A choral group from Yale was attacked in San Francisco and not a single arrest has been made?

Mepham High School Football Rape -- 4 Years Later

Where are they now?

I am referring to the rapists from the Mepham High Football Team -

Ken Carney (the ringleader whose father died right after his son was exposed)

Phil Sofia

Tom Diasparra

Rich Guccione

These four monsters should be registered as sex offenders but don't have to because they were underage when they raped young boys as a football camp. This story focuses on the ringleader, Ken Carney, who was a typical white trash bully from Bellmore, but it also points out the problem with the attitudes of so many sports-minded people:

"Sometimes it’s hard to tell what bothers the people of Bellmore and Merrick more—allegations of sodomy or the abrupt end of football season. At a school-board meeting on October 1, packed with camera crews and angry parents, Superintendent Caramore tries to explain that hazing simply doesn’t happen at Mepham—that football was canceled not because of what the boys allegedly did but because their teammates never reported it. That hasn’t satisfied parents who complain about the lost scholarships, the deflated homecoming celebration, and the fund-raisers for other sports, all of which depend on football and are now ruined, they’re saying, because of a couple of messed-up kids."

Elizabeth Fox Genovese, RIP

Feminist, Writer, Scholar, Pro-Lifer, and Catholic convert

Link is via The Dawn Patrol

The East Meadow School District has refused to let a deaf student enter school with his service dog. It looks like the school district is breaking the law.

From Newsday:

"East Meadow School District officials appeared to dig in their heels after the state Division of Human Rights began an investigation into the district's refusal to allow John Cave, 14, to bring the dog, Simba, to W. Tresper Clarke High School. John, who has limited hearing with the aid of cochlear implants, was rebuffed yesterday for the fourth consecutive school day."

In other disability related news the big story is the "Ashley Treatment":

Parents halt growth of severely disabled girl (From The Seattle Times)

The parents have a website to give their side of the story, but it appears they have taken action to keep their girl small so they can more easily care for her.

"The girl's treatment has involved a hysterectomy, surgery to remove her breast buds and subsequent high doses of estrogen.

High-dose estrogen was used occasionally in the 1950s and '60s, mostly on teenage girls whose parents were concerned about the social stigma of being tall. The drugs could stop a 5-9 girl from becoming, say, 6 feet tall.

As that stigma has gone out of fashion, so has the treatment, medical ethicists say."

Sometimes Diogenes is so spot on that it is amazing! He is referring to Fr. Donald Cozzens but tell me this does not describe priests you have seen:

"We're all familiar with Cozzens's attitude, though perhaps most of us meet it in the celebrant at Mass. It's not as if they're obviously bored or perfunctory, but somehow they communicate the feeling that the real business takes place somewhere else. They seem bewildered, not by the meaning of Calvary exactly, but that the faithful would find it important. They don't understand genuflections or silences or prayers said kneeling. They're embarrassed by awe. Their breeziness at the altar as well as the velcro on their vestments shows that, for them, the whole golgotha/sacrifice/wine-into-blood thing is No Big Deal.


Their priesthood means something different to them than it does, say, to the faithful that show up at Mass during the week, whose eyes tend to focus on host and chalice. It's a priesthood in which the gift shop and the altar are simply two ways of reaching out to spiritual needs. It's a priesthood in which there's no damnation from which souls need to be rescued, a priesthood in which acceptance of self is more urgent than contrition. Small wonder if, for Cozzens's generation of priests, asceticism in general -- and celibacy in particular -- is hard to make sense of. "


Wow.

Oprah Winfrey has started a school for girls in South Africa which is awesome. More celebrities should use their wealth to make the world a better place as she does.

Speaking of Africa, a Long Islander originally from Rwanda has written a book on her experiences with the Rwanda Genocide.

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

Immaculee Ilibagiza is from Elmont and writes about surviving in a small bathroom of a pastor's house with seven other women. I will have to buy the book soon as my mother says it is an incredible story. Immaculee was featured on 60 Minutes also and it was amazing to see her speak about forgiving the man who killed her family members. Her Left To Tell Charitable Fund attempts to help the orphans of the Rwanda Genocide.

A new Church management consultant group promises a more faithful response to the problems of the Church

From the National Catholic Register

This article features Deal Hudson, former editor of Crisis Magazine, who has just founded the Church Resource Institute to assist Bishops in management. This Institute is meant to counter the National Leadership Roundtable started by Geoffrey Boisi, which some considered to be too liberal. I welcome lay people who are experts in business management, fund raising and finance offering assistance to the Bishops. I don't think Deal Hudson, who left Crisis after being exposed as a sleazebag should be seen as any more faithful to Catholic teaching than the Roundtable's group. I hope both groups can provide help as we all know the Bishops need it. Priests are overwhelmed today trying to run all aspects of parishes and they should not have to be. Rather than be another area of liberal vs. conservative, progressive vs orthodox, dissenters vs. faithful, these groups should both be able to prevent the Church from suffering from mis-management the way She has over the past 40 years.

A New Catholic Church in Town! (Lindenhurst)

"The Ukrainian Catholic Church, which is in full communion with the Latin-rite Catholic Church, is one of several Eastern churches that maintain their own form of worship, tradition, and hierarchy while remaining under the pope’s authority."


The Church moved from West Islip as it had outgrown the building there. I hope I can get to a Mass at this Church some day.

A local parish bulletin has a weekly page dedicated to "Adult Faith Formation". There has been a cry for adult faith formation from both sides of the ideological spectrum in the Church for years. This page reprinted the old false tale of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song being a secret way to teach the faith to Catholics in England during the persecution. This is sad on so many levels. How many more people are now going to believe this? It would only take a little knowledge of history and a little common sense to realize that this is a myth. To have this published in a parish bulletin, under the context of teaching adults, is a sign of just how bad things are. Anyway, to set the record straight:

Snopes Urban Legend Page on the 12 Days of Christmas

Tommorrow there will be a Mass for the Celebration of the Feast of Mary Mother of God and the Anniversary of the Independence of Haiti. It will be offered at St. Boniface Church in Elmont in the French and Haitian Creole languages. Haiti is a very Catholic country and many Haitians are on Long Island. Haiti was the first country founded via a slave revolt.

In today's Newsday:


Two of the Franciscan Brothers who run St. Anthony's High School in Huntington died within a day of each other.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Also a story on St. John Antiochian Orthodox Church in Levittown that is home to Christian Palestinians. The story focuses on how the congregation tries to keep their culture alive here and how so many have fled the middle east since the founding of Israel. There is not much about their religious traditions specifically, but still an interesting read.

And finally, Suffolk County has always had terrible public tranportation, and the situation for disabled people is particularly bad. A lawsuit filed on behalf of disabled riders was settled and it looks like there will be some improvement.

