extreme Catholic 

Mystery surrounds the death of Arua Grade I Magistrate Esther Bunia, 29, in a student’s room at Uganda Martyrs University Nkozi.

The magistrate, who had travelled to Kampala for her brother’s wedding, died on Wednesday night in the room of Fr. Acidri, a Masters student.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:41 PM   Permalink  

The former LaPorte church bookkeeper that stole $300,000 to pay for her gambling habit will spend two years on work release.

Victoria Samuelson was sentenced Friday in LaPorte circuit court.

She was found guilty but mentally ill of theft charges in February.

The 41-year-old Rolling Prairie woman admitted taking money from Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church so she could gamble at Lake Michigan casinos.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:35 PM   Permalink  

Evangelicals, Catholics Have Clout in Common : NPR

They're onto us!

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:26 PM   Permalink  

For ruins of St. Raphael, future remains unclear : Daily Cardinal

William Connell, the suspect detained on suspicion of arson and burglary, entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by mental disease or defect. Attorneys are in the process of filing motions.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:58 PM   Permalink  

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria says it'll rebuild one of the community's oldest churches after a 12-year-old boy allegedly set a fire that severely damaged it. Officials say it could reopen by September.

No one was injured in the April 30th fire that broke out during Mass at St. Martin de Porres (duh POHRS) Catholic Church. The blaze caused more than one (m) million dollars in damage to the building, which was built in 1879.

The boy was being held yesterday at Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of aggravated arson and arson to a place of worship. Both charges are felonies.

Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin Lyons says the boy had attended the four p-m Mass with his mother before setting four separate fires in the back of the church.

The fire eventually spread through three floors of the building.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:54 PM   Permalink  

Vatican Is Said to Force Jesuit Off Magazine : New York Times

An American Jesuit who is a frequent television commentator on Roman Catholic issues resigned yesterday under orders from the Vatican as editor of the Catholic magazine America because he had published articles critical of church positions, several Catholic officials in the United States said.

The order to dismiss the editor, the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, was issued by the Vatican's office of doctrinal enforcement - the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - in mid-March when that office was still headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, said. Soon after, Pope John Paul II died and Cardinal Ratzinger was elected pope, taking the name Benedict XVI.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 5:28 PM   Permalink  

Nazi Germany surrenders in Europe (1945). The French surrender in Dien Bien Phu (1954)

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 3:23 PM   Permalink  

One of the new thirty new recruits of the Vatican's elite Swiss Guard gestures during a swearing in ceremony in Saint Damaso courtyard at the Vatican May 06, 2005. The Swiss Guard, founded in 1506, consist of 100 volunteers who must be Swiss, Catholic, single, at least 174 cm (5 feet 8 inches) tall and beardless celebrate this year their 500th anniversary. New recruits are sworn every year on May 06, commemorating the date in which 147 Swiss soldiers died defending the Pope during an attack on Rome on May 06, 1527. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Also: AP account and Official Site

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:52 PM   Permalink  

Envoy Magazine forgot to renew their domain name.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 3:16 PM   Permalink  

If he were still alive, Richard Berry, the man who penned the lyrics for the iconic fraternity-rock anthem "Louie Louie," might be shaking his head in disbelief.

Berry wrote the song as a simple sea shanty about a sailor trying to get back to his lady love. But a middle school marching band in Benton Harbor, Mich., was almost banned from playing "Louie Louie" at an upcoming festival because of what the school's superintendent called "sexually explicit lyrics."

Benton Harbor Supt. Paula Dawning reversed her decision Thursday after parents at McCord Middle School came out in support of the song.

I thought the whole point of "Louie, Louie" was that the lyrics were ineffable.

Cantatur sit.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 8:25 AM   Permalink  

S&P Cuts GM, Ford Credit Ratings to 'Junk' : AP

A New York rating agency declared billions of dollars of debt owed by General Motors and Ford to be "junk" on Thursday, a significant blow that will increase borrowing costs and limit fund-raising options for the nation's two biggest automakers.

Shares of GM fell almost 6 percent and Ford shares declined 4.5 percent after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded the debt to below investment grade, which is commonly known as junk or high-yield status.

Both companies responded by saying they face no cash crunch and that they disagreed with the decision by S&P analysts.

Still, it amounts to one more hit for two automakers that are losing market share at home to Asian competitors, seeing sales soften for their most profitable models and facing enormous health care and post-retirement liabilities. GM's U.S. sales fell nearly 5 percent in the first four months of the year and Ford's sales declined 4.2 percent.

I worked for a company that answered the first signs of trouble with we've got over a billion in cash.

