation into clergy sexual abuse is up at their website.

The Mexican bishop had trouble on his hands. An attacker had nearly killed one of his priests, whose sexual misconduct was well known to the bishop. And now villagers were telling police about a stream of young male visitors to the priest's parish residence.

The U.S. bishop had a different problem: a lack of Spanish-speaking priests to serve a growing immigrant population.

And so, in 1987, the Rev. Nicolás Aguilar got a fresh start in Southern California. Just nine months later, he was on the move again, leaving behind one of the largest child sexual abuse cases in Los Angeles Archdiocese history. Again, scandal was contained with the priest hiding abroad.

Father Aguilar's tale of international flight fits a pattern that Catholic Church leaders have repeated around the world, a yearlong Dallas Morning News investigation has found.

In this case, the two bishops have become prominent figures in the global Catholic hierarchy. One, the Rev. Norberto Rivera, is now Mexico City's cardinal and one of his country's most powerful men. The other, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, leads the largest diocese in the United States.

(Go to the website for the rest of the story.)

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS IS ?

E-MAIL FROM LEE PENN

In the current issue of the Journal of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project, I have an article titled "When the state becomes god" - an history, current overview, and projection of the destruction of freedom in the US.

One of my predictions is coming to pass.

(The magazine is available for order by e-mailing SCP at scp@scp-inc.org or by calling them in Berkeley CA at 510-540-0300 from 9 to 5 West Coast time.)

In the article, which I prepared in April, I wrote:

"In 2000, Nevada police arrested a man who refused to identify himself to them, even though he had not (yet) been arrested or charged with a crime. In March 2004, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the case; its decision will determine whether a police request for "your papers, please" now is a legally enforceable order."

I predicted how the High Court would rule on civil liberties cases:

"Several Supreme Court justices have said that they will not stand in the way. In March 2003, Justice Antonin Scalia told a gathering at John Carroll University that "most of the rights you enjoy go way beyond what the Constitution requires," because "the Constitution just sets minimums;" during war, "the protections will be ratcheted down to the constitutional minimum." Soon after the attack on the World Trade Center, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said that Americans are "likely to experience more restrictions on our personal freedom than has ever been the case in our country." In 1998, Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote, in his book All the Laws But One: Civil Liberties in Wartime, that "In time of war, presidents may act in ways that push their legal authority to its outer limits, if not beyond." Three of the nine Justices have telegraphed their intent: when the President says "jump," they will say, "how high?"

Some cases, such as the "enemy combatant" case, are still to be decided. But the Court has ruled in the Nevada case. See this story:

=======================================================

AOL News - Justices Rule People Can't Keep Names From Police

Justices Rule People Can't Keep Names From Police
5-4 Ruling Is a Defeat for Advocates of Privacy Rights
By GINA HOLLAND, AP

WASHINGTON (June 21) -- WASHINGTON (June 21) -- A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that people who refuse to give their names to police can be arrested, even if they've done nothing wrong.

The court previously had said police may briefly detain people they suspect of wrongdoing, without any proof. But until now, the justices had never held that during those encounters a person must reveal their identity.

The court's 5-4 decision upholds laws in at least 21 states giving police the right to ask people their name and jail those who don't cooperate. Law enforcement officials say identification requests are a routine part of detective work.

Privacy advocates say the decision gives police too much power. Once officers have a name, they can use computer databases to learn all kinds of personal information about the person.

[Go to the website to finish reading the story. - ct]

=================================================

Welcome to the New Prussia.

Lee

MADONNA, KABBALAH AT JEWSWEEK

Jewriffic Awards offers this comment on the pop star's newly discovered religion:

Going to a Madonna concert riddled with cryptic Hebrew texts and images of war is like going to a strip joint, only to find the strippers reading from the Book of Psalms." -- Mary Spio, pop culture editor of One2One magazine.

The comment seems appropriate. I'm still wondering about the titles...

THE VATICAN AND KABBALAH

From Beliefnet:

The Vatican has been holding a special summit with Catholic leaders from around the world, hammering out a way to deal with New Age religions and spiritual fads that pose a threat to the historic Christian faith.

Last week that summit singled out "Kabbalah as espoused by Madonna," plus several fad, quasi-Eastern religions.