Voice of the Faithful has a Long Island chapter in case anyone cares. I occasionally check out their website to see if there is anything of interest. The minutes of their November 15th regional meeting (held at a Universalist Unitarian place) had an interesting sentence that caught my eye. The guest speaker was a writer named Thomas Cahill who wrote "Mysteries of the Middle Ages The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe". The minutes list some good things he says about the Middle Ages and I am glad to read that yet another author is attempting to correct the record of this age as the "dark ages". I don't know if the minutes accurately reflect what he said but the VOTF minute taker records:

"With regard to the structure of our Church, he reminded us that Jesus did not ordain anyone. It is safe to assume that neither did He envision the pyramidal organization as we have today. " [emphasis mine]

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein executed

This is good.

Islamists kicked out of Mogadishu

This is even better.

About 4,000 people, mostly militants, have died in 2006, the bloodiest period in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

This is the best news so far.

Let's hope the New Year will see American troops leave Iraq, where they are not needed, and moved to Afghanistan and Pakistan where they are very much needed. I hope 2007 will be the year when we finally see real progress in the war on terror. Remember to follow all the news by reading Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch. And consider buying the new book from Robert Spencer:

The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion

Unruly Passenger Slaps Federal Air Marshal

"A US Airways passenger faced charges of interfering with a flight crew Thursday after he apparently unknowingly slapped an undercover federal air marshal, said an official familiar with the case.
The man, who'd been drinking liquor, threw a mid-air temper tantrum Wednesday night after attendants refused to serve him any more alcohol during his flight from Washington's Reagan National Airport to Fort Myers, Florida, the official said. "

People this pathetic should be banned from flying any airlines, put in jail for a year, and fined very heavily. After 9/11, there should be mandatory prison terms for unruly flight behavior.

Since this blog sometimes focuses on Long Island stuff having nothing to do with Catholicism, I suppose posting about the Rosie O'Donnell VS. Donald Trump battle is in order. After all, Rosie is from Commack and Donald hails from Lattington. Their hometowns are approx. 30 miles apart physically but economically, the two towns are light years apart. The battling between them is doing nothing to enhance Long Islanders' reputation, although I am not sure people think of Trump as a Long Islander. I don't care for either one of them so let's hope the battle ends soon, as it is annoying.

I went to Mass last night at St. Martin of Tours in Amityville. I have been attending the 8 PM Christmas Eve Mass there for a few years. It is a well kept secret of the Diocese of Rockville Centre as it happens to have some of the best music on Long Island. At 7 PM a choir came out and sang some Christmas carols. Then at 7:30 the choir is joined by an orchestra and plays another 30 minutes of songs. At 8 PM, the Mass begins and the choir and orchestra play the music throughout the Mass. It is all done very well, although at times the music is a bit drawn out, a bit too dramatic. I wish I knew music because I would love to post what settings were used. The Gloria and Agnus Dei were both in latin. The orchestra sounded great, and the Church is always beautiful, even more so at Chistmas time. The closing hymn was the Alleluia Chorus!! I would encourage Long Islanders to go at least once to this Mass.

Merry Christmas!!

This is why I love traditional Catholicism! This is an excerpt from the Baltimore Catechism that I found:

"Q. 1311. What are rash judgment, backbiting, slander and detraction?

A. Rash judgment is believing a person guilty of sin without a sufficient cause.

Backbiting is saying evil things of another in his absence.

Slander is telling lies about another with the intention of injuring him. Detraction is revealing the sins of another without necessity."

Can you imagine if this stuff was still taught?? This is what almost every Catholic I have ever met on Long Island needs to learn.

Another One Bites The Dust!

"A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday."

The rape charges against the Duke lacrosse jocks were dropped.

Native Long Islander Dan at the Shrine of the Holy Whapping points out that St. Anthony's High School is planning a great new chapel. This is great news! I also fully agree with his statement:

"Hopefully more high schools with dated 60's buildings and chapels (like St. Anthony's has at present) will take the initiative and center their fundraising campaigns on the important things".

[emphasis entirely mine]


My hometown parish St. William the Abbot has just renovated the Church due to a sanctuary that had to be rebuilt. This is the second major renovation of the Church in my lifetime, which probably means I am getting old. The original small country Church from my childhood was expanded and renovated in 1981, and I was an altar boy at the consecration of the new Church. (I was also present when Bishop Murphy consecrated the new altar this year.) The Church badly needed renovation then, it was simply way too small for the large parish, and the building was falling apart. Most of the Masses I remember from my youth were in the school gym, because the Church capacity was about a third of what the parish needed. But the '81 renovation included many silly aspects of the time, such as replacing a crucifix with a "risen Christ", and carpeting covering the floors. The Church had mostly blank, white walls and was overall uninspiring.

The recent renovation was also spurred by practical considerations. The sanctuary was falling apart and therefore unsafe. But the changes that were done ended up correcting some of the previous mistakes. The risen Christ sculpture that had always bothered me was taken away from the sanctuary and replaced with a striking crucifix, which is now the main focal point. The risen Christ sculpture is now on the front right side on what had been previously a blank white wall, where I find it to be perfectly fine. To balance this out, the left side now has a brand new wall sculpture of the Last Supper. So, to me the problem of not having enough artwork has now been solved. The Marian shrine had some symbols of Mary added to it, and now features part of the original marble high altar from the original sanctuary in the Church. The carpeting is gone, replaced by a wood sanctuary floor and tile floors. Overall, this was a great improvement to the Church. The next phase of renovation will be to expand the narthex, to increase the size of the choir loft. This is being done to make room for an antique pipe organ, replacing the electronic organ that is currently being used. This is all a great improvement to the Church although I doubt it will win any "traditional Catholic architecture" awards. Still, although it is no longer my parish I am grateful to see it improve.

This year there will be a Traditional Latin Mass on Christmas at the St. Pius Chapel in Uniondale. This is good news for all. Hopefully, we will soon see the long awaited document from the Pope making it easier for priests to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass. Perhaps 2007 will finally see the Mass moved to parishes where it belongs, one for Nassau and one for Suffolk would be nice.

Interesting stories in this week's Long Island Catholic:

Diocese enjoys surge in priestly vocations

"Last Friday 11 men preparing for the priesthood for the Brooklyn and Rockville Centre Dioceses were ordained as deacons at Immaculate Conception Seminary here.

“This was the most that either diocese has had in years,” noted Father Thomas Coogan, vocation director for the Rockville Centre Diocese."

Although vocations still have a long way to go, this is an encouraging sign. There are about 40 seminarians today as opposed to 17 in 2002. Those who are aware of the changes made in this Diocese over the past few years would not be surprised that vocations are up.

3,000 Kellenberg and St. Martin de Porres students went to see The Nativity Story movie for Advent.

Kellenberg is the school that sent most students to see The Passion of the Christ movie also. I just received mail today from St. Martin de Porres that indicated that when the Marianists took over the school in 2004, the enrollment was at 120, and today there are 419 students there. So, the Diocese continues to see some good signs.

