Swords and Scallops

Poland's churches are packed; its seminaries still are churning out healthy numbers of priests. According to census data, 96 percent of the population identify themselves as Roman Catholic; 57 percent say they attend Mass every Sunday. There now seem to be as many statues of Pope John Paul II as there once were of V.I. Lenin...

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says he has leg-pressed 2,000 pounds, but some say he'd be in a pretty tough spot if he tried.

The "700 Club" host's feat of strength is recounted on the Web site of his Christian Broadcasting Network, in a posting headlined "How Pat Robertson Leg Pressed 2,000 Pounds."

According to the CBN Web site, Robertson worked his way up to lifting a ton with the help of his physician, who is not named. The posting does not say when the lift occurred, but a CBN spokeswoman released photos to The Associated Press that she said showed Robertson lifting 2,000 pounds in 2003, when Robertson was 73. He is now 76.

The Web posting said two men loaded the leg-press machine with 2,000 pounds "and then let it down on Mr. Robertson, who pushed it up one rep and let it go back down again." The Web site said several people witnessed the event, and shows video of Robertson leg-pressing what appears to be 1,000 pounds.

Clay Travis of CBS SportsLine.com called the 2,000-pound assertion impossible in a column this week, writing that the leg-press record for football players at Florida State University is 665 pounds less.

"Where in the world did Robertson even find a machine that could hold 2,000 pounds at one time?" Travis asked.

Andy Zucker, a strength-training coach at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, said leg presses of more than 1,000 pounds represent "a Herculean effort, and 2,000 pounds is a whole other story."

"If he was able to lift that much weight, I take my hat off to him, but the numbers suggest that people who lift that much weight are few and far between," Zucker said. "One would have to see what type of leg press it was on and under what parameters it was done."

Pope Benedict XVI will arrive tomorrow in his predecessor's homeland Poland, where a new government's insistence on conservative Roman Catholic social policies has sparked protests.

More than 90 percent of Poles are baptized Catholics, and the church's influence is greater than in most European countries. Now the church has acquired an indirect role in government, after the ruling Law and Justice party this month formed a coalition with a Catholic-affiliated grouping that has called for curbs on gay rights.

``The church became a mediator during the communist era and to an extent still feels responsible for telling society what to do,'' Reverend Adam Boniecki, editor-in-chief of Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny, said in an interview in the city of Krakow.

The papal tour, only Benedict's second foreign trip in his year as pontiff, will be watched on television by as many as 80 percent of Poles, according to a survey published by the newspaper Rzeczpospolita May 20, while more than 1.5 million worshippers are expected to attend mass in Krakow.

Benedict, 79, the first German to become pope since the 11th century, was elected by his fellow cardinals after John Paul II died in April last year and has had a difficult act to follow, particularly in the eyes of the former pope's compatriots...

“The Da Vinci Code” or “Opus Dei vs. Opie” is not so much blasphemy as big, plodding bore. Dan Brown’s novel, a fabulously fun, page-turning, publishing phenomenon, has had the Vatican’s knickers in a twist since 2003, and “The Da Vinci Code” ’s second coming as a movie is further cause for chagrin among the faithful. The faithful fans of the book, that is.
Part scavenger hunt, conspiracy theory, riddle, art history lesson, theological mystery and chase movie, the film, featuring the redoubtable Tom Hanks as the Indiana Jones-like Harvard “symbologist,” promised to be a blast on the big screen.
Starting with a ritualized murder in the Louvre, the film pits Hanks’ longhaired, suavely dressed scholar Robert Langdon together with beautiful, young Paris police officer Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) against the forces of evil. Their quest is to unravel the mysteries of the Holy Grail and recover it.
For the book’s lovers, it’s all here: the 2,000-year-old conspiracy of silence concerning Jesus’ true nature, a murder plot involving the psychopathic Silas (Paul Bettany), the Three Stooges of albino-assassin-monks, clues to the mystery concealed within Leonardo Da Vinci masterpieces, secret societies and a conclusion that blows the lid off two millennia of religious tradition.
What went wrong? To quote Don Rumsfeld, “Stuff.”...

ON THE eve of the cinematic release of The Da Vinci Code, Australian supporters of women priests have broken with the Vatican's condemnations of the Dan Brown thriller and say the book is truthful in one regard: it reveals the extent of the church's suppression of women.

Women played an essential role in the early church and until the early ninth century it ordained women as priests, according to Marilyn Hatton, president of the Ordination of Catholic Women in Australia...

Pope Benedict XVI has told Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez that he is concerned about religious reforms in the largely Catholic nation.

The pontiff and Mr. Chavez met at the Vatican Thursday.

A Vatican spokesman says Pope Benedict was worried about a proposal to ban teaching religion in Venezuelan schools. He said the pope expressed his hope that Santa Rosa Catholic University can maintain its religious identity.

