NCR Today is the group blog of NCR. Each member of our diverse team of bloggers writes on different topics, including the politics of the church and secular society (and the interaction between the two), culture, management of the church and more.
On this day in 1536, Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam died at Basel. He was 69 years old.
This year is the 500th anniversary of the printing of The Praise of Folly, the famous essay addressed to Thomas More, at whose estate at Bucklersbury Erasmus wrote it in one week in 1509. Among the targets of Erasmus's satire were theologians, philosophers, popes, cardinals, priests, authors, monks, common people, himself, those who have confidence in magical charms, and princes.
100-degree heat grips South, Midwest, Heat advisories issued for East Coast
Illinois State ends Catholic Charities adoption contracts
Chinese bishops 'taken away' by police: report
Church Won't Accept Cash From Catholics Who Voted for Equality, A Catholic bishop is refusing to accept a donation from a New York assemblyman in retribution for his backing of marriage equality.
Over at the U.S. bishops' media blog today, Mercy Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, the bishops' spokesperson, lists her top ten benefits for going to confession.
Among the ten mentioned in the wide-ranging list? It's "low cost therapy" and is a "contribution toward world peace."
Here's a short excerpt:
"4. Low cost therapy. It’s free, which makes it cheaper than a psychiatrist for dealing with guilt.
5. Forced time to think. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. To examine our lives and acknowledge failings marks the first step of making things right with God, others and ourselves. Life can be more worth living when you ponder the meaning of your own life.
Saturday morning, I, and thousands of others, travelled to the west front of the U.S. Capitol to hear the Dalai Lama. This speech was the only part of his 10-day program in Washington, D.C., that was free to the public.
He was introduced by Whoopi Goldberg, much to his delight and that of the audience.
His speech echoed traditional Buddhism in many respects. He focused on any person’s need to cultivate his or her interior: an inner peace, a calm mind, a sense of compassion, an “inner beauty.” When addressing questions about education, he stressed that “brain development” had to be accompanied by warm heartedness.
The Cleveland diocese — confirming media reports from late last month — announced this morning that the diocese will be the subject of an apostolic visitation.
John M. Smith, bishop emeritus of the Trenton, N.J., diocese, will be visiting Cleveland this week, the Cleveland diocese announced today.
On this day we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict of Nursia, c. 480 - c. 547.
For a virtual tour of his monastery, click here for the Monte Cassino page on the St. John's Abbey web site. Click the link for Monte Cassino , then click on "The Abbey" at the top, and then "Virtual Tour". On the schematic, move your cursor around to find highlighted areas. Click on the little camera to see pictures of the Basilica, etc.
Philippines -- lottery donation scandal: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Monday apologized, bishops had accepted luxuary SuVs and cash
Charity nun: President Arroyo used donations to silence the church while she faced allegations of vote-rigging and various corruption scandals during her 9-year presidency.
Gays, lesbians draw comfort, support from Catholic Mass
Wake for W.Mass. priest who committed suicide
WINSLOW, Ariz. — Accusations of Abuse by Priest Dating to Early 1940s
Philippines: Opinion Not all marriages are put together by God
The Dalai Lama is in Washington for 10 days, July 6-16, to conduct what Tibetan Buddhists call a “Kalachakra for World Peace.” The Kalachakra is a series of talks, rituals, visualizations, mantras, and yoga designed to transform the minds of participants and to mature their innate wisdom and sense of compassion. Ultimately, it is designed to promote the universal Buddhist goal of “enlightenment.”
The Kalachakra is considered one of the most complex rituals in all of Buddhism. And many observers here in the Washington area find it significant that the Dalai Lama chose the U.S. capital, the global center of world politics, for this event. Some people hope that the spirit of this Kalachakra, which seeks to help participants bridge their differences, will emanate out to the political leaders who are dealing with issues like the national debt, wars, the environment and terrorism. We can only hope!
Rita Ferrone, author of several books on liturgy, has written in the July 15 issue of Commonweal a searing critique of the New Roman Missal translation set to take affect in November.
These are tough years for the U.S. bishops who have fallen under dark clouds for their failings in their handlings of the decades’ long clergy sexual abuse tragedy in our church. To the failing of protecting our children from clergy abuse many will now be adding another: the failure to protect clear and simple -- and meaningful -- English in our mass liturgies from an assault by ideologically led bishops.
When I read this story, all I could say was, “you’ve got to be kidding!” The Catholic Bishops of Ohio have just issued a letter instructing Catholics not to support the “Race for the Cure” sponsored annually by the Susan G. Komen Foundation. That foundation is the largest group funding breast cancer research in the United States.
The reason? The bishops say that the Komen Foundation does not explicitly oppose the use of embryonic stem cells in research, a practice which the hierarchy condemns. It’s not that Komen actually funds research using embryonic stem cells. The bishops say explicitly that they have no evidence of that. Rather, the bishops say they oppose Komen because of the possibility that they might fund such research… because they have not said they won’t. Huh?
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