For the heck of it, I decided to get one of the blog tracker thinggys that I used to have on this blog while it was still hosted by Blogger. I especially like the function that shows you what people have searched on Google or Yahoo! in order to find your blog.

This past month, it’s been ‘carrie chong jean danker FHM’ or a permutation of such. While I was initially tempted to purchase the latest issue of the magazine featuring the MediaCorp DJs and putting it up to appease those who came here looking for pics… I do realise that the blog is, after all, Catholic by name and by association.

And there has been a spate of Catholic controversy in the news, both local and overseas. The Pope’s comments about Islam and the ‘demonic possession’ suit against Novena Church, two Redemptorists priests and several volunteers being fresh on our minds.

Firstly, and most recently, there’s the uproar about a quote regarding the religion of Islam that Pope Benedict XVI used during his address at the University of Regensburg, Germany. The Pope has since apologised profusely for the remark and insists that he has quoted from a medieval text and does not consider it a personal opinion. I personally have read the official English translation of the talk (link above) and truly, the supposedly offensive quote has been severely taken out of context and the claims go totally against the whole focus of the Pope’s speech. It is simply regretful that several parties have been offended by that particular line, but if nothing else, I hope that this will show a more urgent need for interreligious dialogue and lead to something wonderful down the road.

As for the case regarding ‘demonic possession’ at the Church of St. Alphonsus (better known as Novena Church), it appears that there is a clear distinction between the story told by the plaintiff and that of the defendants. A ‘James Gomez’ case, to put it succintly, where both parties have different agendas and different ways of looking at the same event, which happened two years ago. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there are no close-circuit televisions in that part of the church, or we could have solved this case easily. It is sad that the civil suit is expected to cost at least a million dollars, as the priests involved and the volunteers are surely not appreciating this extra stress that they’re going through now.

I personally have no further thoughts regarding this event, and I’m hoping it will be resolved amicably.

As someone with the moniker ‘Catholic War Machine’, this blog needs to focus a little less on my personal life and more on preserving my Catholic perspective for posterity. It is clear, therefore, that what the Church needs right now is a dose of good publicity.