[Ex cathedra?] Vatican urges hotels to save water 17 July 2013 www.thetablet.co.uk/latest-news/5509 The Vatican has called on the tourism industry to use water more responsibly, saying resorts and other holiday venues often waste water to the deprivation of local populations. “The sustainable management of this natural resource is a challenge for the social, economic and environmental order, but especially because of its ethical nature, starting from the principle of the universal destination of the goods of the earth,” says the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerants in a message released on 11 July for the forthcoming World Day of Tourism. “We are invited, therefore, to promote eco-tourism, environmentally friendly and sustainable, that can surely promote the creation of new jobs, support the local economy and reduce poverty,” the message says. “More determination from politicians and entrepreneurs is necessary,” the Vatican message continued, adding there needed to be “binding, specific and verifiable commitments” to ensure responsible use and just distribution of water. World Tourism Day is marked on 27 September.

[Including a sodomite love-fest and a feminist street-walker parade] Brazil protesters hope for Pope’s backing during visit AFP July 17, 2013 RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – Young Brazilians who marched in June to demand more funding for health and education are hoping Pope Francis will back their cause when he visits Rio next week. But organizers ruled out a resumption of the street protests during the pontiff’s week-long stay to attend World Youth Day (WYD), a major Catholic gathering expected to draw 1.5 million people. The nationwide demonstrations “had a social character, and to protest for more justice and an end to corruption and abuses are precepts of the Gospel,” said Tanat Resende, a 22-year-old law student who took part in last month’s massive protests. In the largest protests the country had seen in two decades, demonstrators demanded upgrades to public transport, health and education and criticized the billions of dollars being spent on the 2014 World Cup and other sporting events. They also called for an end to what they view as rampant corruption under the leftist government of President Dilma Rousseff. “It is perfectly reasonable to expect the pope to support these causes,” said Resende, adding that the visit was unlikely to spark fresh protests. The pontiff in March explained that he chose his name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th century Italian friar who was “a man of peace, a man of poverty,” to signal that he wanted “a church of the poor, for the poor.” “Pope Francis is a very simple man, very aware of the social context, and I would not be surprised if he were to make references to the street protests,” said Benjamin Paz Vermal, a spokesman for WYD. The pontiff has already ordered measures to combat Vatican corruption, setting up a committee to investigate the Vatican bank, and is said to be planning a major shake-up of the scandal-ridden institution. Italian police last month arrested a senior cleric on suspicion of money laundering and fraud for allegedly plotting to smuggle millions of euros into Italy. “The pope’s anti-corruption stance will help us to step up the fight against corruption and poverty,” said Natalia Pinto, a 21-year-old Catholic who also took part in the June protests. “The pope is coming to Brazil at the right time,” Ivan Esperanza Rocha, a religion expert at the University of Sao Paulo, said, referring to the popular demands for more justice, equality resources for health and education. So far the only demonstrations planned via social media networks are those by gay rights and feminist activists. A so-called “beijaco” — in which gay couples kiss each other on the lips — is scheduled during the pope’s speech on Copacabana beach July 25. And feminists are to hold a “Slut Walk” in Rio on July 27 to protest sexual violence against women.

[The Brazilian equivalent of the USCCCP fiddles while the culture of death advances] On the eve of papal visit, Brazil about to legalize abortion through the back door, while Conference of Bishops remains silent Posted by New Catholic at 7/17/2013 rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/07/urgent-on-eve-of-papal-visit-brazil.html Our friends at the Brazilian web log Fratres in Unum send us the following text which we are honored to share – we ask news providers reading us, especially those of pro-life organizations, to spread it far and wide, urgently (no attribution of any kind needed): A brief introduction to foreign Catholic brethren A bill caled PL03/2013 was recently voted and approved by the Brazilian Congress. Originally, when presented back in 2002, the bill was about the emergency treatment of women victim of rape, but the text of the bill was changed on April 5th 2013 in a way that in practice will legalize abortion in Brazil. The bill was submitted to Congress in an urgency regime, requested by the Minister of Health of President Dilma Rousseff, Alexandre Padilha. The minister stated that this bill was about the emergency treatment of woman victim of rape and that Congress should honor the 2013 International Day of Women, celebrated on March 8th, by passing this law. When some pro-life groups found out about the trap that was hidden in the wording of the bill it was too late, the bill was already approved by Congress (House and Senate) and since then the life of the unborn in Brazil is hanging by a thread, that thread being the full veto of this bill by the President Dilma Rousseff. Back in the 2010 presidential campaign, when President Dilma’s candidacy was at risk over recorded interviews where she stated that she was in favor of abortion, President Dilma signed a public document committing herself not to change the current abortion legislation in Brazil. She won the elections but despite her compromise her government is trying again and again over the years to legalize abortion using the tactics of trying to widen the interpretation of legislation. The PL03/2013 bill is President Dilma’s latest step to accomplish the goal of legalizing abortion in Brazil. The text that follows is a painful revelation that the CNBB, the Brazilian Episcopal Conference, is, in the best possible scenario, at least informing beforehand the enemies of life, in this case President Dilma Rousseff’s government, about the content of a note that the CNBB intends to publish about the PL03/2013 bill. The tone of the text is best understood if the reader takes into account the history of CNBB on many social issues over the decades, the English-speaking reader can’t access all this information but a piece of that history concerning abortion can be found in an article published by the National Catholic Register here: www.ncregister.com/site/article/brazilian_pro_lifers_blame_bishops_conference_for_cedaw_approval/ After reading the article above and the one below the reader will find that there’s some reasoning behind the suspicion that many Brazilian catholics have about the CNBB’s historical close connections to the Brazilian ruling Continue Reading

