Newman journal launched

The National Institute for Newman Studies, officially dedicated on September 14th (felicitously, my birthday) of last year, located on North Dithridge Street in Oakland, and housing a library of 3,500 books and publications devoted to the 19th century English theologian and philosopher, has just launched its new Newman Studies Journal. The Table of Contents of first issue -- Volume 1, No. 1 (Spring, 2004) -- includes:

• Editorial Preface
  
• Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Newman in Retrospect
  
• Bishop Donald W. Wuerl, Academic Freedom and the University
  
• Paul Chavasse, C.O., John Henry Newman: A Saint for Our Times
  
• M. Katherine Tillman, An Introduction to "The Dream of Gerontius"
  
• Marvin R. O'Connell, Newman and the Irish Bishops
  
• John T. Ford, C.S.C., John Henry Newman: A Spiritual Guide for the 21st Century?
  
• Book Reviews
  (1) John Henry Newman: The Challenge to Evangelical Religion, by Frank Turner; (2) Newman, by Avery Dulles, S.J.
  
• Pastoral Vigniettes
  
• Newman Chronology
  
• Bibliography
  
• Announcements

Online subscriptions are available here (individuals $25; institutions $50).

Lisa M. Goetz, Managing Editor
Newman Studies Journal
The National Institute for Newman Studies
161 N. Dithridge St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
E-mail: nins.editor@verizon.net

Catholics who voted for gay "marriage"

This just in from Deal Hudson on the Federal Marriage Amendment vote:

[Fourteen] Catholic senators against the FMA, 5 in favor, and 5 undecided. Fortunately, four of those undecided Catholic senators did the right thing in the end and voted "yes" to the cloture vote on the amendment. Only John Sununu, a Republican from New Hampshire, went the other way and voted "no." That's a big disappointment. (By the way, the most famous Catholic of the bunch, John Kerry,didn't vote. Big surprise.)

Some of the names on the opposition list are not surprising -- Ted Kennedy, Barbara Mikulski, and Tom Daschle, to name a few of the usual suspects. A couple of the names, though, are kind of funny. Dick Durbin of Illinois, for example, who created the infamous Catholic senator "score card" that ranked him the second most Catholic senator on the Hill. Who would have guessed that the most Catholic senators in Washington are all ignoring the bishops conference and casting votes in favor of gay marriage?

Anyway, here are the rest of the senators who voted against;cloture:

• Joseph Biden (D-DE)
• John Breaux (D-LA)
• Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
• Susan Collins (R-ME)
• Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
• Tom Harkin (D-IA)
• Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
• Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
• Patty Murray (D-WA)
• John Reed (D-RI)

Intelligence report rebuts Bush accuser

Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, dispatched by the CIA in February 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq sought to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program with uranium from Africa, last year  launched a public firestorm with his accusations that the administration had manipulated intelligence to build a case for war. He has said that his trip to Niger should have laid to rest any notion that Iraq sought uranium there and has said his findings were ignored by the White House. Wilson's assertions -- both about what he found in Niger and what the Bush administration did with the information -- were undermined yesterday in a bipartisan Senate intelligence committee report.   Read more. 
 
The level of hypocrisy involved in the Bush-bashing allegations is staggering when one reads Wilson's statements in his public "A Letter from Joe Wilson on John Kerry" on the RestoreHonesty.Com website paid for by the "John Kerry for President" committee.   Excerpts:

• "I wasn't ready to keep quiet when this President misled the nation in his State of the Union Address ... " 
• " ... John Kerry...has the personal courage and integrity that I want in the leader of our great nation ... "
• " ... I am honored to endorse John Kerry and to commit myself to his campaign to wrest our democracy back from those who have so squandered the public trust ... "

Read more.

For information you won't find in most public media on what's going on behind the scenes in Iraq and in the world, pay a visit to WindsOfChange.Net.

Oxford Movement anniversary

Yesterday, July 14th, was 171st anniversary of the Oxford Movement, which commenced with the famous "Assize sermon" by John Keble condemning the national apostasy of the Anglican Church (notice, courtesy of Sean Fagan). The Venerable John Henry Newman, patron
of our apostolate, became the primary leader of the Oxford Movement in England, calling the Anglican Church back to its Catholic roots and calling for reform of the Erastian pattern of subjection of church to state in England. At that time he was vicar at the prominent Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford. On October 9th, 1845, John Henry Newman, having despaired of Anglicanism and having just
completed his famous Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, was received into the Catholic Church by Fr. Dominic Barberi, CP. In 1848 he estab-lished the Oratories of St. Philip Neri in England, opening an Oratory in Birmingham the following year. From 1854-1858 he became rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, authoring The Idea of a University. In 1879 Newman was elevated to the position of Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. He died August 11, 1890, and is buried at Rednal, on the outskirts of Birmingham. On January 22, 1991, was declared "Venerable" by Pope John Paul II, in the first step in the process leading to canonization. For additional information on Newman, see the following resources:

• Dave Armstrong's Newman page
  
  
• The National Institute for Newman Studies
  
  
• Newman Reader
  
  
• The Venerable John Henry Newman Association
  
  
• The Birmingham Oratory website
  
  
• The London Oratory Home Page (The Brompton Oratory)
  
