From the Net

MercatorNet recently had a very interesting piece on the new Hungarian Constitution. It's worth a read.

Cardinal Political Firestarter

It seems the Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Quebec has gotten himself into serious PR trouble. The Cardinal spoke out recently espousing 'opinions' that touched off a firestorm of protest and invective from the press, various advocacy groups and even the Parti Quebecois. The Quebec Parliament went so far as to enact a Provincial law to specifically contradict the Canadian Senior Catholic Cleric and show unyielding opposition to his views. Indeed, The Cardinal's statements have been characterized as barbaric and despicable.

What are the comments that started such a firestorm?

I understand very well that a woman who's been raped is dealing with trauma and that she needs to be helped. But she needs to do so with respect for the being that is in her womb. It is not responsible for what happened. It's the rapist who is responsible. But there's already a victim. Do we need to have another one? The child is not responsible for how he was conceived; it is the aggressor who is responsible. We can see him as another victim.

Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Archbishop, Quebec City

Update: Our good friend Josephus Flavius at Byzantine Texas has reproduced a discussion on this issue from Touchstone Magazine's Mere Comments. I am humbled to have "gotten the scoop" on both Tony Esolen and Josephus as this is a quite rare occurrence.