This company had so much in cash in the late 80's that it made more in collecting interest on that cash than in actually selling stuff. It ignored the UNIX market and treated every company doing a volume business in PC's like Dell and Compaq/HP with distain, and disappeared in 1998.

A sniffle in the automobile market will cause pneumonia in General Motors.

The only long-term strategy for GM is to abandon all those redundant marketing brands. Oldsmobile is already gone. Pontiac and Buick can go too. George Will calls GM a welfare state. I think he raises a lot of good points.

For a humorous look at this Wal-Mart Bows to Unions, Copies GM Success Formula on Scrappleface.

The unions acknowledge that in the long-term GM's generosity to workers is not sustainable but they cling to the hope that there will be a government bail-out when the day of judgment comes along the lines of loan guarantees which we given to Chrysler in 1979.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:20 PM   Permalink  

One Law for All : New York Post Editorial

Racial tensions often turn on the phrase "double standard": Is one set of criteria being used for members of one race and a different set for those of another?

That question is at the heart of a particularly vile incident that occurred last month in Marine Park, Brooklyn.

The basic facts are pretty clear: Six white Catholic schoolgirls were playing basketball on a public court.

Several black girls approached and demanded use of the court. After being rebuffed, the black girls came back several times — eventually assaulting the white girls while screaming "white crackers" and "black power."

Two victims ended up in the hospital.

Now, meet the double standard.

Again, all this happened nearly a month ago — and is only now coming to light. But imagine a role reversal: Two dozen white girls attacking a half-dozen black girls.

Al Sharpton would have dislocated a hip in his haste to get to the scene.

And the police almost certainly would have filed hate-crime charges.

Instead, the perpetrators were charged only with simple assault; city lawyers then stepped in and re-filed charges under New York's hate-crime law.

We're not great fans of that statute. Crimes of violence should be adjudicated on the basis of physical facts, not a state of mind.

But the law is the law; if it's going to be applied at all, it has to apply equally.

And when it is not applied in egregious cases such as this one, no one should be surprised when the aggrieved parties, their friends and their neighbors become resentful.

The failure to charge the perpetrators with a hate crime chummed up all manner of racist invective — which, while ugly and wholly unacceptable, is hardly surprising.

If a group believes — with some justification — that it is not getting a fair shake, expect decorum and civility to go out the window.

Or, as someone once said, "No justice; no peace."

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:08 PM   Permalink  

translation by Google: ** ARCHIVES ** undated photo, of the company Hermann Hermann-Spielwaren GmbH, show the Benedikt benedikt-Teddybaer.

The Pope euphoria seized even the Kuscheltierbranche: Pope Benedikt XVI.

now gives it also as white Plueschteddy of the same name, which breaks all records.

the Coburger bear baeren-Manufaktur Hermann delivers 265 of Pope teddy according to the number of past Popes starting from beginning of next week at the price of 160 euro country widely.

"there is euphoria, we more ber 1,000 inquiries had, did not give it ever", says Geschaeftsfhrer Martin Hermann. And also the Vatikan has itself some copies secured.

(AP photo/ago man play goods GmbH) (fig. 1)

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 7:25 PM   Permalink  

DePaul's Jihad against academic freedom : American Thinker

DePaul University in Chicago is one of the fastest growing universities in the country. It has become the largest Catholic-affiliated university in America. Muslim and Arab students are one of the segments of DePaul's student population that has seen the greatest increase in numbers in recent years. Although no figures are available, these students are an important source of revenue for the University, and many may well pay full tuition, making their attendance particularly lucrative.

Perhaps in recognition of this market segment, the University hired Norman Finkelstein to teach in its Political Science Department. This acquisition of "talent" took place after Finkelstein had lost his job at two different colleges in New York, following controversy over his support of holocaust denier David Irving and his bitterly abusive attacks on the state of Israel.

DePaul, like many other colleges and universities, may have also received significant funding for new academic chairs and programs from various Arab countries. When a college can find a Jew who loathes Israel like Finkelstein, supports holocaust deniers, and is the go-to-guy on lots of viciously anti-Semitic websites, Arab money is almost sure to follow.

To top it all off, DePaul is currently exhibiting a Palestinian art exhibit, cosponsored by twelve academic departments of the university, which might suggest to any fair minded observer, that for Palestinians, art is defined only by hatred of Israel and Jews.

This is the backdrop for an almost astonishing violation of the academic freedom of Thomas Klocek which has been perpetrated by the University. For 14 years a part time adjunct professor in DePaul’s School of New Learning, Klocek has been a popular professor, with large enrollments, and excellent student reviews for his teaching.

