Defending the 12th century since the 14th; blogging since the 21st.

Catholicism, Conservatism, the Middle Ages, Opera, and Historical and Literary Objets d'Art blogged by a suburban dad who teaches law and writes stuff.


"Very fun." -- J. Bottum, Editor, FIRST THINGS

"Too modest" -- Elinor Dashwood

"Perhaps the wisest man on the Web" -- Henry Dieterich

"Hat tip: me (but really Cacciaguida)" -- Diana Feygin, Editor, THE YALE FREE PRESS

"You are my sire. You give me confidence to speak. You raise my heart so high that I am no more I." -- Dante

"Fabulous!"-- Warlock D.J. Prod of Didsbury

Who was Cacciaguida? See Dante's PARADISO, Cantos XV, XVI, & XVII.


E-mail me

 
Blog-break until January 3 at the earliest. Happy New Year! (If any of you will be at Dialogues of the Carmelites at the Met on Tuesday 12/30, meet me at the Millo Pole.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:01 PM

 
You do know, don't you, that Christmas is a season, not a day (and also not "a feeling," in case anyone in your parish is singing otherwise, as they did in mine)? I don't mean just those "twelve days," though that's part of it. John Saward writes:

The calendar of the older Roman rite provides a whole season of "Sundays after Epiphany". During this "Epiphanytide", other revelations of our Lord's divinity are remembered: the changing of water into wine (cf. Jn 2:1-11), the healing of the leper and the centurion's servant (cf. Mt 8:1-13), and the calming of the waves (Mt 8:23-37). On these Sundays, says a medieval commentator on the liturgy, "the Church wants to show us the appearing of the Lord, so that a star may arise within us to lead us to the Bethlehem above." In both editions of the Roman Missal, the Christmas cycle of feasts comes to a climax of light on the fortieth day with the feast of Candlemas (called the "Purification of Our Lady" in the 1962 ["Tridentine"] Missal and the "Presentation of our Lord in 1970 [Novus Ordo]). During the Middle Ages the festivities of Christmas continued without interruption till Candlemas. Throughout January, holly and ivy decked the halls, wassail was quaffed and carols rang out in praise of the successive mysteries of the infant God. "Make we myrth/ For Crystes byrth,/ And syng we Yole tyd Candelmas." Only on the second of February, with an eye on the approaching rigors of Lent, did medieval mandown the dowse the Yuletide log.

-- Cradle of Redeeming Love (Ignatius, 2002), pp. 29-30. (Internal citations omitted, but for you pros, one of them is Abbot Gueranger, L'Annee Liturgique: Temps de Noel, vol 1, p. 2)

Also, though it will be displaced by Sunday and is often overlooked anyway, note that tomorrow is the feast of Becket.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:37 PM

 
New arrival

I now have a "new" (to me, that is) 1999 Toyota Corolla. It's a handsome royal blue, very good-looking. In fact, it's already drawing chick-cars to the neighborhood. Today -- its first full day parked in front of our house -- Mrs. C. and I came home from an errand in the other car, and found a red Honda Prelude parked seductively near our driveway.
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:23 PM

 
Now burn, new born to the world,
Double-natured name,
The heaven-flung, heart-fleshed, maiden-furled
Miracle-in-Mary-of-flame,
Mid-numbered He in three of the thunder-throne!

-- Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ, The Wreck of the Deutschland, 34
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:51 PM

 
Eve continues the Santa debate here. Eve on Santa being a "fake": he's not! he's a SAINT! But can a kid adequately appreciate that a saint is cool enough when he's just been disillusioned?

A clarification: When we tell our kids the Santa Claus story with the understanding that it's just a story, we also caution them that some children take it literally and that the little Cacciaguidi are not to disillusion them. As believers in parents' rights, the Cacciaguidas' views on the Old Elf are intended as a recommendation to Catholic parents, not as a crusade to overturn other parents' decisions on whether to do Santa or not.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:44 PM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida, last night

MRS. C. (Elinor Dashwood): You know, I never thought of the Yule log as having any connection with the Old Elf [Santa Claus].
CACCIAGUIDA: Well, he probably wears asbestos drawers.
MRS. C.: Yeah. It's not like this has never happened before.

posted by Cacciaguida at 4:35 PM

 
"Veinte-cinco di diciembre, fum, fum, fum"

I've sometimes wondered what the "fums" are in that song, since they sound like blasts from Gandalf's staff. Well, this morning, as Mrs. Cacciaguida (Elinor Dashwood) was driving the family to Mass (she digs the minivan, so she's usually the one to drive it, except on long trips), the traffic lights all turned green in sequence and on cue as we approached the church. Fum, fum, fum.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:29 PM

 
Here is a list of "holiday" things that need to "get stuffed."

I have one to add: the carol "Joseph Was an Old Man." It portrays St. Joseph as old, petty, and wrathful. He was certainly not petty or wrathful, and was probably not old either (at least not when he married Mary). As if this weren't enough, the song goes on to have the infant Jesus speaking in utero. Crap-piety that wants to shoehorn miracles into the ordinary family life of the Holy Family makes me want to, er, "throw up the sash." There were many miracles in Our Lord's life; they're in the Gospels. The medieval tendency to add new ones is of a piece with modern efforts to make the Mass "more meaningful."

All right, enough complaining. It's Christmas Eve. Our Yule log (or Yule clog, as Washington Irving would have it) is burning brightly, and thus carrying forward our Santa agenda. Mass early tomorrow -- with no music!! -- with the whole family; before that, a Tridentine Mass at Midnight. My recent posts notwithstanding, I'm a happy camper tonight.

Saint Francis and Saint Benedight
Blesse this house from wicked wight;
From the night-mare and the goblin,
That is hight good fellow Robin;
Keep it from all evil spirits,
Fairies, weazles, rats, and ferrets:
From curfew time
To the next prime.

-- Cartwright, quoted in Irving's Christmas at Bracebridge Hall

posted by Cacciaguida at 10:08 PM

 
From one of my Criminal Law students, answering an exam question about different theories of punishment:

"Suffering is cathartic and necessary in a Romans 13 sort of way."


posted by Cacciaguida at 5:12 PM

 
From the Zenit News Agency:

Nazis' Anti-Catholicism Ran Deep
Konrad Löw's "The Guilt" Documents Racial and Religious Hatreds

ROME, DEC. 23, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Nazi hatred for the Catholic Church has been documented in Konrad Löw's new book, "Die Schuld" (The Guilt), with the subtitle "Jews and Christians in the Opinion of Nazis and in Present Times."

The book, published by Resch Press, is promoted as "a response to 'Amen' and 'The Vicar,'" referring to film and theater works that accuse Pope Pius XII of having been too conciliatory to Nazism....

The book's greatest contribution is the documentation presented in its 355 pages, including 1,063 footnotes and a 331-item bibliography. Löw uses specific historical documents to address aspects of Nazi policy up to now little known, in particular the continuous and systematic persecution of Catholics.

The Bavarian author demonstrates, in a critical spirit, how Zentrum, the Catholic party, was supported and voted for precisely by Jews, a phenomenon that can be explained by the fact that the Catholic Church condemned the nascent racism and nationalism with great clarity. The author also points out that Protestant groups, on the contrary, were to a large extent fascinated by the racial theories.

Löw recalls that Hitler's appointment as chancellor was applauded by Protestant denominations, while the Catholic bishops condemned Nazi theories. This was why the Nazis persecuted Catholics as well as, if not as much as, Communists and Jews.

According to the Nazi theory, Christianity's roots in the Old Testament meant that whoever was against the Jews should also be against the Catholic Church. And ample documentation, gathered by Löw, records Catholics' assistance to Jews, which angered the Nazis.

The author cites how the Nazis invoked "the unconquerable arm of the spirit of blood and earth against the Hebrew plague and Christianity."

Löw recounts in detail what Adolf Hitler, Alfred Rosenberg, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler and Martin Bormann said and wrote about Jews and Catholics. In particular, Hitler wished to trample the Catholic Church "as one does a frog."

In a sketch published by the Nazis in 1938, a Jew, a Catholic priest and a capitalist entrepreneur try to stop the Nazi swastika that turns like the hands of the clock of history.

In another sketch, published by Der Stürmer in 1934, a Jew, standing before a picture of Christ on the cross, says: "We have killed him, we have ridiculed him, but we are still defended by his Church." Another sketch in the same newspaper, published in 1939, shows a Catholic priest stretching out two large hands: one with the Star of David, and the other with the hammer and sickle.

To give an idea of what the Nazis thought of Catholics, Löw presents an SS report, which states: "It is indisputable that the Catholic Church in Germany is decisively opposed to the governmental policy of opposition to Hebrew power. As a consequence, it carries out work in support of Jews, helps them flee, uses all means to support them in daily life, and facilitates their illegitimate stay in the Reich. The people in charge of this task enjoy the full support of the episcopate and do not hesitate to take away from Germans, including German children, the little food they have, to give it to Jews."
ZE02122322

posted by Cacciaguida at 12:42 PM

 
The news you' ve been waiting for...