Liturgical Scandal Before Papal Visit in Brasilia — [JP2-appointed] Archbishop Wants to Ban Kneeling Communion Tancred The Eponymous Flower 7/17/13 (Brasilia) Shortly before the visit by Pope Francis for World Youth Day in Brazil a liturgical scandal has erupted in the Latin American country. The Archbishop of Cuiabá, Milton Antonio dos Santos, has forbidden the faithful from receiving Communion kneeling in a magisterial letter to his archdiocese. The Real Presence of Christ was never mentioned Archbishop dos Santos in his encyclical of 11 July. Never that the Eucharist is truly the Word of God incarnate. Prohibiting because of “unity” The Archbishop explains his “instruction” to the “unity of the community.” The Archbishop saw this threatened by Communion on the tongue kneeling. “The real fault lays with John Paul II, who appointed him Bishop of Corumba in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in 2000 and in 2003 promoted him to Coadjutor Archbishop of Cuiba with right of succession, where he became Archbishop in 2004″, said the Church historian and Catholic blogger Francisco de la Cigoña. Dos Santos had been installed as bishop a few days before the resignation of the Brazilian Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. More at eponymousflower.blogspot.com/2013/07/liturgical-scandal-before-papal-visit.html

Lefebvrists chide pope over visit to immigrant island ‘Against centuries of defending Italy from Muslim invasion’ 16 July, 17:31 (ANSA) – Rome, July 16 – The Italian chapter of the Catholic traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) condemned Pope Francis on Tuesday for visiting immigrants and refugees on the island of Lampedusa. In a statement, the Lefebvrist breakaway group criticized the pope for going against centuries of Church efforts to “preserve Catholicism” in the face of the “Mohammedan invasion,” recalling “popes, among whom many saints, who armed fleets to stop the (armed, of course) Muslims in Italy”. Last week Francis chose Lampedusa, an island off the coast of Sicily, as the destination for his first official trip as pope, drawing attention to the plight of thousands who cross the Mediterranean – and the many who die in the process – each year trying to immigrate through Italy. SSPX said the visit reflected the influence of a “Masonic plot to create a multi-cultural society”. SSPX broke away from the Church over theological differences stemming from the changes it adopted with the Second Vatican Council of some 45 years ago. The Vatican is currently engaged in a process aimed at formally reuniting the group with the Catholic Church.

[Queen Approves Marriage for Queens and Dykes] Queen of England Approves Same-Sex “Marriage” Bill Bishops of England, Wales Issue Statement on New Legislation London, July 17, 2013 (Zenit.org) Ann Schneible Queen Elizabeth II approved a bill today which legalizes same-sex marriage in Britain. Her majesty’s approval of the bill was the final step necessary for it to become law. As of next summer, the new law will enable same-sex couples to “marry” in both civil and religious ceremonies. It will also allow same-sex couples who had entered into civil partnerships to obtain the legal status of “marriage.” The president and vice-president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales have issued the following statement in response to the passing of the “Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act”: In receiving Royal Assent, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act marks a watershed in English law and heralds a profound social change. This fact is acknowledged by both advocates and opponents of the Act. Marriage has, over the centuries, been publicly recognized as a stable institution which establishes a legal framework for the committed relationship between a man and a woman and for the upbringing and care of their children. It has, for this reason, rightly been recognized as unique and worthy of legal protection. The new Act breaks the existing legal links between the institution of marriage and sexual complementarity. With this new legislation, marriage has now become an institution in which openness to children, and with it the responsibility on fathers and mothers to remain together to care for children born into their family unit, are no longer central. That is why we were opposed to this legislation on principle. Along with others, we have expressed real concern about the deficiencies in the process by which this legislation came to Parliament, and the speed with which it has been rushed through. We are grateful particularly therefore to those Parliamentarians in both Houses who have sought to improve the Bill during its passage, so that it enshrines more effective protection for religious freedom. A particular concern for us has also been the lack of effective protection for Churches which decide not to opt-in to conducting same sex marriages. Amendments made in the House of Lords though have significantly strengthened the legal protections in the Act for the Churches. We also welcome the Government’s amendment to the Public Order Act which makes it clear beyond doubt that “discussion or criticism of marriage which concerns the sex of the parties to the marriage shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred”. Individuals are therefore protected from criminal sanction under the Public Order Act when discussing or expressing disagreement with same sex marriage. In other respects, however, the amendments we suggested have not been accepted. We were concerned to provide legislative clarity for schools with a religious character. This was in order to ensure that these schools will be able to continue to teach in accordance with their Continue Reading

Drawing the Curtain ChurchMilitantTV Published on Jul 17, 2013 The curtain is coming down. Transcript www.churchmilitant.tv/scripts/vort-2013-07-17.pdf Drawing the Curtain vort-2013-07-17 Hello everyone and welcome to The Vortex where lies and falsehoods are trapped and exposed. I’m Michael Voris. I’d like to read you, in part, a response we sent to a very kind and friendly bishop earlier this week. He was writing to tell us thank you for our interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider who said there is a desperate need to end the confusion in the Church. Hello Your Excellency, Thank you for your kind wishes for the summer. It is going very well – if being crazy and not having a moment’s rest is defined as “good”. LOL. I wanted to let you know – in reference to your excellent observations about the horrors that have beset our Dear Mother Church – that our research team here has been putting together the most comprehensive report I believe ever assembled on the collapse of the faith in the United States. We have taken thousands of statistics from various polls, research studies, and the Kennedy Directory going all the way back to the 18th century and are compiling a full out treatment not only to show the extent of the damage, but also to draw trend lines for the future – and it doesn’t look bright. One of our younger research guys pushed himself away from the table at one point and said out loud – “I don’t see ONE bright spot, anywhere with these trends.” If our numbers are correct, and we have gone over them every which way imaginable, it looks like there is now actually a trend developing where the raw numbers of US Catholics is beginning to shrink in real terms – not just rate, but actual raw numbers. (we will be able to verify this once the 2013 numbers are compiled and published at year end, but right now, that is what it looks like it is shaping up to be. Another frightening stat we were able to piece together is that the rate of conversions to the faith has fallen off the cliff – down 75% in the last 50 years. I don’t have the research in front of me at the moment because I am at home and writing these things to you from memory (but my memory is pretty good). While the rate of conversions was never particularly impressive (certainly compared to the Mormons and JHs), what was mediocre at best is now beyond terrible. When you couple this with the massive drop off in infant baptisms and pair THIS rate with the meteoric plunge in weddings, as well as First Holy Communions, not only are all indications that the Church is becoming extinct in the US, but that the possibility of a turnaround is approaching the level of impossible (in earthly terms of course). It appears that it is far more likely that the Church in the US will go the Continue Reading

