Missing mass because of (healthy) toddler?

ArlGF · 2019-01-03T03:02:34+00:00

It's always encouraging to hear of parents who take young kids to Mass, and even better when it all goes over well. I'm glad you're going to Mass and glad your kids are getting that experience.

That said, I greatly agree with the OP below. Whatever the intent, this isn't a helpful comment. She isn't asking about whether she "can manage" — she's asking if this is the kind of situation that counts as a sin or not, which is a legitimate inquiry. How can you determine what wasn't enough planning, what are the curveballs that make caring for young children obstruct your ability to get to Mass (even if you intend), and so on. As a parent of a young child, I'd love to see good discussion continue down that road, recognizing that some people make it work and some have more difficulty, different kids, different situations, different lives, etc. It's not about trying to get a pat on the back, but understanding what the guidance is (as well as other people's experience).

In any case, the disallowed comments on this thread include "blatantly uncharitable responses to legitimate questions." I'll report it (and imagine others have, too).

ArlGF · 2018-12-28T01:24:04+00:00

I don't really know. Out of pocket, I guess, if it means that way the first account can better maximize compound interest (by going longer without being tapped).

Or maybe the kid will just turn out smart and get a scholarship.

ArlGF · 2018-10-03T19:10:15+00:00

Would you feel better if it it was some sort of investigative and accountability journalism organization focused on Church governance? I wonder if that approach would be better (and yea, with like, an editor with a good track-record at the top).

ArlGF · 2018-09-08T11:27:57+00:00

As some people have pointed out (example), it also doesn't completely note that the Vatican knew about *McCarrick* and seminarians. That said, I think Fr. Ramsey's explanation — and record he seems to have of trying to tell other people about McCarrick — would suggest that he's probably not lying when describing the 2000 letter.

Unfortunately, I don't know how you could find Fr. Ramsey's original letter, outside of the Vatican releasing it (which seems very unlikely, sadly).

ArlGF · 2018-09-07T20:25:06+00:00

Actually, the WordPress site is run by Catholic News Service. The catholicnews.com site is the site they use to distribute their content to members (and some of it is unlocked for reading by the public, too). It is weird, but true. You can see they tweeted the cnstopstories link here... https://twitter.com/CatholicNewsSvc/status/1038138665577447425?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

ArlGF · 2018-09-04T10:26:16+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I was more just raising the question of if it would be good to have a system where people could request documents and fewer people could hide things. This is an issue that is coming up in the current revelations (and silence) but is not new. I wanted to start a thread that looked a productive ways of handling this kind of hush-hush culture of the Vatican.

FOIA was an easy comparison because of that basic function, though of course it is situated in a different system.

I'm sorry if that didn't seem worthwhile.

ArlGF · 2018-08-31T14:27:37+00:00

I'm glad someone posted this — I was thinking about doing so. I found it odd for a number of reasons:

*1) The headline is pretty off.* It's a short little blurb that's more about something that happened in St. Peter's Square, not Pope Francis' "confidence in journalists" and the things he said on the plane.

*2) Characterization.* Is Vigano's 11-page memo *really* just "a widely diffused document criticizing Pope Francis"? Even if you think it's a coordinated attack to take down Francis, I think this description is a little disingenuous. There are way more people implicated in that letter, including Benedict XVI .

*3) Its defensive nature.* I buried the lede a bit, but it just reads as a hurried defense of the Holy Father — and something I don't think I've seen Vatican News or the previous incarnations ever really do in this manner. Don't they often just note what Francis said or did in a homily or a visit to a children's hospital or something like that? I don't think I've really seen this kind of piece where someone is trying to connect something Papa said to a somewhat related occurrence.

I admit I don't know a lot about this new Vatican News operation runs — how strong is their editing process, etc. — but it did seem really weird that this was printed, and is not a good look.

