Father John Cavanaugh

Today was his funeral. He was my father's cousin and close to him in age. So, until today, he was always exactly 31 years minus 1 day older than me. It was somewhat strange to hear stories of his life in the last 30 years because that's when I knew him the least. He entered the
Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1968 when I was 14. He was ordained when he was 48. At that age, some priests are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their ordination. He concelebrated at my wedding and at the funerals of my parents. His parents came over from Ireland right after World War I. My parents came over from Ireland right after World War II so his family was tasked with turning my parents into "Americans".

I didn't realize it at the time, but he was providing a model of faith for me when I was about 10 years old.

This is the obituary that appeared in the
Press of Atlantic City

CAVANAUGH, FATHER JOHN J., M.SS.CC. 83 - of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, in Linwood, died February 22, 2006 at Shore Memorial Hospital, Somers Point. Father was a native New Yorker and came to South Jersey in 1990. He was born in New York City the son of the late Patrick and Helen Cavanaugh. Father Cavanaugh entered the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts in 1968 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1971.

Before his priesthood he was employed as a teacher and social worker in the State of New York and was a WW II Navy Veteran. Father served as Associate Pastor at St. Ignatius of Antioch, Yardley, PA, Fairfield, PA, Newark and New York City and was Chaplain at St. Joseph's Home for the Blind, Jersey City. Father had served as Chaplain at Our Lady's Residence, in Pleasantville, for many years and was an associate pastor at Our Lady of Fatima, Holy Name in Camden and Our Lady of Sorrows in Linwood. He was also Vocation Director for the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts.

A new book from my blogfather

I got into blogging two years ago after reading Mark Shea's blog
Catholic and Enjoying It for a few months and now he's got a new book. I've pre-ordered it.

I've got to get prepared for the anti-Catholic tsunami coming with the DaVinci Code and you should be as well.

New Orleans

There's a weird twist in this article on the celebration of New Orleans from
ABC News

New Orleans celebrated the first masked Mardi Gras in 1837, and the first float parade in 1857. The Roman Catholic Church licensed Carnival, which translates "farewell to the flesh," as a celebration of indulgence before adherents begin the fasting of Lent.

It's an odd word to use "licensed". License can mean approval, or it can mean the acting without responsibility.

With so many of the old citizens of New Orleans, gone and never to return, it seems strange that people from all over and going to this place where they behave badly, acting in drunkenness and lewdness. It's the urge to sin that can't be stopped.

Tourism to New Orleans this year takes on an notion of merit: I'm not merely having a good time, but "I'm bringing tourist dollars to this devastated area". I think it's really a donation to self-interest: If Mardi Gras was a financial failure this year, more carnival-related businesses would close and there would be less partying next year.

Meanwhile, thousands of families still are getting hotel vouchers, and when you divide the money spent by government on all levels by the number of people affected, it's approaching $100,000. For a family four, you can do the math.

Thousands of checks and $2,000 debit cards to people whose identities and claims
FEMA never checked. (USA Today)

I don't have an issue with helping people after a disaster, but at this point for the Katrina victims, it's a case of charity fatigue.

Historian experiences a conversion

Irving no longer denies Holocaust : Reuters

Historian David Irving pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of denying the Holocaust 17 years ago, but told an Austrian court that the personal files of Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann had changed his views.

David Irving is one interesting and influential historian who never got anything but hostility from the academic coummunity. Even as a student in the 1950's he showed a sympathy for a positive historical portrayal of the Nazis. Even if people reject his denial of the holocaust or excuses for it, the number of dead, 100,000 and 250,000, in the bombing of Dresden is often used by people debating with me -- not knowing its source is holocaust denier.

The thing that put Irving on the front page was in 1998, when he filed a libel suit against Deborah Lipstadt and her publisher Penguin Books. In her book Denying the Holocaust, he had named him as a holocaust denier.

Not just another hunting accident

Vice President Richard Cheney accidentally shot his friend Harry Whittington on Saturday February 11, 2006. That's over a week ago.

The MSM can't drop it. Drudge and many bloggers are critical that the mainstream media cannot let the story go.

I think this is self-defeating for the MSM, they are only digging their own grave deeper as people will come to see it as an unfair attack on Cheney.

Accusations published that Cardinal Egan and Bishop Hubbard are homosexuals

Outing Cardinal Egan : Village Voice (Feb 7 2006)

Who knows whether Cardinal Edward Egan is sleeping soundly these days. But as head of the New York archdiocese—as the top Roman Catholic prelate in the state—he'd have every reason to be restless after the recent advent of a little-noticed lawsuit.

