Saturday, March 31, 2007

"We are singing songs at most parishes that would be rejected by Barney. Our priests and bishops have zero aesthetical training and have completely lost the desire to bring “new epiphanies of beauty” (JPII) to the Church. "

--Barbara Nicolosi at Church of the Masses

Found via Off the Record
Why won't Newsday and the Boston Globe cover the teacher sex scandals like the Catholic priest sex scandals?

From Newsday:

"A former middle school teacher accused of having sex with five boys was indicted Friday by a grand jury, the Laurens County prosecutor said."

"She is one of two Laurens County teachers facing sex charges; an elementary school teacher is charged with having sex with an 11-year old boy."

Where is the 4 page special investigative series? Why haven't the front page stories been on teacher sex abuse every day for a year? Why haven't the records of the past 50 years been examined? Why haven't the papers sued to release the personnel files of schools, school districts, and the unions?

From CNN.com (in 2002!)

" A California high school teacher runs off to Las Vegas with her 15-year-old student. A Louisiana teacher is accused of having an affair with her 14-year-old student. In the Bronx, a teacher is charged with statutory rape involving a 16-year-old former student.

Such cases aren't uncommon across the country. But unlike the Roman Catholic Church's troubles with pedophile priests, teacher-student sex cases have received little attention beyond a few sensational cases."

Thursday, March 29, 2007

I have been asked to put together a panel on Catholic blogging for an upcoming Catholic conference. I am excited about this and will get around to putting my thoughts on Catholic blogging in some sort of order. I am currently watching a similiar panel that was recently filmed and can be seen here at BustedHalo.com.

Grant Gallicho, Amy Welborn and Rocco Palmo discuss blogging and I was thrilled to hear Amy Welborn mention The Catholic Blog Directory. I started this site after Gerard Serafin passed away, trying to pick up on his list of "St. Blog's Parish", which is where I first discovered Catholic blogs. Today it is maintained by Andrea who has upgraded the directory to include 964 blogs.

I can't wait to have some time to sit down at the computer and put down some sort of words about Catholic blogs, particularly its history. Although there are some limitations and problems with Catholic blogs, the positive well outnumber the negatives.
Bishop Murphy will dedicate a new Church in Montauk this weekend, St. Therese of Lisieux. The picture at this link actually bears a striking resemblance to the parish Church of my childhood.

"Though Catholics had been celebrating Mass in Montauk since the 1760s, the first church did not sprout until 1929-1930 thanks to a burgeoning French Canadian Catholic community in Long Island’s easternmost point. Then named the Church of the Little Flower, because of the founding priest’s devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux, the completed church building would eventually be dedicated in 1935 by Bishop Molloy. In 1950, full parish status was conferred to St. Therese"

Monday, March 26, 2007

BOGO Wines is having a 1/2 price sale - go to their website now! I have had this wine and it is good. If you buy a case, you are supporting the pro-life cause. A case (12 bottles) is only $59.35 with free shipping. That is less than $5 per bottle!
Amy Welborn at Open Book links to a NY Times article on Fr. Benedict Groeschel. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, or better still, go on retreat with him, you will not be disappointed. He has often lead retreats for the Catholic Lay Preachers at the retreat house at Kellenberg High School.
Franciscan brother dies in crash

"A popular Franciscian friar and football coach died after his car went out of control on a stretch of road in Kings Park.

Brother Neri Fulton, 72, was driving home on Indian Head Road at about 7:10 p.m. Sunday when he lost control of his 2004 Honda CRV, police said."

From Newsday

This is really a shame - this is the third Franciscan Friar from the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn to die this year. May they all rest in peace.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

George Weigel is going to speak at the Nassau Community College this Saturday!

Saturday, March 31 "Secularization of European Society", based on his book The Cube and The Cathedral.

Another great event sponsored by The Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies. The event is free (!) and starts at 12 PM with a luncheon followed by Weigel's talk.

Held in the Multi-Purpose Room of the College Center Building.
Ruth at Wheelie Catholic posts about missing Mass due to snow since she is in a wheelchair. This is something we Catholics can work on at the parish level, making sure those who need rides to Sunday Mass get them.