Leading Latin American prelate outlines goals for meeting with Pope CWN – July 18, 2013 The president of CELAM (the Latin American Episcopal Conference) has listed 11 goals for an upcoming meeting between its 50-bishop leadership committee and Pope Francis. “We await with great interest the message the Holy Father Francis will offer us in order to intensify our efforts and involve the continent’s bishops in the pastoral renewal of the Church,” Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico, said in an article in L’Osservatore Romano. “We are at a crucial stage,” he added. “The challenges inherent in the epochal change we are living through demand a rethinking of attitudes, structures, and pastoral work in fidelity to Christ.” “To this end, we must discern the signs of the times, listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Churches,” he continued as he referred to a text of the Book of Revelation. “This is a collegial task. It will therefore be of enormous interest and importance to hear the voice of Pope Francis.” Archbishop Aguiar Retes listed 11 desired results from the meeting: Within the Church 1. To renew the awareness and identity of Catholics themselves and to move on from being faithful to being disciples and missionaries of Christ who are integrated into and live in communities united with each other. 2. To make the most of one’s own Church and her ability to bring people together and to exert a cultural influence (institutional self-esteem). 3. To go beyond the 19th- and 20th-century labels and prejudices, acting with a view to the future rather than looking back at the past. 4. To transmit the Church’s values in a symbolic, visual, aesthetic and testimonial language From the Church towards relations with society 5. To step out of one’s own environment to meet society in its different sectors, especially through the lay faithful. 6. To strengthen the Church’s social foundations and structure them in order to enter into dialogue and participation with the different milieus of life and society. 7. To avail oneself of the emerging ecological awareness at a global level so as to recover an ethics founded on the laws of nature. 8. To collaborate in the process of inter-institutionalization, furthering the citizens’ participation in the various sectors and institutions. 9. To develop and consolidate the institutional relationship with the different Government bodies, seeking to bring dignity to human life dignified in all the classes, especially the poorest. 10. To learn to live in an intercultural context and thence to witness to the merciful love of God the Father. 11. To use the strategies for communication offered by the current technology, especially in order to enter the social networks with a propositional approach. Additional sources for this story: The Latin American Episcopate in Rio for the World Youth Day (L’Osservatore Romano) www.news.va/en/news/the-latin-american-episcopate-in-rio-for-the-world

[Including "breaking the line/law to get ahead of others"; i.e., illegal entry] Catholic university presidents: US immigration system undermines nation’s best values by Joshua J. McElwee | Jul. 17, 2013 ncronline.org/blogs/immigration-and-church/catholic-university-presidents-us-immigration-system-undermines-nations Washington — The leaders of more than a third of the nation’s 244 Catholic colleges and universities have called on Congress to pass immigration reform, saying the country’s current treatment of immigrants is “morally indefensible.” The heads of more than 90 Catholic institutions of higher learning made the call in a letter to the 135 of the 434 members of the House of Representatives who are Catholic, including Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. “Together we represent universities that educate more than 260,000 students,” the university presidents wrote. “Our broken immigration system, which tears parents from children, traps aspiring Americans in the shadows, and undermines the best values of this nation, is morally indefensible.” The letter, set to be announced on a conference call Thursday, was made public Wednesday on the website of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), a Washington-based organization that represents most of the institutions. Endorsement of immigration reform from the Catholic academics comes as members of the House are considering the immigration reform measure the Senate passed last month. That bill would expand provisions for approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants and provide a “pathway to citizenship” as long as a series of new measures for security on the U.S.-Mexico border, including addition of some 40,000 border patrol agents, are first arranged. President Barack Obama said in a number of interviews Tuesday that the House is unlikely to pass the bill before its annual August recess. Several groups of protesters have gathered outside the Capitol this week in Washington’s record-setting heat to oppose the measure. “We hope that as you face intense political pressure from powerful interest groups, you will draw wisdom and moral courage from our shared faith tradition,” the university presidents wrote in their letter. “Catholic teaching values the human dignity and worth of all immigrants, regardless of legal status,” they wrote. “We remind you that no human being made in the image of God is illegal.” Others who signed the letter include ACCU president Michael Galligan-Stierle and about 60 of the nation’s most prominent theologians, including the heads of the two major U.S. theological societies, the Catholic Theological Society of America and the College Theology Society. Two former U.S. ambassadors to the Holy See also signed the letter: Thomas Melady, former president of Sacred Heart University in Connecticut who served in the role in during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, and Miguel Diaz, a theologian at the University of Dayton who stepped down in November. The U.S. bishops have voiced their support for immigration reform in a number of recent statements and letters. Several prelates addressed the matter at a press conference in June at the bishops’ annual spring meeting, breaking a tradition of treating that meeting like a retreat. Continue Reading

