Dennis the Menace has been posting the sordid story of corrupt Popes and bishops. It gets deleted, but let me add this. Any good Catholic history tells of these people. The laity was often just as bad during these times. What is a great sign of the Church's indefectibility is the fact that during the reign of these corrupt popes, they did not change the rule of celibacy or any other moral teachings of the Church to suit their desires and lifestyles! These people might have been hypocrites, but in their position as the Vicar of Christ, they did not water down, repudiate, or otherwise mess up the teachings and disciplines of the Holy, Catholic Church! Amen!

-- Christina (introibo2000@yahoo.com), May 07, 2002

Answers

What does the Inquisition have to do with my original post? Get thee off thy soapbox, Dennis.

How many people were killed in the Inquisition? Millions? Thousands? Hardly. No one really knows, but the number was quite small. And what does the existence of the various inquisitions prove? Religious zeal? Yes. Sinners? Yes, on both sides. Does this prove anything about the Church? No. As with my post on Augustine a couple of weeks back, these are different times. The Protestant reformers also favored burning at the stake for those who opposed their teachings,yet we never hear of that. Elizabeth I of England had many, many Catholics who would not convert to Anglicanism burned and hanged. We never hear of that, only of "Bloody Mary."

We also never hear the other side of the Ferdinand/Isabella/expelling of the Jews controversy. The Jews were not innocent in this matter, either. They fomented many massacres and tortures of Catholics.

Dig a little deeper before you point a finger.

-- Christina (introibo2000@yahoo.com), May 07, 2002.

Have you all heard about this red heifer? From what I gather, according to Jewish prophecy a red heifer is required for sacrifice as something related to the rebuilding of the Temple. Apparently a red heifer is a rarity, and they haven't had any since the temple was destroyed. One was born in 1997, but it had a blemish on it and was pronounced unacceptable for the sacrifice... but apparently, one was born last month that was genetically engineered, and this one has been declared acceptable and would be ready for sacrifice in about three years. I also read that the rebuilding of the Temple was supposed to happen in conjunction with their expectation of the messiah.

Anyone know anything further or have any comments on this?

-- Emerald (emerald1@cox.net), May 07, 2002.

The posts by the "Rabbi" and the "Father" at the "edu.com" for the rabbi and "magicnet" for the father were both made by the same person, talking to themselves. Dennis Molson's and Tony's posts, and those who replied to them were also deleted.

-- Moderator ("Catholic_moderator@hotmail.com"), May 07, 2002.

God knows. There was also a Rabbi some years ago whom Rebbe-- they called him; he was rumored to be the Messiah; and lots of devout Jews were jumping on his bandwagon. He was pretty aged, might be dead now. If red heifers make any difference to a Catholic, we're worse off than I thought. Ha! I love one Jewish character with a passion. Still love to listen to Al Jolson. What a man!

Climb upon my kneeee, Sonny Bo-o-o-Y !

-- eugene c. chavez (chavezec@pacbell.net), May 07, 2002.

Al Jolson

Ouch--that is going back in time. I only remember Mammy and Swanee. It is so LOOONG ago. I believe they are his songs. The first man to sing on recorded film. Blessings.

-- Fred Bishop (fcbishop@globaleyes.net), May 07, 2002.

I have a small collection of his recordings on CD. They're wonderful. I started it after viewing the videos of his two movie bigraphies, The Jolson Story and Jolson Sings Again. He was a marvelous entertainer. It's indicative of life's awful brevity that he's now practically forgotten. Because for many decades he was the number one attraction in our country as an entertainer. Bigger than Sinatra or Presley or Michael Jackson. They too will be forgotten before too many years.

That is what makes Jesus Christ the divine One. Ages will go by, but He won't be forgotten. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words will never pass away. Long after we're dust, His Gospel will still be the Good News. He will still draw all men to Himself.

--

-- eugene c. chavez (chavezec@pacbell.net), May 07, 2002.

This is hilarioius - a post I started ending up talking about Al Jolson. I'm only in my late 30's, but when I was a kid I "discovered" old time music, from the 1890's to the 1940's, and I love it all. Jolson was great, but I really liked the entertainer Eddie Cantor.

-- Christina (introibo2000@yahoo.com), May 08, 2002.

Hi, Christina;

I read his bio and it amazed me that Jolson actually introduced-- the first one to sing them on Broadway-- standards like April Showers, You Made Me Love You, Toot-toot Tootsie, & many other big hits. He gave Irving Berlin his first hit, Alexander's Ragtime Band; etc.,

When he died, he left 18 million --in pre-war dollars. A third of this he donated to the Catholic Church, believe it or not! A third went to his heirs, and a third to the Jewish (?) synagogues, charities? Some Jewish cause. He was the first American entertainer to go overseas and play for the U.S. troops, and he went at his own expense! After he did it, the other Hollywood stars went too. But he did it first, and just because he loved to entertain. By then he was a ways over the hill; but he just loved to sing. I love that guy! May his soul be in heaven with all the saints, angels, Jewish prophets and patriarchs-- and Our Lord and Saviour. He'll be singing his heart out; that I can tell you.

-- eugene c. chavez (chavezec@pacbell.net), May 08, 2002.