November 2, 2021

A story I heard today, regarding American Airlines.

I got my haircut today. My stylist told me one of her clients recently flew American. Before departure, the captain got on the intercom and said: "If you harass, menace or so much as touch any of the crew, the police will be waiting for you when we land."

Sad it has to come to that.

September 14, 2021

A man wrongfully convicted of murder died of Covid, nine years after being released.

A man who spent a third of his life on death row after being wrongfully convicted of murder died of COVID-19, years after being freed.

"Damon is one of the most unique people I have ever met," Steve Kaplan, Thibodeaux's former lawyer, told USA TODAY.

Damon was hospitalized in Jacksonville, Florida for a month before he died. Kaplan said they believed he was improving enough to be released.

"When they took him off oxygen, his lungs collapsed and his heart stopped," he said.

"He was only 47, so he lost 16 years of his life behind bars for something he hadn't done," Kaplan said. "The resilience and the strength of mind to endure what he went through on death row takes a mental strength that is beyond my comprehension."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/a-man-wrongfully-spent-16-years-on-death-row-then-died-9-years-later-from-covid/ar-AAOqURH?ocid=msedgntp

My apologies if this has already been posted.

July 22, 2021

Traditional Latin Mass 'movement' sows division, archbishop says

https://www.ncronline.org/news/parish/traditional-latin-mass-movement-sows-division-archbishop-says?fbclid=IwAR2-b_MfPn6iPOQc_ooew-ZiCzsZ4c_Do_msf7ar9c1Tu27NWNE32xf7cjc

Pope Francis' letter explaining why he was restricting the use of the pre-Vatican II Mass "fearlessly hits the nail on the head: the TLM (Traditional Latin Mass) movement has hijacked the initiatives of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI to its own ends," said Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, who insisted he was speaking as a theologian and not as a Vatican official.

The archbishop, a Dominican, had served as secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, was deeply involved in the Vatican's dialogue with the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X and currently is adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

When St. John Paul and Pope Benedict expanded the possibility of using the pre-Vatican II Mass, they were hoping to promote unity in the church and to counter abuses that were widespread in the celebration of the post-Vatican II Mass, the archbishop said in an email to Catholic News Service July 20.

While the liberal permission to use the older Mass has not promoted the hoped-for healing of the rift with members of the Society of St. Pius X, established by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the archbishop said, "what we have got now is a movement within the church herself, seemingly endorsed by her leaders, that sows division by undermining the reforms of the Second Vatican Council through the rejection of the most important of them: the reform of the Roman Rite."

July 6, 2021

Why hasn't Pope Francis apologized in Canada? Ask the bishops

It's easy to view the Catholic Church as a strict, obvious chain of command. While the church is hardly a democracy, authority is distributed in complicated ways. The pope is authoritative, but he respects the autonomy of local bishops. Without a collective invitation, the pope will not invite himself to a country out of respect for those bishops.

In other words, unless the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops requests the pope to come to Canada, no amount of political or moral pressure will get the pope on a plane. And since the bishops have not been unanimous when it comes to wanting a papal apology in Canada, the conference has stalled the process. The Canadian bishops may not always say this publicly, but it's not a secret in the church.

While several bishops have said they want a papal apology in Canada, and some have even tried to make it happen independent of unity within the conference, other bishops often appeal to flimsy excuses to deflect the fact that they have not, as a conference, extended the invitation. For example, in a recent CBC interview with Rosemary Barton, the archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Thomas Collins, cited two major difficulties: the pope's age, and the complexities involved in high profile papal journeys.

These may indeed be difficulties, but they aren't insurmountable.

Interesting take. Not sure what I feel about it. But here it is
https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/why-hasnt-pope-francis-apologized-canada-ask-bishops?fbclid=IwAR00Td_TQleyxJ8yEbCyj_blWjnIIS-lLc5Q1PfAhM3Uz9mQBlQQvaXovB8

June 23, 2021

French statesman on the path to Sainthood.

An architect of European unity moves ahead on sainthood path

By FRANCES D'EMILIO
June 19, 2021

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Robert Schuman, a French statesman who paved the way for the bloc that eventually evolved into European Union, has moved ahead on the Catholic church’s path toward possible sainthood.

The Vatican said Pope Francis on Saturday approved a decree declaring the “heroic virtues? of Schuman, a former prime minister, finance minister and foreign minister for France after World War II. In 1950, as foreign minister, he developed a plan to promote European economic unity in hopes of furthering peace.

Schuman died in 1963 after serving as the first president of the forerunner of the European Parliament.

The pope’s decision means Schuman can be called ”venerable” by the Catholic faithful. It is one of several steps in a usually long process that can result in sainthood.

The European Commission website describes Schuman as “one of the founding fathers of European unity,? hailing him as ”the architect of the project of European integration.”

-snip-


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/europe-sainthood-business-religion-government-and-politics-f37b84afccec3d2c65eaa8eec4164d6a
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June 20, 2021

Today's Sermon on the Bishops

"No one who presents himself (at the altar) should be denied communion," said Father.

He went on to recount a story, as how a parishioner felt another parishioner should be denied communion, "because she's been married a few times."

The response: "If Jesus doesn't want her to receive the Eucharist, then let him stop her."

May 31, 2021

Non-believers, non-Catholics, please take note.

Welcome to the Catholic & Orthodox Group. This is a safe haven group where discussions about Catholicism and Orthodoxy take place in a forum free from gratuitous attacks or derision of religion and religious beliefs. There are other places for those who really like to do that. Our focus is on the beliefs and traditions of Catholicism and Orthodoxy. For the rest, welcome, and pax vobiscum. Peace be among you.


Constructive criticism of the politics of the Catholic hierarchy is permitted, but no incendiary attacks on the Catholic and/or Orthodox faiths will be tolerated.

I have seen more than a few posters violating these rules, and while everyone is welcome to their opinion, this is not the place for them. Please note where you are before making a post or responding. You are more than welcome to cross-post one of our links in Religion and discuss it there.

Thank you.

May 26, 2021

Look who's famous.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/watch-michigan-hotel-owner-kicks-mother-out-and-calls-her-a-dumb-democrat/vi-AAKp1p1?ocid=msedgntp

A mother was kicked out of the Crown Choice Inn and Suites by the hotel owner in Mackinaw City, Michigan after the toilet in her room flooded. The hotel owner is seen shouting at her and calls her a 'dumb Democrat' in his rant.