Carl E. Olson's Blog, page 287

New children's books from Ignatius Press ...

 ... available this fall:

• Francis: The Poor Man of Assisi, by Juliette Levivier. Francis of Assisi, one of the most famous and beloved saints, comes to life for young people in this addition to The Life of a Saint series. With vivid, four-color pictures on every page, the book shows Francis becoming a brother and friend to all- lepers, the poor, and animals too. The story begins with the saint's birth and joyful youth. After military service, imprisonment, and illness, Francis has a dramatic encounter with God. He then

gives up everything - even the clothes on his back - in order to follow Jesus in poverty and humility. Among the episodes in the life of Francis are the taming of the wolf of Gubbio and the first living Nativity scene. Also included is the conversion of Saint Clare, who was inspired by Francis to leave her life of luxury in order to give herself completely to the love of God. The simple but engaging text can be read independently by young readers or read aloud to small children. (In stock)

• Jesus in the Manger, by Maite Roche. Jesus in the Manger tells the story of Christ's birth to very young children. Warm and inviting illustrations with enchanting, interactive flaps help toddlers learn to recognize Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, as well as the angel Gabriel, Mary's house in Nazareth and the stable in Bethlehem. This engaging book will be enjoyed over and over again by little ones who will soon be telling the Christmas story themselves. Ages 2 years old and up. (Available October 2011)

• My First Pictures of Mary, by Maite Roche. This charming board book with rounded corners introduces toddlers to their Blessed Mother Mary with sweet, four-color pictures. Key moments in Mary's life are illustrated with one large picture and, on the opposing pages, several smaller pictures containing details from the scene. By pointing out and naming the pictures with a parent, even very young children can come to know and love Mary, the mother of Jesus. (Available October 2011)

• My First Pictures of Christmas, by Maite Roche. With sweet, four-color pictures, this board book with rounded corners introduces toddlers to the story of Christmas. Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the angels, and the wise men - all are illustrated with large, inviting pictures. On the opposing pages, are several smaller pictures with details from the scene: the donkey, the manger, the sheep, etc. By pointing out and naming the pictures with a parent, even very young children can come to know and love the Christmas story. (Available October 2011)

• The Catholic Bible for Children. From the creation of the world to the infancy of the Church, the important stories from both the Old and New Testament are vividly retold and illustrated for young people. Also included are chapters on the prophets and the psalms. In the back is a glossary of important people, places and objects, providing added information. (Available October 2011)

• Communion of Saints, by Katherine Sotnik. As with the other popular coloring books in this series, beautiful line drawings based on paintings by great masters grace every page. The holy men and women chosen for this volume are organized chronologically, beginning with the principal characters in the life of Christ, the four evangelists, and the early martyrs, followed by modern favorites such as Thérèse of Lisieux and Padre Pio. Each lovely image is accompanied by a brief and educational description of the saint's life. (Available in Fall 2011)

• A Pop-Up Advent Calendar with Booklet, by Maite Roche. This brightly illustrated Advent calendar changes day by day into a multi-dimensional Nativity scene. Beginning the first of December and continuing through the big feasts of the Christmas Season, children can open a window each day to reveal a new detail or a new character of the Nativity scene. A small booklet accompanies the calendar, providing the family with instructions, Scripture quotes, meditations and prayers. On each page is something to inspire all the members of the family. (Available October 2011)

The four sins of public education ...

... argued Russell Kirk, are "equalitarianism, technicalism, progressivism, and egotism"

