Benedict XVI: America's Pope

Pope Benedict XVI, known as the Reluctant Pope, or God's Rottweiller, presided over the Roman Catholic Church as Pontiff from 2005 to 2013. Far from being a forgettable footnote, I would argue that he ranks among the heavy-hitting Popes who influenced Catholicism in the United States, alongside Leo XIII (1878-1903) and Pius XII (1939-1958). Two tangible factors of Benedict XVI's Papacy include the rise of non-official Catholic news websites and social media; and stabilization of enrollment at American seminaries. He had his human shortcomings, such as being blindsighted by abuse scandals that were handled ineffectively. These scandals severly discredited the Church in places like Ireland and Australia, but only to a lesser extent in the United States. While his predecessor John Paul II, and successor Francis were focused on new evangelization in South America and Africa; Benedict XVI sought to reclaim a Catholic heritage in rapidly-secularizing Europe and North America. One such method is the Anglican Ordinariate, first envisioned in the mid-1800s by John Henry Newman. Under Benedict XVI, Episcopalians gained the opportunity to become Roman Catholic as their protestant church split between the liberal Episcopal Church USA and more conservative Anglican faction. Catholic intellectual tradition, with a focus on strong families, charity, and widespread propsperity, offered an alternative to the bluntness of neoliberalism or economic libertarianism. These ideas are translated for the American audience by center-right publications like the National Review. One of the hallmarks of mid-century suburbanization was for American Catholics to leave their ethnic, inner-city parishes with statues of patron saints; to assimilate into White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant culture in newbuilt neighborhoods and new, streamlined parishes liberated from Old-World sentimentality and the rigidity of the Tridentine Canon. But, as former US Vice President Mike Pence remarked about attending Mass during the era, there was a loss of personal touch, or a vibrancy that could have been. As one of the last living participants of Vatican II, Benedict XVI's writings came full-circle on the interpretation of the Council. Once a progressive who embraced the unenumerated "Spirit of Vatican II", his later option called for closer adherence to a hermenutic of continuity with pre-Conciliar heritage. If the onetime pre-eminence of Catholic culture was taken for granted in Boston, New York, Chicago, and elsewhere in the Northeast and Midwest; the pugnilistic enclaves of Catholicism in the metropolitan South emphasize traditions and practices distinct from the Baptist and Evangelical majority. It is in places like the new town of Ave Maria, Florida, where the Church is re-established at the center of the community, both physically and spiritually. If the "Spirit of Vatican II" called for opening up the Church, Benedict XVI's exhoration is do so with a firm foundation.

Flash: COVID Quacks, Madoff Pays Out More

A Stitch in Time for Some Madoff Victims
 
 The Department of Justice announced that on April 20, the Madoff Victim Fund (MVF) began its fifth distribution of approximately $378.5 million in funds forfeited to the U.S. Government in connection with Bernie Madoff's investment fraud scheme, bringing the total distributed to over $2.7 billion to nearly 38,000 victims worldwide. Bernie Madoff has currently served 10 years of a 150-year sentence related to his Ponzi scheme.


 Worse than Eating Tide Pods

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has entered a temporary injunction halting the sale of an unapproved, unproven, and potentially dangerous coronavirus (COVID-19) treatment product, the Department of Justice announced today.

The Department of Justice alleges that the defendants, Genesis and its principals sell and distribute a product called Miracle Mineral Solution, also referred to as MMS.  Genesis sells MMS through its websites claiming that it will cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent Coronavirus, which includes COVID-19, as well as other diseases including Alzheimer’s, autism, brain cancer, HIV/AIDS, and multiple sclerosis, among others.  MMS is a chemical product which, when combined with the included activator, creates a powerful bleach product that the defendants market for oral ingestion.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously issued public warnings to consumers that MMS can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration.  The Justice Department sought preliminary relief from the court.

“The Department of Justice will take swift action to protect consumers from illegal and potentially harmful products being offered to treat COVID-19,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt.


Links
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-additional-distribution-more-378-million-victims-madoff-ponzi

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-seeks-end-illegal-online-sale-industrial-bleach-marketed-miracle-treatment