Review of Hunting for God...Fishing for the Lord

From the St. Louis Review:

The priest’s talent for storytelling comes through when he describes an
overnight fishing and camping expedition in March on a Mississippi island with a
friend and the friend’s father when the boys were high school freshmen. They
were awakened by an unexpected storm that turned from rain to sleet to snow. The
storm forced them to make their way off the island, paddling their boat with
two-by-fours after the engine wouldn’t start and they had lost an oar.

While that story was a bit harrowing, other times in the book he simply
tells of the solitude of nature. "I see the outdoors as a catalyst for getting
into the nuts and bolts" of spirituality, he said.

Review of Masonry Unmasked

From Spero News:

And so we are at this time when bishops accept awards from Masons and Catholic facilities are rented to them and Masonic emblems are on cars in church parking lots and few realize what occurs in this organization that some believe is similar to the Elks or Moose Lodge or even the Knights of Columbus when in fact it goes beyond that into the realm of dark mystery.

Such is brought into sharp focus by a powerful new book, Masonry Unmasked, by John Salza, a book worth mentioning not only because it is well-written and extremely informative -- a book that, without histrionics, or overwrought conspiracies, tells you everything you need to know about the Masons, their structures, and their beliefs -- but also because Salza, a lawyer, is a Catholic and also a former Mason himself.

Recommended? Highly. "An insider reveals the secrets of the lodge" says the subtitle, and indeed he is the first Catholic known to write a major book after leaving the secret organization.

Archbishop Milingo Excommunicated (automatically)

From the Guardian:

Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, the Zambian prelate who already had angered the Vatican by getting married in 2001, has been excommunicated for again defying the Holy See by installing four married men as bishops, the Vatican said Tuesday.

The Vatican said Milingo, 76, was ``automatically excommunicated'' under church law for the ordination of the men a few days earlier. The Archdiocese of Washington said Sunday that the installations were not valid.

Milingo is in ``a condition of irregularity and of progressive, open break with communion with the Church,'' the Vatican said in a statement.

Mel Gibson's Next Movie

Watch the trailer...Apocalypto

Pope to Muslim Envoys

I am pleased to welcome you to this gathering that I wanted to arrange in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship and solidarity between the Holy See and Muslim communities throughout the world. I thank Cardinal Poupard, President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, for the words that he has just addressed to me, and I thank all of you for responding to my invitation.
The circumstances which have given rise to our gathering are well known. I have already had occasion to dwell upon them in the course of the past week. In this particular context, I should like to reiterate today all the esteem and the profound respect that I have for Muslim believers, calling to mind the words of the Second Vatican Council which for the Catholic Church are the Magna Carta of Muslim-Christian dialogue: "The Church looks upon Muslims with respect. They worship the one God living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to humanity and to whose decrees, even the hidden ones, they seek to submit themselves whole-heartedly, just as Abraham, to whom the Islamic faith readily relates itself, submitted to God" (Declaration Nostra Aetate, 3). Placing myself firmly within this perspective, I have had occasion, since the very beginning of my pontificate, to express my wish to continue establishing bridges of friendship with the adherents of all religions, showing particular appreciation for the growth of dialogue between Muslims and Christians (cf. Address to the Delegates of Other
Churches and Ecclesial Communities and of Other Religious Traditions, 25 April
2005). As I underlined at Cologne last year, "Inter-religious and inter-cultural
dialogue between Christians and Muslims cannot be reduced to an optional extra.
It is, in fact, a vital necessity, on which in large measure our future depends"
(Meeting with Representatives of Some Muslim Communities, Cologne, 20 August
2005). In a world marked by relativism and too often excluding the transcendence
and universality of reason, we are in great need of an authentic dialogue between religions and between cultures, capable of assisting us, in a spirit of fruitful co-operation, to overcome all the tensions together. Continuing, then, the work undertaken by my predecessor, Pope John Paul II, I sincerely pray that the relations of trust which have developed between Christians and Muslims over several years, will not only continue, but will develop further in a spirit of sincere and respectful dialogue, based on ever more authentic reciprocal knowledge which, with joy, recognizes the religious values that we have in common and, with loyalty, respects the differences.
Inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue is a necessity for building together this world of peace and fraternity ardently desired by all people of good will. In this area, our contemporaries expect from us an eloquent witness to show all people the value of the religious dimension of life. Likewise, faithful to the teachings of their own religious traditions, Christians and Muslims must learn to work together, as indeed they already do in many common undertakings, in order to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence; as for us, religious authorities and political leaders, we must guide and encourage them in this direction. Indeed, "although considerable dissensions and enmities between Christians and Muslims may have arisen in the course of the centuries, the Council urges all parties that, forgetting past things, they train themselves towards sincere mutual understanding and together maintain and promote social justice and moral values as well as peace and freedom for all people" (Declaration, Nostra Aetate, 3). The lessons of the past must therefore help us to seek paths of reconciliation, in order to live with respect for the identity and freedom of each individual, with a view to fruitful co-operation in the service of all humanity. As Pope John Paul II said in his memorable speech to young people at Casablanca in Morocco, "Respect and dialogue require reciprocity in all spheres, especially in that which concerns basic freedoms, more particularly religious freedom. They favour peace and agreement between peoples" (no. 5).

