From Newsday -

Navy chaplain Capodanno set on road to sainthood

"His story was told Friday in a presentation following a Mass for the football team at St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington. The presentation was given by Vietnam veteran John Scafidi, who was at the battle where Capodanno died."

The official website for the canonization of Fr. Vincent Capodanno is http://www.vincentcapodanno.org/

From the where do they find these people files:

Priest accused of stalking Conan O'Brien

Interesting discussion going on over at Catholic Matriarch in My Domestic Church aka Catholic Mom on Catholic Schools. I am interested in the discussion of CCD programs and how they are treated at parishes, especially parishes with Catholic schools. The blogger mentions a parish school installing smart boards in classrooms and not allowing them to be used for CCD. Here on Long Island, the number of students in CCD classes is greater than the number of students in Catholic schools so we should be making sure the CCD programs are top notch. Are parishes and the Diocese doing enough for these programs?

Cool

From the Long Island Catholic:

"Bishop William Murphy, flanked by Msgr. Robert Morrissey, left, and Deacon John Coughlin, faces the altar as he celebrates Mass at St. Mary Major Basilica"

The Diocese of Rockville Centre is sponsoring a golden jubilee pilgrimage to Rome. Click here to see a picture of Bishop Murphy celebrating Mass "ad orientem".

John Paul II Named Patron for Youth Day '08

"World Youth Day organizers say that Servant of God Pope John Paul II was a natural choice as one of the event's 10 patrons, since the Polish Pontiff invented the gatherings."

President Bush nominates Mary Ann Glendon as U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican

Fr. Francis Mary Stone of EWTN's Life on the Rock show has taken time off to "discern" after becoming close to a woman he was counseling.

Update: The reaction throughout St. Blog's Parish has been one of sadness with many offering prayers for Fr. Francis. A few have expressed anger and noted that the time to discern is before ordination not after. I would agree with this and also add that traditionally priests have always had to be careful not to become too close to someone they are counseling or teaching. Still, prayers for Fr. Francis and this widow are the best response.

Steelers first in local market brand strength

"The Pittsburgh Steelers are more than just a good football team. They're also a powerful brand.
The franchise was named the strongest team brand in its local market compared with scores of other professional sports teams across the country in a new consumer survey"

Anyone that has been to Pittsburgh can vouch for this. I have seen the Steelers logo painted on a side street, I have seen busloads of fans pulling up to a hotel the weekend of a game, and I have seen Pittsburgh fans gathered around a tv watching the game with an intensity of generals at war.

Come Here Watson, I need you

Now that James Watson has resigned from Cold Spring Harbor Lab after making racist comments, Newsday has published an article entitled An Echo of the past which mentions the racism of the first head of the lab. Per the Scientific American blog, Cold Spring Harbor was once the center of eugenics studies in America and although there are many great things the Lab has done, and is doing, it is important to remember how even good intentions can lead to bad science and bad things. This is especially important to remember considering James Watson's on the record stance against the Catholic Church for its teaching on (embryonic, not adult) stem cell research. Consider:

Edwin Black, author of IBM and the Holocaust, wrote a book about Eugenics called War Against the Weak Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race

The website for the book says: It began on Long Island and Ended at Auschwitz.....and yet it never really stopped. Here is a quote from an interview the author did with the Dallas Morning News:

"Question: All this happened 60 or more years ago. What's the lesson now?

Answer: First, it's important to understand that the Rockefeller Foundation, the Carnegie Institute and Planned Parenthood were completely cooperative. We should not judge these organizations today by how they were 50 or 90 years ago. These organizations publicly regret the involvement of their originators.
The "take away" is how easy it is to mask racism and prejudice in science. How easy it is to be deluded by credentials and academic titles. Remember, eugenics in the U.S. and in Nazi Germany was based on "settled science." The eugenicists all agreed on it.

Question: You mentioned that, universally, the Catholic Church spoke against eugenics. Why didn't it work? Is there a lesson there for organized religion, in terms of preventing something like this in the future?

Answer: But it did work. Where the Catholic Church was strong – parts of Illinois or Massachusetts, for instance – eugenics measures were not enacted. The problem was that organized religion failed to project itself beyond its small sphere of influence. If there had been a more universal approach, had the Catholic Church and other churches ... been far more aggressive in defending human rights during the 12-year Hitler era, things might have been different. But, you have to understand, eugenics never acted in the name of an organized religion. Eugenics held itself out to be its own religion.

Question: Is there a religious issue here?

Answer: Sanctity of life is a religious issue. The devaluation of human life is a religious issue. Once you say, "I want to improve society by doing away with someone else, or someone else's family," you're into genocide. No matter how pure your heart is.

The recent paper delivered by Peter J. Colosi on Pope John Paul II vs. Peter Singer at the conference of Catholic Social Scientists has a foonote I found very quotable. Singer's decision to supply his ailing mother with aides, rather than kill her, completely contradicted his philosophical beliefs and his work in ethics. A footnote in Colosi's paper quotes Peter Berkowitz in the New Republic Jan. 10, 2000 :

"The ethicist's innocence, at this late date in his career, of the most elemental features of his subject matter boggles the mind. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a more stunning rebuke to the well-heeled and well-ensconced academic discipline of practical ethics than that its most controversial and influential star, at the peak of his discipline, after an Oxford education, after twenty-five years as a university professor, and after the publication of thousands of pages laying down clear-cut rules on life-and-death issues, should reveal, only as the result of a reporter's prodding, and only in the battle with his own elderly mother's suffering, that he has just begun to appreciate that the moral life is complex."

Hereditary, My Dear Watson?

James Watson, formerly of Cold Spring Harbor Lab made racist comments recently that made the news . Check out Dawn Eden's description of her meeting with him.

Then, please see this article which includes this telling quote:

"James Watson would have aborted his son if a genetic test had been available at the time warning that his child would be born with severe epilepsy.

"Any time you can prevent a seriously sick child from being born, it is good for everyone," Dr Watson told The Sunday Age. "Most mothers wouldn't want to have dwarfs."

Or:

"For instance, he believes abortions are acceptable where a foetus is found to be genetically inclined to homosexuality."

Then there is the whole question of how much credit should have gone to Rosalind Franklin for the discovery of DNA's Double Helix:

From Wikipedia:

"Watson's original title was to have been "Honest Jim," in part to raise the ethical questions of bypassing Franklin to gain access to her X-ray diffraction data before they were published. Watson seems to have never been particularly bothered by the way things turned out. If all that mattered was beating Pauling to the structure of DNA, then Franklin's cautious approach to analysis of the X-ray data was simply an obstacle that Watson needed to run around."

Or from Jewish Virtual Library.org:

" In fact, many scientists believe Franklin played a larger role than previously acknowledged in the research that led to the 1962 Nobel Prize that was awarded to Maruice Wilkins, Francis Crick, and James Watson for the discovery of DNA's double helix.
Wilkins shared Franklin's data, without her knowledge, with Watson and Crick, at Cambridge University, and they pulled ahead in the race, ultimately publishing the proposed structure of DNA in March 1953."

Is this a trend here on Long Island? First St. John the Evangelist parish and now Cure of Ars in Merrick?

"The church was re-opened in early October after an extensive renovation. Some generous parishioners took on the cost of the renovation which included having the tabernacle moved to the center of the church behind the altar."

From The Long Island Catholic

Special Report: Are they inventing their own Mass in Holland?

"In Nijmegen, Holland, in the church of the Augustinian friars, each Sunday the Mass is concelebrated by a Protestant and a Catholic, with one presiding over the liturgy of the Word and the sermon, and the other over the liturgy of the Eucharist, in alternation. The Catholic is almost always a layperson, and is often a woman. For the Eucharistic prayer, the texts of the missal are passed over in favor of texts composed by the former Jesuit Huub Oosterhuis. The bread and wine are shared by all."

