"Come to Rome in complete safety,"

There is an interesting letter on Rorate Caeli, one of my favorite blogs, on a letter from Monsignor Nicola Bux on the SSPX and Rome. I highly suggest that you read it. This type of thing gives me hope in all the gloom surrounding the spurned overtures from Rome.

Chavagnes International College

Chavagnes International College is a great but small treasure in the Vendee. Here, where I am visiting, the ancient monastic site holds a small English boys' college, where students get individual attention and much Catholic input. The Headmaster, Mr. Ferdi McDermott, who founded the school over ten years ago, has a charismatic personality which informs the entire staff with a certain energy. In addition, what is most impressive is the faculty tutor staff, some of whom are young and traditional and who are part of the Community of St. Gregory here, an official Community of the Faithful. Without this backbone of prayer and commitment, the school would not be as precious as it is. For any traditional Catholic family which does not want to home school the boys, this is a real option.

The French boys learn English and the English boys learn French. The curriculum is solid and I have rarely seen such a dedicated staff. Even the food is better than typical English school fare, but then, it is in France.

Last night, the students and faculty provided a Shakespeare night with selections and it was very well done, including the music and ambiance. It was lovely to hear Shakespeare in the middle of the Vendee, including Henry V selections. Here is one of the links to the school, which also has the Tridentine as well as the NO Mass, and there is another link. There is also a book from Amazon.

The Brainwashing of Relativism for a Generation of Catholic Youth: where are the heroes of tomorrow?

The Battle for Malta

There is a generation or maybe two, of young people who cannot distinguish real Islam from the teachings of the Koran to the media indoctrination of the so-called religion of peace. This is partly because the media chooses to highlight a phrase which indicates that the religion of Mohammed is not really practiced by the terrorists, or the Muslim Brotherhood, who are somehow "radicalized". The radicalization of Islam is not an aberrational addition, but part and parcel of the religion, and if anyone takes the time to actually study the Koran and the Hadith, one discovers the truth. In December, one of the Egyptian clerics went live and on video to proclaim that Islam will take over Rome, as it did Constantinople. Why no one notices these things except the great Spencer is beyond me. Why is it that Catholics are so afraid of being truthful about the violence within the original teachings, still being taught to millions of people across the world?  Let me give you part of the quotation from this Egyptian Al-Nas TV from Spencer's website--Salem Abu Al-Futouh : The Prophet Muhammad told us that Islam would spread. He told us about the Islamic conquest of Constantinople - Turkey of today - and indeed, it was conquered. He also told us about the conquest of Rome, which is Italy. People find this strange. "How can we conquer Italy?" they say. "We are too weak." You should consider the number of Muslims in that great Christian center - another person converts to Islam every day. Check on the Internet how many people want to convert to Islam in the very heart of that papal center of Christianity, on their own turf.

The Battle of Lepanto

Now, conversion is not violence exactly, it is numerical and the fact that strict Muslims do not contracept or abort their babies means that there are more and more young Islamic people and as Christians do contracept and abort, there are less and less Christian youth. However, the message is still one of conquest and the comparison of the take over of Rome with that of Constantinople should warn Christians that there is a danger in the message. Unless Catholic parents stop being so politically correct, unless history is actually taught from the standpoint of truth rather than political correctness or even political agenda, that would include a hatred of the West and a hatred of Christianity, the youth will not be able to withstand conversion and be duped into a religion of hate and violence. Catholic teaching needs to recapture the stand of the Church Militant on this point and Catholics need to understand that those who speak such threats are not insane or exaggerating. Let us not forget that the Catholic Liturgical Calendar celebrates the feast days of Mary, the Mother of God because she intervened in two great battles which stopped the conquest of Europe by the Muslims. One is the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, September 12th, a battle spilling over from the 11th, celebrating the Battle of Vienna in 1683, and is why there was the attack planned on September 11th, 2001. Wiki has a nice article on this. 


The second feast day is that of the Most Holy Rosary, celebrating Mary's intercession over the Battle of Lepanto, again highlighted here from Wiki.  Our Catholic youth can read about these great battles in several excellent books, including those by Anne and Warren Carroll, the great historian, who died last year. I can also suggest teaching the young through the books of Hilaire Belloc, The Crusades, and  The Great Heresies. which is actually highlighted here, as it is all online.


Let me end with a section of Belloc's last book mentioned above--and apologies for the weird print. 


