A worthy project to be sure. I am glad this is being done. Otherwise, I am not sure I even want my children applying to Notre Dame. What’s the point of sending your son to Catholic university that has forsaken its Catholic identity? With all due respect, if I wanted to send my kids to a prestigious secular university, it wouldn’t be Notre Dame.

And fwiw, if I had to choose a college for my son to attend today, it would be this one.

(LvNCP)

This looks like a promising new blog.

What kind of “Catholic” sneers dismissively at an evangelical pastor for fully accepting the Church’s fundamental, non-negotiable teaching on abortion?

O.k., now here’s something you don’t see every day:

The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, whose members claim to be descended from the legendary crusaders, have filed a lawsuit against Benedict XVI calling for him to recognise the seizure of assets worth 100 billion euros (£79 billion).

They claim that when the order was dissolved by his predecessor Pope Clement V in 1307, more than 9,000 properties as well as countless pastures, mills and other commercial ventures belonging to the knights were appropriated by the church.

But their motive is not to reclaim damages only to restore the “good name” of the Knights Templar.

Hmmm. If that’s truly their motive, then suing Pope Benedict XVI probably wasn’t the best idea.

(NPR has more here)

(LvATL)

Blackadder’s second installment on this important topic is now available.

You can read the first installment here.

Another thoughtful post by Professor Rick Garnett.

I could not agree more with this editorial by Deacon Keith Fournier. Here’s the money quote:

You can disagree with Deal Hudson’s Politics. I do, and I have, on many occasions and over many issues. I have made it known quite strongly. Every time I have done so, he has been a worthy opponent. You have had every opportunity to take your own Policy disagreements to the Public Square. I for one would have welcomed an intelligent debate. Instead, you have now resorted to impugning a fellow Catholic’s character by bringing up a past indiscretion which was forgiven in the Sacraments. By resorting to such calumny and vicious written attacks like the kind you entered into in that E-Blast, you have also undermined your own moral credibility. After all, at the heart of the entirety of Catholic Social teaching is the virtue of Charity.

An excellent post by Peter Kirsanow over at NRO’s Corner. Here’s a taste:

The New York Times has an article today fretting that Obama’s views on abortion may divide Catholics. The piece is notable for a few reasons, but perhaps the most important is that it’s one of the rare times that the mainstream media has referred to Obama’s 2002 vote against the Induced Birth Infant Liability Act (”IBILA”) while he was in the Illinois state legislature . . . .

IBILA would’ve extended the same medical care to babies born after surviving an abortion attempt, as is enjoyed by all babies born alive. When a similar measure, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (”BAIPA”) was introduced in the U.S. senate not one senator voted against it. Even NARAL didn’t oppose it . . . . (more…)

Very interesting. Here’s the money quote:

While Wenzel said he could not comment on other organizations’ polls, he defended Zogby International’s record.

“We’ve done extensive polling of Catholics over the years and it’s one of our specialties,” he said.

“We’re confident our numbers [i.e., a 15 point McCain lead over Obama among Catholics] are accurate.”

Another thought-provoking post by Blackadder.

And so it begins.

I suppose this sort of thing shouldn’t surprise me anymore, but it still does.

Here’s a hint: It starts with an “A”

A smart move, I think.

I’d advise against it.

This is a July 26 photo of me, my nephew Jordan Wiegand, and our pastor, Fr. Timothy Vaverek of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bellmead, Texas. This was taken following Jordan’s Confirmation and full reception into the Catholic Church. I was blessed to be his sponsor.

Jordan, a Navy veteran, is an engineering major and a student in Baylor’s Honors College. My wife, Frankie, and I are so proud of his accomplishments.

Jordan, the eldest son of my wife’s younger sister Lexi, is the second nephew for whom I served as a Confirmation sponsor. The first was Dean Beckwith, the eldest son of my younger brother Jim. Dean’s request that I be his sponsor for his May 13, 2007 Confirmation led to my April 29, 2007 public reception into the Catholic Church. (You can read about that here as well as in my forthcoming book, Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic). Here’s a photo of me, my wife, and our nephew Dean following his Confirmation last year:

(Cross-posted)

In better days, this jackass would be paid a visit by the local Knights of Columbus.

Archbishop Chaput’s “Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life,” which will be published by Doubleday next month.

In case I haven’t made this abundantly clear in the past, I absolutely love Eve Tushnet:

I realize that this whole conversation about shame might be better if I suggested an actual occasion on which I’d acted wrongly due to shame, as vs. guilt. The obvious one for me is that I don’t go to Confession out of shame. I do not recommend this . . . . When I don’t go, I get in this awful downward spiral of “it doesn’t matter anyway, what’s the worst thing I can do?” It’s… kind of frightening, honestly, how far past your own limits you can go before the humiliation of Confession is better than the fetid crawlspace in which you’re living.

Obviously, this is a failure of both guilt and shame! But the thing that stops me from coming back up to the surface is shame, and the thing that forces me to come back anyway is guilt.

I really, deeply don’t believe that ethics are the sum and summit of the Christian life. If I had to pick something, I think I’d pick the Eucharist: the consummation of God’s love affair with us . . . . Deus Caritas Est is right that love of others is sturdiest when it’s based on the Eucharist. I can’t count the times I’ve finally surrendered and confessed because I had to counsel at the pregnancy center that night. Love beyond ethics strengthens ethics.

Professor Douglas Kmiec: Obama cultist, traitor, and (now) penumbra lover.

Blackadder answers this question in the affirmative in this thoughtful and compelling post.

In the combox of a WWWtW post about my forthcoming book, Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic, someone who calls himself “Aristocles” suggested I post some excerpts from the book. I have done so at the website returntorome.com. I have also included a detailed table of contents on the site. Just click “Excerpts” or “Table of Contents” at the top of page.

Methinks not.

See, here, here, here, here, and here.

I pray that many Anglican traditionalists will consider swimming the Tiber.

Attention all RCIA directors: Get ready for new converts.

Very interesting.

An excellent piece by Ryan T. Anderson in the latest Weekly Standard. Here’s a taste:

Yet Obama’s troubles winning actual Catholic voters in the Democratic primaries suggest he might have problems in the general election–unsurprising, perhaps, given what Nat Hentoff has described as Obama’s “extremism” on the abortion issue. Obama has opposed every effort to protect unborn human life, including the Supreme Court’s upholding of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Obama even voted against an anti-infanticide bill to protect the lives of babies who survive an abortion and are born alive . . . .

For now.

But I wouldn’t bet the ranch on Obama carrying the Catholic vote on election day.

Not after we’re done with exposing his monstrous proabortion record.

Where’s Andrew Sullivan when you need him?

Hey Andy, here’s a real Christianist for you.*

*For an excellent rejoinder to MM’s screed, please see this post by Jeff Martin over at What’s Wrong with the World. Dale Price and Cranky Con are also on the case.

An excellent appointment by the Holy Father.

And, thankfully, in the Catholic Church there is no “Spirit of Vatican II”-led Senate to filibuster Burke’s appointment.