This story by Sandro Magister was found on Catholic Online . In the land of the murder of Theo Van Gogh, it appears Christianity is on its way out.

THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

The 15TH ANNUAL MEETING at St. John's University Law School

Post IV

Professor Joseph Varacalli, the founder of the Center for Catholic Studies at Nassau Community College, asked me if I could put together a panel on Catholic blogging and I was intimidated but very honored. I knew there were a some local bloggers around and asked Leticia Velasquez of Causa Nostrae Laetitiae and Dawn Eden of The Dawn Patrol first. I knew there were others in the NY area I could ask but both of these women said yes so there was our panel. We would each speak for 15 minutes and then there would be a question and answer period. Later, Elizabeth Andrew, a local blogger I was not familiar with, was added to the panel so we had a 4 person panel. I was exciting to talk about Catholic blogging since I have been very interested in them since I started reading some of the blogs on Gerard Serafin's "List of Some Catholic Blogs". When Gerard died I created the Catholic Blog Directory to continue this valuable resource of having a list of blogs of interest to Catholics. I wanted in my talk to give a background/history of Catholic blogging and to point out the importance of blogs to Catholics, and hope I did some justice to this. In hindsight, I wish I had gone over some ideas on blogging that I would have liked to stress, but because of time constraints and nervousness I left them out or mentioned them briefly. I also would have liked to gone into some criticisms of blogs but we did not as a panel do this. Overall though, the panel went fine. Next, I will post my basic talk for the panel and fill in some of the stuff I left out in the talk.

THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

The 15TH ANNUAL MEETING at St. John's University Law School

Post III

After the great panel on Pius XII, I skipped the expensive lunch and went across the street to the Fame Diner and had a turkey burger. Then I met up with Leticia and we went to the room where the blog conference was being held to see if we could get our blogs put up on the screen in the "smart classroom" (we figured it out somehow). Before our blog conference in this same room was a panel on The Legacy of Pope John Paul II Continues so I stayed. The discussant was Brian Scarnecchia, Chair of Humanities and Professor of Catholic Social Thought at Franciscan University. He introduced Peter Colosi of the Franciscan U. Gaming, Austria campus, who delivered a paper on "John Paul II and Christian Personalism vs. Peter Singer and Utilitarianism: Philosophical Reflections on the Foundations of Ethics".

Colosi began his talk by mentioning Peter Singer's decision to hire people to take of his elderly mother who was suffering from dementia. This was a shock to me. After all, this is quite a strange thing to do for a guy who has spent years telling people killing disabled, sick, elderly, and newborn people is morally okey-dokey. Colosi said Singer could not bring himself to do what his philosophical beliefs would have him do, because he loved his mother. He contrasted Singer's philosophy with that of Pope John Paul II's and it is quite a contrast. Colosi gave a deep and interesting talk and I can't wait to read the paper, which he gave out to all in attendance.

Following Colosi, was Jose David Lapuz, UNESCO Commissioner and Executive Vice-President, Philippine Council on Foreign Relations. He spoke on "The Inspired Thoughts of Pope John Paul II and UNESCO: Why Human Rights and Reduction of Poverty is Quintessentially a Catholic Concern". Professor Lapuz spoke fondly of his encounters with Pope John Paul II and of the Pontiff's interest in the work of UNESCO in fighting poverty and in championing human rights. Later, at the wine and cheese reception, I found Professor Lapuz to be very charming and humble in describing to me his encounters with the Pope.

After this conference was the conference on Catholic blogs, which I will write about shortly...

I went to see the movie Bella today with my wife and my mother. The movie was very good, I would encourage all to go see it. I am a bit leery about movies that are touted as pro-life, or Catholic or Christian as they can be cheesy. Bella was not, it was very well done. On the way out of the theater, who did I run into? My fellow blog panelist Leticia. I still have to write about the rest of the Conference at St. John's Law School, including the blog panel. More to come...

Pius XII and The Catholic Church during World War II

THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS
THE 15TH ANNUAL MEETING at St. John's University Law School

Post II

I was able to attend Panel # 39 at the conference of The Society of Catholic Social Scientists yesterday. This panel was "The Pius Wars and Sister Margherita Marchione" Sister did not speak, except to mention 1 interesting fact, but at the lunch following the panel she was given an award for her work on Pope Pius XII and World War II.

The panel was moderated by Fr. Edward Krause of Gannon University. First, Kenneth Whitehead, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, gave a review of several books written about Pius XII that refuted the charges of anti-semitism and non-action during WWII. These included:

The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII

The Myth of Hitler's Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis

Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Revisionists

Consensus & Controversy: Defending Pope Pius XII

Did Pius XII Help the Jews?

Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII and the Catholic Church Save Half a Million Jews from the Nazis

Inside the Vatican of Pius XII: The Memoir of an American Diplomat during World War II

Mr. Whitehead gave an overall summary of the job many people, including those on the panel, have done in showing the charges that Pius XII was silent at the plight of the Jews during WWII was incorrect.

Next, Ronald Rychlak, author of Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII and the Catholic Church Save Half a Million Jews from the Nazis, gave a talk that mentioned some more details in the fight to correct the perception of Pius XII. He spoke of the sudden attacks on Pius XII that started about 8 years ago and asked why all of a sudden was this an issue? His answer: the chattering classes saw the end of Pope John Paul II's reign approaching and wanted to influence the Church in a different direction. For example, Rychlak mentioned that the last chapter of "Hitler's Pope" was all about Pope John Paul II! Also, the last chapter of "Constantine's Sword" was about the need for a Vatican III. Interestingly, Rychlak pointed out the play The Deputy, the first attack on Pius XII's character, was produced at a time when Pope John XIII was expected to die. (In 1963 he died and the play was first staged). When Rychlak was discussing John Cornwall, Sr. Marchione mentioned that Cornwall has now recanted his thesis of "Hitler's Pope"! Another interesting fact, but the panel pointed out how the damage was already done.


Bill Doino, a Catholic columnist spoke next on "Pius XII: An International Perspective". He mentioned the collection of people, mostly those on the panel, who had been doing important work around the world to correct the errors that are now commonly held about Pius XII. This whole panel was held in the St. John's Law School Moot Court Room, and the verdict was overwhelming against those that had defamed the character of the holy Pope Pius XII. Thanks to these scholars, and to the Catholic League, (Bill Donohue was in the room also listening to the panel) the truth about Pius XII and the Catholic Church during WWII is being told.

Around St. Blog's

I have been enjoying reading The Deacon's Bench by Deacon Greg Kandra, from Queens.

I have also enjoyed reading The Cafeteria Is Closed with Gerard Augustinus' reaction to the fast pace of Manhattan, and to his experience with NYC cab rides.

I also enjoyed checking out the pics at Hallowed Ground.

THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS
THE 15TH ANNUAL MEETING

The panel on Catholic blogs went well today at the conference. I spoke about the background of Catholic blogging and gave a bit of history. I mentioned two ways I felt that Catholics use blogs - as a correction to and extension of the mainstream media, and also as evangelization. I will post more about the panel and the conference tomorrow.

It was a bit weird being at St. John's University for the first time since graduating in 1992. The campus has been built up, it now has dorms and also a Church, where a Mass was held for conference attendees. I love the academic world and felt a longing to be back at a University setting.

FINALLY, via Newsday the AP has studied the sex abuse scandals of school systems.

AP: Sexual Misconduct Plagues US Schools

"An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic."

