Young Warriors

Wolftracker would like Mother Angelica and EWTN to develop movies that train our young men in chivalry to fight the battles that will recover our Church and society. The Endless Knot has been mentioned very favorably a couple of times in responses sent to Wolftracker's post. I picked up the novel and turned to a random page (p. 163) and this is what I read:

“These are bleak times,” said Arthur, filling his glass. “One wonders what our descendents will think, several centuries hence.”

“I should think,” said Father, “they will regard our century with astonishment. They will wonder at how the Church divested Herself of all that made Her precious and unique. They will marvel at the hedonism of our culture, and the resulting self-destruction of our society. And, I suspect, they will regard those of us who stand firm against the chaos with the same awe and fervor that we apply to, say King Arthur.”

Arthur stared at Father incredulously. “You're not serious.”

“But of course I am,” said Father. “Do you think King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table had any idea that they would some day be the object of legend?--that books, plays, and movies would be made about their adventures? Certainly not. They were just men of Good Will who saw a job that needed doing, who swore their allegiance to the Church first and their monarch second, and then went about doing what they could.”

“But they were heroes,” said Jonathan, “valiant soldiers, warriors.”

“They were young men,” said Father, “not a great deal different than you fine fellows. I suspect they decided to band together in a meeting, just as informal—and yet somehow as formal—as the ones you hold here in my rectory. They wore breastplates, carried shields, and fought with swords, for that was the tenor of their day. You dress formally, study the doctrines of the Church, and fight with words, for that is the raw material you have to work with in your century.”

Read the rest of The Endless Knot--it's a good story and you can buy it here. I've heard the sequel is even better.

Papal Address on Immigration

Pope Benedict XVI stated today that he favors "balanced management of migratory flows...," and concludes migrants must recognize "the values of the societies which host them."

I hope that soon there will be a balanced management of migratory flows and of human mobility in general, so benefits can reach the entire human family, beginning with concrete measures which favor legal emigration and the reuniting of families....Only respect for human dignity for all migrants, on one hand, and the recognition by the migrants themselves of the values of the societies which host them, will make possible the proper integration of families in the social, economic and political systems [of the countries that host the migrants.]

The above quote is particularly interesting because I believe the Pope may be "between a rock and a hard place" in speaking about immigration. The above address likely speaks primarily to Europeans about Muslim immigration, rather than about Latino Catholic immigration to the U.S.

[I may speak more about Latino immigration later, especially with regard to "recognition by the migrants themselves of the values of the societies which host them." My concerns relate to illegal immigrants to the U.S. being tempted to the sins of lying, graft, tax avoidance, and cover up of illegal activities, including not stopping for 'hit and run' accidents. Illegal immigration is not good training either for Catholics or for potential American citizens. Bad habits are hard to get rid of, you know.]

Rather, this post discusses the difficulties of Italy in trying to integrate Muslim immigrants and to insure their attachment to traditional Italian values. If not successful, the alternative is that Italy will have increasingly acrimonious political, social, and religious conflicts.

Italy has two choices: assimilation and multiculturalism, and neither appears workable. No where in Europe is there a universally recognised integration success story for Muslim minorities. Here is some recent background on Muslims in Italy.

• In comparison with other European countries, Italy's population of one million Muslims is small in comparison to 57 million total population
• "In Mazara del Vallo in Sicily, since the end of the 1970’s there has been a Tunisian community that obtained permission to preserve its identity in all respects, with Tunisian schools, teachers sent from Tunisia, Tunisian laws, etc. So although polygamy is illegal there, it is tolerated"--[Chiesa]
  
• "In recent years, the Islamic community [in Rome] has grown significantly, in great part due to immigration from North African and Middle Eastern countries into the city. As a consequence of this trend, the comune [sic] promoted the building of the largest mosque in Europe, which was designed by architect Paolo Portoghesi and inaugurated on June 21, 1995"--[Wikipedia]
• March 2006: Half a million people line up in Italy to apply for 170,000 work permits being offered by government to immigrants.
  
• August 11, 2006: A Pakistani immigrant kills his daughter in a so-called honour killing in northern Italy, and Italians are roiled by the murder
  
• Summer 2006: The Union of Italian Islamic Communities (UCOII) issues an anti-Israel statement comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. The UCOII demands a separate place for Islam in Italy with Koranic instruction, Islamic schools, Islamic banks, and clerical supervision of textbooks.
• Several former Italian ministers conclude Rome should disband, outlaw, or suspend UCOII, even though this controversial organization is by far the most important Muslim association in Italy and is emerging as an important political protagonist
  
• August 2006: Italian Minister of the Interior proposes that Muslim organizations in Italy will need to subscribe to a Charter of Values to signal their readiness to be fully integrated into Italian society and its political culture.
• Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government launches an ambitious plan to grant more access to citizenship for immigrants; in contrast, Spain has chosen to expel 800,000 "clandestine" immigrants.
• September 2006: A Finnish letter discusses possible joint European Union actions for controlling immigration.
  
• Late December 2006: Another 650 illegal Muslim immigrants arrive in Sicily by ship.

The best review of the Islamic problem in Europe, including Italy, is given here, and I believe the Pope has read it, too. A more current happening strongly related to Muslims in France is described here. The U.S. Veteran Dispatch has a very, very interesting article on the oath of office taken on the Quran owned by Thomas Jefferson.

Religious Affiliation in the U.S.

If you're interested in where to find lots of Christians, Jews, Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, etc. in the U.S., see the maps published here.

The Boy with the Green Face

[This past week as I was making lunch for some grandchildren, they begged several times, "Grandma, tell us a story." So I made up and told the tale of "The Boy with the Green Face." I hope you enjoy it, too.]

A long time ago in a far away country, a young boy with a green face lived in a small village. His hair was brown, his teeth were white, his eyes were blue, and his nose and features were quite handsome, but....his face was as green as fresh lettuce. He had tried to scrub off the green when he was younger, but his face always remained green. His parents had white faces, and his Dad told him that he thought one of his great great grandfathers had had a green face.

The other boys in the village did not have green faces, and frequently taunted and teased the boy with the green face. Sometimes they called him "lettuce head" or "Martian boy," and the lad was very sad when he was called those terrible names. His real name was Mack, but one day one of the other boys decided to call him McGreen, and the name stuck. McGreen had tried to make friends several times, but it seemed no one wanted to play with someone who looked so different.

Once the school had sponsored a contest to determine the smartest boy in the village. McGreen was determined to show that, in spite of his green face, he was as intelligent as the rest of his classmates. When McGreen won, he had expected to hear at least one person say "good job" or "congratulations", but instead, the other boys had walked away to play another game without him.

McGreen was a good worker and helped his parents with their crops and animals. When his parents said he could play, the boy usually headed over the hill to the nearby valley where deep woods surrounded a clear stream. He played by himself and pretended to be an early explorer or a famous knight on a pilgrimage. Occasionally, he found interesting things, such as an iron ring from an old horse harness, and pieces of broken pottery that had had beautiful pictures. Once he found some arrowheads and a spear head. A few times he was frightened by the noises of the forest, but he gradually learned to be at home in the woods and by the stream.