Cultures spring from religions; ultimately the vital force which

maintains any culture is its philosophy, its attitude toward the universe;
the decay of a religion involves the decay of the culture corresponding to
it_we see that most clearly in the breakdown of Christendom today. The bad
work begun at the Reformation is bearing its final fruit in the
dissolution of our ancestral doctrines_the very structure of our society
is dissolving.

        In the place of the old Christian enthusiasms of Europe there
came, for a time, the enthusiasm for nationality, the religion of
patriotism. But self-worship is not enough, and the forces which are
making for the destruction of our culture, notably the Jewish Communist
propaganda from Moscow, have a likelier future before them than our
old-fashioned patriotism.

        In Islam there has been no such dissolution of ancestral
doctrine_or, at any rate, nothing corresponding to the universal break-up
of religion in Europe. The whole spiritual strength of Islam is still
present in the masses of Syria and Anatolia, of the East Asian mountains,
of Arabia, Egypt and North Africa.

Sadly, these have proved to be prophetic words. Note the Polish Hussars charging at the Battle of Vienna. We need to teach classes on these heroes again, now.

Think Why Antisemitism is on the Rise in France

Here is a report from The Times of Israel

M

K Ya’akov Katz called Monday for Jews to leave France in the wake of a deadly attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse.

“There is no Jewish future in France,” Katz, of the National Union party, said, adding that the state of Israel is the future of the Jewish people, and that Jews should not trust their fate to “Sarkozy, Obama or other world leaders.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy (photo credit: Olivier Fitoussi /Flash90)

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, by contrast, expressing shock over the attack, said Israel was confident the French authorities would do “everything possible” to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Opposition head Tzipi Livni posted on her Facebook page, calling it a sad day. “The state of Israel and the Jewish people are partners in battling antisemitism and hate crimes,” she said. Livni said France must protect its citizens from events like this one, adding that she trusts the French authorities will find the person responsible.

The UK board of Jewish Deputies issued a press statement, saying the attack is “a terrible reminder of the threat” minorities in Europe face.

A rabbi, two of his children and a young girl were killed when a man on a motorbike shot them in front of a Jewish school in Toulouse. The man fled, and French police were searching for him.

In the wake of the deadly attack, MK Danny Danon (Likud), called for an urgent session Tuesday of the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, which he chairs, to discuss the attack.

“We will not allow the pogroms of the beginning of the 20^th century to return to Europe,” Danon said.

The French ambassador to Israel, Christophe Bigot, is expected to attend the session, entitled “Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in Europe.”

I think it is time for leaders to start being honest and admit why there is a rise of Antisemitism in France, which has up to a 10% Muslim population. Edith Stein, St. Teresia Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us and for those who have died recently from hate crimes.

Santorum can beat Obama

From the Santorum camp:


In Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia (four critical states) our campaign is polling 4% better than President Obama, while the Romney campaign is polling 4% worse than the President.

Why is there an 8 point difference between our campaigns? Because our principles and ideas are winning over independent voters and Mitt Romney's negative attacks and issue flip-flops are not.

Americans want leadership and a concrete plan of action. They don't want more equivocation and policy half-steps. That's why we can beat Obama and Mitt Romney never can.

The numbers show us what we already know in our hearts. Our conservative principles and ideas are the key to winning in the fall.

Santorum visited a favorite pizza place

Rick Santorum, the man officially supported for president on this blog, was in the Quad Cities where I am from, and visited a pizza place the conservatives all know in Moline. Here is a little clip:

Rick Santorum continued his assault on Mitt Romney in Moline on Monday ahead of Tuesday's Illinois Republican presidential primary.

In a rousing speech to about 200 people at The Moline Club, the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania questioned Mr. Romney's conservative credentials and pledged to cut corporate taxes to "zero" to aid manufacturing in places like the Quad Cities.

"We have one nominee who says he wants to run the economy. What kind of conservative says that the president runs the economy?" Mr. Santorum said of Mr. Romney. "What kind of conservative says 'I'm the guy because of my economic experience that can create jobs?' 

"We conservatives generally think that the government doesn't create jobs." 

Mr. Santorum, who served in the U.S. House 1991-1995 and in the U.S. Senate 1995-2007, is trailing Mr. Romney in recent Illinois polls. But on Monday he pointed to his recent victories in Alabama and Mississippi as evidence he could upset the odds again.

He castigated Mr. Romney for implementing a system of universal health care while he was governor of Massachusetts, calling it the inspiration for "Obamacare." 