Dear friends, I am profoundly convinced that in the current world situation it is imperative that Christians and Muslims engage with one another in order to address the numerous challenges that present themselves to humanity, especially those concerning the defence and promotion of the dignity of the human person and of the rights ensuing from that dignity. When threats mount up against people and against peace, by recognizing the central character of the human person and by working with perseverance to see that human life is always respected, Christians and Muslims manifest their obedience to the Creator, who wishes all people to live in the dignity that he has bestowed upon
them.
Dear friends, I pray with my whole heart that the merciful God will guide our steps along the paths of an ever more authentic mutual understanding. At this time when for Muslims the spiritual journey of the month of Ramadan is beginning, I address to all of them my cordial good wishes, praying that the Almighty may grant them serene and peaceful lives. May the God of peace fill you with the abundance of his Blessings, together with the communities that you represent!

Pope Lauds Christian Witness of Sr. Leonella

From Asia News Italy:

The “logic of Christianity”, that is, the giving of self to others, at times to the point of sacrificing one’s life, is testified to around the world by many Christians who “lay down their lives for others because of Jesus Christ, working concretely as servants of love and thus as ‘artisans’ of peace”, just as Sr Leonella Sgorbati did. The example of the missionary killed in Somalia was upheld today by Benedict XVI before 3,000 people in the internal courtyard of the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo.

Addressing the small festive crowd that applauded him warmly and vigorously called out his name, Benedict XVI made no other reference to a meeting set for tomorrow at Castel Gandolfo, with ambassadors of Muslim majority counties accredited to the Vatican and some Muslim religious leaders. Turning to today’s Gospel, Benedict XVI talked instead about the “logic of Christianity, which responds to the truth of man created in the image of God, but at the same time counters his egotism, a consequence of original sin. Each and every human being is drawn by love – that is ultimately God himself – but often makes mistakes in concrete ways of loving, and thus from a tendency with positive roots but often contaminated by sin, bad intentions and actions can emerge.”

Osama bin Laden Dead?

From the French...in MyWayNews

Gas: $1.97 Here

Right after I filled up for $2.09 and thought I was getting a deal!

Pope to Meet with Muslim Leaders

From Vatican Information Services:

At midday today, the Holy See Press Office made it known that in Castelgandolfo at 11.45 a.m. on Monday, September 25, the Holy Father will receive Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, and certain representatives of Muslim communities in Italy. Ambassadors to the Holy See from countries with Muslim majorities have also been invited to the meeting.