More on Norman Finkelstein

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:10 PM   Permalink  

Teen audiences who cheered on Legolas as he slaughtered hundreds by the bow in the vast battles of Middle Earth, are invited in Kingdom of Heaven to conclude that nothing is worth fighting for. Bloom's character, Balian, surveying a massacre in the Holy Land, declares: "If this is the kingdom of heaven, then God can keep it."

It takes no great counter-factual leap to see what would have happened if Crusaders had not fought back. Gibbon for once got it right when he imagined a Muslim England where "the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet".

Blogger Credit: Kathy Shaidle

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:26 AM   Permalink  

Crusading Against History : FrontPage

“It's not like a stupid Hollywood movie,” said French actress Eva Green about the English director Sir Ridley Scott's Crusades flick, Kingdom of Heaven.

That's true. It's, like, a stupid English movie.

The Crusades are hot, and Ridley Scott (director of Alien) is about to make them hotter. “Muslims,” gushed the New York Times after an advance showing of the new blockbuster, “are portrayed as bent on coexistence until Christian extremists ruin everything. And even when the Christians are defeated, the Muslims give them safe conduct to return to Europe.” Sir Ridley, according to the Times, “said he hoped to demonstrate that Christians, Muslims and Jews could live together in harmony — if only fanaticism were kept at bay.” Or, as Green put it, the movie is intended to move people “to be more tolerant, more open towards the Arab people.”

Bent on coexistence, eh? That's right: the Kingdom of Heaven script invents a group called the “Brotherhood of Muslims, Jews and Christians.” A publicist for the film elaborated: “They were working together. It was a strong bond until the Knights Templar cause friction between them.“ Ah yes, everything was all right until those Christian extremists spoiled everything.

As with all the modern interpretations of the Crusades:

• Muslims Good
• Byzantines Bad
• Catholics Very Bad

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:40 AM   Permalink  

Christie’s New York Old Master Paintings Department announces the sale of four pictures from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, including a magnificent full-length painting by Murillo and a compelling Saint Francis by Bernardo Strozzi which, along with a captivating 17th-century Dutch still-life of a dog asleep by Gerrit Dou from the Stark Foundation in Texas, are the definitive highlights of Christie’s New York Old Master Pictures sale to be held on May 25 at Rockefeller Center.

Never displayed because the diocese doesn't have a facility with the necessary security. If they are on display, I will go see them at Christie's.

Also in New York Times

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 12:14 AM   Permalink  

We Need a New Liberal Pope : Commonvoice

As a non-Catholic evangelical Christian with Reformed leanings, I would likely have had a host of doctrinal differences with the late Pope John Paul II.

But a recently deceased friend said to me once, that it was a shame we had so many disagreements about the 10% were we demurred, but couldn't join forces regarding the other 90% where we had consensus.

That surprised me since he fought tooth and nail over catechism in his younger days. But he had a point. Looking back down through the corridors of recent history, I can celebrate the affects of such a conservative pontiff as John Paul II.

Of course now with the leader of Catholicism freshly interned, we hear the expected clamoring for the selection of a "Brave new Pope"--one to bring the Roman Catholic church in harmony with 21st century "progressive" culture.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 12:11 AM   Permalink  

Court Upholds Punitive Damages for Antioch Altar Boy : (SF) Bay City News Wire

A state appeals court, ruling in a case in which a former Antioch altar boy has already won $875,000 in punitive damages, has upheld the victim's right to seek the punitive award for molestation by a priest 25 years ago.

The Oakland diocese didn't dispute the molestation, but the type and amount of damages.

If $875,000 becomes the California norm for damages, just from the backlog of cases, the Catholic Church in that state would be utterly bankrupt.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 12:04 AM   Permalink  

Marines crash Mass, rile parishioners : Daily Bulletin, Rancho Cucamonga CA

To Aida Nordahl and some of her fellow parishioners, the strangers with shaved heads who showed up the past two Sundays at her church were up to no good.

But according to sheriff's deputies, the men who came to St.Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church were actually U.S. Marines looking for a buddy.

As an usher I've seen the name thing, a person is walking up and down all the aisles during Mass looking for a friend, and more often than not, not finding the friend they leave the Church.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:42 PM   Permalink  

A Bronx priest is facing surgery as he recovers from a brutal beating at the hands of a gang of teens. NY1 Bronx reporter Dean Meminger says it happened as the priest was out for a morning run.

Father Jorge Fernandez has received a number of medals and trophies for running, but while out on a jog Monday he ran into trouble. Police say a group of teens jumped him and broke his jaw.

