Saint Frank and His Nonexistent Creatures

From the First and Second Lives of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano:

Both Francis and his companions agree in reporting that, when he had spoken thus, the birds exulted marvelously in their own fashion, stretching their necks, extending their wings, opening their mouths, and gazing at him. Francis walked into their midst, touching their heads and bodies with his tunic. Finally he blessed them and, making the sign of the cross, gave them permission to fly off to some other place.

Rejoicing, the blessed father went off with his companions, giving thanks to God whom all creatures worship. Since he had now been made simple by grace and not by nature, he began to accuse himself of negligence for not having preached to the birds before, since they listened to the word of God with such reverence. And thus it came about that, from that day on, he exhorted all birds, all animals, all reptiles, and even nonexistent creatures to praise and love the creator, for every day, when the name of the savior was announced, he himself saw their obedience.

Video: Hitchens + Fry + Archbishop John Onaiyekan + Ann Widdecombe, M.P.

It's as if someone looked up "strawman" in the dictionary and handpicked the two most incompetent defenders of the Catholic faith possible. Christopher Hitchens was a greasy, smarmy, ignorant fool (as usual) and Stephen Fry was well-spoken and convincing.

Catholic Stuff, Beer, and Masturbation

Padre Pio a Fraud?—
Padre Pio a fraud! The Catholic League, as is their wont, have issued their predictable response.

Beer and Gay Sex—
The Catholic League has also gotten its panties in a twist over Folsom Street Fair and Miller Beer's sponsorship of said street fair. Who would guess that such deviant behavior would be sponsored by such a wholesome industry?

• "Offensive" photographs.
  
• Boycott.
  

Miller later apologized, but it was not enough:

"The Miller Brewing Company and the Board of Directors of the Folsom Street Fair have both issued press statements this week apologizing for the offensive Last Supper poster that was used to promote the event. As such, they have insulted Catholics one more time. Let me be specific.

“The poster was the least offensive part of this Catholic-bashing forum. What was even more offensive was the sight of Christian symbols being sold at this Miller-sponsored fair as sex toys. The obscene and blasphemous names of these vulgar sex toys are so disgusting that no mainstream newspaper would print them. Then there was the incredible sight of a stripper and a man dressed as Jesus hoisted in cages above a Catholic church on a Sunday. This was done to provoke, taunt and insult Catholics. And who greeted everyone at the street fair? Men dressed as nuns. Had they been dressed like Al Jolson—with blackened faces—they would have been run out of town as racists.

“The Folsom Street Fair news release on this subject shows how utterly clueless its officers are. It says, ‘The mission is to create volunteer-driven leather events that provide the adult alternative lifestyle community with safe venues for self-expression while emphasizing freedom, fun, frolic and fetish and raising funds to benefit charity.’

“To which I say: If your idea of a ‘safe venue’ ‘self-expression’ and ‘fun’ includes men being beaten with chains in broad daylight, men who masturbate in the street, and men who perform oral sex on each other in public—I have pictures of these acts—then spare Catholics of your ‘fun.’ Leave us out of it and you can do to each other whatever you want.

“The only thing Miller is worried about is its logo appearing on a poster for an event it could not possibly defend. Not until it pledges not to sponsor Catholic-bashing events will the Catholic League call off its boycott and its anti-Miller PR campaign. We’re like that proverbial fly who just won’t go away.”

The part about men masturbating in the street is actually quite accurate. I went to Folsom Fair on a lark in 2002 and had the distinct pleasure of observing a man—to whom time had not been kind— with purple, throbbing, greasy member in hand, masturbating at a galloping pace in a doorway. It was gross.

LINK: "Church asked to Preach 'Tax Evasion is a Sin'"

From Christian Today (link):

Thou shalt not steal...from the state.

That's the message Italy's prime minister wants Catholic priests to preach from their pulpits to help him stamp out rampant tax evasion robbing the state of sorely needed cash.

"A third of Italians heavily evade taxes," Romano Prodi lamented in an interview with Italy's prominent Catholic magazine, Famiglia Cristiana, widely quoted in Wednesday's newspapers.

"Why, when I go to Mass, is this issue almost never touched on in the homilies?"

Italy is struggling under the weight of Europe's largest debt pile in absolute terms. The government estimates the cost of tax evasion at 7 percent of gross domestic product, or about 100 billion euros ($137 billion) a year.

It says this is nearly double the rate of evasion in France, Germany and Britain and nearly four times that of Austria, the Netherlands and Ireland.

One Catholic leader said that while the Church strongly encouraged citizens to pay taxes, Italy's government also needed to prove to taxpayers that their money was being well spent if it wanted more cooperation.

"If at times the Church is cautious on the presentation of this issue, it is because the tax system does not always seem fair," Bruno Forte, archbishop of the central Italian diocese of Chieti-Vasto, told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Prodi's campaign against tax evasion is one of the hallmarks of his unpopular government, and the government says it is part of the reason for a 6 percent hike in state revenues in the first half of 2007.

The premier, under pressure to cut taxes, suggested too many Italians still lie on their tax returns. He questioned out loud whether it was possible that only 300,000 taxpayers -- out of a total 40 million -- made more than 100,000 euros a year.

"To change this mindset, it's up to everyone, starting with the teachers, to do their part ... the Church included," Prodi said.

