Student Arrested After Pilot Uniform Found

"A university student from Egypt was ordered held without bond after prosecutors said they found a pilot's uniform, chart of Memphis International Airport and a DVD titled "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act" in his apartment.

The FBI is investigating whether Mahmoud Maawad, 29, had any connection to terrorists. He is awaiting trial on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of a Social Security number.

Maawad, who is in the United States illegally, told the judge during a hearing Thursday that he is studying science and economics at the University of Memphis."


Why isn't this story being given greater coverage? How soon we forget September 11th.

Priest Pricks Children With Pin

"The Catholic Diocese of Austin is investigating after a priest called about 15 children to come forward during evening Mass so he could prick them with an unsterilized pin to demonstrate the pain Jesus suffered during crucifixion. "

"What I was trying to teach them is that suffering is a part of life," said the Rev. Arthur Michalka, 78, on Friday. "

This priest needs to be removed immediately under the Charter provisions. Talk about inappropriate behavior with children! And during the Mass? I really think there is something seriously wrong with this man - this is not just a lapse in judgement, this is sick. I wonder if this priest had to take one of those courses all Church volunteers are taking?

Raymond Arroyo's new book on Mother Angelica is now # 88 on Amazon's Top Seller List. Amazon has it for only $15.80 which is an incredible price for such a good book.

The new Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is a fellow parishioner of mine. I hope he remembers I "made his day" when I bumped into him at Dunkin Donuts!

Remember the fuss over Michael S. Rose's Goodbye, Good Men!? It seems that the bestseller was read by some important people because the questions of the visitation of the seminaries seem like they are in line with the book's premise. Via Rocco at Whispers in the Loggia. I especially like the part that says all priest-graduates of the past three years are to be interviewed. These priests may be more open to telling the whole truth if they don't have to worry about getting to graduation.

Oh God - Matty Molnar, a seminarian at Mundelein was killed last night.

From strivingforholiness in my comment box - "One of the seminarians you linked to several weeks ago, Matty Molnar, was killed in a car accident last night..three other seminarians were also hurt, one in critical condition. Please pray for Matty's soul, his family and friends and the other young men who were injured..."

The comments on Matty's blog mention this tragic news. I can't find a news story on it, but the seminarian blogs linked to on Matty's blog mention this horrible story. For all those who came here who knew Matty I am so sorry.

The media seems to have forgotten about Ken Carney, Tom Diasparra, and Phil Sofia, the 3 jocks from Mepham High School who abused other boys in a football camp. There has been no reports on the status of their "punishment", whether they are free, or whether they are back on Long Island. Here is a copy of the Grand Jury report that describes in detail what they did while other football players watched and laughed. DO NOT click if you have a weak stomach!!

Here is the Newsday archive of Mepham High School stories, although Newsday does not print the names of the 3 . My concern is not just where are these guys but has anything really changed?? Do schools monitor anything better than they did before this incident? Will the next football players to sodomize or beat get the community support as these jocks did (at first) or will the town actually see them as criminals to be punished? Do coaches get supervised any better today, either here on Long Island or elsewhere? Are there still people out there that see (men's) sports as so important that it takes precedence over education?

Here is some good commentary from Don McPherson who leads the Sports Leadership Institute:

"...Long Islanders are far too familiar with the case of three boys being sodomized by their teammates at Mepham High School in what people continue to call a "hazing" ritual. The fact is, these boys were not being "hazed," they were being sodomized. However, this difficult word and our inability to confront the "football machine" have distracted us from dealing with the reality of the problem."

More thoughts on Mother Angelica, EWTN, and Catholic broadcasting from my reading of Raymond Arroyo's new book-

Mother Angelica fought hard to keep the bishops from controlling EWTN. For awhile the bishops and EWTN tried to work together, with the bishops producing programming and EWTN airing them, but EWTN rejected much of what the bishops had to offer. The bishop's conference wants to make ecumenical programming, and programming that presents all sides of an issue of Catholicism. The result is watered down and pretty much useless for anyone wanting to learn Catholicism, or for anyone wanting to devote their life to becoming a saint. EWTN wants to present Catholicism to those who wish to learn and those who want the whole teaching without dissent or question. You can argue with style and approach to Catholic programming, but I can see what the bishops would have done to EWTN had they had their way because of the local television station of this Diocese, Telecare. Telecare bills itself as "ecumenical programming" and they don't show too many Catholic programs. It does have local Mass, including Masses in Spanish, which are important. But overall, the network does not see its mission as teaching, defending or promoting Catholicism. I don't like any of their programming and when I see Frank Field, a local weatherman, doing a show on health, I wonder why Telecare is airing this?? Basically I see Telecare as a waste of money and I think it would be better for the diocese to produce a few hours of weekly programming that is Catholic and of local interest and show EWTN the rest of the time. Show the spanish Mass, the Mass from St. Agnes, Bishop Murphy's show, the Good News show that highlights stuff around the Diocese and leave the rest to EWTN.

Welcome to whoever searched for "yankee hater mets fan"!!! Let's Go Mets!

I have been using Hello to post pictures on my blog for awhile, but I just noticed there is a button to post pics right from blogger.

Relax Guys!

