Recently in Current Events Category

Presumptions, important to remember, before delving into this post:

-health care in the United States has strengths and weaknesses.

-There are areas of health care in the United States which are in need of serious reform and/or adjustment.

-There are many different ways in which those issues - rising health care costs, individuals' access to health care, the complexity of the health care administrative and billing systems, fraud - might be addressed.

-Some of those means might involve local, state or federal government action, some might mean freeing up market forces and allowing individuals more choice and direct engagement with health care costs and providers

-there is no necessary and assumed relationship between the current Democratic party proposals for health care reform and Catholic Social Teaching. 

Please read that carefully. I didn't say that there is no relation. I said that there is no necessary relationship - that is, just because it's called "reform" and proclaims lofty goals does not necessitate a participant in the discussion to accept the presumption that because of this, the proposals are, of course, without question, the best embodiment of the goals of Catholic Social Teaching.

Some do believe that these proposals embody what CST calls for in terms of a society's obligation to provide adequate health care. That is fine. But others believe that these recommendations would actually harm more people than help. Some believe that other reforms: tort reform, disengaging health insurance from employment, allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines, increasing the numbers of doctors, aggressive seeking and prosecution of medical fraud - would contribute to the cause of more citizens having greater access to more affordable health care.  That is a defensible position in the context of Catholic Social Teaching.  It is perfectly defensibly to look at experiments in health care reform in states like Tennessee and Massachusetts and ask hard questions about intentions and unintended consequences and what can be learned from these experiments - whether they did, actually expand access to health care or end up restricting it as, among other reasons, health care providers find themselves unable to afford to stay in business as they are required to meet the government mandates? Those are fair questions to ask in the framework of Catholic social teaching.

-Rhetoric on any side means...nothing. Rhetoric and labels have no relationship to whether something actually might or might not contribute to the important task of a society's provision of health care.

-There is no such thing as "free" health care. Somebody pays - the question is who and when and what comports most closely with the call to justice and charity.

-Assertions of health care as a "basic human right"  - with no further discussion of what that means in terms of how much health care is a right, who has a duty to provide it, at what cost to whom - and what responsibility that places on the human beings who have the right to basic health care - are just way too common. 

So while the CCC does describe "the right to medical care" as a responsibility of "the political community" (section 2211)  -  that's it. There are innumerable ways in which a society, via government, can expand and build up my right to medical care. Some of that might involve government provide free vaccinations and primary care up to a certain level, or provision of catastrophic insurance or laws regarding insuring of those with pre-existing conditions, but some of that might involve governments allowing freer competition among various entities - insurance companies, medical institutions - that could lower the costs I might face. It's just not as simple as: Health care is a right, therefore government must provide. It is just not. That is not what Catholic social teaching assumes or declares.

-The "Catholic" conversation on this, such as it is, tends to inadequacy, as do most inter-Catholic discussions of public policy, unfortunately. Ad hominems, assumptions and caricatures of positions tend to start flying fairly quickly, and more importantly, in my book, the discussions tend to fly on a fairly abstract level, not really grappling with the complexities of economics and health administration both here and in other countries.

(a good example - and an easy one to grasp - are comparisons of, say, the US and France. There are many systemic differences, including the fact that the French system has strict controls on malpractice suits and awards and that medical schools have strict admittance standards, but are tuition-free, factors, along with simplified billing practices, lead to much lower costs for a physician.)

Oh, and one more thing. I tend to look at what "the bishops" or even "a bishop" has to say about a matter like this within a particular prism, that prism having two sides: a) what do employees of Catholic institutions in a given diocese have in terms of health care coverage? What is the Church willing to call for and sacrifice in terms of what it offers its own employees and b) what is going on in a particular diocese in terms of supposed "non-profit" Catholic healthcare institutions, particularly hospitals?

(And before we move on - the NCRegister has a good article summing up where the issue of abortion and health care reform stands right now.)

Okay -

There is a bit of a discussion going on here and there about some large Catholic organizations' statements on the Democratic party's proposals for health care reform. Catholic Charities, the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Catholic Health Association issued a joint call to action. But there not the only ones. The Catholic Medical Association has a different view. Both are linked after the jump:





 

Finally, Barnes and Noble frees up the Wi-Fi signal in its stores. Long overdue  - anyone who steps into a Panera Bread midafternoon will be struck by the number of folks w/open laptops, together or in groups, obviously doing work-related stuff.

