Earlier this week, Cardinal Francis George, the Archbishop of Chicago, spoke out against Barack Obama’s position on abortion. According to one news report, the Cardinal said  that all Americans should “rejoice” that a country that once tolerated slavery had elected a black man as the 44th President of the United States. The article went on to say that the Cardinal “notched up the pressure on the pro-choice President-Elect by comparing the treatment of the unborn today with that of black slaves in pre-Civil War America.” Cardinal George said:

If the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, that African Americans were other people’s property and somehow less than persons, were still settled constitutional law, Mr Obama would not be President of the United States

Today, as was the case 150 years ago, common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good. The common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society when those waiting to be born can be legally killed at choice.

Check out the full article on Catholic.org.

Thomas Peters has launched a video blog (or “vlog”) American Papist News, which has two pilot episodes available for viewing. It is describes as “an upbeat week-in-review of news, politics, and culture, along with commentary and interviews, all from a uniquely Catholic perspective.”

View the pilots below or at on the AmP News site:

In the UK, atheists are getting aggressive…but not exercising much conviction.

The news article Atheists Plan Anti-God Ad Campaign on Buses reports that thirty buses in London will feature posters that read, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

So this was offensive for, like, half a second. When I read it again, the part about “probably” made me laugh. Here we have an atheist group that can’t even be fully convinced that God doesn’t exist. I guess that would make them more agnostic than atheists. Sounds like an organization with a slight identity crisis.

[Side note: If you ever encounter a self-professed agnostic, ask why they describe themselves using the Greek term instead of the Latin equivalent. Many don't realize that agnostic (Greek) is the same as ignoramus (Latin). Both mean "one who does not know."]

Back to the news story.

Now, I admit that this is a sad state of affairs and that a few people might be negatively influenced by this. Some will miss the underlying false assumptions of the ad: if you are worried and not enjoying life, it could be because religion might be oppressing you. Therefore, pretend that maybe God doesn’t exist after all — even we atheists/agnostics/ignoramuses can’t decide — and now you’ll be happy. Hopefully, most people will see through this lie. I tend to agree with one believer who was quoted in the news article: “Stunts like this demonstrate how militant atheists are often great adverts for Christianity.”

The truth of the matter is that God does exist and their are at least 20 solid, rational arguments for the existence of God. If you’d like to see them, they are summarized by philosophy professors Peter Kreeft and Ron Tacelli in their book, Handbook of Christian Apologetics. This same Dr. Kreeft makes a handful of these arguments available on his website’s featured writings section (see the article series Arguments for God’s Existence, beginning with Can You Prove God Exists?) and in free mp3 audio form (listen to Argument for God’s Existence and the separate lecture God’s Existence). So, if you don’t think that theism is rational, be open-minded enough to explore Dr. Kreeft’s arguments.

And if you’re searching for the meaning of life, I’ve not seen it better summarized than this:

God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven. (from the Baltimore Catechism)

If your life is miserable, living like an atheist is part of your problem, not part of the solution. The answers you seek are in being conformed to God’s will, not in conforming God to your will or pretending that God doesn’t exist. As St. Augustine put it in the opening of his Confessions:

Thou hast made us for Thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in Thee.

Thirty years ago today, Karol Wojtyla was elected the 264th pope and took the name John Paul II.

Truth be told, I was just a kid at the time — only 11 years old — and a Methodist kid at that. So I certainly had no emotional vested interest in this papal election news. It probably was the first time I even learned who the pope was. But still, I have memories of watching the white smoke rising on the television coverage, with the announcer explaining the significance.

It was odd that his predecessor had been elected just a few weeks earlier — then died after being pope for just over a month. How long would this new guy last?

Well, as you know, John Paul II reigned more than 26 years, the second longest papacy in history (or, the third longest, if you count St. Peter). For the people of my generation, he was the pope we grew up with.

