Some quick notes

First please accept my apologies for the dearth of posts this week. My work schedule this week and next is unusually heavy. I suffer from the same contradictory problem that most of us have. I really wish I had more free time. And I also wish I had more money. Sigh. Posting will likely be less frequent during this period. However I would like to draw the reader's attention to a few items which may be of interest. I again regret that I don't have the time right now to comment at length on most of these.

Crisis Magazine has an interesting (and very Catholic) article on the often discussed problems surrounding Boniface VIII's bull Unam Sanctum which declared...

We declare, say, define and pronounce, that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.

This has been a fairly huge thorn in Rome's side, especially since Vatican II. I hope to address some of this in a more detailed post later as time permits. For now the reader can draw their own conclusions on the strength of the defense.

Southern Baptists appeared to make a small move back towards the center after years of conservative domination within their convention. The measures announced Wednesday move to reinforce a more moderate definition of doctrine originally adopted in 2000. Conservatives seemed unimpressed though. Indeed they quickly got passed a resolution expressing strong doubts about the influence of human beings on global warming. They warned that increased regulation of so called greenhouse gases would injure the poor. This would seem to put them at odds with the overwhelming majority in the scientific community. Not exactly a place the SBC is unknown to occupy though.

The ongoing soap opera within the Anglican Communion continues... The Church of Kenya announced it will consecrate its own bishop here in the United States to minister to those parishes that have defected from the Episcopal Church and its continuing slide into apostasy. Many of those parishes have been seeking to affiliate with one of the various African Churches. There has of course been the predictable outcry from the other side. (Caution: Some of the comments posted here are really ugly.)

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz of the Philippines has urged Pope Benedict XVI not to travel to his country. He fears for the safety of the Pope. The Philippines suffer from a wide variety of problems including a rise in Islamic terrorism. There has been widespread violence against Christians in this predominantly Catholic country.

Fr. Al Kimel of Pontifications has posted an excellent essay on the subject of the renewal of the Western Liturgy within the Roman Church. I agree with almost everything he wrote and I recommend it to those interested.

Following up on the previously mentioned story about Archbishop Chyrsostom's efforts to mediate a meeting with Patriarch +Alexeii of Moscow, CWN News says the archbishop will leave for Moscow immediately after his meeting with Pope +Benedict XVI. In a related vein +Alexeii recently reemphasized the need for cooperation between Orthodoxy and the Catholic Church. This is especially true in Europe where secularism and post modernism are rampant. Stay tuned.

On a closing note, I have never made any pitch for money on this blog. However I am going to make an exception today. The mission parish of St. Mary Magdalene in Merced California (my home parish) is in pretty tough financial straights. Even worse than my own finances (and thats pretty bad). If there is anyone who has some spare funds that they would not mind being put to a good and Christian use please drop me a line privately. Any contributions are tax deductible and of course, deeply appreciated.