That leveling spirit, that democratic movement which, although often termed particularly American, really is the spirit of this age throughout the world, is not to be resisted. Although there is much confusion over the terms "democracy" and "republican" and "freedom," and much foolish talk of the infallibility of the demos, this soldier and his contemporaries are democrats. It is to be hoped, however, that our democracy has become mature enough to begin to level up rather than down. We have long been tending to reduce our educational problem to the lowest common denominator. In our anxiety to make equal those whom God created unequal, we have been as industrious, although not as successful, as was Colonel Colt. We have tried to explain the learning of the ages in terms comprehensible to the dullest little boy from the East Side; that little boy is unable to understand Homer; so Homer is not taught. A prejudice has arisen against brilliant teachers deserving the satire of Swift; a teacher, it is said, must not rise above the level of his pupils, or they will not understand him; therefore a teacher must be found as dull as the dull little boy. Now all this is most generous toward the dull little boy; but too often he is not sufficiently appreciative, and remains dull as ever, while his classmates, out of boredom, descend to his level. It does no harm for a teacher to lecture in a tone somewhat lofty for his average pupil; the dull student gains something, the average student is stirred to curiosity, and the intelligent student is pleased. This soldier never learned anything from men who came down to his level; admiration of knowledge, followed by emulation, is more effective. We talk of education for leadership; but actually we educate for mediocrity. It is better to increase the knowledge of one average boy by ten degrees than to increase that of two dull boys by one degree.

That is from a 1945 (!) article, "A Conscript on Education," published in The South Atlantic Quarterly, and now available on The Imaginative Conservative website, courtesy of Dr. Brad Birzer.

Benedict XVI and Germany, yesterday and tomorrow

Samuel Gregg, author and Research Director at the Acton Institute, has two good pieces out today about Pope Benedict XVI. The first, on NRO's The Corner (ht: Steve C.) is about the fifth anniversary of the Holy Father's address at Regensburg:

 To say that Benedict XVI's Regensburg lecture was one of this century's pivotal speeches is probably an understatement. It's not every day a half-hour lecture generates mass protests and is subject to hundreds of learned (and not-so-learned) analyses for weeks on end.

In retrospect, however, we can see Regensburg taught us many things. Leaving aside the response of parts of the Middle East, reactions elsewhere underscored most Western intellectuals' sheer ineptness when writing about religion. One well-known American Jesuit, for instance, opined that Regensburg illustrated how Benedict hadn't yet transitioned from being a theologian to pope — as if popes should only deliver the type of banal poll-tested addresses we expect from most politicians.

More seriously, Regensburg shattered the inconsequential niceties that had hitherto typified most Catholic-Muslim discussions. Instead of producing more happy-talk, Benedict indicated that such conversations could no longer avoid more substantial, more difficult questions: most notably, how Christianity and Islam understand God's nature. Regensburg reminded us that it matters whether God is essentially Logos (Divine Reason) or Voluntas (Pure Will). The first understanding facilitates civilizational development, true freedom, and a complete understanding of reason. The second sows the seeds of decline, oppression, and unreason.

But perhaps above all, Regensburg asked the West to look itself in the mirror and consider whether some of its inner demons reflected the fact that it, like the Islamic world, was undergoing an inner crisis: one which was reducing Christian faith to subjective opinion, natural reason to the merely measurable, and love to sentimental humanitarianism. The West, Benedict suggested, was in the process of a closing of its own mind.

Read the entire post, "Benedict at Regensburg: Why It Still Matters". The second piece, "Benedict Among the Germans", is on the American Spectator site, and looks at the Pope's upcoming trip to his native Germany:

In one sense, the Church is extremely present in everyday German life. It is after all one of Germany's biggest employers. Amply funded by a church tax levied on all Germans who identify themselves as Catholic, the Church runs thousands of educational institutions, hospitals, retirement homes, foreign aid programs, and so on.

It has, however, also become heavily bureaucratized -- something to which Benedict alludes in his interview-book Light of the World. Nor is it clear what distinguishes many German Catholic institutions from those of a more secularist bent. Moreover, by no means do all the people working in the Church's numerous agencies profess to be faithful Christians.

Some years ago, Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne openly wondered why the German Church employed so many people who were at best indifferent, if not quietly hostile, to Christian belief and evangelization. For asking this commonsense question, Meisner was pilloried by the secular press and assorted celebrity-theologians.

From this standpoint, bureaucratization is symptomatic of a deeper malaise in German Catholicism. And that problem boils down to one thing: a failure on the part of many German Catholics to teach the Catholic faith because of the distance they've put between themselves and the truth-claims of that faith.

