Life is Sacred

This is one of the most honestly powerful videos I have seen in a long time. If you are Catholic (and even if you aren't), you ought to watch it and take the message to heart before you vote on 4 November 2008.



Curtsy to Hot Air.

"True peace and love"

Some people say there is no difference between Islam and Christianity because both have violent histories.

But I say there is a huge amount of difference. Yes, the Catholic Church has, at some few times in our history, resorted to violence, such as fighting the Crusades to take back the Holy Land, but anyone who argues that Christians are out perpetrating the sort of violence Muslims do these days is crazy.

Here is the text of the prayer that Pope Benedict XVI will read at Ground Zero on 20 April:

"O God of love, compassion, and healing, look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions, who gather today at this site, the scene of incredible violence and pain.

"We ask you in your goodness to give eternal light and peace to all who died here -- the heroic first-responders: our fire fighters, police officers, emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel, along with all the innocent men and women who were victims of this tragedy simply because their work or service brought them here on September 11, 2001.

"We ask you, in your compassion to bring healing to those who, because of their presence here that day, suffer from injuries and illness.

"Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy. Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope. We are mindful as well of those who suffered death, injury, and loss on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

"Our hearts are one with theirs as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering. God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the earth.

"Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance as we confront such terrible events.

"Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain. Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all."

Beautiful, isn't it? And do notice that the Pope prays for the redemption of those who committed these terrible acts. He does not condemn them to Hell. He does not call them names. He does not advocate the burning of their buildings.

This is in stark contrast to the behavior of Muslims the world over when someone so much as draws and publishes an editorial cartoon with the ever precious Mohammed in it. The Muslim leaders pray and preach murder and violence.

Remind me which is a violent religion? If you can't tell, then you must be very stupid, indeed.

Happy Easter!

Luke 24:1-9:

1 But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. 5 They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead? 6 He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day."

8 And they remembered his words.

9 Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others.


Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!
Happy Easter!

"In the Lord we have become close."

AP: Pope baptizes prominent Italian Muslim---

VATICAN CITY - Italy's most prominent Muslim, an iconoclastic writer who condemned Islamic extremism and defended Israel, converted to Catholicism Saturday in a baptism by the pope at a Vatican Easter service.

An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam infuriated some Muslims with his books and columns in the newspaper Corriere della Sera newspaper, where he is a deputy editor. He titled one book "Long Live Israel."

As a choir sang, Pope Benedict XVI poured holy water over Allam's head and said a brief prayer in Latin.

"We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another," Benedict said in a homily reflecting on the meaning of baptism. "Thus faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in the world: distances between people are overcome, in the Lord we have become close."

Vatican Television zoomed in on Allam, who sat in the front row of the basilica along with six other candidates for baptism. He later received his first Communion.

God bless him and keep him safe.

Hey, Henry VIII & Elizabeth I!

Reuters: Catholicism now Britain's "most popular" faith---

LONDON (Reuters) - Catholics have overtaken Anglicans in church attendance in Britain, according to research published on Sunday.

England officially split from Rome during the reign of Henry VIII more than 400 years ago, making Anglicanism and the Church of England dominant.

But a survey by the group Christian Research published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper showed that around 862,000 worshippers attended Catholic services each week in 2006 exceeding the 852,000 who went to the Church of England.

The release of the figures followed news that former prime minister Tony Blair, who was raised an Anglican, had converted to Catholicism, joining his wife and four children who are devout Catholics.

Attendance at Anglican services has almost halved over the past 40 years as Britain has grown steadily more secular. Only 6 percent of the population attends church regularly. In the United States, that figure is nearer 40 percent.

While attendance figures for both Catholic and Anglican services are declining, Catholic numbers are slipping by less as new migrants arrive from east Europe and parts of Africa, boosting Catholic congregations.

Catholic leaders were buoyed by the figures, and Blair's high-profile conversion, seeing a resurgence of Catholic popularity in a country which once spurned the religion.

"When a former prime minister becomes a Catholic, that must be a sign that Catholicism really has come in from the cold in this country," Catherine Pepinster, the editor of Catholic weekly The Tablet, wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

"I would hope that my fellow Catholics will welcome Tony Blair into the Church as they welcome other converts."

And speaking (writing) of Henry and Elizabeth, Lady Lori sent this to me in an e-mail. Rather appropriate:

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas? Today, I found out.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish."

Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone.....

Welcome to the Church!