Benedict the Brave #2

From Asia News Italy:

“A particularly beautiful experience for me on that day was to give a speech before a large audience of professors and students of the University of Regensburg, where I taught as a professor for many years. With joy, I was able to meet once again the university world which, for a long period of my life, was my spiritual homeland. As a topic, I chose the relationship between faith and reason. To introduce the audience to the drama and actuality of the topic, I cited some words of a Christian-Islamic dialogue from the XIV century, with which the Christian interlocutor, the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel II Paleologos – in a way that is incomprehensible and brusque for us – presented to the Islamic interlocutor the problem of the relationship between religion and violence. This quotation, unfortunately, lent itself to possible misunderstanding. For the careful reader, however, it emerges clearly that I did not want to make my own in any way the negative words pronounced by the medieval emperor in this dialogue and their controversial content did not express my personal conviction. My intention was rather different: starting out from that Manuel II said later in a positive way, using a very beautiful word, about how reason should guide in the transmission of faith, I wished to explain that not religion and violence, but religion and reason, go together. The theme of my conference – in response to the University mission – was the relationship between faith and reason: I wanted to invite the Christian faith to dialogue with the modern world and all religions. I hope that on several occasions of my visit – for example, in Munich, when I underlined how important it is to respect what is sacred to others – my profound respect for world religions and for Muslims, who ‘worship the one God’ and with whom we ‘promote peace, liberty, social justice and moral values for the benefit of all humanity’ (Nostra Aetate, 3), is clear.”

Benedict the Brave

From the Wall Street Journal:

This is not an invitation to the usual feel-good interfaith round-tables. It is a request for dialogue with one condition--that everyone at the table reject the irrationality of religiously motivated violence. The pope isn't condemning Islam; he is inviting it to join rather than reject the modern world.
By their reaction to the pope's speech, some Muslim leaders showed again that Islam has a problem with modernity that is going to have to be solved by a debate within Islam. The day Muslims condemn Islamic terror with the same vehemence they condemn those who criticize Islam, an attempt at dialogue--and at improving relations between the Western and Islamic worlds--can begin.

Turkey--A Tale of Two Novels

One Condemned..

From the Times online:

TURKEY’S faltering hopes of European Union membership look set to be dealt a blow this week when Elif Shafak, one of the leading members of a new generation of Turkish female novelists, faces charges under the country’s draconian restrictions on freedom of speech.
Shafak, 34, is being tried under article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which makes it an offence to insult “Turkishness”. Her alleged crime is that a character in her latest bestselling novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, describes the massacres of Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire as a genocide — an interpretation which, although widely accepted internationally, is still vigorously denied by the Turkish state.
Although other Turks have faced charges for referring to the events of 1915-16 as a genocide, Shafak is the first writer to be prosecuted for words spoken by a character in a work of fiction.

The other a bestseller (even before the current controversy)...

From Hot Air:

Benedict XVI is set to visit Turkey in November, for those looking to descry omens, here’s one that’s not terribly encouraging: A potboiler novel currently on bestseller lists in Turkey titled Papa’ya suikast (”Attack on the Pope”) predicts that Benedict will be assassinated.
Written by novelist Yücel Kaya, the book is subtitled, “Who will kill Benedict XVI in Istanbul?”
In a little more than 300 pages, Kaya manages to weave the Turkish Secret Service, the infamous Masonic lodge P2, and (of course) Opus Dei into his plot line. Inevitably, Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, also makes an appearance.
All this might seem comical were it not for the fact that in the last seven months, three Catholic priests have been attacked in Turkey, beginning with the murder of Italian missionary Fr. Andrea Santoro on February 5.

I Support the Pope

Get yours here:

War Against the Cross

From The Conservative Voice:

Now, the Mujahideen Shura Council has issued the statement: “"We shall
break the cross and spill the wine! God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome.
(May) God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants
the bounty of the mujahedeen!" After Pope Benedict XVI had said he regretted the
[Muslim] reaction to his statements, al Qaeda in Iraq called for a war against
"worshippers of the cross". Burning German, Israeli and US flags and an effigy
of the pope, protestors demonstrated in Basra chanting: "No to aggression! We
gagged the Pope!”

From the Holy Bible (RSV):

"I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them." John 16:1-4

Judging the Pope

With a Muslim mind...

I heard one Muslim expert speaking from Cairo last night who felt that what the pope said would have repercussions for years. In the midst of his reasoning he said something that I think was interesting. He said Muslims felt that the pope was sending a message to Christians...