Anyone who reads German theological journals will tell you that much of Germany's Catholic theological establishment sits rather loosely towards orthodox Catholicism. Much of it seems more intent on deconstructing that faith than illuminating its principles.

It's also true that they and many other German Catholics are now essentially liberal Protestants in the way they view Christianity and the world. And liberal Protestantism is, as the legal historian Harold J. Berman (himself a mild Baptist) once wrote, merely one step away from agnosticism.

Read the entire article. I, for one, am looking forward very much to Benedict's addresses in Germany.

For further reading:

• Biography of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI
• Jesus of Nazareth (Part 2)
• Other Recent Books by Pope Benedict XVI
• All books by or about Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI
• Excerpts from books by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI
• Articles about Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI

Today is the fifth anniversary ...

... of Pope Benedict XVI's now famous lecture at the University of Regensburg, where he once taught theology—a lecture that is, I think it is safe to say, considered his most controversial and polarizing public utterance as pontiff.

But, in reflecting on what the Pope said five years ago, a few simple questions are in order for, well, anyone interested in the topic:

1. What is the Regensburg Address considered so controversial and, by some, so tone deaf and insensitive?
2. What did Benedict XVI actually say about Islam?
3. What, in a sentence or two, was the central thesis/point of the Address?
4. Who or what is criticized the most heavily in the Address? For what?
5. Have you actually read the Address?

Back in 2006, I posted liinks to some Ignatius Insight essays about the Address. Here they are:

Pope Benedict XVI, Regensburg, and Islam | Autumn 2006

• Pope Benedict XVI's Regensburg lecture | Vatican Website

• Is Dialogue with Islam Possible? Some Reflections on Pope Benedict XVI's Address at the University of Regensburg | Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.
Both before and since his elevation to the papacy, Benedict has taken a consistent approach to controversial issues: he locates the assumptions and fundamental principles underlying the controversy, analyzes their "inner" structure or dynamism, and lays out the consequences of the principles. Continue reading...

• The Regensburg Lecture: Thinking Rightly About God and Man | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
On September 12, on his visit to his native Bavaria, Benedict XVI gave a formal academic lecture at the University at which he formerly was a professor. It is a brilliant, stunning lecture, and it is a lecture, not a papal pronouncement. It brings into focus just why there is a papacy and why Catholicism is an intellectual religion. Indeed, it is a lecture on why reason is reason and what this means. The scope of this lecture is simply breathtaking, but also intelligible to the ordinary mind. Continue reading...

• Benedict Takes the Next Step with Islam | Mark Brumley
We're hearing calls for more dialogue with Islam in the wake of the uproar following Pope Benedict XVI's remarks at the University of Regensburg. Yet the uproar itself underscores the problem with such calls for dialogue. How can you talk seriously with people when they're apt to react violently as soon as you say something they don't want to hear? Continue reading...

• Ratzinger and Regensburg: On What Is a University? | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
The controversy over Benedict XVI's lecture at the University of Regensburg is not just about the status of truth in Islam. Rather at issue is the nature of a university. What happens there? The notion of state ministers and legislatures entering into this issue by their political methods, threatening this or that because of what is argued in a university, is itself a failure to grasp what a university is, let alone what a state is. Continue reading...

• The Price of Abandoning Reason | Dr. Jose Yulo
• Are Truth, Faith, and Tolerance Compatible? | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
• The Usual Suspects, the Usual Suspect Stuff | Carl E. Olson
• The Double Standard | Carl E. Olson
• The (False) Tale of Two Popes | Carl E. Olson
• Learn "History" From the MSM! | Carl E. Olson

IGNATIUSINSIGHT.COM ARTICLES ON RELATED TOPICS:

• On Reading the Pope | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• 9/11 Revisited | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• Tom Burnett: A Hero on Flight 93 | An interview with Deena Burnett, author of Fighting Back
• Martyrs and Suicide Bombers | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• On the Term "Islamo-Fascism" | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• Spartans, Traitors, and Terrorists | Dr. Jose Yulo
• Plato's Ring in the Sudan: How Freedom Begets Isolation of the Soul | Dr. Jose Yulo
• The Molochs of Modernity | Dr. Jose Yulo
• The Echo of Melos: How Ancient Honor Unmasks Islamic Terror | Dr. Jose Yulo
• Urban II: The Pope of the First Crusade | Régine Pernoud
• Crusade Myths | Thomas F. Madden
• Mistakes, Yes. Conspiracies, No. | The Fourth Crusade | Vince Ryan

9/11: Remembrance, Forgiveness, and Faith

Here is the opening of my "Opening the Word" column in today's edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper:

"To err is human," wrote Alexander Pope, "to forgive, divine." Alas, modern readers sometimes assume that "err" refers to an innocent mistake or laughable foible. But to err (from the Latin, errare) means to depart from moral truth, to spurn right action. Pope was making reference to this statement by St. Augustine: "To err is human, but to persist in error out of pride is diabolical."

This same truth is presented in today's reading from Sirach: "Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight." The text contrasts vengeance with forgiveness. It makes clear all men are sinners; the questions that follow are vital for everyone: Will I forgive those who have committed injustices against me? Will I seek pardon for my sins, knowing life is short and God is a just judge?

It is always challenging to hear this passage, but it is especially difficult to contemplate, I think, on the 10th anniversary of the violent attacks we now simply call 9/11. What took place that day was diabolical, even while the brave and selfless response of so many to the pain and death around them was dramatic and inspiring. The questions raised by such violence are painful and trying. How, in the face of such evil and destruction, can we forgive those who trespass against us, and who wish to destroy us? 

We can see why Pope would write that forgiveness is divine, for man's natural inclination is toward revenge and hatred. We might feel the same desire for retaliation when we are victims of a lie, treated unjustly, mocked for stating the truth or "crucified" for our beliefs. Of course, Jesus Christ was the victim of lies, was treated unjustly, was mocked for being the Truth and was crucified — literally. And yet the Savior cried out, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do" (Lk 23:34).

Read the entire column at OSV.com (subscription required).

Monsignor Charles Pope has an excellent homily/post on forgiveness and mercy.

Kathryn Jean Lopez has a good essay on Headline Bistro about 9/11 and faith:

God has the last word.

Of all the reflections made on and lessons taken from the September 11th attacks on the United States ten years ago, would it be presumptuous for me to suggest that this is the most important?

We won't ever fully make sense or have peace about what happened.  It was evil, what was done to those innocent Americans – to the men and women whose barbecued remains lingered in the Manhattan metropolitan air for days afterward, including in National Review's offices where I was that day, uncomfortably close to the site of the attacks.

But you didn't have to smell what I did or see the people hanging "Missing" signs on every available lamppost and wall where their loved ones might be recognized – what for many would only prove to be an early memorial to someone murdered that day. That coming together in the hours, days and weeks afterward had something to do with the shock of confrontation with evil that everyone within reach of that day's images felt. Some say we all changed that day.

But did we?

Prolific journalist Russell Shaw has an excellent article in Our Sunday Visitor newspaper about several different aspects of 9/11: "Sept 10, 2011: Ten Years Later, We Remember".

Peter Leithart, on FirstThings.com, argues, "The message of 9/11 was always this: The gods are still back, and they are here to stay." Meanwhile, Michael Novak, on NRO, contends, "Ten years after Sept. 11, 2001, the world has a different face, a wholly new (well, fairly ancient) set of problems, and above all, a new promise."

Five years ago, Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., wrote an excellent essay for Ignatius Insight, titled, "9/11 Revisited"; it is still a good and timely read. An snippet:

I argued from the very beginning that the attacks had already begun in the previous two decades with various bombings of ships, embassies, and aircraft in other places throughout the world, and that the driving motivation behind them was not secular, nor political, but religious. What was going on came from a theological understanding of Muslim purpose in the world. Even those Muslims, however few or many they be, who did not think that such means were the wisest ones to use, none the less, understood the legitimacy of the purpose behind them.