The hits I am receiving for "Caterina Bonci" are amazing. This is the Catholic school religion teacher claiming she was fired for being too sexy. I posted about this because I thought it would be funny to paraphrase the "I'm too sexy" song. I didn't think it would result in dozens of hits every day. Geez, guys get a grip - follow the link for a pic and get over it already.

Rebecca at Doxology asks for blogs of reverts (yah!) and converts. Thanks to my Catholic Blog Directory I can list some converts - additions and corrections welcome:

A Grateful Catholic, Grateful Catholic
Against the Grain , Christopher Blosser
Ales Rarus , Eric Williams
An Aid to Memory, David Bennett
Ancient and Future Catholic Musings , Jonathan
Bocca della Verita', Jennifer
Cartago Delenda Est, Matteo
Catholic and Enjoying It! , Mark Shea
Conversio, Catherine the Moody
Converted Journey , Woody Hughes
Cor ad cor loquitur , David Armstrong
Defender of the Catholic Faith , Steve Ray
doxology, Rebecca
Duc in Altum, David Ward
Eutychus Fell: Becoming Catholic , Eutychus Fell
Eve Tushnet , Eve Tushnet
feminine-genius, Genevieve Kineke
Fonticulus Fides, Sparki
Happy Catholic , Julie Davis
Land of Hope and Glory , Charles Everson
Laudem Gloriae , Christine
Luminous Miseries, saintos
Meet Joe Convert , Sean Herriott
Musings of a Catholic convert , Andy McNutt
My Journey to Rome, Rich Maffeo
Pontifications, Al Kimel
Quo Vadis , Nathan Nelson
Quo Vadis? , Chris McAnall
So Let It Be Written…, Darren Cary
sotto sotto, jmh
Southern Catholic Convert, Anastasia
The Cafeteria is Closed, Gerald Augustinus
The Dawn Patrol, Dawn Eden
The History Buff's Traditional Catholic Blog, Rachel
The Sleepless Eye, Kenny Ignatius Augustine
Ut Unum Sint , Bill Cork
Vita Brevis, Gregg
With Issue, Janjan
Young and Catholic, Tim Drake

Updated 9/12/05 - missed three of my favorites:

martha, martha… - Penni
Fructus Ventris - Alicia
The Curt Jester - Jeff Miller

Yesterday I went to the Friends of EWTN conference at Kellenberg Memorial High School. Fr. Pacwa and Fr. Mullady each gave a talk. Then Fr. Pacwa spoke a bit on Mother Angelica and EWTN. He had a galley (sp?) copy of Raymond Arroyo's new book - Mother Angelica The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles and talked about much that was in the book. It was so interested that I stopped at Barnes & Noble on the way home and purchased a copy. Some interesting things from reading some of the book, not all:

• I read the first two chapters on Mother A's early childhood. The writing is good but there is not much detail because she was so solitary a figure there doesn't seem to be many people who knew her enough to be interviewed.
• She knew pain and hurt well, which probably helped her spiritually and makes her much more down to earth and real than many of her critics.
• She was one of the first drum majorettes in her high school!! There is even a picture to prove it!
• Her father was a womanizer and all around jerk and her mother was not stable to say the least. Mother A. had to be the adult in the house from the age of 11 on.
• Bishop Foley had a good relationship with the network until his inexplicable rule that Mass could not be said ad orientem, later amended to say Mass could not be televised ad orientem. This hurt the relationship between the bishop and the network, and Mass at the Shrine is still said Ad Orientem for the nuns, and not televised.
• The bishops wanted to have their own network and there was some competition between EWTN and the bishops' network. The two entities worked together in an uneasy partnership that ended when EWTN rejected the style and substance of the bishops' programming. EWTN fought the good fight against bland, watered down, and dissenting content and ultimately won.
• Deacon Bill Steltemeier was a wealthy lawyer who is as crafty as a fox, and helped the network immensely.
• The Sister Servants of the Eternal Word were co-founded by Mother A. but somehow ended up completely estranged from her and EWTN and the Poor Clare Sisters. Either I skimmed this part too quickly or the author really doesn't explain this too much. He said the Sister Servants refused to be interviewed for the book. There seems to be more to this story. Their website doesn't even mention Mother A. even though she saw this community as the hands-on extension of her comtemplative order that could do the work of assisting the network.
• The Cardinal Mahony affair shows what Fr. Pacwa said in his talk: Mother A. was wrong to say what she said, according to canon law. But it was a 17 second comment, off the cuff, and typical of her style of speaking. Mahony became OBSESSED with Mother A. and how she dared to question his authority. He really comes across as a creep and it is interesting to read Raymond Arroyo's repeated attempts to interview him for his side of the story. All requests were ignored so when he saw him in person he asked him about it, and Mahony simply brushed past him saying "That's all ancient history now". Wasn't that the bishop's general attitude to the scandals of the priesthood also? "It's all ancient history now?"

"Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et in tota anima tua, et in tota mente tua."

I went to the traditional latin Mass today, and the Gospel was "the greatest commandment" quoted above. The Gospel at the N.O. Masses today was "Forgive thy enemies", both of these messages were tough ones for September 11th.

Sept. 11: Four Years Later
In 2003 I blogged a list of Long Islanders killed on September 11th. My all those killed by terrorists rest in peace.