{mosimage}There was a crib set up at my church. It wasn’t someone’s version of a crying room and it wasn’t going to replace the manger. This crib was meant to encourage donations for an organization that assists unwed mothers and their babies. People were encouraged to bring baby clothes, diapers and baby food.

I was excited about shopping for baby items. I had seen an ad for the cutest little sleeper sets and chattered away about my shopping plans to my husband as we drove away after Mass. “Why wouldn’t you just give money?” asked my husband the accountant, “and then you could get a tax receipt.”

{mosimage}The original Hippocratic Oath, once sworn by all doctors entering their esteemed profession, required that its adherents “do no harm” to their patients. Moreover, it insisted that doctors never participate in euthanasia or assisted suicide or do abortions. How things have changed.

{mosimage}While Humanae Vitae deserved much of the ink spilled last month on the occasion of its 40th anniversary, it would be a shame if this encyclical became the sole marker of the remarkable pontificate of Paul VI.

Less noted than Humanae Vitae’s birthday was the 30th anniversary of the death of the pope who led the Catholic Church through much of the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s.

In much of the news coverage relating to the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States last spring, it was noted that he “bonded” with the American people, even though some had expected to feel negative towards him.

The British House of Commons was supposed to once again wrestle this summer with the Human Embryology Bill, a piece of legislation ostensibly designed to bring the legal framework of Britain into line with the realities of genetics research. But Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decided to once again postpone the end state of the debate.

{mosimage}I’m fed up with Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) and their collaborators inside and outside the Catholic Church. And while I’m on the subject — I’m also not very happy with the namby-pamby way some representatives of Catholic officialdom are dealing with what RCWP is up to.

Editor's note: Below are two commentaries on the meaning of Pope Paul VI's encyclical, Humanae Vitae, which was released 40 years ago this summer, on July 25, 1968. The encyclical, which reaffirmed traditional Catholic teaching against the use of artificial contraception, has long been considered a watershed document in the history of the post Vatican II Catholic Church.

A fine novelist can capture in fiction what objective documentary evidence is unable to realize. No matter how detailed, objective and scientific a study of a human calamity like the Holocaust can be — and there are many human-generated catastrophes to choose from in our carnage-loving time — the capacity to evoke true horror as well as the power of the human spirit to survive is only approximated by historical analyses. Art invariably succeeds where analysis fails. And it need not be in words.  Think of the haunting works of the Polish composer Henryk Gorecki.

{mosimage}It's interesting how quickly the astounding news that Dr. Henry Morgentaler was to receive an Order of Canada has disappeared from the nation's media. After an initial flurry of articles, commentaries and broadcasts, the issue has quietly been replaced by the usual diet of stories on summer weather, terrorism and environmental degradation.

{mosimage}Canadians are evenly divided on Liberal leader Stephane Dion’s plan to use the tax system to reduce Canada’s disproportionate contribution to global warming.

When the Liberal carbon tax and its purpose was described to them by pollsters at Harris/Decima, 47 per cent of Canadians said they support the concept versus 39 per cent who were opposed.