I further argued that, by not acknowledging this motivation, we, in a sense, did not do justice to what was going on; we did not, that is, do justice to the men who conceived and carried out the destructive plan. We thus wandered off into fields of explanation that were elaborate, sophisticated, "scientific," and often self-serving, but which did not correspond to what we were seeing, to what these men said of themselves. Basically, it seemed to me that by calling this a war on "terrorism" a war against "fanatics" or "madmen," we, in a real way, demeaned both our enemies and ourselves. We did not want to look in the eye of the real storm.

The USCCB has posted a piece, "A Time for Remembrance, Resolve and Renewal: Statement on the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11", authored by Archbishop Timothy Dolan President; it concludes:

This tenth anniversary of 9/11 can be a time of renewal.Ten years ago we came together across religious, political, social and ethnic lines to stand as one people to heal wounds and defend against terrorism.As we face today's challenges of people out of work, families struggling, and the continuing dangers of wars and terrorism, let us summon the 9/11 spirit of unity to confront our challenges.Let us pray that the lasting legacy of 9/11 is not fear, but rather hope for a world renewed.

In remembering the fateful events of September 11, 2001, may we resolve to put aside our differences and join together in the task of renewing our nation and world.Let us make our own the prayer of Pope Benedict XVI when he visited Ground Zero in New York in 2008:

O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain….

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

Amen.

There are many, many articles and essays about 9/11, and I'll probably add links on this post to more of them in the next day or so.

Abp. Charles J. Chaput: We bishops can be true bishops. Or "just empty husks"

This past Thursday, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Abp. Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap., was installed as Archbishop of Philadelphia. His homily is worth reading in its entirety, but here are a couple of highlights:

Along with a ring, two other symbols really define a bishop's ministry. The first is the pectoral cross that rests next to the bishop's heart. And Jesus tells us that if we want to be his disciples, we need to do three things (Mt 16:21-27): We need deny ourselves, we need to take up our cross, and we need to follow him. It's vitally important for the bishop to really believe this, and to live it, and to preach it, even when calling people to accept it is very difficult, because it's difficult to be faithful to the Gospel.

The second symbol is the crosier, which is a symbol of the shepherd. The Good Shepherd was the first image of Christian art created by the earliest disciples in the catacombs in Rome. One of first representations of Jesus we have is the Good Shepherd who carries a lamb on his shoulders. All of us, especially the people of Philadelphia, should keep that image in our hearts in the months ahead because the Good Shepherd really will bring the Church in Philadelphia through this difficult moment in our history to security and joy and a better future.

This installation today takes place in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. The word cathedral comes from the Greek word cathedra, which means "the chair." The cathedral is the church that houses the bishop's chair, which has always been seen as another key symbol of the bishop's role – in this case, his teaching authority. St. Augustine of Hippo, speaking in the 4th century captured the role of the bishop in these words. He said:

"Jerusalem had watchmen who stood guard . . . And this is what bishops do. Now, bishops are assigned this higher place" -- the bishop's chair in the basilica – "so that they themselves may oversee and, as it were, keep watch over the people. For they are called episkopos in Greek, which means 'overseer,' because the bishop oversees; because he looks down from [his chair] . . . And on account of this high place, a perilous accounting will have to be rendered [by the bishop] – unless we stand here with a heart such that we place ourselves beneath your feet in humility." ...

My dear brother bishops, it's crucial for those of us who are bishops not simply to look like bishops but to truly be bishops. Otherwise, we're just empty husks -- the kind of men St Augustine referred to when he said, "You say, 'He must be a bishop for he sits upon the cathedra.' True – and a scarecrow might be called a watchman in the vineyard." ...

