Cardinal Husar, head of the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Catholic Church, is calling for a single patriarchate in the Ukraine --one that would unite Cathoics and Orthodox. An exciting prospect, and I could imagine it being done in Ukraine, which maybe would get the ball rolling for other Eastern churches. This story seems muddled, however: he wants union with Rome, but independence from it? This could be either a creative rethinking of how the papacy could be exercised as JPG called for in Ut Unum Sint, or just nuts. Oremus.
Wise ol' Murch has a lovely column in WaTi this morning. Salutary reading in the face of MSM hysteria.
The cussedness and courage of the human race are -- rather, will be, if partisans don't obstruct our view -- the great story of this disastrous September. Bad stuff, awful stuff, happens. We can't prevent it. What we can prevent are the anger and despair of cursing, rather than contending with, catastrophe. The need isn't for scapegoats. The need is for faith in humanity's stronger, brighter, resilient side: the side that looks at disaster and says, OK, the first thing we do now is.. .
78-22. Just heard that's the Roberts confirmation vote. Not bad. Ann Coulter's still worried about him. I can't fault her for spoiling for a fight, but she picked a strange issue on which to ask Bush "What Would Reagan Do?" As she herself notes, what Reagan did do was give us O'Conner. Odd. I think Roberts will be ok; more in the Rehnquist/Scalia mold of legal positivism than the Thomas natural law mold I prefer, but ok. Next? Will we know this afternoon?
Powerline has a revealing post on the utter cultural illiteracy of those who presume to interpret the world for us. Stunning. And while you're there, go to their main page and scroll down for DeLay coverage. There doesn't seem to be any "there" there, though I say this without having had time to read up on the matter. Can you say "Mid-term Election Season Has Begun?"
Happy Feast of the Archangels! In time of war it's mete to recall the prayer to the patron saint of the 82nd Airborne:
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle, save us from the snares of the enemy. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. Do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