"Most of the abuse never gets reported. Those cases reported often end with no action. Cases investigated sometimes can't be proven, and many abusers have several victims. "

"The seven-month investigation found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct. "

"The findings draw obvious comparisons to sex abuse scandals in other institutions, among them the Roman Catholic Church. A review by America's Catholic bishops found that about 4,400 of 110,000 priests were accused of molesting minors from 1950 through 2002. "

It is about time that the problem has been studied in depth, but I wish they had done the study covering the school system from 1950-2002 as was done with the Catholic Church. I would also add that there have been many false claims of abuse filed against teachers, as there have been against priests. But at least now a study has been done that will call attention to the problem of abuse in schools.

UPDATE: The link was corrected

Two Long Island housing related stories from Newsday:

• College grads push for affordable housing

Natalie Gaebelein started Stay on Long Island to lobby for affordable housing.

"There's nothing for people my age," Gaebelein said. "There's nowhere to live. You either live at home in your childhood bedroom, which is pretty embarrassing ... [or] somebody's basement."

Although my wife and I own a coop, we are looking for a house. Both of us spent plenty of time living at home. There is simply nothing affordable for college grads here. The condo complexes that are beautiful are mostly for people 55 and over. Houses that need a lot of work cost a huge amount of money. Although the housing prices are coming down, the taxes are not. When I saw some of the places my siblings lived in other states before they bought houses I was struck at how there was nothing comparable here on Long Island. Either something needs to be done to get affordable housing here, or people need to continue to move elsewhere.

• Ban on religious statues raises legal questions

"The community's homeowners' association board approved the rule this year, banning religious statues and bird feeders and birdbaths from all common areas. In those gardens, residents are allowed to place other small statues, gazing balls, scarecrows and even plastic pink flamingos so long as they don't exceed certain other restrictions."

The president of the Condo board Arlene Crandall -

"Typical decorations" should be allowed, as opposed to religious statues, for instance, which only appeal to one segment of the community's population."

So, pink flamingos appeal to everyone?
As mentioned earlier, I live in a coop so we have common areas for planting flowers and I am familiar with the types of rules complexes must set down. We are not allowed any statues or flags or anything except flowers to be put in the common areas. This is a sensible rule since people tend to lack common sense and taste. But banning only religious statues is simply bigoted, and does not make any sense when things like pink flamingos are allowed. If the complex didn't allow statues of Mary because or the danger of a huge wind storm picking it up, this would make sense, but they actually ban any specifically religious item. If I lived in this complex, I would respond to this by planting the biggest, most gaudy, ugly and tastless stuff in every inch I could.

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Massapequa Park is asking people to sign up next week if they wish to attend a traditional latin Mass. From today's bulletin:

"Our Holy Father has given permission to
parishes to have a Latin Mass. Next Sunday
there will be a sign up sheet in the back of
the church after all the Masses so we may
see how many people are interested in attending
this Mass. Date and time of Mass to be
announced."

A Long Island Catholic was mentioned in The Long Island Press on 10/3/07! Overall, a nice mention, but what was I smoking when I said Mama's Family was one of my favorite television shows?? I think I have found the link and it was a post on really bad tv shows that I still enjoyed watching. For the record, my favorite tv shows are The Simpsons and Seinfeld.

Here is the link to the article and text featuring my blog:

Citizen Journalists

A Long Island Catholic

http://www.revertedxer.blogspot.com/

What's the deal? Most of the entries deal with Catholic education, the Diocese of Rockville Centre and other Church matters. This LI Catholic school veteran (16 years) started following this modus operandi after Catholic bloggers reminded him "how awesome it is to be Catholic (even now)." He says that although his personal Church experience has been completely positive, things are so bad that he has occasionally blogged to complain or write about the corruption.

Why should you care? These are well-written posts by a self-described "liturgy nut" who is rooted in the religion of the ages, yet is a child of the times. (He says he met his future bride on www.catholicmatch.com.) He favors humor, observing that after a September 2006 address by Pope Benedict XVI resulted in violence in the Muslim world, The Onion could run a headline reading, "Pope Calls Violence Unreasonable, Muslims Violently Protest." But the 30-something cradle Catholic also veers far from matters of faith, sometimes focusing on non-Catholicism Long Island stuff: He didn't care for the Rosie/Trump feud and confesses that his favorite TV shows include Monty Python's Flying Circus and Mama's Family. He offers fixes for the high taxes Long Islanders shoulder. He reviews rock concerts.

Quotable: "When someone asks you, 'Think about what Jesus would do,' remember that a valid option is to freak out and turn over tables." (He attributes this quote, which appeared on one of his entries, to http://www.catholicpillowfight.com/.)

I am back from a relaxing week in Mexico and am just catching up with the news from Long Island. Seems I missed an interesting week Church-wise:

The parish of Leticia from Causa Nostrae Laetitiae and Patrick from Creative Minority Report is all over the Catholic blog world. It seems Bishop Murphy was at Saint John the Evangelist Parish for confirmation and was not happy with the comportment of the parishioners before Mass. The result: at his direction, the tabernacle is being moved front and center! This is great news and typical of the leadership of Bishop Murphy. Please go to the two links above to read the Bishop's letter.

Also, Diogenes at Off The Record and Fr. Z. at WDTPRS both link to retired Bishop Wcela's article in America magazine regarding the traditional latin Mass. The article is typical of this bishop's smug and condescending attitude toward tradition. Bishop Murphy is pushing this Diocese into the right direction, which is opposite from the direction that Bishops McGann and Wcela took it when they ran things.

Found via Charlotte was Both -

Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP at Domine, da mihi hanc aquam! has some great observations on campus ministry including:

"You had a crappy childhood at St. Sixtus of the Perpetual Frown under the bruising discipline of Sr. Mary of the Five Wounds of Christ, so religious habits, rosaries, crucifixes, devotional booklets, Latin, incense, sanctus bells, etc. all remind you of stifling dogmatic lectures, knuckle-rappings, silly moral imperatives, triumphal-martial Catholicism, etc. Guess what? They aren’t you! They didn’t have these experiences, so they don’t associate Eucharistic adoration and First Friday Masses with intellectual repression and physical pain. Let them transform these traditions and make them their own."

The whole post is very good, go read the whole thing. Thankfully, the campus ministry, youth ministry and young adult ministries in the Diocese of Rockville Centre have all been transformed over the past few years so they are on the right track.

I have always read the obits in Newsday. I don't consider it morbid, they can actually be a pleasant read, especially when the person has lived a good, long life. An example was -

Peace activist Jozef van der Grinten dead at 88

Today, liberal Catholic and Newsday columnist Bob Keeler remembered him in this column.

I had sent Fr. Z at What Does the Prayer Really Say? a link to Bishop Murphy's column on the Motu Proprio published in The Long Island Catholic. He does his usual parsing of the statement and mentions the statment was a pleasure to read. For some reason the comments section became a bitch-fest on the Diocese of Rockville Centre with many talking as if conditions in this Diocese are a result of Bishop Murphy's leadership. I never thought I would be defending a Bishop or the DRVC but there I am in the comments section doing just that!

THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

THE 15TH ANNUAL MEETING

Friday and Saturday, October 26-27, 2007

The St. John’s University School of Law

8000 Utopia Parkway Jamaica, Queens, New York 11439

I had listed the panels and speakers for Friday, now I will list the panels for Saturday. The panel on blogging is Panel Sixty-Three.