["A Prelate .." rather than "The Prelate ..." would be a better title] The Prelate of the Gay Lobby Facts and personages of the scandalous past of the man whom Francis, unaware, delegated to represent him at the IOR. Here’s how a parallel power lives and thrives at the Vatican, plotting to the harm of the pope by Sandro Magister chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350561?eng=y ROME, July 18, 2013 – “In the curia there is talk of a ‘gay lobby.’ And it is true, it’s there. Let’s see what we can do,” Francis said on June 6 to Latin American religious received in audience. And again: “It is not easy. Here there are many of the pope’s ‘bosses’ with great seniority of service,” he confided a few days ago to his Argentine friend and former student Jorge Milia. In effect, some of these ‘bosses’ have hatched against Jorge Mario Bergoglio the cruelest and most subtle deception since he was elected pope. They kept in the dark important information that, if he had known it before, would have kept him from appointing Monsignor Battista Ricca “prelate” of the Institute for Works of Religion. With this appointment, made public on June 15, Francis intended to place a trusted person in a key role within the IOR. With the power to access all of the proceedings and documents and to attend all of the meetings both of the cardinalate commission of oversight and of the supervisory board of the disastrous Vatican “bank.” In short, with the task of cleaning house. Ricca, 57, originally from the diocese of Brescia, comes from a diplomatic career. He served for fifteen years in the nunciatures of various countries before he was called back to the Vatican, to the secretariat of state. But he won Bergoglio’s trust in another guise, initially as director of the residence on Via della Scrofa at which the archbishop of Buenos Aries stayed during his visits to Rome, and now also as director of the Domus Sanctæ Marthæ in which Francis has chosen to live as pope. Before the appointment, Francis had been shown, as is customary, the personal file on Ricca, in which he had not found anything unseemly. He had also heard from various personalities of the curia, and none of them had raised objections. Just one week after appointing the “prelate,” however, during the same days in which he was meeting with the apostolic nuncios who had come to Rome from all over the world, the pope became aware, from multiple sources, of some episodes from Ricca’s past previously unknown to him and such as to bring serious harm to the pope himself and to his intention of reform. Sadness over having been kept in the dark with regard to such grave matters, and the intention to remedy the appointment he had made, albeit not definitive but “ad interim”: these were the sentiments expressed by Pope Francis once he was aware of those matters. * The black hole in Ricca’s personal history is the Continue Reading

Martyrology-July 19th Roman Martyrology-July 19th- on this date in various years- St. Vincent de Paul, priest and confessor, founder of the priests of the Congregation of the Mission and the Sisters of Charity, the heavenly patron of all charitable organizations. He fell asleep in the Lord on the 27th of September. At Colossae in Phrygia, the birthday of St. Epaphras, whom the apostle St. Paul calls his fellow-prisoner. By the same apostle he was consecrated bishop of Colossae, where, becoming renowned for his virtues, he received the palm of martyrdom for defending courageously the flock committed to his charge. His body lies at Rome in the basilica of St. Mary Major. At Treves, St. Martin, bishop and martyr. At Seville in Spain, the martyrdom of the holy virgins Justa and Rufina. Arrested by the governor Diogenian, they were stretched on the rack and lacerated with iron claws, then imprisoned and subjected to starvation and various tortures. Justa died in prison, but Rufina’s neck was broken for the confession of the Lord. At Cordova in Spain, St. Aura, virgin, the sister of the holy martyrs Adulphus and John. A Mohammedan judge had persuaded her to apostatize for a while, but quickly repenting of what she had done, in the second trial overcame the enemy by the shedding of her blood. At Rome, Pope St. Symmachus, who for a long time had much to bear, from a faction of schismatics. At last, distinguished by holiness, he went to God. At Verona, St. Felix, bishop. At Scete, a mountain in Egypt, St. Arsenius, a deacon of the Roman Church. In the time of Theodosius he retired into a desert where, endowed with every virtue and shedding continual tears, he yielded his soul unto God. In Cappadocia, St. Macrina, virgin. She was the daughter of Saints Basil and Emmelia, and the sister of the holy bishops, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Peter of Sebaste. And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins. R. Thanks be to God.