THIS IS CATHOLIC ?

From the L.A.Daily News:

A Summer Solstice Labyrinth Walk, presented by the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, 5011 White Oak Ave., Encino. Call (818) 784-4515.

RetreatFinder.com indicates the Holy Spirit Retreat Center is Catholic: Franciscan.

This Shamanic Extraction Healing Trainingseems to be one of the events at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center. Here is another one.

Here is the events listing for the Holy Spirit Retreat Center. At the top is a reference to the Sisters of Social Services. The "Autumnal Equinox Labyrinth Walk" is the first entry on the list.

This page in the website indicates the students from Notre Dame have been involved in packing to prepare for new construction.

October Programs. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, these appear to be nuns but look what they are teaching. "Biblical Characters in the Enneagram" indeed! Why not just spell it out accurately--Looking for Catholicism in Occult Material.

The November listing mentions Our Lady of Grace Church.

Ecumenism, naturally. Where the teachings of those who pursue fallen angels are welcome. St. Benedict must be so pleased with them. :-(

Q. Our parish Is holding an enneagram basic workshop. Just what is that and how does our Catholic Church see it?-G.T.C., Indiana, and K.D., Indiana. A. For some good information about the enneagram, and its incompatibility with Catholic teaching, see chapter five ("Occult Roots of the Enneagram") of Fr. Mitch Pacwa's book Catholics and the New Age (Servant Publications). Moral theologian Msgr. William B. Smith has also cautioned Catholics about the dangers of the enneagram.

That passage comes from the website of the Order of the Legion of St. Michael.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

BISHOP FILIPE TEIXEIRA

of the Catholic Church of the Americas has set up his church in rented quarters of the basement of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Brockton. The parish is dedicated to St. Martin de Porres.

There is a story in "The Enterprise" about this bishop. That story indicates that the Bishop has dabbled in several Roman Catholic and Independent Catholic denominations on the way to his present position, including one excommunicated Richard Cardarelli, once a Roman Catholic priest, and now a priest with the Ecumenical Catholic Church who celebrates gay marriages.

According to the article, some Roman Catholics were assuming the priest from St. Martin de Porres parish was Roman Catholic, prompting bulletin announcements in area Catholic churches to notify parishioners that was not correct.

In one case a funeral was arranged at St. Martin de Porres with the belief that it was a Roman Catholic Church, necessitating a hasty switch when the error was discovered.

Teixeira is a controversial figure. He works with the youth population, particularly those on the "wrong path," going to court with them and translating for their families. He did a profiling study of the number of minority drivers stopped by police.

He was charged with interfering with his brother's arrest for driving an unregistered car and refusing to stop for officers. He has also been charged with indecent exposure, but the charges were dropped, and he claims it was all a misunderstanding.

Ind-Movement.org has a picture of Teixeira on their website; there is also a link to his website.

An unsuspecting Catholic might come upon The Catholic Church of the Americas website and think it is Roman Catholic from reading their introduction, at least until they got to the reference to "sexual orientation or preference."

It's unclear what the picture in the top left corner is supposed to represent at this website of the Young Cape Verdean Club, Inc. at St. Martin de Porres church.

RUSSIAN RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE

An Asian newspaper website carries a story about conservative Russian Orthodox destroying an art exhibition in Russia that they found blasphemous.

A TOP CONTENDER FOR THE NEXT PAPACY INVOLVED IN COVER-UP

The cover-up appears to be in full swing in Honduras according to this Dallas News report on Fr. Enrique Vasquez.

It's the same old story...the pess is at fault, the hierarchy is too busy to talk to a reporter, the bishop will not act to police the clergy, silence is demanded to protect the Church, the priest shortage prompts bishops to trust unknown priests. In this case, the FBI and Interpol are looking for this missing abusive priest who has been in Connecticut and Mexico, among other places.

The mother of the victim in this case is no longer Catholic. She tells of pressure to withdraw a complaint against the priest, and of money offered to her for her silence. And she complains about the Pope's lack of response. She, too, expects the Pope to take responsibility for this criminal activity.

Meanwhile the Anglican Church in Adelaide has come under scrutiny by the press. Nine have been arrested in connection with child sexual abuse.