I remember when the pope got shot in May 1981, the third of what seemed like an endless wave of high-publicity shootings (Dec. 1980: John Lennon; March 1981: Ronald Reagan). I also remember how odd it seemed to hear of him visiting his would-be assassin in prison two years later. John Paul II said, “What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.” Maybe there was something to this “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” thing after all.

God gave Pope John Paul II a long life. As he neared death in 2005 at the age of 84, many people made pilgrimage to the Vatican to pray for him — and a significant number were youth. The mainstream media found this baffling, as did many non-Catholics like myself. How could this octogenarian leader of a seemingly outdated religious system have connected with so many in their teens and twenties? Kids who ought to be self-absorbed materialistic Westerners? But this was the pope who launched the World Youth Day events. He connected to the young people. They would shout, “JP2, we love you!”; and he would often reply, “JP, too, he loves you!” The night before he died, he told the youth who had gathered to pray for him in St. Peter’s Square, “I have looked for you, you have come to me, and I thank you.”

It was about a year after John Paul II’s death that I began to discover the truth of Catholicism, and about two years until I’d enter fully into the Church. While much of my conversion came from wrestling with doctrinal points, I have to acknowledge a debt to the life of John Paul II. In retrospect, I think the way he lived a genuine faith under the microscope of the media (he was the first pope that had to deal with 24-hour cable news and the Internet) made an impression on me over his 26-year pontificate.

So today, in honor of the 30th anniversary of his election as pope, I have to join in with the crowds and shout, “JP2, we love you!”

Today, Sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception was canonized. She is the first officially recognized female saint from India. Please disregard the VOA News article’s inaccurate headline saying the pope “created” India’s first female saint. Obviously, God created her. And the Church’s canonization process discovers that a person is in heaven, then adds them to the official list (or “canon”) of saints that we know are there. The canonization process doesn’t put them in heaven or “create” saints. (The media rarely get religion right.)

It’s good to see many of our bishops clamping down on politicians who claim to be Catholic, but publicly denounce the Church’s teachings on the issue of life.

Today, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement against Nancy Pelosi which said in part, “In the course of a “Meet the Press” interview on abortion and other public issues on August 24, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion.”

FoxNews.com reports:

Archbishop of Washington Chides Pelosi; Denver Archbishop Warns Biden to Skip Communion

Irked by pro-choice Democrats who tout their Catholicism, the archbishop of Washington is chiding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for misstating church history and the archbishop of Denver is warning vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden not to take Communion.

…

Over the weekend, Biden’s pro-choice views raised the ire of Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput.

“I presume that his integrity will lead him to refrain from presenting himself for communion, if he supports a false ‘right’ to abortion,” Chaput told The Associated Press.

As for Pelosi, Chaput called her “a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.”

Chaput added that abortion “is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it.” During that 2004 presidential campaign, Chaput and a dozen other bishops called on Democratic nominee John Kerry to refrain from taking Communion. The church has also objected to former GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani taking Communion.

This past May, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius was reprimanded by Archbishop Joseph Naumann for her support of abortion:

Having made every effort to inform and to persuade Governor Sebelius and after consultation with Bishop Ron Gilmore (Dodge City), Bishop Paul Coakley (Salina) and Bishop Michael Jackels (Wichita), I wrote the governor last August requesting that she refrain from presenting herself for reception of the Eucharist until she had acknowledged the error of her past positions, made a worthy sacramental confession and taken the necessary steps for amendment of her life which would include a public repudiation of her previous efforts and actions in support of laws and policies sanctioning abortion.

…

I have not made lightly this request of Governor Sebelius, but only after much prayer and reflection. The spiritually lethal message, communicated by our governor, as well as many other high profile Catholics in public life, has been in effect: “The church’s teaching on abortion is optional!”

I reissue my request of the faithful of the archdiocese to pray for Governor Sebelius. I hope that my request of the governor, not to present herself for holy Communion, will provoke her to reconsider the serious spiritual and moral consequences of her past and present actions.

