NOTRE DAME STUDENT GROUPS DENOUNCE UNIVERSITY’S CHOICE FOR COMMENCEMENT SPEECH

Statement follows

NOTRE DAME, IN, 25 March 2009 — A number of student groups at the University of Notre Dame issued a statement today repudiating the University’s selection of President Barack Obama to deliver its 2009 Commencement Address. The statement criticizes the president’s position on abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and other life issues, and chastises University administration for apparently looking over what they termed "fundamental moral principles."

The statement responds to Friday afternoon’s announcement of Obama as the speaker for the University’s 164th Commencement. Citing Catholic teaching on abortion, as well as the US Bishops’ 2004 document "Catholics in Political Life," which deals with issues surrounding a Catholic response to politicians who advocate abortion, the student statement expresses “deepest opposition” to the decision. "This is not a partisan issue; rather, it’s an issue of respect for human life, and our Catholic character. We want to emphasize that we are not attacking the office of the President, but taking issue with his moral stances. I think the statement makes it clear that the student body of Notre Dame is not unequivocally in favor of this decision,” said senior Emily Toates of Notre Dame Right to Life.

An Ad Hoc committee sponsored by a coalition of University-sponsored student groups has been organized to lead student response. These groups include Notre Dame Right to Life, Jus Vitae (Notre Dame Law School Right to Life), the Irish Rover independent student newspaper, Notre Dame College Republicans, The University of Notre Dame Anscombe Society, The Identity Project of Notre Dame, Notre Dame Knights of the Immaculata, Notre Dame Children of Mary, the Orestes Brownson Council, Notre Dame Law St. Thomas More Society, and the Federalist Society of the Notre Dame Law School.
STUDENT COALITION STATEMENT ON THE 2009 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES

In defense of the unborn, we wish to express our deepest opposition to Reverend John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.’s invitation of President Barack Obama to be the University of Notre Dame’s principal commencement speaker and the recipient of an honorary degree. Our objection is not a matter of political partisanship, but of President Obama’s hostility to the Catholic Church’s teachings on the sanctity of human life at its earliest stages. His recent dedication of federal funds to overseas abortions and to embryonic stem cell research will directly result in the deaths of thousands of innocent human beings. We cannot sit by idly while the University honors someone who believes that an entire class of human beings is undeserving of the most basic of all legal rights, the right to live.

The University’s decision runs counter to the policy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops against honoring pro-choice politicians. In their June 2004 statement Catholics in Political Life, the bishops said, “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” Fr. Jenkins defends his invitation by saying that it does not honor or suggest support for the President’s views on abortion, but rather support for his leadership. But our “fundamental moral principles” must be respected at all times. And the principle that requires us to refrain from the direct killing of the innocent has a special status even among the most fundamental principles. President Obama’s actions have consistently shown contempt for this principle, and he has sought political gain by making light of its clear political implications. Leadership that puts the lives of the most innocent at risk is leadership we must disdain. In the face of President Obama’s actions, Father Jenkins’ words ring hollow.

It is a great irony that the University has chosen to award President Obama an honorary law degree. As the oldest Catholic law school in the country, the Notre Dame Law School states that its mission is “to facilitate greater understanding of and commitment to the relationship between law and social justice.” The social justice issue of our day is the deliberate, legal attack on the most vulnerable members of society, the unborn. To award a Notre Dame law degree to a lawyer and politician who has used the law to deny equality to the unborn diminishes the value of the degree itself.

Additionally, Fr. Jenkins has placed some of his students in a moral dilemma as to whether they should attend their own graduation. Many pro-life seniors, along with their families, are conflicted about whether to participate in the commencement ceremony. The lack of concern for these devoted sons and daughters of Notre Dame, who love this University and the Catholic principles on which it was built, is shameful.

In response to the University’s decision, we pledge ourselves to acts of witness that will be characterized by respect, prayerfulness, outspoken fidelity to the Church, and true concern for the good of our University. It is appropriate that only members of the Notre Dame community lead all such protests, and we ask outside groups to respect our responsibilities in this regard. Over the next several weeks, in response to this scandal, our organizations will host various academic and religious events to engage the University community. We request any groups who are committed to respectful actions to support our efforts, thereby ensuring a unified front and a more compelling public witness.

In Notre Dame,

Notre Dame Right to Life
The Irish Rover Student Newspaper
Notre Dame College Republicans
The University of Notre Dame Anscombe Society
Notre Dame Identity Project
Militia of the Immaculata
Children of Mary
Orestes Brownson Council
Notre Dame Law School Right to Life
Notre Dame Law St Thomas More Society
The Federalist Society at Notre Dame Law School

APOSTOLIC JOURNEYOF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVITO CAMEROON AND ANGOLA (MARCH 17-23, 2009)

MEETING WITH THE BISHOPS OF CAMEROON

ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI

"Dear Brothers, the Bishop and his priests are called to maintain relations of close communion, founded on the one priesthood of Christ in which they share, albeit in different degrees. The quality of the bond uniting you with the priests, your principal and irreplaceable co-workers, is of the greatest importance. If they see in their Bishop a father and a brother who loves them, listens to them and offers them comfort in their trials, who devotes particular attention to their human and material needs, they are encouraged to carry out their ministry whole-heartedly, worthily and fruitfully. The words and example of their Bishop have a key role in inspiring them to give their spiritual and sacramental life a central place in their ministry, spurring them on to discover and to live ever more deeply the particular role of the shepherd as, first and foremost, a man of prayer. The spiritual and sacramental life is an extraordinary treasure, given to us for ourselves and for the good of the people entrusted to us. I urge you, then, to be especially vigilant regarding the faithfulness of priests and consecrated persons to the commitments made at their ordination or entry into religious life, so that they persevere in their vocation, for the greater holiness of the Church and the glory of God. The authenticity of their witness requires that there be no dichotomy between what they teach and the way they live each day.

In your dioceses, many young men are presenting themselves as candidates for the priesthood. We can only thank the Lord for this. It is essential that serious discernment should take place. With this in mind, I encourage you, despite the organizational difficulties that can sometimes occur at the pastoral level, to give priority to the choice and training of formators and spiritual directors. They must have a personal and profound knowledge of the candidates for the priesthood, and must be capable of offering them a solid human, spiritual and pastoral formation so as to make them mature and balanced men, well prepared for priestly life. Your constant fraternal support will help the formators to accomplish their task in the love of the Church and her mission."