Now, if either of them would ditch Pepsi for Coke products, we're really be in business.

Nicholson Baker takes a look at the Kindle in the New Yorker

Although Baker is predisposed against the Kindle, this isn't a Luddite screed. It actually contains an absorbing account of how the Kindle was conceived and how it is made - plus Baker ends his piece singing the praises of using an IPhone/ITouch for reading. (And at the very end - gets sucked into a book on the Kindle despite his misgivings.)

As I've said before, I don't have an interest in reading e-books - odd since I read so much on the computer -  but when it comes to even longer magazine articles, I like the paper in front of me - the computer evokes an odd feeling of both freedom and imprisonment. But neither am I philosophically opposed to them. My friend Dorothy is an avid reader and has sworn by her Sony EReader for a couple of years now - she just loves not having to cart a bunch of books around with her when she travels and so on.

I should be seeing my Loyola royalty check in the next couple of months, and I'll be interested to see the impact of Kindle sales. Both saints' books continue to do well there.

Oh, speaking of Wi-Fi, there was a question in the comments a week or so ago about how I finally resolved the internet issue for Sicily. The Barcelona apartment had wi-fi, but only one accomodation in Sicily did (out of three).

(And save - the "you're on vacation...get off the grid...relax" exhortations. I *like* the Internet, even with the odd feelings it provokes. It's like a portable library/newsstand. Traveling alone, with people on the other end who want and need to stay connected it is a *good thing* for me to have access to a means of quick communication. I don't have a smartphone of any type, so my little netbook was my friend. People deal with these things differently. It's really okay.)

What I did was just buy an internet key from TIM at the Milan airport - and sign up for 30 days/100 hours. (Remember, these are not just leisure expenses...this is my job, to write about what I do and where I go. An investment. A deduction. What have you. Plus I can use it again and/or give it to my son who is probably going to be in Italy for another year.)

It worked fairly well, although the thick stone walls of two of the accomodations rendered the key far more usable outdoors than inside, which was fine anyway. I would have been reading on the front porch anyway. It was essentially functional from Scopello to Cantalnissetta to Cava D'Aliga - north, middle and south - and functional as we were driving along, too, and I needed Katie to get online and figure out exactly where that B & B in Cava D'Aliga was because I sure wasn't finding it at the moment.

Oh, and the Kindle book-grab? That was interesting, wasn't it? I think the fact that Amazon could just remove it from everyone's devices raised some interesting questions about sort of scary possibilities, but at the same time, they didn't have the rights so...

Theology Prof Miguel Diaz:

A Hispanic Roman Catholic theologian from Minnesota who advised Barack Obama's presidential campaign is the Obama administration's choice to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

The White House announced Wednesday that it will nominate Miguel H. Diaz, an associate professor of theology at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., for the post.

Diaz, 45, a Cuban-American, was a member of the Obama campaign's Catholic advisory board. He was among 26 Catholics who signed a statement supporting the nomination of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic whose support for abortion rights was criticized by conservative Catholics.

Diaz earned his bachelor's degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in 1988 and his master's and doctoral degrees from University of Notre Dame in 1992 and 2000, respectively.

From his bio at St. John's:

Theological consultant on the Collegeville Ministry Seminar II (advancing the theology of vocation and authorization for lay ecclesial ministry) co-sponsored by Saint John's School of Theology·Seminary and the USCCB (2009- ).

Invited colloquist for the 2008-2009 Wabash Consultation on Excellence in Teaching for Latino/a Faculty at Colleges, Universities, and Theological Schools, 2008-2009.

Board Member of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA), 2008-2010.

Member of the Karl Rahner Society (KRS) and a board member of the KRS steering committee.

Member of Barack Obama's Catholic advisory group during the 2008 presidential campaign. In recognition of his participation in the advisory council, Dr. Díaz and his wife Marian received an invitation to the inaugural events. Dr. Díaz's involvement in the campaign and participation in the inaugural events were both covered extensively in a variety of media.

President of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS), 2006-07.

Colloquist with Walter Cardinal Kasper at the Duquesne University Annual Holy Spirit Lecture and Colloquium entitled,"The Spirit in the New Millennium," 2006.

Invited to participate at the CTSA annual convention in San Antonio in a discussion of Rahner Beyond Rahner, 2006.

Invited to participate in a national conversation on immigration organized by Interfaith Worker Justice, Chicago, IL, March 2006.

Invited to participate as a theological consultant to the Catholic Alliance for the Common Good, Washington, DC, January, 2006.

Organized the 2006 annual colloquium of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS) in conjunction with the Black Catholic Theological Symposium (BCTS).

Invited by Br. Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, President of Saint John's University to co-chair the president's Inter-Cultural Directions Council (IDC), 2005-.

I have to say, apart from church politics kinds of issues...an interesting choice for a diplomatic position...I'm not quite seeing it.

Fr. Robert Imbelli,a professor of theology at Boston Collegewrites on Obama and Notre Dame in a piece printed by Sandro Magister:

(He begins by analzying the speech, highlighting some aspects not mentioned by many others, and then turns to Judge Noonan's address)

In a generous tribute, President Obama called Notre Dame "a lighthouse that stands apart, shining with the wisdom of the Catholic tradition." A fine representative of that Catholic wisdom tradition is Judge John Noonan who gave the Laetare Address, replacing Ambassador Glendon. It is unfortunate that his measured address received hardly any mention in the media accounts, obsessed as they are with celebrity and conflict. But his remarks, brief and respectful, yet pointed, deserve close attention. His was a soft, gentle voice, like the whisper of conscience.

Judge Noonan referred to the development of human moral sensitivity that has led the civilized world to denounce genocide, torture, and slavery as unspeakable moral evils. But he made clear that this moral clarity stemmed from centuries of conflict, experience, suffering insight, and "the light radiating from the Gospel." And he insisted that, though "conscience" was ever to be respected and never to be coerced, not every conscience was equally morally informed and upright.

Significantly, Noonan chose a striking example as illustration: the dispute between President Abraham Lincoln and the former slave, Frederick Douglass. It was Douglass' moral clarity and conviction that helped guide Lincoln's own moral compass to the point where he issued the "Emancipation Proclamation," freeing the slaves in the secessionist states. The implication, subtly but unmistakably put forward, was that, like Lincoln, whom he reveres, President Obama may also come to greater clarity regarding the pressing moral issue of abortion.

A further dimension of Judge Noonan's talk, missed even by those who bothered to advert to his speech, was the silent appeal to John Henry Newman.

Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in the Irish Times:The first thing the church has to do is to move out of any mode of denial. That was the position for far too long and it is still there.Yes, there was abuse...

Irish novelist John Banville said everyone knewIreland from 1930 to the late 1990s was a closed state, ruled -- the word is not too strong -- by an all-powerful Catholic Church with the connivance of politicians and, indeed, the populace...

A bomb in the  city's Catholic Church: Two people, one of them a teenager, were killed and 14 wounded on Saturday when a bomb exploded in a packed church on the outskirts of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, police said.The church...

In the post below, I asked a couple of questions, and the comments, while mostly good, strayed quickly from the questions, moving quite naturally, to the difficulties of dialogue.(comments are closed down there now.)As conversations about dialogue on the abortion...

Well not really, but maybe on this past weekend's festivities.Two posts at other blogs with megalinks to texts and commentary. Between the two, they've got you covered.Carl OlsonOpinionated CatholicWell, maybe not. Here are a few more that's flashed across the...

I've had a couple of comments saying that the Obama/Notre Dame controversy had come up in a homily here and there..so I was wondering how extensive that might be. Nothing at my parish, nor would I expect there to be....

There will be, we can hope, an increasing number of conversations about reducing the number of abortions in this country - President Obama has said that this is something his administration will work on. The National Catholic Register has an...

I'm sure accounts of this past weekend's activities sponsored by NDResponse will soon be filtering out...here's a good one to get us started, from Dierdre Mundy, who sent it into Erin Manning:The speakers at the rally weren't terribly famous, but...

(Photo, Reuters, via NCRegister)I'll post interesting ones here as they come in.Michael Sean Winters, an Obama supporter with whom I agree sometimes and disagree others, and who often surprises me, gives Obama an C-. What disappoints here is that the...

The text:Thank you, Father Jenkins for that generous introduction. You are doing an outstanding job as president of this fine institution, and your continued and courageous commitment to honest, thoughtful dialogue is an inspiration to us all. Good afternoon Father...

Lots of commentary on this Time piece, not only because it exists, but because Drudge chose to link it.The talking point is rising fast in outside commentary - James Carroll makes it the focus of his column today at the...

Benedict left the Holy Land today. The schedule, via The Blog:Jerusalem07.30 - Private Mass in the Chapel of the Apostolic Delegation to Jerusalem 09.15 - Ecumenical meeting in the Throne Hall of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem 10.15 -...

Obama speaks at Notre Dame on Sunday...what happens Monday?Presenting...the Monday Project.A fundraising project for Crisis Pregnancy Centers...even if you don't participate in this particular effort - it's still a good idea....

Aquinas and More - the great Catholic bookstore that exists both in brick n'mortar form out in Colorado and online - is once again sponsoring its Summer Reading Program - the first step is to go to the website and...

From the Benedict in Israel blog:10.00 - Holy Mass on the Mount of Precipice in Nazareth 12.30 - Luncheon with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land, the Franciscan community and the Papal Entourage in the Franciscan convent of Nazareth 15.50...

A couple more notes:First, First Things has posted the text of Jody Bottum's full article, a preview of which was published at the Weekly Standard. Well, not exactly. The First Things article is quite different from the WS - not...

I really liked this speech by Archbishop Chaput. The Catholic faith is not simply a collection of doctrines and ideas, or a body of knowledge, or even a system of beliefs, although all those things are important. At its root, Christianity...

The schedule: 09.00 - Visit to the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount in Jerusalem Courtesy visit to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem at the Mount of the Temple 10.00 - Visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem 10.45...

David Goldman (the former "Spengler" and now an Associate Editor at First Things") writes an intriguing piece on torture, Islam, and American arrogance. (Also remember that Goldman is Jewish and First Things is not, despite many people's misunderstanding of it,...

I am intrigued by comments here and there asserting that the opposition to Barack Obama's role in Notre Dame's commencement must be nothing but politics at work. Politically motivated. Obviously and clearly. Usually "hacks" is used at least once in...

I'm fairly tired tonight, but will be back tomorrow. Just remember for all the news from today's day in Jerusalem, including texts and the story today's controversies, head to Benedict in Israel.The text of Benedict's words at Yad Vashem:"I will...

Today's that kind of day. I need to go sit in a government waiting area for a while. I'll be back this afternoon - I hope. I'm sure the government waiting area doesn't have wi-fi. I mean, when I went...

The WSJ reports on meetings being held regarding reducing abortion rates, sponsored by the Obama administration:Interviews with several participants suggest there is some common ground, but plenty of disagreements remain. It will be challenging for the White House to settle...

NRLC claims that the Obama administration's proposed budget urges tax-funded abortions in DC:Today's White House budget submission explicitly urges the House and Senate -- which the President's party currently controls with nearly three-fifths majorities -- to repeal a law (sometimes...

One of the current memes, as we say, making its way through commentary on Obama/Notre Dame and Obama/American Catholics runs something like this:"The Pope and the Vatican don't seem to have a problem with Obama. The Pope sent a congratulatory...

I agree with something in the Huffington Post. This is pretty classic:Only in America would the notion of a nearly-naked fundamentalist Christian beauty queen tossing her processed hair as she parades brand new, pageant-bought plastic breasts across a Las Vegas...

....and probably soon to fall, like everything else.But for the momentThe Twitter handle, http://twitter.com/usccbmedia, has over 900 followers and is maintained by Don Clemmer, Assistant Director of Media Relations at the USCCB. Clemmer uses the Twitter feed to drive traffic...

Mollie Hemingway has a very useful exploration of the recent survey on Christians and their levels of approval of torture, as well as the broader issue of press coverage:So all these many paragraphs to say that I think that while...

A good discussion on this NETTV (Diocese of Brooklyn) program  between George Weigel, Grant Gallicho of Commonweal, and Elizabeth Scalia of The Anchoress  and First Things: The subject ended up being more about Obama and the abortion issue in general,...

Today, at Public Discourse, from Christopher O. Tollefsen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina and co-author, with Robert P. George, of  Embryo: A Defense of Human LifeIt is important to be clear, as a moral matter, on what...

Pope Benedict will be visiting Israel next week - there will be much news and reaction, we can be sure. One of the better spots to keep track of it all will be Chris Blosser's Pope Benedict in Israel &...

Well, duh!The good thing is that the racist, xenophobic, classist convictions of Margaret Sanger just might be slowly creeping into the mainstream. I mean...slowly. Every time Hilary Clinton professes her love for Sanger, another opportunity pops up to make the...

Via our friend at the Catholic Key:Debate lasted only a few minutes Tuesday, apparently because most of the 65 representatives had made up their minds. All except Ed Vigil.The freshman Democrat from Fort Garland sat still as the House's electronic...

The Pope's Address at the end of the Via Crucis:Dear Brothers and Sisters, At the end of his dramatic Passion narrative, the Evangelist Saint Mark tells us: "The centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last,...

One of the many areas in which the Obama administration has settled into its role as promoting the abortion license is in regard to conscience regulations for health care professionals and institutions.As most who follow the news and these issues...

Christopher Hitchens cheerfully travels about the country debating people on atheism - he was here at Samford University about a month ago, and I really meant to go..wanted to go..but I ended up forgetting.He recently debated William Lane Craig at...

Yesterday, a prayer rally sponsored by Notre Dame Response (a student group) was held on the campus of Notre Dame to protest President Obama's commencement speech and honorary degree.The NDObserver student newspaper covered it. An estimated 400 people were there...

Update:Finally! A comment! Maybe this will get you going and inspire you to slog through the rest of the post:From my point of view the USCCB and the CCC point to personal responsibility to address issues of social justice. It...

I heard the Pope went to Africa couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure what happened, but I think it involved condoms and people who wanted to use them, but then got mad at the Pope for not letting...

Thanks to Clayton Emmer in the comments (Clayton blogs here at "Weight of Glory") who alerts us to the CNS article noting that the Holy Cross superior general has written to President Obama:The head of the Holy Cross religious order...

Well, back to President Obama and Notre Dame for a moment.The Catholic Channel on Sirius/XM or whatever it is now, features the radio stylings of Greg and Jennnifer WillIts - the "Catholics Next Door" - midday. Greg and Jennifer are...

The big news coming out of England and the Anglican world today is the early resignation of BIshop Michael Al-Azir or Rochester. Ruth Gledhill reports. The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Church's only Asian bishop, who is just...

The Vatican has posted the Pope's itinerary for his visit to the Holy Land in May. It's in Italian at this moment (I'll post an English link later when the VIS notice comes out) - but here it is. Update: ...

President Obama will be Notre Dame's commencement speaker.President Bush was the commencement speaker in 2001.Should either have been invited?Neither?One or the other?...

One of the things most of us should have learned a long time ago is that it is not exactly wise to comment too quickly on any story the minute it comes across the Interweb wires, especially if that story...

I have only the slightest bit of Irish blood in me - part of that Scotch-Irish mix that emerges, I think, somewhere in the 18th century over here. The maternal French-Canadian half courses a little stronger, which should probably put...

There's been a lot of virtual ink spilled over the latest results from the American Religious Identification Survey, released yesterday.The results, summarized by Cathy Lynn Grossman at USAToday: • So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from...

This past week's episode of Big Love didn't rock the way the previous two eps did, but it was still very good, with several great moments - the creepiness of the funeral with the deceased Kathy's twin in attendance, Wanda...

                              I'll be here, for sure, but I'll also be hanging out here. Pray for me! Update: To clear up any confusion, the actual blogging...

...information about events around the country is easy to come by. Thomas Peters has an extensive post on the DC March for life and will be covering it. The West Coast Walk for Life will be this Saturday. For almost...

Update:  Holy Cross stands firm:  Holy Cross officials stressed that the school, a Jesuit institution, is not affiliated in any way with the conference, but added that it will fulfill its contractual obligations. “Holy Cross in no way supports or...

As I have mentioned before, we have a very large population of Burmese here in Fort Wayne, growing by the day. I think around 300 have been resettled this fall with 800 more coming in the first part of 2008....