tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30800644907022979702024-03-19T06:49:13.539-04:00DallavalleCatholicism, culture, politics, family, civilization and the wayward progress of other necessary institutions...Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-90647862769804025832013-02-25T20:02:00.004-05:002013-02-25T20:02:56.898-05:00"With the Pope's Resignation, Everything Has Changed"... or at least that's the title the Huffington Post has given my blog entry there. Check it out.Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-14901265166775352192012-11-19T14:33:00.000-05:002012-11-20T07:14:25.725-05:00Teens Just Say NoYou might have heard about this teen in my home state, Minnesota (don't blame us, we voted for Mondale), who either was denied confirmation or refused confirmation because of his questioning of the Church's rejection of same-sex civil marriage. (You may recall that the move for a "one man one woman" amendment failed in Minnesota in early November, despite the threats of the bishops there.)
Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-69465888070945269342012-11-18T12:04:00.002-05:002012-11-20T07:15:11.386-05:00Meatless Monday or Fish on Friday?As part of the Year of Faith, the New Evangelization, etc., Cardinal Dolan has asked his fellow bishops to consider re-introducing Friday abstinence:
The work of
our Conference during the coming year includes reflections on re-embracing
Friday as a particular day of penance, including the possible re-institution of
abstinence on all Fridays of the year, not just during Lent.
He put this forwardNancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-37168952947802425532012-09-07T13:16:00.000-04:002012-09-07T13:16:45.568-04:00Pro-life? Not RomneyMy op-ed on the state of the abortion question in this election is up at the Connecticut Post website, under the title, "'Pro-life' should mean all life."
In other words, the decision to allow an exception for rape reveals
that this "pro-life" stance is not about "life" at all: judging women is
the first commitment here. For Mitt Romney, the pregnant victim of rape
deserves a safe and Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-69476826661733327722012-08-27T08:27:00.001-04:002012-08-27T08:27:17.872-04:00Isaac's Gift to Romney"Isaac and Mitt" -- sounds like a new buddy sitcom...
Media critic here. Democrats should hold it on the schadenfreude, Isaac may well be a boon for Republicans.
What do you do during big weather events? Keep the TV on, on CNN or MSNBC (now called something else) or that other channel. (Ok, if your TV is always on already, set to catch Toddlers in Tiaras, I'm not talking to Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-13016362211756732172012-08-14T08:07:00.002-04:002012-08-14T08:07:45.648-04:00Give Us This DayThere's a new kid on the block: Give Us This Day, a monthly periodical that supports daily prayer and is based on the divine office and the lectionary. Obviously a Benedictine thing, it's a project of The Liturgical Press in Collegeville, Minnesota (full disclosure: I serve on their board of advisors).
I've been writing very occasional reflections for it, today's musings engageNancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-61151183445410939482012-08-07T15:25:00.000-04:002012-08-07T15:27:14.766-04:00Going for Bronze
Reminder to self: Bronze
is best, we’ve known this for years.
Look at the hassle of winning a gold medal. Beautiful Gabby
Douglas, solid gold from the inside out, has a stunning performance and
glowing press about her world-class talent and smile one day -- and her every slip
and clutch documented in detail forever after.
Before the Olympics are even over, bloggers are Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-76001954152136212422012-07-30T20:29:00.001-04:002012-07-31T06:30:11.285-04:00Cosmology and Catholic thoughtA few reflections on cosmology and Catholic thought, prepared at the invitation of my colleague Professor Glenn Sauer, Biology, for his Templeton-funded project that brings the discussion of science and religion to parishes in our diocese.
1. We begin the discussion of cosmology by recognizing that Catholic theology has always had a theological understanding of the distance Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-41863738917770429212012-06-28T11:22:00.000-04:002012-06-28T20:45:22.668-04:00SCOTUS upholds the ACA
My statement on today's news...
Today’s Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality
of the Affordable Care Act is good news for Catholics, who care for the common
good as a religious value.
As a
Catholic, I look to the Obama administration, as it considers the parameters of
the religious exemption, to address the reasonable concerns of Catholic
institutions in a way that will Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-70427311431485616332012-05-27T17:33:00.006-04:002012-05-27T17:34:40.427-04:00Huh.In the wake of the silencing of yet another priest in Ireland (also common in the U.S.), the blog for a group of Irish priests who are concerned about the situation in that country, reminds us that, not so long ago, bishops themselves were asking for a more open discussion of issues in the Church...
[h/t: andrewsullivan.com]
Early in 1995, a group of U.S. bishops submitted a document to the
[Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-16624117986766759392012-05-16T09:46:00.002-04:002012-05-16T10:03:07.597-04:00Inviting Catholics to Parish LifeJack Rakosky has an informative post on the PrayTell blog, "CARA's Parish Data [and] the New Evangelization: A Social Network Approach." Using his own experience with what I call "mediating structures," -- in his case, the delivery of public mental health services -- he breaks down a recent report by CARA on parish demographics into useful categories, and then presents his own sociological Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-59324493440195511932012-02-22T16:19:00.000-05:002012-02-22T16:19:12.906-05:00Ashes at the Debate?Tonight's version of the wafer-watch sideshow (or the display of the lapel flag pin) is whether any of the candidates will wear ashes on his forehead.