"YOUNG PEOPLE: DO NOT BE AFRAID TO MAKE DEFINITIVE DECISIONS"

VATICAN CITY, 21 MAR 2009 (VIS) - At 4.20 p.m. today, the Holy Father went to Stadio dos Coquieros in the Angolan capital city of Luanda. On arrival he toured the stadium - which has a capacity of 30,000 - by popemobile greeting the crowds of young people he had come to meet.

Commenting on the theme of the meeting, taken from the Book of Revelation, "Behold the dwelling of God is with men", the Pope assured the young people that "God makes all the difference, ... and more! God changes us; He makes us new!".

"God is the future of a new humanity, which is anticipated in His Church. When you have a chance, take time to read the Church's history. You will find that the Church does not grow old with the passing of the years. Rather, she grows younger, for she is journeying towards her Lord, day by day drawing nearer to the one true fountain overflowing with youthfulness, rebirth, the power of life".

He then addressed some remarks to young Angolans who have been maimed or disabled as a result of the war or landmines. "I think of the countless tears that have been shed for the loss of your relatives and friends", he said. "It is not hard to imagine the dark clouds that still veil the horizon of your fondest hopes and dreams".

"See how Jesus does not leave us without an answer; He tells us one thing very clearly: renewal starts from within; you will receive a power from on high. The power to shape the future is within you.

"It is within you", he added, "but how? Just as life exists within a seed. That is how Jesus explained it at a critical juncture in His ministry. ... Jesus spoke about the sower who sows in the field of the world, and He explained that the seed is His word and His miracles of healing. These are so few in comparison to the immense needs and demands of everyday life. And yet, deep within the seed, the future is already present, since the seed contains tomorrow's bread, tomorrow's life. The seed seems almost nothing. But it is the presence of the future, the promise already present. When it falls on good soil, it produces fruit, thirty, sixty and even a hundredfold".

"In your midst", he told the young people, "you have the new Bread, the Bread of future life, the Blessed Eucharist, which nourishes us and pours out the life of the Trinity into the hearts of all people".

"He gives Himself to us and we respond by giving ourselves to others, for love of Him. This is the way that leads to life; it can be followed only by maintaining a constant dialogue with the Lord and among yourselves". Yet "the dominant societal culture is not helping you to live by Jesus' word or to practise the self-giving to which He calls you in accordance with the Father's plan".

After encouraging his young audience not to be "afraid to make definitive decisions", the Pope added: "You do not lack generosity - that I know! But the idea of risking a lifelong commitment, whether in marriage or in a life of special consecration, can be daunting. You might think: ...'Can I make a life-long commitment now, without knowing what unforeseen events lie in store for me? By making a definitive decision, would I not be risking my freedom and tying my own hands?' These are the doubts you feel, and today's individualistic and hedonist culture aggravates them. Yet when young people avoid decisions, there is a risk of never attaining full maturity".

"Take courage!", he cried. "Dare to make definitive decisions, because in reality these are the only decisions which do not destroy your freedom, but guide it in the right direction, enabling you to move forward and attain something worthwhile in life. There is no doubt about it: life is worthwhile only if you take courage and are ready for adventure, if you trust in the Lord Who will never abandon you. Young people of Angola, unleash the power of the Holy Spirit within you, the power from on high!

"Trusting in this power, like Jesus, risk taking a leap and making a definitive decision. Give life a chance", the Holy Father concluded. "This is the life worthy of being lived, and I commend it to you from my heart. May God bless the young people of Angola!".

"Some Catholics Disappointed in Obama"
Only some:

He garnered the majority of Catholic votes in the 2008 election, but a number of Catholic groups now say President Obama is showing a complete lack of regard for their beliefs.

They count his decisions to lift restrictions on abortion and stem cell research among the most offensive.

... "President Obama has already reached out and won the Catholic vote," Jon O'Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, said.

"That's what happened in the last election in spite of the very loud voices of some extreme uber-Catholics who really want to paint this black and white picture -- to engage us in this endless culture war," he said.

O'Brien, whose group supports access to contraception and abortion, said Obama presented Catholic voters with a social justice agenda they can support. (FOX politics)

"Extreme uber-Catholics" - hey, I like the sound of that!

"American Papist: Extreme Uber-Catholic." =)

The Story of a Modern-Day Exorcist
By Gilbert Cruz Monday, Mar. 16, 2009(TIME)

When he first heard about a Vatican-sponsored course on exorcism for priests, journalist Matt Baglio was intrigued by the idea of this ancient ritual taking place in the modern world. In his new book, The Rite, Baglio follows American priest Father Gary — sent to Rome to train as an exorcist — and his apprenticeship with Father Carmine. Baglio talked to TIME about belief, skeptical priests and the particulars of the exorcism ritual.

TIME: The thing that inspired this book was a class on exorcism. Tell me about it.
BAGLIO: I was a freelance journalist living in Rome and had heard about this course called Exorcism and the Prayer of Liberation. It was organized by the Legion of Christ and their school, the Regina Apostolorum, which is Vatican-affiliated. Not knowing anything about exorcism or if the Church even still believed in it, I was intrigued by the idea of a university-level course teaching priests about exorcism.

What were your first thoughts about the class? Did you think, Wait a minute, this is the 21st century. Why are we even still talking about exorcism?
Absolutely. My first thought was, Why is the church doing this class? Is it just a p.r. stunt? But then I saw that a lot of the course work itself was very theologically and historically based. None of it was practical, which is why Father Gary had to eventually go out and apprentice with a veteran exorcist, Father Carmine. The course would bring in experts — experts in satanic cults, experts in criminology, they even had a psychiatrist come in to talk to the priests about the differences between the various mental illnesses that could be confused for demonic possession vs. what the church says is actually demonic possession. (See photos of Pope Benedict XVI.)

As we understand more and more about multiple personalities, epilepsy, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, doesn't demonic possession get explained away?
There's a definite degree to which that's true. You can't deny the fact that many illnesses in the past were misunderstood. The church has to be very careful about confusing mental illness with demonic possession.

