(1) Pope Benedict XVI has been giving weekly talks on the early Church, including his June 25 discussion of St. Maximus the Confessor. Born in Palestine around 580, Maximus defied an imperial ruling — and incurred punishment — to insist that Jesus was both human and divine.

Maximus should be an example to contemporary Christians, the Pope said, and we, too, must not accept every thought proffered in the modern world:

“Tolerance that does not know how to distinguish between good and evil would become chaotic and self-destructive. Dialogue that does not know what to dialogue about becomes mere empty chatter.”

(2) Mark Shea, columnist for the National Catholic Register, wrote a thoughtful 6/1-7/08 column on Fake Courage, Real Cowardice. You will perhaps recognize the examples he provides, some from TV and some from right around the corner. Here’s an example:

Item: At the kickoff for the 40 Days for Life in Seattle, a number of pro-abortion thugs occupied the parking lot of the University of Washington Newman Center and screamed some slogans on behalf of baby-killing.

Finally, one of the priests at the Newman Center - as gentle and kindly-spoken a man as you could possibly imagine - went out to the parking lot to inform the screamers that they were on private property and needed to move to the sidewalk.

One of the protesters screamed in his face, “You don’t intimidate me!”

What courage to stand up to a meek priest like that!

(3) India has seen more than its share of anti-Christian violence, the latest being a Catholic orphanage destroyed and a church attacked by Hindu fanatics in Orissa.

(4) Meanwhile, Christianity is doing a good job of causing trouble for itself, never mind outsiders. On Wednesday the Russian Orthodox Church publicly criticized the Church of England’s decision to allow the ordination of women bishops, saying it could trigger a schism in the church and harm ties with other denominations.

The Vatican, too, has “regretfully” acknowledged the Church of England’s synod vote.

And at least one Anglican bishop seeks union with Rome.

(5) And as we’re speaking of England, we’ve noticed in recent years books and articles claiming to know Shakespeare’s religion. Most pointedly, was he a secret Catholic? In May FIRST THINGS published Robert Miola’s article, Shakespeare’s Religion, which will bring you up to date on the debate.

(6) Late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller has been let off the hook by a Kansas grand jury, but with reservations.

This video clip is from a Fox/Bill O’Reilly interview which I saw. The young woman describes what it was like to be in Dr. Tiller’s clinic.

(7) And this brings us to Democratic candidate Barak Obama who has been making abortion news himself this week. While Mr. Obama’s Senate votes have been 100% liberal on abortion, he has made comments lately that have annoyed his base.

Politico is saying candidate Obama is walking an abortion minefield. CBS-News chimes in that Obama’s call for unity faces an abortion test.

But it’s Jill Stanek I listen to most closely. Jill worked for a year at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, as a registered nurse in the Labor and Delivery Department. It was here that she first saw “live- birth abortions”. Here’s what Nurse Stanek says about Candidate Obama:

A CNN reporter interviewing me a couple weeks ago about Barack Obama’s opposition as state senator to the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act groaned more than once that this topic was “complicated.” She was referring to Obama’s various explanations through the years for blocking Born Alive and lately his outright denial that obstructing legislation declaring live aborted babies legal persons had anything to do with endorsing their death. I finally emailed her, “It is clear: Obama strongly opposed legislation to protect abortion survivors. This is horrible, so of course he will try to make it ‘complicated,’ but it is not.” The federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act passed unanimously in the U.S. Senate and overwhelmingly in the U.S. House. Sens. Kennedy and Boxer even spoke in support on the Senate floor. NARAL expressed neutrality. Obama actively opposed nearly identical legislation in Illinois, the sole state senator to speak against Illinois’ Born Alive two years in a row. Barack Obama is so radically pro-abortion he supports infanticide, as evidenced by his active opposition to the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act. This makes him further left than any U.S. senator and even NARAL. Full story at LifeNews.com.