Orthodoxy, eh?

Chief Justice Roberts Confirmed

I am very, very pleased. On to the next confirmation...

posted by Becky @ 11:02 AM

Fr. Jenkins' Inaugural Address

Here's a link to the new ND President's inaugural address. I thought it was excellent, stressing the need for a real relationship between faith and reason, academic excellence and strong faith. He seemed courageous, stating that it was controversial for Notre Dame to maintain this mission of a truly Catholic university. You can tell he is a Thomist, and a good one, at that. I was impressed from beginning to end. The sense I got is that we have been given the difficult task of pursuing the Truth. We can ask the hard questions while still knowing where the ultimate answer comes from - Jesus Christ in his Catholic Church. This allows for a certain confidence in our inquiry, a contribution much needed in the academic field today.

Thanks to Father Jenkins for inspiring the leaders of Our Lady's university to maintain the Catholic identity of this place. Be assured of our prayers as you embark on this difficult, but fulfilling task.

posted by Becky @ 10:08 AM 6 comments

Orange T-shirt Day at ND

Next Thursday, the unrecognized Gay-Straight Alliance at Notre Dame will attempt yet another "Gay? Fine By Me." t-shirt day. In recent years this has been surrounded by controversy, as the message of the shirts is inherently ambiguous, causing confusion. For information on this event, check out the AllianceND website.

Here is an article I wrote in 2004 expressing my views on the shirts. Again, I would like to stress that I believe that homosexuals should be welcomed and loved as any other person made in the image and likeness of God. My objection is to the harmful glorification and approval of disordered acts. In fact, in talking to someone on campus who counsels homosexuals here at ND, I was told that there are homosexuals on campus who are deeply disturbed and offended by these shirts. Something to ponder...

posted by Becky @ 11:02 AM 17 comments

Federalist Society at NDLS

I was glancing over the list of names on the email list for the Federalist Society today, and I did a count. It appears that OVER 1/3 of the law school student body is a member of the Federalist Society. Crazy. I don't know what that says, but it at least says that there are generally conservative, open-minded folks interested in debate here at NDLS. The President of the Notre Dame Chapter has his own blog. Check it out here.

posted by Becky @ 11:13 AM 8 comments

Pharmacists to be Denied Conscience Rights

The Ontario Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council is gearing up to pass a resolution that would effectively prevent pharmacists from refusing to provide pharmaceuticals such as the Pill based on religious objections. Again, this type of regulation violates the rights of those pharmacists who act on their conscience by not providing abortifacients or contraceptives. It reminds me of those bumper stickers I've seen - "Don't like abortion? Don't have one." Now, these bumper stickers are seriously twisted and disturbing, but couldn't we apply the same low standard in these cases? "Like Contraception? Go somewhere else to get it." As far as I can see, there is nothing in the Charter that guarantees a right to contraception.

posted by Becky @ 4:49 PM 8 comments

New Orleans: Saturated in Catholicism?

Here is a great article about the Catholic roots of New Orleans and the "sacramentality" of the city. To this writer, who grew up in a northern suburb, the city taught her how to be Catholic, the hyped-up pagan rituals giving only a superficial glimpse of city life. I have to admit, when I found out that "Katrina" is the Greek word for "purification," I originally thought it a creepy, but appropriate, name. This piece gives a different perspective - a way of seeing how God powerfully speaks to us through normal events and "cultural" Catholicism, especially in places like New Orleans.

posted by Becky @ 10:34 AM 5 comments

Great Article about WYD and Benedict

This piece highlights the differences between JPII and Benedict, and likewise, the differences in reaction by the youth at WYD. Benedict has a "style" all his own. As the article states, JPII was given the task of showing a humbled Church what Christ teaches us. Now, the mandate is to show WHY the Church teaches what she teaches. And Benedict is up to the task - we just have to listen.

Viva il Papa!

posted by Becky @ 11:58 AM 1 comments

More Freedom of Speech/Religion Violations

Another innocent man in Canada has been brought before a Human Rights Tribunal with the threat of large fines for writing a letter to the editor against gay-rights curriculum in schools and the homosexual lifestyle in general.

What is most striking about this case, is that the man is a youth minister and regularly ministers to homosexual high schoolers. He is doing a great service to the youth in his group, decrying immoral behavior of all kinds. He loves all of the youth, regardless of their sexual orientation. Why is this man being charged with human rights violations? Again, Canada continues on this blind path of limiting freedom of speech and religion.

posted by Becky @ 9:40 AM 0 comments

There is but One Church in China

In what I see as a peaceful but direct way of telling China that there is only one Catholic Church in China, Pope Benedict has callled 4 Chineses Bishops to the Eucharistic Synod - one of them not a member of the "official" communist-recognized Church. Check out the story at www.zenit.org/english. Looks like he's breaking new ground, as this is the first time since the beginning of Communism that a Pope has invited an un-recognized Bishop to Rome.

Hopefully China will let the Bishops come...

posted by Becky @ 9:19 AM 0 comments

Fellow NDLSer in the NY Times

A fellow ND law student, Brendan Loy, has an article written about him and his hurricane blogging attempts in today's NY Times. Quite the accomplishment, I must say. Congrats, Brendan! Your blogging during Katrina deserves the praise.

posted by Becky @ 10:49 AM 5 comments

Interesting Development

Bush nominates Roberts to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Will this hurt his chances for confirmation? I'm wondering...I hope Bush knows what he's doing.

I don't want to focus too much on the politics of all this when a great man has just died. Justice Rehnquist was an excellent judge who devoted his life to upholding the rule of law. He will be remembered fondly by all who knew him. May he rest in peace. For a great reflection on his life from my professor, Rick Garnett, go here.

posted by Becky @ 9:39 AM 0 comments