When you started the book, did you lean one way or another in terms of whether or not you believed in the possibility of exorcism?
I came at this topic very journalistically, not having an opinion for or against it. I wanted to really understand what it is and why the church still believes in it. But even exorcists themselves admit that 90% of the people that come to see them don't need an exorcism. There still remains a small percentage of cases, however, involving levitation, mind-reading and other paranormal phenomena that can't be explained through science. Maybe one day.

You write about how most priests don't even like to talk about exorcism, that they find the idea distasteful. Why is that?
There's a lot of taboo when it comes to the devil and evil itself. Parishioners don't want to hear about Satan and evil and sin. Father Gary, he's in his 50s, and he was ordained in the late '70s. During that period, you had a lot of turmoil in conjunction with Vatican II shaking up the church and getting rid of many very old traditions, the Latin mass and those sorts of things. But you have to look at priests themselves as being creatures of their environment. Coupled with that were all this these new psychoanalytical approaches that were uncovering a lot of things that in the past were considered to be in the realm of the spiritual. I think a lot of priests saw that and said, Let's just keep becoming more modern and more open and don't worry about all these "medieval things."

And as a result, many exorcists are marginalized within the church.
I had priests tell me that their superiors belittled the fact that they were exorcists. Interestingly, though, the newer generation of priests are more responsive to the reality of the devil, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that John Paul II was and Pope Benedict XVI is a little more conservative, so the younger seminarians are a little less apt to ridicule. The older priests of Father Gary's generation didn't want to talk about it.

So how is a priest supposed to figure out that an exorcism is warranted? How do they judge who is and who isn't a worthy candidate?
The ritual stipulates that there are three signs that the priest has to look for: abnormal strength, the ability to understand unknown languages and the knowledge of hidden things. But they're very arbitrary, even those things. So they have to be in concert with something else. And typically what priests look for is what they call the aversion to the sacred, which is a person's inability to pray, to say the name of Jesus or Mary, to even look at the priest. Typically, when the person comes to see them, it's the last thing they want to do. They tend to have gone to see many doctors in search of a medical cure for whatever is afflicting them. They don't believe that the problem is demonic. They don't come in and say, "Father, I'm being attacked by demons. You need to pray over me." When someone says that to them, the priests immediately discounts that the problem is demonic.

So what happens during the exorcism rite?
The ritual, as its written, has several different stages to it. You say the litany of saints, you read the Gospel, you say a homily. The priest is allowed to bring in other elements if he wants to — the renewal of the baptismal vows, for example. But at the core of it are the exorcism prayers themselves, which are composed of the imperative and the depreciatory. The depreciatory involves the exorcist entreating God — "God, come down and bless this person." The imperative is the command, "I command you to leave this person." If you were to do the whole thing from start to finish, it would take out about an hour. But none of the priests that I followed in Rome do it like that. Almost all of them get rid of everything except the exorcism prayers. And the reason they do that is because they don't have time. They have a waiting room of 20 people. That's one day. The next day they have another 20 people.

Most of the exorcisms that Father Gary witnesses are fairly low-key. What happens during the dramatic ones?
If an exorcist sees 100 people, there are only going to be 2 or 3 that are dramatic. And I would characterize those as being when the person actually speaks to the exorcist. Quite often they'll be burping or belching or coughing or yawning. There's moaning and screaming too. But in the stronger cases, in almost every instance, you'll have the voice. The person will speak in a demonic voice, and they'll say things like, "This person belongs to us," "You have no power over us," "You can't defeat us." They are usually very dramatic in the sense that the person will be screaming at the top of their lungs. There can also be shaking. Picture a person sitting in a chair with their arms sticking straight out, their legs sticking straight out, convulsing. That's common.

But usually, the more dramatic cases deal with people who are screaming, using their voice, shoving and punching, getting up, smacking their head against the wall — just very violent. And that voice is beyond a simple mimic of a strange voice. It's very uncanny, very unnatural. And then, of course, there's vomiting, which is common. Father Carmine saw a case where a woman vomited up a small black toad that was still alive. He went to catch it, and it dissolved into saliva. I had another priest who I talked to who dealt with a woman who vomited up seven little black nails, six of which dissolved into this black liquid. Father Carmine saw a woman vomiting up buckets of human sperm.

Don't you think that regardless of your book or the testimonials by these priests, there are many people who aren't going to believe that exorcism is valid?
For people to just outright discount it is a little premature. I think that there's clearly something going on here. Even if you don't believe in the devil, how do you explain the paranormal? I would dearly love if science could really explain some of these things, but until then, the question is just too big to ignore.

Condoms, the Pope & Africa
The Catholic Church's opposition to condom use has long been a target of AIDS activists. I recall a friend of mine arguing that Pope John Paul II was responsible for the deaths of millions of people in the developing worth who had died of AIDS.
"Why is the pope responsible? I asked, somewhat bemused.
"Because he rejects the use of condoms," my friend replied. "So if some guy is infected with AIDS, he won't use a condom with his wife, and then she'll become infected."
"But the pope is also opposed to adultery," I told my friend. "if that guy won't follow the pope on adultery, why would he pay any attention to John Paul regarding condom use?' My friend agreed I had a point.

Today, the New York Times takes Pope Benedict XVI to task for arguing that a condom campaigns designed to curb the spread of HIV/AIDs may actually increase it.

"Pope Benedict XVI has every right to express his opposition to the use of condoms on moral grounds, in accordance with the official stance of the Roman Catholic Church. But he deserves no credence when he distorts scientific findings about the value of condoms in slowing the spread of the AIDS virus.

"As reported on Tuesday by journalists who accompanied the pope on his flight to Africa, Benedict said that distribution of condoms would not resolve the AIDS problem but, on the contrary, would aggravate or increase it. The first half of his statement is clearly right. Condoms alone won’t stop the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. Campaigns to reduce the number of sexual partners, safer-sex practices and other programs are needed to bring the disease to heel.

"But the second half of his statement is grievously wrong. There is no evidence that condom use is aggravating the epidemic and considerable evidence that condoms, though no panacea, can be helpful in many circumstances."

What, exactly, did Pope Benedict says about the use of condoms? Fox News reports that the pontiff said something quite simple: "You can't resolve it [HIV/AIDS] with the distribution of condoms," the pontiff told reporters abroad the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

In fact, though you wouldn't know if from reading the New York Times, the jury is out regarding the efficacy of condom use to curb the HIV/AIDS infection rate in Africa.