MRS. CACCIAGUIDA IS BLOGGING!

Her blog is called Mommentary. Her Blogistani name is Elinor Dashwood, from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Even though she's still working on her first post (as of this writing), she already explains why she's taking to the Web, so -- over the river and through the woods, to Elinor's house we go!
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:15 PM

 
Links to books recommended below:

John Saward, Cradle of Redeeming Love

Washington Irving, Bracebridge Hall, etc.
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:36 PM

 
The Santa Claus thing

I mentioned the other day that Eve is sound on Santa Claus. Here's what we do in my family.

To begin with, when I was little, I was taught a literal belief in Santa Claus -- by my Reform Jewish family. When my grandparents had to move away from their Christmas-card-perfect colonial-style house in suburban Philadelphia, and our Christmases therefore had to be held in our apartment in New York, I naturally asked how Santa Claus could "come down the chimney" in an apartment building. "He comes down the incinerator, dear." Way to think fast, Mom!

Anyway, I had fun with Santa while he lasted, and I never thought, and don't think now, that the whole thing did me any harm. Nonetheless, when our kids came along, my wife and I somehow felt that it was prudent to soft-pedal the Santa thing. Soon this hardened into a conviction, which I'll now describe.

As Catholic parents, we have a lot of supernatural information to impart to our children. To accomplish this, our credibility is essential. Therefore, we don't ever want to be in the position of saying that a piece of supernatural information that we had given them as fact is actually not fact. If we ever have to say to them "No, dear, your friend is right: there really isn't a Santa Claus who comes down the chimney etc. etc.," then the next questions any child with two neurons to rub together is going to ask are, "And the Eucharist thing? What's up with that? When are you going to tell me that it isn't really Jesus Christ? Or that Jesus Christ wasn't really God who died for our sins? Or maybe that He wasn't even a real man?" etc. etc.

Now I'll take questions. Heck, I'll write them myself.

1. "Ah, but your parents told you about Santa Claus, and you ended up Catholic anyway, even though your parents were Jewish!"

Well, maybe that's part of the point. Maybe the incident caused me to downgrade my parents as sources of religious information, even though I never downgraded them in any other way. Besides, unlike Catholic parents, Reform Jewish parents don't have a whole lot of supernatural information to impart. I mean, there's God, and he's just kind of straightforward and Unitarian; and Moses led us out of Egypt; be humanitarian; pass the gefilte-fisch. I understand Reform Judaism today is undergoing a partial return to tradition and orthodoxy, and I congratulate it, but it wasn't that way in the '60s. (BTW, around the time I believed in Santa Claus, I also believed you could go out in a fishing boat and catch gefiltes.)

2. "But doesn't the no-Santa rule take away some of the spirit of Christmas?"

A. No. If Christ's birth, and all it means, perhaps backed up whatever religiously grounded Christmas traditions appeal to you (I tend to find pre-Reformation England a great source of inspiration, though we haven't yet chosen, formally, a "Lord of Misrule") doesn't provide you all the Christmas spirit you can handle, then you need to grab your Ignatius catalogue, the phone, and a credit card.

B. We have no objection to the Santa story as fiction. Our 7-year-old daughter has spontaneously memorized chunks of The Night Before Christmas, and we're cool with that, though if she weren't interested in it at all, we'd be cool with that too.

C. We believe in the historical St. Nicholas and at least some of the stories about him. We celebrate St. Nicholas's feast day, Dec. 6.

This brings me to:

Recommended Christmas reading:

Theological: John Saward's Cradle of Redeeming Love (Ignatius)

Wholesome "olde Englishe" Christmas traditions: the Christmas chapters from Washington Irving's Sketchbook, sometimes printed separately as Christmas at Bracebridge Hall.



posted by Cacciaguida at 10:46 PM

 
ELEKTRA: review of today's Met broadcast

A good performance of Strauss's ELEKTRA leaves one in need of being WD40ed out of one's seat. (Fortunately, the need to join the crowd in standing ovations usually does just as well). A great performance of ELEKTRA can have the same effect even if you're just listening on the radio. And today's was great.

Gabriele Schnaut has been heard in at least one previous Met broadcast ELEKTRA, but today she was better than ever. Her voice has never been in better shape, and she had tension and passion in every phrase. Debbie Voigt owns Chrysothemis the way Rysanek used to. Hanna Schwarz's Klytemnestra has matured, and she now projects the Queen's decadence while still showing a mezzo voice in its prime.

Rene Pape's Orest was fraternal, fatherly, and fiery. Though basses vary in their success when they take on this baritone role, Pape brought the house down. (The Met, not the House of Atreus.) His palpable anguish over his sister's state, once he realizes who she is, was to cry for. Siegfried Jerusalem is now at the Aegisth stage of his career, but no one does a better Aegisth. Unlike tenors who make this cameo role either too heroic or too much of a caricature-villain, Jerusalem sounded just like a gone-to-seed hero.

But talk about heros, the real one of the afternoon was conductor James Levine. He gave us the slow reading that I hoped for but didn't find when I bought the Sinopoli recording. The result is, one hears dozens of gorgeous effects that Strauss put there, but that usually go by too fast. That, and of course, the climaxes are all the more effective.

To me, this opera is a heartening catharsis. The Washington Post once reviewed a local performance with the line "putting the 'fun' in dysfunctional." There's that, of course, but for me it's an opera of deliverance. The original ORESTEIA story, of course, contains many more ambiguities. But within the four corners of Hofmansthal's treatment of the central section of that story, I've always felt that Klytemnestra and Aegisth are pure pondscum, and Elektra and Orest are pure heroes, and that there's nothing ironic about the major chords that end this one-acter. Certainly the long-oppressed domestics of the House of Atreus who carry the blood-spattered Orest on their shoulder (Chrysothemis describes the scene for us) see nothing ironic about it.

Do I not hear?
Do I not hear the music?
But it comes from me....!

Be silent, and dance.
I bear the burden of joy,
And I must lead you in the dance.
For those as happy as we, the only thing fitting
Is to be silent and dance.

-- Strauss/Hofmansthal's Elektra, after the killing of Klytemnestra and Aegisth



posted by Cacciaguida at 6:12 PM

 
The Old Oligarch exposes modern(ist) moral "theology."
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:53 PM

 
Last word on Lott's gaffe

Washington Post cartoon. Scene: Night, White House South Lawn, Christmas time, snow all around.

LONE CAROLER (singing): "I'm dreaming of a multi-hued, ethnically diverse Christmas..."
VOICE FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE: Go away, Trent.
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:31 PM

 
Agame-e-e-e-e-e-emnon....

To keep me entertained while I grade exams this afternoon, the Met is broadcasting Richard Strauss's Elektra. Things could get ugly....
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:06 PM

 
"...and resolv'd to sit on the following day, commonly called Christmas Day"

My Christmas card list includes a staunchly Calvinist friend. This year, in addition to the usualy greeetings, I wrote: "Do Puritans do Christmas?" He writes back:

Thanks, friend, for the nice card. And, yes, THIS Puritan celebrates Christmas. Though, to be consistent, I have requested from my Elders that I be stoned to death. God bless you, your family, your work.

LOL, and God bless you and yours too, sir! (And BTW, the expression "sit on," in the heading, means "hold session on," as in, you know, Parliament in 1652....)
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:57 AM

 
If you haven't visited Eve's Blog recently...

Well, if you haven't, then you're probably not visiting mine either, but just in case, let me catch you up on some of the gems currently on Planet Tushnet.

Eve says that these days she's just "a vaguely Eve-shaped blur," but in fact, as usual, she's a mine of good writing and good insights. For example, here she is on feminism and fatherhood.

An excerpt, just to whet your appetite:

When I was a feminist, or when I called myself a feminist, I didn't reject gender--I just viewed it as a costume box. You could combine a boa, a pirate eyepatch, a muumuu and a Stetson hat, and as long as you didn't create a unified picture that could be somehow identified as "womanly" or "manly" you were performing a feminist act.

Not to mention a Kodak moment!

Or, go here for Eve answering questions on faith, rationalism, and art.

And finally, she's even sound on the Santa Claus question. I may blog about that soon myself. (If you've read down this far, you already know whether I have or not!)
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:49 PM

 
Lott

Fun post here on the Trent Lott situation.

Here's my solution: let him stay on as Leader until after Ash Wednesday, then resign. That way, his departure could be known as the Lent Trott!
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:23 PM

 
Vindicating the word "orthodoxy"

Small "o," of course. Drop in on Summa Contra Mundum for Karl's take on the conformity/orthodoxy distinction, based on Gabriel Marcel.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:36 AM

 
Big day

Almost forgot -- today (12/18/02) is my 20th anniversary as a Catholic.

It's too late to organize a party, so congratulations, flames, etc. may be sent via the e-mail link on this page, or to my regular e-mail address for those who know it.

One way I'll celebrate is by studying the debate on Fr. Jim's blog about the importance or unimportance of personal examples of Christian holiness (in the hierarchy or elsewhere) as motivators of faith. (The other way I'll celebrate is by going to see The Two Towers with my crew of Tolkien-mad teenage sons!)

