Diogenes reports that the US Catholic Bishops have actually spoken up in defense of Catholic teachings, and adds that this is not an early April Fools joke (surprisingly). The Bishops simply pointed out that failed priest Daniel Maguire has published pamphlets that are not Catholic, although he lied and tried to claim they were.

Christopher West is coming to Long Island again to give his Created and Redeemed Seminar - an introduction to John Paul II's Theology of the Body. My wife and I attended this seminar at Kellenberg High School before we were married and it was quite good. West is one of the few speakers who could give a 10 1/2 hour seminar and pull it off without boring everyone to death. He is quite funny, entertaining, interesting and informative, especially if you are a child of the 80's and can get all the references he makes to 80's music. Here he speaks of giving his book to Bono and hearing the Theology of the Body in one of U2's songs.

The seminar will be at Cure of Ars parish in Merrick (where the heart of St. John Vianney was venerated)

Friday, April 20th 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM
Saturday, April 21st 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Info is here (PDF file)

Catholic Church stuff -

• The Pope issued an apostolic exhortation called Sacramentum Caritatis which focuses on Liturgy. Good commentary on it can be found at What Does the Prayer Really Say? The Pope writes about using latin and chant, keeping the tabernacle in a prominent place, etc..

• There have been rumors for months now about a motu proprio from Pope Benedict allowing greater use of the traditional latin Mass.

• And of course, a more accurate translation of the Mass into English is on its way....

All of these things should make a Liturgy nut like me happy, the Reform of the Reform is gathering steam! But my reaction to these recent developments has been very muted. I can't help but feel that this has all been said before, all promised before, and no matter how many in the Vatican, including the Pope express the desire for reverence, tradition, etc.. it never seems to trickle down to the parish level. The motu proprio, if it ever actually comes, will be ignored by many bishops. The exhortation will be ignored. The new translation will be ignored. I am very cynical about this because at the parish level the understanding of tradition is almost non-existent.

Speaking of Liturgy, anyone on Long Island know of a parish where the Easter Vigil is 'done up real good'? I would love to go to a parish this year where the Vigil is done well. It doesn't have to be in latin, or with a huge choir, or with chant, at this point I have minimal standards. I have been to my own home parish, as well as my new parish so I would like to try somewhere different this year.

Bishop Murphy, recently appointed to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, will once again speak at Faith on Tap. I believe this is his third time speaking for the group. This time, however, it will not be at its normal venue, The Wantagh Inn, but next door at Mulcahy's Pub.

The Topic: "The Legacy of Pope John Paul II"

Faith on Tap website

Monday, March 26th 7-9 PM

Teacher pleads guilty to kiddie porn charges


"Michael Kelly Reiner, a longtime teacher at the Long Island School for the Gifted in Huntington Station, was arrested last September and was fired from the school, where he had taught for 18 years."

A Tale of Two Surburbs


Newsday reports on a study that shows Long Islanders pay higher taxes but do not get better service than a similar area of northern Virginia.

"The reason, according to the study, lies in Long Island's 439 units of local government, school districts and special districts. In Fairfax and Loudoun counties -- Washington, D.C., suburbs with about half Long Island's population -- there are 17 such districts."

It is well past the time for Long Island to consolidate its school districts, fire districts, and other services. Nassau and Suffolk could get by with 1 school district each, broken down by region, or perhaps even 5 school districts each. This would make things more efficient without affecting the excellent quality of most public schools here.

One thing I noticed in the article is that while Newsday reports that spending for fire departments "excluding personnel" is twice as high on Long Island, the volunteer fire personnel actually bring the overall cost below northern Virginia. The only thing to be done with the fire departments is to consolidate the fire districts, and watch their spending, as these arrests show.

The report, as well as many other info for Long Islanders can be found on the Long Island Index.

Nassau DA says several factors went into decision to not prosecute Islander for vicious hit

What could those factors be?

1) That Chris Simon is white?

2) That Chris Simon is a jock?

3) That Nassau County police get free tickets to Islander games?

4) That the owner of the Islanders is BILLIONAIRE Charles Wang?

5) That hockey is the last sport where white men can pretend to be athletic, and we wouldn't want to tarnish the sport?

6) That the thousands of people who witnesses this assault were too drunk to be reliable witnesses?

7) That charging Chris Simon might set a dangerous precedent of actually expecting white men to obey the law?

Newsday printed an article today on Chaminade and how it teaches sacrifice, focusing on the 3 Chaminade graduates who have died in Iraq - Ronald Winchester, Michael LiCalzi, and James Regan RIP.

"Anchored in faith, and unrelenting in its academic demands on its 1,600 students, Chaminade could easily shape young men for Wall Street, not for war. And yet in just less than three years, three young graduates have died in Iraq and about 70 more have done military duty there."