Source: The Tablet From the editor’s desk A Pope with only one master 20 July 2013 On the agenda of Pope Francis, the chief administrative item is the reform of the Roman Curia. This was the radical commission he was given by the College of Cardinals at his election. He has recently been telling friends how difficult it is proving, while being urged to get a move on by Cardinal Karl Lehmann of Mainz, former chairman of the German bishops’ conference. In fact, with the Roman August shut-down fast approaching and the group of cardinals he has appointed to advise him on curial reform not due to meet until October, it is a little early to become impatient. The issue he has already been wrestling with is about personnel. He inherited Pope Benedict’s appointments, including the key figures of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as Secretary of State and Archbishop Gerhard Müller as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). Cardinal Bertone had become the focus of much of the discontented grumbling that grew inside the Curia as Pope Benedict’s papacy drew to its unexpected close. That problem may solve itself, as at 78 he is overdue for retirement. Whether the position of Secretary of State survives the impending curial reform is for the Pope’s group of cardinal advisers to consider. But the grand title does not immediately resonate with the Sermon on the Mount, which seems to be the tone in which Francis is trying to restyle the papacy. Archbishop Müller is a more complicated case, not least because he was the personal choice of Pope Benedict with whom Pope Francis still has regular discussions. But the archbishop is clearly out of step with the new mood, for instance in his astonishing recent statement that divorced and remarried Catholics who want to receive Communion cannot appeal to God’s mercy. He is not going to be able to live it down. It is well known that many of his fellow German bishops – and others elsewhere in the world – strongly disagree. One option would be to divide the Congregation in two, one part taking on responsibility for the discipline of the clergy – suitably modernised to avoid a repetition of the disastrous mistakes in handling clerical child abuse – and the other responsible for policing doctrine, an issue that Pope Francis himself has implied need not be taken too seriously. Thus downgraded, the role of prefect of the CDF would disappear. Both these functions should in the first instance be handled by local bishops’ conferences, with Rome reverting to its traditional role as a court of appeal. That would demonstrate the principle that under collegiality, the governing body of the Catholic Church is not the Pope and the Curia but the Pope and the bishops, with the Curia in support. The era of the “one size fits all” decree from the Vatican would have come to an end. Pope Francis is already encountering resistance, and recently told Continue Reading

[Jesuit] Marquette Prof Celebrates Supreme Court Decision on DOMA July 18, 2013, at 10:51 AM | By Matthew Archbold | www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/2379/Marquette-Prof-Celebrates-Supreme-Court-Decision-on-DOMA.aspx A law professor at Marquette University called the Defense of Marriage Act hateful and said that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn it is a cause for celebration. Writing for the Marquette University’s Law School Faculty blog, visiting law professor Irene Ten Cate wrote: For supporters of marriage equality, including myself, DOMA’s partial demise is a cause for celebration. But the Act’s trajectory should also offer occasion for introspection, especially for those whose views have“evolved” over time. How many of us were outraged by DOMA before marriage equality became a popular cause? Why did it take quite a few of us several years to see the hatefulness of DOMA that seems so obvious now? This should hardly be a surprise as The Cardinal Newman Society reported in 2011 that then president of the university, Fr. Robert Wild, S.J., directed the Department of Human Resources to include “registered domestic partner” coverage in the Jesuit University’s health insurance plans.

Heroin Bust Of ["High"] Regis Jesuit High Dean Posted by Joseph Fromm 7/18/13 goodjesuitbadjesuit.blogspot.com/2013/07/heroin-bust-of-regis-jesuit-high-dean.html The dean of a Manhattan Catholic school was busted in Connecticut for heroin and Oxycodone possession after cops found him passed out in a car in the middle of a dead-end road, according to reports. Nicholas deSpoelberch, 35, dean of students at Regis High School on the upper East Side, was allegedly found asleep at about 10 p.m. Thursday in his 2005 Nissan Altima. An officer who inspected the vehicle parked in the town of Wilton and woke deSpoelberch said the educator had glassy eyes and was talking slowly, according to the Darien Times. DeSpoelberch, who lives in Darien, told police he was using medication and had pills not prescribed to him, according to the Darien Times. Cop searched his vehicle and found three packages of heroin, five Oxycodone pills, three Clonidine pills and drug paraphernalia — including two silver spoons and two hypodermic needles in a zippered briefcase, and a syringe under the driver’s seat — the Villager of Wilton reported. DeSpoelberch was charged with possession of narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia and retaining prescriptions pills outside of their original container, according to the Wilton Bulletin. Link (www.nydailynews.com/new-york/regis-high-school-dean-students-nicholas-despoelberch-arrested-heroin-pills-bust-article-1.1400632?localLinksEnabled=false) New York Daily News

Singing, dancing Italian priest becomes Youtube star Calls for father Maggioni as pope among comments by viewers www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Gazzetta-del-Sud-Online-Attualit%C3%A0/384756806638 Milan, July 18 – A dancing, singing priest whose performance was uploaded onto Youtube has garnered an audience of almost one million viewers and become one of the channel’s most watched videos this week. Father Bruno Maggioni from the town of Limbiate near Milan was filmed during a marriage ceremony singing a 1980s hit by the Italian group Ricchi e Poveri called ‘Mamma Maria’, which he dedicated to the wedding couple. The video shows the enthusiastic and bespectacled priest hit the play button on a stereo placed on the altar then run in front of the crowd singing, clapping and bouncing to the beat. Dubbed the “craziest priest in Italy,” some comments on Youtube have called for the father to be elected pope while others have booed his unorthodox display.