The former Newsday Publisher was sentenced to 15 months in jail for child porn. One of the people who wrote to the judge asking for lenient sentencing was the head of the editorial board, James Klurfield. Those who know about Newsday's anti-Catholic history will be somewhat bemused by all of this. In fairness, I should point out that despite its anti-Catholic history the paper did do a good job reporting on the sex scandals involving Catholic priests over the years.

In a related note, the Bishop of Arlington, VA wrote a pastoral letter warning about pornography.

I want to point readers to two local blog posts:

Eternity Road's Sunday Ruminations

Be Not Afraid on The Black Madonna

I just got back from NYC, from a trip to the Whitney Museum of Art where we saw exhibits on Edward Hopper and Picasso. Hopper seemed to be unhappy and Picasso was just damn weird. I took a pamphet on the big exhibit of Kiki Smith but we did not go to that exhibit due to time constraints. After we had left the museum I read the booklet on Smith and found many references to Catholicism, so I figured I would have to go back another time. After reading Maureen Mullarkey's review of this exhibit however, maybe we didn't miss much. Overall, a very nice trip, topped off with some great pasta at Simply Pasta.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre by the numbers:

"The diocese serves approximately 1.4 million Catholics (total population in both counties is approximately 3.3 million). There are 134 parishes in 115 towns. Last year over 20,000 baptisms, 18,000 confirmations, 20,000 first communions and 5,000 marriages took place in the diocese. There are 2,137 students in Catholic kindergarten, 23,825 in primary or elementary school, 12,628 in secondary school and 3,300 in higher institutions. There are 76 Catholic elementary and high schools and one Catholic college in the diocese. "

---From the DRVC website

This is the standard blurb put under all the press releases but I had never noticed that it states one Catholic college. Since there is Molloy and St. Joseph's I wonder which one is not considered Catholic?

People are getting sick after eating at Taco Bell? Is this really new?

Letitia post an excellent essay on the new pastor of St. Matthew's in Dix Hills, Fr. John McCartney. I know that I was at the Mass at St. James in Seaford when the pastor announced that Fr. McCartney would be leaving to become pastor of St. Matthew's and a few people were heard sighing.

Commuter discovers dead newborn on Hicksville train platform

From News12 Long Island

"Police report the umbilical cord was still attached and there was no obvious cause of death. They say an autopsy will commence shortly to determine if the boy was stillborn or killed after birth. "

There is no reason for this to ever occur. Years ago, a local gentlemen named Tim Jaccard, who is an EMT, founded the AMT Children of Hope Foundation to put an end to this tragic stuff. Like many EMTs he grew weary of finding dead newborns and started the Foundation to pay for funerals of newborns the Nassau Police found. He soon shifted the focus to trying to prevent the need for funerals at all. Due to this work, "New York was the first state to enact a "Safe Haven" law with allows a birth mother to relinquish custody in a safe manner, and not be criminally liable for abandonment. Although most states have their version of this law, the idea of giving up your unwanted baby instead of causing it's death gives those in desperation another option."

Tim is a Knight of Columbus from the Council I used to belong to and has done a great job with this Foundation, please spread the word about the AMT Children of Hope and if your state does not have a Safe Haven Law, get started on getting a law passed.

I will pray for two things regarding Pope Benedict's trip to Turkey:

1. That muslims will not kill him, which is a very good possibility since muslims are very intolerant and violent
2. That if muslims do kill him, that this will begin a great turning away from the false religion of islam throughout the middle east.

Cardinal Arinze has declared that Pro Multis must be translated as "for many" instead of "for all". In most languages this has always been so, but in English the translation was "for all" and from what I have read, the mis-translation was deliberate. So now that the correction was finally made, after almost 40 years, we can once again thank the traditionalist Catholics for making this an issue when so many others would have just ignored it. This is a nice first step - one thing corrected, about 35,000 more things to be done. Of course, if the words of the consecration were prayed in latin, none of this would have ever been an issue.

Fr. Thomas Saloy, a priest at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Roosevelt, was arrested

From News12 Long Island

"The FBI arrested a Roosevelt Catholic priest at his home Friday, charging him with possessing more than 1,300 pictures and videos of underage boys.
Thomas Saloy was serving at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary when investigators say they found child pornography on his personal computer. "

Roman Catholic priest
child pornography
teenage boys

Why are these 3 phrases so connected, so many times?? Let's hope this man is locked away for a long time, and defrocked, and not put on priest welfare like so many others.

Just last Sunday we had gone to Mass at Our Lady of Grace in West Babylon. We usually don't go to this parish, but at this Mass, instead of the priest giving the homily, the pastor, Fr. Vin came out and spent a good 10 minutes talking about how people need to give more money to the parish. He said the financial report was in the bulletin and it was not a good picture. He spoke about how people need to get over their hurt, their anger, because it does no good spiritually. He said that there were less people coming to Mass these days, less people giving, and he didn't think there was anyone to blame for this. I muttered "How about child molesting priests" which earned me a wicked stare and shutup look from Mrs. Gen X Revert. I tend to mutter a bit too loud sometimes, but I couldn't believe this man said he couldn't find anyone to blame for the situation in the Church today.

As we were getting in the car my wife asked me what happened in this parish as it sounded like a big deal, and I replied probably some child molesting priest used to be there. I looked it up, and sure enough there were two former priests of this parish on the Bishop Accountability website , Fr. Angelo Ditta and Fr. Andrew Millar. And now, we can add a third priest formerly of Our Lady of Grace - Fr. Thomas Saloy. So, if the pastor still can't find anyone to blame for the empty pews, the anger, the hurt, and the lack of support, perhaps he should look a little harder.

A parish in Sound Beach got swastikas painted on their doors. This type of vandalism is not uncommon in white trash suburbia unfortunately, but the blogger at Eternity Road has a long post that wonders about a lot more than just this vandalism.

Do go read Fran’s Sunday Ruminations: Prophets, Jesters, And Destroyers

Will The Pope Relax The Condom Ban

Newsday pubished yet another article about the Catholic Church that is just plain stupid. Most of their anti-Catholic loser columnists were let go after the paper was exposed inflating circulation figures, causing millions to be paid out to advertisers that were victims of the fraud, but the paper still can publish crap. Jimmy Breslin is semi-retired, meaning he occasionally will sober up long enough to put pen to paper, mostly to complain about George Bush, something NO other writer does. Ed Lowe is now writing for local papers that have smaller readerships combined than most major blogs. Paul Vitello is writing for the NY Times, working out of Garden City, where he has lunch in the basement of an office building in Garden City looking as haggard as ever. Marie Cocco fell off the face of the earth, while the former editor of Newsday has been convicted of child porn charges. Anyway, the column is just bad, and written by a, wait for it, ..."former religious brother". The actual argument in theology for condom use in marraige or to stop the spread of aids is a serious one, that deserves real writing. This column is just garbage. The opening sentence is straight from the 70's:

"The Catholic Church laid down a tough, absolute law in the 1968 encyclical "Humanae Vitae": no condoms, no abortion, no contraceptives. Never."