  
• Quanta Narwenion (Donna Marie Lewis' blog)

Jehovah's Witness addresses gender, Christology

My good friend, Edgar Foster, who recently re-issued a volume entitled Christology and the Trinity: An Exploration, has recently been in correspondence with me on the issues of Christology and gender. The issue of Christology is an old standby with Jehovah's Witness organization, a religious sect founded by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) (pictured left), who followed the Arians of the 4th and 5th centuries in rejecting the divinity of Christ. I have begun responding to Foster's arguments -- as I have found the time to do so -- in several posts, including (but not limited to) the following:

• "Friend publishes masterful defense of heretical Christology"
  
  
• "The doctrine of Christ's divinity challenged"
  
  
• "Foster's Christology & the Trinity: Chapter 1"
  
  
• "Is Trinitarian theology essentially linked to the 'pro-slavery tradition'?"
  
  
• "Our loving God is not a solitude"
  
  
• "Our loving God is not a solitude (continued)"
  
  
• "Is gender language a matter of indifference?"

The last question, on the subject of gender language, would seem to have little to do with the convictions of a Jehovah's Witness, except for the fact that the issue surfaces in the context of a challenge against the doctrine of the Trinity alleging that the "subordinationism" implicit in it (subordination of the Son to the Father, etc.) is essentially linked to the subordination of wives to husbands and women to men in general, a claim I find utterly unacceptable, if this is taken to suggest that wives and women are understood to be in some way "inferior." (The "headship" issue-- described by St. Paul in terms of a husband being "head" of his wife as Christ is "head" of the Church, is a question for discussion elsewhere.) Further, attempts are also made to tie the "subordinationism" implicit in classic Trinitarian theology to a "pro-slavery tradition" of theology justifying slavery, a contention I also find a bit far fetched.

Democrat logic . . .

Arturo Benedetti ~ Lemme see if I got this straight:

Clinton awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Yugoslavia - good...
Bush awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Iraq - bad...

Clinton spends 77 billion on war in Serbia - good...
Bush spends 87 billion in Iraq - bad..

Clinton imposes regime change in Serbia - good...
Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad...

Clinton bombs Christian Serbs on behalf of Muslim Albanian terrorists -
good...
Bush liberates 25 million from a genocidal dictator - bad...

Clinton bombs Chinese embassy - good....
Bush bombs terrorist camps - bad....

Clinton commits felonies while in office - good...
Bush lands on aircraft carrier in jumpsuit - bad...

Clinton says mass graves in Serbia - good..
Entire world says WMD in Iraq - bad...

Stock market crashes in 2000 under Clinton - good...
Recession under Bush - bad...

Clinton refuses to take custody of Bin Laden - good...
World Trade Centers fall under Bush - Bad...

Clinton says Saddam has nukes - good.
Bush says Saddam has nukes - bad...

Clinton calls for regime change in Iraq - good...
Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad...

Terrorist training in Afghanistan under Clinton - good...
Bush destroys training camps in Afghanistan - bad...

No mass graves found in Serbia - good...
No WMD found Iraq - bad...

Milosevic not yet convicted - good...
Saddam in custody - bad..

Kerry vows to restore 'Truth' to Presidency

Um . . . right. This is gonna really convince people of integrity to vote Democratic! "The value of truth is one of the most central values in America, and this administration has violated" it, John Kerry said in an interview with The Washington Post on Friday. "Their values system is distorted and not based on truth." Kerry and his running mate, J. Edwards of North Carolina, said in the interview aboard the Democrats' campaign plane Friday that the Bush administration has trampled on values, leaving voters "clamoring for restoration of credibility and trust in the White House again." Kerry and Edwards are all about integrity, they stressed. Kerry and Edwards have got "Truth" covered. After all, they've got Michael Moore, Dr. Truth himself, working on their team.

Underlining [=undermining] his commitment to TRUTH, Kerry who recently said he agrees with the Roman Catholic Church that life begins at conception, said he disagrees with his church's teaching that homosexuality is a sin. Edwards twice did not respond when asked if he, too, believes life begins at conception.

I am so on my KNEES out of respect for these guys! I'm sooooooo convinced . . . by Whoopi Goldberg's homily about Edward's youthful good looks and Senator Kerry's guitar playing at the recent Democratic Party happy hour in New York, I may just have to vote Democrat in this next election. For integrity. For truth. [And if you can't discern the cynicism in that, you're an idiot.]

Boaters find kitten swimming 3 miles offshore in Gulf of Mexico

ST. PETERSBURG (Sun-Sentinel.Com) July 9 2004 -- When Maggie Rogers spotted something bobbing in the water three miles into the Gulf of Mexico while on a scalloping trip with friends, she assumed it was a turtle, or a piece of sea kelp. But as the boat got closer
and slowed down, she found it was a tiny, apricot-colored kitten. Nine inches long and screaming at the top of its lungs, the cat was paddling furiously. Read more . . .

