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Masses & Events
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Opportunity for Artists!
Posted by Stuart Chessman Published in The Churches of New York
The death of St Francis Xavier. Maybe they forgot about this image (see discussion below) – or maybe this picture of a missionary and his converts is unacceptable today. (Church of St. Francis Xavier)
A call to artists – for new art at St. Francis Xavier parish (Jesuit) in New York. Whether, however, the potential commissions will have anything to do with Christianity is another question entirely. You see the problem is that in the present church the images are overwhelmingly those of white men (as perhaps befits a church founded by the Jesuit order – at least as it understood itself previous to the Vatican Council). The exceptions (the Virgin Mary, Saint Catherine of Siena) are also white. And the whole church had been restored at great expense in the not-too-distant past. But, as the project's "Statement of Purpose" explains:
The Church of St. Francis Xavier is committed to pursuing racial and social justice in our community. Among many other initiatives, we would like to commission new art work for the church that more reflects the diversity of our community and the values we profess.
Our ideas for the project include and are not limited to:
Art that depicts Jesus as a Black, Indigenous, Person of Color, so as to represent groups historically excluded, marginalized or exploited in the United States including but not limited to African Americans, Native Americans and migrants from Latin America.
Art that features individual saints of various races/culture/nationalities. For example, and not limited to: Josephine Bakhita, Charles Lwanga, Oscar Romero, Kateri Tekakwitha, Andrew Kim Taegon, Lorenzo Ruiz, and The Martyr Saints of China. Also, Blesseds Augustus Tolton, Pierre Toussaint, Sr. Thea Bowman and Julia Greeley.
Art that depicts and honors heroes in the arena of racial and social injustice. For example, and not limited to: Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, John Lewis, Julia Greeley, Bayard Rustin and Fannie Lou Hamer. This could also include some local heroes who volunteer at the Xavier Mission Welcome Table, Shelter, etc.
Possible themes depicting social/racial justice might be the parallel of Jesus on the cross with lynched African Americans hung from a tree or images of African American mothers grieving their children near the Pieta statue.
In other words, the proposed new art is political, not religious. Or put another way, the content is entirely political but may employ religious forms. As the parish's instructions for interested artists explicitly state:
PLEASE SPECIFY HOW THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES OUR MISSION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE ICONOGRAPHY WITHIN ST. FRANCIS XAVIER
There follow, however, contradictory suggestions regarding "figurative art":
The current artwork in the Church is almost exclusively figurative. It is important that the artist applicants consider whether additional figurative artwork best accomplishes the stated goals of this commission, or whether a non-figurative approach would better reflect our goals in a powerful and impactful way. Said another way, the presentation of historically accurate representations and abstract, non-objective, and conceptual artwork are encouraged.
The Conciliar/Jesuit goal of aligning with the 20th Century reign of the abstract, non-objective, and conceptual obviously clashes with the political objectives previously outlined. A perennial problem for the left that the political art of the Soviet Union and the world communist movement had to deal with as early as the 1920's.
Submissions are due by March 1. All the details can be found on the St. Francis Xavier parish website:
SOLICITATION OF INTEREST IN
THE INSTALLATION OF NEW ART IN OUR CHURCH
Also no good – the first Japanese martyrs – both Japanese and European. (Painting in St. Francis Xavier church)
The Faithful Departed I: John DeMeis
Posted by Stuart Chessman Published in Essays, The Churches of New York
As this calamitous year approaches its end, we would like to recall briefly several of those who died in the last 12 months. Their lives illustrate the amazing possibilities of Traditional Christian life in the radically secular city that is New York. One of these people was Archdeacon John DeMeis.
One fine day in the early 1980's, when I was attending NYU law school, I had wandered over to the northern reaches of Mulberry Street. In those years that neighborhood was semi-deserted even in the middle of the day and featured mainly garages and "social clubs." I passed by an open door on the ground floor of a small building next to old St. Patrick's church and peered in. Someone inside noticed me and invited me inside – it turned out to be a Byzantine church: St. Michaels' Russian Catholic chapel! And the man extending the invitation was John DeMeis. From that day on, for many years, I regularly attended St. Michael's. But for John's welcome, I never would have thought of entering there. I owed to him my main experiences of the Eastern liturgy – at that time, in the pre-indult days, the only fully satisfactory alternative for those seeking Traditional Christian worship. Wasn't John's welcoming gesture a real, if modest, example of that "evangelizing" that is so endlessly discussed nowadays ?
John DeMeis, a retired transit cop, had deep connections with both the Eastern rite and one of the most obscure and unusual Catholic parishes of Manhattan. Our Lady of Grace chapel, a storefront church on Stanton Street, was the spiritual home in New York City of the Italo-Albanians. This people had migrated to southern Italy and Sicily in the 15th century, fleeing Turkish oppression. In their new home they preserved the Byzantine rite, celebrated in Greek, but stayed in communion with Rome. Quite a few of them after 1870 joined the mass emigration from Southern Italy to the New World.