Panel Twenty-Two: Economics and Catholicism: II

Panel Twenty-Three: Topics in Catholic Historical Research

Panel Twenty-Four: Problems and Prospects in Catholic Education

Panel Twenty-Five: Problems and Prospects of Globalism

Panel Twenty-Six: Eastern Catholic Saints: Developers of Eastern Social Conscience

Panel Twenty-Seven: The Knights of Columbus: Founding, History, Apostolate

Panel Twenty-Eight: Issues of Life and Death

Panel Twenty-Nine: The Sociology of the Two Great Commandments: Shaping the Structure and Function of Society

Panel Thirty: The Voice of the Poor: The Advocacy Mission of the St. Vincent de Paul Society

Panel Thirty-One: Topics in Catholic Psychology: Community and Church Based Counseling Services, Parental Attachment, and Human Formation at a College Seminary

Panel Thirty-Two: Human Society

Panel Thirty-Three: The Sexual Scandal in the Catholic Church Today: Should The Church Oppose Extending Statutes of Limitation?

Panel Thirty-Four: Evangelization through the Airwaves: The Example of Radio Maria

Panel Thirty-Five: African American Catholicism and Catholicism in Africa

Panel Thirty-Six: Faith and Reason in Catholic Thought as Understood by Pope Benedict XVI

Panel Thirty-Seven: Catholics in American History: Perspectives on the Founding

Panel Thirty-Eight: Catholicism Transforming Culture

Panel Thirty-Nine: “An Afternoon with C.S. Lewis”

Panel Forty: The Pius Wars and Sister Margherita Marchione

Panel Forty-One: The Inevitable Metaphysical Connection with Social Science

Panel Forty-Two: Abortion, The Church, and American Society: Past, Present, Future

Panel Forty-Three: The Sociology of New York City

Panel Forty-Four: The Contribution of Frederic Ozanam

Panel Forty-Five: Teaching in the Classroom

Panel Forty-Six: Psychology and Catholicism

Panel Forty-Seven: The Cardinal Newman Society/ The Promotion of Chastity: National and Local Efforts

Panel Forty-Eight: Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, andSocial Policy (Scarecrow Press)

Panel Forty-Nine: Catholic Approaches to Criminal Justice

Panel Fifty: Trends in Sacred Music During the Twentieth Century: An Appraisal

Panel Fifty-One: Roundtable: The Ancient-Moderns Distinction: Catholic Perspectives

Panel Fifty-Two: The Sexual Revolution: How Christians Accepted It and How to Counter It

Panel Fifty-Three: The Legacy of Pope John Paul II Continues

Panel Fifty-Four: A Critique of the Writings of Some Prominent Secular Thinkers: Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Sigmund Freud

Panel Fifty-Five: Catholic Faith and Morals in the Institution of the Family

Panel Fifty-Six: Catholics of the South

Panel Fifty-Seven: Catholicism and Social Work

Panel Fifty-Eight: Resolving Conflict in the Middle East

Panel Fifty-Nine: “Catholicism and Social Science”

Panel Sixty: “Catholicism and the Law: Special Topics”

Panel Sixty-One: Staying the Course! A Tribute to Monsignor George A. Kelly”

Panel Sixty-Two: Attacked on All Fronts: How Secular Ideology is Marginalizing the Rule of Law and Catholic Contributions to Law and Society”

Panel Sixty-Three: The Impact of Catholic Bloggers: How They Are Becoming An Important Alternate Voice in Catholic Culture

Panel Sixty-Four: The Legacy of Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI and the Direction of the Church Universal

Panel Sixty-Five: Critiquing MacIntyre’s Critique of Liberalism

Panel Sixty-Six: Critical Issues in Catholic Education

Panel Sixty-Seven: Roundtable Discussion with the S.C.S.S. Sociology Disciplinary Section: “Developing a Sociology Textbook As a Companion Volume for the Compendium of Catholic Social Teachings”

Panel Sixty-Eight : Catholicism and Politics

Panel Sixty-Nine: Economics and Catholicism: III

Panel Seventy: The Use of Virtue in the Treatment of Psychological Disorders

Panel Seventy-One: What Catholics Need to Know About Islamic Jihad

Panel Seventy-Two: Strengthening Catholic Higher Education: A Roundtable Discussion

New "Extraordinary Form" of the Mass on Long Island!!!!!!

Thanks to reader Anthony for pointing out this from Fr. McCartney, the pastor of St. Matthew in Dix Hills:

"For some four years now we have offered the Novus Ordo Mass (the Mass of Vatican II) celebrated in Latin each week with music provided by our Gregorian Schola. Because I have received so many letters from parishioners requesting the Tridentine Mass, I am happy to announce that the 9:00 a.m. Sunday Mass in the chapel will become a weekly Tridentine Mass. The first Mass of this “extraordinary form” of the liturgy will be celebrated by Msgr. Vincent Keane on Sunday, September 16, 2007. It will be a learning process for both priests and people, and there may be some bumps along the way. But I am very happy to be able to offer this Mass, so important in our Catholic tradition, to those who desire it. I have been studying the liturgy, and look forward to being able to celebrate the Mass myself soon."

Leticia Velasquez of Causa Nostrae Laetitia, who was aptly named a "dynamo of Catholic energy" by Oswaldo Sobrino, has created the Dr. Jerome Lejeune Society. The goals of the group are:

1. To provide support for parents of children with Down syndrome with the help of their Catholic faith, including a beautiful prayer which Dr Lejeune's daughter, Anouk Lejeune Meyer will send us.
2. To raise society's awareness of what beautiful children they are to lower the 90% abortion rate
3. To raise funds to support ongoing research to treat and to cure Down syndrome, like Fondacion Lejeune
4. To support Dr. Lejeune's cause for sainthood, by raising awareness of his contributions to the science of genetics, to the pro-life movement, and to raising the dignity of individuals with Down syndrome.

I read Life Is A Blessing, written by Dr. Lejeune's daughter and it was a wonderfully inspiring book. Here is the link to the Dr. Jerome Lejeune Foundation and a link to the Wikipedia article on him.

THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

THE 15TH ANNUAL MEETING

Friday and Saturday, October 26-27, 2007

The St. John’s University School of Law
8000 Utopia Parkway
Jamaica, Queens, New York 11439

This is going to be a huge event with dozens of panels and speakers. Anyone who wants to attend has to pay a $50 registration fee. You can email me for the details of how to register. I am not a member of the Society, however, I will be in a panel discussion on Catholic blogging. I will post more on that another time. Here are the panels on Friday:

Panel One: Italian American Catholic Studies

Panel Two: University Faculty for Life and Its Long Island Chapter: Goals, History, Activities, and Future

Panel Three: Eastern Catholicism in the United States

Panel Four: Key Issues Affecting the American Family, the Church, and the Nation

Panel Five: The Contributions of Dietrich von Hildebrand

Panel Six: The New Evangelization in the U.S

Panel Seven: The Contribution of Francis Canavan, S.J.

Panel Eight: Contemporary Catholicism Around the Globe

Panel Nine: “Today’s Culture and Its Effects on Psychotherapy Practice”

Panel Ten: Edith Stein: Saint and Feminist

Panel Eleven: Topics in Economics and Catholicism: I

Panel Twelve : Humble and Heroic: The Academic Career of Salvatore J. LaGumina

Panel Thirteen: Catholic Contributions in Providing Diversity Within Public Higher Education

Panel Fourteen: Evangelization Efforts in the Dioceses of Rockville Centre and Brooklyn

Panel Sixteen: The Campaign for the International Right to Abortion in International Institutions

Panel Seventeen: The Legacy of John Paul II

Panel Eighteen: Toward A Theology of Work

Panel Nineteen: Catholic Social Teaching Applied: Some Irish Contributions

Panel Twenty: Abortion, Contraception, and the Future of the Catholic Church in the United States: The Need for a Comprehensive and Authentic Program in Catholic Education and Communication

Panel Twenty-One: The Society of St. Vincent de Paul—Embracing All Works of Charity: Blessed Frederic Ozanam’s Legacy

Those are the panels for Friday after which the Keynote Address will be given by Dr. William Donohue of The Catholic League. Following that will be remarks by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. Later I will post the panels for Saturday.

