Is the Vatican about to put a stop to the ordination of gay men to the priesthood? Possibly, if the following report is true.

The new Pope faces his first controversy over the direction of the Catholic church after it was revealed that the Vatican has drawn up a religious instruction preventing gay men from being priests.

The controversial document, produced by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries, the body overseeing the church's training of the priesthood, is being scrutinised by Benedict XVI.

It been suggested Rome would publish the instruction earlier this month, but it dropped the plan out of concern that such a move might tarnish his visit to his home city of Cologne last week.

The document expresses the church's belief that gay men should no longer be allowed to enter seminaries to study for the priesthood. Currently, as all priests take a vow of celibacy, their sexual orientation has not been considered a pressing concern.

Now it is believed that Pope Benedict has reservations about the document. He should. My experience as a seminarian a decade ago was that at least 20% of my classmates were homosexuals, and probably more. Now I see that as a problem – but one of heterosexual men failing to respond to a call to priesthood rather than one of an overabundance of homosexuals. My experience is that many, if not most, of my gay classmates had excellent pastoral skills and are likely excellent priests today. I presume that they are faithful in their adherence to the requirement of celibacy, based upon conversations we had regarding the struggle to be chaste in contemporary society.

I find the reason given for the prohibition particularly troubling.

The instruction tries to dampen down the controversy by eschewing a moral line, arguing instead that the presence of homosexuals in seminaries is 'unfair' to both gay and heterosexual priests by subjecting the former to temptation.

'It will be written in a very pastoral mode,' Haldane said. 'It will not be an attack on the gay lifestyle. It will not say "homosexuality is immoral". But it will suggest that admitting gay men into the priesthood places a burden both on those who are homosexual and those they are working alongside who are not.'

The reasoning here does not work. The struggle to remain chaste is a part of every Christian life, and so to make the argument about “temptation” is specious. And to argue that the presence of homosexuals is a problem for heterosexuals is just plain wrong-headed, and not from a politically correct point of view. Christians are called to minister to all – sometimes especially to those who make us uncomfortable. The sort of rejection that this proposed document calls for is simply wrong.

Now some may be surprised to read these words on my site. After all, I have been most forthright in dealing with issues of homosexuality and holding firm for traditional Christian teachings regarding human sexuality. But there is simply no legitimate theological or pastoral reason for such a restriction on ordination, provided the man in question is truly committed to and properly formed in the discipline of celibacy in a spirit of Christian chastity.

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Was it an anti-Semitic hate crime? No one wants to say so, but what else do you call swastikas burned into the lawn along with obscenities and slurs about fascism?

Vandals burned swastikas and obscenities into the lawn of a Jewish family, splattering windows with eggs and fouling the front porch of their home.
Two swastikas were spray-painted in the road in front of Ginger Ragans' two-story home Sunday and a third was etched onto her lawn, along with the word "Fascist" and an obscenity scrawled in the grass. Her trees were draped with toilet paper and someone had urinated and defecated on the porch.

Gwinnett County police are investigating the vandalism in the town northeast of Atlanta and are uncertain whether to classify it as a hate crime, spokesman Darren Moloney said.

Ragans, 36, who has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years, said the incident likely was the work of neighborhood teens retaliating against her for her work as a neighborhood liaison for a community watchdog program.

In a recent edition of the community's newsletter, she mentioned that cameras had caught groups of teens hanging around the tennis courts long after the county's midnight curfew.

Now let’s be honest here. If this had been an attack against the home of a black community activist that included a burning cross and the word “nigger”, it would be quickly labeled as racist – and rightly so. The choice of slurs and symbols here are obviously motivated by the Jewish heritage of the victims. In my book, that is a hate crime – even if the trigger was the involvement in the community watch program.

And the fact that there is any hesitation in labeling this as anti-Semitism is proof of a bigger problem with anti-Semitism than anyone wants to admit.

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With special dispensation from the Pope, a Spanish bishop has ordained its first married priest.

A Roman Catholic bishop on the Spanish island of Tenerife has ordained a man as a Catholic priest despite the fact that he is married with two children.

The 64-year-old former Anglican pastor, David Gliwitzki, was ordained in La Laguna on the Canary Island.

The Bishop of Tenerife said the move was a unique exception within the Spanish Church.