Our Lady of Grace chapel was founded in 1906 by Fr. Ciro Pinnola, an Italo-Albanian priest from near Palermo (another source says the foundation was in 1904). He was married, a practice that was beeing repressed in in the other Catholic Byzantine communities in the U.S. In 1909, the chapel's congregation numbered 400.
Regrettably, when Fr. Pinnola died in 1946, the parish ended as well. But John DeMeis and others labored to keep its memory alive. Even today, the Our Lady of Grace Italo-Greek Catholic Mission and Society preserves the memory of this community. John DeMeis was devoted to this society – he later became its archivist and historian. The society ("OLOGS"!) publishes a newsletter for the Italo-Albanian community several times a year and sponsors events as well.
After 1990 I moved out of New York and returned to St Michael's only now and then, on special occasions. In fact, I don't think I ever saw John DeMeis ever again in person after that year. Tragically, St. Michael's Russian Catholic chapel, once a significant initiative of the Archdiocese of New York, was evicted in 2019 from the home they had occupied since 1936. The space is currently occupied by a souvenir shop. The community, however, has continued – for the last two years they have been hosted by the parish of St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Catherine of Siena(at St. Catherine's).
I had the impression that John had moved on as well – deepening more and more his commitment to Eastern or Greek Catholicism. He was ordained deacon in 1990 and archdeacon in 1997. For many years he served as a chaplain to the police department.
John DeMeis died on August 19th of this year at the age of 90. He is survived by his beloved wife Rita and their children and grandchildren. May Archdeacon John's memory be eternal!
(Photo courtesy of Kristina DeMeis)
Our Lady of Grace Society Facebook page.
Roman Catholic Sacred Architecture
Posted by Stuart Chessman Published in Book Reviews, The Churches of New York
Roman Catholic Sacred Architecture in New York County: Manifestations of Faith, Glory, Change and Decline in the Early 21st Century
By Paul R. Peters
As our readers probably know, we have long been following the history of the Catholic churches of New York City. Recently I was fortunate to receive and read the work of another researcher in the same area. Paul R. Peters has written and self-published Roman Catholic Sacred Architecture in New York County: Manifestations of Faith, Glory, Change and Decline in the Early 21st Century (2020). In it, he covers the great majority of the Catholic parish churches of Manhattan island. (Non-New Yorkers need to know that New York County is synonymous with Manhattan plus Marble Hill in the Bronx.)
Peter's book is one of select few on this subject. Thomas J. Shelley's Bicentennial History of the Archdiocese of New York of course also covers all the parishes of Manhattan. Then, there is Rene S. James' The Roman Catholic Churches of Manhattan (2007, also self-published). Finally, the grandfather of all such studies – and still the best – is John Gilmary Shea's 1878 book on New York City Catholic churches. In Sacred Architecture Peters gives us several photographs and a brief description of each of the churches in New York. Many of the photographs are his own, taken from 2003 onwards, but he has supplemented these with well-chosen examples from local archives or from other sources. See, for example, this book's beautiful cover photograph of the interior of the now-closed All Saints parish in Harlem, taken when that church was relatively new. Another example is the striking image of the interior of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Our author has put together this book with a specific purpose in mind. Peters documents through photographs the status, before and after the Council, of each of these churches. This focuses, in particular, on the chancel or sanctuary of each church and a melancholy review of the damage that was done after the Council. In most cases this involved moving the altar forward, eliminating or reducing the communion rail, and placing a new altar at the center of the church on a platform projecting into the nave (what Peters calls a "build-out.") It also usually was accompanied by the gross simplification or outright destruction of the former decorative program of the church which so often had featured gothic altars, stencils, paintings and statuary. Peters is rightfully indignant at this desecration, carried out supposedly to "break down barriers" between the celebration of the Mass and the people. They of course largely departed, which is why parish after parish after parish is closing. This book is a visual chronicle of the devastation.
Those churches were indeed fortunate where the post-Conciliar updating was limited to placing a table between the grand high altar and the communion rail, leaving all else intact. New York, however, has the good luck to have more than handful of these, in which the Conciliar wave of destruction of art was halted by the parish's poverty or the resistance of the donors' families.
Peters' book obviously has great appeal for the connoisseur of New York churches. He has here pictures of the interiors of churches with which I was familiar but never got around to photographing before their destruction – such as St. Ann's or the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. I should especially emphasize his discussion of the once glorious Church of Saint Thomas in Harlem – an equally colorful and wildly decorated counterpart to Our Lady of Good Counsel. It was shut down and destroyed by Cardinal Egan. Our author also has located intriguing photographs of the original 19th century churches of the parishes like St. Andrew and Immaculate Conception which later acquired grand new buildings.
To describe some 100 churches and their constantly changing appearance is a formidable task – I appreciate the magnitude of the effort and don't want to seem critical. For a second edition, however, I would suggest more systematically providing, where possible, dates for the photographs and for the narrative. For as the author himself tells us, it is not so simple as "before the Council" and "after the Council." In some parishes, ( e.g. St. Stephen's, St. Agnes) major changes – and in some cases major damage – was done prior to the Council. In other cases, post-Conciliar ravages have been partially repaired (Our Lady of Pompeii, Our Lady of Sorrows).
