Delta Variant: A More Severe Illness that Spreads as Easily as Chickenpox UPDATED

 While this is a theoretical article, the theory is very plausible.  If you have many vaccinated people in an environment in which the virus is circulating strongly because there are also many unvaccinated people, then soon or later the virus will discover how to get through the vaccine barrier among the vaccinated. 

UK scientists believe it is 'almost certain' a coronavirus variant will emerge that beats current vaccines

The Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox,

The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must “acknowledge the war has changed.”  The document is an internal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slide presentation, shared within the CDC and obtained by The Washington Post. 

The Pillar Plot Thickens UPDATED AGAIN!

UPDATE Michael Sean Winters weights in 

Pillar: Shoot for the stars and land in the gutter 

It takes a special kind of sinister skill for men trained as lawyers but acting as journalists to violate journalistic ethics and act in total disregard for the values that inform our legal system – all at the same time.

Among the values upon which our Western legal systems, both civil and ecclesiastic, are built is an abhorrence of unjust searches and seizures. The government needs a warrant to invade the privacy of your home or your phone. Issuing a warrant requires the government to demonstrate probable cause to believe evidence of a crime will be found. We allow criminals we are quite sure committed heinous acts to go free if the evidence against them was tainted by an improper search. What probable cause did Flynn and Condon have to ruin the career of a priest who committed no crime?

Location-based apps pose security risk for Holy See

The use of location-based hookup apps by officials or employees of Church institutions could present serious security problems for the Church, even at the level of the Holy See’s diplomatic and international relations.

The use of such apps within the Vatican City State could be a point of vulnerability in the Holy See’s efforts to defend itself from cyberattacks and other intelligence-gathering exercises in recent years.

Latinos and evangelical christianity - implications for the future

A new generation of Latino Protestants is poised to transform our religious and political landscapes.

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/07/latinos-will-determine-future-american-evangelicalism/619551/

 There is an interesting article in the Atlantic about the increasing numbers of evangelical Latinos (for the first time, fewer than 50% of American Latinos identify as Catholic according to Pew).

The Catholic church in the US has been counting on the Latinos to "save" the church, to populate the pews and the schools.  The Democrats have been counting on them to shore up their voting base.  But - what if both are wrong?

Thoughts?

Facebook and Congregations

 As the pandemic developed, I noticed that my two local parishes which had started on Youtube had migrated to Facebook.  However in order to view services on Facebook, you are required to log in which of course enables both Facebook and the parish to know who is watching. Since I don't intend to become part of Facebook, it  essentially meant that they lost me as a viewer of their worship services. One of them has come back to YouTube.  I sent them a congratulatory e-mail. 

Facebook Wants You to Connect With God. On Facebook.

America vs The Pillar

 America has posted two great articles on The Pillar story raising many important questions about how the data was obtained, the ethics of its use, and the future of information gathering and journalism.

Since America has asked about the hidden agenda of The Pillar, I naturally asked about the hidden agenda of America as a Jesuit publication. Namely that America seeks to limit and discredit the exposure of gay networks in the Church.

Gay Networks

Jesuits have on their tombstones three dates: the date of their birth, their entrance in the Society of Jesus, and their death. Nothing about the date they took vows, or their ordination. The importance of entrance into novitiate, even if one eventually leaves, has become apparent to myself (and others) in the way some (but not all Jesuits) treat anyone who entered the Jesuits as one of OURS. 

This was very evident to me more than two decades ago when a Jesuit discussed with me his ministry with all the openness that might be expected to a fellow Jesuit. As a part of that he confided that the American Assistancy (i.e the group of  American provinces) was controlled by a gay network and that choice of ministries very much depended upon whether you were part of that network. This was all before the sexual abuse scandal reached national prominence and before Don Cozzens raised the homosexual issue in his book on priests (that scuttled any hopes he might have had as a seminary rector to become a bishop, he subsequently took an academic position).

May Perpetual Light Shine Upon Him

 My dad passed away on July 14.  He was 93 years old. His funeral was Tuesday, July 20.  This is a link to his obituary: Gene Nielsen Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information (prairiehillsfuneralhome.com)

USCCB gen sec Burrill resigns after sexual misconduct allegations

Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, former general secretary of the U.S. bishops’ conference, announced his resignation Tuesday, after The Pillar found evidence the priest engaged in serial sexual misconduct, while he held a critical oversight role in the Catholic Church’s response to the recent spate of sexual abuse and misconduct scandals.

Pillar Investigates: USCCB gen sec Burrill resigns after sexual misconduct allegations

Again, Catholic Democrats and Republicans Agree on Vaccine!

 

Today as part of a larger CARA survey America reported some interesting data about vaccination

Three years after the 2018 ‘summer of shame,’ what do American Catholics think about the sex abuse crisis?

Like the PRRI study in a previous post they also report high levels of vaccination among Catholics, no difference by political party and a large effect for age and education.