Something I noticed: no mention in the entire article that he is a Catholic priest.

Does the MSM ever cover a story of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest without mentioning "Catholic".

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:37 PM   Permalink  

Ten years after a firefighter was left brain-damaged and mostly mute during a 1995 roof collapse, he did something that shocked his family and doctors: He perked up.

"I want to talk to my wife," Donald Herbert said out of the blue Saturday. Staff members of the nursing home where he has lived for more than seven years raced to get Linda Herbert on the telephone.

It was the first of many conversations the 44-year-old patient had with his wife, four sons and other family and friends during a 14-hour stretch, Herbert's uncle, Simon Manka said.

I expect the other side to go crazy now on how there's no connection between Donald Herbert's condition and Terri Schiavo.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 3:02 PM   Permalink  

A reader shares this with me:

Thank you for your email regarding the sale of the Holy Eucharist by one of our community members. We respect and appreciate your comments regarding this sensitive matter.

As you may know, eBay does not sell items itself. Rather, we are a global marketplace for sellers and buyers who transact directly with one another. Each day eBay's sellers list 5 million items on the site, and those sellers decide what items they want to list. eBay did not possess, list or approve the sale of the Eucharist. The buyer and seller completed the Eucharist transaction on April 11th, before eBay even became aware of the listing.

As a marketplace, we strive to respect the diverse perspectives of our sellers. We also work hard to promote an open environment for trade. That said, eBay has policies in place to remove listings for illegal items as well as highly offensive listings that promote hate or intolerance.

We understand that the listing of the Eucharist was highly upsetting to Catholic members of the eBay community and Catholics globally. Once this completed sale was brought to our attention, we consulted with a number of our users, including members of the Catholic Church, concerning what course we should take in the future should a similar listing appear on our site. We also consulted with members of other religions about items that might also be highly sacred and inappropriate for sale. As a result of this dialogue, we have concluded that sales of the Eucharist, and similar highly sacred items, are not appropriate on eBay. We have, therefore, broadened our policies and will remove those types of listings should they appear on the site in the future.

As always, we welcome and appreciate the assistance of the community in upholding the rules of our site. Should you see another Eucharist listed on our site, we encourage you to notify us so we can take appropriate action. Further, we encourage you to directly communicate with the seller. Members are often unaware that a particular item is offensive to others. A respectful e-mail to the seller is often all that is needed for the seller to voluntarily remove the item. We believe this modification strikes the appropriate balance between respect for our community's values and our goal of providing an open marketplace offering practically anything on earth.

Again, we sincerely appreciate your concern and thank you for communicating your views with us. Your input has helped us frame a policy that will enable us to better serve our diverse community of users around the world.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 8:26 AM   Permalink  

The person to ask what is to be done with Jennifer Wilbanks is Steven Pagones.

Tawana Brawley, then 15 in 1987, was found in a dumpster smeared with feces and racial epithets.

She made a false report that she was kidnapped. Others made public accusations that among others Steve Pagones raped Brawley and covered up the crime. None of these charges were made under oath.

In all six men were named by Al Sharpton, Alton Maddox, and C. Verson Mason.

One of them fought back and won. Pagones were forced to resign and live under the cloud of this accusation and sued for defamation and won. The last to pay the court-ordered damages to Pagones was Al Sharpton. Sharpton has said "I believe Tawana" and Tawara never has publicly denied her alleged kidnapping and rape.

The harm done by a false accusation is that it steals from the credibility of a future allegation. From news accounts I've read, Jennifer Wilbanks made a false police report which is a crime.

I hope Wilbanks is never really kidnapped.

Update: Hannity doesn't think this story is dead. He's playing up the "judge not lest ye be judged" angle. I'm turing the radio off.

Okay. I turned the radio back on. Sean's whole radio program is a tease for Hannity and Colmes later, he's discussing an interview already taped but unaired!

I think Wibanks can be forgiven for running away, but she didn't say "I'm running away" - she wanted to be seen as the victim of a terrible crime.

Update: When Wilbanks learned that John Mason was under suspicion by the police for killing her (i.e., like Scott Peterson) she didn't immediately call to get him cleared.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 2:16 PM   Permalink  

The autopsy has not been released.

There's been no public disclosure of the burial of her ashes, or plans to do so. The court ordered Michael Schiavo to disclose this to the Schindlers who as late as April 15 stated that they had not heard from Michael Schiavo about this.

I suspect the MSM will also look at the calendar and report on these non-events.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 1:32 PM   Permalink