Book note: Render unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life, by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

Uncommon Knowledge on National Review Online has a five segment video interview with Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of the Roman Catholic diocese of Denver, discussing "Politics & Catholics," and also his latest book, Render unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life. The segments were published September 22 through 26, 2008.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Catholic teachings on abortion

Via the Alliance Alert:

Cardinal Egan of New York issued the following statement in response to Pelosi:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2008

STATEMENT OF HIS EMINENCE, EDWARD CARDINAL EGAN CONCERNING REMARKS MADE BY THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Like many other citizens of this nation, I was shocked to learn that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America would make the kind of statements that were made to Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC-TV on Sunday, August 24, 2008. What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age.

We are blessed in the 21st century with crystal-clear photographs and action films of the living realities within their pregnant mothers. No one with the slightest measure of integrity or honor could fail to know what these marvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smile and wave into the world outside the womb. In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right to live, a right that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is bound to defend at all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons. They are not parts of their mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions of theologians of any faith. Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being “chooses” to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name.

Edward Cardinal Egan

Archbishop of New York

August 26, 2008
_____________

From the Diocese of Pittsburgh:

Statement by Bishop David A. Zubik on“Meet the Press” comments by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

On Sunday, August 24, on “Meet the Press,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped out of her political role and completely misrepresented the teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to abortion. She said that Church teaching condemning procured abortion is somehow new and therefore unsettled. She could not have been more wrong.

Jesus proclaimed the sacredness of human life throughout his teaching and ministry. In a Roman world where abortion was commonplace, the Church proclaimed its intrinsic moral evil. The Didache, perhaps the earliest known Christian manual of moral teaching dating from the first century, rejected abortion. Early Church councils considered it one of the most serious crimes.

That teaching has remained constant and unaltered for two millennia.

As the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith re-stated in 1974, “The first right of the human person is his life. … It does not belong to society, nor does it belong to public authority in any form to recognize this right for some and not others. … From the time the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being.”

The teaching of the Church on abortion is settled. And as old as the Gospels.

Trying to sweep religion under the rug...

... can make you look silly in the long run, if you're a journalist covering a sincere Catholic like Ingrid Betancourt, one of the hostages recently rescued in South America after years in captivity.

Rest in peace, Irena Sendler

I did a post on World War II Polish heroine Irena Sendler back in March 2007: Suitable For Mixed Company: A tribute to a brave and caring lady.

She died last month at the age of 98. See a Glenn Beck video tribute to her here.

Congratulations to Mark Mossa, SJ...

... who is now an ordained priest. More pictures here.

A roundup of Catholic daddy bloggers

Danielle Bean and her readers are looking for Catholic daddy blogs to read.

Helping hands in Hollywood and vicinity

From Big Sunday gets LA volunteering in a big way by Ellie Hidalgo (The-Tidings.com, April 18, 2008):

Big Sunday has come to mean Big Synergy. The largest citywide community service weekend in the country, Big Sunday is building meaningful community interactions across traditional ethnic, religious and social barriers.

Originally the idea started out as Mitzvah Day at Temple Israel in Hollywood -- a day to engage in good deeds for others. From several hundred volunteers working on 19 projects, the effort now entails more than 50,000 people volunteering for 309 projects throughout Southern California.

"We've gone from community service to community building," said David Levinson, director, who has maintained his relaxed demeanor and no limits spirit despite the project's unprecedented growth. "Big Sunday expands to fill people's talents. We have projects for whatever people's passions are."

This year's May 3-4 Big Sunday weekend --- the 10th annual event --- offers projects like planting a garden at a school, feeding the hungry at a local food bank, and visiting the elderly at a retirement home.

"We have volunteers who are homeless people, and we have volunteers who are movie stars," said Levinson, a writer for television, film, theater and advertising. His wife and three children also join in the effort. "Everyone helps, especially spouses," he quipped.

Full article here.

The-Tidings.com (aka Tidings Online) is a Catholic weekly serving Southern California, which I found through this post at Alliance Alert.

"Seven Modern Misdeeds" are not "New Deadly Sins"

From Littering Not New "Deadly Sin," Bishops Clarify (Zenit, March 11, 2008):

LONDON, MARCH 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Reports that the Vatican has published a new list of the seven deadly sins of modern times that includes littering and economic inequality is simply not true, affirmed the episcopal conference of England and Wales.

The conference released a statement today clarifying that an interview published Sunday by L'Osservatore Romano with Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, regent of the tribunal of he Apostolic Penitentiary, was misinterpreted in the media as an official Vatican update to the seven deadly sins, laid out by Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century.