One day he went to the point where the valley stream joined the larger river from the north. As he searched for small flat stones to skip across the river, he saw a boat coming downstream. Five men pushed their oars against the river bottom to make the boat go against the current and approach the shore. McGreen watched as one man yelled, "Push hard, push us to the bank!"

The boat approached near where McGreen was standing. Two men stepped out of the boat into the shallow water, while the other three stayed in the boat and kept the boat from being carried further downstream.

"Do you live around here?" asked the taller man who came ashore.

"Yes, my parents have a farm over there," said McGreen, pointing over the hill. He noticed a roll of ivory paper under the man's arm.

"We're looking for a guide to this country," said the tall man. "Our map tells where we may find something that was lost and buried many years ago. Can you help us?"

"I'd like to help," said McGreen somewhat reluctantly, and he squirmed as the other men seemed to be staring at his green face.

"We need someone who is very familiar with this valley," continued the tall man. "Someone who is smart, and who can help us find what we need to know. What's your name?"

"I'm McGreen," said the boy. He added, " I know the woods, and where the hills have springs, and I have explored several miles up the valley stream." He added, "There's an old man in our village who knows this woods, too, but he can't walk very well."

"Then you're hired, McGreen!" said the tall man, who proceeded to pull a map from under his arm. "My name is Peverson. We're looking for an old church about two miles up your valley, and we need to find a very large tree and a cliff, too."

"There's no church, and no cliff, either, Mr. Peverson," said McGreen in puzzlement. "Perhaps this is the wrong valley."

"It's got to be the right valley," said the tall man. "Come, let's walk a ways up along the stream."

The boy walked ahead of the five men, and the men discussed their journey to reach McGreen's valley. One of the men who had stared earlier at McGreen's face suddenly said to his friend, "I didn't know there was anyone with a green face in this country."

"I didn't either," said the other man. "I thought this area had all white faces."

"What do you mean?" said McGreen, as he stopped walking and turned around to face the men.

"Well, you have a green face. That's sort on unusual in this area, but not in our villages. We live with both white faces and green faces. About half and half, I would suspect."

"Really? Even boys have green faces?" said McGreen, who could hardly control his excitement.

"Yes, we thought all the Greens lived with us. Are there any more like you? asked the man.

"No, I'm the only one," said McGreen sadly. And the boy began to think about how he could join the men and travel back with them to meet other boys with green faces.

McGreen and the five men had travelled about two miles up the path along the stream, when Peverson stopped and said, "The church has to be near. I'm sure of it."

Peverson talked further about the old church, a large tree, and a rock cliff that were shown on the map, but there were many questions. McGreen asked how old was the church, did it have a steeple, was it made of stone, was there a path from the church to the stream, and on what side of the stream were the church and cliff. By answering these questions, Peverson led McGreen to conclude that the church might be found on a slightly elevated knoll on which several large trees grew. "I think that is where the church is located," said McGreen.

The men and the boy with the green face approached the site and the boy told how he had once found parts of a rock foundation and a stone path when he had played in this area. The square stones of the path were located after soil and leaves were scraped away. The foundation was all that remained of the old church.

"We thought the walls of the old church would be still standing, but we were wrong," said Peverson. "Now where is the large tree?" He looked at his map again. "The tree should be to the southwest, but I'm not sure how far."

"What tree? There are lots of large trees near the church foundation," said McGreen. "May I see the map?" He looked and saw that no trees seemed large enough to correspond with the age of the obviously old map. McGreen walked to the southwest looking carefully for large stumps because he suspected the old tree had died many years before. No stumps were seen. Then he thought that perhaps another tree had grown up where the old tree had once stood. He began to examine the ground near the trees that he thought might have grown out of the stump of the very large old tree on the map. Sure enough, McGreen found one tree where at the base there appeared to be projecting stones. When he moved the leaves and sticks away, there was the rotting stump of the old tree and the stones that had been moved to the surface by the tree's large roots.

"The tree was here," said McGreen with a sureness in his voice that seemed unusual for a 12-year old. "Now let's find the cliff."

"It's in the same direction as a straight line drawn from the church through the large tree," said Peverson.

McGreen led the way up the side of the hill. The path was steep and covered with brush and McGreen knew this area well because he had played here many times before. He struggled to concentrate on finding his way but he was distracted by thoughts of other boys with green faces--just like him. A toad jumped out of the bushes onto a rock, as if to say, "catch me if you can." McGreen looked carefully at the rock. Cliffs fall down in rock pieces, he thought. So with the men's help, he broke through the tangled underbrush to climb further. Finally the cliff appeared, covered in moss. "This is the cliff," said McGreen.

"Look for a marker," said Peverson. "I don't know what kind of marker, but it should be obvious. We need to dig below the marker."

"Here's a flat rock," said McGreen.

"There's nothing unusual about a flat rock," said one of the men.

McGreen was insistent, "I'm sure there was something mounted on this flat stone." He looked intently at the stone and then scanned the cliff wall. Nothing seemed obvious. McGreen next gazed down the hill. Other stones appeared broken below. McGreen descended a few steps to the broken pieces of rock and examined several pieces that seemed different. "They've been painted, or at least once were."

Peverson was excited, "You've found it! It's a statue of our Lady that once stood on the flat stone. The statue is broken, but the flat stone seems undisturbed! He and another man tried to move the stone, but it was too heavy. "Help me move it out of the way," said Peverson. Three men were able to move the stone was out of the way, and one man used a shovel to dig. Within an hour, they had found the object of their search, a black iron box with length, breath, and height of a man's arm. The box was lifted to the surface and Peverson took a key out of his pocket to open the lock.

When the lid was opened, the men knelt. Peverson gently lifted a white linen-wrapped object out of the box and unwrapped it to reveal a gold chalice. "May Jesus Christ be praised that we found these sacred objects," he said slowly and reverently. He saw two other white-wrapped objects in the box, and immediately knew they were the ciborium and the monstrance. Peverson then rewrapped the chalice and replaced it in the box with the other two objects. After closing the lid, the men arose and Peverson told the story to the boy with the green face.

"McGreen, over two hundred years ago infidels invaded our land and sacked our villages. Before they burned the churches, the men of our village hid the sacred vessels below the statue of Our Lady in the Grotto by the cliff. Our great-great grandparents retreated to the mountains where we now live. We found this map recently and the sacred objects will now be restored to the new church we have built."

"May I please come with you, Sir?" asked McGreen. "I would love to see your land and your church."

"You'll be our guest of honor," said Peverson. "You'll also get to meet many of your own kind. There are lots of young men and boys who look like you. Let's go to your farm and tell your parents what has happened. I'm sure they will be glad to give you permission for your visit to our mountain village."

Of course, permission was granted by McGreen's parents but they did insist their son be returned within ten days. He had a wonderful time in Peverson's village and met many young boys with green faces. They listened intently as Peverson told them how McGreen had solved the great puzzle of where the sacred vessels were secretly stored. McGreen returned home to his parents after ten days, but as he grew older, he made other visits up the river to be with the people with green faces. Finally he met the girl who became his wife and decided to make the mountain village his new home. Naturally, all their children had green faces.

Planned Parenthood

I got my regular solicitation from PP yesterday, and it is similar to the last one. The enclosed SASE envelope is ready to be mailed with my donation of "Our Throwaway Society" for the person who opens the envelope. Since the mid 80's, that little color brochure is still the most powerful statement against abortion that I've ever seen. It may no longer be in print, but I have a few copies for anyone that requests one from dustiam@earthlink.net.

