extreme Catholic 

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This feast was created by Pope St. Pius V to honor the intercession of the Blessed Mother in obtaining a victory for the Christian forces opposing Muslim forces in the battle of Lepanto, this day October 7, 1571. The name given by the pope at that time was Our Lady of Victory. It was a victory which produced a long peace.

Please pray the Rosary today for victory which can bring about the tranquity of order in the world.

There's a event at the Blue Army Shrine in Asbury, New Jersey near the PA. border tomorrow to be covered on EWTN. Go to the shrine, or look for me in the crowds on EWTN.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:39 AM   Permalink  

It changed everything for people who care.

A few minutes ago the first part of the path to 9/11 ended. My neighborhood 9/11 memorial was dedicated yesterday. (The abbreviations: FF fire fighter, BC batallion chief, FM fire marshall)(click on image for full size.)

On September 11, 2001, the following who lived or worked in Woodside died in the World Trade Center attack. Their lives touched our hearts. Their sacrifice change our lives forever.

Fill not your hearts with pain and sorrow but remember me in every tomorrow.

God Bless America

This is located in Doughboy Park in Woodside. Doughboy refers to the first wave of American soliders who fought in World War I in Europe.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:07 PM   Permalink  

The Church when it has sovereignity over all of Rome had Castel Sant'Angelo, a prison into which it could place criminals convicted of crimes in the Papal States.

There were also place monasteries and convents which offered to those who chose to live a penitential life. This is the origin of phrase "get thee to a nunnery" as Hamlet instructed Ophelia.

But there didn't seem to be a twentieth century solution until now. Money, or if you prefer greed is the motivator. The leverage is financial support from the Archdiocese if you agree to take up residence at the Trinity Retreat House (Club Trinity).

NY Archdiocese tells suspect priests: leave or enter program : AP

NEW YORK (AP) _ New York priests suspected of sexually abusing children but protected from expulsion by Catholic law are being required to enter a lifelong supervision program or leave the church, according to the New York Archdiocese.

Since June, seven priests have been presented with the choice, and five of the men have chosen to leave the priesthood, said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for Cardinal Edward Egan.

Of course, they mean accept laicization (in tabloidese -- defrocked) rather than excommunication or a forced conversion to a non-Catholic faith.

The details sound a bit like "house arrest" when they are allowed to leave the premises provided they log it.

There's a uncharacteristic candor in this statement by the spokesman for the Archdiocese:

"we have to find something to do with them"

I have a little problem understanding what point the critics are making by demanding that the Archdiocese do something more for the priests who decline this supervised program and lose the "lifetime security net" (the phrase the New York Times used) They don't suggest what other leverage the Archidiocese has over them. Like someone I knww, he just walked out of the rectory and never looked back.

By the way, where did defrock originate? Did Catholic priests ever wear frocks?

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:35 PM   Permalink  

Canada's only major Arctic petroglyph site -- a 1,500-year-old gallery of mysterious faces carved into a soapstone ridge on a tiny island off of Quebec's northern coast -- has been ransacked by vandals in what the region's top archeologist suspects was a religiously motivated attack by devout Christians from a nearby Inuit community...

Daniel Gendron, chief archeologist with the Inukjuak-based Avataq Cultural Institute, the key promoter of indigenous history and identity in Nunavik, said the latest vandalism at Qajartalik follows the pattern of previous attacks by members of what he called "a very strong movement" of conservative Christians in Kangiqsujuaq and several other Inuit communities in northern Quebec.

That mayor was quoted "Kangiqsujuaq's mayor, Mary Pilurtuut, said she hadn't been informed of fresh damage at the site and doubted "something religious" would have been involved." No representative of the Christians or conservative Christians was contacted.

The story implies that the motive for the vandalism is the characteristic superstition and hatred of antiquity that is intrinsic to devout Christian behavior.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:08 PM   Permalink  

I returned on Sunday from Steubenville and Pittsburgh. It was a great conference with a lot of opportunity to talk to the speakers.

