Church Mutual Insurance Company

Jim Goodluck, a Catholic lawyer active in apologetics, posted the following to an e-mail list to which I subscribe, which I blog here with his permission:

I was reading a recent article by historian Dr. Philip Jenkins, mentioning that the Church Mutual Insurance Company has reported that it received over 700 claims from victims of sexual abuse by Protestant ministers during a 10 year period.

I do not recall reading in the newspapers, or anywhere else, of any prosecutor asking for these documents.

On the other hand, nearly every day, I see reports in the media of prosecutors demanding records from the Catholic church, of any accusations of sexual abuse by priests.

If you hear that your local prosecutor is demanding records from the Catholic Church, you might want to pass along that the Church Mutual Insurance Company might have some documents about Protestant clergy sex abuse that may be of interest for prosecutorial scrutiny.

P.S. For anyone wanting to pursue this, the address of the Church Mutual Insurance Company can be found on this page:

http:// www . churchmutual . com / contact

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 12/09/02 03:51:31 PM
Categorized as Religious.

Announcement of Latest Issue of The View from the Core

The View from the Core Volume 2.14, 12/09/02, is now available.

Front Page: Featured Webpages: 45 links posted, 9 new. Featured Websites: 135 links posted, 3 new.

Poetry: "Dies Irae" (Sir Walter Scott), "If He Should Come" (Lilith Lorraine) , "The Masked Ball" (Wilson MacDonald), "Advent Hymn" (Jeremy Taylor), "Advent" (Eric Milner-White).

Prose: "The End of the Work" (Dorothy Sayers).

Photography: September 11: The View From Space 3 of 6 (Images Courtesy Space Imaging):

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 12/09/02 01:45:32 PM
Categorized as Other.

Aha!

Now the Howellization of Augusta National makes sense to me.

Sometimes, your Faithful Blogster is a little too slow on the uptake. Sorry.

I don't think I've blogged anything about the Howellization* of the male-only membership policy of August National. (For some background, see this article, for instance.)

But I've been running it through my mind. And this has been my question: why? Why is Howell Raines doing this to Augusta National? Does he have some personal score to settle with Hootie? Does he have some personal connection with the man-hater woman who's been raising the fuss? Why? (I guess it goes without saying that I don't buy the brainlessly pious explanation that he's interested in "justice" or "fairness" or "equality" or some other equally specious cultural-Marxist buzzword.)

Now word comes that President Bush will nominate John W. Snow to replace Paul O'Neill as Secretary of the Treasury. And... Snow belongs to... Augusta National.

Aha! I said to myself. Now the Howellization of Augusta makes sense to me.

Do I think Raines had some inkling that O'Neill was on the way out — which a lot of people say they could see coming a mile away — and that Snow (or some other member of Augusta) might be tagged as a replacement? Do I think so? No. Do I sure suspect it very strongly? You betcha! Because, for the first time, the Howellization of Augusta makes sense to me: it was/is for a very specific political purpose.

See also All the News That's Fit for Ginning Up.

* "Howellization", in preference to "Rainesization" or "Rainesification". It is easier to read and has the advantage, I think, of sounding a lot like "howl-ization". :)

P.S. I hear now that Snow has already resigned to avoid controversy over his Augusta membership. Still, "I sure suspect it very strongly".

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 12/09/02 01:24:20 PM
Categorized as Political.

Swimming the Tiber

Hooray! I'm finally cogent!

Sean Roberts kindly answered an inquiry of mine the other day.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 12/09/02 08:54:44 AM
Categorized as Literary.

An Open Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church in the USA

After a fashion.

We're all sinners. We all fall short of our goals and our ideals, of the moral law, of the call to perfection and holiness.

What with recent discussion around St. Blog's, I thought it might be helpful for the bishops to be reminded, not of their authority, but of their responsibilities. And helpful for the rest of us, too.

.... 15. In exercising their office of sanctifying, bishops should be mindful that they have been taken from among men and appointed their representative before God in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Bishops enjoy the fullness of the sacrament of orders and both presbyters and deacons are dependent upon them in the exercise of their authority. For the presbyters are the prudent fellow workers of the episcopal order and are themselves consecrated as true priests of the New Testament, just as deacons are ordained for the ministry and serve the people of God in communion with the bishop and his presbytery. Therefore bishops are the principal dispensers of the mysteries of God, as well as being the governors, promoters, and guardians of the entire liturgical life in the church committed to them.(8)

They should, therefore, constantly exert themselves to have the faithful know and live the paschal mystery more deeply through the Eucharist and thus become a firmly-knit body in the unity of the charity of Christ.(9) "Intent upon prayer and the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4), they should devote their labor to this end that all those committed to their care may be of one mind in prayer(10) and through the reception of the sacraments may grow in grace and be faithful witnesses to the Lord.

As those who lead others to perfection, bishops should be diligent in fostering holiness among their clerics, religious, and laity according to the special vocation of each.(11) They should also be mindful of their obligation to give an example of holiness in charity, humility, and simplicity of life. Let them so hallow the churches entrusted to them that the feeling of the universal Church of Christ may shine forth fully in them. For that reason they should foster priestly and religious vocations as much as possible, and should take a special interest in missionary vocations.

16. In exercising their office of father and pastor, bishops should stand in the midst of their people as those who serve.(12) Let them be good shepherds who know their sheep and whose sheep know them. Let them be true fathers who excel in the spirit of love and solicitude for all and to whose divinely conferred authority all gratefully submit themselves. Let them so gather and mold the whole family of their flock that everyone, conscious of his own duties, may live and work in the communion of love.

In order effectively to accomplish these things, bishops, "ready for every good work" (2 Tim. 2:21) and "enduring all things for the sake of the chosen ones" (2 Tim. 2:10), should arrange their life in such a way as to accommodate it to the needs of our times.

Bishops should always embrace priests with a special love since the latter to the best of their ability assume the bishops' anxieties and carry them on day by day so zealously. They should regard the priests as sons and friends(13) and be ready to listen to them. Through their trusting familiarity with their priests they should strive to promote the whole pastoral work of the entire diocese.

They should be solicitous for the spiritual, intellectual and material welfare of the priests so that the latter can live holy and pious lives and fulfill their ministry faithfully and fruitfully. Therefore, they should encourage institutes and hold special meetings in which priests might gather from time to time both for the performance of longer exercises and the renewal of their spiritual life and for the acquisition of deeper subjects, especially Sacred Scripture and theology, the more important social questions, and the new methods of pastoral activity.

With active mercy bishops should pursue priests who are involved in any danger or who have failed in certain respects.

In order to be able to look more closely to the welfare of the faithful according to the condition of each one, bishops should strive to become duly acquainted with their needs in the social circumstances in which they live. Therefore, they ought to employ suitable methods, especially social research. They should manifest their concern for everyone, no matter what their age, condition, or nationality, be they natives, strangers, or foreigners. In exercising this pastoral care they should preserve for their faithful the share proper to them in Church affairs; they should also respect their duty and right of actively collaborating in the building up of the Mystical Body of Christ.

They should deal lovingly with the separated brethren, urging the faithful also to conduct themselves with great kindness and charity in their regard and fostering ecumenism as it is understood by the Church.(14) They should also have a place in their hearts for the non-baptized so that upon them too there may shine the charity of Christ Jesus, to whom the bishops are witnesses before all men....

8. cf. Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Dec. 4, 1963: A.A.S. 56 (1964) p. 97 ff; Paul VI's motu proprio, Sacram Liturgiam, Jan. 25, 1964: A.A.S. 56 (1964) p. 139 ff.

9.Pius XII's encyclical letter, Mediator Dei, Nov. 20, 1947: A.A.S. 39 (1947) p. 97 ff.; Paul VI's encyclical letter, Mysterium Fidei, Sept. 3, 1965.

10. cf. Acts 1:14 and 2:46.

11. cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, chap. 6, nos. 44 and 45: A.A.S. 57 (1965) pp. 50-52.

12. cf. Luke 22:26-27.

13. cf. John 15:15.

14. cf. Second Vatican Council, Decree on Ecumenism, Nov. 21 1964: A.A.S. 57 (1965) pp. 90-107....

If you can read all of that, and think of our American bishops at the same time, without weeping or cringing — at least for a moment, here and there — you are a steelier man than I am.

(Source: Christus Dominus.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 12/09/02 07:54:21 AM
Categorized as Religious.