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Seeing as I live several thousand miles from Austria, I’m not really sure what you’re getting at. I have heard of some scandolous activities involving an Austrian seminary before, so it’s not like you’re the first to break this shocking news...Do you want the LA Archdiocese to be condemning that seminary? The pope? me? I’m sure I could find some scandalous story involving some group that you would call Christian somehwere on the globe. By the way, since you seem fond of the ad hominem attack approach, I should point out, Padre, that I think Jesus said something about calling no man padre in the bible.

Your polemics are interesting. You word your sentence to imply that a whole generation of priests needed correcting and then say it was just a tiny subset. That subset is definitely being corrected now (just ask those many priests who are in jail or worse) and dioceses are paying out their ears and letting themselves be raked by litigation (probably correct in doing so, but I’m no insider). The situation is not being excused and those clergy still living are being corrected as far as I can see.

In response to your earlier comment - in no way did I basically say one should be ashamed of scripture. I said you should be ashamed of yourself and you are not Scripture. Incidentally (I’m not sure if you’ve ever taken a logic course) you posited yourself as being incapable of error in interpreting scripture. Habemus papam!

If that’s supposed to be some sort of subtle shot at Catholicism in support of sola scriptura you should be ashamed of yourself. It should be pointed out that if a “plain reading of the Holy Bible” was followed universally no one would ever sin, but unfortunately things don’t always work out that way. So if you’re one of those people that Jesus mentioned who have never sinned, go right ahead and keep throwing stones. Otherwise, keep your ideological stones to yourself while Catholics are in the process of healing and growth.

I’m very curious for some references to good resources that provide an apologetic of the Church in the Galileo controversy...Please offer your insights.

And in case you were curious. The five mysteries of that wonderful 21st century innovation that is prayed by Catholics all over the world are:

The Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan
The Wedding Feast at Cana
The Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Call to Conversion
The Transfiguration
The Institution of the Eucharist

His late and great Holiness, Pope John Paul II was inspired to add a mystery that focused on Christ’s public ministry - thus we are blessed with the option of praying the Mysteries of Light or the Luminous mysteries.

I hope you try it out eastforker. My college roommate who was a solid and very well-educated Calvinist began “experimenting” when his girlfriend (now wife) had become an agnostic. He was ready to call off the relationship, but thought he would try a rosary or two as a last ditch effort and Mary came through for him!

FYI, SLU is my alma mater (2005) and His Grace, Archbishop Burke, is a friend and sponsored my entry into seminary. Not that you all need to be convinced, but he is a great, noble, holy and, above all, humble man.

This insight might help: I’m not sure if Glennon is officially a part of Saint Louis University Hospital, but it is on the same campus as SLU’s medschool and the hospital and I think is even structurally attached. HOWEVER, SLU’s current president Fr. Biondi SJ and, I believe, Archbishop Rigali (now Cardinal)came to an extremely tense head-to-head when Fr. Biondi went ahead and sold the hospital to a secular conglomerate a decade or so ago. Thus, while SLU hospital still carries the name of the Jesuit university it is only loosely affiliated with the school but no longer a Catholic hospital. I’m guesssing, then, that His Grace has no direct authority to control Glennon like he cannot control its partner SLU hospital.

Interestingly enough, Roman Catholicism has been growing healthily in Sweden for years now. Not only the influx of Eastern Europeans, but the Lutheran state Church has become such a pathetic tool of the hyper-liberal establishment that any Swedish conservative in academia has little choice but to cross the Tiber.

Maybe you're more up on the Shroud circuit than myself, but there's been plenty of new discoveries that throw the carbon-dating of the late 80s/early 90s completely into question. Namely, the samples they carbon dated were most likey portions of the shroud that had been repaired and rewoven in the 13th or 14th century after it was severely damaged. That being said, there still remain a good number of issues that ought be resolved by the the "medieval fraud" camp (the presence of pollen particles produced only by middle eastern plants, how backwards medievalers produced a photographic negative, etc). Don't get me wrong, my faith would remain unchanged were the Shroud CONVINCINGLY debunked, but it hasn't been.

Oh. I didn't realize you were the explicit-Bishop-naming-and-bashing type. While I may strongly disagree with certain bishops, I tend to think the Pope and the Holy Spirit might have higher reasons for putting them in charge than what my feeble mind can fathom. All that to say, this conversation probably won't go much further. (cause of the feeble mind and what not)

That's great that those anglican bishops you mentioned really really want to fully adhere to Christ's Truth and Church but can't because of a sacrifice they'd have to make. At the end of the day, if I truly "held the Catholic faith" but was not openly in communion with Rome I'd, by grace, give up any title, position, or way of life to make that a reality. Then I may try to persuade Church authorites ex post facto but my eternal destiny isn't something I'd mess around with.

