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INTER INSIGNIORESDeclaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (15 October 1976) Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith IntroductionThe Role Of Women In Modern Society And The ChurchAmong the characteristics that mark our present age, Pope John XXIII indicated, in his Encyclical "Pacem in Terris" of 11 April 1963, "the part that women are now taking in public life . . . This is a development that is perhaps of swifter growth among Christian nations, but it is also happening extensively, if more slowly, among nations that are heirs to different traditions and imbued with...

Race with the Devil From the Hell of Hate to the Well of Mercy By Joseph Pearce "A sound atheist cannot be too careful of the books that he reads." So said C. S. Lewis in his autobiographical apologia, Surprised by Joy. These words continue to resonate across the years that separate me from the bitterness of my past.  What is true of the atheist is as true of the racist, which is what I was. A hell of hatred consumed my youth. Eventually I stumbled out into the brilliance of Christian day, but, looking back along that path, I...

A Clash of Orthodoxies Robert P. George Copyright (c) 1999 First Things 95 (August/September 1999): 33-40.A few years ago, the eminent Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington published in Foreign Affairs a widely noted article called "The Clash of Civilizations." Looking at contemporary international relations from a geopolitical vantage point, he predicted a clash of the world’s major civilizations: the West, the Islamic world, and the Confucian East. Huntington’s article provoked a response from one of his own most brilliant former students—Swarthmore’s James Kurth. In an article in the National Interest entitled "The Real Clash," Kurth argued persuasively that the clash...

ON THE PSALMS OF COMPLINE Commentaries on Psalm 4, Psalm 90, and Psalm 133 by Damasus Winzen, O.S.B. ©1975 by Mt. Saviour Monastery, Pine City, NY 14871 Anybody who wants to write a theology of the everyday life, or wants to practice such a theology, will find a starting point in Psalm 3, verse 6: "I lie down to rest and I sleep. I wake, for the Lord upholds me." Nothing is more basic in our life than this daily lying down, surrendering, giving in, accepting the fact that without rest we are unable to continue with the business of...

Introduction V/.   Deus X in adjutórium méum inténde.R/.   Dómine, ad adjuvándum me festína.Glória Pátri, et Fílio, *    et Spirítui Sáncto. Sicut érat in princípio, et nunc, et sémper, *    et in sæcula sæculórum.  Ámen. V/.   O God, X come to my assistance.R/.   O Lord, make haste to help me.Praise the Fáther, the Són, and the Holy Spírit    bóth now ánd foréver. The God Who ís, Who wás, and ís to come    at the énd of the áges.  Amén. A brief examination of conscience is made, followed by an act of contrition such as: Confíteor Deo omnipoténti...

Did the Church Fathers Believe in Sola Scriptura?by Joseph Gallegos William Webster in an essay titled "Sola Scriptura and the Early Church" has attempted to transform the early Church Fathers into proponents of sola Scriptura. In my contribution in Not by Scripture Alone (Santa Barbara:Queenship,1997) Chapter 8 and the Appendix, I delineate three approaches used by Protestant apologists in defending sola Scriptura in patristic thought. Mr. Webster has chosen the third approach; equating sola Scriptura with the material sufficiency of Scripture. Mr. Webster writes: "The Reformation was responsible for restoring to the Church the principle of sola Scriptura, a principle...

I Know Nothing!Anti-Catholicism and the Know-NothingsIn the early part of the 19th century a group of Americans who were opposed to the immigration of Irish and German Catholics in the United States formed a secret society officially known as the Order of United Americans. Whenever a member was asked about the group, he would say, "I know nothing." Thus they became known as the "Know-Nothings." They accepted into their group only native-born Protestants who were unrelated to Catholics either by blood or marriage. Their movement to stop the flood of Catholic immigrants is known as nativism.New Vatican in Ohio? By...

Orémus Pro Pontífice V/. Orémus pro Pontífice     nostro Joánne Paulo.R/. Dóminus consérvat eum,     et vivíficet eum,     et beátum fáciat eum in terra,     et non tradat eum     in ánimam inimicórum ejus. V/. Let us pray for our Pope     John Paul!R/. May the Lord preserve him,     and give him life,     and make him blessed upon the earth,     and not hand him over     to the will of his enemies.   Long Live the Pope! Long live the Pope! His praises sound Again and yet again: His rule is over space and time; His throne the hearts of men: All hail! the Shepherd King...

Psalm 119 (120) To the Lord in the hour of my distress I call and He answers me. "O Lord, save my soul from lying lips, from the tongue of the deceitful." What shall He pay you in return, O treacherous tongue? The warrior's arrow sharpened and coals, red-hot, blazing. Alas, that I abide a stranger in Meshech, dwell among the tents of Kedar! Long enough have I been dwelling with those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for fighting. †   1 Peter 3:15-17 Beloved: Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts....

Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas Before Mass Almighty, everlasting God, behold, I approach the sacrament of your Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I receive the Bread of angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords with humble reverence, with purity of faith, with...

