HeadlineBistro

'Prayers work -- now I'm a Lakers fan'

Now this is fun:

Gracing the Los Angeles Lakers' court during morning practice yesterday were Archbishop José Gomez and his friend, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima, Peru. Whispers in the Loggia has the scoop, reporting that Cardinal Cipriani's basketball roots go back to his six years on the Peruvian national team before he entered seminary. As for the City of Angel's new archbishop, the San Antonio transplant admitted that he's had to change loyalties from the Spurs to the Lakers.

People have praying for his conversion in that regard, Archbishop Gomez told an interviewer from the Los Angeles Times after the morning practice session. "And you know, prayers work," he said with a smile. "Now I'm a Lakers fan."

"I'm also praying for the Spurs," he confessed, when discussing the coming NBA championships. "But a sign from God is that the Lakers are playing much better."

-- Elizabeth Hansen

Arizona Governor Signs Major Pro-Life Legislation

Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona has signed into law a bill that makes her state the first in the nation to ban abortions based on the race or gender of the unborn child. While the abortion lobby will no doubt attack her stance as backward and an attack on women’s rights, , Brewer’s bold move is a sign of hope that our nation is beginning to recognize the racism and gender bias that are a very real part of the abortion industry.

The new Arizona statute makes it a Class 3 felony -- carrying a jail sentence of up to seven years -- for doctors to perform sex- or race-selective abortions. However, the women having such abortions would not be penalized.

Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, told the Arizona Republic that he pushed the legislation because of fears that women would choose to abort over due to their child’s race or gender.  Rep. Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix, accused Montenegro and other supporters of the bill of offering little proof that such a practice would occur in the state. She claimed the only evidence presented was “a magazine article on such practices in China and India.”

Rep. Hobbs needs a rather sobering history lesson emphasizing some frightening evidence:

• Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, was a leader of the eugenics movement in the United States. She advocated abortions on African-Americans in order to eliminate what she called "socially undesirable people".

• More than 13 million African-American babies have been aborted since Roe v. Wade. That is five times the number of those who died from heart disease, the next greatest killer of African-Americans. 

• Looking at data from the 2000 U.S Census, researchers noticed a strange phenomenon: The U.S.-born children of Chinese, Korean, and Asian Indian parents tended to be male. The researchers, Douglas Almond and Lena Edlund, called this "son-biased sex ratios." Similar sex imbalances have also been documented among Canada’s Asian immigrant communities.

Racism and sexism are the evil step-sisters of abortion. By recognizing that link, and criminalizing it, Governor Brewer has furthered the cause for life.

--David Naglieri

'The Christian heroes of Fukushima'

Fides reports that several Christians are among the 180 anonymous Japanese volunteer workers now carrying out emergency operations in the Fukushima nuclear plant -- and in doing so, are risking their health and lives to help stem rising radiation levels.

“In the midst of this tragedy we are experiencing and which is creating serious concern for all,” said Bishop Martin Tetsuo Hiraga of Sendai, “we know that some Christians are working as volunteers near the plant. In this terrible situation, the Japanese Christians have a great opportunity to give witness to their faith and Gospel values. They are doing it in solidarity and dedication to others, in a spirit of self-denial. In Fukushima workers are risking their lives to save the Japanese people and prevent nuclear catastrophe.”

According to Fides' sources, one of the Christian workers is the leader of the team that manages operations at the plant. So far, three of the workers have been hospitalized due to radiation contamination.

-- Elizabeth Hansen
 

'The hymn is my nightmare'

So says Yago de la Cierva, executive director of World Youth Day 2011, in a CNS article on preparations for the event in Madrid this August -- which is expected to draw more than a million participants from around the world.

Apparently, this year's official WYD hymn (which can be listened to on YouTube) drew an overwhelmingly negative response.

"It's very beautiful for the type of music it is, but maybe we made a mistake" with the genre, de la Cierva candidly admitted to CNS. "The hymn was written to help people pray before the Eucharist. Maybe that's not what people wanted -- well, obviously, that's not what people wanted."

That said, WYD organizers are now hosting a "Tuned into Madrid" song contest for aspiring musicians whose entries, if selected, will be played at events during the week.

"Nightmare" hymn or not, though, from the looks of this lipdub video from the Madrid headquarters, energy and enthusiasm are anything but lacking with the WYD planning team!

-- Elizabeth Hansen

and you thought the gender-neutral Bibles were controversial...

From First Things:

PETA Wants New Bible Translation to Personalize Animals

-- Elizabeth Hansen

A different twist on the 14th amendment...

From the New York Times:

SAN GABRIEL, Calif. — The building inspectors and police officers walked into the small row of connected town houses here knowing something was amiss. Neighbors had complained about noise and a lot of pregnant women coming and going. And when they went into a kitchen they saw a row of clear bassinets holding several infants, with a woman acting as a nurse hovering over them.