My own $0.02: I was helped along by numerous Catholics (and other Christians) who gave good example. But ultimately I could not have converted if I had not become satisfied that the sanctity of the Church is ulimately in her mystical identity as Christ's Bride, and not in her members, however good some of these may be; and that even if one's first "enounter with Christ" comes via good Catholics, the real encounter with Christ that He graciously offers us in and through His Church is His sacramental presence on our altars.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:05 AM

 
Just so you know

In the Dec. 23 print edition of National Review, Joel Mowbray gives details of an interview given by one Bin al-Shibh, the "fifth hijacker" who never made it into the U.S., only because his four visa applications were filed in places other than Saudi Arabia (where the recent U.S. consul's motto was "People gotta get their visas.") Bin al-Shibh gave this interview to the Al Jazeera network.

The interview contains Bin al-Shibh's careful narration of details every hijacker should know, such as, put the guys who are going to fly the plane in first class, so they will have as little resistance as possible as they break into the cockpit, cut the pilot's and co-pilot's throats, and take over. Other "brothers" will of course be in business and economy class to cut the throats of any inconvenient security guards. (Let airline personnel carry guns? Ewwwww!)

From Mowbray's article:

In the interview, Bin al-Shibh chastises non-violent Muslims, saying that violence is the "tax" that all Muslims "must pay." "This is the tax for gaining authority on earth. It is imperative to pay a price for Heaven, for the commodity of Allah is dear, very dear. It is not acquired through rest, but [rather] blood and torn-off limbs must be the price." Underscoring his contempt for non-violent Muslims, he states, "He who does not grasp this understanding, he does not perceive the nature of this religion."

If you're not a subscriber (and why not, might I ask?), get the 12/23 NR at your favorite upscale newstand now and read Mowbray's article.

posted by Cacciaguida at 8:33 PM

 
Whatever happened to the "de mortuis" rule?

Subject-line recently spotted on a listserv for constitutional law professors: Re: Rawls (was: Sodomy)
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:21 PM

 
O Antiphons

Dec. 17-23 is the period in which the Church prays the "O Antiphons." Here they are, courtesy of Women for Faith and Family. These prayers form the basis of "O Come O Come Emanuel," which is one of the few true Advent carols in the standard Christmas carol repertory. Here is more about them from the Catholic Encyclopedia.

FYI, the following are not O Antiphons:

O #$%&*!
O Really
O Reilly
O Say Can You See
O Tannenbaum
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:44 PM

 
Charles Williams on Dante

Williams, free-lance scholar, novelist who scarily blends fantasy and reality (e.g. War in Heaven), and member of the Oxford-based Inklings (other members: Tolkien, C.S. Lewis), writes this:

There were, in [Dante's] mind, many other shapes -- of people and places, of philosophies and poems. All these had their own identities and were each autonomous. But in his poetry Dante determined to relate them all to the Beatrician figure, and he brought that figure as near as he could to the final image, so far as he could express it, of Almighty God. It is, we all agree, one of the marks of his poetic genius. But it is something else also. It is the greatest expression in European literature of the way of approach of the soul to its ordained end through the affimration of the valdidity of all those images, beginning with the image of a girl.

-- Charles Williams, The Figure of Beatrice, p. 8 (Octagon Books reprint, 1980)
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:05 PM

 
Loverde v. Haley
-- or --
Just wait one cotton-pickin' minute: there's two sides to a story even when the target is a bishop!

Fr. Jim gives us a long-needed reminder here about calumny, to which Bishop Loverde has been much subjected of late.

Heeding Fr. Jim's admonition, I will not blog all that I could blog about the personalities involved. I will say, however, that I am disappointed that The Wanderer -- which I greatly respect and which has done me much spiritual good over the years -- has leaped to judgment on the Loverde v. Haley business. Regrettably, the case seems to fit a template that is all too familiar to Wanderer editors -- whistle-blower priest versus accused bishop -- so Paul Likoudis's reporting assumes that that's what's going on, without discernible investigation of alternative theories of the case.

When you get right down to it, on what rests the accusation that Bp. Loverde is covering up for a diocese-wide homosexual ring (of all dioceses! Where next -- Lincoln, Nebraska?)? It rests on Fr. Haley's assessment of Bp. Loverde's demeanor when confronted with this accusation by Fr. Haley.

Hey, well, that's enough for me! NOT.

Also, did The Wanderer parse closely the official statements coming from the Diocese? (See e.g. this, courtesy of Catholic Light) I don't think the Diocese will say this outright -- because it understands the moral principles of detraction and calumny better than Fr. Haley or The Wanderer do -- but it looks to me as though the Diocese is, let us say, extremely and rightly concerned about how Fr. Haley obtained some of the information he is "whistle-blowing" on. Enough said.

This post is turning into a Wanderer bash-fest, and I certainly didn't mean it to be that. Nine weeks out of ten, The Wanderer rocks. It rocked thirty-odd years ago when it refused to go schismatic over the Novus Ordo (and lost a lot subscribers to a nasty new competitor, The Remnant); and it rocked just a few months ago when it defended Humanae Vitae against an attack "from the right" that was published in Latin Mass magazine. Plus, I love Sobran (even when he's out of his gourd) and Farley Clinton (even when he rambles -- no, especially when he rambles: it's like a true Roman lunch!); Likoudis rocks too most of the time. But guys, on this Arlington thing, dig a little deeper if you're going to dig at all, OK?

And by the way, what on God's green earth does "Roman Catholic Faithful" know about Arlington? This group (to give credit where it's due) has one great service to the Church to its credit: it blew the whistle on South African Bishop Reginald Cawcutt and his "St. Sebastian's Angels" website, an extremely salacious global bulletin board for gay priests and bishops (such bitches, my dear!). This site and this bishop had to be exposed and extirpated. Take a bow, RCF.

Unfortunately, one scalp well taken does not signify the charism of infallibility. RCF is rolling into northern Virginia from Illinois with scarcely a clue. The result was well described by Fr. Jim here.

For more on this issue, visit The Contrarian here.
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:23 PM

 
Apropos of elites imposing their childrearing preferences on the poor (see Kelly post infra), this article from Slate shows that the anti-spanking movement discriminates against the poor and against blacks.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:03 AM

 
Cardinal Law resigns

Next: B.O.W. NOW!


At one level, this shouldn't have happened to a bishop who was in many ways a beacon of JPII's campaign to fill the hierarchy with men who believe the Church is a messenger of permanent truth, rather than a sort of spiritual Walmart. But, from what appears (and I haven't sifted through all the evidence, nor will I have time to), Cardinal Law not only relied on "therapists" to guarantee that a spiritual problem had been cured -- which is quite bad enough -- but he even in some cases reassigned priests who had not been given the green light by their therapists.

Let's hope the moral that gets drawn here is not that as long as you go with what the therapists say, you may take a media bath but at least you won't have to resign, whereas if you ignore the therapists, out you go. That would be the wrong lesson.

The right lesson would be that bishops must be willing to kick some clerical tushie when appropriate. This goes against the familial structure of the clergy (normally a good thing) and against clerical clubbiness (normally a bad thing), but sometimes it has to be done, and a bishop who does it sooner rather than later, though he may catch flak in the short run, will avoid a whole lot of it in the long run.

What kind of bishop can/should Rome appoint as the next Archbishop of Boston? Maybe the Boston See should be left under a temporary administrator indefinitely, so that Rome can use it as a threat: "Shape up or we'll appoint you to Boston!"

But seriously folks, this is a great opportunity to try out a new model of bishop. I shall, of course, explain.

The bishops of the Pius XII-Spellman era were builders and fundraisers. That model had its uses, and its limitations. The bishops of the Paul VI era were "pastoral," which sounded great, but in practice meant "major shanks." JPII has tried out the model of bishop as theological intellectual (perfect example: Schoenborn in Vienna). This has worked better than the Paul VI model, but not always as well as hoped.

Time now for something new: the bishop as bastard-on-wheels. That's not my expression: it comes to me from a convert-monsignor who has served as secretary to his bishop. It's a model he recommends for certain very messed-up dioceses. He wasn't thinking of Boston when he said it, but it may be what Boston needs.

It would be a fine thing if the nation's first b.o.w. bishop were to have a favorable media wind at his back, as he probably would in Boston. Then again, a true b.o.w. bishop doesn't give a fig for the media anyway!
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:27 AM

 
The Papabile-mobile continues to go round

Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, "right-hand man" to Cardinal Ratzinger, will be the new archbishop of Genoa, replacing new Milan archbishop Dionigi Cardinal Tettamanzi, who, BTW, recently received an honorary degree from the Roman University of the Holy Cross.