His 40-minute speech, peppered with references to President Ronald Reagan, portrayed this year's presidential election as a pivotal moment in history that was about the fundamental nature of the country.

"I don't care what the unemployment rate is going to be. It doesn't matter to me," he said. "My campaign doesn't hinge on unemployment rates and growth rates. There's something more foundational that's going on here."

Christie Schilling, the wife of U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling, R-Colona, spoke before Mr. Santorum took the stage, describing him as a "pro-life hero." Mr. Santorum was introduced to the audience Monday by Neil Anderson, a Republican candidate for District 72 state representative. 

Mr. Santorum reportedly travelled to Rep. Schilling's pizza restaurant after speaking and made his own pizza, which he called a "Santorum special." When a restaurant staffer was asked if he could verify that report, he replied, "Sir, I cannot confirm that; I have secret service standing next to me." 


The pizza place, a great meeting ground for traditional Catholics as well as conservative politicians, has great food, if you are in the area. I was last there in March, 2011, almost a year ago. Greetings to all, and especially my seminarian friend from the area.

POTUS pushes his anti-moral agenda big time...

This is getting to be out and out persecution of all moral people and especially the Catholic Church. The Obama administration has announced today that all health insurance for young women in all colleges and universities must provide sterilization. This is just to prove a point. This man is capable of persecuting the Church for a point. Remember is a Black Liberation Theology buff, believing that the Blacks are the chosen people of God. He also is a Marxist. Wake up America. I think he is capable of starting a faux war to keep being a president.

God help us. Here are some quotations from the article: (CNSNews.com) - All student health care plans covering female college students in the United States must include coverage for free voluntary sterilization surgery, the Department of Health and Human Services announced late Friday afternoon.

Women of college age who do not attend school will also get free sterilization coverage whether they are insured through an employer, their parents, or some form of government-subsidized plan.

All student health plans, HHS said Friday as it finalized a new regulation under the Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare) must cover the full set of cost-free women’s “preventive services” that HHS ordered last month must be covered by all U.S. health care plans.

These free “preventive services” include surgical sterilization procedures and all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions.


Check this update from WND for Obama's Marxist connections.

Marxism and the Politics of Envy

My Catholic friends have been a bit dubious about my claims as to the rise of communism and Marxism in Ireland. I stand by my observations. Here in France, the Left is rising again as well. These movements are worrying, as the Catholic Church will bear the brunt of prejudice against religion, which is part of the Marxist agenda. At least in America, there is more openness among communists and Marxists as to their atheism. Here it is covered up by a veneer of culture. Note this article from yesterday's International News site from France--here.


Tens of thousands marched in Paris on Sunday to support firebrand leftist presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has shaken up France's election campaign with a surprise jump in the polls.

Melenchon of the Left Front, who represents a coalition of leftist parties including the Communists, has emerged as a significant factor in the campaign just as Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande faces a resurgent threat from incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy.

His virulent attacks on the rich, France's elite and austerity measures have struck a chord with many voters and polls this week showed him surpassing the symbolic 10 percent mark, up four points from the start of the year, with only five weeks to go before the April 22 first round of voting.

Waving a sea of red Left Front and Communist Party flags, tens of thousands of supporters marched through central Paris under cloudy skies in a symbolic rally to "retake the Bastille" -- the square where the medieval fortress and prison was stormed during the iconic moment of the French Revolution.

In good Gramsci fashion and I feel another Gramsci blog approaching here this week, the symbols used are those of the Republic. Same thing is happening in Ireland, where the Republican movement has been undermined by the communists. Watch and see what happens. The Politics of Envy is alive and well in France and Ireland.

Mirror of Justice is a Great Blog

Edmund Campion and Ignatius would not agree with this statement, found on Mirror of Justice, one of my favorite blogs listed on my blog list. Read on that blog for more information.

Jesuitry

From the New York Times, 17 March 2012:

In a letter to the president of Georgetown University, John J. DeGioia, 66 members of the law school faculty said Friday that the University should address Ms. Fluke's concerns and consider providing contraceptive coverage in the student health plan. "The current policy puts student health at risk," said M. Gregg Bloche, a professor at the law school, "and with our Jesuit tradition, we should be concerned about that."

Res ipsa loquitur.

Posted

Is anyone paying attention to Egypt?

