From the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

August 14, 2006
STATEMENT FROM CARDINAL JUSTIN RIGALI REGARDING EILEEN DIFRANCO

Recently, there has been extensive media attention regarding an attempted ordination of women, which took place on a river boat outside Pittsburgh on July 31, 2006. Eileen DiFranco, who is known to members of Saint Vincent DePaul Parish in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, participated in the event. Accordingly, the following statement is issued regarding this activity. Recently, there has been a good deal of publicity about a woman of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Mrs. Eileen DiFranco, participating in a simulated ceremony of ordination to the priesthood on a river boat outside Pittsburgh. The long-standing and constant teaching of the Church, based on Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and confirmed in Church law, states that the Church is simply not authorized by Christ to confer Holy Orders upon women, and cannot do so, no matter how ardent a person's desire may be. Therefore, such a simulated ordination of a woman to the priesthood is clearly and simply invalid. I am saddened when anyone publicly jeopardizes his or her relationship with the Church, which Mrs. DiFranco unfortunately has done by her action. Although I attempted to dissuade Mrs. DiFranco from participating in this invalid ritual, nevertheless she proceeded to do so. Now I am left with no alternative than to report this matter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, as I am obligated to do. The ultimate goal of any action taken against Mrs. DiFranco is to encourage her repentance and reconciliation with the Church. I shall continue to pray for this intention. Each and every Catholic man and woman brings different gifts to the Church and exercises them in a variety of roles, according to the state of life to which they have been called by Christ. United in the love of Jesus, we are all at the service of His Body, the Church. In pledging to avoid scandal and discord, we can help to reap a bountiful harvest for our Lord Jesus Christ.

The bishop of Rochester (CofE) speaks out

Multiculturalism is to blame for perverting young Muslims
By Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester

Given the world view that has given rise to such grievances, there can never be sufficient appeasement, and new demands will continue to be made. It is clear, therefore, that the multiculturalism beloved of our political and civic bureaucracies has not only failed to deliver peace, but is the partial cause of the present alienation of so many Muslim young people from the society in which they were born, where they have been educated and where they have lived most of their lives.

Click on the title above for the whole article.

Does U.S. bigotry cause Muslim madness? by Michael Medved

(The following is a quote from the above article. Click on the link to read the whole thing.)

The core problem involves the Koran’s teaching that Mohammed represents the last prophet, that his revelations amount to the ultimate “seal of knowledge,” and that a just, well-ordered world will place his faithful followers in positions of greater power, prosperity and peacefulness than their infidel neighbors. For anyone who takes Islamic teaching seriously, the current state of the world offers a glaring, painful example of cognitive dissonance: the backwardness, poverty, and endemic misery of Muslim societies—particularly compared to the privilege and prosperity of the West—either undermines the validity of the Holy Koran, or proves that evil infidel conspirators have upset the natural, proper, and Godly order of things. In the 1930’s, the passion behind Nazism arose from a burning sense that the German people had been gypped, that the infamous “stab in the back” of the Versailles Treaty had deprived the nation of its rightful position of world leadership. Islamo-Nazis feel an even more galling sense of injustice, oppression and unfairness, since hostile forces have, in the view of the devout, denied them the chance to live out their divine endowment of world dominance.

From Headley Lamar

My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives...

It's Islam, Dummy

It is Islam, dummy

Monday, 14 August 2006

The terror and death inflicted on humanity is not the work of radical Islam, neither the political Islam, nor the militant Islam. It is Islam, period. Get it? And the perpetrators are not fringe elements confined to brainwashed Saudis, loony Taliban, or a know nothing Pakistanis who have hijacked Islam and are now in the business of mass murder. The latest project of the practitioners of the “religion of peace” aimed to blowing planeloads of innocent civilians to smithereens in midair over the Atlantic -- ought to finally drive the point home: it is Islam, dummy. Get it?

Click on the link to read the rest of this insightful article.

Blessed be her glorious Assumption

Arise, O Virgin Queen, you are for ever worthy of our praise; take your place in the glorious dwelling place of the eternal King. (Antiphon for Vigils)

Almighty God, you gave a humble virgin the privilege of being the mother of your Son, and crowned her with the glory of heaven. May the prayers of the Virgin Mary bring us to the salvation of Christ and raise us up to eternal life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (From the Roman Sacramentary)

O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (From the Book of Common Prayer)

River Priestesses or the Pittsburg 8

(This excerpt is from an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal)

Vandenberg, 64, said Monday that she was "startled" by the letter and surprised that Dolan had "spent so much time and energy" on it when "other important things" might demand his attention.
In his letter to the parish, Dolan said he was "disappointed because Ms. Vandenberg and I had begun a fruitful dialogue on the matter last fall. At that time, . . . I had advised her that any attempted ordination would affect her relationship with the church. "I believed her sincerity when she assured me that she was unaware of such a consequence, and did not want that to happen."
Vandenberg called her meeting with Dolan "very cordial . . . very respectful. . . . I told him about my call to ordination . . . and he was trying to give me some reasons to stay" in the church.
She was stung that Dolan made details of their talk public. "We both agreed that the meeting would be private," she said. Dolan and Vandenberg disagree on what happened after the meeting. "She promised she would confer with me about her next step," Dolan wrote to the parish.
"In two subsequent letters, I have asked for her decision. Her regrettable participation in the protest gives me her unfortunate answer." Vandenberg said that "wasn't quite accurate." "I did respond to him in a letter," she said. "And I said . . . I (was) still deciding what I should do."
On July 31, Vandenberg and 11 other women took part in an
ordination ceremony in Pittsburgh - eight to become priests and four to be deacons. Roman Catholic Womenpriests, which
organized the event, has held similar ceremonies in Canada and Europe. The group claimed last week's ordinations were valid, performed by women "bishops" secretly ordained by anonymous male bishops. Dolan termed them "simulated and
invalid."
Of official efforts to sever her ties to the church. Vandenberg
said: "Excommunication is simply a punishment. That doesn't mean I'm excluded from the church. Only I can exclude myself." And that she is not planning to do.
"I want to always be respectful of the church and the bishop," she said, "but there are times when you have to be obedient to God and not the bishop."

I think that the reverend lady needs to contemplate the meaning of the word "excommunication." She just doesn't get it.