Bart Stupak has finally gotten (or reacquired) a spine!

If the reporting from Politico is right, he’s finally stood up to Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama!

He’s un-caved!

A little too late.

He’s decided, you see, not to run for re-election.

Politico reports:

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who had a central role in the health reform fight as the leader of anti-abortion Democrats, plans to announce Friday that he will not run for reelection, a Democratic official said. Without Stupak on the ballot, the seat becomes an immediate pickup opportunity for Republicans.

President Barack Obama called Stupak on Wednesday and asked him not to retire. Stupak, 58, also resisted entreaties from Speaker...READ MORE

There’s an aspect to the current press coverage of Pope Benedict that I don’t understand.

Yes, I know why they’re doing it. Because they need scandal to sell papers. Because they have antipathy towards the Catholic Church (except when it is in their interests no to, like when Pope Benedict visited America). And, yes, because they don’t understand what they’re reporting on.

But really.

Why are they so laser-focused on the issue of laicization or “defrocking”?

Remember Jesus’ parable about the two sons, one of whom said he would go work in the field but didn’t and the other of whom said he wouldn’t go work in the field but did?

The first son was right on symbol but wrong on substance....READ MORE

This will be a long one, so let me summarize the key points right up front:

* One of the documents contained in the New York Times files on the Fr. Lawrence Murphy case is a memo in Italian summarizing a meeting that was held at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about Fr. Murphy.

* This memo has not had a professional English translation until now.

* The new translation is a smoking gun in that it reveals how badly the New York Times and others have botched the story.

* Then-Cardinal Ratzinger was not present at the meeting. It was run by the Secretary of the CDF, then-Archbishop Bertone.

* Cardinal Ratzinger’s name never comes up, making it impossible to determine...READ MORE

I’d like to thank The Anchoress and Andrew Sullivan for linking my previous piece on Cardinal Ratzinger and the Murphy case, and for the kind things they said about it.

There is more to say about the story. Quite a bit, actually. In particular, I’ll be responding to Sullivan, and I’ll be able to report on the German story, but first there are some additional facts to get on the table regarding the Wisconsin one.

Let’s start with a piece by Fr. Thomas Brundage (pictured), who writes:

I was the Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 1995-2003. During those years, I presided over four canonical criminal cases, one of which involved Father Lawrence Murphy. Two of the four men...READ MORE

Welcome readers of The Anchoress and Andrew Sullivan.

See also: EVIL MONSTER UPDATE: THE INSIDE STORY.

The level of vitriol being directed at Pope Benedict by the mainstream media right now is truly extraordinary. It’s primarily drive by desire for cash (scandal sells), followed closely by hatred, along with a hefty dose of ignorance.

Reading Maureen Dowd’s latest opinion column is just a cringe-inducing experience.

Even in ostensible news pieces the misrepresentation of facts is staggering. That’s where the ignorance comes in. Reporters in the mainstream media are seldom well versed in the matters they are reporting on, and it is clear that—even when outright malice is excluded from...READ MORE

There’s a meme going around certain quarters that Republicans are nuts because a massive number of them believe that President Obama may be the antichrist.

I first encountered this on the Drudge Report, which linked to the British paper the Daily Mail, which has a story headlined:

Almost a quarter of Republicans think Obama ‘may be the Antichrist’ as 14 states sue over healthcare reforms

Here’s the entirety of what that article has to say on the antichrist subject:

Nearly a quarter of Republicans believe the Democrat president ‘may be the Antichrist’, according to a survey.

That’s it! No link to the original poll. No clue about how it was run. Nada!

A lot of other people are blogging...READ MORE

Not all of them, mind you. But, at least, he’s accused the U.S. bishops and the National Right to Life Committee of hypocrisy.

According to The Daily Caller:

“The [National] Right to Life and the bishops, in 2007 when George Bush signed the executive order on embryonic stem cell research, they all applauded the executive order,” Stupak said in an interview with The Daily Caller.

“The Democratic Congress passed [a bill] saying we’ll do embryonic stem cell research. Bush vetoed it in 2007. That same day he issued an executive order saying we will not do it, and all these groups applauded that he protected life,” Stupak said.

“So now President Obama’s going to sign an...READ MORE

Generally not.

Or at least that’s the answer of Bishop Gianfranco Girotti (pictured) of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

According to Catholic News Service:

A priest who confesses sexual abuse in the sacrament of penance should be absolved and should generally not be encouraged by the confessor to disclose his acts publicly or to his superiors, a Vatican official said.

Likewise, the confessor should not make the contents of such a confession public, said Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court that handles issues related to the sacrament of penance. . . .

When a priest confesses such acts, “the confession can only have absolution as a consequence,”...READ MORE