Vatican getting serious about their dress code

This post is for LarryD of Acts of the Apostasy.

VATICAN CITY, July 27 (UPI) -- The Vatican is enforcing a longstanding dress code, with Swiss Guard officers pulling aside tourists and others to tell them when they're showing too much skin.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported Tuesday the rules on modest dress, previously applied only to those visiting St Peter's Basilica, are now being invoked at the official customs point between Rome and the walled Catholic enclave.

Men in shorts and women with exposed knees or uncovered shoulders were all stopped by the guards and asked if they knew "how things worked here," ANSA said. Even locals were caught off-guard, assuming some new edict had been issued.

"This is the Vatican City and for reasons of respect, you are not allowed in with uncovered shoulders or wearing shorts," was the standard explanation, the news agency said.

The change in enforcement sent women looking for shawls and scarves, and men looking for trousers.

One woman in her late 70s, identified only as Maria, didn't take kindly to being told her calf-length flowered dress was "inappropriate" because her shoulders were uncovered.

"Given all the scandals the church has been involved in, what possible right can it have to be preaching about the morality of sleeveless dresses?" ANSA quoted her as saying loudly after the guards relented and let her pass.

Link: Vatican enforcing new rules on Dress Code

Follow Up: Holy Family Cathedral, Anchorage & Father Francis Le

Writing about "church rumors" is always a precarious situation. Church "news" and breaking stories aren't like secular news. For one, the secretive and private nature of many of the happenings that occur in our faith is part of the "Catholic World." On top of that, there is always the fear of SCANDAL [See Note {1} below].

Before reading this post, to familiarize yourself with this situation please see my other post:

Pray for Father Francis Le of Holy Family Cathedral, Anchorage Alaska

First, a warning/caveat: Fearing that, and praying against it, I must update you on some more information that I have received. I pray that this info is honest and true, and I do believe it to be such, but because much of this is coming to me second hand there is the possibility that there is "more to this story." That being said, I weighed all the ramifications and realized that because I know enough Alaskan Catholics read this blog, I need to get this out there, if for no other reason than prayer.

Almost every other Archdiocese in the country, save Alaska, has at least one or two blogs that cover Church info... we are in the unenviable position that we have an Alaskan Catholic Blog, that at least some Alaskan Catholics read. Therefore, we are sort of the default source for such info. This isn't about blog hits, or gossip mongering, this is about prayer, fortification of our faith, and the ramifications that attach to the souls of the faithful. We take our faith seriously here at Defend Us in Battle.

Now to the "news":

The information that I have received is that Archbishop Schweitz has sent a letter to all Holy Family Cathedral parishioners concerning Father Francis Le. It does not mention specifics but alludes to the idea that changes are coming, and coming soon. What those changes will be, and why they will be occurring are apparently rather cryptic. This isn't the 1st time that this situation has occurred, in fact

Again, the number one thing we can do is pray. Rosaries are weapons, and the prayers are our Battle Cry. Should this involve Satan, his powers or principalities... our weapon is prayer. Beyond that, there is little that we SHOULD do as of right now. At some point, calls, letters, and emails to the Bishop may be required, but those are action items that are a serious step, and I honestly don't think we have enough info yet.

From the little bits and pieces of info that I have, there seems to have been a group that opposed the way that Father Francis Le "did things" at HFC. Again, not judging this more than to say, he needs our prayers, as do all priests. Being the Pastor of a parish is a mission that is hard, very hard. People don't realize how hard it is, and often don't support their priests, through prayer or other means, consistent with amount of difficulty they endure to run the parish. Therefore, Father Le, and all priests need our support.

Likewise, Archbishop Schweitz needs our prayers. Managing these situations is very hard, and very sensitive. The souls and path to salvation rest with the Sheppard of the diocese. Wolves are circling; in both the secular realm, and within the walls of the faith there are those set on bringing down those that are contrary to their belief and comfort system. Pray that he does not what is most popular, most expedient, or the most pacifying, but pray that he makes the right decision based on the precepts and teachings of the faith. Pray that he walks in step with what the Apostles, Saints and Martyrs would do. For it is through their lives, that we see the fully human reflection of Jesus in action.