Mullah Brother, meet Brother Death

"Berader, also known colloquially as Mullah Brother, was close to Taliban leader Mullah Omar. His death will come as a major blow to the Taliban hierarchy and follows the deaths of senior commander Mullah Dadullah Lang in May and the arrest of Defense Minister Mullah Obaidullah in Quetta, Pakistan in March."

The Divine Gift of Motherhood

Another Long Island blog found via Leticia Velasquez

Via Newday, another example of killing by followers of islam:

"Islamic militants were behind two deadly explosions that killed at least 44 people and wounded scores more Saturday night in southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Indian officials said Sunday."

Religious women lost prophetic place, but can regain relevance, Gen X nun says

“We are on the verge of extinction, not because of some cataclysmic event, but because for the last 30 years or so, we have slowly removed ourselves from church circles, and have failed to recognize when we were no longer needed as a work force, that perhaps the spirit had a new call for us.”

That quote is from Sr. Laurie Brink who spoke at the LCWR Assembly, that is the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a group of mostly old nuns who for the most part gave up being Catholic nuns years ago. Sr. Brink spoke positively about a group of former nuns who left the Catholic Church, which is all you need to know about her and this assembly.

This group is not to be confused with the younger, more orthodox group, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious. See this post at The Cafeteria if Closed for a brief shot of both groups.

A great post on immigration at Relapsed Catholic

I believe there is a serious problem with immigrants today committing crimes, as anyone who follows the news can see. But the immigrants of old (Italians, Irish and Jewish) were probably worse. The "discrimination" they faced was exaggerated, and probably based on their own bad behavior. I have often said that if I met my ancestors, I would probably not like them and they would not like me. People who are uneducated, whether immigrants or not, often exhibit nasty and self destructive behaviours and are very insecure, leading them to be full of hate. They always blame others for their own problems as well. The problem years ago and today, is not with immigration, it is with the uneducated. The solution is for all to become as educated as their abilities will allow. Higher education must be made more affordable and all parents must value education highly. And everyone must understand that crime, especially violent crime, must not be tolerated.

This should be good - CNN is doing a 3 night series on "God's Warriors"
One night each is going to feature Jewish, Muslim, and then Christian "Warriors". I wonder how the so called warriors of the Christian and Jewish world stack up against muslim warriors. I haven't read too many stories of Jewish or Christian people killing, kidnapping, and bombing in the name of their religion.

Amy Welborn has a new blog - Charlotte was Both, and continues to find interesting Church links. She links to a great news story on the Bishop of Burlington, VT offering a Mass "in the Extraordinary Form" at the Cathedral. You can watch the new video here.

Crooner 'with a calling' sings Elvis ... in Latin

"In yet another testament to the irrepressible influence of "The King," fans can croon along to the broody "Nunc hic aut numquam" ("It's Now or Never"), shake hips to the slightly scary sounding title "Nunc Distrahor" ("All Shook Up"), or just have fun with "Ne Saevias" ("Don't Be Cruel")."

Well, at least he understands what many in the Catholic Church do not:

"Latin is an eternal language and therefore I believe it is important to document Elvis' songs also in this eternal language," said Jukka Ammondt, known by his stage name Doctor Ammondt."

From Newsday:

A player for the Long Island Ducks was arrested (and suspended) after "charging the mound and injuring two players with his bat". The Long Island Ducks is a minor league baseball team that has been an awesome success story here in Suffolk. Frank Boulton, the owner of the team, tried to bring a minor league team to Long Island years ago, first in Nassau where the politicians were less than helpful. His Albany-Colonie Yankees moved to Norwich, CT when they could not be brought to LI, but years later the Ducks were created and the games have been sold out since. Two of my family members made a living in minor league baseball for some years and I always enjoyed going to the games. The Long Island Ducks stadium is nice, clean, and the games are fun to go to, even for families. This is why this incident is so bad. I have mentioned my annoyance before when jocks do not get charged with crimes when they commit them on the field, so I am glad to see the player was arrested.

From Newsday:

Woman sues ex-partner for contracting herpes

The boyfriend told this woman he had herpes but said she could not catch it from him, and she believed him. There are three things this woman needs: google, self-respect, and a clue.

"Last week, Pollock, 49, of Long Beach, filed a lawsuit against her ex in Nassau Supreme Court, charging that the disease he gave her will make it difficult ever to be intimate with a man again.
"He took away the most precious thing I had -- the ability to love and be loved," she said."

This woman has two children and claims she cannot love and be loved? How sad.

Friday and Saturday, October 26th - 27th, 2007

The Society of Catholic Social Scientists is holding their 15th Annual Meeting -Conference at St. John's University School of Law in Jamaica (Queens), NY. (I probably would have preferred Jamaica the Island but oh well). There will be dozens of panels on many aspects of Catholicism and below is just a partial list of speakers and panel participants:

Rev. Joseph Koterski, S. J.
William Donohue
Ronald Rychlak
Gregory Popcak
Kenneth Whitehead
Sister Margherita Marchione
Paul Vitz
Dawn Eden
Archbishop Chaput

The conference is going to be a major Catholic event. I was honored to be asked by Dr. Joseph Varacalli to organize a panel discussion on "The Impact of Catholic Bloggers". Because you must pay to be part of the conference, and there are no fees being paid to anyone, I figured I would ask local bloggers first. Dawn Eden and Leticia Velasquez were asked and agreed to be the panel. I have been putting together my thoughts on Catholic blogging and, in true blogger fashion, will be blogging about our panel as it develops. I will also post more information on the conference and panels since there are so many great topics and speakers.

This Associated Press article on Rudy Giuliani's faith (or lack thereof) mentions his life long friend Msgr. Alan Placa and also Stephen Dillard's Catholics Against Rudy.

"Rudy Giuliani evokes his Catholic upbringing as he campaigns for president, yet he refuses to say whether he is a practicing Catholic."

Bishop to Honor Lay People with New St. Agnes Medal at September Prayer Service

"One individual or married couple from each parish in the diocese has been chosen.Bishop Murphy announced the creation of the medal at a January 21, 2007 Mass opening the anniversary year of the diocese. Pastors from 133 parishes were asked to nominate lay people who unselfishly donate their time to their parishes."

Someone came to this blog after doing a google search for"where was the toll booth from the godfather filmed". I see Wikipedia has it filmed at the Meadowbrook Toll Plaza, but according to other sources it was filmed in an abandoned runway at Mitchel Field. Mitchel Field is correct, because if you watch closely as Sonny is driving around the bend to the toll booth, you can see the antenna of Telecare, the Diocese of Rockville Centre's television station, located on the grounds of what is now Kellenberg High School. This is right across from the former Mitchell Field. Long Island is a good place to film mobster's deaths -
Bobby Bacala's death in the "Blue Comet"episode of the Soprano's was filmed in Trainworld in Lynbrook. Trainworld is the go to place for model trains of all types, as Bobby obviously knew.

Now that I have solved that mystery of where Sonny was shot, how about someone answering how Sonny could get shot up by men from all different angles, but the fake toll booth collector ducks below the window and doesn't get hit?

I updated the template on this blog and am in the middle of categorizing my posts. I seem to have lost my Haloscan comments though...

UPDATE: Thanks to Christopher of Catholics in the Public Square for posting the directions on how to get back my Haloscan comments. Ironically, his assistance in the comments box was now deleted when I got the Haloscan back.