According to Church rules, priests are supposed to be celibate. But the ordination was approved by the Pope.

This is not a new practice – Pope John Paul II permitted the ordination of Anglican clergy during his pontificate. But it highlights again that celibacy is not an intrinsic part of the priesthood, and is simply a part of man-made rules. In this day of declining numbers of priests, might the time have arrived to allow the ordination of married Catholic men?

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With special dispensation from the Pope, a Spanish bishop has ordained its first married priest.

A Roman Catholic bishop on the Spanish island of Tenerife has ordained a man as a Catholic priest despite the fact that he is married with two children.

The 64-year-old former Anglican pastor, David Gliwitzki, was ordained in La Laguna on the Canary Island.

The Bishop of Tenerife said the move was a unique exception within the Spanish Church.

According to Church rules, priests are supposed to be celibate. But the ordination was approved by the Pope.

This is not a new practice – Pope John Paul II permitted the ordination of Anglican clergy during his pontificate. But it highlights again that celibacy is not an intrinsic part of the priesthood, and is simply a part of man-made rules. In this day of declining numbers of priests, might the time have arrived to allow the ordination of married Catholic men?

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There is a big dispute going on in the state of North Carolina over the use of the Koran for the taking of oaths in state courts.

Traditionally, witnesses taking the stand in court are sworn in by placing their hand on the Bible.

But when Muslims in Guilford County, N.C., tried to donate copies of the Koran for courtroom use, judges turned them down.

Chief District Court Judge Joseph Turner says taking an oath on the Koran is not allowed by North Carolina state law, which specifies that witnesses shall place their hands on the “holy scriptures,” which he interprets as the Christian Bible.

“We’ve been doing it that way for 200 years,” he said. “Until the legislature changes that law, I believe I have to do what I’ve been told to do in the statutes.”

But the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Civil Liberties Union are challenging the Guilford County Courts.

“This was the first time that we had a judge … going on record and stating unilaterally what is a holy scripture and what is not — what we believe to be a violation of the establishment clause,” said Arsalan Iftikhar of CAIR.

Fine, use it, though many of us consider the Koran to be (at most) one step above Satanic. But don’t expect it to receive any extra reverence in the courthouse – so when the menstruating female bailiff wearing a Star of David who just ate a BLT carries it in her bare hands for you to use, don’t go all jihadi on us.

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I admire these young people, both for their faith and their patriotism. I've got a number of students who are at World Youth Day (along with one of my colleagues, who runs her parish youth group), and I hope they are following this example.

After nearly a week of being very low-key about their nationality, a group of young Catholics from the South Hills began flying the stars and stripes yesterday.

While Pope Benedict XVI visited a synagogue in a city flooded with pilgrims who have come to see him, the teens and young adults from St. Bernard in Mt. Lebanon and Our Lady of Grace in Scott visited churches. They also acquired a large American flag to march behind today as they hike to the field where they will camp overnight before Benedict celebrates Mass there tomorrow.

All pilgrims from the United States had been warned not to display their flag because it might make them targets of political hatred. Many carried state flags -- the bear of California was everywhere. The South Hills group had carried a Steelers pennant to help them find each other in crowds where they could easily become separated.

But all week they had seen thousands of people from lands as diverse as Tahiti and Sweden proudly displaying their national colors. They had spotted a few American groups also flying large flags, with no apparent ill effects.

In a gift shop that carried flags from many nations, chaperone Zack Rosser, 22, purchased a large flag on a long pole to carry before them. And Lauren Witter, 17, of Dormont, bought an even larger flag that she literally wrapped herself in.

Youth group leader Jessica Fabus, 22, decided to accept the flag because they needed a larger banner as a sign to follow in today's hike. And she had also decided they were not ashamed to be American.

"We realized that the world problems don't matter here. We're all here because of what we have in common. You should show your colors and be happy to meet everyone, no matter where they're from," she said.

May God bless all those at this years event -- especially thoses from my school. May they be proud of their faith, and of the land of their birth.

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Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has suffered a mild stroke.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., saw a doctor after feeling light-headed Tuesday and learned he'd suffered a mild stroke, aides said Friday.

"Senator Reid feels fine. There are no complications or any restrictions on his activities. He has undergone evaluations this week, and his doctors have recommended that he take advantage of the summer congressional recess for some down time," said a statement issued by Reid's press secretary, Tessa Hafen.

