K-Rock radio in New York hosts Howard Stern and likes to play Marilyn-the Satanist-Manson tunes. So it wasn’t a shocker to learn that one of its D.J.’s recently ripped Pope John Paul II on the air. Here’s a pretty close account of what “Cane” the D.J. had to say. “Man, am I glad I was raised Lutheran. What’s the deal with that... [Read more...]
STARVING THE KIDS
A recent cartoon by Horsey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer showed a bare-footed woman, with the inscription “Third World” on her back, bowing before the Blessed Virgin saying, “Blessed Mary, I need to know which is the greatest sin: Bringing another few billion poor, starving children into the world? Or using the pill?” Not... [Read more...]
TO THE EDITOR:
This letter appeared in the New York Times on March 22,1998.: Your March 18 editorial on the Vatican document on the Holocaust chastises Pope John Paul II for defending “the silence of Pope Pius XII during the Third Reich.” If Pius was “silent” during the Holocaust, why did this newspaper congratulate him on Dec. 25, 1941,... [Read more...]
TRYING TO OPEN THE SEAL
Legislation has been introduced in the Rhode Island state legislature that would force the clergy to reveal private confessions in cases of child abuse or neglect. The bill would amend the “Privileged Communications to Clergymen” law which stipulates that religious officials cannot be forced to reveal the contents of private conversations... [Read more...]
THE VATICAN AND THE HOLOCAUST
On March 16, the Vatican issued a long-awaited document on the Holocaust, “We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah.” The document was not an apology, but it was a call for repentance. It stated the Church’s understanding of the causes of Hitlerism, the mixed response of Catholics to the Holocaust and the role which Pope Pius XII played... [Read more...]