Silencing the critics

From Catholic Exchange:

Young Ratzinger Resisted Hitler Youth Membership
Saturday, July 29, 2006 12:00:00 AM GMT

German historical records have confirmed that the young Joseph Ratzinger-- the future Pope Benedict XVI -- was enrolled in the Hitler Youth movement against his will.

The German historian Volker Laube, researching the archives of Sankt Michael seminary in Bavaria, has concluded that the young Ratzinger resisted the pressure to enter the Hitler Youth movement. Laube was commissioned as an independent investigator by the Munich archdiocese, in response to public questions about the Pope's youthful affiliation.

The results of Laube's inquiry, based primarily on the records of the little Sankt Michael seminary in Traunstein, Bavaria, will soon be available in Germany in book form. The German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung has released a story based on an early draft.

The seminary records show that in April 1938, financial support was withdrawn from students who were not members of Hitler Youth. The archdiocese then requested, and received, tuition payments from the Ratzinger family.

In 1939, membership in Hitler Youth became obligatory for all young Germans. Joseph Ratzinger was then 12 years old, but when he reached his 14th birthday he was formally incorporated into the movement. The records show that he was marked as Zwangs-Hitlerjunge--- a young member enrolled under the universal policy-- rather than Stamm-Hitlerjunge, a volunteer.

The Bavarian seminary archives thus confirm what Church officials had indicated before and after the election of Benedict XVI as Roman Pontiff: that he had been enrolled in the Hitler Youth involuntarily. In August 1943, he was pushed a step further, and enlisted as an auxiliary to work in an anti-aircraft unit. Eventually the future Pope would desert his military unit and make his way home, where he was taken into custody by advancing Allied troops as World War II neared its end.

The independent investigation, and the opening of the Munich seminary archives, required the Pope's personal consent. Ordinarily, archives are kept secret until 30 years after the death of the individuals concerned.

The investigation sheds new light on the comments that Pope Benedict made during his May 28 visit to Auschwitz, where he remarked that many German people "had been exploited and deceived by a group of criminals" in the Nazi regime. Suddeutsche Zeitung comments that the Pope's words might represent "the memory of what the young Joseph Ratzinger lived through" during his youthful experience in Bavaria.

Not surprisingly, the Sankt Michael seminary archives also reveal that Joseph Ratzinger was an outstanding student.

Donohue on Colbert

Stephen Colbert has gained quite a bit of notoriety among Catholic bloggers for his common references to his Catholic faith on his Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report.

Earlier this week the man who recited the entire Nicene Creed on his show brought Catholic League president William Donohue on as a guest. The interview below has become an instant classic.

the latest on Baby Luukas

Luukas continues to show small signs of progress and hope. This little guy is a big example of what prayer and Christian charity can do. How many people can say that they have united people from around the world in prayer? I would venture to say that it its not too many. . . pretty impressive for a newborn child in Finland.

From his mom:

Just came back from a doctor's routine check-up. As we had already known, Luukas' physical state is all right, and even more than before, because his lungs are better. The doctor said something about his being more prone to pneumonia and too weak coughing, but I don't know where her "knowledge" came from as she doesn't see Luukas daily and we know he coughs, and since his lungs are now ok, it should mean he coughs enough, right? Hopefully she said only what she had read in the doctors' statement from last month, and besides she added that she can't really know because she usually doesn't deal with babies like Luukas.

And as for Luukas' brain. Well, babies at his age usually keep eye-contact and smile. And the doctor said so. So we can pray that Luukas does that some day.

But we have noticed recently that he pays attention (stops crying, opens his eyes wider) to sounds like running water or a beep made by a rubber duck. That is brain activity, isn't it?

To read more about Luukas' story type his name into the search box in the sidebar.

Reflection on this past Sunday's readings

Heart, Mind & Strength has a good reflection on this past Sunday's readings.

Check out this week's Catholic Carnival at Alabama Improper

Something I wrote

About once every two or three years I have moment of creativity during which something worthwhile comes forth. The following is the product of one such moment which occured today. If you like it, be sure to check back around July 2008, maybe I'll having something new.

In the silence,
A moment of doubt;
Wondering what the future holds.

I hear a voice,
"Come follow me now,
I am the God of all ages,
The Lord on high."