"It is impossible for men such as this to inspire trust within people who hold the Catholic faith, but practice something other than standard-fare Irish-American Catholicism." While I might hesitate before throwing myself into the defense of His Eminence, Cardinal Mahoney, I think you're naive generalizations concerning His Grace, Archbishop Burke are frustrating. Perhaps you know him just as well as I do, but he inspired great trust in me personall y while I did my undergraduate work at SLU, and he did the same for countless friends of mine now in solid Catholic marriages, his seminary, or religious life. He wrote my recommendation to enter the seminary and he was greatly pained by what he was obligated by canon law to regularize with St. Stans. Unless you're a parishioner at St. Stan's who feels otherwise, I'd say you're not in a position to say much. Every orthodox Catholic I know in St. Louis realizes that the huff and puff over St. Stan's is just a straw-man rallying point for the heterodox, the libs, and anyone else looking for another reason to despise His Grace. But alas, reserving harsh judgements about individuals they don't know has never been the forte of most I've come across in the blogosphere. I'm sure I've been guilty of the same thus I haven't been much of a FR poster for years. This was somewhat of a random incursion on my part and probably won't be repeated any time soon.

A few things: Since you apparently are wiser than both the previous pontiff (r.i.p) and the current, I would suggest you contact Rome so they know that this 35 year endeavor supported fully by both John Paul II (probably a saint) and Benedict XVI (too soon to comment on his sanctity) is a waste of time...it's your Christian duty!

There is an Anglican Rite approved in certain dioceses, so I'm presuming you're just disconcerted about its limited availability. Do you know of bishops explicity opposed to the Anglican Rite in their diocese?

Lastly, if they're interested in "nothing" more than their own rite, they should not be allowed in the Church. An interest in Truth would put correct mariology, ecclesiology (qua papal authority), and moral theology far above liturgical tastes in their order of priorities. I know plenty of Catholics who line up perfectly on all the Church's moral teachings but have whack (although not theologically heretical) liturgical tastes, shall we grant them their own rite too?

Although there's some sarcasm here, I pose this all in charity and mainly enjoy the give and take of good logical dialectic. After all, I'm a seminarian so I'm not allowed to be uncharitable ;)

While its far from perfect as a Catholic university, Saint Louis University (my alma mater) has outstanding engineering programs. It's hard to say how much it is moving in the right direction, but this year the Vagina Monologues were barred according to my sources in the K of C council down there. The K of C, students for life and a handful of our other orthodox Catholic groups comprise quite a force in a strictly orthodox sub-culture. Basically, if your son can handle living amongst a diversity of "religious" views and maintain his faith, he'd be fine and would greatly benefit from the school of engineering (Parks College). Admission is fairly competitive (SLU and Fordham are roughly tied for 4th best Catholic university in most secular rankings). For what it's worth, I'm currently in a major seminary so the Jesuits must be doing a few things right!

Not to be a sore thumb, but in defense of the Vatican and also curious to hear some answers to this question, isn't an all out war perhaps a little over-the-top against 3 soldiers being kidnapped? Is the FR consensus that the governments of the attacked "nations" Palestine and Lebanon actually could free these soldiers from their military wings if they really wanted to?

This strikes me as a total copout by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In Catholicism, the act of teaching an unorthodox doctrine and simultaneously claiming to be a Catholic Christian is what gets you excommunicated. What the Archbishop is doing is saying he will allow people to believe virtually whatever they want so long as they keep calling themselves Anglican.

With any luck, AI will now be purged from Catholic campuses nationwide and those students who join with the best intentions will now direct their attention and time to more worthwhile endeavors.

I mean this in utmost Christian charity: Would you just give up and become Catholic already?! I can't tell you how painful it is to watch the Anglican Communion rot away.

Per the lack of evidence of Roman Petrine authority in the Ancient Church, I'd cite St. Irenaues of Lyons (although there are others, he is the most clear).

From, "Against the Heresies III, Preface - 4.2

“To enumerate the successions of all the churches woudl take up too much space in a volume of this kind. But in order to put to shame all those who in any way, either through self-conceit, or through vainglory, or through blind and evil opinion, gather as they should not, I need only cite of that very great, most ancient and universally known church founded and established at Rome by those two most glorious apostles Peter and Paul and draw attention to the tradition which that church has received from the apostles and to the faith it preaches which has come down to our time through the succession of bishops. For in view of the outstanding pre-eminence of this church, there cannot be any disagreement between it and every other church (that is, the faithful in every place) – every church, that is, in which men in every place have at all times preserved the apostolic tradition.”

The Roman Catholic Hammer has thundered! I don't know anything about this case in particular, but I like seeing the Catholic majority on the court acting in unision. Let's hope they keep it up!

Seems like an appropriate time to let the freeper world know that I've just finished my autobiography eyeing acceptance to St. Paul Seminary (for Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis) next fall. Please keep me in your most vigilant prayers.
In Christo per Mariam,
Erik