The rest of the column is just as silly, stupid, and predictable. At least if they are going to continue to give a forum to people who don't like the Church or her teachings, they should find writers like those in American or Commonweal, who can at least present their arguments intelligently.

causa nostrae laetitia

A Catholic blog by a fellow Long Islander!! Leticia Velasquez, a frequent letter writer to the Long Island Catholic, Newsday, and commenter on this blog, has a great blog with a great name - it means Cause of Our Joy. She also has pictures of the Heart of St. John Vianney at Cure of Ars as well as Dr. Alveda King at Nassau Community College.

So far, the Catholic bloggers on Long Island I know about are:

Fac ut Gaudeam

causa nostrae laetitia

Eternity Road

HEADLESS STATUE IN GODLESS CATHEDRAL!

I am so proud of myself for thinking of that headline. HeeHeeHee. For those who don't get the reference, a little NY Post history.

I just finished watching Munich, the story of the Israeli hunt of the terrorists who killed the athletes at the 1972 Olympics. The first half was excellent, a stirring depiction of the "unofficial" team that took out 5 terrorists. The second half was an attempt to show internal moral conflict which official accounts say the team did not actually struggle with.

The Long Island Catholic is one of many Catholics newspapers that carry Fr. John Dietzen's column of questions and answers. I find Fr. Dietzen's answers infuriating, and I don't seem to be the only one based on the letters to the editor the LIC has published. I have also found some other letters written in response to his column on the internet, here for example. In the Amazon reviews for his book of Q & A, a couple of reviewers, including Rich Leonardi of Ten Reasons, spell out why I can't stand his column. They say it better than I could:

"There is something rather weak and unsatisfactory about it. One cannot say that he is unorthodox exactly. Rather, there is something half-hearted in his presentation of the more controversial teachings of the Church. One gets the impression that he is uncomfortable answering certain questions." - S. M. Barr

"This book is 500 pages of unenthusiastic, incomplete, often erroneous explanations of the Catholic faith. For starters, Dietzen frequently begins sentences with 'Catholics believe' or 'the Church teaches', especially when he is presenting a truth of the faith deemed controversial. "
-Rich Leonardi

Every answer he gives that I have seen in the Long Island Catholic is so lukewarm, so weak, that it just makes me want to yell, say what you really believe!! This is the kind of thing that is not attractive to so many young people. I know that harsh and unbending people in the Church can also turn people away, but it is more likely the Fr. Dietzens that have done the most damage over the past 40 years.

Gerald at The Cafeteria Is Closed links to Miss Kelly, who is parish-hopping. I did this for awhile when I was first reverting. I was looking for a Church that looked like a Church, a priest that was reverent and a parish that really reflected Catholicism. I attended Mass at 40 different parishes and found some of the same things that Kelly and Gerald found. The nice thing about the Diocese of Rockville Centre is that there are literally dozens of parishes within a 30-40 minute drive. I did end up going mostly to my own childhood parish, which I came to appreciate more, and now I attend my wife's parish, even though we don't live in its boundaries.

The worst experience I had in parish-hopping was at one parish where the priest would process down the aisle during the opening hymn, then instead of beginning the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, he would ask if anyone was celebrating a birthday or anniversary. People would shout out their answer and then everyone would applaud. It was juvenile, and totally inappropriate, I felt like I was in the 2nd grade. I also was in a couple of parishes where instead of a homily, a priest would talk about the annual fund raising appeal or a particular group in the parish. This is sometimes necessary, but it should never replace a homily totally. I am very picky when it comes to Liturgy and don't see why it is so hard for parishes to make it reverent and prayerful.

My wife and I went to see Les Miserables last night. I am not much of a broadway musical person, but when PBS first broadcast the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert I became hooked. This concert featured the "dream cast" including the original Jean Valjean - Colm Wilkinson, Michael Ball's Marius and Lea Salonga as Eponine. Last night I got to see one of the dream cast - Jenny Galloway is reprising her role as Madame Thenadier. As I said, I am not a musical type of person, but I have listened to the CD and watched the video so many times I know all the words. It is a great story, awesome music, and a pretty Catholic theme of grace and mercy to boot. I never got to see Les Miz while it was on Broadway so when I saw they were bringing it back for six months, I knew I had to get tickets. Daphne Rubin-Vega's performance as Fantine was the only negative, her voice is just not right for the part. The whole night was awesome though.

The Wikipedia link on Les Miserables is quite comprehensive, but I found one error-

The first high school in the United States to perform the school version of Les Miserables was Holy Trinity High School right here in Hicksville, Long Island. Cameron Mackintosh chose the school and was there for the premiere performance. Holy Trinity is known for its extensive performance arts program.

For our honeymoon we took a cruise to the southern Caribbean. One of our favorites islands was the colorful island of Curacao. On the trolley tour we took there was a stop at the Pietermaai Cathedral. I took a picture of the statue of Dr. Hernandez, a Venezuelan considered a saint by locals, with some attributing miracles to him.



Click on the picture to enlarge.

Amy Welborn wrote a great post regarding Joseph Bottum's piece in First Things on Catholic Culture in America. The post and the piece are both excellent and should be read entirely. To focus on just one thing mentioned - the removal of the Friday fast (abstaining from meat) was called a mistake. Welborn says it was "an important touchstone for Catholics" and Sandra Miesel comments that there is "no reason why Catholics can't do it voluntarily". This is true - I don't eat meat on Friday, and also don't take communion in the hand. I receive communion only from priests and deacons and I always bow during the incarnation lines in the Creed. Unfortunately these things are not done by most Catholics and so there is no sign of unity there. Not eating meat Friday may not seem like a big deal, but the point is that it was a sign of unity, and the ending of the fast was a part of the collapse of Catholic culture.

I found another Catholic blogger from Long Island - Francis Porretto blogging at Eternity Road where he writes about politics but occasionally religion.

I lived my whole life in Nassau County, home of such sleazy people as Joey Buttafuoco, the Mepham High School rapists (Ken Carney, Phil Sofia and Phil Diasparra), and the Roslyn School District crooks (Pamela Gluckin, her neice and son, and Frank Tassone and his lover . But when I married I moved further east to Suffolk County, home of some of the worst, most sleazy politicians ever. This place just had to rename an airport terminal because it had the name of a crook on it (Peter McGowan). The former Republican Party chairman here (John Powell) was arrested in a stolen car chop shop racket. Today, Newsday reports on the latest aspect of the Smithtown Town Supervisor scandal. (This kind of reporting is why I love Newsday despite its history of anti-Catholic bigotry)

From Newsday:

"Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio's son -- who was fired from the Suffolk County Water Authority last summer after an inquiry blamed him for a costly E.coli panic on Fire Island -- is not the only family member who was able to land and hang onto a patronage job despite a troubled work history, records show.