Here's a National Review piece about one expert's decision to challenge the establishment line on HIV/AIDS prevention. "Rethinking AIDs Prevention: Learning from Successes in Developing Countries" by Edward C. Green, senior research scientist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, suggests that the entire field of AIDS prevention needs to be thoroughly deconstructed. First, he argues that the promotion of condoms in Africa has actually increased the spread of AIDS, and that the majority of Africans need to hear a public health message that emphasizes behavior change.

Last year, in First Things, Green made the additional observation that faith-based efforts have been--and should be part of the solution:

"If AIDS prevention is to be based on evidence rather than ideology or bias, then fidelity and abstinence programs need to be at the center of programs for general populations. Outside Uganda, we have few good models of how to promote fidelity, since attempts to advocate deep changes in behavior have been almost entirely absent from programs supported by the major Western donors and by AIDS celebrities. Yet Christian churches—indeed, most faith communities—have a comparative advantage in promoting the needed types of behavior change, since these behaviors conform to their moral, ethical, and scriptural teachings. What the churches are inclined to do anyway turns out to be what works best in AIDS prevention."

If condoms don't work, why do AIDS experts continue to maintain the condom drumbeat? According to Green the early decision to make condom promotion the centerpiece of an AIDS prevention campaign arose from the fact that the initial outbreak of the virus in the West occurred in a hedonistic gay community: condom promotion was the only option. According to Green, that community was deeply resistant to alternative messages regarding abstinence and monogamy.

The situation on the ground in Africa, however, incorporates a radically different mindset and social context. While heavy condom promotion may be the only -- if imperfect -- option for individuals engaging in high risk behavior, such as prostitutes and their clients, the typical African is free to consider other choices -- including abstinence and monogamy.

Dr. Norman Hearst, Professor of Family Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco explored this issue at a 2007 hearing at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Dr. Hearst summarized the results of a recent study on the relationship between condom use and public health outcomes in both high risk groups and in people caught up in a "generalized epidemic"-- as in much of Africa. Here is what he said:

"We then looked at whether condom promotion has been successful as a public health strategy – something very different from individual effectiveness. Here we found good evidence for effectiveness in concentrated epidemics. For example, condoms made an important contribution to controlling HIV among gay men in places like San Francisco and epidemics driven by commercial sex in places like Thailand.

"We then looked for evidence of a public health impact for condoms in generalized epidemics. To our surprise, we couldn’t find any. No generalized HIV epidemic has ever been rolled back by a prevention strategy based primarily on condoms. Instead, the few successes in turning around generalized HIV epidemics, such as in Uganda, were achieved not through condoms but by getting people to change their sexual behavior."

Hearst reports that his findings have been confirmed in other studies:

"These are not just our conclusions. A recent consensus statement in The Lancet was endorsed by 150 AIDS experts, including Nobel laureates, the president of Uganda, and officials of most international AIDS organizations. This statement endorses the ABC approach to AIDS prevention: Abstinence, Be faithful, and Condoms. It goes further. It says that in generalized epidemics, the priority for adults should be B (limiting one’s number of partners). The priority for young people should be A (not starting sexual activity too soon.) C (condoms) should be the main emphasis only in settings of concentrated transmission, like commercial sex.

Halperin DT, Steiner MJ, Cassell MM, Green EC, Hearst N, Kirby D, Gayle HD, Cates W. The time has come for common ground on preventing sexual transmission of HIV. Lancet 2004; 364: 1913-1915."

Postscript: Here's an article published in the British left-wing paper, The Guardian that provides a surprisingly balanced view of the pope's remarks and the conclusions of studies on AIDS prevention. One point in this article is that even if research trials proved that condoms were effective in curbing the transmission of AIDS, the reality is that access to condoms is sharply limited in poor countries, while behavior change is actually more manageable.

National Review Online posted a great article explaining the Pope's/church's thinking on condoms.

"Pope: Priests need True sense of Vatican II"
LONDON (UK Catholic Herald) - Pope Benedict XVI called for a young generation of priests who embrace a "correct" interpretation of the Second Vatican Council as he announced a "year for priests" on Monday.

Continuing the work of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in consolidating the work of the Council, the Pope explicitly supported Vatican II's reforms but insisted that they should not be exaggerated or understood as a complete rupture with the past. He also said that lay structures could not replace the ministry of the priesthood.

His comments coincided with the announcement of a year for priests beginning on June 19 and marking the 150th anniversary of St John Vianney, patron saint of the clergy. He told the Congregation for the Clergy that an indispensable struggle for moral perfection must dwell in every priestly heart. The Pope warned Church leaders against creating lay structures as solutions to a vocations crisis.

He said: "The centrality of Christ leads to a correct valuation of priestly ministry, without which there would be no Eucharist, no mission, not even the Church.

"It is necessary, then, to ensure that 'new structures' or pastoral organisations are not planned for a time in which it will be possible to 'do without' ordained ministry, on the basis of an erroneous interpretation of the promotion of the laity, because this would lay the foundations for a further dilution in priestly ministry, and any supposed 'solutions' would, in fact, dramatically coincide with the real causes of the problems currently affecting the ministry."

Pope Benedict stressed the sacramental nature of the ordained priesthood. "The missionary dimension of the priest arises from his sacramental configuration to Christ the head", he said, which requires "total adherence to what ecclesial tradition has identified as apostolica vivendi forma, which consists in participation... in that 'new way of life' which was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus and which the Apostles made their own."

Benedict XVI also underlined the importance of priestly formation and called for a younger generation of priests to be encouraged towards a "correct reading of the texts of the Vatican Council, interpreted in the light of all the Church's doctrinal inheritance".

He urged priests to be "present, identifiable and recognisable for their judgment of faith, personal virtues and attire - in the fields of culture and of charity which have always been at the heart of the Church's mission".

The Pope added that the priesthood is indispensable to the Church. Explaining the different dimensions essential to the mission of the priesthood, he named the ecclesial, communial, hierarchical and doctrinal aspects.

St John Vianney's relics will be brought to St Peter's Basilica by the Bishop Guy Bagnard of Belley-Ars to inaugurate the celebrations and the Pope will close the year by presiding over a "world meeting of priests" in St Peter's Square.