Who Would Take a Case Like This? : Village Voice

Manhattan attorney John Aretakis likes to say that he's in it for the long haul. And after 10 years of handling clergy-sexual-abuse cases—representing some 200 victims, from New York City to Albany and Long Island to Rochester—he has built a reputation as an aggressive foe of the Catholic Church. In the capital district, where he's taken on Bishop Howard Hubbard, he remains controversial.

Before this story broke, I had not heard of Father Bob Hoatson. On the surface, it sure looks me like a retaliatory suspension for criticism of the bishop's response to the crisis in 2002. I will have to do more reading.

On the other hand, it doesn't look like there's much evidence in public view now supporting the allegations with respect to Cardinal Egan.

out of respect, or, out of fear

One of the strangest aspects, and to me, unexpected, was the strange new respect that newspapers and news channels show for religion.

James Pinkerton of Newsday and Bill Donohue of the Catholic League have
identifed it.

Fear guides media response to cartoons : Catholic League

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on the controversy over the Danish cartoons that lampoon Muhammad:

"The decision of most mainstream media outlets not to reprint or show the controversial cartoons is the right one: the Catholic League sides with the U.S., Britain and the Vatican in denouncing the inflammatory cartoons. Regrettably, the decision by the media not to offend Muslims is motivated by fear, not ethics. Worse than this by far is the violent reaction, and calls for violence, that have sprung up all over the Muslim world. This is pure barbarism."

There's a long tradition of insulting religion in this country in the name of religious and press freedom. I don't know when the last successful conviction for blashphemy was obtained, but I doubt there's been one since 1900.

I wouldn't join a violent protest of an insult to the Catholic faith, and I simply cannot imagine that Cardinal Egan or Bill Donohue would ever call for one.

In an odd way, the protests confirm the cartoons subtext: that the reaction to an outrage permitted in a free country like Denmark is mob violence.

Mortification of the Flesh Dept.

I have remarked before that some practices of contempory culture represented a sort of acceptance of physical suffering in order to achieve a transcendant goal. The truth of this is self-evident in the motto No pain, No gain. This applies to jogging, and workouts.

A newer form emerged confirming that in even among the secularists, great things are obtained by accepting pain:

Stiletto workout: part of the heeling process : Reuters

The gym that brought New Yorkers "Cardio Striptease" has dreamed up "Stiletto Strength," a workout to get women in shape to wear the highest of heels.

At a recent lunch-time session at Crunch gym near Times Square, dancer Amber Efe demonstrated how to strut like a cat-walk model, pivoting on six-inch heels that would challenge even the most ardent follower of shoe king Manolo Blahnik...

[Fitness director Donna] Cyrus called in a podiatrist to assess the class, which has been launched in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. "He said 'You know, the answer is women shouldn't wear heels,'" Cyrus said.

But she said women will wear them anyway.

"Your feet will probably never recover because it's not a position you're meant to be in all day long," she said. "This class will strengthen your legs and your core, it will make it less painful, but it will never be pain free."

Solidarity with Denmark (and Norway)

See the complete

Yahoo slide show

The idea of cartoons causing a worldwide attack on all things Danish ought to give the world pause that this is a religion of peace. And that's actually the Norwegian embassy being attacked.

I have been hearing all over the radio how terrible those cartoons were.

The usually sensible Ralph Peters in the New York Post almost sounds as if the cartoons justified the deadly response.

First, consider the Europeans. The Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons last September was not standing up courageously for freedom of expression. The editors and cartoonists were so oblivious to any reality beyond their Copenhagen coffee bars that they just thought they were pulling an attention-getting prank.

So is there a death penalty now for cartooning oblivious to reality?

Peters adds "with freedom comes responsibility", that doesn't mean that we let a government sponsored mob in Teheran or Damascus determine the consequences with some lapse in responsibility.

Where in the unfree Muslim world was there a peaceful protest against these cartoons?
It really recalls to mind the images of fascism and anarchy to see this slideshow.

Can Europe be expected to take notice that the only difference between the situation on their streets and the streets where these attacks against are taking place is the numbers are not quite there yet, except perhaps in the slums around Paris.

Without Roots

I just returned from the book introduction for Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam by Pope Benedict and Marcello Pera, President of the Italian Senate. David Schindler, a Communio editor, and George Weigel who wrote the forward of the book was there as well -- at my Alma Mater, Columbia University.
(MS, School of Engineering, 1980)

Europe is in a death spiral because it's rejected the reality of its own history and the one, true Faith.

It's time to pray and make room for the refugees.

Chapter 1 - Prelude

It has been long since I wanted to jot all these down. It may not be a story of great success, it is not even close. However, it is a true story illustrated as detailed as possible. It reflects as human as it could be, as real as it can possibly be.

It all began when two couple met some twnety-odd years ago. They were in love, and tied knot as husband and wife. Just a year after their marriage, a child was born. The tale to be told next will be centered around this young baby.