This Church in Philadelphia faces very serious challenges these days. There's no quick fix to problems that are so difficult, and none of us here today, except the Lord Himself, is a miracle worker. But it's important to remember and to believe the Church is not defined by her failures. And you and I are not defined by our critics or by those who dislike us. What we do in the coming months and years to respond to these challenges – that will define who we really are. And in engaging that work, we need to be Catholics first, and always. Jesus Christ is the center of our lives, and the Church is our mother and teacher. Everything we do should flow from that.

Read the entire homily on Whispers in the Loggia, which also has video and photos.

Four Reasons the Works of Mercy Are Important

Four Reasons the Works of Mercy Are Important | Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R. | From the Introduction to What to Do When Jesus Is Hungry: A Practical Guide to the Works of Mercy | Ignatius Insight

Many good Catholics do not realize how important the works of mercy are in the daily living of the Christian life. Let us begin, then, by looking at a number of reasons why the works of mercy help us to live the gospel more fully.

Love Demands Them

The works of mercy are important because they connect the love of neighbor with the love of God. In the Gospels, our Lord was asked the question, "What is  the first of all the commandments?" (Mk 12:28; Mt 22:34-40; Lk 10:25-28) This was apparently a major theological question of the day, one which was hotly debated! The rabbis (teachers) and the scribes (religious lawyers) had gone through the Old Testament writings and various other legislative documents and come up with 613 precepts that had to be obeyed. The debate focused on which of these was the most important. The various scribes who put this question to Jesus were looking for only one answer. Our Lord, however, gave two commandments. Quoting one of them from the Book of Deuteronomy (6:5), he said: "You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment" (Mt 22:37-38). That was the only answer the scribe was looking for, but our Lord went further. Quoting from Leviticus (19:18), he added: "And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Mt 22:39-40). What our Lord is teaching us here is that we cannot separate the love of God from the love of our neighbor. One without the other is incomplete. They must go together, as we shall see elsewhere in the New Testament.

The Eucharist Calls Us to Charity

The second reason we must perform the works of mercy is because the Holy Eucharist, which is "the source and summit of the Christian life" as the Second Vatican Council described it, moves us from sacramental union with Christ in his Eucharistic Body to union with Christ in his Mystical Body, in the least of his brothers and sisters.

Continue reading on Ignatius Insight...

If a tree branch falls in an imaginary forest, who hears it?

Here's a rather curious description from a news report from UPI:

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A former Catholic priest's plans to convert a small chapel into a large center near the Pennsylvania field where United Flight 93 crashed worries critics.

Bishop Alphonse Mascherino, who now serves with a branch of the Catholic Church not recognized by the Vatican, wants to move the former Lutheran church he converted into a Flight 93 shrine closer to the planned national memorial. The center would include an auditorium, conference rooms, museum and gift shop, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. [puzzled emphasis added]

Is that most similar to:

• A branch of the U.S. government not recognized by the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court?
• A player for the New England Patriots not signed by the team or known to Coach Bill Belichick?
• A member of U2 who doesn't play or travel with the band and has never met Bono?
• A tree branch that lies on the ground and is no longer attached to the tree, but insists everything is "Just fine!"?

So, the reporter first describes Mascherino as a former Catholic priest, but then says he serves in a "branch of the Catholic Church", which would not be former, but current. Huh? In fact, Mascherino apparently was a Catholic priest for over thirty years before leaving and joining the schismatic North American Old Roman Catholic Church, which is not in communion with the Catholic Church (the one founded by Christ, with the Pope and such) in which he now serves as a "bishop". As a September 2009 article in The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, PA) reported:

His acceptance as a bishop in the Old Roman Catholic Church "severs his ties with the Roman Catholic Church," said a news release from Bishop Joseph Vellone of the Old Roman Catholic Church.

Goodness, I'm so glad that has been clarified. Now I need to get back to learning the chords for "With or Without You" while waiting for a call from Bono...

Overstepping the mark? There is no mark!

Although Britain doesn't yet have that farcical thing known as  "gay marriage", it does have "civil partnerships", and now there is a push for laws forcing churches to administer, celebrate, and otherwise support the same:

Christian churches must be banned from performing any marriages if they refuse to hold civil partnerships ceremonies for gay couples, a Conservative MP has demanded.