As a Catholic, I find this to be excellent news.

Reuters: Tony Blair converts to Catholicism---

LONDON (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair has converted from Britain's established church, Anglicanism, to Roman Catholicism, the head of Britain's Catholics said on Saturday.

Blair, whose wife and four children are Catholic, was received into the Catholic Church by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor on Friday in a move that had been widely expected after he stepped down from power in June.

"I am very glad to welcome Tony Blair into the Catholic Church," Murphy-O'Connor said in a statement, adding the conversion took place in private at a chapel at the cardinal's residence in central London.

"For a long time he has been a regular worshipper at Mass with his family and in recent months he has been following a program of formation to prepare for his reception into full communion.

"My prayers are with him, his wife and family at this joyful moment in their journey of faith together."

As are mine.

But, of course, Blair must follow the Catholic Church's teachings if he really wants to be a true and good Catholic.

Ann Widdecombe, an opposition Conservative member of parliament who converted to Catholicism herself, said Blair would have had to have changed his mind on a number of issues such as abortion and civil partnerships for gay couples.

"If you look at Tony Blair's voting record in the House of Commons, he's gone against church teaching on more than one occasion on things for example like abortion," she told the BBC.

"Unless Tony Blair actually says (he had it wrong before) then I think a lot of people are going to feel exceptions have been made because of who he is."

Shut them down!

Liberals and other Catholic-haters like to behave as though every Catholic priest in the history of Catholic priests has been a child molester. The MSM write countless stories about the very small number of actual Catholic priests who have sexually abused children (or allegedly) and then act like their "facts" come from the Bible. Then, people who hate the Catholic Church call for it to be investigated, tried, and done away with.

There is, no doubt, a higher percentage of school teachers who sexually abuse children. Have a look at this article:

Students in America's schools are groped. They're raped. They're pursued, seduced and think they're in love.

An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic.

There are 3 million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive educators — nearly three for every school day — speaks to a much larger problem in a system that is stacked against victims.

Most of the abuse never gets reported. Those cases reported often end with no action. Cases investigated sometimes can't be proven, and many abusers have several victims.

(Emphasis Added)

That's a lot of abuse. And teachers see students more often than priests do. Think of all the abuse that takes place. Yet, I don't hear for anyone calling for the public school system to be shut down (for this reason).

Those are the findings of an AP investigation in which reporters sought disciplinary records in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The result is an unprecedented national look at the scope of sex offenses by educators — the very definition of breach of trust.

The seven-month investigation found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Young people were the victims in at least 1,801 of the cases, and more than 80 percent of those were students. At least half the educators who were punished by their states also were convicted of crimes related to their misconduct.

The findings draw obvious comparisons to sex abuse scandals in other institutions, among them the Roman Catholic Church. A review by America's Catholic bishops found that about 4,400 of 110,000 priests were accused of molesting minors from 1950 through 2002.

Look at the numbers:

• From 2001-2005, 5 years, 2,570 educators were accused of "sexual misconduct."

• In at least 1,801 cases the victims were young and more than 80 percent were students.

• From 1950-2002, 50 years, 4,400 priests were accused of abuse.

Perhaps I'm just really bad at math, but 2,570 educators accused in only 5 years sounds a lot worse than 4,400 priests accused in 52 years.

One report mandated by Congress estimated that as many as 4.5 million students, out of roughly 50 million in American schools, are subject to sexual misconduct by an employee of a school sometime between kindergarten and 12th grade. That figure includes verbal harassment that's sexual in nature.

Four and a half million children.

Of course, the teachers' unions are firmly on the side of . . . the teachers:

The overwhelming majority of cases the AP examined involved teachers in public schools. Private school teachers rarely turn up because many are not required to have a teaching license and, even when they have one, disciplinary actions are typically handled within the school.

Two of the nation's major teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, each denounced sex abuse while emphasizing that educators' rights also must be taken into account.

"Students must be protected from sexual predators and abuse, and teachers must be protected from false accusations," said NEA President Reg Weaver, who refused to be interviewed and instead released a two-paragraph statement.

And I thought liberals were all about "the children!!!"?

And what about the rights of the priests? Of the Catholic Church? Of the innocent Catholic priests who have been dragged through the mud and spat upon?

Sexual abuse is wrong wherever it takes place. We would all do well to remember that Catholic priests are not the only sexual abusers out there. School teachers are a hell of a lot worse.