Is anyone paying attention to the deterioration of Egypt? Over a year ago, when I was watching the so-called new spring of Arab liberties on the television in America, I knew, from history and the long desire of the Muslim Brotherhood that the spring was a ruse. Those encouraging the real liberty-seekers, the Westernized youth and the educated, were of a different ilk. Now, the great Spencer and other honest and open journalists have noted the take-over of Egypt, slowly but surely by the sharia law party, the Muslim Brotherhood. Here is a bit from the Associated Press on Spencer's website.


CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament on Saturday voted overwhelmingly in favor of ensuring that its own lawmakers make up a large portion of a panel writing the country's first constitution after the ouster of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

Lawmakers at a joint meeting of both houses approved a quota giving lawmakers half of the seats on a 100-member panel that will draft the new constitution.

The remaining 50 panel members will be chosen by parliament, and are likely to be legal experts, academics and Muslim and Christian scholars.

The makeup of the panel has been hotly debated. Islamists, who dominate the newly elected parliament, wanted lawmakers to have a significant role in the panel. But many Christians and liberals had pushed for more outsiders on the constitution writing body.

Amr Hamzawy, a lawmaker from a minority liberal party, said that the quota selected on Saturday is not representative enough of women, youth and other segments of Egyptian society who have little to no representation in parliament.

"What happened today lessens the chance for a wide representation of the country," Hamzawy said, adding that he voted to have only 30 lawmakers on the panel. "I would have liked that there are less members of parliament."

The Muslim Brotherhood, the country's most powerful political party, has promised that the constitution will be inclusive and are not likely to support changing key wording from its current state about the role of Islam in the government. The current language says the state religion is Islam and the principle of Islamic Sharia law is the main source of legislation.

In another article, Spencer highlights this news: and the reason why the question of divorce is important for Islamic women, is that the vast majority of marriages are forced and frequently include domestic violence, as the Koran oks the beating of wives. Unless the women of the West defend these women in Muslim countries, the situation will get worse, not better, as the sharia law parties take over.

ZeeNews, March 18 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Cairo: An Egyptian lawmaker has proposed a controversial draft law to limit the legal provisions for women to divorce or separate from their husbands.

Mohamed al-Omda, deputy head of the People's Assembly's Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, has submitted the draft to cancel a woman's right to divorce (Khula) or separate from her husband, privately-owned Al-Shorouk newspaper reported today.

Khula is the right of a woman in Islam to divorce or separate from her husband.

The term "Khula" is used here somewhat interchangeably in two senses: in the sense in accordance in Sharia, and as an umbrella term for women's access to divorce, even where lawmakers intend to roll back that option for women.

In the bill's explanatory memorandum, Omda said women's right to divorce through courts was granted to satisfy the National Council for Women (NCW), which was chaired by former first lady Suzanne Mubarak, allegedly to save women from persecution in eastern countries.

Sharia has been under siege since then, Omda claimed. In 2000, the parliament issued a law on the regulation of litigation procedures in personal status matters.The law applied Sharia, in which the woman can obtain a divorce if she returns the financial settlement her husband paid her when they married. If a husband refuses to divorce his wife, the woman has the right to petition a judge in order to obtain to a divorce.

This law applies only to Muslim women as Christian women have a separate personal status law.

In recent months, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has launched an attack on laws regulating personal status in the country.

They accuse the NCW of implementing Western strategies to spoil the family and social life in Egypt.

Last week, a number of Islamist MPs criticised the Khula law and the law regulating child custody, saying they contradict Sharia.

What I find despicable in all of this are travel agents in Ireland and Great Britain pretending there are no changes to the Arab Spring into the Arab Winter, and pushing cheap flights. I have met many people in the last six months who were going to or on their way to Egypt. The same is true for some American or South American based cruises. The West cannot continue to support regimes which are becoming repressive and which may even put tourists in danger. Why no one wants to talk about this is a symptom of political correctness. When will Americans and other nations recognize that supporting uprisings without democratic leaders leads to harsh sharia law groups who have been waiting in the wings to take over? See my post of http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.fr/2012/02/no-revolution-works-without-democratic.html

On False Prophets and Supposed Seers

I must again repeat another theme while I am here in France and have a little time to post. It has been brought to my attention by friends in Ireland and Great Britain that many ladies and some gentlemen have been reading prophecies online on the last days and the Second Coming. Now, most of these so-called seers are harmless, but some are heretics. I have found many doctrinal errors looking briefly at some of the sites to indicate to me that most should be avoided. If those people I know would spend their time reading the encyclicals and the CCC, they would be much better off than following false prophets. I wrote about this earlier, in January and I use the same facepalm photo to get my point across. Part of the problem is in this post, on the dumbing down of lay expectations....http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.fr/2012/01/apostolicam-actuositatem-and-dumbing.html