Exorcismus in satanam et Angelos apostaticos (Rit. Rom. Tit. XI, Cap. III) Sequens exorcismus recitari potest ab Episcopis, nec non a Sacerdotibus, qui ab Ordinariis suis ad id auctoritatem habeant. In nómine Patris, et Fílii, et Spíritus Sancti. Amen. Ad S. Michaelem Archangelum Precatio Princeps gloriosíssime cæléstis milítiæ, sancte Míchael Archángele, defénde nos in prœlio advérsus príncipes et potestátes, advérsus mundi rectóres tenebrárum harum, contra spirituália nequítiæ, in cæléstibus. Veni in auxílium hóminum; quos Deus ad imáginem similitúdinis suæ fecit, et a tyránnide diáboli emit prétio magno. Te custódem et patrónem sancta venerátur Ecclésia; tibi trádidit Dóminus ánimas redemptórum in...

This article appears in the April 2002 issue of Culture Wars magazine.Pedophilia and Kulturkampf: the Consequences of Just Saying Yes to the Culture of Appetite Andrew Sullivan The recent pedophilia case in Boston is instructive for those who want to understand how Kulturkampf works in a culture where media orchestrated appetite followed by media orchestrated opinion is the main instrument of control. Every system of control needs a cadre of commissars, those who have internalized the commands of the regime to the extent that they want to impose them on others. Some people do this because their guilty consciences compel...

Is Christianity Just for Women and Sissies?byMike Dodaroa review ofThe Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity. By Leon J. Podles.Spence. 288 pages. $27.95 The Church Impotent is not one more wearisome tract about goddess worship at convocations of pseudo-Christian organizations. This book is a scholarly analysis of an appallingly misconstrued metaphorical theology beginning as early as the 13th century and continuing through the medieval period, the Reformation, and into the present, all within presumably orthodox Christianity. The author has done his research diligently, and page by page he documents literary imagery that in its milder forms makes men squeamish and...

The St. Gabriel Possenti Society promotes the public recognition of St. Gabriel Possenti, including his Vatican designation as Patron Saint of Handgunners.St. Gabriel Possenti was a Catholic seminarian whose marksmanship and proficiency with handguns single-handedly saved the village of Isola, Italy from a band of 20 terrorists in 1860. The Possenti Society offers a variety of publications related to St. Gabriel Possenti and a biblical understanding of self-defense.Read how St. Gabriel Possenti's marksmanship with a handgun saved the village of Isola, Italy in 1860 from a band of marauding soldiers in "The Savior of Isola".

"...THROUGH A BROKEN HEART MAY LORD CHRIST ENTER IN" The Long Conversion of Oscar Wilde by Andrew McCracken Andrew McCracken is head of the Library Department and teaches Church history at Notre Dame Regional Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia. I am not a Catholic," said Oscar Wilde. "I am simply a violent Papist." The wittiest man of his time drew this clever distinction for a Catholic friend in Rome. Another of Wilde's left handed compliments to Catholicism was his dictum that, of all religions, Catholicism is the only one worth dying in. Wit was Wilde's art, and true ...

Personent Hodie (From Piæ Cantiones 1582; German 12th century arr. Holst) Personent hodie Voces puerulæ, Laudantes jucunde Qui nobis est natus, Summo Deo datus, Et de vir, vir, vir, Et de vir, vir, vir, Et de virgineo ventre procreatus. (The voices of boys ring out pleasantly today in praises of him who is born for us, the gift of God, born of a Virgin's womb.)In mundo nascitur, Pannis involvitur, Præsepi ponitur Stabulo brutorum, Rector supernorum. Perdidit, dit, dit, Perdidit, dit, dit, Perdidit spolia princeps infernorum. (The ruler of heaven is born into the world, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in ...

Is This Any Way to Count Ballots? We at Curmudgeonry Central Say NO! That's why we have gone to great expense and effort to create this foolproof, electronic ballot for Palm Beach County, Florida. You are sure to appreciate the advanced security features of this ballot: · At most one candidate can be chosen, eliminating those invalidating double-punches! · No hanging chads, pregnant chads, or dimpled chads - in fact no chads at all! · Confirmation required before a vote is recorded - the voter can retry until he gets it right! · Special helps and hints to aid confused ...

E! Online news Rats! PETA Slams Survivor XXX_caption_here_XXX--> June 16, 2000 — Survivor might be the hottest show on the tube right now, but don't count the folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals among the fans. About a dozen picket-wielding, slogan-shouting PETA types protested outside CBS' New York headquarters to, calling for the network to shut down its monster-rated reality soap opera because it shows cruelty to animals--particulary rats. Demonstrators chanting "rats have rights!" and "survive on veggies!" even brought along their own pro-vegetarian mascot, Rosie the Rat, an activist dressed in a giant rodent suit, ...

The State v. Christian Culture October 21, 1999 In most times and places of which history has some record, it has been taken for granted that the duty of a good ruler is to govern in accordance with the customs and morals — what we now call the “culture” — of his people. Even the cruelest tyrants have usually been preoccupied with nothing more than advancing their own personal interests and appetites. They may violate the commonly accepted morality of their societies; they may murder, torture, rape, and rob; but they seldom try to change that morality. Breaking the ...

Vote in Your Underwear by Lindsey Arent 3:00 a.m. 2.Nov.1999 PST Tracy Westen's ideal Election Day is to wake up, eat breakfast, stroll over to his PC, and vote. Westen, president of the election information Web site DNet, thinks voters should be able to receive all of the information they need about candidates and the issues from key political information portals, then cast their ballots from home. See also: FEC Rules, Campaigns Drool "If you can buy a yacht on the Net, you can vote on the Net," said Westen, who is also president of the Center for Governmental Studies, ...