Terry Mattingly

,

What in hell? Part II

,

We have another update on that holy Toledo Blade story about the murdered nun, fiends in robes, rumors of secret files (required by canon law), a priest failing a lie detector test and lots of other strange things. Here is a new lead from reporter Robin Erb: “Homicide detectives believed that officials at the Toledo Catholic Diocese intentionally misled them during their investigation into the slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl last year, according to court documents unsealed yesterday. The records show that during unprecedented police searches of the downtown church headquarters, investigators said they were looking for evidence of ‘obstructing justice,’ in their search for ‘secret files’ that might lead to information about murder suspect and longtime cleric Father Gerald Robinson.” This one is not going to end anytime soon.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
,

Hello Michael Valpy

,

This link is provided as a public service to reporters north of the border (Hello to Michael Valpy at The Globe and Mail) who need to be able to talk to conservative Anglicans (other than on the telephone) during the coming years of tense conflict in the Anglican Communion. Talking to these endangered ecclesiastical beasts will help reporters cover both sides of this stunningly complex and emotional story. “In what is likely to be the largest gathering of orthodox Canadian Anglicans in the history of the Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Essentials Canada will be playing host to the ‘Open Door’ Conference in Toronto, Ontario.” The date for calendars? June 16, 2005. Now, has anyone seen any good events on the left?


Please respect our Commenting Policy
,

Effect of the Cos

,

I missed this story until it showed up via The Washington Post‘s wire in a South Florida newspaper. Bill Cosby’s sermons and tribulations have received quite a bit of ink, but this is the first story I have seen that places them in the historic context of African American rhetoric and civic debates. This Detroit-angle story mentions the church, of course, but then drops that angle. Here is the hint of a larger story that remains unwritten: “What had drawn 1,900 people downtown on a yucky night was the sheer star power of a 67-year-old comedian who hadn’t come to do comedy. Bill Cosby had come to give a stern lecture — free of charge — about the failures of black parents, and the failures of black Christians, about how systemic racism can’t explain everything that drags down some African Americans, about how too many black youths are ‘standing on the University of the Corner’ and too many black adults are serving as poor role models.”


Please respect our Commenting Policy