I Heart the 80's

My wife and I went to see The Police last night at Madison Square Garden. The crowd was nice, not always a given when going to a rock concert. All were in the mood to hear the music of their youth, and all enjoyed it very much.

Karen Marie Knapp, RIP

Mark Shea reports Karen died last night. Karen's From the Anchor Hold was one of the first blogs I read when introduced to St. Blog's through Gerard Serafin, RIP. She had occasionally commented on my blog in the early years. Gerard and Karen were certainly major influences in the Catholic blog world, not only as early bloggers, but as constant positive forces in a sometimes cantankerous parish. They were both gentle souls, both not in great health, and both major contributors to the "St. Blog's Parish" spirit. May Karen rest in peace, and may she intercede in heaven for all us bloggers so that we may be worthy of Christ.

Ned Flanders Vs. Mel Gibson?

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf at What Does The Prayer Really Say? posts a memo from the Bishop of Steubenville to priests in his diocese regarding Summorum Pontificum. The memo is sadly fearful and negative towards SP and includes a questionnaire priests who wish to celebrate the Extraordinary form of the Liturgy must fill out. Since Steubenville is home to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, the comments section quickly became home to various stories and comments on that school, until Fr. Z shut the comments down and told all to move along onto other things. The comments bring up a number of interesting things that have much to do with the situation in the Church today.

Basically, Steubenville is a small but growing Catholic college, that was pretty much the center of the "charismatic" movement in the 80's and 90's. The charismatic movement started in 1967 in Pittsburgh which is not far from Steubenville. The president of Steubenville, Fr. Scanlan, embraced the movement and that is widely credited with saving the University and keeping it afloat. Today, FUS is one of the schools considered really "Catholic" by most and therefore a top destination for theology majors and those serious about their faith. (A side discussion for many is whether the campus should become more "great books" oriented or more academically challenging) With the reputation for orthodoxy and strong faith life on campus, orthodox Catholics flock to FUS or send their children there. Now, there is a tension between more tradition minded students and faculty and those who favor the more charismatic aspects of the school. This tension is particularly seen in the discussion on Liturgy, and this same tension also exists in many parishes and dioceses. The split between the charismatic and traditional Catholics is not a bad thing, since each faction can generally co-exist peacefully.

As this article from Feb. 2000 by John Allen in the National Catholic Reporter points out, the tension has existed for years, and it continues as the charismatic influence is dwindling and the traditionalist influence is growing. The article is good although of course written with the standard liberal bias. The interesting thing about this intra-Church tension is that it is between two perfectly acceptable, good, and orthodox groups. Although each group has its cranks and crackpots, they are as a whole faithful Catholics. Quite a change from the previous years of Catholics fighting those within the Church who pushed for the Church to change her teachings.

Ever notice how mafia figures always claim to be too sick to go to jail when they are old? Apparently, molesters pull the same trick. Barry Ryan, a former priest who molested a 5 year old boy in Suffolk County, after the boy's family allowed Ryan to stay at their house while he was suffering from cancer, has moved to Missouri.

Newsday reports:

"That prompted Suffolk County Court Judge Ralph Gazzillo to issue a warrant for the priest's arrest, a move that was praised by the victim's family."

This is August 2nd, 2007.

But notice what this article from 2005 says -

"Gazzillo sentenced Ryan to the negotiated sentence of 2 years.
But Ryan is not expected to see the inside of a prison, said Rosamaria Abbate, the Suffolk prosecutor who handled the case.

His terminal illness may take his life before the date he is supposed to go into custody, which Gazzillo set for July 7, 2005."

Diogenes on 'lay pastoral ministers' at Off the Record:

"When they were first dreamed up by woozy ecumenists in the years of the Second Vatican Council, lay pastoral ministers were (in Jerry Fodor's phrase) "a cure for which there is no adequate disease." We have the post-Conciliar liberal episcopacy to thank for working unremittingly to introduce the desired illness: they managed to empty the seminaries with a swiftness no persecution could rival. And finally, having presented us with the disease, they gleefully produce the medicine. "

I realize that we have this situation here on Long Island where the liberals ran the Church like the Soviet Union until Bishop McGann died. There are many Catholics (mostly older women) who are waiting breathlessly for their opportunity to take control of parishes where there is no priest available. But, I wonder if orthodox, traditional lay people were able to get their hands on these positions whether the same support would be offered?

Seen at Catholic Pillow Fight:


"When someone asks you 'think about what Jesus would do', remember that a valid option is to freak out and turn over tables" -- Unknown

Ex-altar boy: Drug addiction made me steal

This is one time you can't say its bigotry for Newsday to "put ex-altar boy" in a headline. The man stole from the Church were he served as a boy, so it is relevant. It shows how pathetic and low heroin addiction can make a person.

An excellent post by Amy Welborn at Open Book:

Religion: A Test of Faith

Benedict XVI and the Great Liberation

An article by (former Long Islander) Thomas E. Woods Jr. on the motu proprio. I want to quote much of it but have limited myself to this snip:

"To make a long story short, in 1969–70 a new liturgy was introduced in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Far from the minor changes that most bishops had thought they were approving at the Second Vatican Council, the Missal of Pope Paul VI was a sweeping and radical overhaul of the traditional Mass"

and

"For several decades, not only the Catholic left but also the "orthodox" Catholic right condemned supporters of the 1962 Missal as disobedient, wicked, schismatic – you name it – because they believed that what was beautiful and venerable yesterday could not cease to be beautiful and venerable today. "

Well worth reading the whole thing. I found this via Uncovering Orthodoxy, the latest blog of Steve Skojec, whose mother-in-law was recently murdered. Please pray for Steve and his family.

Two teenagers were arrested and charged Friday with conspiring to buy weapons for a plot to commit a Columbine-style assault on Connetquot High School, police said.

Whether it is the sick muslim culture, or the sick American culture that creates these situations, it is clear that there is a lot of sickness in cultures today.

New 7 wonders of the world named

Amazingly, the Big Duck in Flanders did not make the list!

Summorum Pontificum

Click on the link above and you will see the words of the long-awaited motu proprio giving priests greater ability to offer the traditional latin Mass. Hopefully, this will go a long way in ceasing the cruel and silly treatment Catholics who desire tradition have received for 35 years. I have my doubts about this since the types of "Christians" that do everything they can to stop traditional Masses from being widely available will not pay much attention to any papal document. However, this motu propio is a great positive step and the Catholic blog world is shouting Deo Gratias for Pope Benedict XVI's pastoral concern in releasing this after much opposition:

Saint Louis Catholic

What Does The Prayer Really Say?

Rorate Caeli

For Catholics on Long Island, there is a weekly traditional latin Mass offered at 11 AM every Sunday at the St. Pius X chapel in Uniondale. Booklets are provided so you can follow along, I would suggest taking one of the red booklets as it explains the entire Mass. Each week alternates between a high Mass and a low Mass and there are refreshments after the low Masses.

There is also a traditional latin Mass offered on the first Sunday of the month at Sacred Heart Church in Cutchogue.

Karen Hall at Some Have Hats clarifies some facts regarding the National Catholic Register article about her new (possible) show called Vows.