"Three-quarters of adult Catholics have already received a Covid-19 vaccine or plan to do so. Millennials are among the least likely to say they have gotten or plan to get a Covid-19 vaccine (60 percent). Catholic Republicans are just as likely as Democrats to say they have been vaccinated or plan to be (both at 76 percent). While 81 percent of those with a four-year college degree said they have been vaccinated or plan to be, only 69 percent of those with only a high school education, and 60 percent of those who have not completed high school, said the same."

PANDEMIC PROJECTIONS: OLD AND NEW

At the end of my May 18th post

Will the Current USA Pandemic Incidence Continue to Decline?

I presented the table below of various projections for the future based up 2%, 1.5%,1%, 0,5% and 0% declines, 

The ACTUAL CASES are given at the right. Essentially the decline was going at a rate better than 2% up until June 15th when it dramatically slowed into at first a plateau before July 4th and now an upswing. 

The upswing in yellow has already placed us where we would have been if the rate had been 0.5%. Since we are already getting up into the 30000s this week, on August 1st we will likely be at the worst case scenario, namely no decline from May 15th.  

In other words relying on the vaccine alone has not been sufficient to bring virus cases down in face of the Delta variant

 

Francis revokes Benedict document on the Extraordinary Form

 This is immediate and sweeping!  My comments in italics

ON THE USE OF THE ROMAN LITURGY PRIOR TO THE REFORM OF 1970

Art. 1. The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite. i.e. no more extraordinary form

Art. 2. It belongs to the diocesan bishop, as moderator, promoter, and guardian of the whole liturgical life of the particular Church entrusted to him,[5] to regulate the liturgical celebrations of his diocese.[6] Therefore, it is his exclusive competence to authorize the use of the 1962 Roman Missal in his diocese, according to the guidelines of the Apostolic See. Bishops had long complained that Rome was tying their hands

A brief thought on evolution

The coronavirus which causes COVID-19 is evolving.  Evolution deniers, take note.

Walking better than Dancing?

 Well, at least for white matter plasticity and memory in older adults!

How Walking Can Build Up the Brain

Older men and women who walked for six months showed improvements in white matter and memory, while those who danced or did stretching exercises did not.

My Household Church

 As part of the ND summer course, we have had some readings and videos about icons and their use. We have also had several readings and presentations by Hispanics on Guadalupe in relationship to both personal and public piety.  As a result one of the participants invited others to post icons used in their homes. In my conversations on their blog, I have been promoting virtual worship, including the Divine Office and livestreaming  of parish Masses. 

Here is my post. While that computer might look small in the photo, it is actually 3 ft. wide by almost 2 ft. high. The tapestry is 4 ft. high by 2 ft. wide.  

Walking Stick Sunday

 From this Sunday's Gospel

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. 

My practice of using beautiful walking sticks makes me very visible in church. So no wonder pastoral staff members and others immediately think of me when this Gospel is read. The walking stick indeed has become a prominent part of my appearance.

Why are walking sticks so important to my personal and public identity? 

First a plateau, now a rise in COVID cases UPDATED!

UPDATE

Covid-19 cases are surging in 46 states.

In 45 states, the rates of new cases this past week are at least 10% higher than the rates of new cases the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In 34 states, new cases this past week are at least 50% higher than new cases the previous week.

ALSO: after going over 30,000 cases on Friday and Monday, we went over 40,000 cases yesterday.  That is a rather fast rate of increase. 

The decline of the virus continued until mid June when it stagnated much as it had in March when the Beta variant took over. Now that the Delta variant is taking over we are also seeing a slow jagged rise just as we also saw in March. 

US records 20,000 new COVID cases for the third day in a row

Our mission

 This is my homily for this past Sunday, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.  The readings for this weekend are here.  

The Doctrine of Discovery

 Much has been made lately of expectations that Pope Francis should apologize for the tragedies which took place at the residential schools for indigenous children. A significant percentage of these schools were Catholic institutions.  It is believed that hundreds, if not thousands, of children died at these schools.  Lately advanced radar techniques have located hundreds of unmarked graves on the grounds of these former schools. The graves which were discovered were in Canada, though there are likely similar ones in the US.  

People have been puzzled by the seeming reluctance of the pope to issue an apology. There are seemingly at least two things at play.  First, the schools were under the administration of local dioceses and the religious orders which ran them.  It is felt that they weren't the purview of the Vatican.  Additionally, I have read that the protocol would be be that the bishop's conferences of the areas in question would need to issue an invitation to the pope.  They haven't done this, at least not as a group.  

It is my feeling that an apology such as this shouldn't be pro forma, just done in response to expectations.  It should actually mean something. Which is why this article on the NCR site is relevant.  From the article:

Contrite observations

There is no grand point to this post, except to illustrate how one can wile away the time on a Friday lunch break by looking into word usage and pronunciation.