So what is PP's current agenda? To force pharmacists to prescribe abortifacients--the 'morning after' pill that PP says in their letter "can prevent a pregnancy if started within 120 hours of unprotected intercourse." PP especially fears the states of Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Dakota that lead the way in protecting pharmacists who refuse to fill certain prescriptions that would violate their conscience. [Incidentally, if you read PP's stuff you won't see any regard for conscience; the word just isn't used!]

PP notes that in the last legislative session, lawmakers in 22 states have introduced 54 bills that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill certain prescriptions, "based on their personal moral or religious objections." [Did you notice the word 'conscience' isn't used?]

The most laughable statement is when PP says some states are giving pharmacists an 'out' by allowing referral of a customer to another pharmacist. PP continues, "But we at Planned Parenthood see a hole in that 'out' a mile wide." Maybe PP will now accept the statement of pro-lifers who observe that the "health of the mother" to justify abortion is a REAL hole that is a mile wide!

The current big push of PP is to pressure Target and Winn-Dixie, to change their policy and force pharmacists to give "emergency contraceptives " [i.e., morning-after abortifacients] to customers. PP claims they have already scored "major victories with pharmacy chains including CVS, Costco, Walgreens, and RiteAid. If they succeed with Target and Winn-Dixie, they then plan to focus on Duane Reade, Giant, and Safeway.

To make things clear, people who oppose abortion shouldn't patronize Walgreens , CVS, Costco, and RiteAid (unless you want to buy ONLY their loss-leaders!). Prolifers also need to encourage other pharmacy chains, especially Target and Winn-Dixie, to resist PP's attempt to force pharmacists to act against their consciences. See my previous post for company contact names, especially read comment #2.

Euthanasia and Non-Personhood

To accept euthanasia (as well as many other moral evils), society must travel through the following phases: puzzlement, indecision, illusion, awakening, awareness, insecurity and anxiety, helplessness, indifference, toleration, loss of previously held convictions, and finally submission to and justification of the new moral order.

Based on U.S. and Nazi experience to date, some of the consequences of denying personhood to individual human beings include:

1. New dehumanizing words are used -- vegetables, lives devoid of value, subhumans, useless eaters, POCs;
2. Usable parts are harvested for organs, fertilizer, leather, soap and cosmetics;
3. “Non-persons” are used as test objects for experiments;
4. Compassion, love and mercy for "non-persons" are discouraged;
5. Bodies of "non-persons" are incinerated with dead dogs and cats, or are buried in mass graves;
6. Killing of "non-persons" becomes sanitized and tolerated;
7. Those who object to the killing of "non-persons" are persecuted by the state and the media.
   

“If the physician presumes to take into consideration in his work whether a life has value or not, the consequences are boundless and the physician becomes the most dangerous man in the state.”--Dr. Christoph Hufeland (1 762-1 836).

Hit from Beijing!

No one from China ever connects to this blog, even though my varied topics seem to get more than a few hits from all over the world through Google. I finally got a hit from Beijing from someone using Chinese Google with the search term "comment on chinese dog policy." Maybe someday the country will be free enough to search for "Jesus Christ", "St. Augustine", "Latin Mass," and "Apostle's Creed." I have hope.

Sacred Objects on Ebay

One of our daughters called me with concern and said altars and other sacred objects were being sold in quantity on ebay.com. I searched ebay using the word "altar" and found a lot of pagan altars (which was scary enough), but I also found a lot of old Church sacred objects for sale. I guess when churches are closed, the scavengers come in to take the good pieces for sale.

Jason's Church Salvage in New Jersey had this beautiful altar, described as "A GREAT CARRERA MARBLE ALTAR. TURN OF THE CENTURY OLD." Jason has lots more at his site--a monstrance, stained glass windows, candelabras, statues, processional crucifix, bronze church altar gates, etc. Most objects are offered at prices in the thousands of dollars.

Another ebay seller is Catholic Heritage that seems to specialize in small artifacts for the Tridentine Mass, including old altar cards and patterns to make a biretta and alb.

Westin Works also sells Catholic religious artifacts such as Bishops pectoral crosses, holy water fonts, icons, rosaries, and a pyx.

The view of religious offerings on ebay.com is not kind to the record of the Catholic Church during the past 40 years. I feel like 'weeping and gnashing my teeth' in a combination of sorrow, anger, and frustration.

The future financial condition of the American Church seems even bleaker than the present because older Catholics, who are currently the largest givers in the Church, are fast approaching death and their replacements are not nearly so generous. Yet this is the only time they will be given to preserve the most important and beautiful religious artifacts that are currently being sold on the web.

Yet which Bishop in the American Church has the foresight and dedication to preserve sacred objects rather than sell them? Or why doesn't the National Council of Catholic Bishops establish a (Vatican-like) museum with the best and most important pieces preserved for history under the name of the Catholic Church? The fees from such a museum would at least keep the operation going.

Frankly, the best option is for current churches to purchase many of these artifacts and USE THEM in sacred service to God. That is what is being done by churches dedicated to the preservation of the old Latin Mass. Fortunately, some special people in our area have acquired a beautiful old marble altar and are installing it in Old St. Patrick's Church, now being renovated in downtown Kansas City. If you're passing through KC, it's only a couple of blocks off I-70 and I-35.

Postscript--January 12, 2007: Coincidentally, the Cornell Society for a Good Time posted a similar column the day before mine and the writer describes meeting 'Jason' of Jason's Church Salvage.

Sightseeing and Praying on a Winter Afternoon

Mother was a little reluctant to go for a drive when I called her this afternoon because she said she was behind in her extensive daily prayers. So I promised her we would say two Chaplets of the Divine Mercy while driving. It is a prayer said with rosary beads, but is shorter than the rosary. The Hail Mary is replaced with "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." You can read more about the Chaplet here.

We drove through the large park where she and my Dad went on dates in the 30's and where they fished a lot after retirement. So far, it's been a mild winter and the many Canadian geese normally on the lake in this season are fewer. Mother wondered if the birds were staying at more northern locations until really cold weather arrives. A sign said that eagles could now be seen on the lake.

The water surface is not frozen but fishing has ended, except for the diving ducks we watched near the dam. Besides us, only a few other cars drove the meandering road around the many coves and hills. Mother saw about six deer and I counted about ten. She commented that the deer seemed skinny (I think some were small, and were likely born this year). She also noted a couple of coves have filled in with a lot of silt so that the water is now shallow.

When she and Dad fished from a small boat, they would troll their lines and try to avoid shallow water with bottom debris that would entangle the lines. One time she and Dad came home with their story of a really large fish. It was the biggest fish Mother had ever hooked and it took about half an hour to bring it close to the boat. Happily, she got to see it just before it got away. The lake is very deep in the area where she hooked the fish, and at the base of a steep hill.

Mother did catch a 20-pound catfish at another lake. Late one summer afternoon, she and Dad drove up our driveway in their pickup truck with the aluminum boat hanging out the back. Dad got the large fish out of the ice chest and Mother proudly showed their young grandchildren the impressive catch of the day!