Kerry passes up terror briefing: "I just haven't had time"

Fri Jul 09 2004 09:23:56 ET -- Just hours before attending an all-star celebrity fundraising concert in New York, Dem presidential candidate John Kerry revealed how he has been too busy for a real-time national security briefing.
"I just haven't had time," Kerry explained in an interview. (Source: Drudge Report) Kerry made the startling comments on CNN's LARRY KING LIVE
Thursday night:

KING: News of the day, Tom Ridge warned today about al Qaeda plans of a large-scale attack on the United States. Didn't increase the -- you see any politics in this? What's your reaction?

KERRY: Well, I haven't been briefed yet, Larry. They have offered to brief me. I just haven't had time . . .

The Traditional Latin Mass: back to the future?

"The rumour mill is churning with speculations that the Holy See is
about to loosen the regulations surrounding the Tridentine Mass," writes Benjamin Blosser in Ad Limina Apostolorum, "due to widespread frustration over the fact that bishops have been so reluctant to allow its use." Quoting from a Crux News article (dated July 2nd) based on a report in the U.K.'s Catholic Harold dated June 18th (via Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam), he writes:

According to the report by Freddy Gray, "Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, told The Latin Mass, America's leading traditionalist magazine, that the Vatican was preparing to issue a 'juridical guarantee' in favor of the Tridentine rite, which was the Church's official rite from the 16th century until 1962.

John Medlin, development manager for the Latin Mass Society, said he was excited by the cardinal's comments. 'Rome is signaling that it is prepared to use the transcendent nature of the traditional Mass as a standard to rein in the abuse in the new rite,' he said. 'We are beginning to hear the death knell of liberalism in the Church and not before time'....."

Citing an article from the North Carolina Research Triangle area based NewsObserver.Com, Benjamin Blosser said that he was happy to note the report of a strong Tridentine Mass community in his former diocese of Raleigh. The article goes on to report:

As part of its efforts to reach out to all members, the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh is allowing traditional Latin masses at Dunn's Sacred Heart Catholic Church. For some, it is a walk down nostalgia lane. But for many more it is a new experience -- one that appeals to young people.

Indeed, Latin is enjoying a modest comeback. Such as Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," spoken in Latin and Aramaic, may be partly responsible. More likely, the traditional Latin Mass owes its fascination to a longing for timelessness and transcendence.

"There's a sense of mystery and holy sacredness," said Kim Hoover, 42, of Clayton, who recently attended the first such Mass with her family. "I don't know how to explain it -- a reverence you don't find a lot of times."

There is probably some truth to the observation, as Benjamin Blosser notes, that the sudden resurgence of interest in the Old Mass is connected to the abuses in the New. Indeed, one of the best things that could happen liturgically in the contemporary Roman Catholic Church is for the Vatican to allow free reign to the traditional Latin Mass, expose the New Mass to the free marketplace of liturgical competition, and let people vote their preferences with their feet. Everyone would be a lot happier, and in the most unexpected ways, we could well see grace abound within the Church.

Kerry's exceptional um ... integrity

Last Sunday (July 4th, 2004), John Kerry is reported as having told Iowa's Telegraph Herald that he is personally opposed to abortion:

"I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception."

However, at last year's NARAL Pro-Choice America Dinner, he declared:

"There is no overturning of Roe v. Wade... We need to honestly and confidently and candidly take this issue out to the country and we need to speak up and be proud of what we stand for."

But his blockbuster statement comes from the 1994 Congressional Record:

[A]bortions need to be moved out of the fringes of medicine and into the mainstream of medical practice.

Amazing. What integrity ... that is, dis-integrity! That a mind could reach such proportions of dis-integration is stupifying. Then, of course, look at the times in which we live. (Thanks to Karl Keating's e-letter.)

London shrine faces closure

LONDON, JULY 7, 2004 (Zenit.org).- One of Britain's most important Catholic shrines reportedly faces closure unless it can raise 400,000 pounds ($735,000) to pay for lifts and ramps for disabled visitors.

The Benedictine nuns at Tyburn Convent in central London have until Oct. 1 to find the funds to comply with new disability laws, the Telegraph reported.

The crypt at the convent, the motherhouse of the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, contains the relics of 105 Catholic martyrs executed at Tyburn field under Reformation laws between 1535 and 1681. The crypt is open for daily public tours but is inaccessible for disabled visitors.

Washington Times: Kerry cited in Catholic heresy case

A Catholic lawyer has filed heresy charges against Sen. John Kerry with the Archdiocese of Boston, accusing the Democratic presidential candidate of bringing "most serious scandal to the American public" by receiving Holy Communion as a pro-choice Catholic. (More . . .)

Bill Cosby vents once again

CHICAGO -- Bill Cosby went off on another tirade against the black community Thursday, telling a room full of activists at a
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition & Citizenship Education Fund's annual meeting that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere."

In an Associated Press release dated July 1, Don Babwin said that the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the education fund, defended the entertainer's statements. (Source.)

One more soul . . .

July 1, 2004 -- My wife is expecting. I am again overwhelmed and humbled by the mystery of the whole experience of conception and human life. We give God thanks.