Like a secret message. In other words, it wasn't what Pope Benedict actually said but rather in what he was secretly saying. To us, this seems crazy.

But in a world where some guy wrapped in swaddling clothes speaks a message where the CIA, FBI and Homeland Security pour over the message for weeks afterwards searching for some encrypted message that might be being communicated to the secret cells out there--I guess its understandable on some level. And of course this was the Pope's message--that Muslims and Christians are speaking the same language, so why should they be expected to understand what we mean?

We believe that Jesus has revealed what God is like--and we believe that God has revealed that we should turn the other cheek when struck--but we also know that when Jesus spoke this message of peace that he angered the religious figures of his day to the point that they joined forces with the hated Romans to seek his death. So why should we be surprised if a message of "there is no holy war" by a modern disciple of Jesus meets with a violent response?

Isn't that the witness of countless martyrs in the Church's history? People who were not attacking violently but people who were attacked violently for speaking God's truth.

Sorry Vol Fans

Florida 21, Vols 20

The Pope Speaks--Apologizes to Muslims

From Asia News Italy:

“The Pastoral Visit which I recently made to Bavaria was a deep spiritual experience, bringing together personal memories linked to places well known to me and pastoral initiatives towards an effective proclamation of the Gospel for today. I thank God for the interior joy which he made possible, and I am also grateful to all those who worked hard for the success of this pastoral visit. As is the custom, I will speak more of this during next Wednesday’s general audience.”

“At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims. These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought. Yesterday, the Cardinal Secretary of State published a statement in this regard in which he explained the true meaning of my words. I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.”

Nun in Somalia Murdered...

The killing of an Italian Catholic nun in Mogadishu on Sunday may well be linked to anger among Muslims about Pope Benedict's recent remarks on Islam, a senior source among Somalia's Islamists said.

"There is a very high possibility the people who killed her were angered by the Catholic Pope's recent comments against Islam," the source told Reuters.

Clarifications on What the Pope Thinks About the Muslims

From the Vatican Secretary of State on the Pope and the Muslims:

As for the opinion of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus which he quoted during his Regensburg talk, the Holy Father did not mean, nor does he mean, to make that opinion his own in any way. He simply used it as a means to undertake - in an academic context, and as is evident from a complete and attentive reading of the text - certain reflections on the theme of the relationship between religion and violence in general, and to conclude with a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence, from whatever side it may come. On this point, it is worth recalling what Benedict XVI himself recently affirmed in his commemorative Message for the 20th anniversary of the Inter-religious Meeting of Prayer for Peace, initiated by his predecessor John Paul II at Assisi in October 1986: " ... demonstrations of violence cannot be attributed to religion as such but to the cultural limitations with which it is lived and develops in time. ... In fact, attestations of the close bond that exists between the relationship with God and the ethics of love are recorded in all great religious traditions".

- The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful, and should have been interpreted in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions. Indeed it was he who, before the religious fervor of Muslim believers, warned secularized Western culture to guard against "the contempt for God and the cynicism that considers mockery of the sacred to be an exercise of freedom".

- In reiterating his respect and esteem for those who profess Islam, he hopes they will be helped to understand the correct meaning of his words so that, quickly surmounting this present uneasy moment, witness to the "Creator of heaven and earth, Who has spoken to men" may be reinforced, and collaboration may intensify "to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom" (Nostra Aetate no. 3)

Pakistan Parliament Condemns Pope's Statement

From CNews:

Pakistan's parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning
Pope Benedict for making what it called "derogatory" comments about Islam, and
seeking an apology from him for hurting Muslims' feelings.

The comments in question?

The measure was adopted a day after the Vatican sought to defuse criticism of the pontiff's remarks, when he quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam.

"The emperor . . . said, I quote, 'Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached,' " he quoted the emperor as saying.

Masonry Unmasked Termed a "Blockbuster" by Spirit Daily

From Spirit Daily:

New blockbuster: secrets of Masonry by Catholic who was major Mason