Mother insisted my family should have the fish because it was big enough to feed all of us. So I fried it, but no one could eat more than a bite. Unfortunately, catfish taste just like what they have been eating on the bottom of the lake. We buried it in the garden where it served as good fertilizer and food for the worms! Mother learned that she should take pictures of her really large fishes in the future, then throw them back in the lake for someone else to catch! However, we urged her to continue giving us the smaller fish that provided our tasty Friday dinners.

How Many Catholics Does a Priest Serve?

Which countries and dioceses have the most and least favorable ratios of priests to Catholics? Here are interesting statistics on the average number of Catholics per priest in various locations around the world.

USA (Statistics from the Official Catholic Directory of 2004)

The U.S. has an estimated 41,794 priests for 64 million Catholics in 2006, resulting in 1,531 Catholics per priest.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas had 157 priests for 191,203 Catholics, or 1,218 Catholics per priest, with 16.0 percent of the population being Catholic.

In the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese, there were 209 priests for 144,483 Catholics, or 691 Catholics per priest--with 10.4 percent of the population being Catholic.

Bishop Bruskewitz had 157 priests for 89,431 Catholics, resulting in 570 Catholics per priest in the Lincoln, Nebraska diocese, with 16.6 percent of the population being Catholic.

Tulsa, Oklahoma had 104 priests for 56,094 Catholics, with a ratio of 539 Catholics per priest, with 3.7 percent of the population being Catholic.

Los Angeles had 1,153 priests for 4,174,304 Catholics, with a ratio of 3,620 Catholics per priest, with 37.6 percent of the population being Catholic.

Boston had 1,529 priests for a Catholic population of 2,077,487, resulting in 1,359 Catholics per priest, with 52.3 percent of the population being Catholic.

PHILIPPINES

The Tagbilaran diocese in the central Philippines has 541,545 people, 95 percent of which are Catholic. Serving its 50 parishes are 171 priests. The ratio in this diocese is 1 priest for every 2,850 Catholics.

CHINA

Twenty priests are reported to serve the 70,000 Catholics of the Diocese of Chifeng, with a ratio of 3,500 Catholics per priest. It is probable that these figures are from the patriotic church, rather than the underground church that acknowledges the primacy of the Pope in Rome.

China Daily, a communist news outlet, noted that there are 5.2 million Chinese Catholics in 2004, with only 1,200 priests, resulting in a ratio of 4,333 Catholics per priest--presumably counting only the patriotic priests.

However, the People Daily said in 2002 there are about 1,500 Catholic priests in the country, who have been trained by the Catholic Church of China, for 3,467 Catholics per priest. So take your choice between the communist China Daily or the communist People Daily.

I tried to find numbers of priests and Catholics in the underground Roman Catholic Church in China, but even the well-respected Cardinal Kung Foundation doesn't seem to have these numbers.

GERMANY

Catholics in the Pope's homeland comprise 33.2% of the country's 82 million people, says a report published by the Vatican press office. Catholics number 27.4 million, with a ratio of
1,456 Catholics to 1 priest.

BRAZIL

There are 180 million people in Brazil, with 61 percent now being Catholic, according to Cardinal Hummes. That calculates to 110 million Catholics in Brazil (a relatively recent loss of at least 10 million members), with 16,598 priests in 2001, for a ratio of 1 priest per 6,615 Catholics.

MEXICO

There were 13,173 priests in Mexico in 2001 for 93.6 million Catholics (89% Catholic population), with 7,105 Catholics per priest.

UGANDA

Uganda's Catholics total 11. 1 million, and the number of Catholic priests is 1,564. The ratio is 7,097 Catholics per priest.

Conclusion: Other places in the world are a lot worse off than we are in the middle of the U.S.

New Catholic Sci-Fi Anthology

Karina and Rob Fabian have produced a new anthology of science fiction stories, an EPPIE Awards Finalist available here. Also see

www.fabianspace.com

http://isigsf.tripod.com

www.freewebs.com/dragoneyepi

I asked Karina some questions about their new anthology of Catholic science-fiction, and appreciated hearing her and Bob's detailed responses.

Q: The title of your Anthology, Infinite Space, Infinite God makes me ask how God, who is infinite, also can create something infinite. I always thought he created only finite worlds and beings (even space), even though these may be multi-dimensional.

Infinite space, infinite numbers, infinite possibilities… Can they really be infinite? When it comes to our limited human perceptions, the answer is, "Yes, of course." But just like in mathematics, there are different infinities.

Thomas Aquinas said that things other than God can be relatively infinite without being essentially infinite, and that when you speak of infinity, you are speaking about the potentiality of an object rather than the form of the object. (Summa Theologica, Question 7: The Infinity of God)

So "Infinite Space, Infinite God," as a title, presents a juxtaposition of infinities--relative vs. essential--and alludes to the incredible potentialities of space. What better image for an anthology of Catholic science fiction?

Q. Why might Catholics want to read and write good science fiction?

First, we wouldn't limit this to Catholics. We recommend good SF to everyone, regardless of religious beliefs.

What we enjoy about science fiction as a genre--and why we think everyone should at least try a few well-written books--is that more than other genres, science fiction makes you think.

In general--again, there are always exceptions--most fiction is interested in evoking an emotion: romances pull at our heartstrings, while adventures like thrillers get our hearts racing. Horror and mystery evoke suspense and fear. Literary, because it's such a wide field, can play to any of our emotions. Also, these genres generally look to the past or present and to individuals or small groups.

Science fiction can and usually does do that, but more than anything, science fiction is a literature of ideas. It asks "what if?" It speculates on current trends. It can look at aspects of our society by removing them from the present (or even from humanity) and putting them in a new environment, where they can be seen more clearly. As such, they evoke thoughts, not just emotions, in a reader. That's why a study in Library Journal (http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA447055.html) said one of the top three reasons people read science fiction is to explore ideas.

That's also why our motto for Infinite Space, Infinite God is "Faith-filled fiction for the thoughtful reader."

Q: Can you categorize stories in your anthology as fantasy, scientific projections, etc.?

None of our stories are fantasy. One of our requirements for the anthology was that the science in the stories must be believable, if farfetched. No fair "reversing the polarity of the warp drive and channeling it through the deflector array"! Having said that, we should note that some of the stories are far into the future or are alternate realities, and do have the elements of fantasy. Craig Loewen's "Canticle of the Wolf" which is a re-written St. Francis and the Wolf story (the wolf is a genetically altered wolf sent back in time), and Craig and Ken Pick's "Mask of the Ferret" which features animal/human hybrids and a psychic artifact from an interdimensional zone yet is a very believable universe) come to mind. Also, there's very little science in "Interstellar Calling," but alien abduction is a classic SF theme.

Several of our stories do project current science theory: Lori Scott's "The Harvest" and J. Sherer's "Understanding" both look at the ramifications of genetically altering human DNA. "Brother Jubal in the Womb of Silence" by Tim Myers, and our own stories "Our Daily Bread" and "These Three" deal with mankind's colonizing the solar system.

Some are a little more advanced--or, you might say, farfetched. "Hopkins' Well" by Adrienne Ray has transporter technology (that's a little more plausible than Star Trek's style). "Hosts of the Envoy" by Alex Lobdell and "Brother John" by Colleen Drippe' involve interstellar travelers, while Colleen's "Far Traveler" uses time travel. Finally, "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" by Maya Bohnhoff postulates a medical procedure that strips away the conscious' justifications and exposes people to the true horror of their wrongdoing.