The DRVC finally has a new Director of the Office of Worship. He is a priest whose name would be worth about 1 billion points in Scrabble, if the game allowed names to be used. More importantly, he is known for being a good, orthodox priest:

"The Most Reverend William Murphy, Bishop, Diocese of Rockville Centre, appointed Father Andrzej J. Zglejszewski director of the diocesan Office of Worship, effective June 27, 2007. "

I haven't blogged lately but when I read this story I had wanted to blog about it:

Love Thy Neighbor and all that:

a Bayville couple had to go to village court over complaints about the noise their girls make while playing in their pool. Now, the court has since dismissed the charges and an argument could be made that the parents should instruct the girls to respect their neighbors and watch how much noise they make. (After the charge was dismissed the parents were quoted as saying they would.) But when I read the original article in Newsday last week about the complaint, I was stuck by this comment:

"This is it for me," said Kostakis, whose wife, Angie, is listed as one of the complainants on the summons. "I don't work 12 hours a day to come home and listen to this -- -- ." (emphasiss mine)

The question I asked when I read that was: Why exactly DO you work 12 hours a day? It must not be to support a large family as this article on the story mentions that the Kostakis' have no children. Is it so you could live in Bayville on the water?

A local priest, Msgr. Batule wrote of some of John Paul the Great's writings on work here. Some quotes:

"Pope John Paul II makes clear, however, that the proper subject of work continues to be man"

"Work is a good thing for man-a good thing for his humanity-because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes more of a human being"

Bishop Murphy ordained 3 men to the priesthood on Saturday.

Newsday started a series on the 50th Anniversary of the Diocese of Rockville Centre today, with an article on the Fagan family. I don't have the time to read through the series now but I will report on the good and bad of it in time. I already see a couple of absolute falsehoods in the small part I have read, but am sure the series will be good.

I have seen this on several blogs, so I can't remember where I saw it first:

The Storm Theatre in NYC is hosting a Karol Wojtyla Theatre Festival. They will be staging Jeremiah, Our God's Brother, and The Jeweler's Shop.

5 Long Islanders were arrested in Disney World

They were reportedly drunk, abusive, and violent. If you scroll through the comments on the Newsday story (page 3) you can see someone thoughtfully posted the myspace pages of 3 of them. On one of the girl's page she lists:

Religion: Catholic

Education: High School

No surprises there. Unfortunately.

Amy Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco have been seen together again.

I once wrote that Fisher had gotten her life together and seemed to be trying to be a decent person. Obviously, I was wrong. Buttafuoco, the convicted child rapist, was always a horrible person. They deserve each other: two desparate, pathetic, white-trash losers without a moral compass. I hope they have a very short life together.

As you can see from the right side bar, I have put Catholic book collection online at LibraryThing.com. I had created a Microsoft Access database to keep track of my growing collection and it served me well. But, LibraryThing was easier to create, I only needed to put in the isbn number.

Here is the link to my collection. Soon, all books will have covers pictured. When I was beginning my return to my faith, Ignatius Press was a great guide, and 72 out of the 281 books are from their catalog.

I am also pleased to have 26 autographed books so far.

"I’m tired of angry Catholics. No, I take that back, I’m tired of whiny Catholics. Every last one of us most likely has some legitimate complaints. With over one billion people in her care someone is going to be disappointed with every decision made. But she plugs along as best she can."

"Stop trying to save the Church. The Church is here to save you. "

---Fr. V. at Adam's Ale

12 men will be ordained as permanent deacons on May 19th

I take lunch at 12:30 PM but I missed this, from Ellis Henican's column in Newsday:

"PREPPED FOR LIFE: The no-prom controversy, the Duke case, three grads killed in Iraq: Who says president of all-boys Chaminade High School is a laid-back kind of job? Not Father James Williams. Not this year. Father James tells all to WHPC's Ray Bertolino, Monday, 12:30 p.m., 90.3 FM."

The Diocese of Rockville Centre will have a new bishop ordained on June 1st. Msgr. Peter Libasci will serve as Episcopal Vicar on the east end of Long Island, replacing Bishop Wcela who is now retired.

Leticia wrote about her optimism about the Diocese of Rockville Centre. I would say I am "cautiously optimistic". I see a few trends occuring here that mirror the larger Church in the USA:

The mainstreaming of the "orthodox", "new charismatics", "traditionalists", and "conservatives".

The decline of the "liberals".


The DRVC is, like many dioceses, recovering from a past where the orthodox, traditional Catholic faith was ground up and spit out by revolutionaries bent on changing the Church into a more politically correct, watered down, more cocktail-party-friendly version. Tradition was discarded entirely and some pretty non-Catholic ideas and actions crept into the Liturgy and parish life. This was done by both well-meaning and not so well meaning people. The traditionalists were the canaries in the mine that were ignored and vilified and left for their chapels. The conservatives railed against what they saw but were powerless to do anything. The charismatics were busy having home Masses and strumming guitars and didn't really get involved. The liberals ran things with a ruthless efficiency.

Just as the abuses and failures and missteps of the 70's and 80's and 90's were being corrected or discarded, the sex abuse scandals exploded and all Catholics were thrust into the world of intra-Catholic politics. Then, JPII died and Ratzinger elected and the world watched with amazement. As nobody said at the time, but should have, we were all Catholic nerds now.

When the dust settled, this much was clear: the liberals who ran this Church for 35 years were done. Not because of some "smackdown" by Pope Benedict as some had hoped, but because after 35 years nothing liberals proposed was "new" "exciting" or "relevant" anymore. Their ideas were exhausted and their ruthless rule didn't exactly lead to a mass influx of people to the Church.

So, now we are at the point where the "dynamic orthodoxy" of groups like the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal for example, is starting to show up at the parish level, in apostolates (even those groups run by the DRVC), in the seminary, and in schools. Combined with a renewed understanding and appreciation of tradition and Liturgy evident particularly in the young, this gives me reason for hope. Now if we just don't mess it up.....

From Newsday:

Mayor of tiny LI village apologizes for anti-Hispanic comments

Manorhaven Mayor Nicholas Capozzi was tape recorded saying:

"Do you drive down that --- block? It looks like --- Harlem. It looks worse than Harlem. It's a --- hole over there."

The online story at Newsday.com omits three things that are in the print edition:

1) That he was also tape recorded admitting that he allowed someone to break the rules of the town because he was a political supporter

2) That a man who "shares a ranch house with Capozzi" was arrested for threatening to kill a critic of the mayor

3) The picture showing him to be an ugly, fat pig-like creature.

This article details the arrest of the mayor's house mate.

" Richard C. Li was arrested July 17 by Nassau police and charged with harassment, and is scheduled to appear Aug. 4 in First District Court.
Neither Li nor Mayor Nicholas Capozzi, who lives in the six-room ranch Li owns on Sagamore Hill Drive, returned calls seeking comment"
"Grenfell said Li rushed up to him as he drove into the parking lot and began punching the side of the car while yelling, 'You'd better get out of here if you know what's good for you or you're a dead man.'
Michael Davenport, one of three witnesses police interviewed, said Li shouted profanities at him and two others who carried signs supporting Grenfell's campaign. 'He was cursing at us, telling us to leave,' Davenport said."

From the VOTF Long Island "Faith Convention"


David Gibson on electing Popes: "Noted that the white smoke tradition for announcing the election of a new Pope is only about 100 years old, but the Church makes it seem as though it has been around from the very beginning." [Citation please]

Gibson again on Pope Benedict: "The Pope is a cultural Catholic – no conversion experience. He cannot accept the past errors of the Church with respect to anti-Semitism and the response to the Holocaust. Benedict is focused on the beauty in the Church. He is enshrined in ecclesiology. Benedict is old fashioned and conservative – activism and reform are out of bounds. He does not have his finger on the pulse of the laity." [???]