As a parting note... I will continue to update this story, as I gain more information. I am trying to get my hands on the letter that has been sent to the parishioners, as to gleam a little more information. Again, the best we can do right now is pray. We need to pray that Christ's Bride, the Church, is fully restored in resplendent glory here on earth, through the faithful prayer and worship of His people.


___________________________________________________________________________
Notes:
{1}

2284 Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.


2285 Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized. It prompted our Lord to utter this curse: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."86 Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others. Jesus reproaches the scribes and Pharisees on this account: he likens them to wolves in sheep's clothing.


2286 Scandal can be provoked by laws or institutions, by fashion or opinion.


Therefore, they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice, or to "social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible." This is also true of business leaders who make rules encouraging fraud, teachers who provoke their children to anger, or manipulators of public opinion who turn it away from moral values.


2287 Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged. "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!"

Adoration on the Kenai

Received some really great news last night!

Someone that knows that I blog, contacted me to let me know that Our Lady of Angels in Kenai had Eucharistic Adoration last night for the first time in many, many years.

Now, being new to the area I can't confirm on how long it has actually been, but it does seem that it has been a while since Adoration was a regular occurrence. I did talk to someone else and learned that occasionally in the past certain periods of Adoration would occur when someone was ill, or for a special intention [I won't get into the theological concept of this now] but aside from that the practice was absent. In  fact, it was even absent on Holy Thursday, much to our surprise when we tried to visit there, as is custom on Holy Thursday. [The tradition of visiting 7 parishes, or in our case, 1 other parish that didn't have Adoration.]

This is great news! From my understanding it was only for an hour, but as they say in the "Reform of the Reform" world: "Brick by brick." This now puts the number of Churches on the Kenai at 2, that have Adoration. Hopefully OLA will continue this practice, as it really does produce many spiritual fruits throughout the parish.

If anyone has more info about how this came about, the future, or their experience please let me know.

Newly Appointed Bishops for Miami and Springfield

As many other blogs, like AmP,  have reported there are two new Bishop appointments today. I would be remiss if I didn't mention them as well, the selection is official for the Diocese of Springfield and the Archdiocese of Miami.

Springfield gets:

Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki
Auxiliary Bishop
Archdiocese of Chicago





Find his brief bio here: Bishop Thomas J Paprocki

Miami gets:

Bishop Wenski, born in West Palm Beach on October 18, 1950 grew up in Lake Worth, Florida where he attended Catholic school at his home parish, Sacred Heart. He studied at St. John Vianney Minor Seminary in Miami and later at St. Vincent de Paul Major Seminary in Boynton Beach and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami on May 15, 1976

Find a brief bio here: Bishop Thomas G Wenski

Polish Tragedy - Our Lady of Czestochowa Pray for them

***UPDATE***:
The Anchoress has a well put together post on this. Being in Alaska, I am 4 hours behind the east coast, let alone Poland, so I am far behind on this.
Read her post with lots of links here: Prayers for Poland

What a tragedy in Poland... essentially the entire presidential leadership team and key executive officials including the head of the army and the national bank president were killed in a plane crash.

Read here: Polish Plane Crash - Daily Mail

There are obvious major political implications that are far reaching. The deceased president, Lech Kaczynski, and his wife, were killed. Based on the Polish laws governing a situation such as this, his rival and the man that would likely of been his political opponent in the upcoming election will now take power.

We must pray for this strong Catholic nation and political and military ally of the United States.

Our Lady of Czestochowa, pray for Poland, pray for us.

***UPDATE***:
Sancte Pater has a photo post... that proves pictures are sometimes speak, when words can't.

What if Tiger Wins? - Open Thread

Tiger is currently tied for 3rd place at the Masters. He is 2 strokes back.

So I pose the question: What if he wins? What does it mean? Will it change your view of his sins and transgressions?

I don't want to know your overall thoughts, I really am asking specifically what ramifications would a victory at the Master's have on the overall situation? And/or what ramifications SHOULD it have?