Ratzinger himself is not really papabile, because close collaborators of strong popes generally aren't (see e.g. Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val, loyal sidekick to Pope St. Pius X). But Bertone could be, and Tettamanzi certainly is, along with Cardinal Arinze (whom I blogged about here) and many other good men.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:49 PM

 
Here, hold this: a Catholic-Jewish cooperation tale

(Courtesy of Catholic News Service)

Torah rescued during Holocaust gets new home at Boston College

BOSTON (CNS) -- A Torah, rescued by a Catholic priest from a synagogue in Poland that was being burned by the Nazis during the Holocaust, has a new home at Boston College. The scroll has been permanently installed at the school's Multi-Faith Worship Space, allowing the area to function fully as a synagogue when Jewish students gather for prayer and marking a historic first in Jewish worship at the Jesuit university. Inscribed 83 years ago in Krakow, Poland, the Torah was rescued in 1939 by a priest who, 20 years later, walked into the U.S. Embassy and asked to speak with an American Jew. Upon meeting Yale Richmond, a 1943 graduate of Boston College who was cultural attache at the embassy in Poland, the priest presented him with the Torah and instructed him to find an appropriate home for it. The diplomat, who spent three decades in the U.S. Foreign Service, held the Torah in safekeeping for the past 42 years until he read about the creation of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at his alma mater. He then offered the Torah to the school, which immediately agreed to accept it.

- - -

posted by Cacciaguida at 2:40 PM

 
Dave Barry on "The Little Drummer Boy"

Turns out there are many problems with this carol. For instance, is a drummer really what you want to have around when you're trying to take care of an infant? Dave Barry observes:

I'll tell you this: If I were taking care of a newborn baby, and somebody came around whacking on a drum, that person would find himself at the emergency room have his drumsticks surgically removed from his rum-pum-pum-pum, if you know what I mean.

(Washington Post Magazine, 12/8/02)
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:10 PM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida

CACCIAGUIDA (arising after sleeping off a long trip in a rented car): Dear, could you drive over with me to the, er, the, that is, the what-you-call-it -- the car-rental agency?

MRS. CACCIAGUIDA: I thought you were going to say "undertaker."

posted by Cacciaguida at 6:57 PM

 
Clue Deficiency Syndrome (first of what will undoubtedly be a long, long series)

"Reefer" headline (i.e. headline on front page that refers the reader to a story inside) on front page of today's Washingto Post:

INFANT MURDERS: A new study says the homicide rate for infants has steadily climbed in the past 30 years and nearly equals that of teens.

All right, now -- think. We're almost in January of 2003. Count backwards 30 years exactly from January, 2003.

Duh.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:50 PM

 
Zeffirelli as opera director

I happen to like Franco Zeffirelli's recent large-scale productions at the Met, especially Turandot. So do a lot of denizens of the opera vortex. But one anti-Zeff friend recently got off a line that deserves quoting:

I very much enjoyed Zeffirelli's Aida. Unfortunately the opera being performed was Traviata.

LOL!

posted by Cacciaguida at 4:37 PM

 
Kelly case revisited

Kevin Kelly, pious father of 13, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and child neglect in the death of his youngest child, Frances. The jury, which could have recommended a sentence of up to 15 years, has recommended one year. I've blogged on this story before, but I can't find it in my archives. Here's the Washington Post story from today.

This was the kind of case that prosecutorial discretion is made for. Kevin's actions probably did "touch" all the "elements" of the crime of involuntary manslaughter. But it does not follow that the case should have been prosecuted as such.

Of course, parental rights and parental duties are inextricable. Furthermore, I'll grant that it's generally a good thing that parental duties are backed up by the criminal justice system, because some parents won't take their responsibilities seriously any other way. But the Kellys are not such a family. Adding the anguish of a felony conviction and possible jail time to the anguish of losing Frances was, to put it as kindly as possible, gratuitous.

Yes, we've heard all about the Kelly kid who got left behind at the video store, and the stories told by the teenage neighbors at the trial. OK, OK -- that's why I concede that a criminal neglect charge may have been appropriate. But not a manslaughter charge (even involuntary): in my view, that's for the sort of parents to whom it comes as news that they are expected to look after their kids at all.

This may be just my own subjective view, but I don't think I'm the only one: even The Washington Post reported, in covering the case, that manslaughter charges are extremely rare in cases of this sort. (See their coverage Frances's death and the bringing of charges last May.)

The larger problem that cases like this point to is that "neglect" is a concept tailor-made to bring families under state supervision. It's a highly relative concept, and in practice it inevitably reflects elite notions of the parental role. Parents who "stop at two," give those two kids every conceivable toy and tutor, but never see them because they're too involved in their jobs, can rest assured that neither the criminal justice system nor the social service system will ever point the finger of "neglect" at them. But parents who sacrifice the high-earning lifestyle in order to give life to more children, and to spend time with them, will be closely scrutinized for such perfectly ordinary and wholesome tactics as delegating child-supervision tasks to older children.

I was at Frances's funeral. Sharing the grief of that family gathered around the baby-sized coffin, and knowing that for them the pain of loss was compounded immeasurably by well-founded fears of criminal charges and possible prison time, was, for me, as close to "unbearable" as I've ever gotten.

Much has been said about the issue of discrimination against large families in this case. I have no "smoking gun" evidence that Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert brought this case *because* the Kellys are a large family. One person who wrote in to this blog said I was unfair in imputing such an agenda to him, and this correspondent may be right. It reflects well on Ebert that he took a personal role in the case, instead of delegating it entirely to underlings.

Nonetheless, Ebert's published comments suggest that he believes (1) that parents of a family of ten or twelve should devote *exactly* the same amount and type of attention to each child as they would if they had only two, and (2) that the criminal justice system should enforce this duty. In practice, this leads to privileging the two-child family as setting the standard of care, which in turn results in the imposition of superhuman requirements on parents of large families. If that isn't discrimination, it'll do until discrimination comes along.


posted by Cacciaguida at 2:45 PM

 
Total eclipse in southern Africa yesterday



Is this cool or what?
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:56 PM

 
Rosenkavalier

As I write my exams, I'm listening to Der Rosenkavalier, music by Richard Strauss, libretto by Hugo von Hoffmanstahl, the same team that gave us the pro-marriage and pro-children Die Frau Ohne Schatten.

(For an equally well-performed and much less expensive Frau, go here, but this edition is apt not to have a libretto, making it hard to follow what's going on.)

The moral of Rosenkavalier, in contast, seems to be that if you're sufficiently young, handsome, and rich, you can bang an older but still beautiful noblewoman and still marry a young and adoring virgin.

But part of being an opera fan is drawing the morals where appropriate, and the rest of the time, just enjoying the music and the performances.

Also, I suppose a secondary "moral" of Rosenkavalier is that if you're a total boor, like Baron Ochs, you won't be able to do any of that stuff that young Octavian does, but will instead have to content yourself with country milkmaids (and even that assumes you aren't lying when you give that salacious narrative to the Marschallin).

(The Rosenkavalier link above is to the Haitink recording with TeKanawa and Von Otter. However, I'm listening to a deleted 1949 performance conducted by Szell, with Reining, Novotna, Gueden, and Prohaska, who, BTW, does not have the low note at the end of Act II.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:30 PM

 
Just So You Know (a continuing feature on Islam)

So, according to The Washington Post, it's the "conservatives" who "dispute" Bush's view that the religion that does this is a "religion of peace." (Hat-tip to the indispensable Little Green Footballs for the latter link.)

Look, Bush is going to say what he has to say, and since he's a top-level statesman, what he must say is not always the whole truth. For that, turn for example to Eliot Cohen on the present war as clash of civilizations.

And go here for the latest on the Muslim threat to Catholicism in the Horn of Africa.
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:19 PM

 
Thanksgiving

A few posts down I sort of make fun of Thanksgiving, but actually, I give those "Pilgrims" (did they call themselves that? even with all the medieval Catholic connations?) a lot of credit for courage and vision. Landing in Massachusetts in 1621 was one of the most audacious, death-defying things man had ever done, at least until the moon landing -- and no one was fixing to stay there, so arguably the Plymouth landing was even braver.

I know very well that the Plymouth settlers were neither my forebears nor (except in the broadest, trans-historical sense) my co-religionists. In 1621, my forebears were in Russia, getting beaten and raped by Cossacks, and my co-religionists were considered the Antichrist by the ladies and gentlemen of the Mayflower.

Nonetheless, those Mayflower guys went on to found many institutions of enduring value. J.Press and Brooks Brothers, to name just two....

posted by Cacciaguida at 3:34 PM

 
Bishops and The Silmarillion

On the one hand, there's some wisdom in Lady Marchmain's remark that it takes a long time, sometimes a lifetime, to become a Catholic. On the other hand, it's not infrequent that converts, including the newest, show the rest of us the way (and by "the rest of us," in this instance, I mean cradle Catholics, reverts, and long-time converts).