To mark the year for priests, which has "Faithfulness of Christ, Faithfulness of Priests" as its theme, the Congregation for Clergy will promote spiritual and pastoral exercises to highlight the role of the clergy in the modern world. Pope Benedict will also publish a collection of texts which deal with the aspects of the life and mission of priests in the modern world.

This year's Annuario Pontificio indicated a gradual increase in the number of vocations to the priesthood, although the number of vocations has been on a steady decline.

Priests and their habits
CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULA — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 12:30 pm

Fewer garment have been more hated by modernists and progressivists than the cassock.

In Rome, it is particular law that priests, first and foremost, should wear the cassock. This was affirmed even in the 1980’s when Card. Poletti was the Vicar.

In the Directory for Priests the cassock is given first as the manner of dress especially in administration of the sacraments and other duties.

In the USA it would not the custom for secular priests to wear the cassock on the street. It was once the Church’s particular law in the USA for priests rather to wear the frock coat (secular dress) outside the parish or place of work. In England, I believe it is still illegal for Catholic priests to wear the cassock on the street.

This is in from ANSA. My emphases:

Pope asks priests to smarten up
Clerics should be more ‘recognisable’

(ANSA) – Vatican City, March 17 – Priests are under pressure to smarten up their wardrobes after Pope Benedict XVI made an apparent dig at members of the clergy who have been dressing rather too casually.

Declaring a ‘year of the priest’ that will begin on June 19 in a bid to encourage ‘’spiritual perfection’’ among clerics, the pope stressed that priests should be ‘’present, identifiable and recognisable for their faith, their personal virtues and their attire’‘.

According to Naples-based ecclesiastical outfitters Mastranzo, the pontiff has a point.

‘’Around 30% of priests dress in a (casual) scruffy manner and don’t even pay attention to the colour of their clothes,’’ a spokesman told Italian daily La Repubblica.

Of the remaining better-dressed clerics, around 40% opt for the black trousers, jacket and shirt with a dog collar combination, while the remaining 30% choose to wear ankle-length cassocks, which should be topped with a tri-crested hat. [An Italian nickname for the biretta is "tricorno", which is where that "tri-crested" comes from. However, the priest may also wear the practical "cappello romano"or "saturno"]

Mastranzo said that there has been a recent upturn in requests for cassocks, which are especially favoured by religious members of the Opus Dei and the Legion of Christ orders. [ugh… no need to mention either of them. I think this is more a young diocesan seminarian and younger priest phenomenon.]

Bardiconi, an outfitters in Rome, said the tradition-loving pontiff’s influence has already made itself felt among customers.

‘’With the new pope we had already noted a certain return to the classic look and a drop in casual clothes,’’ it said.

Sales of cassocks have been going up at Easter and Christmas, according to the shop, which said that a good cassock could last a priest ‘’up to 20 years‘’. [When it is well-made, tailored, not the sort of rubbish one usually finds made in the USA.]



There is a connection between the word "habit" (stable interior disposition) and "habit" (distinctive clothing).

Clothes don’t make the man? Clothes make the man?

The Pope's worst enemies are Catholics

It's payback time for Pope Benedict XVI's most dedicated enemies, who are not militant secularists, hate-crazed Muslims, diehard Protestants or the liberal media. The people who most dislike the Pope are Catholics, or people who have the nerve to describe themselves as such.

The Pope needs to be protected from Catholics

We learned this morning that "Vatican insiders" consider Benedict XVI "a disaster". It's true. They do think that. He's a disaster for them, and their determination to turn the Catholic Church into a touchy-feely forum in which uncomfortable teachings and traditions are "modernised" to impress non-Catholics. Until the Williamson affair, the media weren't sufficiently interested in attacking Benedict XVI to be useful. But now, after that own goal... YES!!!

Take the furore over condoms. I don't think the Pope should have strayed into the topic of condoms and Aids, but what he said didn't represent a hardening of the Church's line on this subject. Post-Williamson, however, the liberal media have slipped back into anti-papal default mode, which suits certain "Catholics" just fine. Consider this piece by a creep called Robert S McElvaine, Professor of Arts & Letters at Millsaps College. "Impeach the Pope," he screeched in the Washington Post Online.

The Church's opposition to birth control is largely an outgrowth of its all-male composition and those males' attempts to degrade women's physical powers by asserting that women and the intercourse into which they supposedly tempt men are necessary evils ("It is well for a man not to touch a woman," Paul instructed the Christians of Corinth), the only purpose of which is procreation ... Let's start a movement within the Catholic Church to impeach Pope Benedict XVI and remove him from office. While we're at it, let's replace him with a woman.

Rant, rant, rant. But this is the most preposterous bit: "I am a Catholic and the idea that such a man is God's spokesperson [yes, "spokesperson"] on earth is absurd to me." Actually, Professor, if you're a Catholic you should know that Benedict can be God's spokesman and hold views unaccaptable to the religion page of the Washington Post... but there's no point in arguing.

The point is that Benedict's most relentless critics, the ones who are determined to extract every last ounce of rhetorical advantage from his predicament, are liberal Catholics. These days, for example, I can hardly bear to visit Andrew Sullivan's brilliant website because he has constructed a caricature of a gay-bashing fundamentalist Pope that collapses as soon as you read what Joseph Ratzinger has actually written. And as for the Tablet crowd, they will be just quivering with Schadenfreude right now.

All of which makes it even more urgent that the Vatican press office is completely reconstructed. In allowing a question about condoms to be asked aboard the papal plane, Fr Lombardi screwed up spectacularly. He should go. The Pope needs a far more subtle and ingenious media spokesman - if only to protect him from his fellow Catholics.

Rumor: John Paul II to be beatified on April 2, 2010?
CNA (website seems to be having problems today):

Pope John Paul II could be beatified on April 2, 2010, according to a report in the Polish newspaper Dziennik, which claims the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints has already made the decision.

At the beginning of this month, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow said the beatification process of Pope John Paul II was about to be concluded and that Benedict XVI himself wanted to close the process “as soon as possible” because that “is what the world is asking for.”