Bernadine Kinder, who is married to Vecchio, was caught stealing early in her tenure at Suffolk Off-Track Betting, according to OTB records. She not only kept her position, that same year she was promoted to branch manager, a job where she handles thousands of dollars a day. And she got the job in OTB in 1998 despite having been fired from a secretarial job in Suffolk District Court for excessive absences and unsatisfactory job performance, court personnel records show."

Talk about SLEAZY. She stole money and then gets promoted! How do these criminals get away with this stuff? Oh, that's right, they are white so it is ok. If these were black people or immigrants that would be another story. Or perhaps we on Long Island have to work so hard to keep up with the incredibly high taxes we don't have the time to notice or care? Please also notice that Kinder and Vecchio Jr. both failed to graduate from college?

Bizarre followup to the heart of St. John Vianney at Cure of Ars Church in Merrick:

Homosexuality pamphlet pulled from Church shelves

The pamphlet in question was from the Catholic Medical Association and can be read online here. My suggestion to the pastor Fr. Charles Mangano would be to order some pamphlets from Courage as replacements.

Traditional Catholics on Long Island

There is yet more talk of the Pope giving more freedom to Catholic priests to celebrate the traditional (Tridentine) Mass. Amy Welborn is looking to define the terms correctly as the media can be unreliable when reporting on such 'inside stuff' in the Church. Here on Long Island, if priests were given the ability to celebrate the traditional Mass I am sure there would be a couple of (probably younger) priests who would jump at the chance but only a couple. Most Catholics approve of the changes in the Mass and simply want more reverence and dignity, as well as a return to tradition in hymns, sermons, architecture, and devotions. As a service to Long Island Catholics, let me point out some facts about the traditional latin Mass here on Long Island. (Note: I have attended the traditional latin Mass perhaps a couple of dozen times, but most Sundays attend a local parish and assist at a "Novus Ordo" Mass.)

The Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 11 am at St. Pius X Chapel in Uniondale. This is located at 1220 Front St. in Uniondale, right off Merrick Avenue. Booklets are provided that have all the prayers of the Mass in Latin and English so you can follow along. The first and third Sundays of the month are low Masses and the second and fourth Sundays are high (sung) Masses. After the low Masses there are some refreshments served in the cafeteria next to the chapel. Most of the Masses are offered by Fr. James Pereda, although other priests have filled in for him on occasion. The only priests that I know have celebrated the traditional Mass on Long Island are Fr. Pereda, Fr. Robert Hewes, Msgr. George Graham and Fr. Steven Scarmozzino. The Mass at St. Pius X Chapel is the only approved traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. There are chapels and independent Catholic priests who celebrate the Mass but this is the only Mass approved by the Diocese. I hope that the Mass will be moved to a parish some day so that more people may be exposed to it, and those who wish to have traditional baptisms, weddings and funerals may do so. A traditional parish with both traditional and Novus Ordo Masses would be great, ala St. John Cantius in Chicago.

The fact is, Long Island is steeped in history when it comes to traditionalism. Fr. Gommar DePauw was probably the first Catholic priest in the country or world to start a traditionalist movement, even before Vatican II was over. He started the Ave Maria Chapel in Westbury for traditional Catholics. He died in 2005 and I don't know if there is a Mass at the chapel today.

The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), the organization started by Archbishop Lefebvre, has a chapel in Farmingville called St. Michael the Archangel, which opened in 1983. In fact, the original headquarters of the SSPX in America was in Oyster Bay Cove.

The priest who led things there, Fr. Clarence Kelly, was expelled from the SSPX and founded the SSPV, which is now headquarted in Oyster Bay Cove.

There are also a couple of independent priests who offer the traditional Mass around the island as well. Again, the only Diocese of Rockville Centre-approved traditional Mass is the one at the St. Pius Chapel in Uniondale. There used to be one held in Cutchogue also when the traditional Mass was only twice a month, but I am not sure if that Mass is still there. My hope for the traditional Mass would be:

• The Diocese of Rockville Centre allows this Mass to be moved to a parish, where it would part of the regular Mass schedule on Sunday.

• The Diocese also allow traditional Sacraments for those who desire them.

• Those who wish to attend a "Novus Ordo" Mass with chant propers, some latin prayers and a traditional atmosphere have a place to do this.

• The Vatican and SSPX work to some sort of reconciliation, such as the proposed personal prelature idea.

• The so-called Reform of the Reform continue so Catholics can pray the "Novus Ordo" Mass in a more traditional way.

UPDATE 10/23/06: Per the comments, the traditional Latin Mass is also offered on the first Sunday of the month at Sacred Heart Church, Main Rd in Cutchogue

Lazyboy's Rest Stop

The above link is a great find of mine: an anti-Catholic treasure! Here is the author's description of Catholicism, which all of us can instantly recognize:

"Roman Catholicism is a religion of dominance. It maintains control over its one billion subjects through a system of promises and threats. Those who adhere closely to the multitude of rules governing every aspect of religious belief and practice are rewarded with the favor of the RCC ruling class, dispensed in the form of grace, doled out as one gives a treat to a well-trained pet. Failure to live according to Rome's stringent and ever transmuting laws can result in sanctions ranging from repeating a few canned prayers through denial of admission to the church's sacraments to confiscation of property, torture and death, depending upon the severity of the failure and the degree of temporal power enjoyed by the RCC.

It astonishes me that anyone under submission to the Romish potentate would fail to diligently strive to learn all the rules and ways of the RCC so that he might avoid running afoul of her judicial process. "

Welcome to the 300 millionth American! Or perhaps I should say Bienvenido!

I watched the 60 Minutes piece last night on the Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a stripper. The piece made it hard to believe they were guilty, and it sounded like the stipper was making the story up. One of the players is quoted in Newsday:

"I was naive, I was young, I was sheltered," he said. "And I made a terrible judgment. In five months, I've learned more than I did in 22 years about life."

Basically those life lessons should be: 1) don't ever host or attend a party with strippers. 2) If you are a rich, white guy in a college or university, understand that there will be many people who will hate you for that. All college educated people should be very careful in dealing with people, and realize a degree will automatically make you hated by many people. 3) Don't ever get into altercations in bars, as two of the accused did in the past. 4) If you are on a sports team, understand that sometimes the "group" will act with a group mentality, and avoid this at all costs. 5) Don't ever underestimate the shallowness of politicans, including DAs.

After almost 4 years of blogging, I have changed the name of the blog from Gen X Revert to A Long Island Catholic. I started blogging about my return to the Church but have said pretty much all I have to say about that. I would like to use this space to write more about what goes on within the Diocese of Rockville Centre. I will also be adding more local links as well.

Of interest to Long Island Catholics:

The Catholic Underground is coming to Long Island.