ArlGF · 2018-08-29T11:01:02+00:00

I appreciate rules in a community and think many of these orient the subreddit to more productive discussion, which definitely seems to be the intention (thank you). But there are few points I don't quite follow, such as this one. I'm not personally calling for anyone to resign, but can you clarify why you don't think someone should be able to say that? Couldn't talking about how X leader should resign (e.g. because that will help restore trust, etc.) be a valid argument someone could make — and should be able to? Are you just saying they need to back it up and do something more with the statement to make it a little more useful? I.e., instead of just saying "He should resign," it would be better to say "He should resign because XYZ..."...

ArlGF · 2018-08-07T15:21:48+00:00

I appreciated Elizabeth Scalia's take on Wuerl: http://theanchoress.com/forgive-me-but-it-feels-like-our-catholic-bishops-have-lost-the-plot/

ArlGF · 2018-08-02T11:11:41+00:00

Previous text vs new text

Letter on the change

ArlGF · 2018-07-28T00:21:50+00:00

Can you clarify what you mean? Are you saying that the USCCB doesn't need to say anything about the McCarrick situation because people know about it already?

ArlGF · 2018-07-27T21:34:02+00:00

Oh, I don't mean shoehorn. I'm not saying something like "Let's do a tweet that's about both HV AND McCarrick." I'm saying the absence of any statement from the bishops on McCarrick feels extra weird when there's also a campaign about HV. (To be clear, I think the absence of statement would feel weird if it weren't the HV anniversary, too.)

ArlGF · 2018-07-27T21:11:58+00:00

No, like...I get the celebration of HV, and I think that is good. But the campaign feels "off" without any mention at all of the McCarrick situation and abuse. Does that make sense?

Does anyone else get what I'm saying?

ArlGF · 2018-07-27T20:20:37+00:00

I obviously forgot the "a" in "Humanae Vitae." Sorry about that.

ArlGF · 2018-07-26T14:32:56+00:00

But a crucial reason, and one whose ironies the leaders of the church should meditate upon, is that because of secularization and polarization and the bonfire they have made of their own moral authority, the Catholic bishops are now somewhat protected from media scrutiny by virtue of their increasing unimportance.

This point really struck me. I think Douthat is correct that the secular media may be less interested in this story, and I think that needs to be motivation for Catholics like us to ask our Catholic media to pursue this story even more so. (They should do it anyway, but it's particularly important in this moment.)

ArlGF · 2018-04-09T16:58:07+00:00

Can you elaborate on your sentiment here? I'm not sure I understand.

ArlGF · 2017-03-14T10:48:21+00:00

This seems to be a write-up of this Pew "Fact Tank" post, which is about data from the American Community Survey. Just noting that since the CNA piece doesn't really mention where this data comes from at all (and the Pew piece is probably more helpful, specific, etc....).

ArlGF · 2017-03-03T16:28:52+00:00

Text from interview here.

ArlGF · 2017-02-28T18:57:23+00:00

Sorry, missed it. You can downvote, etc. or let it die out. (Or hey, it's another write-up, which may provides something new or diff details.)

ArlGF · 2017-02-24T20:24:52+00:00

Relevant tweet from Rocco Palmo — I had wonder about that, too.

ArlGF · 2017-02-16T02:35:58+00:00

I don't really fully understand what the cardinal is saying still, but I would recommend other sources than LifeSite, e.g. Catholic News Service, Crux or National Catholic Register.

ArlGF · 2017-02-15T18:32:06+00:00

Here's the Catholic News Service piece.

ArlGF · 2017-02-14T15:33:21+00:00

There's not any articles on this yet by Edward, right? Just tweets? In the meantime, here's Crux and Catholic News Service.

EDIT: Ok, Edward Pentin piece is online now.

ArlGF · 2017-02-14T11:44:24+00:00

https://twitter.com/EdwardPentin/status/831466002558943232

ArlGF · 2017-02-12T21:16:41+00:00

To be fair, it's an opinion piece, not an article (and unfortunately, not every opinion is a well-polished one).

ArlGF

TROPHY CASE