The statement said Reid sought medical attention at the urging of his wife, Landra. He was told he had experienced a transient ischemic attack.

The statement did not say where Reid was where the episode occurred or where he received treatment. Congress has been in recess since the beginning of August.

I may disagree with his politics, but I wish him well. Some matters transcend the political.

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I’m glad to see this – the original ruling had no basis in law, either statutory or Constitutional.

A judge who ordered two Wicca believers to shield their son from their "non-mainstream" faith overstepped his authority, an appeals court said Wednesday in dismissing the order.

The Indiana Court of Appeals said state law gave a custodial parent the authority to determine a child's upbringing, including religious training. A judge could find that certain limitations were needed to protect a child from physical or emotional harm.

The parents' appeal, brought by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, claimed among other issues that the decree was unconstitutionally vague because it did not define mainstream religion. But the appeals court based its ruling on state law.

Marion Superior Court Judge Cale Bradford added the religion language to a divorce decree granted in 2004 to Thomas E. Jones and Tammy Bristol of Indianapolis. Jones is a Wiccan activist who has coordinated Pagan Pride Day in the city.

The judge's order followed a routine court report that said both parents are pagans who send their son, who is now 10 years old, to a Catholic school. In May, Jones said neither he nor his ex-wife had taken the boy to any Wiccan rituals since the order was issued.

There is rarely a legitimate basis for allowing parents to raise their children in their own religion. There certainly was no case for issuing such a prohibition in this case.

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The sentence which follows is almost too bizarre for me to believe I have to type it.

Brother Roger, founder and leader of the Taize Movement, was murdered by a woman during a service yesterday in the community's Church of Reconciliation.

The fatal stabbing of one of the world's most revered Christian leaders in his church provoked shock and revulsion yesterday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Benedict and heads of state led tributes to 90-year-old Brother Roger, a Swiss-born Protestant pastor and the head of the Taizé community.

Investigators said the self-confessed killer, a 36-year-old Romanian woman identified only as Luminita, claimed to have attacked Brother Roger after failing to attract his attention. Details of the death of a man who dedicated his life to the causes of peace and ecumenism caused widespread disgust.

Brother Roger was stabbed three times in the throat and back during a service in the Reconciliation Church at Taizé in eastern France on Tuesday evening.

Most worshippers were unaware of the incident until blood was seen pouring from the seated pastor's wounds. His assailant was overpowered as a doctor from the congregation tried in vain to save his life. A colleague, Brother François, explained what had happened to the 2,500 people inside the church and asked them to pray for the victim's soul.

Another senior member of the group, Brother Emile, said Brother Roger died within 15 minutes of the attack. His "throat was cut" and he bled profusely from his wounds, he said. Brother Emile added: "The woman came into the middle of the choir but we didn't see her because our backs were turned. There was a scream and we turned, but the deed had been done." Brother Roger, born Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche, established the Taizé community in 1940. He provided sanctuary for people of all faiths, notably Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution.

With more than 100 resident members of the multinational monastic community, he built Taizé into an important religious destination.

Tens of thousands of young pilgrims are welcomed there each year for periods of meditation and intensive prayer.

The beauty of the Taize movement and the community founded by Brother Roger is one of the most beautiful flowers of twentieth century Christianity. It highlights the unity of all Christinas, rather than the divisions.

The Telegraph provides a moving obituary. It would be positively sinful to try to do excerpts of their tribute to a man who ranks with Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II and Billy Graham as one of the great spiritual lights of our age.

And now the light has been extinguished -- but his life's work remains, giving glory to God.

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Folks were outraged by Rep. Tom Tancredo's comments on destroying Mecca and Medina. Muslims were particulary upset by the implied threat to the sacred cities.

Why, then, is there no outcry as the Saudis destroy the history of the two cities.

Historic Mecca, the cradle of Islam, is being buried in an unprecedented onslaught by religious zealots.

Almost all of the rich and multi-layered history of the holy city is gone. The Washington-based Gulf Institute estimates that 95 per cent of millennium-old buildings have been demolished in the past two decades.

Now the actual birthplace of the Prophet Mohamed is facing the bulldozers, with the connivance of Saudi religious authorities whose hardline interpretation of Islam is compelling them to wipe out their own heritage.

