In an article from Reuters, they are contending that the Irish Prime Minister wants to revoke the right of secrecy for priests in the confessional. This is obviously a major violation of religious freedom in the country. All over the world, laws are in place giving a priest special permission to withhold information disclosed during a confession.
Forcing a priest to reveal information given in a confessional will fall flat on its face for a number of reasons.
1) People tell priests all of their sins. Part of the reason they are so open and honest is that they know they're not going to be ratted out to the police if they've done something wrong. If the secrecy was threatened, people would just avoid going to the priest to confess their sins. They would probably wait until they were in another place where the secrecy was maintained.
2) A priest is under oath to never reveal anything heard in a confessional, EVER. There are no exceptions to this rule. Even if his life is threatened, he cannot spill the beans on a penitent's sins. Therefore, no threat from the government or anyone else will make priests break this commitment. If they do, they will be defrocked and only the priests who can keep a secret will remain in ministry.
3) A priest, upon hearing about a serious crime, can advise a penitent to go to the police. He can hold a penitent to this promise or withhold absolution if he does not. Therefore, the priest often will act in favor of the police. However, by not enforcing secrecy, penitents won't even make the first step and so the priest will have no influence.
4) The connection between a priest and a penitent is very intimate. A person tells the priest his innermost thoughts, things he would tell no one else. Forcing a priest to repeat what he hears in a confessional is the same as forcing a person to reveal their thoughts or feelings under threat of penalty. This kind of thing only happens in barbaric states.
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Many priests have met their end refusing to disclose a confession to some authority, including Fr. Andreas Faulhaber, Fr. Francis Vernon Douglas, St. John Nepomuk, and many others. If you know of other priests in this situation, please list them in the comments. We join our prayers to their that the persecution of the Church ends.
Here is the article for more information:
Ireland attacks confessional secrecy after Catholic sex abuse scandal | FaithWorld
Friday, July 15, 2011
UN finally reverses its position on "overpopulation"
The United Nations Population Fund is admitting that overpopulation is not the problem, and that in fact, the greatest fear is that fertility rates are declining everywhere in the world, except for 16% of places, such as Africa. Elsewhere, there are issues with not enough population.
I'm very glad to see this change of tone from the UN.
Article here:
Friday Fax: Unfounded Population Fears Result in New UN Campaign Messaging
I'm very glad to see this change of tone from the UN.
Article here:
Friday Fax: Unfounded Population Fears Result in New UN Campaign Messaging
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Irish 'Catholics"
Ok, so Michael Voris made this movie about Catholicism in Ireland. In it, he interviews a large number of people, two dozen according to him, on the topic of their faith.
I would like to respond by saying I think it is overly pessimistic. For example, at the end of the video, he says that was in Ireland in terms of religion "for 1500 years has been nearly totally destroyed in less than 40." He says it appears at the current rate, the faith will be extinct in Ireland soon.
But one of the interesting things is that at the beginning he says only one person actually goes to Mass by their own volition out of the 24. But in fact, more like 3 said they would keep going. And many others were sort of infrequent attendees to Mass. Probably about half or more maintained some connection with the Church. However, if you were to just listen to Michael Voris, you would get the impression every single person is atheist.
Some did say they were atheist, but I think Ireland presents great opportunities for the spread of the faith. Many people may not have been die-hard evangelists, but many were open to different things. These people need to be invited to go to Mass, events, and other gatherings. These things can strengthen faith.
Michael does say people have to act now to make sure the Catholic faith in Ireland grows, and I agree, but I think he has a tendency to be overly negative.
I would like to respond by saying I think it is overly pessimistic. For example, at the end of the video, he says that was in Ireland in terms of religion "for 1500 years has been nearly totally destroyed in less than 40." He says it appears at the current rate, the faith will be extinct in Ireland soon.
But one of the interesting things is that at the beginning he says only one person actually goes to Mass by their own volition out of the 24. But in fact, more like 3 said they would keep going. And many others were sort of infrequent attendees to Mass. Probably about half or more maintained some connection with the Church. However, if you were to just listen to Michael Voris, you would get the impression every single person is atheist.
