The USCCB has a very informative website dedicated to the Pope’s upcoming visit to the United States (he arrives on Tuesday night, at Andrews Air Force base). This is the link for his itinerary. The itinerary is surprisingly detailed (at least I thought so); details like “The Pope kneels before a pool of water and candle, offering a silent prayer” (in connection with his visit to Ground Zero) are included. (That one struck me as a little too detailed, which is partly why I used it as an example.)

There will, of course, be one interreligious gathering and one ecumenical prayer service while the Pope is here. Now the visit’s “theme” or “title” is “CHRIST OUR HOPE”. But what is the theme or title for the interreligious meeting next Thursday? “PEACE OUR HOPE”. So who’s it gonna be, Christ or Peace? This kind of thing disgusts me. It’s the message of freemasonry: believe what you will in your own homes, but when you come out into public, remember that our ultimate goal is peace; peace is at the top of the pyramid, not Christ.

Here’s the description of the event - no surprise that it’s taking place at the John Paul II Cultural Center, is it? :)

6:30 p.m. - Interreligious Gathering at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center
The Pope will meet with representatives of other religions on the theme “Peace Our Hope.” Construction on the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center began in 1997 on 12 acres adjacent to the Catholic University of America. Since its dedication in 2000, the Center has been the site of many interreligious discussions and events.
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Another reason to love World Youth Day:

Islamic leaders in Australia may encourage participation in the 2008 World Youth Day celebration, in exchange for a promise from Catholic leaders that there will be no effort to convert young people of other faiths, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

This summary is from CWNews - in the SMH’s own words:

The Catholic Church has given a commitment that it will not try to convert members of other religious denominations taking part in inter-faith forums and volunteering facilities.

The headline of the article speaks of a “truce”, presumably between Muslims and Catholics. I guess that for World Youth Day we’re allowed to abandon the call to preach the Gospel to all nations. Does that seem a little bit ironic to anyone else?

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There has been talk recently of a distinction between “tradition” and “traditionalism.” This includes a critique of what some view as non-essential religious, cultural, political, and social positions (baggage?) often associated with Catholic traditionalism. Andrew of the Holy Whapping has proposed alternative models for traditionalism: “To sloganize the idea, think Latin Mass with an Ignatius Press reading list, perhaps. But of course, that’s a very simplistic example.”

This proposal led me to ask, “What are some positions generally associated with Catholic traditionalism, other than devotion to the Latin Mass and traditional liturgy in general, a critical attitude toward ecumenism, and a critical attitude toward the reforms (at least in their implementation) of the Second Vatican Council?” I regard these three as pretty much the defining characteristics of traditionalism, though perhaps not the only ones.

The rest of this post will be a list, not necessarily in any particular order, of other positions/attitudes often held by Catholic traditionalists. Continue reading

This note is intended for the exclusive delectation of those of us here at Cornell (or once here), who know of Sage Chapel and its non-sectarian Sunday morning services. Of course, it may bring a smile to the faces of others as well. The name “non-sectarian” is deceiving: trust me, this group is one very special bunch of loonies with their own ideology. I can’t imagine that Sage Chapel has a regular Sunday morning “congregation”; rather, I suppose that the size of the gathered “faithful” varies with the hipness of the person leading the “meditation”, i.e. sermon. On that note, I should also point out that this Sunday - in case any of you were interested - is the “special annual jazz service”; the “Postlude”, so-called, is “Take the A Train” by Duke Ellington. I think that they would be better off with some of Mozart’s compositions for the Masons, which I am enjoying listening to as I type this post. It’s kinda jazzy in its way.
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