archives

Fr. Andrew Greeley has posted a new article just in time for the Holiday Weekend at the Chicago Sun-Times , suntimes.com , and on his website , agreeley.com , which also hosts his new Blog. In this article he decries the exploitation of the desire for revenge by the Republicans to win elections. He compares this to the excesses of WWII in the Firebombing devastation of 50 Japanese cities, and the Nuclear Holocaust visited upon two more of them. WWII was a just war , but we tend to make ourselves no better than our opponents, as with the RAF firebombing of German cities right at the war's end. Our Phony Patriots lied about Iraqi weapons to enable them to justify the taking of Iraq for Western advantage in the region even though the attackers of 9/11 were of Saudi extraction whose leaders had excellent relations with US Oil Companies. This is what Greeley calls a lethal combination that the GOP continues to use to win elections. It looks like McCain's only hope for winning is an Iran invasion riding on the same formula of fear and revenge. What a sorry lot. Greeley also characterizes our President as an opportunist. He cheerfully embraced a war option to get minds off of the Florida voting situation and the Antonin Scalia theft of said election. Greeley has just published a collection of his articles about this war , ' A Stupid , Immoral and Unjust War '. It is available from his website trough a link to Amazon. I read them every week to sustain me through this period. He has some choice words for the Press too as they rolled over for the Phony Patriotism scam without the slightest professional curiosity.

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.

Pope Benedict XVI will read the first chapter of the Book of Genesis on Italian national television October 5, the RAI television network announced today, in a broadcast expected to last roughly one hour.

The pope’s appearance will kick off a six-day RAI telethon in which the entire Bible will be read by various personalities. The series is projected to conclude Oct. 11 with the 21st chapter of the Book of Revelation, to be read by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Since news of St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke’s appointment as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura was announced June 27, I’ve received numerous telephone calls and e-mails, from both sides of the Atlantic, posing some version of the following question: Was this a case of what the Italians call promuovere per rimuovere … promoting someone in order to get rid of him?

It’s a reasonable question, given Burke’s profile as a lightning rod in St. Louis. Not only is he the American bishop most identified with the push to deny Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians, but he also engaged in very public spats involving rock star Sheryl Crow and basketball coach Rick Majerus. Basically his last act as archbishop was to issue canonical penalties for Sister of Charity Louise Lears for her support of women’s ordination. While most of Burke’s fellow bishops, and certainly the Vatican, would share the substance of his positions, not everyone applauds his pugnacious way of advancing them.

So, was this a face-saving way of easing Burke out?