The pontiff also asked that the nation's health programs "respect life," an apparent reference to abortion, which the church opposes.

The Venezuelan leader assured the pope of his commitment to "overcome every tension in respecting the legitimate rights of all."

Mr. Chavez often quotes from the bible during speeches. But he has clashed with the Catholic leadership in Venezuela, referring to it as a "cancer."

Small signs of unity between Catholics and Orthodox are coming from Greece. The celebration of Easter on the same date is but one example of this.

Bishop Frangkiskos Papamanolis, president of the episcopal conference of Greece, head of the Diocese of Syros and apostolic vicar of the island of Crete, explained that for 34 years the celebration of Easter has been coordinated with the Orthodox.

In this interview with ZENIT, Bishop Papamanolis talks about daily relations between Greek Catholics and Orthodox believers and explains how, with the enlargement of the European Union, the number of Catholics has increased sevenfold.

Q: Does the Catholic Church in Greece celebrate Easter with Orthodox brothers throughout the country or is it optional?

Bishop Papamanolis: It is a decision our bishops made in the years 1968-1972. The first to ask for permission from the Holy See in 1968 was the then archbishop of Corfu, Monsignor Antonio Varthalitis.

He was followed by the then archbishop of Athens and apostolic administrator of Thesaloniki, Monsignor Benedetto Printezis, in 1970.

The bishops of the Cyclades, Naxos-Tinos, Syros and Santorini islands, seeing the good climate that this initiative had created, also asked the Holy See for permission to celebrate Easter together with their Orthodox brothers and thus, since 1972, we celebrate Easter on the same date as our Orthodox brothers.

On the island of Crete, however, where there is an infinitesimal number of Catholics -- some 60 faithful in Canea, four in Rettimnon, and some 20 in Iraklion -- the bishop of Syros, who was also apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Crete, left parish priests free to choose one or the other date.

They opted for celebrating Easter on the same date as Rome because, being two parishes with much tourism, there were many tourists who attended the Holy Week services.

In Rettimnon there was not even Mass on Easter Sunday: They had no priest, the church was half destroyed, and Catholics, or rather Catholic women, were four at most.

In Iraklion there was a priest and some 20 parishioners, while tourists participating in the celebrations were the great majority.

In Canea it was almost the same. Undoubtedly, now that Catholics in Crete are about 3,500 spread throughout the island, the situation must be reviewed. And I myself am the bishop responsible for rethinking it, as apostolic administrator of Crete. I am waiting for the opportune moment.

Q: How could Easter be unified with the Orthodox at the world level?

Bishop Papamanolis: I do not see how Easter can be celebrated on the same date. Though the Catholic Church might want to change the way of setting the date and decide to follow the Orthodox Church, she would separate herself from the Reformation Churches [Protestants], the Anglicans, etc.

The only solution is that all the leaders of the Churches decide on the same way of setting the date of Easter, or choose a Sunday in April to celebrate Easter together.

Q: Benedict XVI recently received a delegation of the "Apostoliki Diakonia" and showed that he was disposed to dialogue with the Orthodox. What problems and benefits in daily life does this dialogue have for you?

Bishop Papamanolis: Dialogue is always beneficial, but it must be true dialogue and not remain at the level of discussion, in which each one says what he thinks, tries to convince the other and accepts his opinion, and then everyone continues to think what they did before.

And, in saying this, I am not thinking only of the Orthodox Church but also of our Catholic Church. I do not doubt the fact that the Orthodox Church has many things to correct, but our Catholic Church also has many things to correct.

In the 2001 Synod of Bishops, I spoke openly and very clearly. For me the problem of dialogue between the churches is a problem of ecclesiology. We have texts that we refer to, the documents of Second Vatican Council. If what the fathers of Vatican II had said had been put into practice, we would now have taken enormous steps toward unity.

In regard to the problems and benefits that this dialogue would bring us in daily life, without a doubt it creates problems, but the benefits, which are not comparable, are much greater. Dialogue, even if it is transformed into debate, always creates a good climate in interpersonal relations, which in reality is at the base of all dialogue.

In my Diocese of Syros, for example, Orthodox and Catholics live in a very harmonious climate, so much so that they say that we want to create a pilot church on how a united Church would live. Neither I nor my counterpart, Monsignor Doroteos, had thought of it, but if this is the result, welcome.

Yesterday, in the church of Rettimnon, in my Diocese of Crete, of which I am apostolic administrator, at the end of the Easter Mass, to the great surprise of the celebrant and the faithful, the Orthodox bishop of the city, Monsignor Anthimos, came in, with his vicar general, the prefect of the province of Rettimnon.

When the Mass was over, they asked the celebrant priest if they could congratulate the faithful for Easter, which they did, and they, though still observing Palm Sunday as Orthodox, sang the "Christ Has Risen."