Saturday, October 21, 2006, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

St. Thomas the Apostle Mission Chapel in West Hempstead (Hempstead Avenue and Nassau Boulevard)

"A Catholic Underground evening has two components: prayer and performance. Prayer is in the context of Eucharistic Adoration. The prayers performed include Vespers (evening prayer), Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and Compline (night prayer), which ends the night. The performance element includes coffee and conversation among participants after Eucharistic Adoration, which then leads into performances that are meant to showcase different methods for new evangelization."

The Long Island Catholic story on the veneration of the heart of St. John Vianney is here.

I went to venerate the heart of St. John Marie Vianney today at Cure of Ars Church in Merrick. I waited for about 30 minutes on a long line that wrapped around the front and side of the Church. Someone then said they were closing the doors and a Mass would begin and veneration would stop for about 90 minutes. I decided to go to the Mass but the Church was filled, so I watched it on a large screen in an adjacent auditorium. There was also a large white tent set up that was also filled. Since I waited in front of the Church for the procession, I was able to take a couple of pictures and venerate the heart in front of the Church instead of inside.

Click on the pics to enlarge.


The pictures above do not really show how many people were there since the line wrapped around bushes and the side of the Church. The crowd was huge!
Bishop DiMarzio from Brooklyn was the principal celebrant. The Bishop of Ars, France who brought the heart here concelebrated. In his homily, Bishop DeMarzio asked everyone to pray for two intentions, that holiness be increased in priests and that the use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation be increased amoung the laity. He quoted St. John Vianney as saying he only gave out small penances and would perform the rest of the penance himself on behalf of the sinner.


Fr. Mangano, the pastor of Cure of Ars.





The Catholic Heart website created for the occasion

Cure of Ars parish website

Fr. Charles and Laurie Mangano Music website

St. John Marie Baptist Vianney info

A local pastor lists 27 things to do to "get more out of Mass". I can agree with all but #12 is something I have never understood and I have heard it many times:

"12. During the readings, look at the reader; don’t use a missalette unless you have a problem with your hearing."

I try to read the readings before Mass but I also follow along while they are proclaimed for a couple of reasons. Although the lectors are quite good at the parish I currently attend, in my old parish they made an awful lot of mistakes, sometimes changing the whole meaning of a sentence. I can also really understand and follow the reading when I read along, it would not be the same if I just listened. I will continue to read along for this reason, and don't understand why some people make such a big deal out of this.

Today's Newsday article on the heart of St. John Vianney being venerated at Cure of Ars Church in Merrick. Today is for parishioners only, tommorrow is for clergy, so Tuesday or Wednesday I will try to make it there.

I just found a website for St. Pius X High School in Uniondale. This was the prep seminary school in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, closed in 1984. The nice website advises:

"With approximately 100 in the total freshman class each year (and a mere 300 in the entire student body) only about 2000 students in total ever attended St Pius in its 20-year history. Only about 1200 managed to make it from freshman year to graduation."

"With the closing of St Pius in 1984, alumni were placed on the endangered species list. For this reason any loss over the years is taken that much more to heart. On 9/11 three were taken from our small ranks."

The site mentions about 60 alumni gathered for a reunion last year which is a great percentage considering how many total graduates there are. Since my Catholic High School, Chaminade, has a huge and active alumni base, I am always aware of how cool it is to have a connection to so many other people. When a school is unique and tough to get through, it creates a bond between graduates that stretches across generations. I like to see reunions of students from Catholic schools that have closed and am glad to see the St. Pius X reunion will be held at Kellenberg, so the men can see good Catholic education continuing on Long Island.

One more quote from the site:

"As a prep seminary St Pius was producing a disappointing number of priests, certainly a factor in determining the school closure. But St Pius never disappointed in producing good people. Good guys. Christi simus non nostri."

Nicely put. Perhaps a graduate can translate the latin phrase?

Paul Rusesabagina, the real life hero at the center of the film Hotel Rwanda gave a lecture at Molloy College in Rockville Centre.

Of interest to Long Island Catholics, and others:

Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 11:30 AM

Nassau Community College

Dr. Alveda King, niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will lecture on "Keeping the Dream Alive". The lecture is at the Multipurpose Room of the College Center Building. The lecture will argue that the civil rights and pro-life movements are intimately related. Dr. King is the Outreach Coordinator to the African American community for Priests for Life. The primary sponsor of this event is the NCC Respect Life Committee, and the NCC Center for Catholic Studies is the co-sponsor along with the NCC Catholic Club.


Saturday, October 28th, 2006 10:00 AM

Nassau Community College

Conference featuring the (very) Honorable Denis Dillon, former District Attorney of Nassau County who will speak on "The Obligations of the Catholic Politician". Mr. Dillon certainly has stood up to his obligations as a Catholic official! There will be a luncheon following the conference. I would not want to miss this for anything, but unfortunately it happens to be the day I will be going to see Les Miserables on Broadway. I have wanted to see this musical for years and never got the chance when it was running.


Both of these events are free of charge, and you don't need to reserve a seat.

The story of the Amish people reaching out to the family of the man who killed five young girls is really incredible. They are really showing Christian charity and love toward the family, and toward each other.

"I asked various Amish friends what message do you want to communicate to people around the world and they said: We want them to understand how rich and deep our friendships and family relationships can be, and while we don't have insurance and we don't enjoy many modern conveniences, we have the richest treasure in the world, and that is brotherly love," Furman said." (CNN link)

2 days, 3 teacher sex scandals on Long Island

Oct. 5th - another teacher caught with child porn, a special ed teacher named Jeffrey Burke.(News12 Long Island link)...

Oct. 4th - the story was about Michael Kelly Reiner, a teacher at a school for the gifted. (Newsday link) Police found:

"569 still images of child pornography and 68 videos on three of Reiner's nine computers that they have analyzed so far. They also found 2,000 stories on the computers that relate to sexually abusing, torturing and eating children."

The Newsday article quotes parents who are backing Reiner, saying he never committed any acts against their children!

Oct. 4th - Long Island teacher says Mom OK'd sex with her daughter

Meanwhile, child porn charges against former teacher John Mark Karr were dropped today. (Cnn link) This is a good time to point out that Carol Shakeshaft, a professor at Hofstra University here on Long Island has long been calling the situation involving teachers much worse than the sex scandals in the Catholic priesthood. It is time for a nationwide audit, like the one done in the Church, covering the past 50 years of all public schools.

Meanwhile, some good news: it looks like the John Mark Karr case has brought some badly needed pressure on the child sex trade. Cambodia is supposedly cracking down on foreigners who go there to have sex with children. (Time.com link - don't click this article if you have a weak stomach) I really believe the exposure of the Catholic priesthood's pedophile problem could have been the start of a worldwide awakening to this problem. We can all hope.

So now former congressman Mark Foley is saying he was abused as a teenager by a clergyman. This whole cycle of violence thing just goes on and on... which is why it is so good to see the Catholic Church clean up its act, or more precisely to have its act cleaned up. When we can honestly say that abuse by clergy is very rare we will no longer see huge numbers of adults with problems caused by clergy. And, as the Catholic Church scandals became so public, it has turned a light on other areas, such as schools, where abuse is also rampant. This is why I don't despair even 5 years after the whole situation became exposed, ultimately, the Church is stronger and society is way better off.