On the narrow,
I stumble and fall;
Obstacles rise up before me.

I hear a voice,
"Come follow me now,
I am the Guide of the true path,
The Lord on high."

In the darkness,
Nothing to be seen;
Reaching for what might be there.

I hear a voice,
"Come follow me now,
I am the Light of the whole world,
The Lord on high."

On the journey,
So many questions;
Pondering what it means to be.

I hear a voice,
"Come follow me now,
I am the one and great I AM,
The Lord on high."

communion patens making a comeback

At least in the local parish they are. I happened to attend the 5:00 pm Mass at the local parish tonight. I normally attend the university parish in town but decided to go to St. Joseph's tonight. Before Mass the priest highlighted an announcement in the bulletin concerning altar server training. He asked that anyone interested in being an altar server and all existing altar servers attend the training in order to learn to use the communion patens that will be returned to use in the parish!

I was very happy to hear that the local parish is taking this step in the right direction. My parish doesn't use patens for communion, actually I've only been to one Mass anywhere when they were. I currently receive in the hand even though I would prefer to receive on the tongue. However, I'm always nervous about the consecrated host falling without the safety net of a paten. I do try to be very careful to check my hands for any stray particles. Maybe the return of patens for communion will catch on, or already be standard wherever I move next, and I won't have this problem.

Pope calls for day of prayer and penance for peace on Sunday

Pope Benedict XVI has called on people of all religious faiths "to implore God for the precious gift of peace" in dedicating Sunday, July 23 as a day dedicated to penance and prayers for peace in the Middle East.

Specifically the pope has urged for prayers for

• an immediate cease-fire between the sides
• the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to bring aid to the suffering people
• the start of reasonable and responsible negotiations so as to end the objective situations of injustice in that region.
  

A good read....

Check out Annabel's post Trust Me at My Journey Into the Catholic Faith. Also be sure to read Greg Long's comments at the bottom of the post.

I'm back and an update on Luukas

I am back from my trip east. Hopefully, I will know something on the possible job in the next few days.

I was very happy to see this update on Baby Luukas:

From his dad:

Thank you all for your continuing prayers Today we went to see the local midwife with him, and it was a very positive visit. He weighs already 4 kg which means that he has gained 60 g (2+ oz.) a day now that he is fed according to his own appetite, without the tube. The midwife also said that if she had not seen Luukas' papers, she would not suspect anything extraordinary.

The midwife also gave us a very simple picture - a yellow smiling "face" (two black dots as eyes and a black line as the smile) on a red background. Later, we put the picture at his bedside. When DW put him to the bed to sleep, he opened his eyes a bit and apparently saw the picture, because his eyes went wide open and he just stared at the picture for a few minutes, becoming very lively when he had previously been falling asleep. If I am not mistaken and not just imagining this all, it seems like a very sure sign of brain activity. Glory be to God and thank you all for your prayers Please keep up the good work!

I'm leavin' on a jet plane . . .

I will be leaving on Monday for a quick trip to the East coast for a job interview. I will be returning late Tuesday night.

Compendium online

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is now available online in English.

Thanks to Gerald at The Cafeteria is Closed for the link.

some props for Nebraska

From LifeSiteNews.com:

Nebraska Amendment Banning Gay "Marriage" Stands - Federal Appeals Court

The US Eighth Circuit Court in St. Louis has reversed a federal district court ruling and has reinstated an amendment to the state constitution protecting the institution of marriage.

The amendment ruled out not only the possibility of gay “marriage” but of recognition of “civil unions,” often proposed as a back door to legal equivalence.

It reads, “Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska. The uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska.”

U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Reaffirming National Motto: “In God We Trust”

This past Wednesday, July 12, the United States Senate unanimously passed resolution S. Con. Res. 96, which requests senators and all American citizens “To commemorate, celebrate, and reaffirm the national motto of the United States on the 50th anniversary of its formal adoption.”

The passage of the Senate resolution comes only a few days after a California federal trial judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by Michael Newdow challenging the constitutionality of the American national motto, "In God We Trust."

Co-sponsor of the resolution, Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, in bringing forward the resolution said that part of his motivation for so doing was that it is “important to reaffirm our traditions at a time when there are misguided court challenges to the fundamental principles that have been a part of America since its birth.”