While a certain crowd in the United States advocates for stricter immigration laws and the repeal of the 14th amendment -- granting automatic citizenship to those born on American soil -- it turns out that poor immigrants from south of the border aren't the only ones seeking a better life and American passport for their children. In the California case described above, officials say the San Gabriel maternity house is only one example of the "maternity tourism" phenomenom attracting Chinese mothers who wish to give birth in the United States.

An article in the Washington Post last summer described the type of parents who would be willing to spend thousands of dollars for a three-month stint in America -- two months prior to their babies' birth, and one month post-partum. They're well off, obviously. (One blog post I found quoted a woman from Shanghai who claimed to have spent upwards of $30,000 in order to give birth in America). They have their eye on free American public education and a less cut-throat university admissions process than that in China (where, according to the Post, 10 million students were competing for 6.6 million university slots in 2010).

And some of them, at least, are skirting China's one-child policy.

Just last week, China Daily ran a story on the surge of "health tourists" from mainland China into Hong Kong, including pregnant women.

"The one child policy is the main reason why mainland women choose to give birth in Hong Kong," said one doctor quoted in the article.

I'm reminded of Chen Guangcheng, China's blind human rights activist currently under house arrest for his outspoken opposition to government-sanctioned forced abortions and sterilizations. It's too bad the women he gives voice to most likely lack the means to jet out to California and come home with a baby clutching an American passport.

-- Elizabeth Hansen 

Adjusting the Adjustment Bureau

“It’s one of the most explicitly theological films of the last 25 years. Unfortunately, it proposes an extraordinarily bad theology,” writes Father Robert Barron of The Adjustment Bureau in his review for America.

If you're unfamiliar with it, the plot of the film is centered around the struggle between divinely imposed fate and individual human freedom. The movie tells the story of an up-and-coming young American politician (David) who meets a dancer he falls instantaneously in love with (Elise). David’s life, like everyone else’s in the world, is ‘controlled from above’ by a shadowy figure known only as the Chairman. David’s relationship with Elise counters the Chairman’s plan for them in such a way that angel-like figures are sent to intervene and ‘adjust’ the direction of their lives in order to keep them apart. At this point, David must decide if and how to resist the Chairman’s plan.

Here’s an excerpt from Father Barron’s review:

Freedom and fate, we tell ourselves, are mutually exclusive… In the modern telling, evident in the writing of thinkers from William of Ockham to Jean-Paul Sartre, God’s supremacy looms over against a self-assertive human freedom. The two wills—human and divine—are locked in a desperate zero-sum game, in which the more the divine will advances, the further the human will has to retreat. That is “the plan”—overwhelming, powerful, strictly enforced—against scrappy, determined human liberty.

None of this, however, has anything to do with classical Christian theology. One of the most basic truths that flows from the Incarnation is that divinity and humanity are not competitors. Jesus is not somehow less human because he is also divine. On the contrary, his divinity raises, perfects and enhances his humanity. Therefore God’s freedom does not suppress human freedom but rather enables and awakens it. Liberty is not repugnant to the plan; it is an ingredient in it.

Read more here.

Michèle Nuzzo-Naglieri

Rounding up the 'Courtyard of the Gentiles'

There doesn't seem to have been much press coverage of last weekend's Courtyard of the Gentiles event in Paris (even among Catholic media), but here are some links of note:

• On Zenit, the full text of Pope Benedict XVI's video address to young adults gathered in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Addressing the youthful hopes, fears and dreams of believers and non-believers alike, the pope urged those gathered to seek each other out in honest dialogue and a willingness to learn from one another. The following section captures the theme of his message:

Dear friends, you are challenged to build bridges between one another. Take advantage of this opportunity to discover, deep within your hearts and with serious arguments, the ways which lead to profound dialogue. You have so much to say to one another! Do not turn away from the challenges and issues before you!

He also offered a compelling reflection on religion's place in society -- even the birthplace of the secular Enlightenment: "Religions have nothing to fear from a just secularity, one that is open and allows individuals to live in accordance with what they believe in their own consciences," Pope Benedict said. "If we are to build a world of liberty, equality and fraternity, then believers and nonbelievers must feel free to be just that, equal in their right to live as individuals and in community in accord with their convictions; and fraternal in their relations with one another."

• Reuters notes that the talks and panels scattered around the city -- headlined by "eminent French thinkers, making the sessions feel more like a post-graduate philosophy seminar than a public debate likely to influence a wider public" -- were either invitation-only or garnered only a couple hundred attendees. (A photo from Vatican Radio, though, suggests a substantial turnout at the culminating youth event in front of Notre Dame).
• Jack Valero, founder of Britain's media-savvy Catholic Voices, shares his thoughts on a fascinating series of dialogues between his group and members of the Central London Humanist Association, in which participants strove to civilly discuss issues from abortion to AIDS to morality without God. The most vehement opponent to any such conversation, it turns out, was the National Secular Society.
• Finally, John Allen offers an in-depth backgrounder on the personalities behind the Courtyard of the Gentiles initiative and says the project should be a source of Catholic pride.