At Kross&Sweord (see entry for Wed. 11/20), Matt Shaddrix, the newest Catholic I know, shows what Tolkien's Silmarillion can teach us about authority in the Church. (Schismatic trads should take special note.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:19 PM

 
Click here for a report on the Mary Stachowicz case.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:00 PM

 
How to tell you ate too much at Thanksgiving

This was a Letterman "Top Ten" list from a few years back. I cut and pasted it to some long-abandoned hard-drive, but here are the ones I can remember:

* The last thing you remember is wrapping your lips around a dump-truck full of yams.
* The U.S. Geological Survey arrives to map a new continent, and it's your butt.
* Your relatives would like to leave, but they're stuck in your gravitational field.
* You're sweatin' gravy, man!
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:49 PM

 
More gay-related stuff than a straight guy like me would normally blog in a day, but hey, these things happen

I have no excuse, none, for going so long without bloglinking my friend David Morrison. His blog, Sed Contra, is now over in my left margin where it should have been long ago.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, a gay man has killed a Christian woman for witnessing to him about the sinfulness of his lifestyle, and at least some self-identified gay people have expressed an interest in contributing to the young man's defense fund. For more on this case, go here (scroll down to "Mary Stachowicz contra views"), here, and here.

And don't miss Eve's NCReg. article comparing the ex-gay movement and Courage, supporting both but finding more to praise in the latter's approach.
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:11 PM

 
Saudis in the Soup

Yesterday (Mon., Nov. 25) The Wall Street Journal noted in an editorial entitled "State's Saudi Surprise" that the Homeland Security Act contains language that (in the WSJ's words) "requires that henceforth any visa application from a Saudi will be reviewed by an on-site Homeland Security officer."

Good job, too, because as Joel Mowbray in NR has shown, Saudi visa applications were formerly handled by a civil servant whose motto was "People gotta get their visas" -- this in spite of a statutory presumption against visa apps that fail to show a residential address and a definite job in the U.S. (One hijacker got in with an app that said simply "hotel" on the lines where applicants are supposed to state their precise address while in the U.S. No need to book in advance when you've got Saudi money behind you!)

The WSJ continues:

In normal circumstances, Prince Bandar, Saudi Arabia's longtime ambassador to the U.S., might complain about how Saudi Arabia is being singled out. But we suspect that he's now more likely to be preoccupied with explaining press accounts about why his wife was writing checks to the family of a U.S.-based Saudi man who helped the 9/11 hijackers.

Bravo!
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:00 PM

 
Don't miss this NRO piece on the Shadow in the East.
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:38 PM

 
A Daily Torygraph columnist says America is getting less p.c., and Britain more so. Along the way, he makes an argument in favor of federalism and checks-n-balances (i.e., us) over a unitary state and parliamentary sovereignty (i.e., them).
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:29 PM

 
I feel like seeing a beautiful picture of the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Rome's Piazza Navona. I know you do too.






posted by Cacciaguida at 3:03 PM

 
The New York Times is dumbfounded. With the sex abuse scandal affording the Church such a clear incentive for "fundamental change," and when absolutely every Catholic it talks to sees that it's now time (like it wasn't before, for these people?) for said "fundamental change," the bishops' meeting shows they're just going to fool around with some weird old-hat stuff like "purifying" and "holiness" -- both terms put in quotes by the "paper of record."

Let's start of list of "You probably like The New York Times if..." lines. I'll go first:

You probably like The New York Times if you think the Catholic Church needs fundamental changes in its teachings, while the Democratic Party has to figure out how to get its message out more clearly.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:50 AM

 
The Ninomaniac explains "substantive due process" analysis to a student. More than I could do!
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:22 AM

 
ZENIT reports here on materials in soon-to-be-opened Vatican archives that show Church opposition to Nazis and aid to victims.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:20 AM

 
"McDonnell-Douglas Customer Service Questionnaire"

This is making the rounds. In case you haven't seen it yet, enjoy. (And don't miss the "disclaimer" at the end.)


>Subject: McDonnell Douglas Customer Survey
>This was allegedly posted very briefly on the McDonnell Douglas Website
>by an employee there who obviously has a sense of humor. The company, of
>course, does not have a sense of humor, and made the web department take
>it down immediately (for once, the "IMPORTANT" note at the end is worth a
>read too.... )
>
>Thank you for purchasing a McDonnell Douglas military aircraft. In order
>to protect your new investment, please take a few moments to fill out the
>warranty registration card below. Answering the survey questions is not
>required, but the information will help us to develop new products that
>best meet your needs and desires.
>
>1. [_] Mr.
> [_] Mrs.
> [_] Ms.
> [_] Miss
> [_] Lt.
> [_] Gen.
> [_] Comrade
> [_] Classified
> [_] Other
>
> First Name: ............................. Initial: .........
> Last Name: ...................................
> Password: ........................ (max. 8 char)
> Code Name:
> ..................................................................
> Latitude-Longitude-Altitude: ......................................
>
>2. Which model of aircraft did you purchase?
>
> [_] F-14 Tomcat
> [_] F-15 Eagle
> [_] F-16 Falcon
> [_] F-117A Stealth
> [_] Classified
>
>3. Date of purchase (Year/Month/Day): 20......./....... /......
>
>4. Serial Number: ..............................................
>
>5. Please indicate where this product was purchased:
>
> [_] Received as gift / aid package
> [_] Catalogue / showroom
> [_] Independent arms broker
> [_] Mail order
> [_] Discount store
> [_] Government surplus
> [_] Classified
>
>6. Please indicate how you became aware of the McDonnell Douglas product
>you have just purchased:
>
> [_] Heard loud noise, looked up
> [_] Store display
> [_] Espionage
> [_] Recommended by friend / relative / ally
> [_] Political lobbying by manufacturer
> [_] Was attacked by one
>
>7. Please indicate the three (3) factors that most influenced your
>decision to purchase this McDonnell Douglas product:
>
> [_] Style / appearance
> [_] Speed / maneuverability
> [_] Price / value
> [_] Comfort / convenience
> [_] Kickback / bribe
> [_] Recommended by salesperson
> [_] McDonnell Douglas reputation
> [_] Advanced Weapons Systems
> [_] Backroom politics
> [_] Negative experience opposing one in combat
>
>8. Please indicate the location(s) where this product will be used:
>
> [_] North America
> [_] Iraq
> [_] Iraq
> [_] Aircraft carrier
> [_] Iraq
> [_] Europe
> [_] Iraq
> [_] Middle East (not Iraq)
> [_] Iraq
> [_] Africa
> [_] Iraq
> [_] Asia / Far East
> [_] Iraq
> [_] Misc. Third World countries
> [_] Iraq
> [_] Classified
> [_] Iraq
>
>9. Please indicate the products that you currently own or intend to
>purchase in the near future:
>
> [_] Color TV
> [_] VCR
> [_] ICBM
> [_] Killer Satellite
> [_] CD Player
> [_] Air-to-Air Missiles
> [_] Space Shuttle
> [_] Home Computer
> [_] Nuclear Weapon
>
>10. How would you describe yourself or your organization? (Indicate all
>that apply)
>
> [_] Communist / Socialist
> [_] Terrorist
> [_] Crazed
> [_] Neutral
> [_] Democratic
> [_] Dictatorship
> [_] Corrupt
> [_] Primitive / Tribal
>
>11. How did you pay for your McDonnell Douglas product?
>
> [_] Deficit spending
> [_] Cash
> [_] Suitcases of cocaine
> [_] Oil revenues
> [_] Personal check
> [_] Credit card
> [_] Ransom money
> [_] Traveler's check
>
>12. Your occupation:
>
> [_] Homemaker
> [_] Sales / marketing
> [_] Revolutionary
> [_] Clerical
> [_] Mercenary
> [_] Tyrant
> [_] Middle management
> [_] Eccentric billionaire
> [_] Defense Minister / General
> [_] Retired
> [_] Student
>
>13. To help us better understand our customers, please indicate the
>interests and activities in which you and your spouse enjoy participating
>on a regular basis:
>
> [_] Golf
> [_] Boating / sailing
> [_] Sabotage
> [_] Running / jogging
> [_] Propaganda / misinformation
> [_] Destabilization / overthrow
> [_] Default on loans
> [_] Gardening
> [_] Crafts
> [_] Black market / smuggling
> [_] Collectibles / collections
> [_] Watching sports on TV
> [_] Wines
> [_] Interrogation / torture
> [_] Household pets
> [_] Crushing rebellions
> [_] Espionage / reconnaissance
> [_] Fashion clothing
> [_] Border disputes
> [_] Mutually Assured Destruction
>
>Thank you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire. Your
>answers will be used in market studies that will help McDonnell Douglas
>serve you better in the future - as well as allowing you to receive
>mailings and
>special offers from other companies, governments, extremist groups, and
>mysterious consortia. As a bonus for responding to this survey, you will
>be registered to win a brand new F-117A in our Desert Thunder
>Sweepstakes!
>
>Comments or suggestions about our fighter planes? Please write to:
>
> McDONNELL DOUGLAS CORPORATION
> Marketing Department
> Military, Aerospace Division
>
>
>IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual
>addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is confidential
>privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons with low
>self-esteem, no sense of humor or irrational religious beliefs. If you are
>not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying of
>this email is not authorized (either explicitly or implicitly) and
>constitutes an irritating social faux pas.
>
>Unless the word absquatulation has been used in its correct context
>somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or
>grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the
>transmission of this email, although the kelpie next door is living on
>borrowed time, let me tell you.
>
>Those of you with an overwhelming fear of the unknown will be gratified
>to learn that there is no hidden message revealed by reading this
>backwards, so just ignore that Alert Notice from Microsoft.
>
>However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your
>computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your pets. If you
>have received this email in error, please add some nutmeg and egg whites,
>whisk, and place in a warm oven for 40 minutes.
>
>


posted by Cacciaguida at 1:25 PM

 
Battered Bishop Syndrome

I can't honestly promise that I'm going to read the Bishops' recent statement on domestic violence, mainly because life is too short and my reading list is too long to find room in either for such an obviously staff-written work.