E-MAIL FROM LEE PENN

Vatican Aware of Abuse for Centuries, Study Says

The bottom line: they knew then, and they know now.

Let justice be done!

Lee
=========================================================
Vatican Aware of Abuse for Centuries, Study Says

Authors use church's own documents to make their case. Critics say money is the motive.

By William Lobdell, Times Staff Writer

Facing an estimated 800 sexual-abuse lawsuits in California, Roman Catholic officials have argued that the church learned only in recent years that it had a widespread problem with priests molesting children.

A report in February by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for example, said Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and other bishops didn't realize until 1985 that sexual abuse by clergy was "more than a matter of tragic but isolated incidents."

But a North Carolina priest and two former monks who live in Southern California say they have scoured ancient Vatican records and forgotten Latin texts to show just the opposite: that the church has recognized the problem of abuse by priests for at least 1,700 years and has failed to address it successfully.

"The contention that the present scandal is isolated to this era is completely debunked by the Roman Catholic Church's own documents," concluded Father Thomas P. Doyle and former monks Richard Sipe and Patrick Wall in their 375-page report, "Canonical History of Clerical Sexual Abuse." The authors finished the report last month and are looking for a publisher.

Doyle, now a retired military chaplain, co-wrote a seminal report to U.S. bishops in 1985, warning of problems with abusive priests. Sipe counseled hundreds of abusive priests before he left the clergy. Wall, who heard molestation cases against priests when he served on the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis tribunal council, now works for a plaintiff's attorney.

Church defenders, pointing out that the three authors are allied with or paid by lawyers representing molestation plaintiffs, charge that the report is a ploy to strengthen their hand in court.

"Follow the money," said Peter Michael Callahan, an attorney representing the Diocese of Orange. "What's their motivation? They are professional witnesses who have a position to sell. It's not exactly impartial scholarship."

But the three men say the documents prove that the Catholic Church has known for centuries about molesters in its ranks and has no excuse for failing to take the danger to children seriously until scandal engulfed the church in 2002.

Go to the website to finish reading the story...

BLACK-HEADED CARDINAL

A bird that looks very much like this one is back at the feeder again this year. The body is nearly identical to the bodies of the male cardinals in coloring except that the feathers look as though they have a slight dusting of gray in some places like the bird in the picture, and the body itself is slightly larger than a male cardinal's body. The head is all black without the normal crest that a cardinal has. The way that the head sits on the body reminds me very much of the head of a vulture. The head is slightly small for the body. The beak is a normal cardinal's beak. The bird eats the same seeds the cardinals eat, specifically sunflower seeds. This is the second year this bird has come to our feeder.br>
Cardinals are the state bird of Ohio, and they are common here. For anyone who is not familiar with them, here are some pictures of a normal cardinal:

Here.
Here.
And Here.

There is nothing in either of the bird books that we have to indicate what this bird might be. Has anyone else seen one?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

A prayer for those who "father" all Catholics:

**O God, your ways all show mercy and truth. Carry out your kindly work and by your goodness give what human frailty cannot achieve. Let those who minister at the heavenly Mysteries be perfect in their faith. Let them be, in the purity of their souls, a light that will shine forth to all.**

Deliver them, Lord, from the workings of the evil one.


And a prayer for the fathers in our lives:

**St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste husband of Mary, you passed your life in loving fulfillment of duty. You supported the holy family of Nazareth with the work of your hands. Kindly protect those who trustingly come to you. You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes. They look to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too knew trial, labor and weariness. But amid the worries of material life your soul was full of deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with God's Son entrusted to you and with Mary, his tender Mother. Assure those you protect that they do not labor alone. Teach them to find Jesus near them and to watch over him faithfully as you have done. Pope John XXIII **

Grant eternal rest, Lord, to our deceased fathers. May they live with You forever in the eternal happiness of Your Presence.

JUDIE BROWN RESPONDS TO THE BISHOP'S STATEMENT

"The American bishops have failed," said American Life League president Judie Brown. "The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops had an opportunity to provide strong leadership on the question of Catholic public figures who favor legal abortion. However, their statement misses the mark on several points. As a result, election year politics has trumped the right to life of the innocent and the protection of Christ from sacrilege." Read the rest of her statement here.