"The Vatican has not published a new list of seven deadly sins; this is not a new Vatican edict," said the conference. "The story originated from an interview that Bishop Gianfranco Girotti gave to the L'Osservatore Romano in which he was questioned about new forms of social sins in this age of globalization."

Read the rest

A conversion story through books

In From atheism to Christianity: a conversion story through books, Jennifer F. lists and discusses some of the books that helped her during her move from atheist to Catholic.

Why good people do evil things (like kill babies)

As some of you know, I used to be pro-choice, but now am pro-life. The blogger "Et tu?" also used to be pro-choice, and is now pro-life. Don't miss her post on what made her change her mind, and how hard it was to make the changeover. She brings some good insight to the discussion, I think. (And also some history.)

Popephobia (and its countercurrent)

Perhaps you've heard that Pope Benedict XVI canceled a speech at a Rome university this week, because of threats from students and faculty?

Michael Ledeen taught at that university back in the 1970s. In a post at The Corner at NRO, he provides some background, and also notes that he's not the only Jewish intellectual speaking out in support of the Pope in the wake of the incident.

hat tip: Bookworm Room

Discussions and ponderings in the (blog) neighborhood

Barbara Curtis discusses what it means to be pro-life, and also one of the reasons she and her husband are coverting to Catholicism. (Via Danielle Bean)

Anthony Esolen notes that there can be (and is) Slavery without Slavery.

Tony Woodlief wonders what the world would be like, were more men like his monster-killing son. (Via Julie Ponzi)

Catez discusses the harm done by "pseudo-Christians."

Jennifer F. is wondering "is there any sort of Christian duty when it comes to blogging?"

Robert and Reuters disagree on whether "one million" equals "tiny."

Dr. Sanity points out (in no uncertain terms), that high self-esteem isn't at all the same thing as healthy self-esteem (and discusses why it matters).

Good news out of Hollywood

There's another company devoted to making good films, this one called Metanoia Films.

LifeSite has a joint interview with Eduardo Verastegui, a former Latin American soap opera star who converted to Christianity, turned his life around, and is now dedicated to making films that stress family values; and Leo Severino, producer of Bella, due for release in the U.S. this weekend. Bella is being rolled out like Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, so if you are willing to sponsor a showing, or can get large groups together to see it, or are willing to help promote it, please check the website for more information. Bella won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, and has gone on to more acclaim from there.

From the LifeSiteNews.com interview (Eduardo):

One day, I did this soap opera where I was playing a drug addict and the consequences and then at the end, let's show the guy goes to rehab. OK, but the first three or four months of that story was really attractive - I am riding in this convertible car with two beautiful girls and guys doing drugs and I remember after that show, I was in Miami one day and this guy from Venezuela came and approached me and said, "I love your show - it was amazing. I was watching every day. I can't believe that I am meeting you - and I have to tell you, my favorite scenes were when you were getting high to the point where I started doing drugs because of your show."

That was the first pin right into my heart. Can you imagine someone telling you, "Thank you - because of you, I started doing drugs." That was when I really realized the power of the media. How, one guy is changing his life only because of what he saw - so either for good or for bad. Then, as an actor, producer or writer, sometime we don't assume responsibility. Sometime we just do it for the career, for the fame, for the opportunity, but we forget that whatever we are doing - we are going to be affecting somebody out there.

Knowing all these things, the purpose of the company is to make films. We want to be able to make a difference in society - we want to be able to touch people's hearts - and make a good influence - no matter how tiny. We know that people are going to be imitating art - well then, lets create the right art so that whatever they are imitating is going to be the right thing, you know.

Update: Via Lars Walker, here's more on Bella, from Rebecca Cusey (New Film "Bella" Rejects Latin Stereotypes, The American Culture, October 24, 2007)

Check your religious beliefs at the door - or don't (your call)

Doug Payton looks at yet another of the now-frequent attacks on religious belief coming from leftist activists and promoted by numerous members of the press. In this case, a PC group is trying to drop the hammer on pro-life medical professionals and any Catholic hospital that isn't Catholic in name only.

A note to the leftist activists: I might be wrong about this, but as far as I can see people are not vending machines. You can't expect someone to mindlessly dispense whatever you want. Even for money. Or to make you happy. Imagine that. Hit men and other criminal types, maybe. Good folks, no.

Then there's that whole inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of a clear conscience thing. One definition of a free country is one in which a decent human being cannot legally be forced into doing something he or she would be ashamed of doing. That was a founding principle of the United States of America. It's still a good one, I think. One of the best. Think about it, won't you? At least toy with the idea a while and see where it takes you? Thank you.

