Words of Comfort and of Hope

Given the turmoil of the times and the harsh content of some of my recent posts, here are some comforting reflections taken from Peter Phan's book, Being Religious Interreligiously, which I thought were applicable to our...

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QUOTE OF THE DAY from Colleen Kochivar-Baker

Pope Benedict may very well be the Pope on whose watch the Church once again fractures because of the corruption within the hierarchy. No amount of papal perfume concerning positive evangelization can mask the stench coming...

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Benedict XVI confronts the ghost of Jan Hus

With gratitude to the National Catholic Reporter (comments at end of article are particularly noteworthy) by John L Allen Jr on Sep. 27, 2009 NCR Today By JOHN L. ALLEN JR. Prague Though lengthy volumes have been written about Christian history in the Czech lands, the casual observer really only needs two words to understand the striking ambivalence...

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Prayer of Protection and Salvation

This 'diatribe' against Pope Benedict was too good to pass up. It comes from Clerical Whispers blogspot.  It is all depressingly familiar, but it is good to be reminded of these facts in summary form. I've included Clerical Whispers' famous disclaimer at the end, substituting the name of this blog instead. My own experience this past weekend at...

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COMPANION TO THE ENCYCLICAL OF POPE BENEDICT XVI ON "GOD IS LOVE"

COMPANION TO THE ENCYCLICAL OF POPE BENEDICT XVI ON "GOD IS LOVE" by Fr. Tissa Balasuriya (Taken from http://www.crosscurrents.org/articlelist.htm) (Photos from Stara Boleslav are two posts below)   ...

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CRISIS AT BAT NHA MONASTERY IN VIETNAM

 taken from The Buddhist Blog (see update at end of post) While Pope Benedict celebrates religious freedom in the Czech Republic, Buddhism is crushed in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. As Thich Nhat Hahn has such...

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MASS WITH PAPA BENE AT STARA BOLESLAV

(see post above from Vietnam which puts all of this below into perspective-Benedict's visit is meant to be part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the fall of Communism) Just back from the festivities and an...

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PILGRIMAGE TO THE POPE

Well, I'm off in a few hours to Stara Boleslav, where Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass tomorrow morning for an estimated 50,000 pilgrims. The small town is a center of religious pilgrimage both because of its association...

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POPE BENEDICT AND THE SPIDER OF PRAGUE

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St. Vitus Cathedral Prague/Saturday Evening Vespers

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Exhausting Day in Prague

The events of the day were rather exhausting for this aging gay Catholic and I'm recovering at the moment with a triple shot of Glenlivet. I hope to share my reflections tomorrow. Let me just say that the sight of Papa Razzi...

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PAPA RAZZI IN PRAGUE!

I've just spend six hours with the Pope discussing affairs of state and we both need our nappies before the festivities of this evening. More later, including commentary on his Airport speech and address at Our Lady of Victories,...

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WELCOME POPE BENEDICT

Catholic Martyr to reform and the father of the Czech nation, Jan Hus, being burnt at the stake, July 16, 1415 Before setting out this morning for the Church of Our Lady of Victories to welcome dear Pope Benedict, I...

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