November 2006

Off to Germany

I leave this evening. Because my uncle was a local politician the civic authorities will be having a special memorial for him Thursday evening. The funeral and burial will take place Monday, presided by yours truly…in German. Which, of course, I’ve never done. Ever. In my life. Yeesh…

Article date
2006-11-29

Prayers for my uncle, please

I got a call from my mother Saturday evening, letting me know that my uncle Benedikt is back in the hospital, and unless he rallies again this may be the end. He has colon cancer that has spread to the liver, and so we know it is only a matter of time, but things are progressing faster than we had expected. Please pray for him, as well as my aunt and 3 cousins.

Article date
2006-11-27

Don't have a cow-man

A reader sent me an email regarding a story about planned attempts to create a cow-human hybrid embryo for the sake scientific research.

This raises, of course, all sorts of ethical questions. Clearly the scientists desiring to do this don't believe that "embryo" is a state of being worthy of dignity, or else they wouldn't be trying this (I am, of course, being generous here — perhaps they just don't care). But in the email my reader sent, she asked "what does it mean for those little souls?" From what I can see, there are 4 possibilities:

Article date
2006-11-12

Helping out the Holy See

Life as a priest just keeps getting more and more interesting. I got a call two days ago from the Apostolic Nunciature (the Pope’s embassy in Canada). There is going to be an international conference here in Montreal next week on culture and development, and they were looking for someone to attend on their behalf.

Article date
2006-11-09