Slacker!

Now this is what is wrong with America today - inability to follow through -

"A male walked into a Bank of America branch on the Port Jefferson Station-Terryville border today shortly after 11 a.m. and handed a teller a note announcing a bank robbery. But, Suffolk police said, the man ran out before he could collect any money."

From Newsday

The Long Island Catholic is looking for an editor and has placed ads in the National Catholic Register for a few weeks now. This is a good sign, hopefully whoever gets the job will use the Register as a model for the LIC.

Work is just not cutting it these days, so I am officially seeking another job here on Long Island. I am experienced in customer service, AP/AR, supervising an office, and proficient in Word, Access, and Excel so if anyone knows of any good jobs out there please let me know, thanks.

A History Professor of mine at St. John's University was quoted in an article on the release of files from the Vatican Secret Archive. Dr. Frank Coppa is also working on a book on Pius XII

We interrupt this blog to make the following announcement: The Mets are the National League Eastern Division champions! Yankees suck! Yankees suck!

I am adding Jihad Watch to the permanent links.

I was sent this article on the Pope's talk about Faith and Reason-

"Unreasonable People Will Not Keep the Pope from Reasoning"

By Mary Katharine Ham

Catholicism is a "gritty" religion according to George Weigel in the excellent "Letters to A Young Catholic". He means the intellectual, cultural and spiritual aspects of the faith are anchored by a tactile, real life center. Touching the glove of a Padre Pio, seeing the Shroud of Turin, bathing in the waters of Lourdes, these are things which can reach anyone in their heart, perhaps people that would fall asleep during a lecture on Thomistic philosophy. This is my way of introducing a pretty big thing here on Long Island -

The heart of St. John Vianney will be coming to Cure of Ars parish in Merrick, Long Island! From October 6th - 11th the incorrupt heart in a reliquary will be at the parish for veneration.

For those who just spit their coffee over the keyboard, please read the bulletin of the parish where the pastor explains why we venerate relics (PDF). Remember the amazing crowds when the relics of St. Therese of Liseux (about half her remains) came to New York? This could be as big.

LECTURE OF THE HOLY FATHER
Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg
Tuesday, 12 September 2006

Above links to the full text of the Pope's address that has resulted in violence in the muslim world. I believe if The Onion did a headline on this it would read "Pope Calls Violence Unreasonable, Muslims Violently Protest"

As the 5th anniversary of 9/11 passes, another significant anniversary will soon arrive. The 5th anniversary of the explosion/exposing of the priest sex scandals. It is important for Catholics to know just how widespread the corruption is in the priesthood, so keeping tabs by reading the Roman Catholic Faithful website is recommended, although not for the weak of heart. The public exposure of this massive problem of (mostly) homosexual abuse by Catholic priests all started with the release of documents relating to Fr. John Geoghan and Fr. Paul Shanley from Boston. Geoghan was later beaten to death in jail. All the info you need on Shanley can be found here. Today, it seems he is inmate # W84979 at the Old Colony Correctional Center in Massachusetts.

Diocese of Rockville Centre

An update on this diocese should be made, hopefully Newsday will do a story updating the situation soon. Most of the information Catholics get on the "scandals" has to come from secular sources as the Dioceses are just not honest and forthcoming enough. Just this week the Long Island Catholic reported a priest, Fr. William Logan would be returned to ministry because allegations could not be substantiated, but no details were given. Newsday provides the details here. The two accusations mentioned do not involve sexual acts. There have been two other accused priests returned to ministry - Fr. Brian Brinker and Fr. Michael Carroll. If the allegations against Brinker and Carroll are true, then I would not let any boys anywhere near these two and I don't see how these two priests can possibly remain in ministry.

Otherwise, the most info available can be found on Bishop Accountability right here. This page lists all the accused, except Logan. The site is good for info, but it is not totally up to date. I count 4 accused priests that have died, one that is in jail (Millar), and 1 that was defrocked according to the page. But Michael Hands, the last priest to be arrested for raping a boy, was also defrocked. Others may have died since the page has been updated. The page also lists each of the accused priests by letter from the Suffolk County Grand Jury Report, but those accused are the same accused listed by name in many cases so it is a bit confusing. Since Bishop Murphy has been here, the number of allegations of abuse has been 0, so that is good news, but there are still some priests living mostly in the St. Pius X residence in Uniondale that were accused of abuse. They have not been defrocked as far as I know, and little info is given to Catholics. The fear of "scandalizing" Catholics is what helped this crisis grow, and that fear is misguided anyway. The Diocese should offer more info to people so that this situation won't ever become as widespread again. I was an altar boy and attended Catholic schools for 16 years and never experienced anything negative in the Church. The priests I knew were all pretty good men, except for one I thought was arrogant and not so nice. I never knew an abusive priest and have known some really good ones, so it is hard to believe just how much went on in this Diocese. All Catholics should remain vigilant to help keep the priesthood holy. With so many stories of sexual abuse of children making the headlines today, all people should remain vigilant with regards to any adults in authority as well.

5th Anniversary of September 11th

May all those who perished on 9/11, and all those murdered since then rest in peace.

My list of Long Islanders killed on 9/11

Newsday's database of all 9/11 victims

Prosecutors: priest raped teen parishioner


Oops, I left out a word in the that headline - "Hindu". Between the Catholic priesthood's problems and the recent arrest of that polygamist and the surrounding media coverage, child molestation really should be wiped out of the clergy. Now, if we can do the same in the teaching profession...

DO THE BOW

Catholics on Long Island have suffered for 35 years with regard to poor Liturgies. One thing I learned from attending the traditional Latin Mass is that by genuflecting during the Incarnational lines in the Creed, ("by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man") it really emphasizes just how important this belief is to Christians. The Church changed this from genuflecting to bowing with the Missal of Paul VI and I think this was a positive change. While bowing still forces us to do something with our bodies that emphasize this phrase, it is less noisy and distracting. The problem is, most people don't do the bow! All Catholics should start bowing during these lines and tell me if it makes a difference when they are saying this prayer.

n.b. Twice a year, on Christmas and Easter (Correction in comments, Christmas and Annunciation) we genuflect rather than bow. This makes it even more special and appropriate. The problem there is, I have almost never been to a parish where this was done, although one year our pastor told us the Church invites us to genuflect during the part of the Creed, and then he forgot to do it so no one else did.

Telecare, the television network of the Diocese of Rockville Centre is now offered nationally. The programs are available through CIPTV (Internet Protocol TV) and you pay $12.95 a month for a box that connects to your tv and internet connection. I would not recommend paying for Telecare's programming though. They advertise it as Catholic, but most of it is not at all Catholic. It is pretty lame actually, but most importantly nothing like EWTN as far as orthodoxy and evangelism is concerned. This IPTV sounds like a great idea for EWTN however. I am sure Long Islanders will be willing to pay for EWTN since it is not available on Cablevision. EWTN is worth paying for, but Telecare is not.