However, based on the remarks of the person to whom I owe the link -- blogging homeschool mom Amy Kropp (visit her blog!) -- I have some remarks of my own. (Thanks also to Maureen McHugh's A Religion of Sanity, the blog through which I found Amy. Keep on bloggin', Maureen!)

Amy writes here, summarizing the Bishops' statement:

Battered women should not stay in abusive marriages, and anyone who would tell a victim of domestic violence that God wants them to stay with their husband is a false prophet, U.S. Catholic bishops declared yesterday at their annual fall meeting here.

Hmmm. That's an awfully broad brush. There are women who should seek physical separation, and some of them may receive contrary (and bad) advice. But should every wife light out for the territories at the first sign of abuse? And even if the answer is yes, does that make everyone who gives contrary advice a "false prophet"? (And while we're at it, "false prophet" is an awfully strong term. I'm glad the Bishops feel they can deploy it, but where was their theological thesaurus back with Paul Shanley first appeared? Or Charles Curran? Or Rosie Reuther or Gregory Baum or.........)

Also, I hope the Bishops stress that a physical separation does not of itself dissolve a marriage. Secular family law has long distinguished between "separation a mensa," which means separation from board, and, presumably, bed (no, it does not mean quitting Mensa!), and "separation a vinculo," i.e. from the bond (literally "chain" -- regrettable expression) of marriage; i.e. divorce. The Catholic Church, meanwhile, believes in neither.

Condemning the ways religion has aided abusers and frightened wives into submission, the bishops overwhelmingly approved a church policy statement instructing clergy and lay ministers to put the safety of abuse victims ahead of efforts to restore the marriage.

Fair enough -- but I do wish the Bishops, and all Christian leaders for that matter, would stop talking generically about "religion."

For one thing, in doing so, they almost invariably make themselves mouthpieces for Enlightenment zingers at -- uh, well, at religion, but particularly at Christianity. Voltaire speaks very well for himself; he doesn't need (never mind deserve) help from a bunch of communications/religious studies double majors. (I refer to the actual drafters of such statements, not to the Bishops, of course. The Bishops have even less excuse for re-popularizing Voltaire.)

But more importantly, Christian leaders are supposed to speak for Christ, not for a generic abstraction called "religion." I don't really know where I want to go with this point. It sounds like a perversion of the Gospel to present it as a two-part pitch, in which we sell "religion" first, and then make the case that our brand is best. On the other hand, that sort of sounds like C.S. Lewis's conversion, and, mutatis mutandis, my own. So I don't really know what I mean here. Maybe some of you can write in and tell me.

Another expression that frosts my shorts is "lay ministers." For the reasons why, see the article by the Rev. Robert Connor in a recent issue (sorry I don't have the full cite right now, and it isn't on-line yet) of Communio.

Of course, the Bishops and their staffer-drafters may have used the term "religion" because they want to spread the blame around, so that at least some of it will fall on Islam, with its atrocious record toward women. If so, carry on.

"As pastors of the Catholic Church in the United States, we state as clearly and as strongly as we can that violence against women, in or outside the home, is never justified," the bishops said.

Fine. But was there any particular need for the Bishops to repeat this, seeing that they have taught it before? Is there -- pardon the journalese -- a news hook here? Or is it just a desire to teach something that overlaps with elite opinion, to dilute the embarassment (as some of them see it) of other authoritative teachings that ruffle elite opinion's feathers?

Finally, does the statement contain anything commending men who are good husbands, or, if that's too much to ask, at least recognizing that some men are good husbands? Or is this just one more contribution to the dumb-dad-bad-hubby stereotype that is rampant in popular culture?

Now, if the Bishops could combine a teaching against spousal abuse with an analysis and endorsement of Ephesians 5:22--24, that would be a novel and welcome contribution. Perhaps the key is to place adequate stress on Ephesians 5:21 ("Be subject to one another" -- the equality and reciprocality of Christian marriage was a scandal to the Greco-Roman world) and 5:25-30 ("Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her...." -- not, you'll notice, "...as Christ loved the Church and administered discipline to her" -- though, Lord knows, the New Israel has often needed discipline just as the Old Israel did).



posted by Cacciaguida at 3:48 PM

 
Apologia Pro Vita Zorakae

Outstanding testimony by a Lutheran convert to Catholicism.

(Note to Tim Drake: planning a second volume of There He Stood, Here We Stand? Perhaps a "trap-door" edition, to be called Here He Stood, There He Goes?)
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:24 AM

 




The Holy Father at tne Escriva canonization, photographed by one of the younger Cacciaguidas
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:00 PM

 
Hell in Holland

What would it be life if Islam seized power in Western countries? We don't have to wonder: for many Muslim women in the Netherlands right now, it's happening (and there's not much reason to think the Netherlands are unique). Go here, and thanks to Eve for the link. And, yes, thanks to the New York Times for running the story. Pim Fortuyn was right about a few things. (The NYT also deserves kudos for putting a real-life picture of one of the Tennessee tornadoes on its front page today.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:57 PM

 
GOP Senate

As a wise man once said: "I've won some, and I've lost some. Winning is better."

Yes, it's great to have the Senate back. It's even greater to do it by winning some squeakers (MO, NH), unexpectedly beating one of the few surviving symbols of Great Societ liberalism (MN), and scoring an utterly surprising upset in Georgia after months of political buzz about how the "Republican South" may be a thing of the past. (There was an upset victory for the GOP in GA's governor's race as well).

But it gets even better. We did this without needing Sen. Tim Hutchinson (AK). Social conservatives succeeded in showing that we can toss out a wife-divorcing, staffer-marrying rotter like him and still get the Senate back. But hey, all for love, right, Tim?

And BTW, the Republican governor of AK won reelection easily, so there's no ambiguity about the signal AK voters were sending about Hutchinson.

In the House, this is the first time the GOP has gained in mid-term elections while holding the White House in... in... ever?? And we were able to do this and still dispense with the presence of Connie Morella in the caucus!

Well done!
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:06 PM

 
Don't worry, I don't plan to turn this into a British politics blog -- though I'm undoubtedly pumped from a long car-trip spent listending to Blackstone Audio Books' recording of Roy Jenkins's biography of Churchill -- but since I've criticized present Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith for supposedly allowing a free vote on gay adoption, I must praise him here for imposing a three-line whip (no jokes, please) on this issue. That means members of the "shadow cabinet" who dissent must resign from it. And one did.

Michael Portillo, while unctuously pretending to support Mr. Duncan Smith, is clearly positioning himself (once again, no jokes, please) for the new post of Leader of the Internal Opposition.

The street wisdom (Fleet Street, that is) is that the failure of the Conservative Party to join in the huzzahs to the sexual revolution is the reason it looks "nasty," as its own chairman has called it, and that this is why it loses elections.

From my post on the other side of the Atlantic, I suggest that someone (and it could be Mr. Duncan Smith) who would do for social issues what Mrs. Thatcher did for the once-equally-unpopular cause of economic freedom could work wonders for the party. What is threatening the Conservative Party with extinction is the perception that the only thing its most prominent members are willing to stand for is leader.
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:44 PM

 
ALL SOULS

This feast focuses on Christians who have died but not yet finished the process of purgation. At the same time, we find in the Catechism the following:

1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery." 63 Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.

Of your charity, please pray for Sally, who died this morning. (I got the call around 1 pm.)

A life without Christ and baptism is not the normal way to get to Heaven. But then, an old Chevy that breaks down on the Pennsylvania Turnpike is not the normal way to get to Elkins Park.

May Our Blessed Lady drive out to meet Sally with a box of oatmeal cookies.

And yes, these are all inside family references. But I want your prayers anyway.




posted by Cacciaguida at 1:53 PM

 
It appears "crimson tide" has a different meaning for me than for Matthew at Kross&Sweord!
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:20 AM

 
Britain's Tories and cultural politics

Next week Tony Blair's Government will move an adoption bill with an amendment that will, in journalese, "allow gay adoptions." But as this article from the Daily Torygraph makes clear (the point comes up about two-thirds of the way through), homosexual individuals can already adopt in Britain.

The wisdom vel non of this policy is debate-worthy, but it's not what next week's vote will be about: it will be merely about allowing people who can already adopt as individuals to do so as couples. Which is to say, it's 100 percent culture-war symbolism.