Open lesbian still teaching at Pleasanton parish The Catholic comedian July 18, 2013 cal-catholic.com/wordpress/2013/07/18/open-lesbian-still-teaching-at-pleasanton-parish/ On June 28, the Pleasanton Weekly in the diocese of Oakland carried the story “Same-sex couples celebrate in Pleasanton.” Some excerpts: “My partner Tim and I have been together 18 years,” said Roy Cook, a longtime Pleasanton resident. Cook and Tim Roach have been married twice, once in 2004 when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom permitted gay marriages, and again in 2008 when gay marriage was permitted briefly after an earlier Supreme Court ruling. Sandra J. Wing said she was glad she and her partner Gracie Santos would “receive the 1,100 federal benefits that were denied us.” Not mentioned in the story was another couple included in a photograph with the print version of the story – Regina Stoops and Diane Berry. There is more on Stoops and Berry from the GayintoStraightAmerica website, May 4, 2006. “….From there we headed to the home of Regina Stoops and Diane Berry, a committed couple for 16 years. Regina is the “Catholic comedian,” whose humor kept Dotti in stitches at WOW 2000, the “Welcome our Witness” conference of 1200 people from welcoming and affirming churches from around the United States. Regina’s website is www.GLBTcoach.com/comedy. Regina’s humor connects with a wide range of audiences and has led to event performances as diverse as Catholic Diocese Fundraisers, Teacher’s Workshops, Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals and Corporate Retreats. With Diane “bearing the babies” and working the corporate scene, and Regina being the “stay at home” mom… “Regina and Diane have two beautiful children, Ryan (3 years old) and Jack (18 months). They also have another baby on the way! This child is due in July. What can we say…being Catholic, they don’t believe in birth control! (: “Seriously, the donor is a magnificent man named Roy. He and his partner, Tim, who got married in San Francisco and have been a couple for 12 years, came over for dinner on Saturday evening.” Most relevant to Catholics, is the fact that Regina Stoops is still listed on the website of the Catholic Community of Pleasanton as a coordinator of the Faith Formation Program. Stoops’ affiliation with the Catholic church in Pleasanton goes back at least 15 years, when her pastor, Father Dan Danielson, intended to perform a lesbian wedding for her and her partner on May 9, 1998. (A protest by local Catholics kept this from happening.) Father Danielson was elected by diocesan consultors to run the diocese after Bishop Vigneron was appointed to Detroit.

[Also his former mole in the Roman Curia to report on and influence matters of interest to Argentina and then Buenos Aires Archbishop Bergoglio] Pope Francis’ shadow: Monsignor Pedacchio Leaniz By Andrea Gagliarducci www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-shadow-monsignor-pedacchio-leaniz/ Vatican City, Jul 19, 2013 / (CNA).- Pope Francis now counts on the discreet presence of his new, 49-year-old Argentinean secretary, Msgr. Fabiàn Pedacchio Leaniz. “I want to keep a low profile,” Pope Francis’ second secretary told CNA in a June 27 conversation. “I’m doing my best to attend to the Holy Father, without revealing anything of Pope Francis private life.” Msgr. Fabiàn Edgardo Marcelo Pedacchio Leaniz leaned out the Apostolic Palace window at the Pope’s side for the first time on May 12, almost exactly two months after Pope Francis’ election. Shortly after the March 13 event, he moved to the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican hotel where the Pope is living. He began collaborating part time with Pope Francis, while keeping his post of “second class secretary clerk” at the Congregation for the Bishops. Now, Msgr. Pedacchio Leaniz is Pope Francis’ full-time second secretary, a position through which he aids the Holy Father in his daily life whether it be as a translator or in answering personal correspondence in the name of the Pope. The first secretary is Msgr. Alfred Xuereb, of Maltese origins, who also served as second secretary to Benedict XVI. As second secretary, Msgr. Pedacchio will eventually be inserted into the ranks of the Secretariat of State. The priest has long known the pontiff. When he took his post in the Vatican Curia in 2007, it was under recommendation of the then-Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. An expert in Canon Law, Msgr. Pedacchio Leaniz was secretary of SADEC, the Argentinian society for Canon Law. He also worked at the Ecclesiastical Court of Argentina. The monsignor was raised in the barrio of Villa Luro, in Buenos Aires. He recounted in an interview with the newspaper “El Periodico del Barrio” in Jan. 2007 that, when he was younger, he never thought about becoming a priest. In 1983, he decided to study economics and raise a family. But then he met a priest who, Pedacchio Leaniz told El Periodico del Barrio, “grabbed my attention for his joy and openness. Once he asked me if I had ever thought of being a priest.” Msgr. Pedacchio’s first reply was, “My future is studying, graduating and raising a family.” But he kept thinking about this priest’s proposal, and the following March he entered the seminary. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 7, 1992. It was later that then-parish priest Fr. Pedacchio Leaniz began to have a weekly phone conversations with his archbishop, Cardinal Bergoglio, and meet with him more frequently. In 2007, the Congregation of Bishops asked Cardinal Bergoglio if he could suggest an Argentinian priest for a post within its ranks. The cardinal chose Msgr. Pedacchio Leaniz, whom the archbishop of Buenos Aires held in great esteem. Their friendship even led to Continue Reading