 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. Matthew 24:7

We are warned by Christ not to follow false prophets, and the existence of the Internet makes these people have a much larger audience than one would suspect. While I was in Ireland, I was told of three people who are now supposedly seeing the Blessed Virgin Mary regularly, and these false visions are not even on the Net, which has enough nonsense floating into people's unsuspecting souls. Most of these false prophets are anti-intellectuals, who do not have a solid grasp of the Teaching of the Catholic Church. I have already mentioned the causes at this post,http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.fr/2012/01/sometimes-i-prefer-secular-humanism.html

One of the most popular in the British Isles and in Ireland is this website, http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/ where just on the section on the Second Coming, I found twelve errors, including four doctrinal errors. When I have pointed these out to people, I am told that priests are supporting these statements. I hope not.

Some of the errors fall into these categories: one, that Revelation is still being given by Christ. NO, in the answer, as all Revelation ended with the death of the last Apostle, St. John. Anything else is blatantly false and should be suspect. Here is the pertinent section from the CCC on this one point.

Here is part of that section:
66 "The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ."²⁸ Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.
67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.
Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".


68 By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life.
69 God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and in words.
70 Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created things, he manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall, promised them salvation (cf. Gen 3:15) and offered them his covenant.
71 God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living beings (cf. Gen 9:16). It will remain in force as long as the world lasts.
72 God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses. Through the prophets, he prepared them to accept the salvation destined for all humanity.
73 God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant for ever. The Son is his Father's definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him. 


The seer on the website claims the opposite.

Secondly, the false prophet states that there is a thousand years of peace after the Second Coming. NO, the Second Coming is the end of time and the judgement of all. Again, one only has to look at the CCC, here linked for this information. A few lines from this section are sufficient: 680 Christ the Lord already reigns through the Church, but all the things of this world are not yet subjected to him. The triumph of Christ's kingdom will not come about without one last assault by the powers of evil.

681 On Judgment Day at the end of the world, Christ will come in glory to achieve the definitive triumph of good over evil which, like the wheat and the tares, have grown up together in the course of history.

682 When he comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead, the glorious Christ will reveal the secret disposition of hearts and will render to each man according to his works, and according to his acceptance or refusal of grace.

Another glaring error is the indication that one can pray for a Seal of some sort, to mark that person as saved. NO, we receive seals in Confirmation, completely our Baptism, and some men, who are priests, get an mark of the priesthood. All these are given within the context of the Sacraments. The seer is a Protestant. Again, the CCC can be used for enlightenment Again, I share a small segment: 

1304 Like Baptism which it completes, Confirmation is given only once, for it too imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the "character," which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness.¹²¹

1305 This "character" perfects the common priesthood of the faithful, received in Baptism, and "the confirmed person receives the power to profess faith in Christ publicly and as it were officially (quasi Ex officio)."¹²²


There are more errors, which I elucidate later if people are interested. Another false and dangerous site is http://www.courlisius.org/  which includes many people condemned by their local bishops. I would steer clear of all those listed on this site. The lack of Catholic Teaching and Catholic discernment means not only that many of those who read these sites are wasting their time, but that they are led astray into theories of the end times which have nothing to do with reality.

We are warned and we need to keep close to the Church in order to decide what is true and what is false. A person can lose one's immortal soul by following these deceived seers. All these prove that the prideful desire for inside knowledge, instead of the pursuit of the True Faith, leads many people into serious error. I ask priests to clarify such things for those who come to them and even from the pulpit.

And, I am simply tired of hearing the argument, such as those from some of my friends involved in Bayside, which has been condemned, that one does not have to obey a liberal bishop on matters of private revelation. Since when?

On making boys into men

As a strong female with character, and growing up in a family and extended family of mostly boys, I have been around young men and older for years and years. I have taught all boy classes in the past at several schools and colleges. I like being with men, as I am a healthy woman, with a brain. However, at this point in history, many of my friends, who are single like I am, are asking, where are the men? What I am concerned about is that now we have in education boys teaching boys, rather than men teaching boys. What do I mean?

To be an adult human being who is male can be quite a challenge in the overly feminized Catholic Church and in a society which has systematically undermined the role of the father in marriage and the role of the masculine man in a culture of which eschews leadership.

