Swords and Scallops

Three sisters living in Iverness, Scotland were afraid that they would conceive Jesus Christ. So they did what most other people would do- they took out an insurance policy to cover them in the event of a virgin birth. Who would blame them, the costs of raising a child these days is skyrocketing!

However, the Catholic Church complained to the British firm insuring the sisters and now the company has since dropped the insurance policy.

Via BBC:

Essex-based Britishinsurance.com confirmed it had provided the £1m policy, but said it was reviewed on Thursday following complaints.

The firm said the women from Inverness had renewed the policy since 2000.

The cover was meant to pay for the cost of bringing up Christ if one of them has a virgin birth.

Britishinsurance.com managing director Simon Burgess said it had not been the company's intention to offend anyone.

The company, which is based in Braintree, specialises in accident and unemployment insurance.

Mr Burgess said: "The people were concerned about having sufficient funds if they immaculately conceived. It was for caring and bringing up the Christ.

"We sometimes get weird requests and this is the weirdest we have had." ...

In case the intermittent visitors (haha) here wondered why I was gone, I've been busy graduating high school. It's summer break now, so I'll be back looking for some news articles to bring to you guys, and hopefully I'll learn to do more editorializing like a good blog should.

Via LA Times

After much prayer and deliberation, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a new English translation for the Mass that will change the prayers tens of millions of American Catholics have recited for more than three decades.

The 173-29 vote of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, meeting in Los Angeles for their spring session, means that American Catholics will soon have to learn slightly different versions of texts that have become second nature.

For instance, at present, when the priest says, "The Lord be with you," the congregation responds, "And also with you." Under the new translation, the response will be, "And also with your spirit."

The new translation conforms to recent Vatican rules designed to make liturgy more accurately reflect the original Latin of the Roman Missal. Thus far, the new English translation has been adopted by bishops in England, Scotland, Australia and Wales.

Bishop Donald Trautman, chairman of the conference's Committee on the Liturgy, called the decision "the most significant liturgical action" to come before the policymaking body in years.

"It will take some adapting, but it is not earth-shattering when you think of the changes we went through 40 years ago" when the Latin Mass was replaced by English in the United States, said the bishop from Erie, Pa.

The alterations, which must be approved by the Vatican, also will affect the Penitential Rite. The current line, "I have sinned through my fault," will become, "I have sinned greatly through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault."

Prepared by the Vatican-appointed International Commission on English in the Liturgy, which translates the Mass for English-speaking countries, the new translation also includes changes to the Nicene Creed, the Sanctus and Holy Communion.

The Nicene Creed will begin with "I believe," instead of "We believe."

The prayer preceding Communion will change from "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you," to "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof."

Before the other bishops began debating, Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds, England, president of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, sought their approval for the proposal.

"Those of you who celebrate Mass in both Spanish and English will know only too well the difference in richness between the two texts," he said.

As an example of why the changes were recommended, Roche cited the shift from "And also with you" to "and with your spirit," which he said references the practice of the Apostle Paul.

"What is the significance of this? Well, he is addressing someone close to God who has God's spirit. So when we reply 'and with your spirit,' we are indicating that we are part of a spiritual community — it is God's spirit that has gathered us together," Roche said.

When the original English translation was adopted, Roche said there was an "urgent feeling … that the liturgy should be made available to the people as soon as possible, and the work was rushed."

Even then, it was noted that the translation should be sharpened, but practical and ideological considerations got in the way, he said.

The late Pope John Paul II, noticing during his trips around the world that elements of the Mass differed nation by nation and language by language, acted as a catalyst for the renewed translation effort, Roche said.

"If the bishops of the English-speaking countries can agree on a single version of the Mass, what a sign of catholicity that will be," Roche said.

Take that Gerald!

Via The Inquirer:

A SENIOR Catholic bishop has declared the triumph of Christianity over “The Da Vinci Code,” the Hollywood adaptation of the best-selling novel that assaults Christian belief, which began showing in the country more than two weeks ago.

“Christianity is exactly the same. The Church is still as it was before,” said Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

“After so much international hype and so much local fuss, the ‘Da Vinci Code’ film is now seen as a non-issue. There was so much debate, worry and reservation over nothing,” he said Sunday.

Jesus Christ, whose virginity and divinity were questioned in the book by Dan Brown, is still the same “today, yesterday and forever,” despite the attacks from both the novel and the film, Cruz said.

“Fiction about Christ and the Church comes and goes but their truth remains,” he said. “The Catholic Church enjoys the certitude to last till the end of time.”

Via The Independent:

Tony Blair, his wife, Cherie, and their children will have an audience with Pope Benedict in the Vatican today, raising expectations that he will convert to the Roman Catholic faith when he stands down as Prime Minister.

Mr Blair is expected to use the audience to invite the Pope to make his first visit to Britain next year, and there is growing speculation that it could be made a state visit.

However, Mr Blair may have quit as Prime Minister before the Pope's visit. MPs now expect him to signal his departure date at the Labour conference in September following his decision - disclosed in The Independent - to step down at the same time as John Prescott, his deputy.

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, yesterday emphasised his increasing grip on the premiership by meeting Angela Merkel, the German leader, as Mr Blair ended his Whitsun holiday in Italy by meeting Romano Prodi, the recently elected Italian Prime Minister.

Today's audience will be the first time that Mr Blair has met the present Pope, but he had an audience with the late Pope John Paul II in 2003, shortly before the Iraq War. It has been made clear privately that Pope Benedict XVI is attracted to the prospect of a state visit to Britain, but church leaders here havebeen told that the papal diary is full for next year.

Today's audience follows Cherie Blair's unexpected meeting with Pope Benedict in April, when she was on a speaking engagement in Rome. Cherie, a devout Catholic, and her husband have regularly attended Mass in London, but his conversion would be controversial if he was still a serving Prime Minister.

A number of cabinet ministers are Catholics, including Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who is a member of Opus Dei, the Home Secretary, John Reid, and Des Browne, the Defence Secretary. However, Mr Blair would be the first British Prime Minister to convert to Catholicism. He has avoided any public comment about converting to avoid upsetting traditionalists, who still object to any move that could undermine the establishment of the Church of England.

The Church of England split from Roman Catholicism in 1534, after being seperated by Henry VIII. Now, 500 years later, we have the British Prime Minister having an audience with the Pope and possibly thinking about converting to Roman Catholicism.