This is not just any tournament. The fact that this is the first tournament back says a lot about what he is trying to do to his career. This tournament is supposedly his tournament. The Master's was his coming out party as a pro.
So the question then might be... if he should win, will it change your mind at all? Tiger Woods to you or me is a golfer. We don't know him and we know little of him as a PERSON. There was a period early on, 1997-2000ish that I didn't like Tiger for no other reason than my favorite golfers were David Duval and Phil Mickelson. After a while I just came to love his domination... but not his attitude. But I will admit... I started rooting for him.

Maybe I should have stuck with my gut. We know Tiger has attitude problems on the course, he is allegedly working on those. He only had one or two outbursts yesterday... which isn't bad, I guess.

So... what happens on Monday... if he is awarded another Green Jacket on Sunday?

Let's have some discussion in the Comment-Box.


Side Note:

Current Scores:
1. Lee Westwood -8
3. Tiger Woods -6
6. Phil Mickelson -5
69. David Duval +6

L.A. gets their MAN... Abp. Gomez.

Archbishop Jose Gomez will be the Coadjutor of L.A. becoming Archbishop as the successor to Archbishop Mahony.

I know a lot of Catholic news sites had this up so I found that Erin Manning over at "And Sometimes Tea.." has a great round up. So go there for more information. It is a pretty big story, and although I hate simply re-linking to other blogs this is a big enough story to do simply that.

This is a huge statement... and a lot is said by this move. The fact that Abp. Mahony is notorious for what has occured in his Archdiocese over the years is one thing. But to then replace him by an Opus Dei trained priest? I don't think there is really a bigger "Actions speak louder than words" statement that could have been made in this situation.

Remember this link as you read the stories:
Liturgy + Heresy = Liturgesy?

Breaking!: Notre Dame "Observer" refuses to print Dr. Charles Rice's Column RE: Church's Teaching on Homosexuality

UPDATED*** 7:49 pm ET:

Notre Dame... fails again.

• UPDATE*** 7:49pm ET:
• A new email from the Editor to Dr. Rice is printed below. It appears that the Observer is still licking it's wounds from an earlier "incident." What better way to "repair" your image than print the teachings of the Church?? Guess they don't think that way..... (SEE BELOW FOR NEW EMAIL)

This is story is hitting just now in a few well respected Catholic News outlets:

Dr. Charles Rice (Notre Dame Law School - Bio) recently wrote a column/piece for the Notre Dame Observer, as he does every few weeks. The topic this week is: The Church's Teaching On Homosexuality. Only... this week they didn't print it.

Here is the article: Dr. Rice's - "Right or Wrong?" Column: March 1, 2010 - Homosexuality (from Fumare)

The Editor of the Observer didn't print it for a variety of reasons...or so they say. None of the listed reasons was legitimate. Now, as a former College Paper Editor, I know something about the role of an EIC. There are LEGITIMATE reasons for not printing certain things, and there are times when you don't WANT things printed so you CREATE a reason. This folks... is a brush off.

Below is the email exchange between Dr. Rice and the Editor.

From: Matt Gamber [mgamber@nd.edu] Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 1:24 AM To: Charles Rice Subject: Tuesday's column

Dear Mr. Rice,

I wanted to first introduce myself as Matt Gamber, the new Editor-in-Chief of The Observer. Thank you for your continued hard work and contributions to The Observer's Viewpoint section.

Second, I wanted to let you know why we chose not to run your most recent submission in Tuesday's Observer. First, it far exceeded our word limit guidelines, which I understand our Viewpoint Editor, Michelle Maitz, has shared with you in the past. Our daily space limitations require that we enforce this word limit, and we would appreciate your attention to this limit in the future.

Also, I personally had some concerns with the content of the column, particularly considering The Mobile Party comic incident earlier in the semester at The Observer. While your piece was well-researched and I trust the information was factually correct, I did not feel it lent itself to creating a productive discussion, all things considered. I was a bit concerned with certain language as well.

In the future, if you would like to examine this topic, we thought it might be beneficial to do so in a point-counterpoint format, perhaps with an author of an opposing or differing viewpoint. That way, each "side," to speak, would have the opportunity to present relevant facts, evidence and analysis to define its position.

