Popery Potpourri.

I've toyed with changing the name of the blog to the above title. Not seriously, and never after the meds kick in, but I do happen to like it.

That's a brief introduction to the following short takes:

1. Renato Cardinal Martino weighs in on the captive former tyrant of Iraq and removes all doubt.

My thoughts are posted at the link. Mark Sullivan also breaks out the cluster bombs. [Thanks, too, for the logo suggestion: I think I'm going to adopt it, once I get the hang of such things.]

There's just something about Europeans and mustachioed dictators, I guess.

2. Apologetic Smackdown.

I'm not big on the apologetic wars anymore, but this one was too entertaining to pass up. There is a weird subset of anti-Catholic apologetics which fixates on the subject of Jesus' mother having sex as though it were The Article Upon Which The Church Stands Or Falls. Eric Svendsen, the Michael Bolton of Reformed apologetics, is one of these adherents. In an inspiring monograph, John Pacheco shoots him off his horse.

"Michael Bolton"? Yes, Michael Bolton: Grating, persistent, unoriginal, and unburdened by talent.

Please keep the Office Space quoting down to a dull roar.

Share and enjoy.

3. Retraction Time.

It appears Bishop Donald Trautman is not as obtuse on the abuse issue as originally portrayed. Previous comments to that effect here are now non-operative.

Hopefully permanently.

Hopefully.

4. Fun With "Inclusive" Language! Redux.

There are some interesting limits to the demand for "inclusive" language. It hit me: you never hear a clamor for "inclusive" alternatives to "priest" or "deacon," now do you?

I wonder why....not at all. Think about it: use of the feminine forms for the offices tends to undermine the entire agitprop "inclusive" enterprise. Not to mention the posturing over women's ordination. It just sounds horribly, jarringly wrong. Which is why the Inclusive/Ordainers studiously avoid use of them. [Warning: Link contains megadoses of Same Old/Same Old.]

Speaking of which, take a look see at this fine Touchstone article shredding the case for inclusive language in liturgy and bible translations. Yes, Virginia, there are many good Jesuits, too.

Thanks to Jim Cork for this remarkable find.

By the way, Jim--anybody who complains about Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle being a bad film is a little like the apocryphal restaurant critic who said: "The food here is horrible--and such small portions."

5. Liturgy Corner.

The latest installment of the Adoremus Bulletin is now online. If you'd like some bleak chuckles, check out News and Views, where Cardinal Mahony dislocates his shoulder patting himself on the back, and Peggy Steinfels continues to evidence her devotion to the Archbishop of the Millenium.
Thanks to Tom Fitzpatrick for the heads up. And for his multiple kind references to this here enterprise. All are greatly appreciated.

6. Yes, Raving Atheist, there is a St. Nicholas.

Michelle at And Then? explains this fact of life to RA in fine fashion, in multiple posts. I admire her patience. RA stopped by here once, and left a comment concerning abortion suggestive of someone who had been recently hit by a heavy blunt object, and hadn't gotten his bearings yet.