Flash mob organizers hope to unite WYD crowds in Rio Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jul 19, 2013 / www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/flash-mob-organizers-hope-to-unite-wyd-crowds-in-rio/ (CNA).- Organizers of a massive flash mob in Brazil hope that some two million young people from around the world will dance for Pope Francis before the start of the closing Mass for World Youth Day 2013. “The idea of the flash mob is to show that together we can show the world something, that we are able to say something to the world. To show unity, that we think together,” said Edson Erdmann, artistic director for the events at Guaratiba, near Rio de Janeiro. He explained that Pope Francis will re-join pilgrims on the morning of July 28 after their overnight vigil at the Campus Fidei. He hopes that the young people will greet the Holy Father with a massive flash mob. A video teaching the dance steps is available on YouTube for young people who wish to begin practicing with their friends. But there will also be four rehearsals on Saturday evening and Sunday morning before the Pope arrives. “The idea is for the music to be simple, good and pleasant to listen to. The choreography is simple but we are going to amaze the world if we all do it together,” Erdmann explained. Carioca dancer Glaucia Geraldo created the choreography. The song “Francisco” comes from the Show del Futuro.

[Including students at "Catholic" colleges and universities] Depression Among College Students Linked to Hook-up Culture, Study Says July 19, 2013 | By Matthew Archbold | www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/2383/Depression-Among-College-Students-Linked-to-Hook-up-Culture-Study-Says.aspx A new study in The Journal of Sex Research links depression and anxiety among college students with casual sex. Eleven percent of the 3,900 heterosexual students from the more than 30 different colleges and universities around the country surveyed reported having had “casual sex” in the month prior to the survey, with casual sex being defined as intercourse with someone they’ve known for less than a week. Somewhat surprisingly, gender had no effect on the levels of anxiety and depression. Dr. Melina M. Bersamin of California State University, Sacramento, who led the study, said in a press release announcing the study’s findings that “casual sex was negatively associated with well-being and positively associated with psychological distress.” While the study links casual sex and depression, it stipulates that it cannot definitively declare whether the casual sex leads to depression or whether depression and anxiety lead some to engage in casual sex. Dr. Bersamin did say, “It is premature to conclude that casual sexual encounters pose no harmful psychological risks for young adults.” Catholic University of America President John Garvey wrote recently in an editorial that “Casual sex is harmful even if there is no coercion. It plays at love for sport. It makes promises that the players don’t intend to keep. It insults the dignity of the other person by treating him or her as a sex toy rather than a child of God. It divorces sex from the creation of new life and the unity of a family.” A Catholic News Agency report in 2011 linked co-ed dorms with the hook-up culture, pointing out that students in co-ed dorms are more than twice as likely to have had three or more sexual partners.

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Lefebvrists chide pope over visit to immigrant island

Queen Approves Marriage for Queens and Dykes

Drawing the Curtain

Leading Latin American prelate outlines goals for meeting with Pope

Catholic university presidents: US immigration system undermines nation’s best values

The Prelate of the Gay Lobby

MARTYROLOGY-JULY 19

The Tablet wants the CDF to be downgraded

In July, the Anniversary of Quo Primum

Jesuit Marquette Prof Celebrates Supreme Court Decision on DOMA

Heroin Bust Of “High” Regis Jesuit High Dean

Singing, dancing Italian priest becomes Youtube star

Open lesbian still teaching at Pleasanton parish

Pope Francis’ shadow: Monsignor Pedacchio Leaniz

Flash mob organizers hope to unite WYD crowds in Rio

Depression Among College Students Linked to Hook-up Culture, Study Says