Some deal more with societal projections rather than the scientific (another SF tradition): "Stabat Mater" deals with the difficult decisions faithful Catholics must make when forced to flee an Earth being destroyed by nuclear war, while "Little Madeleine" looks at a smaller dystopia of the inner city London where crime is so bad, priests need bodyguards.

Q: How is religion is brought into the stories?

It wasn't enough for the anthology to have science fiction with a "Catholic face." We wanted stories that dealt with Catholic faith and issues. So each of these stories had to ask "how does the situation affect the Church or the faith of the Catholic character?"

All of these stories depend on some aspect of Catholicism to make them work. Karina did a spreadsheet of the general aspects of Catholicism and found each story had at least four elements that were integral to the story, and some as many as eleven. Here's just a snapshot:

--In "The Harvest," and "Understanding," the decisions of the Church lead to the conflict in the story.

--In "Hopkins' Well," "Far Traveler," "Interstellar Calling," and "Hosts of the Envoy," the characters are singled out specifically for their Catholic beliefs, which also play a large role in resolving the conflicts of the story.

--"Brother John," "Brother Jubal in the Womb of Silence," and "Little Madeleine" are about religious brothers and sisters living their calling in the future.

--"Our Daily Bread," "Stabat Mater," "Canticle of the Wolf," and "These Three" deal with very Catholic miracles and/or saints.

--"Mask of the Ferret" and "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" rely heavily on Catholic practices to get the protagonist through his crisis.

Q: How do you feel about Catholic sci-fi that deals with the future apostasy, the coming of the anti-Christ, and the prophesied end of the world?

Future apostacy: It's mildly annoying to us to read about an otherwise well-developed world that has no mention of religion or that implies that humans have somehow "outgrown the need for God." Nothing could be farther from the truth. In real life, religion and science influence each other on a daily basis. Mendel, the father of genetics, was a monk, as have been (and are) many of today's scientists. We know of several quantum physicists who have said that the more they delve into quantum mechanics, the more convinced they are that a higher power created the universe. Faith and science nurture each other.

We believe this will continue to be the case in the future. As our knowledge of the universe, from the vastness of the cosmos to the intricacies of our DNA, grows, so will our need for faith. It’s more than a moral compass; our souls will always be with us, and while we may become confused about our beliefs, we will not "outgrow" our need to nourish them with the spiritual food of faith. And our faith in God Almighty gives us security for exploring the cosmos, on a macroscopic and microscopic level.

Does this prevent us from reading non-religious science fiction? Absolutely not.

Apocalyptic fiction: Fiction dealing with the Biblical end of times is really a genre in itself. Even though they deal with the future, they're not really science fiction. They, do however, have their place, and some are very good. We highly recommend Michael O'Brien's Father Elijah: An Apocolypse (Ignatius Press).

Science fiction has often dealt with dystopias and the coming of the end of the world, though this is usually by human hands and not God's. For that, the classic for science fiction and Catholics is Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Miller does a wonderful job of echoing the Church's medieval role as keeper of knowledge in a future world ravaged by nuclear war.

Q: What about Catholic sci-fi that introduces to the Church possible future ethical and moral issues, such as the engineering of 'special' children, or backward event manipulation where both 'sins' and 'good works' can be undone to be redone again?

The first thing to remember is that this is fiction. It's meant to be fun escapism. While we feel it's our responsibility as writers to present stories that are overall positive and life-affirming, that doesn’t mean we can't explore the dangerous, the bizarre, or even the unethical or heretical. There's a difference between exploring and promoting, after all.

The real power of science fiction over any other genre is its ability to take a given situation, change some of the underlying parameters and see where it takes you. It allows you to explore the consequences of actions without the mind balking and protesting, "That could never happen here." As such, it can open the mind to ask "What if?" and with that asking, think about the implications.

Look at Orwell's 1984, for example. How many of us (even those who never read the book) know what is meant by "Big Brother is watching you?" How many have let that book shape our awareness of our own individual freedoms? Is it likely we will have a "Big Brother" government that will rule every aspect of our lives and prescribe happiness pills for those who protest? No. Yet that exaggerated world keeps many of us on our toes for the small infractions on our individual freedoms.

So we hope it will be with Infinite Space, Infinite God. We're hoping the issues brought up in these stories will be talked about and debated--that we've made people a little more aware of the role of Catholicism in our lives. For 2000 years, the Church has been a beacon and a rock in a swirling tide of changing morals. Yet as technology continues to progress (without regard for the Vatican's ethical cautions), Catholics will be challenged to know and live God's will.

We don't expect our stories to bring about changes in doctrine--the Vatican has many far more talented, prayerful and qualified thinkers than we--but if we can open people's minds, bring an increase in awareness, and give reassurance that, yes, there is a place for faith in the future, we have done what we set out to do and more.

dustiam: The phrase "We don't expect our stories to bring about changes in doctrine" in the prior paragraph is confusing. I suspect the Fabians meant don't expect their stories to influence the Church's understanding of doctrine, as may be required by future events, such as genetic technologies and encounters with aliens.

Answers I'm Mostly Ashamed Of

Wolftracker has tagged me with questions initiated by The Curt Jester at the Catholic blog Splendor of Truth. Even though I very rarely participate in such things, I believe there are several good reasons to respond. First, Wolftracker asked me. Second, my answers will show a few of my many weaknesses, which is very good to undermine my pride. Third, the questions address the positive actions we should engage in as Catholics, and provide an excellent incentive to develop New Year's resolutions.

(1) Favorite devotion or prayer to Jesus: There's a small prayerbook that fits in your shirt pocket which was published in 1931 by Fr. F.X. Lasance, Let Us Go to Jesus, and it has been reprinted by The Angelus Press. The prayerbook contains The Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that I learned at Thursday evening novenas in the '40s and '50s. The prayer remains contemporary and asks Jesus to "Be the King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry or of Islamism, and refuse not to draw them all into the light and kingdom of God. " BTW, if you, the reader, want a free copy of the little prayerbook, send your name and mailing address to dustiam@earthlink.net.

(2) Favorite Marian devotion or prayer: The Memorare is probably my favorite. It is certainly the prayer I hope to say at the end of my life. I've even heard it prayed by an actress on a TV police/fire drama when someone had suffered a terrible accident or crime. [That's why it is good for Catholics to become script writers—especially for you, K and E!]

(3) Do you wear a scapular or medal? I wear a 4-way medal in the form of a cross, a cruciform medal. Many years ago, I tried wearing the brown and green scapulars, but they always seemed to get dirty or tangled or the string would tear off. Guess I'm not a very good advertisement for cloth scapulars.

(4) Do you have holy water in your home? Yes, my husband keeps it refilled. Most of the time I pass by without using it. First New Year's Resolution—I will cross myself with holy water at least once a day.

(5) Do you offer up your sufferings? For many years I complained much about the state of the Church and individual churchmen whose actions drove people out of the church and into hell. Then about a year or two ago, I began to place my sufferings in the hands of Mary to distribute, with a request that she especially remember the souls of poor priests in purgatory. Even though many priests I knew were guilty of many serious sins, they did forgive my sins many times during the past 60+ years, and I owe them more than I can repay.