Q: Some Greek Catholic parishes have more non-Greek faithful than native. Is it still part of the mentality of the Greek citizen to think that to be Greek means to be Orthodox?

Bishop Papamanolis: Yes. Not only do some parishes have more foreigners than natives but in the whole Catholic Church in Greece non-Greeks are the majority. We Greeks are a minority of around 18% within the Catholic Church here.

In regard to your question if it is still part of the Greek mentality to think that to be Greek means to be Orthodox, sadly I must say yes.

Last year, during a meeting at the Ministry of Public Education and Worship, of our episcopal conference with executives of the same, a directress of a ministerial section, in fact, repeated this. And, some years ago, I was told this by the vice minister of public education and worship. Imagine what the people must think.

Q: In your opinion, what would be the greatest challenge for Greek Catholics and in what way can the universal Church help in this matter?

Bishop Papamanolis: The greatest challenge at present is to incorporate our Catholic brothers who have come from outside Greece's borders and who have given us a 700% growth. With the opening of the borders of member states of the European Union, brothers from the West have arrived.

Because of the fall of Communism, brothers from the north have arrived, especially Poles and Albanians. Because of the instability of peace in the Near East, brothers from the East and also from Africa have arrived.

This increase has been sudden and unforeseen and has caught us unawares without having prepared us to put ourselves at their service, especially in this period in which, on one hand, the lack of priestly and religious vocations is acutely felt and, on the other, we are unable to make our problem understood by those who could and even should help us.

A Chinese bishop will be ordained Sunday with the approval of the Pope after two were consecrated this week without the pontiff's consent, a Vatican-affiliated news agency reported Saturday.

The Rev. Paolo Pei Junmin will be made coadjutor bishop of the Shenyang diocese in northeast China at a ceremony Sunday morning in the city's cathedral, the Rome-based AsiaNews agency reported.AsiaNews quoted a Vatican official as saying Pei was considered an "excellent candidate" by Rome and had Pope Benedict XVI's approval.

The ordination follows the consecrations this week of two Chinese bishops who were not approved by the pope. The ordinations prompted a strong reaction from the Vatican, which said they warranted automatic excommunication for the bishops and the men who ordained them, although it conceded that the prelates may have been pressured by China's government-run church into accepting the appointments.

Canon law experts said such pressure may constitute a mitigating factor that could nullify or lessen any penalty if the pope were to proceed with a formal excommunication process.

The Vatican press office said it had no comment on the AsiaNews report, although officials noted the agency is reliable...

At Jesuit run Gonzaga University, in Spokane Washington, a campaign has been launched by some faculty to legitimize homosexual behaviour and refute Catholic teaching on homosexuality.

The group, calling itself, “GU Affirms Equality,” has circulated a letter and launched a website and calls Catholic teaching hypocritical. They claim that there is a “tension” between Church teaching that on the one hand supports the dignity of the human person, and on the other, condemns homosexual acts as sinful and the condition as an “objective moral disorder.”

The letter claims, “There are ambiguities and tensions within official (Church) teachings. In particular, we see a deep tension between Catholic social teaching’s opposition to every form of discrimination and bias and official Catholic teachings on homosexuality that allow or encourage some discrimination.”

“Catholics are resolving (the contradiction),” the group claims, “by siding with Catholic social teaching and its unconditional support for the dignity and rights of every person and by questioning a Catholic sexual ethic that restricts the civil, political, cultural and ecclesial rights of LGBT persons.”

The group, led by philosophy professor Mark Alfino, was formed in response to an event last October when the campus Republicans brought Dr. John Diggs to campus to give a talk on the medical dangers of homosexual acts. Dr. Raymond Reyes, associate vice president for diversity told the campus newspaper, The Bulletin, that the talk might be used to create anti-gay sentiment. The administration asked the Republicans to broaden the topic and scope of the talk so as not to focus on homosexuality but the harmful effects of human sexuality pertaining to anal penetrative sex.

The Republicans refused and the lecture, titled, “The Medical Effects of Homo-Sex” played to a packed auditorium. Since then, GU Affirms Equality was formed and Alfino told the Bulletin that their first “action” would be ready by January of this year.

Dr. Alfino was straightforward in his opposition to Catholic teaching on sexual morality. He told LifeSiteNews.com, that while his group, which has wide support from Gonzaga faculty, is attempting to find a common view with the opposed group, he and other faculty members wanted them to “unequivocally to assert their commitment” to the dignity of the human person.

Alfino said that, “homosexual acts are not wrong things,” and claims that the consensus of researchers on homosexuality would agree. “The Church is very much mistaken about this aspect of its teaching on sexuality,” he said. “I know I’ve got the consensus of the best minds on this.”

Alfino said the letter against Catholic teaching on sexual morality has garnered about three hundred signatures. A second letter, he said, makes a set of demands to the university’s administration which he intends to present next week.