 In our parish's mass script for this weekend, the penitential rite includes this line:

Lord Jesus, you were sent to heal the contrite of heart

... to which everyone would respond, "Lord have mercy".

Over the years, I've heard that phrase, "You were sent to heal the contrite" many, many times in penitential rites.  The word "contrite" always has been pronounced, KAHN-trite, with stress on the first syllable, and that syllable rhyming with "don".

A majority of Americans believe the lab-leak theory

 I received this breaking-news update on this item this morning.  This is from Politico:

Most Americans now believe that the coronavirus leaked from a laboratory in China, according to a new POLITICO-Harvard poll that found a dramatic shift in public perception of Covid-19’s origins over the last year...

In March 2020, a Pew Research Center poll found 29 percent of Americans believed the virus was made in a Chinese lab and released either accidentally or intentionally. The new survey shows 52 percent believe the virus came out of a lab, including 59 percent of Republicans and 52 percent of Democrats, while 28 percent said it was from an infected animal.

The absence of a large partisan gap on the issue is particularly striking, said Bob Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who designed the poll.

“Usually, our polls find a big split between Republicans and Democrats, so this is unique,” he said. “More conservative media have been carrying the ‘lab leak’ issue, and it’s been a Trump talking point from the beginning, so we expected people who lean Democratic would say either ‘It’s not true’ or ‘I don’t know.’ But the belief is bipartisan.”

Blendon said Democrats likely became more receptive to the idea after President Joe Biden’s recent order that intelligence agencies investigate the virus’ origin and comments from Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical officer, that it's worth digging into. Fauci and other scientists have cautioned the answer may never be known definitively.

 My thoughts and comments continue after the break.

Is anyone else out there?

I note that the pace of posts to NewGathering seems to have slowed in recent months.  We've lost a few contributors, with Tom's death and Jean's and Margaret's stepping away within the few months; and previously, others have also become less active.

I'm not suggesting that NewGathering be put six feet under.  But I've observed over the years that these communities have a life cycle.  If a critical mass of new material and discussions isn't maintained, the community atrophies.  Any community of this sort that achieves a ten-year run is probably doing the equivalent of living to be a hundred and ten.  This blog has been running for four+ years now, which is quite respectable.  

One thing I've wondered about: does anyone, beyond the half dozen or so contributors and frequent commenters, visit and read this blog?  Does anyone know?  If other people are getting something out of our little project here, it would be good to know.

Why not Start with Daily Prayer?

 (This is a draft for a new post this week at ND.  Another post  Start with Sunday!  got slightly less responses (11) and less discussants (6)that mine on the Divine Office. It actually had a good suggestion that we use JPII's encyclical Dies Domini to get a renewed appreciation for the Lord's Day. However one of the discussants criticized doing things like the Liturgy of the Hours when we really need to focus on the Mass.  This is my essentially my response.  In order to not have an overly long post as if I were one of the presenters, I essential ask a question, then give my responses. The lines below mark off those responses. People can respond to this question, or they can engage with with each of my responses) 

Why not Start with Daily Prayer?

Sending Prayers for Pope Francis

 Pope Francis is said to be recovering successfully from his surgery yesterday evening.

From the ABC article:

The Eucharist as the sacrament of unity

As the American bishops draft their document, which we're assured will not be targeted at the president, I hope that they spend a lot of time contemplating and discussing the unitive aspect of the Eucharist.  

Time for the Virtual Divine Office to succeed the Breviary?

The McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame has always had Summer Institutes including one on the Liturgy. I have been to two of them in the past. One on the Divine Office, another honoring Father Taft a famous Byzantine Liturgy expert at the Oriental Institute in Rome who also taught regularly at ND during the summer. I took his courses on the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Liturgical Year.

This summer's Six Week Institute is virtual, entitled 

“Will They Come Back After COVID?: Disaffiliation, Affiliation, and the Liturgy”

Is Biden Making a Big Mistake? UPDATED

 

Is Biden Declaring ‘Independence From the Virus’ Too Soon?

Less than half the country is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and the contagious Delta variant is spreading. Still, the White House has an “America’s Back Together” celebration planned for July 4.

The president and Jill Biden, the first lady, have invited 1,000 military personnel and essential workers to an Independence Day bash on the South Lawn of the White House. Mr. Biden and his advisers, eager to claim credit for the virus’s retreat in the United States, are talking about a “summer of joy and freedom.”

Mr. Biden will visit Traverse City, Mich., on Saturday as part of what the White House calls the “America’s Back Together” celebration. Dr. Biden will also take to the road, as will Vice President Kamala Harris, her husband, Doug Emhoff, and various cabinet officials who will attend festivals, parades and cookouts around the nation.

 In an era when vaccination has become a subject of fierce political debate, White House officials are not requiring guests at the July 4 party to be vaccinated. But they will be asked to present evidence of a negative Covid-19 test taken within three days of the event, and the White House has advised those who are unvaccinated that they “should wear a mask,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said this week.