let's help our protestant bretheren PROPERLY celebrate on October 31.

PCANews at the Christian Broadcasting Network website has come up with a way to overcome the satanic/occult aspects of Halloween - a Reformation Day party!

They explain it:

"...October 31 celebrates the day that the Reformation in Europe began with Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on the Wittenburg church door, leading to a firestorm response in Germany. Why not use this occasion for a celebration of our Reformed heritage. And yes, this can be fun for the kids too!

...Why not have a celebration at church where all get dressed up as characters from the Reformation such as John Calvin, Martin Luther, a peasant, and even John Tetzel (the salesman of those infamous indulgences)?

...When I couldn't get a 16th century idea then I dressed as a Bible character. You can transform the fellowship hall into Wittenburg, Germany or Geneva. Here is an opportunity to go over the great "solas" of the Reformation: by Scripture alone, by grace alone, by Christ alone, by faith alone, and to God be the glory alone. Have people explain them. Show a video of one of the reformers. Draw murals of Reformation events.

...Here are some other things our church has done over the years: Medieval line dancing (a lot like Scottish line dancing), Medieval relay races (put the indulgences in the bottle), bobbing for apples, German cover dish dinner, acting out your character (don't tell anyone who you are, but act it out -- the ideas are limited only by time and background)."

It's ironic that protestants are choosing Halloween to celebrate the Reformation, considering that many Catholic families celebrate All Souls Day the next day by dressing as Catholic saints. Of course - protestants probably won't be up for a good old-fashioned cult of the saints party like we are.

Then again, if protestants can play "put the indulgences in the bottle" to get in touch with their historical roots, and baptists can have bonfires burning Catholic bibles and books on spirituality by Catholic saints, maybe Catholics could celebrate Reformation Day by starting bonfires and burning figurines of protestant heretics to get in touch with our historical roots?

Just joking.

Old story by now...but needs to be commented on..

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - The Rev. John I. Jenkins, who came under fire for inviting President Barack Obama to the University of Notre Dame campus, has been re-elected to a second five-year term as president of the school.

Such a smooth move after loosing millions of dollars in donations and scandalizing a wide swath of Catholics. Keep up the great work Padre!

The trustees also approved a resolution Friday expressing their "respect and full confidence" in Jenkins, saying he has nurtured an environment where "the Catholic faith and intellectual tradition are celebrated and lived."

Yes Fr. Jenkins is the poster boy for "Catholic faith and intellectual tradition are celebrated and lived." Arresting pro-life protesters is the mark of living your faith. Approving pornographic plays is a great way to live your faith. Having a campus where travel expenses to homosexual pride events is subsidized is another mark of an authentic Catholic university. Honoring the most radically pro-abortion President ever who even supported infanticide is witness to the Church's teaching.

Oh wait. I forgot. It was all about dialogue. That's it.

As part of a new initiative, Pope Benedict has placed Swiss Guards on the stage at all concerts to prevent the playing of ANYTHING by Haugen, Haas, Farrell, or the St. Louis Jesuits.

How milquetoastish can you be? Oh, to see some episcopal SPINE from time to time. Are these men shepherds protecting their flocks...or PR flacks trying to put the right (as in, 'pastorally sensitive') spin on things.

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WASHINGTON—Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued the following statement, October 20, following a Vatican announcement of a new provision concerning Anglican groups coming into the Catholic Church. His statement follows:

"Today the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has received word of the new Provision in the form of an apostolic constitution issued by the Holy See for the reception into full communion with the Catholic Church of groups from the Anglican tradition. The USCCB stands ready to collaborate in the implementation of that Provision in our country." [As well they should. It's not for them to decided whether or not to participate. That's out of their hands. Nothing like stating the obvious...]

"This step by the Holy See is in response to a number of requests received in Rome from groups of Anglicans seeking corporate reunion. The application of the new Provision recognizes the desire of some Anglicans (Episcopalians) to live the Catholic faith in full, visible communion with the See of Peter, while at the same time retaining some elements of their traditions of liturgy, spirituality and ecclesial life which are consistent with the Catholic faith."

