Own Goal II and III

Passion for Life issues a helpful postcard helpfully telling the Parliamentarians what they want to hear, helpfully:

"Abortion is really OK, more or less, and we, the nice branch of the pro-life movement, the kindly, reasonable, sensible, team player part of the pro-life movement, the kind of pro-lifers you would feel comfortable, say, inviting round to tea, or to give testimony at the HFE Bill committee, want y'all to know that you don't have to be against abortion in any kind of universal or, heaven forfend, absolutist way."

Or, more succinctly:

"Abortion Should be Rare".

Thanks for the help guys.

* ~ * ~ *

A Bishop Clarifies:

"Well, yeah, of course, embryos are important and all. You know, they're potential life, after all, but hey, we're not nutcases in the Catholic Church, not like those crazed extremist pro-life nutters you hear about in some circles. Hell, those guys are all just barking, you know? I mean, seriously, they want everyone to believe that the embryo, that teeeeeeny weeeeny thing, is as important as a person!. Man what a bunch of loons hey?

Anyway, what was the question?"

* ~ * ~ *

Last week when I called the British "pro-life" "movement"

"with the gleaming exception of SPUC and John Smeaton up there alone on their hill, is the most philosophically compromised, inefficient, disorganised, and moribund I have yet to come across in ten years of close worldwide observation..."

I really didn't mean to imply that I thought they should be more organised.

God forbid!


* ~ * ~ *

By the way, and appropos of nothing whatsoever, I recall, for some reason, that Archbishop Nichols is on the Terna to replace Cardinal Bubbles Murphy O'Connor.

It really just popped in there.

Another thing that seems to be just popping, for no reason whatever, into my brain is the mailing address, fax and phone number of the Congregation for Bishops at the Vatican.

* Giovanni Battista Re, Cardinal, Prefect
* Francesco Monterisi, Secretary
Palazzo della Congregazioni,
00193 Roma,
Piazza Pio XII, 10

phone: 06.69.88.42.17
Fax: 06.69.88.53.03

and, equally mysteriously, the contact information to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

* William Joseph Levada, Cardinal, Prefect
* Angelo Amato, S.D.B., Secretary

Piazza del S. Uffizio,
11, 00193
Roma, Italy
Phone: 06.69.88.33.57; 06.69.88.34.13
Fax: 06.69.88.34.09


Odd.