I received word that columnist Joseph Sobran has passed away. Requiescat in pace.
Some words of wisdom…
The more vigorously the primacy was displayed, the more the question came up about the extent and and limits of [papal] authority, which of course, as such, had never been considered. After the Second Vatican Council, the impression arose that the pope really could do anything in liturgical matters, especially if he were acting on the mandate of an ecumenical council. Eventually, the idea of the givenness of the liturgy, the fact that one cannot do with it what one will, faded from the public consciousness of the West. In fact, the First Vatican Council had in no way defined the pope as an absolute monarch. On the contrary, it presented him as the guarantor of obedience to the revealed Word. The pope's authority is bound to the Tradition of faith. … The authority of the pope is not unlimited; it is at the service of Sacred Tradition.
Joseph Ratzinger in The Spirit of the Liturgy
“I must refute any calumnies that have originated in certain parts of the press, or from certain ultramontanist circles and Vaticanisti, and this anonymous group of false “friends” around the Holy Father who have questioned my loyalty. All my life as a priest, theologian and bishop, I’ve worked for the Kingdom of God and his Holy Church. And to present me as an enemy of the Successor of St. Peter is completely crazy and unjust.”
Outstanding. Informative. Moving. - Fr. Z
CLICK and say your Daily Offering!
"We as Catholics have not properly combated (the culture) because we have not been taught our Catholic Faith, especially in the depth needed to address these grave evils of our time. This is a failure of catechesis both of children and young people that has been going on for fifty years. It is being addressed, but it needs much more radical attention... What has also contributed greatly to the situation is an exaltation of the virtue of tolerance which is falsely seen as the virtue which governs all other virtues. In other words, we should tolerate other people in their immoral actions to the extent that we seem also to accept the moral wrong. Tolerance is a virtue, but it is certainly not the principal virtue; the principal virtue is charity... Charity means speaking the truth. I have encountered it (not speaking the truth) many times myself as a priest and bishop. It is something we simply need to address. There is far too much silence — people do not want to talk about it because the topic is not 'politically correct.' But we cannot be silent any longer."Raymond Card. Burke
Coat of Arms by D BurkartMy CHALLENGE COINS for my 25th Anniversary of Ordination (26 May 1991) arrived.
I'll make a number of them available for exchange and in gratitude to special benefactors.
I listen to your voicemails: I don’t call back, but I listen.
You have three options:
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265Help Monks in Wyoming (coffee) and Norcia (beer)!
出る杭は打たれ!-
Without you, there is no blog.
There is a subscription form at the bottom of this page! -
Aedificantium enim unusquisque gladio erat accinctus.
- Nehemiah 4:18
"Where priest and people together face the same way, what we have is a cosmic orientation and also in interpretation of the Eucharist in terms of resurrection and trinitarian theology. Hence it is also an interpretation in terms of parousia, a theology of hope, in which every Mass is an approach to the return of Christ."Joseph Ratzinger - The Feast of Faith
"In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. ... If all Catholics are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions, Catholic politicians are obliged to do so in a particular way, in keeping with their responsibility as politicians." CDF 2003
One of the most dangerous errors is that civilization is automatically bound to increase and spread. The lesson of history is the opposite; civilization is a rarity, attained with difficulty and easily lost. The normal state of humanity is barbarism, just as the normal surface of the planet is salt water. Land looms large in our imagination and civilization in history books, only because sea and savagery are to us less interesting. — C. S. Lewis For contemplation…
"One of the few things in life you can be absolutely sure about is that, if Management tells you it doesn't like your Tone, you are getting something right."
"Latin is a precise, essential language. It will be abandoned, not because it is unsuitable for the new requirements of progress, but because the new men will not be suitable for it. When the age of demagogues and charlatans begins, a language like Latin will no longer be useful, and any oaf will be able to give a speech in public and talk in such a way that he will not be kicked off the stage. The secret to this will consist in the fact that, by making use of words that are general, elusive, and sound good, he will be able to speak for an hour without saying anything. With Latin, this is impossible."- - Giovanni Guareschi
Support them with prayer and fasting.