The subject is much more complicated than what I can cover here in a short post, but I want to highlight a few points. As I have written on this before, especially in my previous blog, I can point to some of the same problems which were obvious in 2007.

That men are afraid to be men, as there is so much criticism about real men, I can understand. Many are put down by either females, who are feminists, for being too patriarchal, or for being less than "sensitive" or "vulnerable".  That men are hesitant to be like old-fashioned, strong men, is a given. How can we encourage those who naturally are leaders and want to be leaders in a family or relationship. These good men need to be encouraged.

From another point of view, men not only to be encouraged, but trained. How we train boys to be men is not obvious anymore. One way is to give young men responsibility at an early age, with rules, and let them do hard things. As one who has raised a boy to be a good and responsible young man, I can say that discipline and consistency are key. Boys are actually somewhat easy to raise if a parent is clear and fair; that is, if boundaries and rules are taught within a framework of Christianity.

On top of discipline and consequences, one must train a young man in practical skills, even if later on he chooses a profession, such as a doctor or lawyer. Learning to do basic things gives a young man confidence and a sense of self.  A parent must have a set of chores and set guidelines and consequences for the lack of fulfillment of such chores. Many mothers and even fathers over protect their children by not letting them do things, such as sailing, cooking, climbing, camping, fishing, and other skills in addition to sports. Sports are good training for leadership skills, but not the only ones. Boys learn from other boys. I think, for example, that the Boy Scouts in England and in France have proved to be excellent training grounds for young boys learning life-skills.

In the overly feminized world of academia, some of the relationships which occur and some of the courses which are offered now exclude men from serious consideration. The entire idea gender-studies has created a marginalization of men. In my previous faculty position, the vast majority of instructors were women. New appointments of young academics were most likely women. But, that is another question to consider in another post. The real point is that more girls are getting degrees than men, and the statistics show that more minority girls are getting exams than even white boys. This creates a leadership problem. The leaders are going to be the women who have higher education than the men.

Boys must be given opportunities for leadership skills to develop. The mixture of girls and boys on teams does not help, as we all know that boys take a back step to girls in those circumstances. One can see that the parishes with altar girls, which is the one of the worst decisions of the former Pope. Boys do not want to be in groups with girls at a certain age and should not be. To be continued..

If there was a war, would anybody come....?

We have a generation of Americans and possibly British and even Irish youth who may not ever volunteer to fight a war. Why I mention this is that the Catholic Church has held a competent theory of  "just war" throughout the ages, which clarifies the use of violence for certain reasons. Before going into some of those reasons, I would like to note that the neo-pacifists are not merely against a particular war, such as that in Afghanistan, but are against all wars. This has never been the Catholic position on war; that is, that all wars must be prohibited and only pacifism allow to the Christian.

Why some youth would never fight is that they have lost any type of good or holy allegiance to anything. If one has no fidelity either to the Catholic religion, or to a particular nation, or people, one would not defend either a populace or land.

What is lacking is the strong commitment  which forms a person's soul into wanting to defend righteousness. If a young man, especially a single man, has no alliance to any person or place, he is most likely not to be patriotic either. I suggest that a socialist and communist political philosophies undermines healthy patriotism, which is a minor virtue in Catholic teaching.

However, the Catholic Church, and to Aquinas, there are certain rules for war which are legitimate. There are rules for engagement. One can check the Catechism for these points:

• the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
• all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
• there must be serious prospects of success;
• the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power as well as the precision of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.

It is important for students, even in home schooling, to learn these guidelines and the more complicated issues from Aquinas. The main reasons for this teaching, which some had a long time ago, basically comes down to a few succinct points. The first point is that there has to be a just cause, that is, like someone invading one's country. Defense is a reason which would be a just cause. The second point is that there must be a proper authority. Why this is important is that only nations which are sovereign can represent the people. Groups within a country cannot represent a people, such as in Palestine, for example, which is not a nation, but a geographical area of several groups of people. Third, the intention must be just, again such as defense. A pre-emptive war is never just, such as the recent wars in the Middle East. Such differentiation in making important distinctions in deciding when a war is actually just may seem foolish or like casuistry to some, but the rule of law demands such clarity. In a country which is ruled by law, such decisions should be made in retrospect, rationally, and not be mere reactions to something. Four, there must be some reason for absolute surety of success. This means that a war should not be started if it cannot be finished, or done with the possibility of a new and reasonable governance. Proportionality is the next point, number five. This means that the amount of resources and violence used must be in proportion to what is necessary and not overly so. For example, in the Battles of Vienna and Lepanto, many soldiers and sailors were necessary to stop the take-over of Europe by the Muslims. The entire continent was praying and fasting as well. The last point, six, is last resort, which means that all diplomatic resources have failed.