Mike Weatherley has urged the Prime Minister to show no toleration to churches which turn away gays and lesbians who seek to marry in their premises.

The Hove and Portslade MP has in turn been criticised by Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel and Brighton for "over-stepping the mark".

The Catholic Herald piece (ht: Sandra Miesel) adds:

The law must instead be changed to compel churches to register civil partnerships, said Mr Weatherley, whose constituency near Brighton which has one of the highest numbers of gay couples in civil partnerships in the country.

He told Mr Cameron to follow a precedent he suggested had been set by laws compelling 11 Catholic adoption agencies to assess gay couples as potential adopters and foster parents, although most of them have either since closed or left the control of the church.

Mr Weatherley said that the alternative would be to surrender to a "messy compromise" in which gays would remain the victims of inequality.

"I am becoming increasingly concerned about the inequality which exists between the unions of same-sex couples and those of opposite-sex couples in this country," he said in his letter.

"As long as religious groups can refuse to preside over ceremonies for same-sex couples, there will be inequality," he said.

"Such behaviour is not be tolerated in other areas, such as adoption, after all."

And the killer quote: "He added that until 'we untangle' marriage from religion 'we will struggle to find a fair arrangement'." Where does it stop? Well, it doesn't really stop at all. Until, I suppose, the entire facade of a post-Christian society build on the sand of political-correctness and the crowning of craven immorality as virtuous and necessary completely collapses.

One does not have to be apocalyptically-minded to ask: What other end can there be to such self-destructive madness?

"Each Person Is An Icon Of God"

This is a section from an essay, "The Liberating Truth of Catholic Teaching on Sexual Morality", written nearly thirty years ago by Dr. William E. May for Homiletic & Pastoral Review; I think it expresses very concisely and beautifully some of the Church's positive beliefs about what it means to be truly human:

Every human person, moreover, is called to a life of friendship with God himself. God made us to be the kind of beings capable of sharing his own inner life, and to enable us actually to receive this life God himself became, in the person of his only begotten Son, one with us and for us. He came to share in our humanity—a humanity that had, because of original sin, been wounded and rendered impotent even of receiving the gift for which it had been, by God's grace, originally created—precisely so that we might be actually capable of participating in his own divine life. In and through baptism we actually become children of God himself, members of his family, with the right to call him, in union with his only begotten Son Jesus Christ, "Abba," "Father." Thus we are to be his children, intimate members of his divine family, alive with his own life. This life begins in us in baptism, and it is to be fulfilled in the resurrection, when we become fully the persons we are meant to be. Thus it is that the Risen Lord Jesus is now the human being we are called to be. He is the "firstfruits of the dead," living now the life to which we are called and for which we are now capacitated because of him who is "our best and wisest friend.

To be a human being, therefore, is to be a being of incalculable worth, of irreplaceable value, of precious dignity. To be a human being, moreover, is to be a bodily being, living flesh. This means that to be a human being is to be a sexed being, for in the beginning "God created man in his own image . . . male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:27). Every living human body is a person, and every living human body is inescapably a male or a female person, a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, a boy-baby or a girl-baby (born or unborn; cf. Ps. 139:13-14; Luke 1:41-42). And every living human body, every human person, whatever its age or sex or race or condition, is a being of precious worth, irreplaceable and non-substitutable, a being that ought to be wanted. Every human person ought to be wanted precisely because we ought to want what is truly good and valuable, and every human being is, by virtue of being a "word" or icon of God himself, truly good and valuable.

This is the point emphasized by Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) in proposing what he calls the "personalistic norm": "This norm, in its negative aspect, states that the person is the kind of good which does not admit of use and cannot be treated as an object of use and as such the means to an end. In its positive form the personalistic norm confirms this: the person is a good towards which the only proper and adequate attitude is love."

Read the entire essay on the CatholicCulture.org website. Dr. May is the author and editor of several books, including Marriage: The Rock on Which the Family Is Built.