Click for Car Magnets
Help the Sisters. They have a building project. Get great soap (gifts, etc.) while helping REAL nuns!
Great data SIM and device
for travel.Some OBLIGATORY reading…
God or Nothing: A Conversation on Faith by Robert Card. Sarah
Buy it. Get one for your parish priests.
UK HERE
Leave Voice Mail for Fr. Z
Nota bene: I do not answer these numbers or this Skype address. You won't get me "live". I check for messages regularly.
WDTPRS020 8133 4535651-447-6265Yes, Fr. Z is taking ads…
For example...
-
A great hymnal…
Mystic Monk Coffee also has TEA!
Because it matters what children read…
I carry one of these super-strong rosaries in my spare mag pouch! The Swiss Guards have them too!
Because you don’t know when you are going to need to move fast or get along without the supermarket…
My wish lists
Main Wishlist
Kindle Wishlist
Audio Wishlist
Ham Radio List
NEW
PLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
Loading ...WDTPRS POLL
Loading ...Fr. Z’s stuff is everywhere
Help support Fr. Z’s Gospel of Life work at no cost to you. Do you need a Real Estate Agent? Calling these people is the FIRST thing you should do!
They find you a pro-life agent in your area who commits to giving a portion of the fee to a pro-life group!
Reading and gift ideas!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlr90NLDp-0
I loved Mr. Sobran. He was so humble courageous and intelligent. And he bore the double-crossing Cross of Buckley with dignity, restraint, and good cheer.
What a great man.
Very sad indeed. I fondly remember brunch with him after the traditional Latin Mass in Washington, D.C. His columns ran until the very end in Catholic Family News. His 21 years at National Review marked some of the best of times for that publication before it went from paleo-con to neo-con. RIP indeed, Mr. Sobran.
The only thing I liked in Catholic Family News was Mr. Sobran’s column. Requiem aeternam…
I suppose I should be sad, but Joe Sobran was a committed anarchist and rectitudinalist of the first order. He did a great deal to draw the so-called Paleos down the road to political irrelevance. I’ll pray for his eternal rest, I’m not that sorry to see him go.
R.I.P.
A tremendously gifted writer. But his jew-baiting and Holocaust-denial – what is it with these people? A great man? I don’t think so.
TomG,
I don’t considered him a “tremendously gifted writer”.
On the other hand, when did he deny the Holocaust? And is questioning Zionist influence on US policy Jew baiting?
Dubya Ay-See,
Not a huge Sobran fan, but I never heard him called an anarchist.
Have you noticed that the neo-cons have all but taken conservatism into oblivion? Are have you forgotten the neo-cons at Defense who were certain that the Iraq war would be a six month adventure without casualties.
Sobran’s political views had evolved from conservatism to palaeoconservativism to a Rothbardian “paleolibertarian anarcho-capitalism,” which I suppose might be called a form of “anarchism.” I doubt the irrelevancy of palaeoconservatism can be attributed to Sobran. His flirting at the borders of anti-Semitism, and his participation from 2001 to 2003 in Holocaust-denial conferences, certainly were not to his credit, though. All the same, may he rest in peace.
robtbrown:
>I don’t considered [sic] him a “tremendously gifted writer”.
Who cares what you “consider”? That was MY statement.
He aided, abetted and gave comfort to Holocaust-deniers. Forgive my imprecision.
Am I the only sick to death of this “neo-con” nonsense?
robtbrown, let me ask you something: Would you like Saddam Hussein back?
robtbrown:
>I don’t considered [sic] him a “tremendously gifted writer”.
Who cares what you “consider”? That was MY statement.
If you consider him a ‘tremendously gift writer”, what do you reserve for someone like Malcolm Muggeridge and his effortless prose? Or Thomas Wolfe (as in Look Homeward, Angel)? Or Buckley? Or Fitzgerald? Or the monuments of British lit?
He aided, abetted and gave comfort to Holocaust-deniers.
How so?
Am I the only sick to death of this “neo-con” nonsense?
Are you sick of the neo-cons or what people say about them?
DHippolito says:
robtbrown, let me ask you something: Would you like Saddam Hussein back?
He was a bad guy, but he was in a box.