They may not make a well off family, there was no luxurious house, there wasn't any nice car for this family to ride on. The husband worked as a driver in the transport division for a government organization, while the wife was a full-time housewife. Rented house, motorbike, simple meal and simple life were all enough for this little family. Simple enough, parenthood was taken seriously by the couple in raising the baby. He was well brought up, with proper manner. He was trained well before being sent for formal education as well. At home, he had learnt how to draw, color, read, write before even making a step into a classroom.

The effort was really great for this pair of first-time-parents. The baby grew up well, and was well-groomed into a fine, and bright kid. And the story took flight from here on...

The place was set in East of Malaysia...

Mastermind of USS Cole Attack Escapes : AFP

A man considered a mastermind of the USS Cole bombing that killed 17 sailors in a Yemeni port in 2000 was among 23 people who escaped from a Yemen prison last week, Interpol said Sunday.

The international police agency issued an "urgent global security alert" for those who escaped Friday from the prison via a tunnel. It called the escapees "dangerous individuals."

A Yemen security official announced the escape of convicted al-Qaida members Friday but did not provide details.

Where's the steady improvements that Pope John Paul II spoke of?
The words of Evangelium Vitae are still in my head:

Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases [justifying the death penalty] are very rare, if not practically non-existent.

It's taking a while for these improvements to reach Yemen.

The post-post-Vatican II Church emerges on Long Island

Bishop revamps religious ed : Newsday

Rockville Centre Bishop William Murphy announced a major shakeup of religious education yesterday that reconfigures the program that produced a generation of lay Catholic leaders, as well as many members of Voice of the Faithful, an activist group that has demanded the bishop's resignation.

Murphy said the restructuring would "not mean a major change in the content of what we offer, which is the teaching of the Church," in a column in this week's diocesan newspaper.

But critics said they feared the changes - coming two weeks after he named a new seminary rector known for strict orthodoxy - signal a retreat from what they describe as the progressive, post-Vatican II model that had flourished under the late Bishop John McGann, to a more top-down setup.

The people who turned 21 when Vatican II opened in 1962 are set to retire this year. The Bishop is just giving them a little nudge.

My plea is Give orthodoxy a chance

As the bishop's spokeman honestly observes the old programs have failed to keep Catholics going to Mass. Even if you are a progressive, the ought to mean something to you.

Blogger credit to
Domenico Bettinelli and
Jeff Miller

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Killer of Kitty Genovese denied parole : AP

The man who killed Kitty Genovese in New York City while 38 people heard her screams but did nothing to help has again been denied parole by a state panel.

Winston Moseley, now 70, has been denied parole 12 times since 1984, according to the state Division of Parole. The denial last week, earlier reported by the New York Law Journal, means Moseley will have to wait another two years for another hearing.

The murder of Genovese, a Queens bartender, became a symbol of urban apathy after neighbors heard her screams but did not help as she was stabbed to death on March 13, 1964.

One of the three news stories I recall from my earliest memories. The others are the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the 1963 Kennedy assassination.

There's a
dispute about the culpability of the local residents of Kew Gardens.

Moseley was fortunate to have been convicted around the time that the appeals process for death row inmates became extended. In his case, he was alive at the time all the death sentences were reduced to life imprisonment in 1972 by the United States Supreme Court.

Nativity Scenes are still against the law in New York City, while the Menorah and Islamic crescent are legal

Appeals court upholds city policy on public holiday displays : AP

A federal appeals court has upheld a city policy on holiday displays for its schools that allows Santa Claus, reindeers, Christmas trees and symbols of Jewish and Islamic holidays but prohibits nativity scenes...

In a dissent, Judge Chester Straub said the policy promotes a year-end holiday celebration which "utilizes religious symbols of certain religions, but bans the religious symbols of another."

This should have been a no-brainer: either all religious symbols or none. Of course the petition was to include all religious symbols. More from the article...

[Petitioner Andrea Skoros] said in her lawsuit that the policy promoted and endorsed the religions of Judaism and Islam and conveyed a message of disapproval toward Christianity.

The appeals court noted that Skoros was not trying to stop the display of the menorah and star and crescent but rather wanted to force the schools to allow nativity scenes.

Robert Muise, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based lawyer who argued the case for Skoros, said he will ask the full 2nd Circuit to hear the case. If that fails, he said, he'll appeal it to the Supreme Court.

Muise said the new Supreme Court justices were "just waiting for cases like this to come before them to hopefully straighten out the mess the courts have created."

Colo. bishops blast limitation lifting legislation : Catholic Online

Colorado's three Catholic bishops blasted proposed state legislation which would lift the statutes of limitation on sexual-abuse cases, noting that this would unequally punish the Catholic Church while exempting public-school teachers and coaches accused of abuse.