Heartless

Austrian Doctor Threatened with Child-Support Payments after Birth of Disabled Child

VIENNA, Austria, July 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A doctor may be forced to pay lifetime child support for a girl born with Down’s syndrome, after the child’s mother said she would have aborted the girl if she had known about the disability in time, Fox News reported Wednesday.

The Austrian Supreme Court has ordered the Salzburg Provincial Court to consider the case, saying if the woman was not provided with sufficient details about a high-risk pregnancy, the doctor involved would be held financially responsible for the child’s care.

The doctor, who has not been named, advised his 31-year-old patient to have further tests done on her unborn child, but did not give her complete information on the risks, said Supreme Court official Ronald Rohrer. The mother did not discover her child’s condition until 10 weeks later, when she had passed the allowable time period for an abortion.

Her daughter, now nine years old, was born with a congenital condition known as Down’s syndrome that causes developmental delays, reduced learning capacity and physical problems.

Screening for chromosomal abnormalities is routinely suggested for pregnant women aged 35 or older, when pregnancy is considered to be higher-risk by the medical community, according to the U.S. National Institute of Health.

An expert from Vienna University, Gerhard Marschuetz, said the case could pressure doctors to treat all pregnancies in women over 30 as high-risk, the Kurier reported.

In a similar Canadian case in 2003, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ordered Dr. Ken Kan of Richmond to pay $325,000 to the parents of a Down’s syndrome child for “failing” to diagnose the girl’s disability before birth. The child’s mother, Lydia Zhang, said the birth of her daughter Sherry “totally disrupted our plans.” If she had known of the disability beforehand, she said, she would have aborted Sherry.

Emphasis mine

How can a person possibly so heartless?  I understand that having a child with a disability can be a difficult burden but who can have a heart so stone cold that they can look at their child and say, "I wish I would have aborted her"? 

Besides the obviously disturbing, one of the most alarming things about cases like this is that it could encourage doctors to be more liberal in recommending abortions in order to avoid having to pay for the child's care. 

Catholic content for your cell phone

I noticed a link for Catholic Mobile on New Advent.

Catholic Mobile has ringtones, wallpapers, and more for cell phones. You can subscribe to text messages including the daily Mass Gospel, daily saint, or daily prayer.

Of course all of the content has a cost associated with it. But I thought some of you (the 3 to 5 people who visit this blog) might be interested.

Old ways are hard lost

CNS STORY: African archbishop rebuked for seeking change to celibacy rule

African archbishop rebuked for seeking change to celibacy rule

Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, whose 2001 marriage to a Korean acupuncturist capped a long series of controversial actions, announced July 12 in Washington that he wants to change the Roman Catholic discipline on celibacy and "reconcile" an estimated 150,000 married priests worldwide with the church to allow them to resume priestly ministry.

Archbishop Milingo's announcement drew a sharp rebuke from church officials on both sides of the Atlantic.

"The Holy See has not yet received precise news about the aim of (the) visit to the United States of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, former archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia," said a July 13 statement from the Vatican press office.

"In any case, if the declarations that have been attributed to him about ecclesiastical celibacy turn out to be true, the only possibility would be to deplore them (the declarations), given the fact that the discipline of the church in this regard is quite clear," it said.

Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, in whose archdiocese Archbishop Milingo made his declaration, said, "His appearance in Washington has once again placed himself in opposition to the practice and teaching of the church on the matter of priestly celibacy." He added that Archbishop Milingo's involvement in a move to end the celibacy rule "comes as a surprise and is also a disappointment."

Archbishop Wuerl noted that "as recently as the Synod on the Eucharist in October 2005, bishops from all over the world reaffirmed again the value of celibacy and the significant place it has in the life of the church and her ministry."

Click link above for full story.

From reading the rest of the article it doesn't seem that this should necessarily be a "surprise".

Archbishop Milingo renounces his marriage and his brief alliance with Rev. Moon's movement in an August 2001 private audience with Pope John Paul II -- although in the CNS interview he said that he considered himself still married.

He was removed from public ministry once and "renounced" his ways to Pope John Paul II. Now he's back to his old ways it seems.

However, Archbishop Wuerl's statements seem to follow along the lines of the positive words I've seen about him lately.