In the early 1990s, there was a folk singer type who would show up at poetry readings and open mics in the San Fernando Valley and sing satirical songs. He had a good one called "It was only his proof of insurance (but it looked like a pistol to me.)" Well, maybe in this case, the song should go "It was only her Maryknoll Missal (but it looked like a pistol to me.)"

I thought this sort of crap was over in the '90s. An elderly nun, Sister Dorothy Stang, was shot by ranchers in Brazil, apparently in retaliation for her activism on behalf of indigenous peasants and against the logging of the rainforest. However, I suppose there's good news in this story: it was not too long ago that planters in Southern and Central America would be able to readily get away with torture and murder. Now that two are in the dock for the murder of Sister Stang, maybe the tide is turning.

OK, I dare you, Pope Ratzo: proceed with canonizing Sister Dorothy Stang and Archbishop Oscar Romero with the kind of speed you are devoting to the causes of Mother Teresa and Pope John-Paul II. Do it. Show the world that the Catholic Church is still somewhat committed to social justice. We know you are committed to social conservatism. Social justice, Pope Ratzo. It's kind of one of the main themes of Jesus' words as recorded in the New Testament. Then again a lot of Protestants forget that stuff too. So convenient, picking and choosing which parts of the Bible are inerrant...