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Gotta give 'em credit--ABC news reports that a Chihuahua jumped in front of two pit bulls who threatened her family.
A sad situation all around
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is the title of a piece in the Austin American-Statesman on the scheduled June 15 execution of David Lee Powell for the 1978 murder of police officer Ralph Ablanedo.
The case is clear: Powell shot Ablanedo after a traffic stop. Powell ran, and only a dud grenade prevented him from killing
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Intrigued by a review, I went to see "Sex and the City 2." I found, much to my surprise, that the movie winds up going to bat for much of what one might call "traditional family values." For those new to the franchise, it's about four professional women who are very close
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I know, I know, we've discussed this already. I just can't get this case out of my mind, though. And apparently neither can the NY Times' Nicholas Kristof, whose May 26 editorial ends with this zingy turn of phrase:
When a hierarchy of mostly aging men pounce on and excommunicate a revered nun
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NCR reports the announcement by Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olstead of the excommunication of Mercy Sister Margaret McBride for her approval of an abortion for a critically ill woman. McBride was the ethics committee member on-call when the decision was made. The patient was 11 weeks pregnant and
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Back in 2004, the archdiocese of Boston announced the closure in one fell swoop of more than 18% of its parishes . In the midst of all the shock, sadness, anger and dismay, some parishes decided to refuse the order to close, and began to maintain round-the-clock vigils in the churches to keep them
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Today I will plant my garden. I'm a horticulturalist-come-lately; for the past two years I've gardened in pots on apartment decks, but today I will plant my first-ever garden in the actual ground. I'll rototill, I'll rake in extra "organic matter," (featuring bat guano, apparently the
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The BBC reports today that Roger Vangheluwe, bishop of Bruges, Belgium, has resigned because of his own sexual abuse of a boy, abuse which continued into his episcopacy. The report also mentions another bishop who resigned last year, admitting abuse, and lists those bishops who have resigned for
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"Waiting for the wind." (From The works of Living World @ STARNET ZONE (Mashiko, 2006))
A friend of mine is on retreat for triduum, and sends a terse note that she is "Waiting..." We wait in many ways: like at the dentist's office, or there's waiting like at the DMV,
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Perhaps it's just me, and I should just get over it, but I really can't shake the words of Archbishop Dolan on Palm Sunday, who compared the pope to Jesus, saying he was “now suffering some of the same unjust accusations, shouts of the mob, and scourging at the pillar,” and “being daily
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Tim Rutton at the LA Times chimes in, noting that Benedict's tough talk to the Irish bishops, if applied closer to home, well....
A couple points:
1. The core of the really corrosive moral problem is the cover-up by bishops and, perhaps, the Vatican. Positions that offer access to vulnerable
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Today is the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. This past Saturday I found myself in a crowd of thousands who processed by candlelight through the streets of San Salvador to the National Cathedral where we celebrated a Mass in his memory. The crowd was Salvadoran
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March fourth! I learned on the radio today that it's National Grammar Day. So, onward, all, gird your dangling participles, and seize the day! Take a semi-colon to lunch! Watch for wandering antecedents (and uncle-cedents, too,) and remember, as Winston Churchill is said to have said, "Ending
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The current Christian Century has a nifty interview with travel maven Rick Steves in support of his new book, Travel as a Political Act. Along the way, he's asked about the distinction between tourism and pilgrimage. He describes travel as like pilgrimage:
"The system encourages you
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CNS reports on the ad limina visit of the bishops of England and Wales. Among other things, the Pope strongly defended the right of Catholic prelates "to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society."
But there is only ONE Catholic voice.
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The AP reports that a new book authored by the postulator for the cause of John Paul II's sainthood invokes the late pope's practice of self-flagellation as evidence of his pursuit of Christian perfection. In addition, he'd apparently sleep on the floor sometimes, getting up early to mess up his
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And let us all continue to keep the people of Haiti in our thoughts and prayers
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The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that a group of 20 "renegade" Catholic priests have left the RC Church because of celibacy requirements. The article states that the group consists of both of men who have married and those who want to be free to marry. What strikes me is the
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Robert I. below notes James Martin's ire at belief being used to label shopping bags and such. Lately, I’ve been struck by how many of the Christmas classics that aren’t explicitly religious contain a powerful call to belief. Not faith, exactly but belief. “Miracle on 34th St.” centers on a
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Nope, not the policy frontlines, but where people try to navigate the current broken health care system and stay alive. We need to keep stories like this one from the St. Petersburg Times in mind as we watch the wrangling in Washington... Here's a piece of the author's conclusion. Common good,
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It was 20 years ago today that 6 Jesuits, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter were killed at the University of Central America in San Salvador. I marked the anniversary at UCA with a delegation of students and faculty from my school.
Romero is also widely memorialized too, and the 4
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In her October 24 column, Maureen Dowd links the Vatican investigation of US women's apostolic religious communities to the welcome extended to disgruntled Anglicans.
Money quote: "As the Vatican is trying to wall off the “brides of Christ,” Cask of Amontillado style, it is welcoming
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On this memorial of St. Teresa of Avila, I'm struck by this remark of hers: “It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found--not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be
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Over and over again along the camino de Santiago de Compostela I saw signs of the Knights Templar, usually their equal-armed red cross etched into a church wall. In Ponferrada I toured a Knights castle, feeling the presence of ghost-knights.
Here's a Knights thumbnail: they were founded to
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NCR reports that Cardinal Rode, the initiator of the Vatican's visitation of US women's apostolic religious communities, is asking the US bishops to pony up the $1.1 million to cover costs.
Hmmm....what if they gave a visitation and nobody paid? What if the bishops decided they had more urgent
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My fellow pilgrim and I arrived in Santiago do Compostela Monday, meeting many familiar faces from along the way, and seeing other familiar faces arrive after we did. It's been a fascinating journey.
One surprise for me is the number of older pilgrims, people at or near retirement age. We met a
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I'm still making my way along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. My fellow caminista and I aren't doing the whole route, but about half--we'll have gone about 270 miles when we finish on Monday.
On the camino, we try to minimize our gear because we carry it on our backs from place to place.
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This post finds me on the camino de Santiago de Compostela, the 1000 or so year-old pilgrimage trail that runs across the top of Spain, ending at the place St. James is said to have been buried after evangelizing his way across the Iberian peninsula. A friend of mine and I are doing a project
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According to a report in the Boston Globe today, the Archdiocese is raising the retirement age for its priests to 75. Despite closing 20% of its parishes and increasing the number of priests responsible for more than one parish, they still need to keep healthy septuagenarians on the job. Even so,
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This just in--Fr. Tomislav Vlasic, a principal figure in publicizing the Medjugorje apparitions, has been defrocked. (HT: Thomas C. Fox at NCR.) A report from the London Telegraph is here.
Here's the conclusion of the Telegraph's item:
[Under investigation on various charges,] [i]t emerged on
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News from China this week: Qi Zhou of the Institute of Zoology in Beijing and Fanyi Zeng of Shanghai Jiao Tong University used iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells to grow entire healthy mice, proving definitively that cells from adult tissues can be "reprogrammed" to develop into any
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I marked the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene by reading again the Gospel of Mary, a second-century manuscript rediscovered in the late 19th century, and published first only in 1955. (The text can be found at http://www.gnosis.org/library/marygosp.htm.) I am struck by several passages that seem
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