(6) Do you observe First Fridays and First Saturdays? I go to Mass on most First Fridays and First Saturdays, but no longer try to make the required number of sequences. My Mother took us children to the Nine First Fridays and the Five First Saturdays when I was growing up.

(7) Do you go to Eucharistic Adoration? Yes.

How frequently: Less than I should. Second New Year's Resolution—I will pray to Our Lord in the exposed Blessed Sacrament each and every week.

(8) Are you a Saturday night Mass person or Sunday morning? A small book on the AntiChrist was written by the priest, P. Huchede, in 1884. Even though I read the book many, many years ago (it was reprinted by Tan Books in the 1970s), I remember Fr. Huchede saying that the Fathers of the Church believed that one of the signs of the coming of the AntiChrist would be the Mass returning to the Sabbath. Nevertheless, I have weakened a few times in my life (although not recently) and did attend Saturday evening Novus Ordo Masses.

(9) Do you say prayers at mealtime? Yes, most of the time. I remembered to pray with the sign of the cross before eating a delicious new (for me) Spicy Chicken Salad at Taco Bell today. Highly recommended—both the salad bowl and praying before eating, but not in that order.

(10) Favorite saints: Did you just ask my name? Also St. Michael the Archangel and St. Mary Magdalene.

(11) Do you know the Apostles Creed by heart: Yes, my husband and I recite it every night.

(12) Do you usually say short prayers (aspirations) during the course of the day? If you’re asking about indulgenced prayers, not very often, regretfully. I do pray extemporaneously during the day when I see a special need or when I want to give God thanks for favors that come so generously.

(13) When you pass an accident or other serious mishap, do you say a quick prayer for the persons involved? If it looks serious, I do. Otherwise, I’m a fool and simply say he/she shouldn’t have been driving so fast or so carelessly. Third New Year’s resolution: I promise to pray for all accident victims that I see and not make rash judgements.

(14) What public sin do you find most difficult to manage from day to day? Bragging about how good I am, especially doing it indirectly with a touch of snobbery--the worst kind of pride.

Whom do I tag: Nobody. But I do recommend the questions to others to help them make New Year's resolutions that will assist them in becoming better Catholics.

The Future: GOOGLE

Ever since reading the novel 1984 (about 25 years before 1984 actually came), I've been waiting for Big Brother to appear in history. It seems clear that Big Brother is coming closer with ever-expanding and powerful computer networks. As early as 2003 Google-Watch nominated Google for its "Big Brother" award, citing nine serious concerns--especially regarding privacy. Since then Google has advanced in age, talents, and power, as evidenced by reviewing Google's current services.

David A. Vise of The Washington Post is not the only one who wants to know "What Lurks in Its [Google's] Soul?"

Google is compiling a genetic and biological database using the vast power of its search engines; scanning millions of books without traditional regard for copyright laws; tracing online searches to individual Internet users and storing them indefinitely; demanding cell phone numbers in exchange for free e-mail accounts (known as Gmail) as it begins to build the first global cell phone directory; saving Gmails forever on its own servers, making them a tempting target for law enforcement abuse; inserting ads for the first time in e-mails; making hundreds of thousands of cheap personal computers to serve as cogs in powerful global networks.

Earlier this year, The Economist asked an important question and gave an answer:

If Google is a religion, what is its God? It would have to be The Algorithm. Faith in the possibility of an omniscient and omnipotent algorithm appears to be what Messrs Page and Brin have in common. It's 'in their DNA'...

So what is The Algorithm? The basic algorithm was discussed first by Alan Turing, called the "father of Computer Science." Turing was an English mathematician who studied artificial intelligence to determine if a machine could someday achieve consciousness. He developed the "Turing Test" in which a person alternately interrogates a computer and a real person (through teletype machines). If the interrogator cannot tell which is the real person, then it can be concluded the computer has achieved the intelligence and consciousness of a human being. Turing committed suicide in 1954.

The Economist further noted that Google is assembling a massive global computing grid. "'Eventually', says Mr. Saffo, 'they're trying to build the machine that will pass the Turing test'—in other words, an artificial intelligence that can pass as a human in written conversations. Wisely or not, Google wants to be a new sort of deus ex machina."

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998. So who are Larry Page and Sergey Brin? What are their beliefs? Do they have a religion? Larry Page is known to have been influenced by Nikola Tesla, a brilliant Serbian inventor with hundreds of superior patents, yet who died poor in the 1940s. Wikipedia's article notes: "Many of his [Tesla's] achievements have been used, with some controversy, to support various pseudosciences, UFO theories, and New Age occultism."

Earlier this year Page and Brin founded a not-for-profit foundation, Google.org, and appointed Dr. Larry Brilliant as Executive Director to administer Google's philanthropic activities. The mission and strategic goals of Google.org seem somewhat similar to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which is also funded by multi-billionaire Warren Buffet).

Dr. Larry Brilliant will decide the mission objectives of the Google charitable foundation and how to spend a great deal of money provided by Page and Brin to change the world. Wikipedia says Dr. Brilliant lived in India for ten years, first at a Himalayan ashram studying with Neem Karoli Baba (a Hindu sage) from whom he received the name Subramanyum. Later at his guru's insistance he began working as a diplomat for the United Nations to conquer smallpox.

Dr. Brilliant's interview tells us a lot more, including:

I did things that I would never imagine that I could ever do, or would want to do, again. I was part of the American Civil Liberties Union when I was back in Detroit, and here I was in India breaking into people's homes in the middle of the night and forcibly vaccinating them, because they were spreading smallpox to the entire world and there were some places that had become such broadcasters of smallpox that thousands of people were dying because that community would not allow themselves to be vaccinated, even when the law said they had to be vaccinated or they had to go to jail, or they had to be forcibly vaccinated. So, there were a lot of ways that you had to use the whole nature of yourself in service to this amazing historic moment.

The entire interview should be read to see glimpses of how Google and its not-for-profit foundation will change the world. Google's corporate philosophy should also be reviewed, including "Google believes in instant gratification." Even though the motto of Google is "Do no evil," Lord Acton observed: "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Computer Issues

This past week, the computer stopped working and smelled like burnt electronics. Three possibilities were considered--a failed power supply, a broken power-on switch, or a ruined motherboard. The power switch checked out okay, and the power supply seemed the next most likely cause of failure. A new power supply did not help, but I'm glad I replaced the small unit with a larger one. A new motherboard and processor have been ordered and I hope will resolve the problem. In the meantime, I'm trying to use a new notebook with only a touchpad. It works, and that's all I can say for it.

Was Jesus Married?

Mrs. M at the nursing home told me last week she believed Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had twins, a girl and a boy. Her explanation was that every man had urges and needed a woman, including Jesus (indicating even Jesus would have fallen from His sinless nature).

When I responded with Hebrews 4:15, Mrs. M responded that St. Paul was not an authoritative teacher in the Church. Mrs. M also said she believes she is descended from Jesus' seed and that genetically she has the blood of Jesus coursing through her veins because of John 12:24. Apparently, Mrs. M and others converse regularly about such heresies.

I've responded with the following letter (Mrs. M is vigorous in voicing her views but sometimes can't seem to clearly hear responses).