In reaponse to Alfino’s group, a second group of faculty, led by Dr. David Calhoun, also of the philosophy department, responds that there is a basic logical error in claiming a contradiction in Catholic teaching on homosexuality.

Dr. Calhoun’s letter says it is “a basic mistake of logical, ethical, and theological reasoning to think that this fundamental commitment by the Church to human value would imply that the Church, Church-related institutions, or Christian persons should or must approve of all actions engaged in or character qualities manifested by human persons.”

The response letter, which is as yet only available online at the weblog of a sympathetic Gonzaga undergraduate, says, “While Gonzaga University should conduct itself with generosity and charity in its dealings with all persons, it should also recognize its moral obligation to discourage behaviour contrary to Christian teaching,” the letter reads.

The response letter’s growing list of signatories is calling on the university to “maintain its fidelity to traditional Catholic and Christian teaching regarding homosexual behaviour, and to reflect that fidelity in its actions and policies.”

LifeSiteNews.com spoke with Dr. Brian Clayton, a professor of Philosophy and a signatory to the letter in support of Catholic teaching, who said there seems to be a basic disconnect between the claims of tolerance and the desire to paint all opposition to their position as “homophobia” or “bigotry.”

“It never occurs to them there is a contradiction,” he said. Clayton said the reaction reminds him of the Catholic politicians who, “see no contradiction between supporting the abortion of millions of children on one hand and supporting the children of the poor on the other.”

The GU Affirms Equality campaign comes close to accusing the Catholic Church of inciting aggression against homosexual persons. It says the Vatican document identifying homosexuality as an “objective moral disorder,” “may contribute to a sense that discrimination against homosexuals is not always wrong.”

Clayton told LifeSiteNews.com that the response letter was an attempt to place the issue into the light of reason and logic and move away from emotional responses. The reaction of homosexual supporters, he said, seems to be that anyone who disagrees is ipso facto a bigot. “It’s not a matter of argument but of passion,” he stated. “It becomes clear in the kind of objections made (to opposition). Any question or attempt to challenge the dominant view is taken as an attack on people because it makes them feel bad.”

“What we are trying to do is make an attempt to state the truth and make a few simple logical distinctions,” said Clayton.

Dr. Calhoun told LifeSiteNews.com that he has yet to meet with the administration but he intends to bring the issue up at a meeting with Fr. Robert Spitzer SJ., the university’s president, early next week.

Dr. Calhoun said his letter’s signatories only want the university to “recognize and value traditional catholic teaching.” He said, “We’ve received indications of support from about 100 students, alumni faculty and staff.”

Calhoun said there have been some negative responses as well. “There’s been a discussion on a faculty listserv in which we have been called narrow minded and bigoted. One suggested that there was a hint (in the letter) of violence against homosexuals. One implied that the letter is in keeping with a desire to segregate homosexuals, and made a reference to the Holocaust.”

The Archbishop of Glasgow has joined the debate over the use of condoms in the battle against AIDS, saying that it is "common sense" to allow its use in certain situations if it could help prevent the spread of the virus.

Scottish TV reports that Archbishop Mario Conti, while not advocating contraception, says it makes sense to permit the use of condoms in a marriage where one of the spouses has AIDS. His comments come as the Vatican reviews its position on the issue.

Ronnie Convery, the spokesperson for the Archibishop, said: "The church has a clear teaching on the issue of contraception and certainly using a condom as a means of contraception is wrong, what we are discussing here this is something different. The condom is merely being used a barrier to infection and that's a new issue, something that has come up in the last few years."

Roy Kilpatrick from HIV Scotland said: "Mario Conti has taken a bold step although consistent with what others are saying within the Catholic Church, I think it shows a position of responsibility towards people living within their pastoral care, people with HIV.

"We know of course that condoms do work and the Church has disputed this so the shift in terms of openness in terms of permission is very welcome."

Meanwhile, Catholic News Agency reports that Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, told Colombia's Radio Cadena Nacional that the Church "will not budge one inch" on the issue of condom use to prevent AIDS transmission.

The Cardinal told the radio station that the Vatican "maintains unmodified the teaching on condoms" and said the recent statements by Italian Cardinal Maria Martini "are nothing more than his own personal opinions which do not reflect [Church] teaching."

Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said Pope Benedict XVI has not ordered any studies about modifying the prohibition on condom use. "As a dicastery we do not have any instruction or any indication to the contrary, to carry out a study about something new with regards to condoms," he stated.

The Colombian prelate said Cardinal Martini "should explain how the condom prevents AIDS if it is true he said it is a lesser evil."

The Church believes the only way to truly combat AIDS, Cardinal Lopez Trujillo said, is through fidelity and chastity, which are the only morally acceptable means. Contraception, the Church teaches, damages the integrity of the full gift of self, which is intrinsic to the sexual act.