In addition to the above, Christ, as both St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas state, never condemned either war or the role of the soldier. In fact, he told soldiers how to behave fairly and not complain about their pay. In addition, when Christ returns in the Second Coming, He is pictured with a sword in Revelation, and with an army. 

There is a modern tendency for the sin of presumption; that is, that God will take care of one if one merely trusts in Him, and that there will be no future trials, wars, or even martyrdom. This is nonsense and irrational interpretations of Scriptures. It is the modern tendencies towards pacifism and quietism which deny that war is ever a necessity or even a possibility for Christians. However, it is. Nations must be concerned about justice and the rule of law, which sadly are both ignored. There can even be a case made for war in order to preserve religious freedoms and rights. To be continued...

Forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us....a repeat posting as it is necessary

I repeat this January post, as after three months, the Republicans I have met continually hate the British for past sins against the Church, forgetting that the Catholics in Britain also were painfully persecuted. That Irish Catholics constantly, and I mean daily, if not weekly, brought up the Troubles to me, is a proof of a lack of forgiveness on their part. This must end. Do they not realize that they are being formed by their hatred? "Great hatred in a small place..." William Butler Yeats. Here is the repeat post.


Last night in Londonderry, two Republican bombs were exploded. People in the area were evacuated quickly. This was not the headline in this morning's issue of the Irish Times online, but in the Wall Street Journal.

In the month I have been here, I have, almost daily, heard people, including women, go on about British occupation. I am sick of hearing about The Troubles. I am sick of the unforgiveness among Catholics, who like the "moderate" Muslims, do not condemn sectarian violence. Ireland is rotting from the inside out from hatred, prejudice and unforgiveness.

I lost family in both world wars. My grandmother's family, in what is now the Czech Republic, disappeared and their houses and land, and some were wealthy, confiscated by, first the Germans and then, the Russians. We assume many members of the family, most politically active, perished in the Holocaust. Some of my ancestors were Jews from Bratislava. We never knew what happened. I do not hate Germans and I do not hate Russians. I have personally experienced betrayal from someone I thought was my best friend, not once, but more than once. I forgave. I had to do so, as I was commanded by God to forgive. If we are obedient, we forgive.

I am reminded of the anime Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. It is a powerful story based on the Dumas novel of hatred and revenge. It is terrifying. It is "true". In the anime version, the Count is overtaken by a demon. But, he already had some-the demons of revenge and unforgiveness. Thankfully, there is redemption at the end. That is what we desire, redemption, not revenge.

Four members of my family were abused by a priest for years. These family members never sued, and are still Catholic and raised their children Catholic. They forgave. They exhibit heroic virtue, as we all must.

Forgiveness is the necessity of all Catholics, all Christians, all Jews. Those who do not forgive will not see the Face of God. Matthew 6:15 But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences.

God said that. He means it. The evil of unforgiveness is that we become God. We play God. Here is the Count in the anime speaking:

Count of Monte Cristo: No show is as captivating as the death of a human being.

Count of Monte Cristo: Is it not as though we have become God?

I call this Evil. Like Lucifer, the Count was playing God.

Living among a people who dwell in unforgiveness is something I could not do for any length of time. I have never met, in modern times, people more prejudice than the Irish Republicans, and I lived in Missouri and Mississippi. The language of hate is in the speech like a reoccurring motif in poetry-except that it is deadly to those who speak it. Forgiveness creates healing. Forgiveness opens the door for reconciliation. It does not matter what or who on "the other side" do or not do. The power of forgiveness is in our hearts to use or not to use. Politicians here use the language of hate towards the Church, as the land is full of hatred. The beauty of Ireland is hidden in the fog of unforgiveness.

On the radicals who want the Church to sell everything...

OK, because this has come up too many times, I need to write about it. There are young people and old alike that think the Church is extremely wealthy and that all the lands, including the Vatican, should be sold and the money given to the poor. There are some who do not think the bishops should wear mitres or have rings with precious or even semi-precious stones.

Well, where do I start? First, the Institutional Church is a physical Church and not the "invisible Church", a phrase I referred to before as heretical, on this blog. Christ is Man and God and He created a hierarchical structure which is real, one can smell, touch, see, etc.

We are physical and spiritual entities. We are human.

