extreme Catholic 

 
Tampering in God's Domain Dept.

Extracting semen from a cadaver.

Woman Allowed to Have Dead Lover's Child: Associated Press

A New York judge has given a woman permission to harvest her dead lover's sperm so she can still have his baby.

Johnny Quintana was only 31 when he died Thursday of an apparent heart attack.

He had wanted to have a second child with his fiancee, Gisela Marrero, but the only way to make it happen was to quickly collect his sperm, which stays fresh for only 36 hours after death.

A court order was needed because Quintana and Marrero were not yet married.

The Bronx judge said "yes" Friday with only four hours left until the deadline.

Sperm bank staffers then rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where Quintana's body lay.

Marrero already has a 2-year-old son with Quintana.

This is wrong on so many levels. It is basically an injustice to the child who may be born in this process to have be deprived of a father. This assumes a likely scenario where Gisela Marrero will continue to choose not to be married.

Can me skeptical but I doubt that he made an explicit desire to become a posthumous father.

There's a disturbing aspect to this about a girlfriend having marital rights in some areas but not others. The state and city denied survivors pensions to all the girlfriends/boyfriends of the police and fire employees killed in the terrorist attacks on 9/11 for example.

It's like judge-supervised lottery.

Labels: tampering in god's domain

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:59 PM   Permalink  

 
Why isn't self-defense a right in international waters?

I need to research this. On cable news, they have been saying very casually -- like you'd be a fool not to know why -- ships cannot arm themselves beyond bats and firehoses.

Labels: africa, anarchy, politics

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 6:46 PM   Permalink  

 
Georgetown University Hid Religious Symbols at White House Request: FoxNews

The Reuters caption for the photo:

April 14: President Obama speaks about the economy at Georgetown University's Gaston Hall. The school covered up religious symbols bearing the name of Jesus during Obama's remarks at the behest of the White House.

Catholic League: On Georgetown's cowardice

The Catholic League summarizes it well. I think we are making regress here: First it was separation of Church and State, then it was separation of religion from public life, and then we have arrived at separation of Catholic imagery from Catholic institutions -- of course on a voluntary basis. Just remember, this is the time of the green wood.

[Luke 23:27] A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' At that time people will say to the mountains, 'Fall upon us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!' for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?"

Labels: catholic, church-state, culture, obama

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:11 PM   Permalink  

 
Blasphemy Dept.

The Local: Germany's News in English. Klinsmann suing daily over crucifixion cover

Bayern Munich coach Jürgen Klinsmann is taking legal action against a German daily after it printed an image of him being crucified on the front page of its Easter edition, the paper said on Tuesday.

It's a post-Christian world over there.

The only time you see Christian imagery is when it is being mocked.

Labels: blashemy, catholic, germany

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:28 PM   Permalink  

 
Fr. Stanley Jaki OSB: New York Times Obituary

It's a tragedy that many of his best books are out-of-print. My favorite is Bible and Science. The Times did a better than expected job on the obituary.

Labels: obituary

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:14 PM   Permalink  

 
Cardinal Egan: A tough tenure full of triumphs

George Marlin, New York Post

IN MAY 2000, when Pope John Paul II had to decide on a successor to the late John Cardinal O'Connor, the pontiff rejected Vatican recommendations and plucked from the ranks a man who had served him well as a canon lawyer in Rome and who had proven himself an able shepherd in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., the Most Rev. Edward M. Egan, D.D., J.C.D.

I wanted to say something positive about Cardinal Egan. I think George Marlin's summary is excellent and far better than I could express it.

Labels: catholic, church, new york, vatican

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:45 PM   Permalink  

 
Tampering in God's Domain Dept.

Girl born a record 22 years after father's sperm is frozen: Times UK

Doctors selected the best of the remaining [sperm] cells and injected them into ten eggs harvested from Mrs Biblis, of which seven fertilized successfully in the laboratory. Two of the embryos were implanted, though only one survived, and five remain in storage, allowing the couple the option of having more children.

This is one of the hard cases. Our sympathy rushes to the Chris Biblis who at 16 was rendered incapable of fathering children because of the treatment for his leukemia. The language of the article is coarse -- never giving human dignity to human embryos, or having ethical second thoughts about the collateral damage

Brave New World Dept.

I had no concern about working with old sperm – bovine and equine sperm has been frozen for long periods and has resulted in successful gestations.

Hey! It's science and the scientists are in charge. Stella may eventually learn of her sibling in the womb and her frozen siblings. Perhaps when she is an adult, the consciences of the world may just accept this as a routine way of being born.

Labels: pro-life, tampering in god's domain

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:29 PM   Permalink