I don't know why this is an issue. Catholics (and other Christians) receive a cross of ash on their forehead to remind them of their frailty at the beginning of Lent. It's a popular practice, probably because ashes are simple andNancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-15092284350418573622012-01-11T08:13:00.000-05:002012-01-11T08:13:13.266-05:00"...a worthy and humane solution..."<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-84472160859753742172012-01-05T20:03:00.002-05:002012-01-06T07:50:47.657-05:00Santorum on the three-way, bigots on the leftHere we go again. This afternoon Rick Santorum was booed loudly and roundly at a collegiate event (hello? fellow professors?) in New Hampshire when, challenged on his rejection of civil marriage for gays and lesbians, he suggested that such a right might also include marriages consisting of three or more partners.
(In the past, he has, idiotically, also suggested that the argument Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-84059739524490451172011-12-09T09:25:00.000-05:002011-12-09T09:25:04.132-05:00Advent reflectionA reflection on today's Gospel, written for the Fairfield University community:
Jesus said to the crowds: "To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, "We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn." For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, "He is possessed by a demon." Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-26537818322950892662011-10-10T15:04:00.000-04:002011-10-10T15:04:00.283-04:00Romney, religion-talk, take #2
Some people just don't pay attention when they read my blog. Let me repeat. It is not bigotry to say that, in a yes-or-no situation, Mormons are not Christian -- unless you consider "not Christian" to be a slur. The issue is that Mormonism is a variant form of Christianity that many would place outside of the mainstream, because Mormons claim a definitive revelation after Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-55796015161950044852011-10-09T13:27:00.002-04:002011-10-09T14:23:45.986-04:00Romney's Mormon UnderwearOne good thing happened in the Republican primary recently, and it's not that Sarah Palin was put permanently out to pasture. I'm calling this weekend the end of the Mormon wars. Mitt's been accused of belonging to a non-Christian cult. I don't think it will stick anymore.
In terms of the religious landscape in the US, the charge that Mormonism is a cult says much more about the accusers Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-83383184588962106202011-09-26T06:31:00.000-04:002011-09-26T06:31:37.006-04:00"A Catholic Call to Abolish the Death Penalty"Thanks to Gerald J. Beyer, Alexander Mikulich, Emily Reimer-Barry and Tobias Winright, for their work in writing the text of "A Catholic Call to Abolish the Death Penalty," which I have signed.
"... Therefore, in concert with our recent popes and bishops, we oppose the death penalty, whether a person on death row is guilty or innocent, on both theological and practical grounds. While we Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-16674674714197033902011-08-10T11:50:00.000-04:002011-08-10T11:50:12.666-04:00Phyllis Zagano, "Women & Catholicism"My review of Phyllis Zagano's new book, Women & Catholicism: Gender, Communion and Authority is available on the NCR website.Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-80473408757177686052011-06-14T12:36:00.007-04:002011-06-14T12:41:36.242-04:00Elizabeth Scalia on HomosexualityOver at First Things, Elizabeth Scalia has a thoughtful post on homosexuality. I confess that I often find her too snarky and almost didn't click on the link.
In fact, snark is where she begins, rolling her eyes at an awards-show winner, as he claims exuberantly that gays are "exceptional people." But then she pauses, and wonders...
Perhaps homosexuals are in fact “special and Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-42073627990440529242011-03-07T10:17:00.001-05:002011-03-07T10:17:41.204-05:00Advise me, friends...If you follow this off-and-on blog, you know I've been distracted for a while. All is well, I'm back.
Today's question: I'm wondering if I should shift this all to Facebook. I am not on it, was on for a few weeks at one point but it seemed to be an odd thing. But now, for the kind of commentary I'd like to do, and the interactive portion I'd like to sustain, I'm thinking Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-82081244762010453852011-02-14T15:55:00.002-05:002011-02-14T17:13:40.201-05:00"American Catholic Exceptionalism"Mark Silk, in a post titled "American Catholic Exceptionalism," hits the nail on the head. He surveys the latest from Philadelphia and Los Angeles, and then turns to Boston's Cardinal O'Malley who, charged with examining the Irish Church, argues for significant change -- for the Church in Ireland.
Silk's closing observation:
"In Ireland, they understand that clericalism is the Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-82320664466255461342010-12-30T09:12:00.004-05:002010-12-31T03:58:12.867-05:00Kidney donation can't be part of the dealThe New York Times reports this morning that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour will suspend the sentences of two sisters, who have already served significant time and whose sentences of life in prison are excessive. This is good.
But check out the conditions: one sister, Jamie, is on dialysis (read: expensive to keep in prison) and so, as a condition of the other sister, Gladys,' Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-46898988669787756472010-12-22T10:22:00.004-05:002010-12-22T11:16:00.391-05:00Census results, parish closingsMark Gray has an interesting blog post (charts! graphs!) on yesterday's census report, which documents the U.S. population shift from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West. Continuing his attempt to nuance headlines about Catholics leaving the church (he seems to think numbers matter, go figure), he notes that the pattern of parish closings and openings correlate with this Nancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3080064490702297970.post-72347108869540252622010-12-06T10:37:00.004-05:002010-12-28T13:25:38.018-05:00Marriage, an ongoing seriesMy attention span is even shorter than you think. Early mornings usually find me express-caffeinating while clicking between the news and email -- resulting, this morning, in a mental mash-up of Ross Douthat's column in the NYTimes and an invitation to a wedding of two former Fairfield University students.
Douthat presses the point of the culture/class/marriage news that I've been circlingNancy Dallavallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521924122968464073noreply@blogger.com