I applaud the bold stance being taken by these bishops. Hopefully, these politicians will recognize their errors, be reconciled to the Church, and properly use their public offices to uphold truth and life.

Hallmark, the nation’s largest greeting card company, has introduced same-sex wedding cards. According to the Associated Press story, “Hallmark says the move is a response to consumer demand, not any political pressure.” The article goes on to quote a Hallmark spokeswoman as saying, “It’s our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can.”

The same AP article notes that Hallmark’s largest competitor, American Greetings Corp., “has no plans to enter the market” with similarly targeted cards.

A friend who wishes to remain anonymous passed along her e-mail to Hallmark and the company’s response:

——————

Message to Hallmark:

I wanted to let you know that I am a loyal patron of Hallmark but am saddened to hear that your company is including a line of cards dedicated to same sex marriages. From what I read in the news article, Hallmark was not bowing to political pressure, but merely responding to the customer. Well, this customer does not appreciate this line of cards in your store. Please know that I will be shopping elsewhere for my cards, as I read that American Greetings has no plans to add a line such as this. Thank you.

——————

Response (Support Agent) - [to their credit, they responded in less than two hours]:

Thank you for your comment.

Beginning this summer, Hallmark’s selection of more than 200 wedding cards will include four cards that use specific language and images appropriate for same-sex wedding ceremonies or civil unions. Hallmark makes cards for all kinds of relationships and situations, and we have for years produced cards for relationships that might be defined as “non-traditional” - including heterosexual couples who are not married, those in mixed race or interfaith relationships and blended families - so people in each of these situations could find cards to meet their needs. It is our goal to be inclusive rather than exclusive so that our products appeal to the widest range of people who wish to communicate and connect with one another. Not every one of the more than 200 wedding cards we offer will be right for every relationship, but we want every consumer to be able to find one that is just right.

We understand that this is a sensitive issue for you and appreciate you letting us know your concerns.

Thanks,
Hallmark Customer Care
www.hallmark.com
1-800-HALLMARK

——————

It seems from the company’s response that they don’t really care about any moral ramifications of introducing this line of greeting cards. They really only care about seizing a market opportunity. If they can make a profit by selling this type of card, they will.

But at the same time, they appear to be trying to sneak this new line into stores “under the radar,” with no public announcement: a new product introduction press release is conspicuously absent from their corporate Current News page, at least at the time of this posting. Perhaps the secrecy is because they realize that a negative backlash from religious patrons — the kind that buy cards and gifts for real weddings, baptisms, confirmations, etc. — will hurt their business.

[FYI, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2357-2359) provides a concise overview of the Catholic Church's view on homosexuality]

Before attending some Olympic events, President Bush began his Sunday in China attending a worship service at Beijing’s Kuanjie church, which is an officially recognized Protestant congregation. He remarked:

Laura and I just had the great joy and privilege of worshipping here in Beijing, China. You know, it just goes to show that God is universal and God is love. And no state, man or woman should fear the influence of loving religion.

(Watch the YouTube clip)

That last remark was apparently an allusion to the millions of Chinese who brave harassment and arrest to worship at unregistered “house” churches.

This raises an important question for us comfortable Americans: if you were threatened with serious social ostracism or government arrest for going to church, would you still go?

Here are links to coverage of Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the young people gathered in Australia for World Youth Day:

• Pope2008.com - The Pope’s Message to Youth
• Catholic World News - Pope’s message to youth in Sydney
• FULL TEXT from the Vatican’s site

According to a report on today’s Catholic World News site, the beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman could take place before the end of the year:

The Vatican has directed that the body of Cardinal John Henry Newman should be exhumed from a simple cemetery and preserved in a marble sarcophagus in the Birmingham Oratory, according to English newspaper reports.

…

Church officials in England hope that the beatification of the famous theologian — a convert from the Church of England and a towering figure in the English intellectual world of the 19th century — could take place before the end of this year.