I’ve been thinking a lot about the three items we discussed:

1. Was Jesus married and did He have children?
2. Is St. Paul an authoritative voice in the Bible? (re: Hebrews 4:15)
3. What is meant by John 12:24?

The first question is answered very well in the enclosed article by Dr. Mark Roberts, a Presbyterian minister and blogger. His scholarship seems very close to that of Catholic scholars as well. There is very little, if anything, that I can add to Dr. Roberts’ article, except to discuss Hebrews 4:15 (which also brings up the authority of St. Paul) to show the sinless nature of Jesus--even though He was not free of temptation.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

St. Paul has always been considered as one of the two leaders of the early Church. The Acts of the Apostles makes that fact clear as do many other writings of the early Church Fathers. Even in today’s Protestant churches, all well-respected ministers acknowledge the authority of St. Paul. The only people who challenge St. Paul seem to be on the fringe of apostasy or are actually apostates--because they must reject Paul in order to justify their errors.

The third question relates to the meaning of John 12:24, which is being put into context by including surrounding words:

23Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Verse 23 says Jesus must die and be glorified because His “hour is come.” He says the seed needs to die to produce many seeds, and He adds that the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. This doesn't sound like seed impregnated into the womb of a woman! Rather, Jesus is telling his apostles that he is the seed who must die for other seeds to germinate and live—He is forecasting his own death on Calvary and the beginning of the Church with all its Saints.

With affection,

Apocalypto - Mel Gibson Interview

Kurt Loder of MTV has an interview with Mel Gibson that will be of interest to anyone who has seen the movie, Apocalypto.. It's best to turn off your computer sound and 'pause' the upper left video so you can concentrate on reading the interview.

Paramedic Experiences

I definitely recommend reading an interesting post by a young woman who writes the new blog, Salve Regina. She is a very attractive Canadian who describes her recent 24-hr experiences as a paramedic. It's a good Christmas story.

Weather and Dead Armadillos

If winter is like it was last year, it will be almost 10 degrees above normal. So far, our temperatures have been warmer than usual (50's and 60's for abnormal highs this week) and no really cold spells are anticipated in the near future. We really like to have it very cold in the winter for at least four or five days to kill pests, and that usually does happen.

I keep track of dead armadillos on the highway between Kansas City and Oklahoma. Dead armadillos keep appearing further north and now they seem to have made it north of Lamar, MO. These Central American critters love to travel!

I'm very fortunate to look out our rear window and see deer, squirrels, and many birds. At times, I've even seen a badger on the rocky hill. Usually we see does and fawns, but the apple tree attracted a 10-point buck a few weeks ago. He was definitely larger than the normal deer we see. My husband alternates between enjoying seeing beautiful deer and bemoaning the tiny deer ticks (and potential Lyme disease) that come with a deer population.

It's hard to believe that 30+ years ago there were no deer in our area and now there are so many. In Kansas and Missouri there are 20,000 vehicles accidents involving deer, many that injure and kill people. Deer accidents have happened twice to one of our children, with the second accident following the other within a few months. Major damage to the car on two occasions! The spouse of another child also has hit a deer and totaled the car. God continues to take good care of us, and in all three cases there were no serious injuries.

Our backyard trees and yard host a large number of birds, especially cardinals, bluejays, several different types of woodpeckers, and black and brown birds of various kinds. Even though it is mid-December, a robin was perched high in the tree outside our rear window this morning. Is this another sign of a mild winter?

Snakes have disappeared from our property and I haven't seen one in over 25 years--too many people, I guess. The ones I used to see lived in the strawberries (e.g., garter snakes, blue racers) and once we saw one in a tree (black snake). No poisonous copperheads or rattlesnakes were ever seen, and dangerous water moccasins are not supposed to live this far north--yet!

Phill Kline, The Kansas City Star, and Grocery Ads

My husband complained again about the editorial viewpoints of The Star, usually embedded liberally in the news they print. He said someone (guess who?) should write a letter to the editor of The Star complaining about the Star's treatment of Johnson County's new district attorney, a strong prolifer. Phill Kline, as the current Attorney General of Kansas, is investigating the shenanigans and crimes of abortion providers in Kansas and The Star recognizes and abhors him as a serious enemy of the abortion crowd.

I've decided that a letter to the editor of The Star would tell The Star that my husband was still buying and reading the paper. I mostly stopped reading it some years ago, except for the ads. I've found the best solution to buying the paper is simply to get news over the web, just like a lot of people who read this blog.

For those people who live in KC, the ad brochures carried by The Star are important. There are alternative sources to Weekly Specials because most stores now publish their ads on the web. Here's a list of weekly grocery ads that Kansas Citians may want to want to copy into a new folder under "Favorites", entitled "Grocery Ads":

1. Hen House
2. HyVee
3. Aldi
4. Price Chopper
5. Save-a-Lot
6. Dillon's

Don't forget that Sunday Saver with its weekly sales circulars allows you to enter your state name to link to a comprehensive list of web sites with ads for local grocery, electronic, building supplies, and box stores, and also includes many other weekly ads.

Does God Hate...? (Part II)

My original post of a couple of months ago on whether God hates the devil seems to be found by Google searches quite often, and I've wondered why. I concluded that God hates the devil with perfection, even though this conclusion initially seems contradictory for God to hate a being that he created. The reason God hates the devil is that the devil is a purely spiritual being gifted with free will and permanently chooses to reject God. Thus there is no reason for God's love which always seeks good things for, and union with, the beloved.

There is a continuing debate (or war of wirds!) taking place between The Wanderer Newspaper (George A. Kendall, guest editor) and the New Oxford Review (Dale Vree, editor) on whether God hates the souls condemned to hell-- a somewhat different question than "Does God hate the devil? Kendall argues in the 7 Dec 2006 issue of The Wanderer that he remembers

"the nuns teaching me that God loves the souls in hell....It was not just the nuns who taught that God loves the souls in Hell, but our priests as well. It was one of those taken-for-granted things."

Earlier Kendall stated that God's retraction of love would render a soul into non-existence. He also commented in The Wanderer editorial of 7 Dec 2006 that:

...if, as soon as he is in the state of mortal sin, God begins to hate him, then he will never be given the grace of repentence, because God is not going to give grace to someone He hates.

[Here it appears that Kendall switches subjects and is discussing a changeable man who is still living. Once that man dies, he cannot change his life and so the grace of repentence is not applicable. The teaching of the Church is Mercy in this world; Justice in the Next.]

In response, Dale Vree's arguments are summarized in a letter by Thomas Fayette:

"...if a soul ceased to exist in Hell, that would be the act of love, not eternal punishment....Mortal sin separates us from God, removes us from His Kingdom, and puts us under the godship of Satan. Then we must conclude that God loves Satan or he wouldn't exist either. 'Vengeance is mine..., says the Lord' (Rom. 12:19). Are we supposed to believe that this [vengeance] is an act of love? The opinion that God loves the souls in Hell is simply that, an opinion, and not Catholic teaching as I am aware....If someone chooses to provoke God's anger by choosing to be a member of Satan's kingdom, and is cast into Hell, to what avail is God's love to his soul?

