This is what the barbarians are doing in Mosul.
Ladies and Gentleman, the ISIS iteration of the Religion of Peace.
More HERE
Sts. Nunilo and Alodia, pray for us.
St. Lawrence of Brindisi, pray for us.
About this blog…
“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
This REALLY helps! And it’s great coffee (and tea)
Polls
Loading ...Donate using VENMO
CLICK and say your daily offerings!
A Daily Prayer for Priests
Do you have a faithful Catholic website that needs competent and reliable tech support?
Fr. Z’s VOICEMAIL
Nota bene: I do not answer these numbers or this Skype address. You won't get me "live". I check for messages regularly.
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
on Traditionis custodes and “reception theory” – or – When a law is no law at all.: “TC might have the unexpected effect of causing many to celebrate with the Missal of Paul VI as much as…”
on Traditionis custodes and “reception theory” – or – When a law is no law at all.: “We can’t even get the faithful to receive minor revisions such as the 2011 English Missal. Look at how many…”
on 29 July 1941 – An “offering of life”: ““He was beatified as having lived a life of heroic virtue but canonized as a martyr.” Well, Mary did offer…”
on Baseball’s Cleveland Indians change name to… guess what….: “Semper Gumby, Speaking of Moseses, the online Encyclopedia of Cleveland History ‘Cleaveland, Moses’ article says, “When the party arrived at…”
on ASK FATHER: The priest only said, “I absolve you from your sins”. Is that sufficient for a valid absolution?: “Thank you, Father for the usual clarity. On a side note, though, I find this snippet particularly interesting: “ If…”
on Traditionis custodes and “reception theory” – or – When a law is no law at all.: “Reception theory strikes me as a more developed understanding of the promulgation aspect of a law according to St Thomas.…”
on Traditionis custodes and “reception theory” – or – When a law is no law at all.: ““The Spirit of Vatican II has engendered so many fruits!” I’ll say. I believe that rule about disregarding a law…”
on Pro-abortion ‘c’atholic politicians and their reception of Holy Communion: “Great! 69% of Catholics are Lutherans!”
on Pro-abortion ‘c’atholic politicians and their reception of Holy Communion: “That’s a shot between the eyes I didn’t see coming. Well done that cartoonist!”
on ASK FATHER: The priest only said, “I absolve you from your sins”. Is that sufficient for a valid absolution?: ““It is so cruel.” There seems to be a lot of that going around. Subordinates take cues from their leaders.”
on UPDATED – 14 August Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine: FORBIDDEN: “While the music at the NO in my part of DC archdiocese is simply wretched boomer musicals, the priests in…”
on Pro-abortion ‘c’atholic politicians and their reception of Holy Communion: “Great cartoon! Sometimes a picture says a thousand words.”
on Traditionis custodes and “reception theory” – or – When a law is no law at all.: “I personally suspect that TC will eventually go down the way of archaic laws that many jurisdictions currently have, but…”
I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
This blog has to earn its keep!
PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful.
That way I have steady income I can plan on, and you wind up regularly on my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I periodically say Holy Mass.
In view of the rapidly changing challenges I now face, I would like to add more $10/month subscribers. Will you please help?
For a one time donation...
Yes, Fr. Z is taking ads…
Be a “Zed-Head”!
CHALLENGE COINS!
My "challenge coin" for my 25th anniversary of ordination in 2016.
Want one? I do exchanges with military and LEOs, etc.
PLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
Loading ...This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
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!
GREAT causes to support
Help Monks in Wyoming (coffee – UPDATED LINK) and Norcia (beer) and the wonderful "Soap Sisters" of Summit, NJ!
Please follow me on Twitter!
I simply cannot understand how the civilized world allows these hooligans to pillage, rape, and plunder with no civilized nation lifting a finger to stop them – not “degrade” them, but really stop them. This reminds me of how the Northern Vietnamese Army utterly brutalized South Vietnam after forces withdrew from there and America declared a standoff.
cnewa.org is accepting donations for these poor brave Christians over there.
Help Syria’s frightened Christians survive.
Please pray and discern your role.
Thank you.