"With the warmest of personal regards and with every good wish for the Holiday Season"

Taking a page from Diogenes, this polite and politically correct closing is from a letter:

A) From President Bush to supporters in December 2005

B) From a school principal to parents of students in December 1990

C) From a Catholic Bishop to local civic leaders in December 1985

D) From a Catholic Bishop to a Catholic priest in December 1976





If you answered D, then you realize just how bad the Church leadership was even then. This was the closing of a letter sent by Archbishop Cousins of Milwaukee to a priest in California asking him to give a job to a Fr. Widera, who was a molester of boys. I guess the Archbishop couldn't say "Christmas" since the priest might have been offended?

Wheelie Catholic is a blog written by Ruth, who is a disability advocate and often writes about accessibility issues in the Church.

Robert T. Miller has been posting at First Things. He was a classmate of mine in high school.

Hey! We got tree new bishops in Brooklyn over here! You got a problem with dat?

The local Marianists celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Province of Meribah. They accepted one man into their aspiracy program and two men renewed their first profession of vows. Apparently Augustin Cardinal Meyer, O.S.B. was very helpful in the establishment of this province, which was formed from the New York province of Marianists.

Everything makes sense now!

I just saw Office Space for the first time.

"Six of 11 Egyptian students who failed to show up for classes after entering the United States are in federal custody, the FBI said Thursday."

Michelle Malkin posts the pictures of all of them.

Perhaps related, perhaps not, the arrests of the 24 plotters in England is good news, and should remind people that we are at war against muslim terrorists.

Former Newsday publisher pleads guilty in child porn case

No comment. Except to say that child porn, child abuse, and hypocrisy ain't just found in our Catholic Church.

The FCC has approved the transfer of WLIE to Relevant Radio! I love listening to various radio shows, from comedy to news to talk and Relevant Radio will mean we Catholic Nerds will have a Long Island station to listen to. I heard they will be providing some local content in addition to the national stuff, but I would love to have that confirmed.

Mass on EWTN


Father Jan Larson has written an article criticizing the Masses on EWTN. He says the priests looked too serious and somber. The article is so bad it almost hurts, the author is clueless. The only thing he gets correct is this line:

"The liturgy, in effect, is unlike anything that Catholics experience in the vast majority of Catholic parish churches"

Thank God for EWTN! The things you read in Diocesan papers can be truly unbelievable. Although it is not online yet, there was a letter published recently in the Long Island Catholic bemoaning the impending return of "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa". The writer sounded like he wouldn't be able to return to Mass when this happends and that the Church went "beyond this type of stuff".

Hellooooo?

I haven't been able to get on this blog for a week. Or any other blogger blogs..

Why has there been absolute silence about the Mepham High School rapists?? Does anyone remember how violent these crimes were? Where are these criminals now and why don't we hear any sort of updates from the media? Obviously people don't need to intrude on the victims privacy but I wish we would hear if the rapists have served their time or if they are in our neighborhood.

Ignatius Press is not selling anymore Charlotte Church merchandise. Based on her comments about September 11th and New Yorkers I would say they are 5 years late.

Immaculée Ilibagiza: Catholic witness

This Long Islander's book tells her story of getting out of Rwanda and gets an excellent review from Bishop Murphy. It is also reviewed in the latest edition of The National Catholic Register.

"Beloved monsignor killed by drunk driver"

Amid scandal, church shuts sports program

Newsday reports on a strange situation at St. Matthew's in Dix Hills. The athletic program was closed by the pastor due to some sort of financial irregularities. The Diocese of Rockville Centre audited the program last fall, and now the Suffolk County DA has opened a criminal investigation. The pastor, Fr. John McCartney, is new to the parish, arriving there just 2 weeks ago to replace Msgr. McDonald, who is now the rector of the seminary. Fr. McCartney came from St. James in Seaford, not the parish mentioned in the article. This story is missing many details but brings up some interesting points:

First -

"We went from being a church with an athletic program to being athletic program with a church," said McCartney, adding that the program had become so big that to some people it was more important than the church."

This is rampant in the Church today, particularly in Catholic schools and in suburban parishes. Many people are cultural Catholics and the extracurricular activities become more important than the important stuff. When you see people in Church reading the parish bulletin instead of the day's readings or praying, you know something ain't right!

Secondly, I can't help but wonder if the Church is becoming more quick to call in the law as a result of the priest sex scandals, or if the Church acts quicker in matters of money, as opposed to matters involving children. I hope it is the former but fear it is the latter.

Third, this is the third time (that I am aware of) that the Diocese has done audits that turn up problems right after a change in leadership. First, Telecare, the local television station had a new leader installed and then an audit found a worker had set up an outside company to maintain the grounds, and the work was paid for but not done. Then, Holy Family parish in Hicksville gets a new pastor, and an audit found two long time employees using parish money for personal expenses.

Overall, it seems the problems are being discovered and dealt with the proper way. I just wonder why it sometimes takes so long to find this stuff out. The lingering issue is the first one though - nothing can be more important than the faith.

The National Catholic Register interviewed Msgr. James McDonald, the new rector of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception here on Long Island. The previous rector left due to stress and there have been quite a few good changes made to our seminary over the past 5 years. This one probably caused a few heads to explode though.

"Msgr. McDonald, 64, has never taught in a seminary and holds no advanced degrees in theology. But Rockville Centre Bishop William Murphy said he tapped the long-time pastor because Msgr. McDonald holds “a doctorate in priesthood,” and is “an extraordinary mentor and leader of the men,” as demonstrated by his tireless recruitment of vocations. "

Some people have asked me to post wedding pictures so here are some:

The priest who once told a seminary class "I can't wait for Mother Angelica to die" has taken a leave of absence and gone away from Long Island. He obviously was a very troubled soul and perhaps correctly recognized this. He might not believe this but I am praying for him.

"We were able to borrow this video camera from the St. Louis Office of Youth Ministry"

Finally, a Youth Ministry put to good use.

I always liked The King of Glory, perhaps we should have this type of liturgical dance for our Nuptial Mass?

From You Duped Me Lord.

Another day on Long Island:

Cannibal killer seeks release from maximum security facility

The wedding was beautiful, many thanks to our priest. The homily was well received, many people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, mentioned how nice the ceremony was. A friend of the family who was pastor of a local Church stopped in to ask if he could concelebrate, which blew me and the presider away. The Litany of the Saints was sung just before the vows, asking all the saints to bless us and our marraige. There were a couple of glitches, but nothing huge. The organist played Here Comes the Bride, although we had mentioned we did not want that song played, and the cake at the reception was the incorrect one. The important thing is that we were married before God, and all seemed to have a good time at the reception.