Camille D’Arienzo on why she should be allowed to give homilies instead of the priest: "It is very important that they hear good homilies. Some priests and deacons are not gifted in this way. There is also the problem of the priest shortage and the number of priests whose first language is not English [Racism anyone? Xenophobia anyone?] So un-ordained, qualified, enthusiastic preachers should be considered as an alternative. She enjoys her one-minute Catholic commentaries on 1010 WINS each week [I think they are trite and boring], but would prefer the pulpit and is available"

Richard Sipe: "Claimed that the Church is wrong about sex."

"Each of us has the capacity to determine what is right and what is wrong."



Is VOTF still wondering why they can't attract young people????

CBS Radio Suspends FREE FM Hosts After Prank

JV and Elvis were (are?) on the radio at 92.3 Free FM, where Howard Stern used to be. As a big radio listener I have to say I did not like this show, they sound like two dumb jocks, guys that think they are funny but aren't. I am glad to see some of the filth being cleaned up on the radio, although there has got to be some room for satire. I am a big fan of Ron and Fez, who although their Free FM show doesn't seem to have any of the old characters they had when they were on WNEW, are still very funny.

NPR and NCR

I was listening to NPR this morning before going into work and they had a piece on forced abortions in China. I guess it was interesting to hear this on NPR because it certainly is not news:

Cases of Forced Abortions Surface in China

Then after getting home from work I read this article in the National Catholic Register:

"Where Have All the Girls Gone?"

This article mentions the practice of aborting girls in cultures, such as China, where boys are more socially prized for various reasons.

"Among other things"


"Among other things, the resurrection is about positive thinking and the belief that positive energy makes good things happen, just as self-defeating thoughts are also self-fulfilling."

---Ron Rolheiser

If I hear or see the following phrases one more time I am going to convert to Islam -

"Celebrating our giftedness"

"time, talent, treasure"

"stewardship"

"Happy Friday"

"Called and Gifted"

"gifted"

My baby is growing! Andrea has the Catholic Blog Directory up to 1,011 blogs.

A story about a Nigerian-born priest involved in a car crash. Priests from Nigeria are very inspiring.

Justice is a favorite topic of mine and today there are a few justice stories going around:

The Duke lacrosse players finally had all charges dropped and were declared innocent, which was obvious to all after the late Ed Bradley's 60 Minutes piece. Perhaps they have learned a tough lesson in life: don't ever hire a stripper, as they tend to be skanky, lying, conniving, uneducated whores. Also, people are often accused of things they did not do, particularly by uneducated people.

Don Imus was finally fired for being a racist jerk. This is also not news to anyone who paid attention. I had to laugh when I saw this article about Fr. Hartman of the God Squad and a racist incident on the show that caused him to leave the studio.

"Today was a disappointing moment, the lowest point in our appearances," said Father Hartman, regarding McGuirk's imitation of New Jersey Nets forward, Jayson Williams. "It was the most direct form of bigotry. I don't agree with what he said. It's against what I believe in and what my Church believes in. And I'll do something about it in my own way. I have to think and pray about what happened. If that is characteristic of the entire show, then we couldn't be on the show, but I don't believe it is." (my emphasis)

This was from May of 2000! And here is an article from 1999 about Philip Nobile who wrote to Bishop McGann complaining of Fr. Hartman appearing on Imus' show.

"Nobile has written the pair and sent two letters to Hartman's superior, Bishop John McGann of Rockville Centre, N.Y. In his first letter to the bishop, Nobile accused Hartman of "giving scandal by his association with Don Imus, the most powerful and active white racist and homophobe in the American media."
Nobile, who holds a theology degree from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, contends that the Imus show "routinely smears racial minorities, homosexuals and the handicapped with vicious and vile remarks that should shock Catholic conscience."

Of course, Bishop McGann was famous for ignoring complaints of Catholics when it came to priests, as the Suffolk County Grand Jury Report on sexual abuse of minors by priest showed.

All of the people who were frequent guests on his show knew the deal, and they supported the racism by their presence. It is about time justice was served to Imus, who was always a rotten person to those around him.

Christ is Risen! He is truly risen!

I went to Easter Vigil last night at St. Kilian parish in Farmingdale. It is a beautiful Church lined with statues and a large sanctuary. According to the parish history on its website, the Church looked like an auditorium before its renovation, so they did an excellent job. Only the ceiling in the main section of the Church reminded me of an auditorium. The vigil had 4 priests, and 1 bishop and 5 deacons. The altar servers did a good job with so much to do- lighting everyone's candles during the service of light, ringing bells at the Gloria, kneeling with the giant candles at the Eucharistic Prayer, incensing at the elevations, etc.. The choir sounded excellent chanting the psalms in between the readings (there were only 3 done). This Liturgy nut enjoyed both Holy Thursday Mass and Easter Vigil - feel free to describe what you saw this Triduum/Easter Sunday at parishes on Long Island.

Now it is off to Easter Sunday Mass with the wife and then to dinner with family. I am going to beat my nephew and niece at Life if I have to play 100 games!!

In tsunami-hit Solomons, LI native offers hope

From Newsday, an article about Bishop Chris Cardone

"Cardone plans to travel next week to Gizo, where he spent 14 years as a missionary. The Chaminade High School graduate went on to Providence College in Rhode Island and was inspired by some Dominicans there. He switched his major from business to liberal arts and became a friar. Cardone was sent to the Solomon Islands 18 years ago to train the native people in Catholicism. The three-year assignment turned into a permanent position. Cardone was promoted to bishop in 2001.


In the comments section of the article, Fr. Gerard Twomey wrote the Solomon Islands is "the island chain where Marines landed on Marines landed on Guadalcanal in 1942 and P.T. 109 was sunk in 1943".

Bishop Murphy has authorized a special collection to be taken up in parishes on April 15th for relief.

Holy Thursday

I went to Mass last night at St. Matthew in Dix Hills. Fr. McCartney celebrated the Mass of the Last Supper and 7 other priests concelebrated!. He walked around the Church to wash the feet of 12 people which was different, I have only seen 12 go to the sanctuary where the priest washes their feet. The choir sang Ubi Caritas all in latin during the washing of the feet. The offertory was Panis Angelicus which sounded great. I recognized a few people from the indult Mass sitting in the corner to the right of the sanctuary and realized then that communion would be given at the rail. I didn't move from where I was though and I am glad I didn't. I ended up in a good position at the end of the Mass when the 8 priests, 1 deacon, and 5 altar servers led the transfer of the Eucharist to the chapel. Overall it was a beautiful Liturgy.

I am just getting home from work and dinner so I just caught these two Long Island related posts on Open Book.

• The Tsunami that hit the Solomon Islands made many Long Islanders come to this blog searching for news about Bishop Chris Cardone, a native Long Islander, Chaminade grad, and brother of Fr. Cardone of Kellenberg. Amy links to Moniales which posts a letter from Bishop Cardone.

• A new auxiliary for Rockville Centre - in which Amy Welborn reports on the resignation of Bishop Wcela and the appointment of Fr. Peter Libasci, pastor of St. Therese of Liseux in Montauk as new auxiliary.

I try to make this blog the source of news and discussion for Long Island Catholics but sometimes it is just easier to point to the better blogs.

Our new bishop, Msgr. Peter Libasci, is bi-ritual, able to celebrate the divine Liturgy in Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church!

I was also able to dig up some dirt on the Bishop. According to this story, he was a major figure in this "rooster gone wild" story back in December.

From Newsday:

"Illegal credit card use nets three $19K in gas"

So, what did they get, 4 or 5 fill-ups?

On Saturday I went to hear George Weigel give a talk based on his book The Cube and the Cathedral. A great lunch was offered free for all attendees by Dr. Varacalli and the Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies. The talk was about the Secularization of Europe and what this might mean for America. It was an interesting discussion and I got to get my Witness to Hope signed by Weigel.

"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."

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"

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.

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.