Bogus Survey, St. Francis I & Time

Dear Tradition in Action,

Having recently read your thoughts on the survey about the family (here and here) that is being sent to Catholics around the world I was motivated to try a little test. I experimented by filling out the survey under a fictitious name giving only partial answers to a few of the questions.

The idea behind this experiment is to see how easy it is to have an incomplete or duplicitous survey counted. The websites hosting the surveys that I used for this test were here and here.

My findings were not encouraging. Not only were there no problems with submitting a virtually blank survey, but there were no safeguards against me submitting the survey multiple times.

This led me to conclude that any group, even a small one, that had an agenda would be able to “stuff the ballot box” full of responses that favored their cause.

What is there to stop a few motivated individuals from cramming the survey with pro-cohabitation responses, for example? The answer would seem to be ‘nothing’. The only safeguards that I can think of would have to be in the processing phase. Theoretically they could check each survey against parish records of population or name (though putting your name in the survey is optional). That being said I doubt such a laborious safeguard would exist.

Take what you will from my experiment. I hope it helps people become more fully aware of the situation.

     Yours in Christ,

     P.F.

TIA,

As of this date Pope Francis is still alive on earth, and we don't pray TO him, do we? We pray to God and to the Saints.

The prayer card below is from the Companions of St. Anthony, Ellicott City, MD. Both the little medal at the top right and the caption at the bottom say "Pope Francis Pray for Us."

     Frank Rega

TIA,

Pope Francis was chosen Time magazine 'Person of the Year' for 2013. Is this the first step towards sainthood? Two other popes - John XXIII in 1962 and John Paul II in 1994 - were also named 'Man of the Year' by Time and they will be canonized on Low Sunday 2014.

These popes were chosen like other famous award winners such as Adolf Hitler 1938 and Joseph Stalin 1939 and 1942 for their influence in the world either for ‘the better or worse.’

     Homer Sweeney

Dear TIA,

In your article about Time magazine giving the Pope two horns, you neglected to point out that with the knot on his zucchetto, he has two horns and a tail.

J.F.

TIA,

I am attaching the cover of Time magazine edition of Pope Pius XII. Compare the respectful treatment of the Supreme Pontiff by the same media conglomerate to that of Pope Francis.

I do not know the date that it was published, but looks like it was in the ‘40’s after the war and the other during the cold war. The important point is the respect.

     A.T.

TIA,

An ABC poll says that Francis enjoys almost unanimous popularity among Catholics. Apparently such so-called Catholics see nothing wrong with him making a fool of himself by wearing a green hat and a red clown nose given to him by his admirers.

How far will his buffoonery go? Who knows? But since he has expressed his love of the immodest tango dance, we should not be surprised to see him eventually on Dancing with the Stars.

     C.S.

TIA,

It would seem that Catholic Hospital's are now to lose their Chapels, to be replaced by inter-faith rooms. Click here

M.M.

Hi,

My name is J.B. and I have been reading your articles and I am attracted to them to learn and grow in my faith.

I read in the Rosary article about the Luminous Mysteries being something that Our Lady did not ask St. Dominic to pray, but just the 15 Mysteries. Why did Pope John Paul II install these Mysteries if Our Lady didn't want them?

Also, in light of this fact, on Thursdays could one just substitute the Luminous Mysteries for any of the other three?

     Thank you.

     J.B.


TIA responds:

Hello J.B.,

Allegedly John Paul II introduced the Luminous Mysteries to increase devotion to the Rosary. However, since it is quite clear that Our Lady, who revealed the Rosary to St. Dominic, never mentioned a fourth set of mysteries, it appears that JPII was just trying to innovate, as he did in many other fields. But putting a new set of 50 Hail Marys on top of the already existing 150 makes the complete Rosary much more difficult to be said. Thus, the question remains whether or not he was intentionally sabotaging the praying of the Rosary.

For more on how this novelty clashes with tradition, read here.

Traditionally, the days for praying one terco of the Rosary aloud in families, classrooms or other communities are:

Monday - Thursday - Joyful Mysteries
Tuesday - Friday - Sorrowful Mysteries
Wednesday - Saturday - Sunday - Glorious Mysteries.

Therefore, Thursday you may pray the Joyful Mysteries

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

TIA,

I wanted to take the time to thank you for your valuable prayers on this website. I have been praying to Our Lady for a week now, and every time I pray I am filled with such confidence… It makes me feel so much better to deal with life’s daily trials.

I thank Our Lady of Good Success: I can already feel her blessings because I am free from worry.

     Thank You.

     P.J.

TIA,

I read this 'Camo Wedding' article and couldn't help thinking about the other liberal trend to have weddings in the woods.

If they combined the 'camo' garb with a forest wedding, no one would be able to see the wedding party.

Ergo... no pictures, no more ceremonies.

     S.S.