This was XVII but no one is counting. Fr. Benedict Groeschel was there and he looked more frail than when I saw him in May. Sadly, he flew in and out with hardly any time to mingle.

For some folks who come almost every year, we're starting to recognize each other at the conference. Thank you, Fr. Stephen Clark. I recharged my apolgetics batteries.

It wasn't all without problems. My bags were lost by American Airlines. When they finally made it to my house on Tuesday, I went down to Our Lady of Victory Church on 60 William Street and gave thanks to God and to St Anthony.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:20 PM   Permalink  

I will be attending the back-to-back Summer Conferences at the Francisan University this week:

• Applied Biblical Studies (Wednesday thru Friday)
• Defending the Faith (Friday thru Sunday)

If you are from the New York City area and into evangelization, catechesis, apologetics, and so forth, I would be especially pleased to meet you.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:59 PM   Permalink  

When you look at the map of the northwest corner of Queens in New York City, you see it is dominated by two things depriving this part of New York any waterfront: La Guardia Airport and the Con Ed plants.

It was the distribution grid to Con Ed's own backyard which melted down on Monday July 17. Power to my house was only restored on Sunday. Masses could not be celebrated in the parish Church, which is windowless.

It's back and I'm grateful to my relatives and my wife's relatives who took turns in sheltering us.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:48 PM   Permalink  

A Briton escaped being killed by Muslim fanatics — because they thought his Portsmouth Football Club sticker was an Islamic emblem. Terrified Tony Restall, 56, was ambushed by Arab fundamentalists in strife-torn Yemen. The bandits, armed with AK-47 rifles, dragged him and his armed guard out of their car and threatened to either execute or take them hostage. Then they spotted Pompey fan Tony's club sticker in a window and thought the moon and star symbols meant he was a practising Muslim.... "But they spotted my Portsmouth FC sticker and the mood changed. They thought I was Muslim as the star and moon are Muslim symbols. I was able to convince them that, although I was Western, I was helping Muslims in the area.".... Portsmouth FC based their badge on the city's 900-year-old coat of arms. The crest used the symbol of King Richard's chancellor William de Longchamp, who adopted a crescent moon and star in honour of the Third Crusade.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 1:40 PM   Permalink  

There are 38 religious symbols approved for placement on government-issued grave markers and memorials for military veterans, but the pentacle isn't one of them.

The five-pointed star within a circle that represents the Wiccan religion, a neo-pagan, earth-based belief system, is not on the list.

As a result, the space reserved for Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart's memorial plaque at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nev., remains empty. Stewart, 34, was killed in September 2005 when his Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. He was a follower of the Wiccan tradition, and his wife is fighting to have the fact engraved in stone.

"My husband's faith got him through the war in Desert Storm, through life's problems. It is our spirituality," Roberta Stewart, 36, said. "This is who we are as Americans."

The effort to get the symbol of a tradition that for many conjures up thoughts of devil worship and steaming cauldrons has been going on for nine years, according to leaders in the Wiccan community. In the interim, other emblems have been approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The complete list of authorized emblems of belief is at Arlington National Cemetery

An example of the Wiccan symbol is on the Wikipedia

A problem with using really simple symbols like a five-pointed star is that different and divergent groups will claim it, in this case, both Muslims and Wiccans.

In the case of Muslims, they really don't have a symbol. Some Muslims reject the five pointed star, others even consider it blasphemous. The declaration on the Saudi flag "There is no god but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is the ideal symbol of Islam.

In the case of Christians, there is a unity around the cross as its symbol.

Frankly, I am sympathetic to the bureaucratic problem religions with a small number of members have with no central authority. It is very hard to identify the bona fides of such religions. I see a contradiction here: if there's no authority, who's to say what the symbol of Wicca actually is?

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 12:56 PM   Permalink