The beatification process of John Paul II began on June 28, 2005, two months after the death of the Pontiff thanks to a dispensation granted by Pope Benedict. The dispensation waived the normal five-year waiting period after a person dies that the Church requires before a cause for canonization can be opened.

April 2nd, of course, would be the fifth anniversary of the late Holy Father's passing.

"Pope Urges Argentine Bishops to Promote Vocations"
Notes Challenges of Religious, Priestly, Married States

From ZENIT
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 17, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is urging Argentine bishops to promote vocations to the priesthood by supporting solid family structures and encouraging youth ministry.

The Pope said this Saturday in an audience with bishops on their five-yearly visit to Rome.

He told them, "The essential role carried out by priests will lead you to make a great effort to promote priestly vocations."

The Pontiff added, "In this regard, it would be appropriate to project a more incisive program of matrimonial and family pastoral care, which takes into account the Christian's vocational dimension, as well as a more audacious program of youth pastoral care, which will help young people to respond with generosity to God's call to them."

Thirty-one Argentine bishops, headed by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, primate of the country, listened to the Holy Father's words in the Vatican apostolic palace. That morning and on previous days, the Pope met personally with each bishop.

Benedict XVI reviewed the unique challenges facing each state of life in the Church -- bishops, priests, religious and laity -- and also appealed to the bishops to carry out "an effective and exacting discernment of the candidates to sacred orders."

At the same time, he continued, "it is necessary to intensify the formation of seminarians in all their dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual, emotional and pastoral."

The Pope urged the Argentine bishops to intensify their mutual unity, which will be a "source of consolation in the grave commitment entrusted to you."

He continued, "Thanks to this affective and effective collegiality, no bishop is alone, because he is always closely united to Christ, Good Shepherd, and also, in virtue of his episcopal ordination and of the hierarchical communion, to his brothers in the episcopate and to him whom the Lord has chosen as successor of Peter."

The Pontiff asked the bishops to be close to their priests, "with the love of a father and brother."

He exhorted the prelates to be very charitable and prudent "when you have to correct teachings, attitudes or behavior that are unworthy of the priestly condition of your closest collaborators and which can, moreover, harm and confuse the faith and Christian life of the faithful."

He noted that "it is extremely important to recognize, appreciate and motivate the participation of religious in the diocesan evangelizing activity, which they enrich with the contribution of their respective charisms."

The Holy Father spoke about the lay faithful who "in virtue of their baptism, are called to cooperate in the building of the Body of Christ." He added, "To do so they must be led to have a more lively experience of Jesus Christ and of the mystery of his love."

Argentina has just over 40 million inhabitants of which approximately 92% are Catholics -- though less than 20% are practicing -- 2% are Protestants, 2% are Jews and 4% belong to other denominations.

"Pope: missionary activity "intrinsic" to the life of the priest"
From AsiaNews

Benedict XVI has proclaimed a Year for Priests, which will begin next June 19. During the year, he will proclaim St. John M. Vianney "Patron of all priests of the world." A "Directory for Confessors and Spiritual Directors" will be published, as well as a collection of texts by Benedict XVI on the essential themes of priestly life and mission in the present era.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Benedict XVI has proclaimed a special Year for Priests, during which he will proclaim Saint John M. Vianney (the Curé of Ars) "Patron of all the priests of the world." The pope himself made the announcement today, to participants in the plenary meeting of the Congregation for the Clergy, received in audience.

The speech to the Vatican dicastery for the clergy was also an opportunity, for Benedict XVI, for some statements about priests, beginning with the statement that missionary activity is "intrinsic" to priestly life, for which "there is an essential apostolic mandate: 'Go out into the whole world and preach the Gospel to all creation' (Mk. 16:15)." This distinguishes "ontologically" the mission of the priest from that of the lay Christian, in that for the priest the missionary dimension "arises from his sacramental configuration to Christ the Head." Because of this, on the one hand, there is a "necessary, even indispensable tension toward moral perfection, which must inhabit every authentically priestly heart," and on the other hand the necessity of the ministerial priesthood, without which there would not be the Eucharist, nor even the mission or the Church itself. "In this sense," the pope added, "it is necessary to be careful that new pastoral structures or organizations are not designed in view of a time when one will have to 'do without' the ordained ministry, departing from an erroneous interpretation of the proper promotion of the laity, because in this case the presuppositions would be put in place for a further dilution of the ministerial priesthood and the eventual presumed 'solutions' would dramatically coincide with the real causes of the contemporary problems connected to the ministry."

The mission of the priest "is carried out 'in the Church'. This dimension of ecclesiality, communion, hierarchy and doctrine is absolutely indispensable to any authentic mission, and alone guarantees its spiritual efficacy. The four aspects mentioned must always be recognized as being intimately correlated: mission is 'ecclesial' because no one proclaims or conveys himself, but within and through his own humanity every priest must be well aware of convening an Other, God himself, to the world. God is the only treasure that men ultimately want to find in a priest. Mission means 'communion' because it takes place in a unity and communion that only secondarily has significant aspects of social visibility. Moreover, these derive essentially from that divine intimacy in which the priest is called to be an expert, in order to be able to lead, with humility and trust, the souls entrusted to him to the same encounter with the Lord. Finally, the dimensions of 'hierarchy' and 'doctrine' suggest a reiteration of the importance of ecclesial discipline (a term related to 'disciple') and initial, permanent doctrinal formation, and not only theological.

The pope emphasized this last point both in order to stress the necessity of the permanent formation of the priest, and, in this regard, to reaffirm that the necessary interpretation of Vatican Council II must be made within the Church's tradition, and not as a "novelty" detached from it. "Mission," he said, in fact, "has its roots in a special way in good formation, developed in communion with the uninterrupted ecclesial tradition, without ruptures or temptations of discontinuity. In this sense, it is important to foster among priests, especially in the young generations, a correct reception of the texts of the Ecumenical Council Vatican II, interpreted in the light of the entire doctrinal heritage of the Church."

It appears equally urgent "to recover that awareness which drives priests to be present, identifiable, and recognizable for their judgment in faith, their personal virtues, and even their dress, in the areas of culture and charity, always at the heart of the Church's mission."

The pope, finally, will take part, at the closing of the Year for Priests - which begins next June 19 - in a "World Encounter of Priests" in St. Peter's Square, on June 19, 2010. During the Year for Priests, a "Directory for Confessors and Spiritual Directors" will also be published, together with a collection of texts by Benedict XVI on essential topics of priestly life and mission in the present era.