A note to Christians and Jews and anybody else with a strong and healthy moral compass (one that actually points in a direction worthy of this precious life you've been given): You might want to read Religion and the Common Good, by Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., the archbishop of Denver, printed at First Things, April 24, 2007. An excerpt:

In other words, ideas have consequences—which brings me to today’s topic. When Cardinal Rigali first invited me to come to Philadelphia to talk about religion and the common good, I accepted for two simple reasons. First, I’m tired of the Church and her people being told to be quiet on public issues that urgently concern us. And second, I’m tired of Christians themselves being silent because of some misguided sense of good manners. Self-censorship is an even bigger failure than allowing ourselves to be bullied by outsiders.

Only one question really matters. Does God exist or not? If he does, that has implications for every aspect of our personal and public behavior: all of our actions, all of our choices, all of our decisions. If God exists, denying him in our public life—whether we do it explicitly like Nietzsche or implicitly by our silence—cannot serve the common good, because it amounts to worshiping the unreal in the place of the real.

[...snip...]

...As Christians we need to live our convictions in the public square with charity and respect for others, but also firmly, with courage and without apology. Anything less is a form of theft from the moral witness we owe to the public discussion of issues. We can never serve the common good by betraying who we are as believers or compromising away what we hold to be true.

He's also got information on the novels of Georges Bernanos, which I admit I haven't read. Yet.

And he's got some comments on Nietzsche. And on attacks on human memory and history. And the meaning of history. The language of the abortion debate. A Flannery O’Connor short story. More. It's a wide-ranging essay, but interesting, I think. And one that made me stop and think and reconsider.

Update: See also Half-Christians, by Rev. Robert Lynn, associate pastor for mission, adult education and university ministry at Knox Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor. (BreakPoint, 4/30/2007)

A tribute to a brave and caring lady

See A well-deserved honor for a true heroine in the battle against tyranny for an introduction to Polish national heroine Irena Sendler, who helped save 2500 Jewish children during the Holocaust.

Poland's parliament and President Lech Kacyzinski recently honored Sendler and the Polish underground Council for Assisting Jews, comprised mostly of Roman Catholics risking their lives defying the Nazis. Sendler is in her 90s, and lives in Warsaw.

From a March 14, 2007, AP article by Ryan Lucas:

Sendler led about 20 helpers who smuggled Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto to safety between 1940 and 1943, placing them in Polish families, convents or orphanages.

She wrote the children's names on slips of paper and buried them in jars in a neighbor's yard as a record that could help locate their parents after the war. The Nazis arrested her in 1943, but she refused — despite repeated torture — to reveal their names.

Anyone caught helping Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland risked being summarily shot, along with family members.

[...snip...]

In 1965, Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial awarded Sendler one of its first medals given to people who saved Jews, the so-called "Righteous Among the Nations."

She was given the honor in 1983, after Poland's Communist authorities finally agreed to allow her to travel abroad.

So how does the lady herself feel about the honors being given her these days? From the Lucas article:

"Every child saved with my help and the help of all the wonderful secret messengers, who today are no longer living, is the justification of my existence on this Earth, and not a title to glory," Sendler said in a letter ...

The Lucas article comes with a slide show. Sendler comes across as a beautiful woman from the inside out.

Journalist Holocaust hero honored

From Catholic.net, Journalists Honor Holocaust Hero:

CARPI, Italy, MARCH 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Catholic journalist Odoardo Focherini saved more than 100 Jews before he died in a concentration camp during World War II, at the age of 37. The Catholic Union of the Italian Press paid tribute to Focherini on Saturday, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The journalist was the administrative director of L'Avvenire d'Italia and president of the Italian segment of Catholic Action.

[...snip...]

Bishop Elio Tinti of Carpi, who opened the celebration, said: "He was a man who knew how to bring joy to the lives of many people, especially the 105 Jews he saved, but also to all those he met, offering a shining example of what it means to be a man of simplicity."

The prelate spoke of the journalist's deep love for his family, "his tender relationship with his beloved wife and his seven dear children -- deep ties that we see revealed in the marvelous letters that he wrote, but ties which did not impede him from living his life for others."

[...snip...]

Focherini organized a network to move Jews out of Italy to safety in Switzerland. He was arrested for this on March 11, 1944. After stops in several prisons, he died from an infected leg wound on Dec. 27, 1944, in the Hersbruck concentration camp in Germany.

[...snip...]