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Will the Pope's Pronouncement Set Ecumenism Back a Hundred Years? Wednesday, 11 July 2007 Yesterday's Reuters headline: "The Vatican on Tuesday said Christian denominations outside the Roman Catholic Church were not full churches of Jesus Christ." The actual proclamation, posted on the official Vatican Web site, says that Protestant Churches are really "ecclesial communities" rather than Churches, because they lack apostolic succession, and therefore they "have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery." Furthermore, not even the Eastern Orthodox Churches are real Churches, even though they were explicitly referred to as such in the Vatican document...

In an act of jaw-dropping hubris, Pope Benedict Joseph Ratzinger recently declared Protestantism's churches "not true churches." In an effort to underscore the wisdom of such a position at this time, he then had his "document" signed by none other than Cardinal William Levada, a pro-gay, pro-pedophile, pro-molestation cleric hailing recently from San Francisco and Portland. Apparently hypocrisy is in abundant supply in the Vatican larder. Levada is one of the papal appointments that causes either great puzzlement about (or gives great insight into) this Pope's orientation. Fresh off of scandals in his previous appointments, Levada received one of the...

The numbers tell the story. Time magazine wanted to talk theology with Mel Gibson recently on the set of The Passion, his new movie depicting the last hours of Christ. Asked what he thought about the effects of the Second Vatican Council on the Catholic Church, the Braveheart of Catholic traditionalists said, "Look at the main fruits: dwindling numbers and pedophilia." Gibson's post Vatican II ergo propter Vatican II argument would be enough to drive any high school logic teacher crazy. Is the Council responsible for all the Church's ills, including the priestly sex-abuse crisis, that have arisen since the...

New Partnership with Muslims In his message to the predominately Muslim nation of Kazakhstan twelve days after the horrors of September 11th, 2001, the Pope declared, “‘There is one God’. The Apostle proclaims before all else the absolute oneness of God. This is a truth which Christians inherited from the children of Israel and which they share with Muslims: it is faith in the one God, ‘Lord of heaven and earth’ (Lk.10:21), almighty and merciful. In the name of this one God, I turn to the people of deep and ancient religious traditions, the people of Kazakhstan.”1 He then gave...

FoxNews reported today that while addressing a parish in a suburb of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI clarified his view of hell. The Pope said concerning hell, [it] “really exists and is eternal, even if nobody talks about it much any more,” According to reports from the Vatican this ?straightforward? language is in effort to eliminate confusion pending an upcoming release of the new Catholic catechism. One might wonder about confusion from a church that proposes that its doctrine does not change. However, even the casual Catholic should remember the last Pontiff?s less literal view of hell. Speaking of hell, Pope...

To our subscribers - I depart next week for a mission trip to Russia and will return late April. I will try to get my article out next week before leaving, but the next few days will be quite busy getting ready to depart. So if I fail to provide you with "Tom's Pen" next week, I'll see you in late April. Please keep us in your prayers for a safe journey. TW Tom's Pen February 5, 2007 Website: www.churchsoftwareplus.com To Subscribe or Unsubscribe to Tom's Pen The Vatican Is Right by Tom Wacaster A few years ago a news...

3">Roman Catholic apologists are going about the land presenting seminars and talks in parish halls and church buildings, all designed to 1) confirm the faithful in their allegiance to Rome and the Papacy, and 2) invite the "separated brethren home to Mother Church." While the number of RC apologists has grown exponentially over the past decade, the one gentleman who has been out-front, or maybe better, in light of the article we will be reviewing, "up-front," the longest, is Karl Keating, president of Catholic Answers. In a recent article in the December, 1996 edition of This Rock magazine, Keating introduces...

After the Discovery Channel aired The Lost Tomb of Jesus, a follow-up show was presented, The Tomb of Jesus: A Critical Look. Hosted by Ted Koppel, two guests were brought on to challenge the conclusions of Simcha Jacobovici and James Tabor. Archaeologist William Dever was asked what he thought of the documentary. Dever replied, "For me it represents the worst kind of Biblical archaeology, even if it is anti-biblical, because it seems to me, the conclusions are already drawn in the beginning." Dever nailed it. A tomb was found, Jacobovici began concluding it was Jesus and his wife Mary Magdalene....

HOUSTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A metal baking sheet from a Houston elementary school has become an object of veneration for hundreds of Catholics who see an image of the Virgin Mary. The pan bearing what many believe is a miraculous religions image is now on display in the yard of Sylvia Calderon, a member of the PTA at Pugh Elementary School, the Houston Chronicle reported. Calderon gave the baking sheet a home after officials at the school said they could not accommodate the crowds who wanted to see it. Guadalupe Rodriguez, a cafeteria worker at the school, discovered the...

The ABC show “The View” can’t give it up. It started with a discussion about James Cameron’s latest Titanic tale—the one about Jesus’ tomb—and it quickly degenerated into another round of mockery. About Catholicism, that is. Rosie O’Donnell began by demonstrating her command of the Bible by saying, ‘Weren’t, weren’t, wasn’t the Bible written 200 years after the death of Jesus?’ No, it wasn’t, wasn’t, wasn’t. Someone needs to clue her in—she’s only off by over a hundred years. But that someone is surely not co-host Joy Behar. Today she confessed that ‘I am not really a scholar. I don’t...

The current generation of young Catholics has a solid Catholic identity but they are not as committed to the Church as their predecessors. That’s the opinion of Dean Hoge, professor of sociology at the Catholic University of America, and James Davidson, professor of sociology at Purdue University, according to the Catholic News Service. Hoge and Davidson analyzed several surveys and concluded that Catholics born after 1979 are much different than prior generations of Catholics. They believe that most young Catholics have a weak commitment to the Church as an institution and its teaching on moral issues. Dr. William Portier, the...