-- Elizabeth Hansen

Is Gandhi in Hell? Evangelical Author Sparks Controversy

An explosive debate over hell, eternal damnation and the nature of God is currently raging among evangelical Christians. The controversy was triggered by Pastor Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins: “A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived,” wherein the prominent megachurch leader posits that not everyone who fails to accept Christ will necessarily go to hell. This view has led many evangelicals to denounce Bell as a “universalist” who has rejected Christian orthodoxy. The media firestorm (helped out in part by this video promoting Bell’s book) left me wondering:  Where does the Catholic Church stand on this age old debate over hell and salvation for those outside the Church?

An insightful Catholic News Agency article attempts to answer that question.  The CNA piece points out that Bell’s views are not entirely incompatible with Catholic teaching. For example, his contention that nonbelievers might attain salvation through an unconscious relationship with Christ is accepted by the Catholic Church in cases where an individual has never heard the Gospel.

And there is another source of agreement between Pastor Bell and the Catholic Faith. Pope John Paul II famously stated that the Church must remain silent on the question of whether or not any particular individual is in hell (Yes, the Church will not acknowledge that Hitler, or any other evil historical figure, faces eternal damnation).  The Church rejects the idea, common among other Christian denominations, that nonbelievers are automatically damned to hell. This is the teaching which caused Bell much spiritual distress and led him to write his hotly debated book.

It appears that in some cases God’s mercy may exceed our human understanding, allowing those unfamiliar with the Gospel to discover eternal life through Christ. However, this truth must be balanced with an understanding of the real potential for humanity to reject God. This cannot be ignored in an effort to make Christianity more palatable to the masses. 

For a better understanding of this debate, and to learn where the Catholic point of view differs from Bell's book, be sure to read the full article. 

--David Naglieri

Remember Egypt?

Between military developments in Libya and efforts in Japan to avert a nuclear crisis, much of our attention has been distracted from Egypt, even as citizens lined up last week for a groundbreaking vote on changes to the country's constitution.

Sandro Magister expresses skepticism over the future of Egypt's Christians -- despite the hopeful images we saw earlier this year of Muslims and Christians protesting side by side in Cairo:

In effect, the democratic reawakening that had been glimpsed between January and February in Tahrir Square in Cairo, with Muslims and Coptic Christians standing together, is today more a memory than a reality.

The truce that had followed the bloody Christmas in Alexandria has, in fact, given way in this month of March to a resumption of the Islamist aggression against the Copts and their churches.

And now, the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in the constitutional referendum has put the definitive seal on article 2, which identifies Islamic sharia as the main source of legislation, including for the future Egypt. A very harsh blow – "Avvenire" commented – for the Christian population of Egypt, for which "the reform of the constitution has always represented a question of life or death."

In fact, Reuters reported that many Egyptain Christians voted "no" on the referendum, fearing it would open the door to rise in Islamic extremism.

“I fear the Islamists because they speak in civil slogans that have a religious context, like when one said he believed in a civil Egypt but at the same time no woman or Copt should run for president,” a Coptic doctor told Reuters.

Ahram Online, an English-language Egyptian news service, has an informative article on the referendum's controversial Article 2, which states that "Islam is the religion of the State, Arabic is its official language, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).”

On why the change in power -- albeit democratically -- may be foreboding to Egypt's already beleagured Christian community:

The imposition of Article 2 on the debate was for the most part the handiwork of the Salafist movement, which proliferated and grew in influence within Egypt during the last years of Mubarak's rule, receiving considerable support and sustenance from state bodies, particularly the infamous State Security Service, according to experts on the Islamist movement. The Salafi movement, according to experts, was an answer to the Mubarak regime's prayers. The Salafi doctrine prohibits any political opposition to a Muslim ruler, and thereby provided the Mubarak regime with an excellent Islamist alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood, which that regime considered the most potent threat to its continued sway.

On the other hand, Salafists hold with one of the most strict and literalist interpretations of Islamic doctrine; they advocate the full veil, and have been largely responsible for its spreading during the past few years; Salafi men are for the most part bearded, and dress in Galabyias or Afghani-style shirts. More serious, however, is the open hostility with which Salafists hold non-Muslims, particularly Egypt's large Coptic community, estimated at some 10 million. This latter feature of Egyptian Salafism is said to have been supported and promoted by the State Security Service, which used anti-Coptic incitement both as an ideal instrument of distraction, as well as to keep the increasingly restive Coptic community in line.

Salafists were among the fiercest advocates of the "Yes" vote, declaring it a religious duty for all Muslims, portraying the "No" campaigners as Christian and secularist "enemies of Islam".

Read more.

-- Elizabeth Hansen