I am most intrigued by George A. Kendall's appearance as a guest editor of The Wanderer, which the New Oxford Review points out has a long policy of not criticizing living Popes. Back in 2002, Kendall seemed to have a slightly different point of view in his The Saint & Dragon web periodical.

Let our bishops and our Holy Father repent their gross negligence and begin taking up arms seriously against the evils which afflict the body of Christ, and we will not hesitate to join them and submit ourselves to them....I would also add that criticizing the Hierarchy or even the Pope is not criticizing the Magisterium....

As to the notion that the Pope should somehow be held blameless in all this, that is obvious nonsense. If the Pope knows what has been going on in his Church during his reign, then he has been grossly negligent in his duties. Otherwise, why hasn’t he rescinded the Novus Ordo liturgy and restored the Old Mass throughout the Church? Why hasn’t he excommunicated grossly heretical and positively evil bishops like Kenneth Untener? Why hasn’t he ordered a cleansing of the seminaries? And so on.

Bad Writing.... Interesting but Scary Ideas?

Chapter 1. The Beta Craft (March 12, 2097)

The 'terminal' was crowded with green and red. No one knew when the BetaCraft would land, so the passengers remained in separate small places of the large room, as if separation would prevent an attack. Each traveler held his goods in his hands to board the craft quickly when it arrived.

It was difficult enough to reach the 'terminal' located on the outskirts of Florence (now Al Karim City), and much more difficult to obtain passage west on the BetaCraft. Very few craft flew these days when many countries and towns were ruled by tribal alliances. People simply did not travel because they could not find reliable transportation.

The BetaCraft silently appeared in the field outside the building now called the ‘terminal.’ Only those ‘in the know’ had been warned beforehand to expect the craft and to provide security by wearing green and red.

One old lady sat on her bag near the window, as if scanning the sky through the dirty glass panes. She remembered a long time ago when terminals had a better appearance and craft were regularly scheduled. She mused that she had had to pay a dowry’s fortune to be able to leave this place—at least 200 times the price of a craft fare in the old days. But it would be worth it if she could be with her son once again.

Passengers were marked with a mottled gray stain on their palms. These ‘tickets’ were able to be 'read' only once, so hands were kept closed around their bags and other possessions. Even though it was said that the ticket stains would last for two days before disappearing in natural sunlight, there would be no shaking of hands.

The passengers were alerted to board the craft by noise from the opened terminal door. Outside a few workmen stood around the BetaCraft and appeared to have finished their work quickly. They stood looking as if expecting at least one of the passengers climbing the old ladder to fall. Yet even the old lady made it up the ladder, with her bag being carried by a young man behind her, and both stepped through the small door.

No one had cleaned the craft. The old lady thought it was a good thing she had visited the stall outside the terminal before boarding. Passengers were counted by a young fellow with a well-shaved head and face. No hair was the preferred style of the Western alliance, while Muslims preferred hair and beards.

When the doors shut, but before all the passengers were seated, the craft moved away from the terminal to make its quick exit upward. The old lady had just pulled the lever that tightened around her when a whoosh was heard and the BetaCraft was airborne. Within a few seconds, it was pulsing along on a course to the southwest.

This was not the first time the old lady had tried to leave the New Mohammedan Empire (NeME). She had once paid over 12,000 gards to a fisherman who said he was able to travel quietly, undersea, if necessary. He said it would be slow but she would be able to reach her far away destination. His boat was old but well serviced and he even showed her a 3-D demo of a descent into the water after three passengers had been loaded. Of course, the demo was faked and she believed the scam. No boat, no undersea travel, and ruefully, no more 12,000 gards.

Not until she had learned that a trip to the west was planned for a special person did she and her friends know about the BetaCraft. It wasn’t totally unheard of that a BetaCraft would land and pick someone up, but it usually meant more money than she could arrange. This time the craft would carry more than 50 passengers in addition to the special passenger, and the shared cost was more reasonable.

All of the 12 women passengers were Mary’s Angels, founded in 2029 to work medical cures for both Muslims and Christians alike. A Mary’s Angel was appreciated not only for the cures but for the quiet and supportive manner in which she did her work. Consequently, trials faced by other non-Muslims were to a large extent not encountered by the neomedical practictioners.

A Mary’s Angel gained her unique skills in a very old way, by being apprenticed to older Mary’s Angels before she gained her ‘halo’ after 12 years of study and practice. The small white metal oval on her coat lapel told everyone that the old lady was a Mary’s Angel, and she had cured many people in the past 40 years. The perfected combination of medical, mental, and spiritual control of illnesses worked well even when the best medications and devices were not able to be obtained.

Few of the passengers talked, except for one older man who spoke animatedly to a companion. At least, the old lady thought it was his companion. A group of younger men in the rear section of the BetaCraft, near the pilot deck, kept their eyes on ‘dangle screens’ suspended in front of their eyes. The small viewing portholes could not be observed by others, and could show scenes of remote friends, books, news events, and the land over which they traveled.

The trip was fast and the BetaCraft prepared for its arrival on the west coast of upper Mexico. Mountains rose out of the Pacific ocean to form the steep land and few available landing spots were apparent. The village bridge stretched across the river that led down from the mountains. The bridge unrolled to become the only straight street in view and stretched up the far hill.

Dingle screens were now in use by all the passengers and they saw people come out from their shacks and houses to observe the BetaCraft pass slowly over the river as if assessing the situation. Then it turned to land gently on the bridge and travel up the straight street to where many young men were standing waving white flags.

The men first off the plane did not answer to the yells of “Papa, Papa.” Next down the ladder was a slight figure with a long brown robe. The shouts became greater as the Pope arrived for a hoped for temporary residence in the Western Alliance. The old lady watched the Pope wave to the crowd, and she decided to stay on the craft and watch the events.

The men attending the Pope were urged by the welcoming party to quickly move to an old bus that stood on a side street. Suddenly a flamegun was shot from the opposite side of the river. The warning was not ignored by the Pope’s attendants, but by then the welcoming party had turned sour. The fight was over quickly as people emerged from open windows and shouted, “Allah, Allah, Allah has conquered again!”

The old lady on the plane observed the unwelcome scene and brought her lips close to the oval ring. She whispered, “He’s in the wrong hands; we’ve been betrayed again.”

Chapter 2. Papal Rehistory (March 12, 2097)

The voice was undeniably his mother, and Noah Perez Amini knew they must move rapidly. Skip the intial simulation task and move to the next procedure to upload the data on current events to the Gorge of Alladin, at least that’s what they called the quantum computer discovered in a vault in Moscow in 2089 and now protected from unauthorized access by physical, radiological, chemical, and biological barriers.

The Gorge of Alladin was programmed in 2032 using Shor’s quantum factoring algorithm. Even computers in 2097 had not significantly advanced over the 2032 model. Consequently, many copies had been made of the 2089 computer discovery. The old quantum computer remained in its protected original environment, because it served to back-up history. Since 2095, its purpose was to record current history in the 2032 memory of the computer. Thus, the record of future history was documented in 2032, even though a rehistory event later changed history.

Noah looked at his oval ring again and knew the Papal capture must be undone. First, back up the most recent three days of history for documentation purposes, and then let history repeat itself—but this time with a successful escape of the Pope from Al Karim City and the New Mohammedan Empire to the Western Allliance. The Pope needed a voice again.