I’ll answer your question with one of my own: Do you think the blood and treasure poured out in the Middle East was worth it?
And the Iraq War wasn’t about WMD’s or Saddam. It was about trying to establish a Pax Americana in the ME via Iraq, which is the ME geo-political fulcrum.
Robt Brown:
I strongly agree with your comments.
And yes, I also would take Saddam back – in exchange for the lives, treasure, and civil liberties that have been offered up in vain pursuit of the twenty-first century’s version of Wilsonian hubris.
May Mr. Sobran R.I.P.
I defy anyone to scan Mr. Sobran’s writings and produce anything of anti-semitic nature. However, a quick perusal of George Washington’s farewell address will provide insight into the source of these base and baseless charges.
I’m tired of the neo-cons and their betryal of conservatism as well. It is time for them to get their heads on straight, or return to the authoritian left – where they came from and where they yearn to be.
“He was a bad guy, but he was in a box. ”
Dude, he was getting out of the box. He’d have been out for a couple of years already by now.
The Holy See said the U.S. invasion of Iraq did not meet the Just War Doctrine. ’nuff said.
Ed the Roman says:
“He was a bad guy, but he was in a box. ”
Dude, he was getting out of the box. He’d have been out for a couple of years already by now.
Two experts on the situation, Gen Anthony Zinni and Dr Michael Scheuer, would disagree with your assessment.
I am sad to hear that he has died. And I will pray for him tomorrow at Mass, and for a very long time. In the 90s, I emailed with Mr. Sobran on the Shakespeare Authorship Issue. We traded some late-night, now and then barbed emails, but usually ended on a civil note. I actually emailed his publisher several months ago to get his phone number to call him and give my best wishes. Sadly, I never got around to it.
In regard to his political views, I found them largely unattractive because I could not see how his deep-rooted disdain for the state could square with the principles we have been given by Divine Revelation. I also was disturbed to see him defend a speech he gave to a Holocaust-denial group. I think, unfortunately, Joe Sobran got caught up in obssessions–Shakespeare-denier, Holocaust-denier, anti-government positions dangerously close to anarchy–that do no one any good.
That being said, he wrote some damn fine essays defending human life from conception to natural death. For that alone, we owe him thanks. And our prayers for a complete and quick passage into the arms of Our merciful Lord.
Geoffrey says:
The Holy See said the U.S. invasion of Iraq did not meet the Just War Doctrine. ’nuff said.
Cardinal Ratzinger also said that almost no modern war meets the Just War Doctrine.
Eternal rest grant unto Joe, O Lord. May perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen
Wake: Monday, Oct. 4, at Money & King (171 Maple Avenue West, Vienna, VA.)
Tridentine requiem funeral Mass: Tuesday, Oct. 5, at St. John the Beloved Catholic Church in McLean, VA at 1 p.m., celebrated by Fr. Paul Scalia.
The Mass will be preceded by a wake in the church
If I might clarify:
I was not opposed to the Iraq invasion, but I was skeptical of its do-ability. A few days before it started, I was talking with a good friend who’s a ret LTG (formerly Dep Com of All US Forces in Europe). His wife said that she was against it. I said that I’m against it if it doesn’t work. He quickly agreed. Anyone who has looked at any of the numerous books that document the problems know that it was a fouled up operation from the beginning, mostly because it was never determined whether an occupation was inevitable.
My objection was not to th war but to the chickenhawks (most of whom were neo-cons, some in DoD) who thought it would be a walk in the park and, if there were problems, had no objection to others shedding their blood.
I was working in GEN Zinni’s headquarters (and subsequently in GEN Franks), and by spring 2001 Saddam was starting to get out of the box.
Thanks for posting that, Tina.
Wow, what beautiful Mass that will be! I am not a member of St. John’s, but have been to their TLM several times. Fr. Paul is an excellent preacher; the liturgy is superb.
I think Sobran was probably right about everything except his belief in the official conspiracy theory of 9/11. He truly lived by the words of his beloved Shakespeare, “To thine own self be true…” If only the words “anti-Catholic” held the same brand of social ostracization as the words “anti-Semitic.” One can always dream…