It is the same oil-rich orthodoxy that pumped money into the Taliban as they prepared to detonate the Bamiyan buddhas in 2000. And the same doctrine - violently opposed to all forms of idolatry - that this week decreed that the Saudis' own king be buried in an unmarked desert grave.

A Saudi architect, Sami Angawi, who is an acknowledged specialist on the region's Islamic architecture, told The Independent that the final farewell to Mecca is imminent: "What we are witnessing are the last days of Mecca and Medina."

According to Dr Angawi - who has dedicated his life to preserving Islam's two holiest cities - as few as 20 structures are left that date back to the lifetime of the Prophet 1,400 years ago and those that remain could be bulldozed at any time. "This is the end of history in Mecca and Medina and the end of their future," said Dr Angawi.

Why the destruction? Who is the driving force? Why the forcies of militant Wahabbism, the preferred version of Islam of the Saudi Royal Family.

"At the root of the problem is Wahhabism," says Dr Angawi. " They have a big complex about idolatry and anything that relates to the Prophet."

The Wahhabists now have the birthplace of the Prophet in their sights. The site survived redevelopment early in the reign of King Abdul al-Aziz ibn Saud 50 years ago when the architect for a library there persuaded the absolute ruler to allow him to keep the remains under the new structure. That concession is under threat after Saudi authorities approved plans to " update" the library with a new structure that would concrete over the existing foundations and their priceless remains.

Dr Angawi is the descendant of a respected merchant family in Jeddah and a leading figure in the Hijaz - a swath of the kingdom that includes the holy cities and runs from the mountains bordering Yemen in the south to the northern shores of the Red Sea and the frontier with Jordan. He established the Haj Research Centre two decades ago to preserve the rich history of Mecca and Medina. Yet it has largely been a doomed effort. He says that the bulldozers could come "at any time" and the Prophet's birthplace would be gone in a single night.

Now I will be honest. I have some major problems theologically with islam. I believe Muhammad to be a crazy man who peddled false visions and revelations to a gullible group of followers, perverting the truths of Christianity and Judaism to justify his deeds. But I also recognize the historical significance of the sites being destroyed, and have great concern that important archaeological evidence will be destroyed.

I wonder, though -- why are Muslims not speaking out against the destruction of their own heritage at the hands of religious extremists? Why won't the UN raise its voice at the destruction of sites that are part of the heritage of the whole world? Where is the international pressure to preserve these valuable historical sites and open them to the world?

In other words, why aren't the Saudis being held to basic standards of international decency for the sake of all mankind?

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The American jurisdiction of the Antiochian Othodox Church (what used to be known as the Syrian Orthodox Church) has left the National Council of Churches over its continued leftward theological and political drift.

Dearborn, Michigan. July 28, 2005.This afternoon the Archdiocesan Convention of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America voted overwhelmingly to leave the National Council of Churches USA. The Archdiocese is holding its annual convention this week in Dearborn, Michigan.

The action was not a temporary “suspension” of membership, but a formal withdrawal from the NCC. The clergy unanimously approved the withdrawal, followed by a unanimous vote of the lay delegates supporting the move. An announcement of the final vote was met with thunderous applause by the Convention.

Reasons given for the withdrawal include the general liberalism of the NCC, whose General Secretary, Bob Edgar, withdrew his signature from a statement defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

This may be the beginnig of a trend among Orthodox groups, who are increasingly unhappy with the drift from (small o) orthodoxy by the NCC and its member denominations.

The Antiochians aren’t the only Orthodox jurisdiction that has acknowledged the NCC’s increasingly leftward tilt. At their own just-concluded conference in Toronto, the Orthodox Church in America also discussed the usefulness of the NCC but has not yet cut its ties. The statement that the OCA issued concerning its discussion of ecumenical relations was a collage of bureaucratic platitudes, mostly expressed in the passive voice, and no doubt indicative that the forces of the status quo were not giving up without a fight. When you read phrases such as “concerns ... were expressed” and “it was noted” and “requires careful consideration and discernment” then you can bet that someone’s digging in the heels.

I'd be interested to see what this eventually means for the ecumenical movement in the US, and whetehr there comes into being some new body that incorporates Catholic, Orthodox, and Evangelical churches.

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