This being the case, why then does embattled Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith make this a "free vote" (meaning, Conservative MPs can vote either way, or not at all, without facing wrathful party whips "putting some stick about")? Since absolutely no one who can now adopt would be denied that "right" by failure of the Government's amendment, why not consider this vote a low-cost way for the party to send an encouraging sign to the culturally conservative base?

Because that's precisely not the signal the party wants to send. Its leadership has completely internalized the establishment line that being culturally conservative is "nasty."

The Conservative Party used to be of the opinion, back in the '60s, that being against socialism was "nasty." Then came Mrs. Thatcher. Is there a leader capable of fulfilling the promise, not made but dimly hinted-at in the late '80s, of "Social Thatcherism"?
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:02 AM

 
All Saints' Day

Go to Mass. And either before or after doing so, read Fr. Jim Tucker's homily.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:13 PM

 
Antony & Cleopatra -- the opera by Sam Barber

The Washington Opera recently revived Barber's Vanessa, and right now I'm listening to Antony and Cleopatra. Yes, there's a recording of it: not the gargantuan version Barber wrote for the opening of the New Met, but the revised version performed at Juilliard in 1975.

(BTW, Cacciaguida was at one of the Juilliard performances; had an opportunity to meet both Barber and Gian-Carlo Menotti afterwards -- really wanted to, because I had once learned the title role in Menotti's Amahl, and of course I admire Barber too -- but had to decline, because I had a paper due the next day. Another day in my academic career.)

Anyway, Antony mostly rocks, though, as so often with modern "classical" music, it takes a couple of listenings. The fanfare, emblematic of Rome, that opens and closes the opera, is as effective as I remember it from '75. The Egypt themes are suitably "eastern" without making you think Liz Taylor is about to enter.

The end of Act I -- Enobarbus's "barge she sat in" speech, followed by a vision of Cleo calling Antony back to Egypt -- is a bit of a missed opportunity for a great tune; but the opportunity is fully seized in Act II. This features the "music i'the air" scene, which is spooky (a Moog synthesizer is deployed for the strained mourning sound that signifies "the god Hercules" deserting Antony), and a duet for the hero and heroine.

This duet is set to the poem "Take, o take these lips away," which appears not in A&C but in Measure for Measure; Barber uses an alternative version by Fletcher and Beaumont. The tune here is great -- and must have been hard to create, because the key lyrics scan perfectly with another famous duet from 20th century American opera, "Bess, you is my woman now." Had I been in Barber's position, I wouldn't have been able to get Gershwin's tune out of my head. In fact, some might say that even Barber didn't quite do so. But still, the duet and the interlude after it are definite compositional successes.

Two comments on the opera's ending.

In terms of sight: Across more than a quarter-century I still remember how Esther Hinds (who sang Cleopatra both at Juilliard and in the 1983 Spoleto revival on which the recording is based), per Menotti's stage direction, "died" with her eyes open, robed and enthroned, and how the throne rolled slowly and smoothly toward the audience up to the final blackout.

In terms of sound: Barber emphasizes the triumph of Rome. The final chorus is dominated not by the Egyptian woodwind themes but by the Roman brass fanfare that began the opera. The chorus severally and variously meanders over the words:

No grave on earth shall clasp in it
A pair so famous.
Our army shall
In solemn show attend this funeral,
And then to Rome.

-- but then it comes together to repeat:

AND THEN TO ROME!!

Fanfare. Blackout.

Awesome.

posted by Cacciaguida at 1:43 PM

 
"We will bury you" revisited: Little Green Footballs on interment of Chechen terrorists in Moscow.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:22 PM

 
Pejmanpundit digs up a great Mondale quote.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:16 PM

 
Fr. Jim Tucker reports and comments on a speech by Cardinal Dulles on Vatican II.
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:28 PM

 
Looks like Britain's Conservative Party is circling the firing squad around party leader (and RC) Iain Duncan Smith. Click here, here, and here (last contains Lady Thatcher's advice to leader: have convictions and stand by them).

This story amusingly handicaps the alternative Tory leadership contenders.

Speaking of Thatcher, there don't seem to be any leadership candidates like her on the horizon. But Thatcherite and Catholic-convert Ann Widdecombe remains, according to the BBC, "hugely popular with the Tory grassroots."
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:08 PM

 
Headline caught in passing on the website of London's Daily Torygraph -- er, that is, Telegraph -- under "UK News": "30,000 year old rhino found."

So, they've been sending reporters around to the clubs again!
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:49 AM

 
Hmm... Turns out there are even more problems than I thought with the ICEL translation of the Creed. Read what Tenebrae has to say about it, and thanks to Eve for the link.

("ICEL" = International Conspiracy against the English Language. Just kidding. Or not.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:00 PM

 
World Series, Day After Game Seven

YESSSSS! (See post just below.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:43 PM

 
World Series, Just After Game Six

I want to get a few things blogged out right after the Anaheim Angels' come-back from a 5-0 deficit to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 in the sixth game, which would have been the last game if the Giants had held on to win.

I have a general bias in favor of the National League, but each passing World Series game this year has contributed to overcoming that presumption.

Why?

* The Giants once left New York. Baseball teams shouldn't leave New York. It makes us New Yorkers angry. I say this even though if I were transplanted back to the days when the Giants were still at Manhattan's Polo Grounds, I'd be rooting against them and for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

* The color black doesn't belong in any prominent place in a baseball uniform. Red and white uniforms, on the contrary, are pleasant to behold.

* The fact that several Giants stars, including their admirable manager, are openly seeking alternative employment even as they play a World Series -- that's just too Yankee-esque for me.

* Barry Bonds is a spoiled prima donna.

* I love come-from-behind teams, and the Angels are that -- not unlike the Mets in '86.

So this National League fan is totally pumped by the Angels' improbable victory tonight, and I'll be rooting for them tomorrow night.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:59 PM

 
Can't Swallow That About Capistrano: a wimp homily about a real-man saint

All right, I'm now seriously annoyed at the peacy-weacys, and I'm going to get a few things off my chest.

"When the swallows come back to Capistrano," Bugs Bunny used to sing in his bath. Well, today is the Feast of St. John Capistrano, the Fighting Franciscan of the Battle of Belgrade, and I'm ticked -- not by St. John, but by what is being offered to priests who want to preach about him.

I went to the (usually wonderful) website Catholic Exchange and looked up today's saint. Among many other interesting facts, the bio page told us that John played a role in inspiring the Hungarian troops to fight back against the Turkish invasion of the Balkans. Christian armies won the Battle of Belgrade, and thanks are due in no small part to John's preaching.

But that's not what the suggested homiletic material on John says. Click on "Lessons" on the bio page, and you get another page, this time with suggestions for homilies about St. John C. (It's unclear whether these homiletic themes are drafted by the Catholic Exchange staff, or by that of the USCCB. I continue to admire and strongly recommend Catholic Exchange.)

And what were these homitetic themes about St. John Capistrano?

Importance of early life experiences. John's pre-Franciscan career as a lawyer prepared him for his work as a Franciscan. (Not clear exactly how. He didn't win the Battle of Belgrade by suing the Turks. But the message is a good fit with the American cult of perpetual possibility: whatever you've done in the past is always, potentially, just preparation for the future.)

And...

2. Though the Church teaches the "just war" theory, and though John preached it to the Hungarians, nonetheless "the message of the Gospel" is "peace and reconciliation." So John was wrong to preach resistance to the Turks? A pew-dweller hearing a homily based on these suggestions would probably think so.

Does absolutely every saint have to be put through the peace-and-justice de-flavorizer? We know that Christ wills peace and reconciliation. We know it thoroughly, because some of us haven't heard anything else from the pulpit in years. Some sort of cross (pardon the "negative" expression) between a social worker and a UN Secretary General -- that's Him, and that's what all His saints have to be, according to the people who write the homilies we hear.

Couldn't we just once hear that so-and-so helped God's people defend themselves militarily against infidel domination, and that it's in part because of that that he's a saint?

Or does St. John Capistrano have to be forever a swallow-sanctuary hymned by a scwewy wabbit?

And while we're at it, those Vatican officials, up to and including Cardinal Ratzinger, who've been opining that the liceity of war with Iraq depends critically and particularly on the United Nations -- not the international community in general, but UN institutions in particular -- can stop whenever they like as far as I'm concerned. I mean, don't keep doing it just to please me.

(Just so there's no misunderstanding, I note that I'm a member of the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club. I've got my coffee mug and everything. Our motto: "Putting the smackdown on heresy since 1981.")

posted by Cacciaguida at 5:26 PM

 
Il duolo della terra
Nel chiostro ancor c’insegue;
Del core sol la guerra
In ciel si calmerà.

The sorrow of earth
Follows us into the cloister;
The strife of the heart
Is calmed only in Heaven.

-- the ghost of Emperor Charles V,
disguised as a monk,
in Verdi’s Don Carlo

posted by Cacciaguida at 5:43 PM

 
MSNBC has put the "hate" tag on a blog called Little Green Footballs, for being too anti-Islamic. LGF is henceforth in my blogroll. Maybe host Charles Johnson can tell me how to get noticed by MSNBC.

