In Defense of Amazing Grace

An argument is starting to rage over the internet, which began with a critique of Michael Voris (RealCatholicTV) by Mark Shea. Interestingly, the argument first began over the hymn Amazing Grace (Voris said it wasn't compatible with the Catholic Faith, Shea launched into an attack of Voris). Instead, the argument has descended into critiques of people instead of ideas. People are attacking Mark Shea (just read the comments on the website that I linked to above), and people are attacking RealCatholicTV. I'm not getting into it, and I'm keeping my opinion about these individuals to myself

Since it doesn't appear that anyone is actually talking about the hymn anymore, I thought I would. So I've attempted to look at Amazing Grace in light of the Catholic Faith, to see if the hymn can be reconciled to the Faith.

First Scottish Priest for Our Lady of Walsingham

The first Scottish Priest for Our Lady of Walsingham was ordained this past Sunday at St. Mary's Church, Greenock. Father Len Black is 61, and was an Episcopal minister for 30 years. Father Black estimates that a dozen parishioners will join with him in the ordinariate. There will be two groups in Scotland that will be part of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Highland Ordinariate Group and the Central Scotland Ordinariate Group. Both the Ordinariate (Our Lady of Walsingham) and the Scottish Ordinariate Group have websites.

Congrats Diocese of Savannah

Some important ecclesial news has come out today. The first, and the one that will hear the most news about, is the appointment of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. That Archdiocese is in desperate need of a fresh start after a huge sexual abuse crises hit the diocese this past year.

The second important ecclesial news, at least for my region, is the appointment of the Diocese of Savannah's new bishop, Franciscan Father Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv. I want to focus on Father Hartmayer, because Archbishop Chaput will receive plenty of articles of his own.

Valid Baptism

In an earlier post, I looked at the differences between validity and liceity. Namely, one must have form & matter and disposition. Form & matter can be thought of as the 'substance' of the Sacrament, while disposition has a multi-faceted aspect to it. In this post I want to look at Baptism and what makes a baptism valid (i.e. what fulfills the form & matter and disposition requirements).

Marriage Videos from United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, chair of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, announced the new video "Made for Life" during his report to the U.S. bishops at their June 2011 meeting in Seattle. The video that he announced is the second of five similar videos (all of which I will post), all of which are aimed at promoting and defending marriage (which is between one man and one woman).

Vatican Finances Compared

The Vatican has issued its income and expenses for the 2010 fiscal year. In short, the Vatican took in €245,195,561.00 ($356,281,000.00) as income and spent €235,347,437.00 ($341,972,000.00)- a surplus of €9,848,124.00/$14,309,800.00

I always get a good laugh when people talk about the 'waste' at the Vatican. Many people make it out to seem that the Pope swims in money like Scrooge McDuck. In honesty, the Vatican operates with very little money, especially considering all that the Vatican does (restoration of priceless art, feeding the hungry, wages for lay employees, education, aid to the poor, etc.) The Vatican operates, arguably, the largest organization in the world, and yet it has a relatively low budget. You might want to check my math, but let's compare: