What a two-year-old wants to hear

"Mom, can I have a hot dog?"

"Ask your father."

"Hey, Dad."

"What, son?"

"Mom! He said yes!"

The fall of the angels

Tomorrow's Gospel reading (Mark 1:21-28) describes Jesus' visit to a synagogue in Capernaum, where He teaches "as one having authority" and exorcises an unclean spirit. In her highly recommended commentary, Mary Healy observes that some modern exegetes wrongly treat these unclean spirits as mythical representations of mental illnesses or other natural phenomena rather than recognize them as malevolent beings. She then refers readers to paragraphs 391-395 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which are pasted below for your edification. In your family catechesis this weekend, talk about the reality of these spirits.

391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.266 Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil".267 The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."268

392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels.269 This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter's words to our first parents: "You will be like God."270 The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the father of lies".271

393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."272

394 Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father.273 "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."274 In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.

395 The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature- to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him."275

Looking back

In this week's Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati there appears a CNS obituary for former apostolic delegate to the U.S. Archbishop Jean Jadot, who along with the late Cardinal Bernardin filled the American episcopate with the "pastorally oriented" we've suffered under for thirty-plus years. To my knowledge, he never expressed any regrets for the damage he did. May he rest in peace.

Archbishop Jadot's seven years as apostolic delegate in the U.S. included two key church events in the bicentennial year, 1976: the International Eucharistic Congress held in Philadelphia in August and the national Call to Action conference in Detroit that October.

In a letter to Cardinal John Dearden of Detroit, Archbishop Jadot called the two gatherings complementary. The eucharistic congress "was more centered on the transcendent thrust of Christian life," while the Call to Action meeting "focuses more strongly on the social dimension of our religion," he said. "It will serve to renew our awareness of the responsibilities we have in a changing world."

As apostolic delegate, Archbishop Jadot was seen as an advocate of social justice and a backer of the appointment of more pastorally oriented bishops. He was involved in more than 170 appointments or transfers of U.S. bishops during his tenure.

Looking back on his U.S. years, the archbishop said it "hurt me very much to see" the wealth and level of comfort in America after spending years in Africa and Asia. But he said he was impressed by the generosity of U.S. Catholics and the rising level of intellectual life among them.

He was critical, however, of what he saw as parochialism among Americans and said they needed a broader view of the world.

"They tend to consider their own problems and their own well-being first and not to be concerned for the traditions and cultures of those other countries -- what's good for people in other countries," he said.

What to memorize

This could be a fun exercise.

While we don't insist that my kids memorize the entire Baltimore Catechism, we do require them to commit several questions to memory, particularly the two below.

What other questions do you think a decently catechized elementary school-aged student ought to be responsible for remembering?

Here's a link to the text of Baltimore Catechism I.

4. What must we do to gain the happiness of heaven?

To gain the happiness of heaven we must know, love, and serve God in this world.
...
304. What is a sacrament?

A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.

Fr. Pacwa on St. Paul, take two

Our Sunday Visitor is offering Fr. Mitch Pacwa's new Bible study, St. Paul on the Power of the Cross, for $8.95 with free shipping. It's a follow-up to his best-selling St. Paul: A Bible Study Guide for Catholics. We used this earlier study guide for my Monday morning group last year, and I must say it was a bit of a dud. A resource for effective group discussion needs crisp organization with memorable text delivered in bite-sized chunks. It should also have themes one can grasp with a modest amount of study and discussion. Unfortunately, the theme and scope of the book -- St. Paul and sacramental theology -- didn't lend itself to this sort of treatment. Don't get me wrong; Fr. Pacwa is a great teacher, and perhaps it is a resource better used for individual study. We've since moved on to studying Pope Benedict's Wednesday audience addresses for the Pauline year, and by most accounts it is going very well. FYI.

When sensitivity training meets dodgeball

From an actual story in the Catholic Courier about gym classes in Rochester's Catholic schools:

Recently students also learned what it’s like to play sports while having a disability: They played floor hockey while simulating having a visual impairment. In gym class, students also experienced what it’s like to have one form of autism, Kuhmann said. He said they took part in an exercise in which one student read an article aloud while other students tried to distract the student through noise and other means.

Save the babies animals

NBC permits a PETA ad at Super Bowl but not one showing life's potential:

CHICAGO, Illinois, JAN. 29, 2009 (Zenit.org).- An ad that promotes the potential of all life will not be shown on NBC during the Super Bowl on the grounds that it involves "political advocacy or issues."

After several days of negotiations, an NBC representative in Chicago advised CatholicVote.org on Wednesday of it's decision not to run an ad that features President Barack Obama and concludes with the tagline, "Life: Imagine the Potential."

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org said there was "nothing objectionable in this positive, life-affirming advertisement."

He then noted the irony that while NBC refused their ad for being advocacy-based, an ad of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- an advocacy group -- was rejected because it depicted "a level of sexuality exceeding our standards." The organization was then given a detailed list of edits that would make the spot acceptable.

“NBC claims it doesn’t allow advocacy ads, but that’s not true. They were willing to air an ad by PETA if they would simply tone down the sexual suggestiveness,” said Burch.

"The faith we aspire to teach and hold"

You may have learned this week that the CDF is recommending that the Traditional Anglican Communion be given a personal prelature to bring it into full corporate and sacramental communion with the Catholic Church. You may not have heard about the role played by the Catechism:

When TAC bishops agreed to seek full union with the Catholic Church in 2007, they signed a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and placed it on the altar of the historic National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk, England.

On October 11, 2007 Archbishop Hepworth and fellow TAC bishops Robert Mercer and Peter Wilkinson presented the signed items to Fr. Augustine Di Noia, OP, the senior ecumenical theologian at the CDF. The meeting had been organized by CDF secretary Archbishop Angelo Amato.

A week prior to the meeting, the TAC bishops also signed a declaration which The Record reports as partly saying:

“We accept that the most complete and authentic expression and application of the Catholic faith in this moment of time is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium, which we have signed, together with this letter as attesting to the faith we aspire to teach and hold.”

Finally!

A long-awaited and much-deserved proper monument to the Tyburn martyrs -- to replace the rather shabby concrete marker in the center of a traffic circle -- is under development by the city council of Westminster:

A monument in honour of hundreds of Catholics executed for their faith is to be erected in the heart of central London.

Consultations are underway to install a striking memorial on the former site of the Tyburn gallows at the western end of Oxford Street, the capital's busiest shopping street.

Between 1535 and 1679 nearly 400 Catholics were executed on the spot, and 105 of these have been recognised by the Vatican as martyrs, with a number canonised as saints.

Since the Fifties the site of the gallows has been marked simply by a stone roundel in a traffic island at the intersection of Edgware Road and Bayswater Road, near to Marble Arch, bearing the image of a plain black cross and the words: "The site of the Tyburn Tree."

But Westminster City Council has begun looking for ideas for a more fitting memorial.

The council's Public Art Advisory Panel has discussed some of the proposals at a private meeting, including an etching of the shadow of the Tyburn Tree into pavement brickwork.

Another proposal is understood to involve three illuminated pillars to stand above the site once occupied by the three-sided gallows.

Rosemarie MacQueen, strategic director for built environment at Westminster City Council, said funding was needed and hoped the Catholic community would be able to contribute.

"We have been looking at ways to make the memorial to the Tyburn martyrs more substantial and informative in the future provided we can secure funding for the project, as we feel that the hangings which happened there should be clearly marked for anyone who might want to understand the area's history," she told The Catholic Herald.

"We are looking at the possibility of commissioning an artist or designer who could make the plaque an even more fitting and substantial tribute to the men and women who died there from the 1500s onwards for their religious beliefs. If any of your readers would be willing to sponsor such a memorial we would be more than happy to hear from them."

Tyburn became a place of public execution in the 12th century, and, as the "King's gallows", was used in particular for those people convicted of capital offences against the Crown. The first martyrs of the Protestant Reformation - St John Houghton and companions - were executed together for treason there on May 4 1535 after they refused to accept King Henry VIII as the head of the Church in England.

In 1571 Queen Elizabeth I erected the Tyburn Tree, triangular gallows purposely built for multiple executions, with 24 men and women executed there together in one instance.

Catholics to die there included St Edmund Campion, the first English Jesuit martyr, who wrote in his "brag" to Elizabeth's Privy Council, that the Jesuits would never cease to work for the conversion of England "while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn".

The last Catholic Tyburn martyr was St Oliver Plunkett, the Archbishop of Armagh, executed on July 1 1679, the last of 25 innocent victims of the Titus Oates plot.

Most men were hanged, drawn and quartered - a slow death that involved castration and disemboweling before the head was struck off and the body quartered - but Catholic women, such as Mary Ward and Anne Line, were hanged instead. ...

Keep sending those cards and letters to Rome

More from a Rochester reader on the reported "tightening up" in the DOR:

Our pastoral administrator is now sitting on the other side of the sanctuary as far as possible away from the priest. The explanation was that people complained that they were talking to each other during Mass. The parish secretary said privately that something came down from the diocese that said that the non-ordained could not sit next to the priest during Mass because it would look like concelebration.

Carbon supreme

Is there anything more obnoxious than the concept of the "carbon footprint"?

It is a complete inversion of the Biblical idea of dominion, and treats man as a harmful intrusion.

I just watched a television ad for a tiny new VW diesel car that pitched this theme.

It makes me wish I'd hung onto my '73 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

Thank you

Your prayers for an intention important to the Leonardi family are requested.

UPDATE, 29 January 2009. Based on the comments and emails I've received, it appears I've alarmed some of you. Thank you for your prayers. No worries, folks; all will be well.

Twenty Arguments on Ten Reasons

The good people at the Catholic Educators Resource Center have reproduced and "hyperlinked" the twenty arguments for the existence of God in Peter Kreeft's Handbook of Christian Apologetics:

1. The Argument from Change
2. The Argument from Efficient Causality
3. The Argument from Time and Contingency
4. The Argument from Degrees of Perfection
5. The Design Argument
6. The Kalam Argument
7. The Argument from Contingency
8. The Argument from the World as an Interacting Whole
9. The Argument from Miracles
10. The Argument from Consciousness
11. The Argument from Truth
12. The Argument from the Origin of the Idea of God
13. The Ontological Argument
14. The Moral Argument
15. The Argument from Conscience
16. The Argument from Desire
17. The Argument from Aesthetic Experience
18. The Argument from Religious Experience
19. The Common Consent Argument
20. Pascal's Wager
    

Barry's chance

In this morning's Wall Street Journal, William McGurn argues that Catholic Schools Week is a good time to determine whether Barack Obama really is the post-partisan politician he claims to be:

Of the many parallels between Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy, one has eluded all coverage: Both attended Catholic school as children. In fact, while JFK may have been the Irish Catholic from Boston, he spent less time at the Canterbury School in Connecticut than did young Barry (as he was then called) at St. Francis of Assisi in Indonesia.

At a time when America's 6,165 Catholic elementary and 1,213 secondary schools are celebrating Catholic Schools Week, President Obama's first-hand experience here opens the door to a provocative opportunity. In his inaugural address, the president rightly scored a U.S. school system that "fail[s] too many" of our young people. How refreshing it would be if he followed up by giving voice to a corollary truth: For tens of thousands of inner-city families, the local parochial school is often the only lifeline of hope.

"When an inner-city public school does what most Catholic schools do every day, it makes the headlines," says Patrick J. McCloskey, author of a new book called "The Street Stops Here," about the year he spent at Rice High -- an Irish Christian Brothers school in Harlem. "President Obama has a chance to rise above the ideological divide simply by giving credit where credit is due, by focusing on results, and the reason for those results."

"Disappointing"?

Mary Kochan on the USCCB reaction to Obama's decision to fund overseas baby-killing:

None of this was unexpected. The overturning of the Mexico City Policy was an established part of the Obama administration’s transition agenda, just as it was part of Candidate Obama’s stated intentions long before he was elected.

What was unexpected though was this statement from the USCCB:

It is very disappointing that President Obama has reversed the Mexico City Policy, which prevents U.S. funding of organizations that perform and promote abortion as a family planning method in developing nations. An Administration that wants to reduce abortions should not divert U.S. funds to groups that promote abortions — Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

“Disappointing”?

To be disappointed is to expect one thing and get another: if someone accepts your invitation to come for dinner and he misses the appointment, then you are dis-appointed, because something that you had every reason to expect did not occur. But, when something that you have every reason to expect does occur, that is not a disappointment.

From the use of “disappointing” we could infer that the bishops may have been expecting something different. If that is the case, they owe the faithful an explanation of why they were entertaining that expectation. Otherwise it means nothing like what “disappointing” means in the ordinary usage of honest, plain-spoken people.

You know, she has a point. Language matters. The man used the third day of his presidency to begin firing up the offshore abortion mills. This follows his staff's decision to load up the White House website with abortion propaganda as he swore the oath last Tuesday. Disgusting. Appalling. Craven. But not disappointing.

UPDATE. In Zenit's coverage of the story, they report that Albany's Bishop Howard Hubbard, perhaps second only to his friend Matthew Clark of Rochester in the amount of waste laid to a single U.S. diocese, has found a silver lining:

Obama received some praise from the Church for signing an executive order Thursday to ban torture.

Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the U.S. episcopal conference said the bishops welcomed the order, and that the ban "says much about us -- who we are, what we believe about human life and dignity, and how we act as a nation."

A man to be reckoned with

This morning's Democrat & Chronicle features a lengthy profile of one of the giants of the Church in Rochester: Bishop Bernard McQuaid. The occasion is a new display at Sacred Heart Cathedral commemorating the 100th anniversary of his death.

You can't always judge a book by its cover. However, when I look at the photo of Bishop Bernard McQuaid crossing State Street wearing a great big overcoat with a top hat on his head, I get the distinct impression this was a man to be reckoned with!

That impression was reinforced when I dropped by Sacred Heart Cathedral to view a display commemorating the 100th anniversary of McQuaid's death.

His letters, in particular, reveal a bishop who ruled his diocese with an iron fist, but who was capable of great kindness. A national spokesman who was fiercely partisan in his advocacy of Catholic education, but eminently practical in assimilating immigrants of many nationalities who arrived here during his tenure. A Victorian man who frowned on waltzing and horse racing and any other activity that might bring disgrace to a church "Pic-nic," but who purchased Bausch & Lomb glasses during a trip to Paris so that he might attend the opera.

All of this whetted my appetite to learn more about McQuaid.

After all, the causes he embraced still resonate, as our nation continues to debate the proper role of religion in schools and the place of immigrants in our society.

Moreover, the legacy he left helped shape the Rochester we know today.

It is not hard to see why the Rev. Robert McNamara, in his history of the Rochester diocese, ranks McQuaid among the great bishops of the American Catholic church.

Building the diocese

McQuaid was the first bishop of the Rochester diocese, serving from 1868 until his death in 1909, "an enormous length of time," notes the Rev. Joseph McCaffrey, who prepared the display. When McQuaid arrived here from a post in New Jersey, the diocese encompassed eight counties, 54,000 Catholics, 35 parishes, 14 parochial schools and 39 priests.

When he died, the diocese had increased to 12 counties, 120,000 Catholics, 93 parishes, 53 parochial schools and 158 priests.

Two religious orders — the Sisters of Mercy and of St. Joseph — had increased from 10 and 12 sisters, respectively, to 98 and 417.

In addition, McQuaid established St. Bernard's Seminary and Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

As McNamara notes, "there was scarcely a phase of diocesan activity or a type of diocesan institution that McQuaid, in his foresight, had not provided. His successors therefore fell heirs to a sound establishment. "

No wonder somebody once commented that McQuaid was the only bishop in the United States who would still be ruling his diocese a quarter-century after his death! ...

April wine

When I was in middle school, a band called April Wine -- from Canada, I think -- had a "love" song that for a short time you could catch on the radio and MTV. Its refrain was memorable, especially if you were a thirteen-year-old boy: If you see Kay, tell her I want her. If you see Kay, tell her I need her. The band has slipped into obscurity, but Britney Spears must be a fan.

Audience outline

For the past several weeks, my Monday morning catechism group has been studying Pope Benedict's cycle of catecheses on St. Paul. To give structure to our discussion, I developed an outline, a copy of which is pasted below. Since it could be adapted to any of his Wednesday audiences, feel free to copy and use it at your discretion.

Pope Benedict XVI on St. Paul: Paul, the Twelve, and the Pre-Pauline Church

Wednesday audience address, 24 September 2008 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080924_en.html

Prayer to St. Paul

(Taken from the 1950 Raccolta.)

O glorious St. Paul, who from a persecutor of Christianity, didst become a most ardent Apostle of zeal; and who to make known the Savior Jesus Christ unto the ends of the world didst suffer with joy imprisonment, scourgings, stonings, shipwrecks and persecutions of every kind, and in the end didst shed thy blood to the last drop, obtain for us the grace to receive, as favors of the Divine mercy, infirmities, tribulations, and misfortunes of the present life, so that the vicissitudes of this our exile will not render us cold in the service of God, but will render us always more faithful and more fervent.

V. Pray for us, Saint Paul the Apostle,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.

Let us pray

O God, Who hast taught the multitude of the Gentiles by the preaching of blessed Paul the Apostle: grant unto us, we beseech Thee, that we who keep his memory sacred, may feel the might of his intercession before Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read Galatians 2:1-10

[1] Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. [2] I went up by revelation; and I laid before them (but privately before those who were of repute) the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain. [3] But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. [4] But because of false brethren secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage -- [5] to them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. [6] And from those who were reputed to be something (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality) -- those, I say, who were of repute added nothing to me; [7] but on the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised [8] (for he who worked through Peter for the mission to the circumcised worked through me also for the Gentiles), [9] and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised; [10] only they would have us remember the poor, which very thing I was eager to do.

Read Pope Benedict’s English greeting:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In today's catechesis we turn again to the life of Saint Paul and consider his relationship with the Twelve Apostles. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul speaks of his visits to Jerusalem where he consulted Peter, James and John, reputed to be the "pillars" of the Church. Paul's mission to the Gentiles needed to be confirmed and guaranteed by those who had been disciples of Jesus during his earthly life, and they offered to him and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. Paul passed on the living tradition that he had received: the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, his death and resurrection, and his appearances to Peter and to the Twelve. Paul emphasizes that Jesus died "for our sins", he offered himself to the Father in order to deliver us from sin and death. And now that Jesus has risen from the dead, he is living in his Church and in the Eucharist, where we continue to encounter him. Just as Paul's teaching is rooted in his experience on the road to Damascus, and in his knowledge of Christ acquired through the Church, so too our faith is grounded, not on myths or pious legends, but on the words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth, and on our encounter with the risen Lord, present in the life of his Church.

Questions

How does Paul describe the twelve Apostles?

How long does Paul stay with Peter and what does he learn?

What sort of information did Paul gather about Jesus Christ during the three years that succeeded the Damascus encounter?

What is the “formula of fidelity” in St. Paul’s writings?

What did Martin Luther say about divine grace and sin?

How did the “original kerygma” describe the Resurrection?

What is the significance of Christ’s apparition to Paul occurring after other appearances?

What can we say to those who claim Paul “invented” Christianity?

How does Pope Benedict conclude his address?

Closing Prayer – Morning Offering

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your sacred heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all the apostles of prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.

A Treasure for the Church

My brief review of the new Navarre Bible New Testament Expanded Edition:

The Navarre Bible New Testament Expanded Edition is a treasure for the Church. In the event you own previous Navarre volumes -- the compact edition of the NT or individual books -- the "Preface and Preliminary Notes" section explains how this edition fits into the overall scheme of things: "The present volume does not replace the twelve New Testament volumes. Its commentary is different, although it overlaps with theirs to a degree; it often draws on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which they do not); it is also shorter, but it covers the biblical text passage by passage." So in a nutshell, it covers much of the same ground as earlier volumes, and with the same thoroughness, but incorporates more recent insights from magisterial sources published since 1985 (when the first volume went to print), e.g., the Catechism, papal encyclicals, apostolic exhortations, etc. The commentaries themselves now take the form of short meditative essays rather than passage-by-passage notes. And the spiritual writings of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, are used more sparingly -- a welcome development. This new edition is aesthetically pleasing and well made, with a tight binding, excellent typesetting, and clear translations (the original was written in Spanish.) Highly and unreservedly recommended.

SCHIP's mission gallop

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the subject of a major lobbying campaign by the Diocese of Rochester for the next several weeks, is described by George Will is his latest syndicated column. Here's a snippet:

In 2007, President Bush proposed a $5 billion increase in SCHIP, the House voted a $50 billion increase but receded to the Senate's proposed $35 billion, which became the definition of moderation. That compromise, which Bush successfully vetoed, at first would have extended SCHIP eligibility to some households with incomes 400 percent of the poverty line ($83,000 for a family of four), and more than $30,000 above the median household income ($50,233). So people with incomes higher than most people's became eligible for a program supposedly for low-income people. Call that compassionate arithmetic.

The new expansion, which is vengeance for Bush's veto, is mission gallop: It will make it much easier for some states to extend SCHIP eligibility to children from families earning up to $84,800. Furthermore, to make "poor" an extremely elastic concept, generous "income disregards" are allowed. Families can, depending on their state's policies, subtract from their income calculation what they spend on rent or mortgage or heating or food or transportation or some combination of these. So children in some families with incomes well over $100,000 will be eligible.

Grace-Marie Turner, a student of health care policies, says this SCHIP expansion is sensible -- if your goal is quickly to get as many people on public coverage as possible, and to have children grow up thinking that it is normal for them to get their health insurance from the government. That is the goal.

Does anyone know whether the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has taken a position on this pernicious legislation?