"Pope Cautions Against Dilution of Priestly Ministry"
Encourages Solid Doctrinal Education Among Clergy

From Zenit

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 16, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is affirming the importance of the ministerial priesthood in the Church, and is calling for greater attention to the education of clergy.

The Pope said this today during an audience with participants of the Congregation for Clergy's plenary assembly, a Vatican communiqué reported. In this meeting, he also announced his intention to convoke a Year for Priests, beginning June 19, on the occasion of 150th anniversary of the death of the Curé of Ars.

The Pontiff cautioned his audience against confusing the baptismal and ministerial priesthood, stating that the two are distinguished on an ontological level, rather than by a variance in degrees. The second dimension, he said, "arises from [the priest's] sacramental configuration to Christ the Head."

This configuration, he noted, "brings with it, as a consequence, a cordial and total adherence to what ecclesial tradition has identified as 'apostolica vivendi forma,' which consists in participation in that 'new way of life' that was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus and which the Apostles made their own."

The Holy Father urged the bishops to ensure that "the 'new structures' or pastoral organizations are not planned for a time in which it will be possible to 'do without' ordained ministry, on the basis of an erroneous interpretation of the promotion of the laity, because this would lay the foundations for a further dilution in priestly ministry, and any supposed 'solutions' would, in fact, dramatically coincide with the real causes of the problems currently affecting the ministry."

He also admonished them to cultivate a "truly paternal" relationship with the priests, and to concern themselves with "their permanent education, above all in the doctrinal area."

The Pope stressed the importance of the ministry, without which "there would be no Eucharist, no mission, not even the Church" and he recalled that the mission of the priest "has its roots in a special way in a good formation, carried out in communion with unbroken ecclesial Tradition, without pausing or being tempted by discontinuity."

"In this regard," he continued, "it is important to encourage priests, especially the young generations, to correctly read the texts of the Second Vatican Council, interpreted in the light of all the Church's doctrinal inheritance."

Visibility

The Pontiff spoke about the urgent need for priests to be "present, identifiable and recognizable -- for their judgment of faith, personal virtues and attire -- in the fields of culture and of charity which have always been at the heart of the Church's mission."

He said the mission of the priest concerns the Church, communion, hierarchy and doctrine, and added that these aspects should not be separated.

He explained: "The mission is ecclesial because no one announces or brings themselves, but rather in and through his own humanity, every priest should be very conscious of bringing Another, God himself, to the world. God is the only treasure that, definitively, mankind wishes to find in a priest."

The Holy Father said the mission concerns communion "because it takes place in a unity and communion which only at a secondary level possess important aspects of social visibility. These, moreover, are derived essentially from that divine intimacy of which the priest is called to be an expert, so that he can bring, with confidence and humility, the souls entrusted to him to the same meeting with the Lord."

He said that "the 'hierarchical' and 'doctrinal' dimensions emphasize the importance of ecclesiastical discipline -- a term related to that of 'disciple' -- and of doctrinal -- not just theological, initial and permanent -- formation."

The Pope concluded by urging those present to discover the centrality of Jesus Christ who gives meaning and value to the ministerial priesthood.

He added, "As Church and as priests we announce Jesus of Nazareth, Lord and Christ, crucified and risen, Sovereign of time and history, in the joyful certainty that this truth coincides with the deepest hopes of the human heart."

"Better awareness of all vocations will lead to more priests, pope says"
From Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The key to increasing the number of candidates for the priesthood is helping all Catholics -- including married couples and youths -- understand that God is calling them to serve him and the church in a special way, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Meeting 30 bishops from Argentina March 14, the pope called for "a more incisive pastoral program for marriage and family life" that emphasizes that each Christian has a specific vocation and for "a bolder youth ministry that helps the young to respond with generosity to God's call."

The bishops were making their "ad limina" visits to report on the status of their dioceses.

"The fundamental role that priests play should lead you to undertake a great effort to promote priestly vocations," the pope told them.

Pope Benedict said the fatherly attitude of love and encouragement that must characterize a bishop's relationship to his priests is even more important in situations where a priest is in difficulty.

"I exhort you to demonstrate charity and prudence when you must correct teachings, attitudes or behaviors that are not fitting for the priestly character of your closest collaborators and that also can damage and confuse the Christian faith and life of the faithful," the pope told them.

The church in Argentina will grow and thrive if all the faithful are helped to have a "living experience of Jesus Christ and the mystery of his love," the pope said.

"Constant contact with the Lord through an intense life of prayer and an adequate spiritual and doctrinal formation will increase in Christians the pleasure of believing and celebrating their faith and their joy at belonging to the church, leading them to participate actively in the mission of proclaiming the good news to all," the pope said.

Outrageous: Take them at their word - Excommunicate them.
How Robert S. McElvaine slunk his way into a Washington Post's "On Faith" column I'll never know. Unless the column is a joke.
McElvaine's entry ("impeach the pope") sure is laughable and - I would argue - actionable. It's clearly offensive. Some quotes:

"Amid all the justified outrage we all feel at Bernie Madoff and the AIG bandits, let us save some intense outrage for Pope Benedict XVI."

"I am a Catholic and the idea that such a man [as Pope Benedict] is God's spokesperson on earth is absurd to me."

"Let's start a movement within the Catholic Church to impeach Pope Benedict XVI and remove him from office. While we're at it, let's replace him with a woman.
He reversed the excommunication of a Holocaust denier. Will he excommunicate me for pointing out that he is a misogyny denier?
If this be heresy, make the most of it."

Well heck, fine with me. Excommunicate him if that's his wish. He's certainly guilty of being an idiot.
Plus he has insulted a figure beloved by literally hundreds of millions of people. Plus he's ignorant of basic truths of historical fact, demonstrating absolutely no good will or honest desire to verify his libelous claims about the Catholic Church in the process. Plus he does all of this as a Catholic - causing grave scandal to the faithful.

"On Faith" should be embarrassed to welcome such malevolent contributions.

And while we're at it, let's add another to the excommunication docket:

The pope's comment was "irresponsible and dangerous", said Jon O'Brien, head of Catholics for Choice, adding that "few Catholics and even fewer medical personnel agree with his stance." (AFP) [More damning evidence here.]

