by Terry Philpot | Jun 7, 2020
Charles Dickens died 150 years ago this month, on June 9, 1870. A few months before, he told his friend and future biographer John Forster that the Catholic Church was a “curse upon the world”.
Dickens was certainly a Christian: brought up an Anglican, he flirted with Unitarianism for a time, but seems never to have abandoned his belief in the divinity of Christ, the Resurrection, and the immortality of the soul. In 1868 he wrote to Edward, his youngest son, of “the truth and beauty of the Christian Religion, as it came from Christ Himself, and the impossibility of your going far wrong if you humbly but heartily respect it …”. What he disliked was any kind of religion which seemed to him too extreme: as well as his longstanding antipathy to Catholicism, he especially disliked Sabbatarianism and Evangelicalism.
Yet despite his view of the Catholic Church as backward, superstitious and reactionary, there are few, if any, negative portrayals of Catholicism in his novels. Barnaby Rudge, which deals most with religion – or at least an aspect of it – shows Catholics as victims of prejudice, persecution and violence unleashed by the Gordon Riots of 1780. (This was when Lord George Gordon attempted to oppose the Papists Act of 1778, which relaxed some of the penal laws against Catholics.)
Read the Whole Article at https://catholicherald.co.uk/
by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf | Jun 7, 2020
This is really interesting from the MacIver Institute. The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy is a Wisconsin-based think tank that promotes free markets, individual freedom, personal responsibility and limited government.
I’ll wager there is a group like this in your town. This is rather disturbing.
This is the tip of the iceberg.
Read the Whole Article at https://wdtprs.com/
by Jim Fair | Jun 7, 2020
The Most Reverend George V. Murry, S.J., the fifth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown died Friday, June 5, 2020, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, New York.
Bishop Murry submitted to Pope Francis his resignation from the office of diocesan bishop for reasons of ill health in late May.
Diagnosed with a form of acute leukemia, in April 2018, Bishop Murry underwent intensive chemotherapy at the Cleveland Clinic. In July of 2019, he reentered the Cleveland Clinic for a reoccurrence of leukemia. At that time tests confirmed that he was in remission and that doctors were not recommending a bone marrow transplant. This past April, his leukemia returned and he resumed treatment.
Read the Whole Article at https://zenit.org/
by ZENIT Staff | Jun 7, 2020
The Most Reverend James A. Murray, Bishop Emeritus for the Diocese of Kalamazoo (1998-2009) has died. The retired bishop had recently experienced declining health and passed away peacefully on the morning of June 5, 2020. He would have celebrated his 88th birthday on July 5, 2020.
“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of our beloved Bishop Murray,” said Most Rev. Paul J. Bradley, Bishop of the Diocese of Kalamazoo. “He would have celebrated the 62nd anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood on Sunday, June 7, 2020.
“I was grateful to be able to visit him and relay how grateful we all are to him for his leadership as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, and since his retirement, for his wonderful priestly example of providing pastoral assistance wherever and whenever he could, and for being such an exemplary priest and bishop of Jesus Christ.”
Read the Whole Article at https://zenit.org/
by Editor | Jun 7, 2020
The Church has been thinking more about operating synodally over the past sixty years (hence, for example, the triennial Synod of Bishops instituted by Pope St. Paul VI in 1965). The word “synod” derives from the Greek roots “syn” (together) and “hodos” (way), which led to the Greek “synodos” and the Latin “synodus”, which denote “a meeting”, terms which finally emerged as “synod” in Middle English…
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by Editor | Jun 7, 2020
When mayors and governors have issued special regulations during the epidemic, they have invoked the provisions of emergency legislation. But few bishops have bothered to invoke a canonical justification for special restrictions. There is no question that a bishop has the authority to regulate the administration of the sacraments in his diocese. But does he have the authority to stop the administration of the sacraments? I know of no bishop who has imposed an interdict; I know of no bishop who has explained the legal basis for the restrictions.
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by Editor | Jun 7, 2020
Last week I got my annual reminder about International Observe the Moon Night 2020. This year sharing the moon with the public may be problematic because of COVID 19 and its regulations. Therefore many of us will have to make an effort to do something online. I have been busy thinking about online content for various events coming up during the months ahead. Doing my best to get my head around video making and editing. Also am trying to be creative in that activity.
Read the Whole Article at http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml
