extreme Catholic 

Outing Cardinal Egan : Village Voice (Feb 7 2006)

Who knows whether Cardinal Edward Egan is sleeping soundly these days. But as head of the New York archdiocese—as the top Roman Catholic prelate in the state—he'd have every reason to be restless after the recent advent of a little-noticed lawsuit.

Manhattan attorney John Aretakis likes to say that he's in it for the long haul. And after 10 years of handling clergy-sexual-abuse cases—representing some 200 victims, from New York City to Albany and Long Island to Rochester—he has built a reputation as an aggressive foe of the Catholic Church. In the capital district, where he's taken on Bishop Howard Hubbard, he remains controversial.

Before this story broke, I had not heard of Father Bob Hoatson. On the surface, it sure looks me like a retaliatory suspension for criticism of the bishop's response to the crisis in 2002. I will have to do more reading.

On the other hand, it doesn't look like there's much evidence in public view now supporting the allegations with respect to Cardinal Egan.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:45 PM   Permalink  

One of the strangest aspects, and to me, unexpected, was the strange new respect that newspapers and news channels show for religion.

James Pinkerton of Newsday and Bill Donohue of the Catholic League have identifed it.

Fear guides media response to cartoons : Catholic League

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on the controversy over the Danish cartoons that lampoon Muhammad:

"The decision of most mainstream media outlets not to reprint or show the controversial cartoons is the right one: the Catholic League sides with the U.S., Britain and the Vatican in denouncing the inflammatory cartoons. Regrettably, the decision by the media not to offend Muslims is motivated by fear, not ethics. Worse than this by far is the violent reaction, and calls for violence, that have sprung up all over the Muslim world. This is pure barbarism."

There's a long tradition of insulting religion in this country in the name of religious and press freedom. I don't know when the last successful conviction for blashphemy was obtained, but I doubt there's been one since 1900.

I wouldn't join a violent protest of an insult to the Catholic faith, and I simply cannot imagine that Cardinal Egan or Bill Donohue would ever call for one.

In an odd way, the protests confirm the cartoons subtext: that the reaction to an outrage permitted in a free country like Denmark is mob violence.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 7:56 PM   Permalink  

I have remarked before that some practices of contempory culture represented a sort of acceptance of physical suffering in order to achieve a transcendant goal. The truth of this is self-evident in the motto No pain, No gain. This applies to jogging, and workouts.

A newer form emerged confirming that in even among the secularists, great things are obtained by accepting pain:

Stiletto workout: part of the heeling process : Reuters

The gym that brought New Yorkers "Cardio Striptease" has dreamed up "Stiletto Strength," a workout to get women in shape to wear the highest of heels.

At a recent lunch-time session at Crunch gym near Times Square, dancer Amber Efe demonstrated how to strut like a cat-walk model, pivoting on six-inch heels that would challenge even the most ardent follower of shoe king Manolo Blahnik...

[Fitness director Donna] Cyrus called in a podiatrist to assess the class, which has been launched in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. "He said 'You know, the answer is women shouldn't wear heels,'" Cyrus said.

But she said women will wear them anyway.

"Your feet will probably never recover because it's not a position you're meant to be in all day long," she said. "This class will strengthen your legs and your core, it will make it less painful, but it will never be pain free."

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 7:15 PM   Permalink