As I began, I again thank you for your contributions to The Observer. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this decision, and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Matt Gamber Editor-in-Chief The Observer Cell: (847) 287-1141 Office: (574) 631-4542

Dr. Rice's Response:

From: Charles Rice Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 3:04 PM To: Matthew Gamber Subject: Rice Column on Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality

Dear Mr. Gamber:

Thank you for your email informing me that my column presenting the teachings of the Church on homosexuality will not be published. Since 1992, I have been privileged to publish every two weeks a column, entitled “Right or Wrong,” in the Observer. I emphasize my appreciation for the unfailing professionalism and courtesy of the Observer editors with whom I have had contact over those years.

You mention the column “far exceeded our word limit guidelines.” It is in fact significantly shorter than each of the three previous columns published this semester in the Observer. I was not asked to shorten any of them. The rejected column accurately presented relevant teachings of the Catholic Church on homosexuality. I understand why you are concerned over the content of the column. You further propose that if I examine the topic of homosexuality in the future, “we thought it might be beneficial to do so in a point-counterpoint format, perhaps with an author of an opposing or differing viewpoint. That way, each ‘side,’ so to speak, would have the opportunity to present relevant facts, evidence and analysis to define its position.”

In a university that claims to be Catholic, I am not willing to restrict my presentation of Catholic teaching to a format that treats the authoritative teaching of the Church as merely one viewpoint or “side” among many. If you require that future columns of mine on homosexuality comply with a format such as you propose, it will be inappropriate for me to continue writing the column for the Observer.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Rice Professor Emeritus Notre Dame Law School

Words fail me. Dr. Rice is amazing, I had some limited interaction with him while at Ave Law, and he was nothing less than a gentleman and a scholar. This is another BLACK mark on the name of Notre Dame, and unfortunately, Dr. Rice is once again a target of Anti-Catholic thinking.

UPDATE*** 7:49pm ET:
Here is the most recent email from Matt Gamber, EIC to Dr. Rice:

From: Matt Gamber [mgamber@nd.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 5:29 PM
To: Charles Rice
Subject: Re: Rice Column on Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality

Dear Dr. Rice,

Thank you for your response. I appreciate your contributions to The
Observer and I hope that we will continue to work together. I do not
wish to question the Church teachings or argue the points you
presented in your essay, but rather, because the paper is still
recovering from the incident with The Mobile Party comic, we would
prefer to examine this issue at a later time.

I sincerely appreciate your understanding of our concerns, and I hope
you will not hesitate to contact me with any further questions or
concerns you may have.

Sincerely,

Matt Gamber

-Posted by: Joe

Donating to Haiti.... some thoughts

If you haven't donated:
CRS.org


((UPDATE:))
So I decided that I wasn't going to delete my post, but based on a comment below, I decided to rethink the situation. We as Catholics do have a lot to offer beyond just money. We have prayers, novenas, rosaries, etc...

Donations though... they do need to keep coming. We as Catholics shouldn't assume or presume motivations. At this point Haiti needs all the support that we can give. So the commentator below was correct when he said that we need to give what we can, in any way that we can, and not detract from people trying to do the same. So let's all encourage one another, help when we can and how we can and continue to pray.

I apologize for making the post I did before, and I pray that we all can be charitable with our giving as well as with our hearts. So use me as a lesson as what NOT to do. And again... don't for get to pray.

And if you haven't... I am curious, will the likes of George Clooney and Wyclef Jean inspire you to do so? I am not suggesting that their support for this is bad in any way. I just wonder why people haven't donated yet...if they intend to.


Again, Jean is from Haiti, he is apparently on the ground and helping out, but is a telethon really going to get people to donate? The answer is yes, but why? Are there thousands of people sitting around going, "Nah, I just can't afford it. Oh wait, George Clooney says that I should? Oh, OK." Again, I am not saying that Mr. Clooney and the rest shouldn't be out there using their fame to garner donations, they should. I just don't understand that mentality of the people that wait for this sort of thing in order to give.


I guess it is the large scale production aspect of it that doesn't sit well with me: Help for Haiti
I am just a little torn on this. Half of me says, "Whatever it takes." The other half of me says, "Do people need a concert in order to give?"

As a side note, the "text donations" are a cool thing. I wish that some of the better organizations would have signed on to it, instead of Red Cross, but it is still cool. Anyone with any connections to any of the cellular carriers or with CRS.org should convince someone to get that going on the CRS.org front. (SEE BELOW!)

((UPDATE)):*************************************************
So... you CAN donate with your cellular bill and CRS.org. It isn't through texting, but it is the same concept. If you go to CRS.org and look at the right side-bar there is a place to enter your cell number. You will then receive a text message on how to give... OR:

TEXT: "RELIEF" to 30644 - This will connect you to someone that will allow you to give with your credit card. It isn't as "easy" as the other groups... but there are reports coming out that the "text" gifts may be delayed up to 90 days because of the problems and processing issues that the carriers are facing.

Faith Tested By Fire

For my first post, I was going to write a generic "Hello," but recent events in Haiti have changed my mind. It got me thinking about when we as Catholics are tested in our faith. There is no doubt that everyday we must strive to live out our faith, and as St. Francis said "when necessary, use words." However, there are some instances where we must go above and beyond. For Catholics (and others) in Haiti, they are doing that as this moment.

As this is being written, the rescue efforts in Haiti are just beginning. There is talk about "substantial" casualties. Many buildings, including the US Embassy have been completely destroyed. It is at this moment, that many of the good people of that country will be tested in their faith, and love for their neighbor. Because Haiti is such a poor country there isn't an organized rescue effort, and many people are risking their lives to find others in the rubble.

Many of those ordinary citizens turned rescuers are Catholic. I really believe that as this all plays out the world will see how the people of this economically downtrodden country will pull together to give aid to their neighbor. And it is no better testament to the faith and goodness of people to risk their own lives saving others.

So while we pray for those killed and injured in the earthquake in Haiti, let us also remember in our prayers the rescuers and relief workers who will be risking their lives over the next few days to save those in need.

Our Lady Of Lourdes, Ora Pro Nobis!


-Posted by: Brian

Big Announcement!

...can you feel the anticipation?

I want to welcome a new writer to the blog. Brian: brianatststans@gmail.com is going to start writing posts here. He is from Michigan and we went to Law School together. He is the one that inspired me to do this blog and I know he will add a LOT to this blog because he has a really awesome way of looking at his faith. I don't know how this will affect the way the blog runs or the direction and content of the posts but I know that the Holy Spirit will guide us all in the direction we need to go. The blog will still keep its main focus - The Battle Against Evil. I will keep focused on Alaskan themes as well; but I am assuming Brian will have his own unique focuses which will be a nice blend to our mix. 

I will let him introduce himself. As for figuring out who is posting what... well I am working on that. Blogger of course is a little buggy, and so even though I attempted to make it so that each post displays the author, it is unfortunately not working. So until then we will have to use some make-shift means of posting who wrote what.

So look forward to his posts and don't forget to give him feedback!

-Posted By: Joe

Breaking News: "Empowering the Next Generation"

In a shocking and unexpected move, the Obama Administration has called on Congress to quickly pass an addendum to the recent stimulus legislation. Called 'Empowering the Next Generation', the bill would immediately grant the right of free and universal Internet access to all US citizens. In addition, in a final push to end the digital divide, the federal government would be supplying every student in need across the country with a laptop and would be creating local neighborhood digital knowledge and repair centers both to educate citizens about the use of technology and to train a new generation of digital natives.

There has been an immediate backlash to the proposal, says a senior congressional aide: "We can't just give away laptops. People will just sell those things. Well, they might keep them, but they'll just play games on them. Or go on Facebook." After pausing to check a Tweet on his iPhone, the aide continued: "I mean, this is completely ludicrous."

White House officials have called such sentiments "whiny and totally 20th century".

Other members of Congress are applauding the initiative. And emboldened by the plan, progressives in the body have moved to strike down all standardized testing related to No Child Left Behind (the long-controversial education law otherwise known as "Just Fill in the Bubble, Jenny"). Says a senior member: "We see a future devoid of Scantrons. Sure, we'll have a lot of test booklets left over, but we figure the students in the art wings of America's schools can figure out something creative to do with all that paper."

Representatives from the Scantron industry could not immediately comment. They were busy filling their last names and addresses into a bubble sheet.

The full story can be found in today's edition of Education Watcher News