Hello,

I am a Japanese Catholic and very interested in your articles.

Please see this HP of a Japanese priest. He is modernist and proud of his motor bike.

This is very similar to the photo you posted in your page Motorcycle inside a Catholic church in the Netherlands.

     Thank you.

     I.U., Japan




TIA responds:

Hello I.U.,

Thank you for your contribution. We would welcome any more data about Progressivism among Catholics in Japan that you would like to send.

Cordially

TIA correspondence desk

Dear Sir/Madam,

We are writing to you in reference with the picture The 16 Carmelite Sisters of Compiègne mounting the scaffold to be guillotined which we saw on your site. We are a Bulgarian publishing house and are looking for a suitable illustration for the cover of the Bulgarian translation of Bernanos's "The Dialogues of the Carmelites".

We would be extremely grateful if you tell us who is the artist and how we can obtain an image of the picture with a resolution high enough for printing purposes. We would be grateful for any other suggestions as well.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

     Kind regards,

     S. A., Bulgaria



TIA responds:

Dear S.A.,

We are sorry to inform you that we have neither that picture available nor any data about it. We took it from the public domain of the Internet in a low resolution photo when we posted the article you mentioned.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

This is interesting. Thought you'd like to see it. It fits with what Prof. Plinio de Oliveira has to say about the ecological revolution.

I think the Catholics are leading the pack in the race to become Hinduists or Buddhists. As the article says, "Let's all say 'Ommmmm'. No more Amens.

     P.H.



We Are All Hindus

Tue, Aug 18 - Nevada (ANI): "We Are All Hindus Now" - headlines the article in the upcoming edition of prestigious newsmagazine Newsweek, saying "U.S. Views on God and Life Are Turning Hindu".

Written by its religion editor Lisa Miller, it says, "...recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity."

Commenting about the Newsweek viewpoint, Rajan Zed said that community was glad that rich philosophical thought of Hinduism was being recognized and accepted widely outside the Hindu circles.

The article quotes a religion professor at Boston University who has long framed the American propensity for "the divine-deli-cafeteria religion" as "very much in the spirit of Hinduism..."

It further says: "So here is another way in which Americans are becoming more Hindu: 24 percent of Americans say they believe in reincarnation, according to a 2008 Harris poll. So agnostic are we about the ultimate fates of our bodies that we're burning them-like Hindus-after death. More than a third of Americans now choose cremation, according to the Cremation Association of North America." The article ends with: So let us all say "om." (ANI)

Dear TIA,

I have come across books that were on the Index before it was abolished. The books in question are "The Poem of The Man God". Am I still obliged under sin to dispose of them?

Thanks and God bless. I love your website.

     J.S.



TIA responds:

Dear J.S.,

Thank you for your kind words.

When a positive law that demands obedience under pain of mortal sin is abolished, its penalty loses its effect. For example, the laws of fast were bound by mortal sin. No one could approach the Communion rail unless he had fasted since midnight.

This time of fasting was modified first by Pius XII to three hours before Communion, and later by Paul VI to only one hour. At the moment that those positive laws ceased to exist, so also did their penalties. One can follow the fast before Pius XII's change to follow an old tradition or for reasons of piety, but he is no longer bound to do so under penalty of sin.

The Index of the Forbidden Books was also a positive law. So, when Paul VI abolished it, the penalty automatically ceased.

Notwithstanding, there is a moral obligation of vigilance and prudence to avoid those books. They were put into the Index to prevent poisonous doctrine from spreading among Catholics. That poison continues to kill the same way it did before. It is a question of vigilance and prudence not to drink of it insofar as one cares for his own spiritual life.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Dear TIA,

Thank you for your help in these confusing times.

I have a question, on my way to and from work there is a Novus Ordo church that has a separate chapel with 24 hour Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

Am I allowed to stop in to make a visit? And make a holy hour?

     God Bless

     J.P.



TIA responds:

Dear J.P.,

You may stop in that place to keep Our Lord company as long as you make a conditional adoration. Indeed, in many Novus Ordo Masses in English, the words said for the Consecration do not repeat the sacramental formula. Therefore, the effectiveness of the Transubstantiation is wide open to discussion.

For a Sacrament to be valid the following conditions are required: a legitimate minister, correct matter (bread and wine), the right words, the established ritual and the intention of the minister to perform it in union with the Catholic Church. Thus, if the words are not the right ones, the Sacrament is not effected.

Since it is not certain what words were used by the priest who consecrated the host displayed in Adoration, it is advisable to make a conditional Adoration: "My Lord, I adore Thee as long as this host was duly consecrated and Thou art truly present in it." Conditional adoration was already being practiced by St. Teresa of Avila when she suspected that a priest was a sympathizer of Protestantism.

We hope this can help you.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

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