Or if you are in Europe, donations can be sent to Aid to the Church in Need
UK site – http://www.acnuk.org/
International Head Office in Germany – http://www.acn-intl.org/pg/home.html?p=EN,,,1.2,,,
And here is an article showing the Prince of Wales during his recent visit to Jordan. He is a supporter of Aid to the Church in Need, has contributed financially and also spoken out about the plight of Christians in Syria and Iraq. We don’t hear much from the government about the persecution of Christians, but Prince Charles has been very forthcoming.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/11398232/Prince-of-Wales-in-show-of-support-for-Jordan-and-Middle-East-Christians.html
Did you notice how the article mentioned that the Puritans of England did the same thing? It seems they borrowed from Obama’s comparison of ISIS and the crusades.
Don’t think I’ve heard this explained by the Church before:
James Foley was beheaded by ISIS in August. He was a devout Catholic who was reported to have converted to Islam during his captivity. [Whoa… hang on. Don’t connect the two. A person can hide. A person can flee. A person can be mute. But we can’t abjure the Christian Faith, apostatize.]
If one wants to understand the darker side of human nature, one needs to understand one simple fact:
Being the “bad guy” is fun!
(Like pretty much all sin) Burning, looting, and raping your way across the countryside can be, and is, Incredibly FUN!
If you don’t, or can’t, get that, then you’ll nowhere close to understanding isis.
“Barbarians” is right. These people make the Nazis look like kindly gentlemen. This grieves me almost as much as the constant murders because it goes to the soul of humanity and its cultural heritage, a heritage which can never be reclaimed.
These cultural treasures can never be replaced. This graphic image shows how opposed to culture, study, and education ISIS is — a logical conclusion to Islam’s rejection of the God of reason, as Benedict has spoken about.
Fr. Z commented Whoa… hang on. Don’t connect the two. A person can hide. A person can flee. A person can be mute. But we can’t abjure the Christian Faith, apostatize.
Foley had been in captivity for two years before he was beheaded. The article I linked said that one interpretation might be that he had pretended to convert to Islam under duress but had continued to see himself as a Catholic. Since many Catholics in the Middle East may be faced with that decision, It may be worthwhile clarifying Cardinal Amato’s comments in which he said that a conversion under duress is not really a conversion and that Catholics are not required to be martyrs.
The Marranos in Spain adopted that strategy. They were Jews who publically converted to Catholicism in order to remain in the country but continued to practice Judaism in private and to attend clandestine Jewish services when possible
Catholics may have to decide whether they can say the formula for becoming Muslim “I declare that there is no God but God (Allah) and .Muhammed is the Prophet of God” while believing that since they are saying it under duress they are not really converting and are still Catholic
It seems important for the Church to be very clear about that.
[Apostates can’t be martyrs. What is left is to determine is who is an apostate.]
(Like pretty much all sin) Burning, looting, and raping your way across the countryside can be, and is, Incredibly FUN!
If you don’t, or can’t, get that, then you’ll nowhere close to understanding isis.
Indeed, not just fun, but empowering. To have total control of the world around you is usurping the role of God. It’s what the serpent promised Eve.
I also think it really is a sincere attempt to be a good Muslim though. Jihad has always been a part of that.
Thanks for the valuable post, but … isn’t this an insult to barbarians? [Tru dat.]
I notice that the video only shows them destroying large, heavy artworks.
I’ve read that these same barbarians who congratulate themselves for their
vandalism were not above looting, preserving, and selling the more portable
artifacts to provide cash for ISIS. In other words, they aren’t so committed
to purging the world of idols that they aren’t willing to make a buck, too.
Somehow that just makes the vandalism worse.
jhayes, being able to say the shahada won’t save you. The Jordanian pilot probably learned it by heart when he was a little boy.
kimberley jean, I don’t think ISIS doubted that the pilot was a Muslim or asked him to say the shahada to prove he was.
I think the problem is for Catholics who are captured and told “convert to Islam by morning or we will kill you”
They should be offered the option to pay the Jizya instead, but if they are dealing with extremists, they may have to decide between saying the shahada to confirm their conversion, or accepting death.
Well, I never thought I’d say this ;^), but I couldn’t agree more with Fr. Jim!
Unrelatedly (well, related only through the topic of the post…), being evil isn’t fun… thrilling, sure, but there’s a big difference.