Crannóggy Island

It's time to have a discussion on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This article by 'the Prof' is a helpful starter. We're witnessing a tragic loss of life, both civilian and military, taking place. Opinion is divided on responsibility and satisfactory outcomes. It has multiple interlinked causes (territorial expansion/defensiveness, religious hegemony, cultural division, corrupt politicians, Western interference) and, one prays, it will reach a conclusion soon. Post by Clive  (aka  Prof Generaliter) The more I read about the war in Ukraine, the more struck I am by the similarities, both political and military with WW1. There were many reasons why the Great War happened, one of the main reasons was how a newly united and dynamic Germany, felt it wasn't being treated as an equal by the other "Great" powers, especially Britain. It felt, and the Kaiser felt, that Britain failed to give Germany the respect its military triumphs and rapid industrialization dese...

It's been reported that Nancy Pelosi has expressed hope that one day the Catholic Church would permit women priests, saying the ability to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ is " real power ." Speaking at an event at Georgetown University, she made the comments during a conversation with Rev. Jim Wallis, the director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice. "Every day [priests] have the power … of turning bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, that is real power , now we’re talking power , and that’s why I was more attracted to that than being a nun. On the other hand, maybe women will be able to do that as well, that’s something to think about, something I was hoping the pope would do.” The priesthood is not about "power" , Nancy! Last April, with some 1,800 priests renewing the promises made at their ordinations, Pope Francis had this to say on the priesthood: "Being priests, dear brothers,...

  In his address address to the Conference of European Churches, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople strongly criticises a “’new ecumenism” that champions “traditionalistic values.” “Some American evangelical Christians, who had previously considered Catholic and Orthodox Christians as pagans worshipping idols, now appear willing to work with certain Catholic and Orthodox Christians in order to support these values, This ‘new ecumenism’ has even gone so far as to anoint President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation as its political champion, and Patriarch Kirill of the Orthodox Church of Russia as its spiritual leader. “We see the consequences of this divisive and destructive mentality on full display in Russia’s current brutal attack against Ukraine as well as in its church’s justification for this war as the salvation of Ukraine from the alleged seduction of a godless, secular, and liberal West, Unfortunately, this ‘new ecumenism’ is essentially un-ecumenical,...

 

“Love for his wife as mother of their children and love for the children themselves are for the man the natural way of understanding and fulfilling his own fatherhood…efforts must be made to restore socially the conviction that the place and task of the father in and for the family is of unique and irreplaceable importance.” ( St. John Paul II; Familiaris Consortio) (God himself ) "willed to manifest and describe himself as Father…Human fatherhood gives us an anticipation of what He is. But when this fatherhood does not exist, when it is experienced only as a biological phenomenon, without its human and spiritual dimension, all statements about God the Father are empty. The crisis of fatherhood we are living today is an element, perhaps the most important, threatening man in his humanity. The dissolution of fatherhood and motherhood is linked to the dissolution of our being sons and daughters.” (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) “Christ tells his married followers that they are to rev...

Edited 16th June  A woman who took abortion pills beyond the 24-week statutory limit, killing her child, who at 32-34 weeks gestation was fully viable, has been jailed for 14 months. This has sparked expressions of "outrage" from woman's groups, certain politicians and health care professionals. It has triggered calls for the decriminalisation of abortion in England and Wales.  Yet the churches have said little or nothing, leaving the narrative to be controlled by the abortion lobby who are peddling lies and deflecting from the real cause of this tragedy - the reckless supply of abortion pills by phone - and are using this tragic death of a child and the imprisonment of her traumatised mother, to push for the decriminalisation of abortion, i.e., de facto full-term abortions.  The Facts Carla Foster, a 44-year-old mother-of-three, pleaded guilty to the offence of administering poison with intent to procure a miscarriage under section 58 of the Offences against the Person A...

St. Thomas Aquinas:  “The Eucharist is the sacrament of love: It signifies love, it produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.” St. Euphrasia:  “To speak of the Blessed Sacrament is to speak of what is most sacred. How often, when we are in a state of distress, those to whom we look for help leave us; or what is worse, add to our affliction by heaping fresh troubles upon us. He is ever there, waiting to help us.” St. Francis de Sales:  “When the bee has gathered the dew of heaven and the earth’s sweetest nectar from the flowers, it turns it into honey, then hastens to its hive. In the same way, the priest, having taken from the altar the Son of God (who is as the dew from heaven and true son of Mary, flower of our humanity), gives him to you as delicious food.” St. John Chrysostom:  “It is not the man who is responsible for the offerings as they become Christ’s Body and Blood; it is Christ himself who was crucified for us. The...

As posted previously,  Man Utd are the only team in England who have completed the treble of Premier League Champions, FA Cup winners and Champion's League winners. City, having won the Premiership and the FA Cup, are on the brink of matching Utd's crowning glory.  This must not happen! Stopping this is a long shot and depends on the Italians. Needs must. HJ is an Inter Milan fan - just for today. Pazza Inter amala! È una gioia infinita che dura una vita Pazza Inter Amala!!! Pazza Inter Amala!! Amala!

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes."   "Satan’s loopholes." What is Moral Proportionalism/Consequentialism? Proportionalism/Consequentialism is umbrella term that groups together several approaches to moral theology that broadly share certain beliefs about human nature and the moral life. Each is a version of an “ends justify the means” approach to moral problem solving. Proportionalism offers the possibility of engaging in a moral calculus of values which, presupposing a good intention or sufficiently weighty reason in the moral actor, could potentially validate any action – even those which Sacred Scripture and Christian perennial moral teaching have held to be intrinsically evil. Proportionalists distinguish between what they call formal norms and material norms. A formal moral norm would be that "adultery is wrong!" This, they say, is a truly exceptionless norm; it is, after all, Divine Revelation. This they say no one questions because no one can. If one...