At least O'Brien is bought and paid for, McElvaine is trying to draw attention to his new anti-Catholic book.

Was Pope Benedict misquoted on condoms in Africa? Maybe not.
Damian Thompson proposes that he was:

The Vatican has just published its transcript of the Pope's comments about AIDS in Africa and it turns out he said that condoms risk making the problem worse.

Maybe it doesn't make much difference, but the English-speaking press had the Pope saying that it "even aggravates the problems". Not quite the same resonance; not as headline-worthy.

The CNS blog meanwhile reports on a clarification issued by Vatican spokesman Fr. Lombardi, this after CNS's own John Thavis claimed Pope Benedict to have said the distribution of condoms "only increases the problem of AIDS."
... now, this is not the end of the story. Here's why:
The Vatican press office has royally flubbed its handling of these situations before.
I remember breathing a sigh of relief last year during the pope's in-flight interview on his way to the United States that nothing went wrong, because things did go wrong in 2003 during the pope's in-flight interview on his way to Brazil. The Vatican press office's solution was to issue a toned-down version of the pope's remarks about Mexican lawmakers the next day.
The Vatican press office might have decided to apply that same solution today. Especially since, from what I've seen, Fr. Lombardi has not specifically claimed that the mainstream media's reporting of the pope's words was in fact erroneous.
One thing we can be sure about: because the Vatican has denied claims made by the mainstream media about what the pope actually said, you can bet that the mainstream media sources are going to go back to their audio/video recordings of the interview and double-check what he said.
So be prepared - possibly - for an audio or video clip of the Pope, well, misspeaking.
Then again, this could just be media bias. Time will tell. Stay tuned. And be aware of the history, too.
update: Ruth Gledhill agrees about the comments (though I don't agree with her about condoms).
update 2: sure enough.... "It looks like some idiot in the Vatican press office tampered with the Pope's quotes. Time for sackings"

A surprise book from Pope Benedict on Saint Paul?
AmP reader Heidi notified me about this soon-to-be released title by Pope Benedict which had escaped my notice. We are, of course, in the Year of Saint Paul. Maybe an appropriate Easter gift?



Saint Paul by Pope Benedict XVI

"In this book, Pope Benedict XVI, a profound spiritual leader in his own right and a first-rate theologian and Bible commentator, explores the legacy of Paul. Pope Benedict follows the course of the Apostle s life, including his missionary journeys and his relationship with the other apostles of Jesus such as St. Peter and St. James, and Paul s martyrdom in Rome. Benedict also examines such questions as: Did Paul know Jesus during his earthly life and how much of Jesus teaching and ministry did he know of? Did Paul distort the teachings of Jesus? What role did Jesus death and resurrection play in Paul s teaching? What are we to make of Paul s teaching about the end of the world? What does Paul s teaching say about the differences between Catholic and Protestant Christians over salvation and the roles of faith and works in the Christian life? How have modern Catholic and Protestant scholars come together in their understanding of Paul? What does Paul have to teach us today about living a spiritual life?"

Here is a short review of the book. It's currently #329 on Amazon - let's give it a boost!

40% of US Births were out-of-wedlock in 2007
The stats:

The birth rate rose slightly for women of all ages, and births to unwed mothers reached an all-time high of about 40 percent, continuing a trend begun years ago. More than three-quarters of these women were 20 or older.

... Meanwhile, U.S. abortions have been dropping to their lowest levels in decades, according to other reports. Some have attributed the abortion decline to better use of contraceptives, but other experts have wondered if the rise in births might indicate a failure in proper use of contraceptives. Some earlier studies have shown declining availability of abortions.

... Cesarean section deliveries continue to rise, now accounting for almost a third of all births. Health officials say that rate is much higher than is medically necessary.

"It's the tiniest of baby booms," said Morgan in agreement. "This is not an earthquake; it's a slight tremor."

Papal comment on condoms and AIDS sparks criticism
Back in October, when the Pope's visit to Africa was first announced, I predicted three things I believed would make their way into the mainstream media's talking points about the trip. I'll repeat my second prediction:

* "The Church's prohibition against condoms is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis (false)"

Sure enough, on the airplane to Africa yesterday, this was one of the first questions asked of the pope, if the Church's approach to HIV/AIDS is "unrealistic and ineffective". Here's how the pope responded:

"It is my belief believe that the most effective presence on the front in the battle against HIV/AIDS is in fact the Catholic Church and her institutions. ... The problem of HIV/AIDS cannot be overcome with mere slogans. If the soul is lacking, if Africans do not help one another, the scourge cannot be resolved by distributing condoms; quite the contrary, we risk worsening the problem. The solution can only come through a twofold commitment: firstly, the humanisation of sexuality, in other words a spiritual and human renewal bringing a new way of behaving towards one another; and secondly, true friendship, above all with the suffering, a readiness - even through personal sacrifice - to stand by those who suffer".

And now, the deluge of outcry which I predicted:

* Reuters: Vatican defends pope condoms stand, criticism mounts
* CNN Commentary from Roland S. Martin: Pope wrong on condoms
* Background from the CDC: How Effective Are Latex Condoms in Preventing HIV?

Unfortunately I don't have the time at present to pursue the topic - hopefully I will later this evening.

But here's my quick punch-list of facts that people always seem to miss on this issue:

* In cases of rape, one can still "defend" oneself by using barrier-method contraception, so the Church isn't condemning exploited people to a deadly disease as well as sexual battery.
* The Church's teaching on the immorality of contraception is not dictated by scientific claims that condoms don't actually prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS - it's far deeper.
* The only people who listen to the Church's teaching against contraception are faithful, practicing Catholics, so one must wonder how much "progress" the Pope can be accused of holding back when just faithful, practicing Catholics are the ones listening to him.
* Following the last point, it's pretty clear that the secularist solution of throwing condoms at the HIV/AIDS scourge isn't working, and that an alternative solution which addresses the fundamental anthropological and cultural causes of HIV/AIDS transmission is required. The secularist solution is simply more science and medical technology, which isn't enough. {update: The city I live in is some proof of that}

George Pitcher at the UK Telegraph also mounts a defense, but again, I haven't had the chance to read it.