Second, the Church is not wealthy. Having property does not make one a wealthy person, contrary to popular belief. In fact, the upkeep of property can positively be a drain on resources and cash.

Third, the aesthetically real experience frequently leads us to God, and God deserves the best we can offer of art and architecture. Only Puritans, or Calvinists, to be exact, disdain the Beautiful. God is Beauty. Our small, pedestrian minds and hearts should be raised up to God through Beauty. See my long January posting on this fact. http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/01/thoughts-on-beauty-and-tridentine-mass.html

Fourth, Christ Himself said the poor are always with us, period, as they are our responsibility. However, ghd poor are not an institutional problem. That is socialism. We are to take care of our brothers and sisters in Christ, not an institution. And, Catholics fail on this point miserably. In fact, the very people who have been criticizing the Pope or the bishops for their miters and such, are the ones who do not involve themselves on a daily basis with the poor. God wants us all to respond in the best way we can, but to loudly proclaim that the Church should divest itself of religious symbols which include the signs of the Church Triumphant, is just plain heresy.

I can partly understand this false argument when young people who are over-zealous see the Church as some sort of treasure house of riches, but for older, middle-aged persons to go on about this seems blatantly stupid.

In the French countryside

Oh my goodness, but the French countryside is beautiful. I kept hearing about how green Ireland was and is, but here, in the Diocese of Lucon, the grass is just as green and the birds as plentiful. A monastery was established in this area of the Vendee as early as the seventh century, but the diocese dates to the fourteenth.  The present Bishop is Alain Castet and he has an excellent reputation. The Vendee is a lovely, agricultural area, as well as vacation spot. One has a sense of history here, but as in other places in France, the Catholic history has been marked with terrible persecution. That the State is in control even of some areas which Americans would demand a separation of Church and State is here obvious.

More tomorrow....

Where are the European Conservative Catholics?

For those who want more political postings, I would like to mention that there is a lot of self-deceit in the in Catholic populations of at least three islands, Ireland, England and Malta, as to the lack of true conservationism among even traditional Catholics. I find this odd, but have met it in the United States, albeit not recently, as the lines are being drawn in the sand, as it were, concerning morality vs. immorality and religious rights vs. tyranny in the States. In the small but significantly important Catholic communities of the islands mentioned, the truly conservative and "right" side of the aisle. Why the conservatives in Great Britain, for example, are pro-civil union for gays and also pro-abortion proves the lack of a grass-roots Catholic movement. That so many of the traditional Catholics I met at two Latin Masses express support for the socialist agenda in Ireland and Malta was an amazing contradiction of positions.

The schizophrenia of morals, religious practice and politics highlights the successful infiltration of Marxist ideals in Europe at a whole. Although, technically, the Communist party is outlawed in some nations, the agendas have been adopted by the so-called conservative Catholics. The recent discussions, first in Ireland, about the dissolution of Catholic public education, and the push for the "right-to die" by the conservative government in Great Britain indicate a capitulation of conservative values. Why this has happened is partly these following reasons:

One, the lack of education, especially classical education, has led to a few generations of political "sheep", that is, Catholics who cannot and do not think through the issues. The lack of logic in the curriculum, for example, means that Catholics cannot see beyond the propaganda or the popular message to the roots of political posturing.

Second, the lack of catechesis for at least three generations in Ireland, Great Britain and Malta, means that Catholic adults simply do not know their faith. None I have met had ever heard of the Popes' long battle in encyclicals and other teachings against socialism. One wonders what they have been taught until one meets the teachers, who themselves, are not teaching Catholic social doctrine, but the doctrine of Marx.

Third, Catholics are lazy. No offense, but until one decides to BE a Catholic adult and take responsibility for one's faith, (see my earlier blog in January), and stop blaming bad priests or the lack of homilies, one remains childish and sheep-like, easily led by those who are more clever and more persistent in their agendas.

Four, and this is the sad truth, too much socialism has come out of Rome, not at the level of the Papacy, but through other documents, as we saw last Autumn. This infiltration of socialist, even communist ideals, pollutes the untrained mind and undermines the authority of the Papacy.

Five, there is a lack of lay leadership in the Catholic Church, Catholic politicians who stand up for Catholic, that is natural law and universal values.

The grass-roots movements in the States,and the happy coalition of the Evangelicals and Catholics can possibly change even the presidency. That Catholics are involved in the pro-life political movements and the anti-homosexual agendas in the States points to adult understanding of the Faith. Sadly, that is missing here.