"This Provision, at the service of the unity of the Church, calls us as well to join our voices to the Priestly Prayer of Jesus that ‘all may be one’ (Jn 17:21) as we seek a greater communion with all our brothers and sisters with whom we share Baptism. For forty-five years, our Episcopal Conference has engaged in ecumenical dialogue with The Episcopal Church, which is the historic Province of the Anglican communion in North America. The Catholic Bishops of the United States remain committed to seeking deeper unity with the members of The Episcopal Church by means of theological dialogue and collaboration in activities that advance the mission of Christ and the welfare of society.”
[Seems to me that preaching the truth, admitting no error, all the while praying for reunification without compromise on the Doctrine would be a good place to start.]

The Holy See took the ecumenical imperative out of the hands of professional ecumenists, with the result that a reunion of Christians -- at least in one limited yet notable area of schism -- ensued. From the Vatican website:

With the preparation of an Apostolic Constitution, the Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion. In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution, pastoral oversight and guidance will be provided for groups of former Anglicans through a Personal Ordinariate, whose Ordinary will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy.

The Times of London, with its dizzyingly reckless Monty Python-ish approach to religion stories, headlines its article "Vatican Moves to Poach Traditional Anglicans", but the "poaching" metaphor is an odd choice of images when the "rabbits" in question have been pleading, sometimes for decades, to jump into the hunter's game bag to begin with. After all, the decisions that changed the playing field were made by the Anglican churches, not the Pope. The Vatican's explanatory statement does not hesitate to point to the shattering effect of Anglican capitulations to Left/liberal secularism:

In the years since the Council, some Anglicans have abandoned the tradition of conferring Holy Orders only on men by calling women to the priesthood and the episcopacy. More recently, some segments of the Anglican Communion have departed from the common biblical teaching on human sexuality -- already clearly stated in the ARCIC document "Life in Christ" -- by the ordination of openly homosexual clergy and the blessing of homosexual partnerships.

While in recent years the Catholic Church has lost some members to Anglicanism, she has benefitted overwhelmingly from the inbound traffic. As has been pointed out before many times before: a dissatisfied Anglican leaves because his church ain't what she used to be. The dissatisfied Catholic leaves the Church because she is.

Orthodox Catholics deserve to feel satisfaction at today's development. Yet it's easy to exaggerate the advantages. On one hand, the Anglicans coming home to full communion will be active in practice, theologically aware, and proportionately resistant to gay and feminist foolishness. On the other hand, we have to admit that a sizable minority of (nominally) Catholic clergy envy the Anglican Communion for precisely the reasons its orthodox members are bolting. Who knows how many of our own clergy, even the unindicted ones, are gazing longingly at the lighted windows of Gene Robinson's honeymoon suite while Rembert Weakland's autobiography slumbers in their lap? It's a frightening thought.

By the same token, under the earlier provisions, most Anglican converts found themselves in ordinary Catholic parishes -- with the ordinary attendant problems -- and they gave a boost to the orthodox cradle Catholics in the customary street-fighting for decent liturgy, decent catechesis, decent clerical deportment, etc. Yet those potential allies who convert under the terms of the Personal Ordinariate will in one sense be in quarantine, gated-off with their own clergy and their own bishop, able to help out in the Catholic culture wars only indirectly, if at all. Were I a Roger Mahony I'd feel relieved that these new Catholics, even those domiciled in my diocese, were not under my "pastoral care" -- which means I'd have no need to respond to their articulate and well-informed pleading for the redress of grievances.

Based on who's sputtering in indignation at the Holy See's move and who's not, the Personal Ordinariate is a score for right team. The Church is perpetually and perfectly one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic, but by today's action the attributes "one" and "Catholic" are realized that much more visibly.