Our Lady of the Rosary -- victorious at Lepanto -- pray for us.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:43 PM

 
Islamism is bustin' out all over, says Daniel Pipes in The New York Post.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:11 PM

 

So the end of the world may be fiery after all, not icy.
Dies irae and all that.
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:46 PM

 
Cardinal Newman

I've added a website on the Ven. Cardinal Newman to my links. Certain of his works -- the Essay on Development even more than the Apologia -- were crucial points along my journey. Let's pray for his beatification and canonization.
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:03 PM

 
Encyclical on the Rosary

Click here for the Holy Father's encyclical on the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, released this morning.

While media attention will naturally focus on the passage suggesting (for that is all the Holy Father is doing here) the addition of five "new" mysteries marking the highlights Our Lord's public life, the encyclical as a whole has much to say about the Rosary as a road to contemplation, and about each of the fifteen "traditional" mysteries as well.

Discussion will probably focus on this passage:


A proposed addition to the traditional pattern

19. Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the Psalter.

I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light: "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (Jn 9:5).

Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a "compendium of the Gospel", it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.


The Joyful Mysteries [omitted here -- go read it yourself!]

The Mysteries of Light

21. Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way "mysteries of light". Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the "light of the world" (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom. In proposing to the Christian community five significant moments – "luminous" mysteries – during this phase of Christ's life, I think that the following can be fittingly singled out: (1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.

Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus. The Baptism in the Jordan is first of all a mystery of light. Here, as Christ descends into the waters, the innocent one who became "sin" for our sake (cf. 2Cor 5:21), the heavens open wide and the voice of the Father declares him the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:17 and parallels), while the Spirit descends on him to invest him with the mission which he is to carry out. Another mystery of light is the first of the signs, given at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1- 12), when Christ changes water into wine and opens the hearts of the disciples to faith, thanks to the intervention of Mary, the first among believers. Another mystery of light is the preaching by which Jesus proclaims the coming of the Kingdom of God, calls to conversion (cf. Mk 1:15) and forgives the sins of all who draw near to him in humble trust (cf. Mk 2:3-13; Lk 7:47- 48): the inauguration of that ministry of mercy which he continues to exercise until the end of the world, particularly through the Sacrament of Reconciliation which he has entrusted to his Church (cf. Jn 20:22-23). The mystery of light par excellence is the Transfiguration, traditionally believed to have taken place on Mount Tabor. The glory of the Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished Apostles to "listen to him" (cf. Lk 9:35 and parallels) and to prepare to experience with him the agony of the Passion, so as to come with him to the joy of the Resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit. A final mystery of light is the institution of the Eucharist, in which Christ offers his body and blood as food under the signs of bread and wine, and testifies "to the end" his love for humanity (Jn 13:1), for whose salvation he will offer himself in sacrifice.

In these mysteries, apart from the miracle at Cana, the presence of Mary remains in the background. The Gospels make only the briefest reference to her occasional presence at one moment or other during the preaching of Jesus (cf. Mk 3:31-5; Jn 2:12), and they give no indication that she was present at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Yet the role she assumed at Cana in some way accompanies Christ throughout his ministry. The revelation made directly by the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan and echoed by John the Baptist is placed upon Mary's lips at Cana, and it becomes the great maternal counsel which Mary addresses to the Church of every age: "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5). This counsel is a fitting introduction to the words and signs of Christ's public ministry and it forms the Marian foundation of all the "mysteries of light".



posted by Cacciaguida at 11:40 AM

 
By the way, the neighborhood around St. Peter's is full of tchatchke shops: here's one of the better ones.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:39 PM

 
More about Rome '02: the sound of 400,000 being silent

First, I will claim that there were 400,000 people present at the Escriva canonization. Here's how I figure:

1. All agree that there were 300,000 at the beatification (May, 1992), yet:

2. Overhead photos of that event show that the spill-over from St. Peter's Square extended only about 2/3 of the way down the Via della Conciliazione -- impressive enough, to be sure, but:

3. From personal observation, and from accounts in the secular Italian press, the crowds at the canonization extended the entire length of the Via della Conciliazione, and then spilled out along the Lungotevere (the street running alongside the Tiber) in both directions: south, toward Trastevere, and north, up to and including the grounds of the Castel Sant'Angelo. Hence:

400,000 is a conservative estimate.

Now, this crowd of (at least) 400,000 was a very reverent one. At both of the major outdoor Masses (the canonization itself on Sunday, Oct. 6, and the Mass of thanksgiving the next day), the entire crowd knelt on the cobblestones for the Canon of the Mass, and during the consecration itself, you could have heard the proverbial pin drop anywhere on the west side of the Tiber.

Have you ever "heard" 400,000 people in concentrated silent devotion? It's not "silence" in the literal sense. Sounds indeed there were: mostly the breezes of a sunny Roman fall day. If John 3:8 flitted through the minds of some of us, I hope we can be acquitted of the charge of excessive enthusiasm, but if not, we'll have to risk it anyway.
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:58 PM

 
Escriva canonization: "This means you!"

I'm back. Being in Rome was wonderful, but it's also good to be back in the blogger's box.

Of course I was there for the canonization of St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei.

Some photos here. I and mine were on the left-hand side (as you face St. Peter's) of the Bernini colonnade. (Not that you can see us in any of these....)

For reflections on this event from other pulpits at St. Blog's, drop in on the Old Oligarch, Pete Vere, Karl Schudt, and Bill Cork. Many thanks to each of you!

Cacciaguida and two of his sons were three among half a million, gathered in front of the Holy Father at the capital of the Church, to acclaim as a saint someone who has given millions of lay people and diocesan priests (not just the members of the prelature that he founded) workable game-plans to becoming saints.

The homilies, and also the more sympathetic write-ups in the Italian press, were fall of talk about this "modern saint," this "saint for today." I think this rhetoric is accurate, but it needs further cashing out, which I'll attempt here as briefly as I can.

There was a radical element in the teaching of this so-called "conservative" saint. That element was not the mere proposition that lay people could be saints. St. Francis de Sales, among many others, taught this too. There was no shortage, pre-Opus Dei, of Catholic teaching to the effect the laymen could be saints despite their involvement in the world, by layering on a devotional life alongside their secular duties.

But the rub lies in those words "despite" and "alongside." St. Josemaria took the cause of lay sanctity one crucial step further: it's not "despite" our involvement in the world that we laymen can be saints, and we don't merely add a spiritual layer to our esse as one might put on a hat.

Rather, the realities of secular life are the very theatre of our spiritual struggle and the very things we have to sanctify. And far from being a mere layer, our interior lives should become integrated with the "rest" of our lives as seamlessly as possible.

I'm not going to go on trying to explain this, because that is done much better in St. Josemaria's written works. I'll only add one thought.

Much of the history of Catholic laymen (and of course of non-Catholics as well, but that's not what I'm talking about today) is a pretty sad display of failure to live up to the demands of the Christian life. The same can be said for much of the clergy as well, but in the case of laypeople, spiritual negligence is underwritten by an erroneous "division of labor" that was never taught by the Church, yet crept somewhat into her practice. I refer to the assumption that living Christianity seriously, in all its ramifications, is the business of the "professional" Christians: the priests, the monks, the nuns, etc., and maybe a few scattered laymen who serve God by acting weird (or act weird by serving God). Lay people, according to this view, are just amateurs, and have no need to live up to "professional" standards.

St. Josemaria came to blow away this false division of labor. The difference between priests and religious, on one hand, and lay people on the other, is real, he taught, and it has its importance -- but it is not transparent for the distinction between first- and second-rate sanctity. There is only one Christian sanctity -- the first-rate kind -- and all Christians are called to it, though in different ways.

St. Josemaria's life achievement consisted, I would say, of two things: he spread the above-summarized message by precept and example, and he founded an institution of and within the Church to instantiate this message and to offer to those who desire it (whether they become members or not) practical help in living it out.

Thus, my personal three-word summary of St. Josemaria's contribution to Catholic teaching: "This means you!" That is, you and I, if we are Catholics, are neither barred from walking the royal road of sanctity, nor exempt from that road's requirements.

To be in St. Peter's Square this past October 6 and 7 (the canonization Mass was on Sunday the 6th; on Monday the 7th, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, we had a Mass of thanksgiving) was to sense the Holy Father's optimism -- despite obvious difficulties -- about St. Josemaria's message as an element of the new evangelization.


posted by Cacciaguida at 10:36 AM

 
Two quick items while my plane to Rome revs up....

1. Much-needed changes coming at my beloved but last-place New York Mets. See Greg for independent commentary.

2. In my post of yesterday about a Vatican "re-shuffle," I identified Cardinal Arinze as a "convert from Nigeria." Re-reading this, I feel a need to clarify. Francis Arinze is from Nigeria, and while growing up there, at age nine, converted to Catholicism. (I'm not sure what his family's religion was, but both his parents converted to Catholicism some after their son.) The Cardinal has not converted from Nigerian-ness, and is still, as far as I know, proudly Nigerian. (And wouldn't that make him an interesting Pope...!)
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:26 AM