Some did say they were atheist, but I think Ireland presents great opportunities for the spread of the faith. Many people may not have been die-hard evangelists, but many were open to different things. These people need to be invited to go to Mass, events, and other gatherings. These things can strengthen faith.
Michael does say people have to act now to make sure the Catholic faith in Ireland grows, and I agree, but I think he has a tendency to be overly negative.
Discrimination of lower caste Christians in India
To sum up this article, in the Indian caste system, which has officially been eliminated but continues to be a part of life in India, there is a group of people known as the Dalits or untouchables. They fall outside the four main castes and are usually forced to perform the most menial or degrading of jobs.
Anyway, in an attempt to help Dalits, the government created a special program where Dalits could take advantage of various societal programs such as healthcare and education. This was first extended to Hindu Dalits, and also to Sikh Dalits, and Buddhist Dalits, but it has not been extended to Christian Dalits. This forces them to make some rather unpleasant choices. I.e. Either renounce their faith or renounce societal benefits.
There's a massive rally to demonstrate against this scheduled. Let's hope it works out.
Discrimination forces Dalits to leave church, says Catholic bishop | Ekklesia
Anyway, in an attempt to help Dalits, the government created a special program where Dalits could take advantage of various societal programs such as healthcare and education. This was first extended to Hindu Dalits, and also to Sikh Dalits, and Buddhist Dalits, but it has not been extended to Christian Dalits. This forces them to make some rather unpleasant choices. I.e. Either renounce their faith or renounce societal benefits.
There's a massive rally to demonstrate against this scheduled. Let's hope it works out.
Discrimination forces Dalits to leave church, says Catholic bishop | Ekklesia
Important news about Medjugorje
I know some people who are interested in Medjugorje, but I think there are some issues that need to be addressed. The apparitions and the information surrounding them are very suspect. Although the Vatican hasn't issued a general ban from the site, it has issued many cautionary edicts for people. It certainly hasn't received the Vatican's stamp of approval. I know it's an extremely popular site, but my advice for what it's worth is to focus on approved apparitions, of which there has been over a dozen. Check out the article:
Pope suspends Medjugorje priest amid complaints that Virgin Mary sightings were faked - Beliefnet News
Pope suspends Medjugorje priest amid complaints that Virgin Mary sightings were faked - Beliefnet News
Shocking article about single motherhood
Casey Anthony — Single Mom of the Year! (by Ann Coulter) - Watchwoman on the Wall
Keep in mind that the views expressed by Ann Coulter are not necessarily mine. I just think she brings out some important information in her article.
Keep in mind that the views expressed by Ann Coulter are not necessarily mine. I just think she brings out some important information in her article.
Catholic Church explores Crystal Cathedral bid
This is pretty amazing. The Crystal Cathedral is a very large church and is quite nice. So now the Catholic Church has put a bid in on it after it went bankrupt. They put a bid of $46 million. After acquiring it, if that's what happens, the Church will probably do a lot of renovations to include statues, a proper altar, etc.
Catholic Church explores Crystal Cathedral bid – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs
Catholic Church explores Crystal Cathedral bid – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Monday, July 04, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
If Steven Greydanus didn't write this article about gay marriage, I probably would have.
I heard something along these lines before and I must say I very much agree. When talking about gay marriage, everyone focuses on the gay community and how they are forcing us to accept changing the definition of marriage. Well, as Steven Greydanus argues, we must take some of the blame because of how society in general has changed its view of marriage to something that is completely selfish. I've thought about this before and it really makes a lot of sense. Things don't happen in a vacuum. Sin is a gradual thing which gets slowly accepted, and this is no different. If all Christians lived according to the real definition of marriage, the debate about "gay marriage" probably would not even be happening.
Article here:
Redefining Marriage, Part 1: Who s to Blame? | Blogs | NCRegister.com
Article here:
Redefining Marriage, Part 1: Who s to Blame? | Blogs | NCRegister.com
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