As a follow-up to my previous posting, I am commenting on the relevant parts of the Pope's statement on providing food and water to those in a persistent vegetative state (PVS):
I cordially greet all of you who took part in the International Congress: "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas".

I quote this because [...]

Over at Vox Nova, a blogger somehow manages to de-clarify the clear teaching of the Pope as it relates to the nutrition and hydration of of those in a persistent vegetative state (such as was Terry Schiavo).
The Pope's statement on this can be read here, and it is worth looking at how the blog posting [...]

The hymn America the Beautiful seems to be controversial when sung within a Catholic church. But it is hard to discern why:
O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!

America contains many good things; it would be hard to contest that. And if it were contested, [...]

The cafeteria model of Catholicism (i.e. look at the line-up of official teachings, pick up just the ones that look tasty to you, and leave the rest untouched behind the counter) is radically flawed. It's all dessert and no vegetables: flawed because since it's through the Church that salvation arrives to us,  picking and choosing like that risks missing out some substantial [...]