The free bishops of Colorado disagree with the unfree bishop of Spokane who also is the president of the Conference of Bishops.

The Catholic League is all over the aspect that it applies only to non-public schools and leaves public schools off the hook. I wonder if they got input from the victims on that?

Double Standards: Sensitivity to Islam. Mockery of Christianity.

Michelle Malkin is covering this story. She's put up the cartoons that mainstream media refuses to.

She puts this in context with the sort of mockery of Christianty that everyone in the United States gives a pass under freedom of speech. To use very recent examples we have the now-cancelled Book of Daniel and the Rolling Stone cover featuring a phony Christ wearing the crown of thorns.

Iraq Church Bombings : New York Post

At least three people were killed yesterday when bombs rocked the Vatican's mission and several churches in Baghdad and Kirkuk, police said.

At least 17 were wounded, nine of them in Kirkuk, where 11 died in similar church bombings last August.

Seven people were wounded yesterday at a Roman Catholic church in Kirkuk. Minutes later, a bomb went off in an Anglican church, killing three and injuring four.

Police said the dual attacks consisted of seven bombs. Iraq's Christian community makes up 3 percent of the population, and Islamist militants have recently ramped up attacks on Christian-owned liquor shops.

Also in Kirkuk, U.S. forces fired at four suspected terrorists in a car, killing three and wounding the other. The four were wearing police uniforms as disguises, police Col. Adel Zain Alabdin said.

This probably missed the expectations of the terrorists in having an impact worldwide -- because of the wounding of Bob Woodruff, ABC Anchor.

I've heard terrorism experts say it -- this may be a hopeful sign: That terrorists no longer go after the military and police but pick on softer targets now. The number of terrorist-active areas in Iraq continues to drop.

The road to Hell. Now paved with "nonfinancial concessions"

Rare Kind of Scandal Accord in Spokane Diocese : New York Times

That's rare as in "infrequent" and not "undercooked" -- featuring rare nonfinancial concessions by Bishop William S. Skylstad.

The victims $46 million for 75 victims (a big financial concession, a plus)

The diocese will stop referring to "alleged victims" of priests' abuse rather than simply "victims"
(so does that mean we start calling the priests "guilty" without due process as well?)

The victims, Mr. Kosnoff said, are to be allowed to return to the parishes where they came into contact with their molesters and possibly face them. (how many parishes still have their molester-priests on staff?)

[The victims will be] permitted to write about their experiences in the diocesan newspaper, with a full page devoted to that purpose each month for the next three years.

The bishop will lobby state lawmakers to abolish statutes of limitations on child sex crimes and will go to every parish where any plaintiff was abused, tell the parishioners that an abusive priest had ministered there and encourage them to report any suspicions of abuse.

What's wrong with this agreement? First of all, it makes connecessions that are incompatible in my view with the justice for Church and for the accused priests.

It appears to bind the diocese to a pepetual agreement with the state. A similar sort of concession made in Phoenix. There is justice in a status of limitations. An accusation of child abuse should be allowed until the victim is 30.

An unlimited statute of limitations is a potential source of unlimited mischief.
An unscrupulous person can wait until a priest dies and then come forward and accuse him and demand a settlement from the diocese. The diocese doesn't have a means to defend itself and the accused is no longer around to admit or deny guilt.

Even if the bishop felt like lobbying for this change, why accept the authority of the state to be compelled to do so? Saint Thomas Beckett accepted death rather than this.

To help you catch up...

Read the rest of Maggie Gallagher reflecting on the moral state of the union.

Odd, perhaps, that at the very start of his pontificate,
Pope Benedict (in his new encyclical "Deus Caritas Est") would choose to take on Cole Porter's old question. Or maybe not.

Scroll through the newspaper.

• Oh, another dead child in New York City, killed by her mother's boyfriend. A middle-aged mother, hearing her husband is about to divorce her, fails at suicide but succeeds in suffocating her three young children.
  
• America's 34th richest man serves divorce papers unexpectedly on his (fourth) wife, apparently to avoid an imminent hike in the prenupped price of divorce.
  
• A 41-year-old child protective services worker is arrested for raping his two adolescent daughters "at least 100 times," according to the New York Post. He remorsefully tells police "he couldn't help it. He would fight the urges for a while and it just became a thing." ...
  

The talent of a lapsed Catholic

According to this article at Nextbook, Robert Crumb will be developing an illustrated Old Testament.

Crumb became famous for his "adult" comix. I hope that his new work will be clever and funny and not obscene.

Blog continued.

A combination of hardware problems and paying more attention to my family resulted in a blog interruption. With God's help and some time management discipline on my part, I'll get more items into the blog.