Catholics, Protestants Map Out Ethical Conversion Code

Ethan Cole, from Christian Today, has a piece
on "conversion codes":

Dozens of theologians from a wide range of Christian traditions recently gathered to map out a common religious conversion code that would affirm religious freedom while dissuading unethical means of conversion.

The joint Vatican-World Council of Churches (WCC) consultation convened some 30 Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal and evangelical theologians and church representatives in Toulouse, France, this past week for the high-level meeting entitled “Towards An Ethical Approach to Conversion: Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World”.

It was the first time evangelicals and Pentecostals were represented at the consultation since the first meeting was held last year.

“‘Evangelical’ and ‘ecumenical’ Christians have never been as close in this regard as they are today,” said Thomas Schirrmacher of the World Evangelical Alliance, according to Ecumenical News International on Monday.

“It would be the first time ever that such a broad Christian backing is given to an agreement of this kind.”

Schirrmacher, who was a speaker at the August 8-12 consultation, is a German theologian who chairs the WEA’s International Institute for Religious Freedom. He represented himself as an evangelical individual rather than the WEA's representative during the consultation.

The German theologian noted, however, that it would be difficult to concretely specify “unethical means” of conversion given differences in historical, religious, cultural and political contexts of Christian traditions, according to ENI.

Schirrmacher emphasised that all Christian traditions need to self-reflect based on the code of conduct rather than just direct it against evangelicals and Pentecostals who are known for their strong focus on evangelism.

“Conversion is a controversial issue not only in interreligous relations, but in intra-Christian relations as well,” acknowledged the Rev Dr Hans Ucko, WCC programme executive for inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, in a statement.

Ucko gave as an example of religious tension that existing between the Roman Catholic Church and the Pentecostal movement in Latin America. He also noted that the Orthodox churches in other regions often feel “targeted” by Protestant missionary groups.

Fiorello Mascarenhas, a Jesuit from India and former chairperson of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office Council, affirmed that evangelisation needs to avoid “stooping to belittle or condemn other religion”.

Rather, evangelisation should promote “inter-religious dialogue and religious harmony, as well as wholehearted cooperation in human welfare projects”.

“The fact that Protestants, Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Pentecostals and Evangelicals were able to meet and discuss such a complex issue is in itself a success,” said WCC’s Ucko.

Despite progress on drawing up the code of conduct, the formidable challenge of enforcing the code remains, seeing that the WEA, WCC, Pentecostals and others have no authority to force their members to adhere to the code. There is also speculation that the Catholic Church will not make the code an official policy.

The study project jointly undertaken by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the WCC’s programme on inter-religious dialogue and cooperation - “An Interreligious Reflection on Conversion: From Controversy to a Shared Code of Conduct" - was launched in May 2006 in Lariano/Velletri, near Rome.

It aims to produce a code of conduct on religious conversion commonly agreed among Christians by 2010. The first meeting was attended by representatives of the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Yoruba faiths along with Christians.

Chinese Catholics.

Latino Conversions

BustedHalo has an interesting article on Latinos converting from Catholicism to Islam.

Head of the ETS Converts to Catholicism

Jimmy Akin reports that the president of the Evangelical Theological Society, Dr. Francis Beckwith, has converted to Roman Catholicism.

Pentecostal Church Lures Latin Americans Away From Catholicism

Der Spiegel has another interesting article.

A singer in body-hugging black leather pants pumps up the audience with reggae rhythms. The young people tap their feet to the beat. Then the house lights dim, creating the perfect ambiance for a makeout session. Suddenly, the spotlights blaze on. The audience applauds and whistles, as if revving up for a rock concert. Beams of light converge on a short man in jeans: Pastor Rinaldo Pereira.

The 34-year-old preacher throws his arms in the air as he welcomes his congregation and steps behind his altar, a surfboard on trestles. Behind his back, a laptop projects saccharine images of mountain landscapes and sunsets onto the wall. "God wants to see you smile!" the minister bellows into the jammed hall. The towering loudspeakers next to the altar throb. "Jesus! Jesus!" the audience chants.

...

Rina was moved to establish a Protestant Pentecostal community by a "spiritual experience," he says. He held his first service in a surfing supply store for a group of friends. "My generation has a strong yearning for spirituality that the Catholic Church can't satisfy," he explains. "Religion was considered square. So we had to come up with something new."

...

The Catholic Church has been hit hardest. Hordes of believers from the world's largest Catholic country are defecting to the evangelicals. The archbishop of São Paulo, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, estimates that the Catholic churches have lost one-third of their members over the past 40 years. Seven out of 10 former Catholics are seeking salvation in a Protestant community.

Roughly 18 percent of Brazilians belong to Protestant churches, and half of all believers in many major cities are now Protestants. "A holy war for people's souls is raging in Brazil," says Regina Novaes, an anthropologist and religious expert. "The Catholic Church has lost touch with the masses."

Whereas the Pentecostal churches -- "a tree with many branches" (Novaes) -- cultivate a direct relationship with God, the Catholics go through an intermediary, the priest. "The Catholics don't provide quick answers to people's needs. The Protestants are more dynamic," Novaes says.

Yaaar. I don't want Latin America to go Protestant!

Hispanic Immigrant Secularization

The New York Times has an interesting article about the secularization of Hispanic immigrants. Back home in California, I often wondered what the effects of secularization and Protestantization had on Hispanic immigrant populations. Did the Catholics resent the Protestants who had left the Catholic Church upon their arrival in the United States? Or did the Protestants convert before immigration? How did the role of Catholicism in Hispanic identity change once in America?