Despite the vast terrain Peters covers, I have only been able to identify a very few instances where he is outright wrong – such as his description of the combination of the parishes of St. Emeric and St. Bridget (Brigid). But even there we are grateful to him for pointing out the dedication (in fact at St. Emeric, not St. Brigid) of a chapel to Cardinal Egan (while he was still alive)! This book's list of churches may be comprehensive but it is not exhaustive – one prominent church missing is the shrine of St. Frances Cabrini in Washington Heights. I would also dissent from the author's aesthetic judgment in certain cases (like the renovation of St. Francis Xavier church).
All in all this is a great book for enthusiasts of ecclesiastical architecture or New York City history. And also a sobering work for those Traditionalists who want to experience the bitter feeling of seeing the details of so much that has been senselessly destroyed. Highly recommended!
The End of a Catholic Story of Old New York
The former location of St. Zita's convent on 14th Street (Photo from 2009)
On October 8, I read this in Catholic New York:
Sister Mary John Burke, S.R.C.M., who was the last surviving member of the Sisters of Reparation of the Congregation of Mary, died Sept. 14. She was 90. Sister Mary John spent many of her early years serving in the convent at St. Zita's Home for Friendless Women on 14th Street in Manhattan, where she assisted poor and homeless women.
If you look closely, you can see "St. Zita's Convent " above the doorway. (Photo from 2009)
Up till about ten years ago, you could make out the faded words: "St Zita's Convent" above the entrance to a nondescript, dilapidated structure on West 14th Street. The sisters had long abandoned the convent – the building had been sold to the Mormons in 2002. Yet, this had once been the home to one of New York's rare home-grown religious congregations. Ellen O'Keefe founded St. Zita's Home for Friendless Women in 1890. Later she founded the Sisters of Reparation of the Congregation of Mary to administer it.
Miss O'Keefe had always treasured the thought of forming a regular community for the perpetuation of her work and to make reparation to Our Savior in the Blessed Sacrament. Archbishop (Cardinal) Farley approved her institute in September 1903, under the title of the "Sisters of Reparation of the Congregation of Mary". Miss O'Keefe was named superioress of the congregation under the title of Mother Zita, Katherine Dunne (Sister Mary Magdalen) taking the habit on her deathbed.
A sister always sleeps near the door, since it is a rule of the community that no one is to be refused admission at any hour, day or night; the observance of this rule frequently renders it necessary for the sisters to give up their own beds to their humble guests. The women are kept as long as they desire to stay; if able-bodied they must help in the laundry or at sewing, the sole support of the home; if ill, they are cared for or sent to the hospital. Catholic inmates are required to attend Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation, but this is the sole distinction between the inmates of the different religions. The sisters also visit the poor in the hospitals and supply free meals to men out of employment. The number of women accommodated each night is from 100 to 125; the meals supplied to men out of work averages daily 65. (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV at 762 (The Encyclopedia Press, Inc., New York 1912)
In other words, these sisters were already doing things undertaken decades later by the Catholic Worker people – without the latter's flair for publicity and political agitation. By the time the sisters set up shop on West 14th Street in 1903, this corner of Manhattan was fast becoming a dingy, decidedly low-rent part of town.
Yet, as in the case of so many other religious congregations, vocations to the Sisters of Reparation must have dried up in the post-Vatican II world. After selling the 14th Street convent ( "St. Zita's Home for Friendless Women" had been closed several years earlier), the sisters moved to their last apostolate, appropriately enough, a retirement home for ladies, in Monsey, New York . There, Sister Maureen Francis O'Shea, the last mother superior and director of the adult care facility, died on March 18. She was 85. ( Brum, Robert, Monsey:Future of St. Zita's Villa appears unertain following director's death, Rockland Westchester Journal News, lohud, 7/17/2020.See also Pollak, Michael, F.Y.I.: A Place for the Friendless, The New York Times 9/4/2005)
And now, no sisters of this order are left at all. The death of the last sisters calls into question the future of the Monsey facility – today, its real estate value might well be considerable. But let's reflect on the sisters of this small defunct order and the decades of unselfish work they gave. We are sure that they have their reward!
The End of St. Michael's Russian Catholic Chapel
Now the kick-off site for the very commercial tour of the "catacombs" of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.
St. Patrick's Cathedral by Candlelight
The "backdrop" is the old iconostasis of St Michael's Russian Catholic Chapel. (See below)
Photo from February 2019.
For more on the commercial exploitation of St. Patrick's old cathedral and its surroundings, see this NYT article of 4/18/2019:
The Secrets of a Sacred Underground
"In addition to the tours, the cathedral is bringing the catacombs into the 21st century (and raising extra income) by selling cremation niches for those looking for a final resting place. To date, 352 niches have been filled, but hundreds more are being built and sold on a first-come-first-served basis. Niches in the underground catacombs sell for $10,000 to $15,000." Ibid.
(Pictures of the catacombs tour office courtesy of Anthony Tramontano)
St. Anselm's school (Photo: ebrooklyn media/ Paula Katinas)
It is just one more chapter in a long, sad story. Untapped New York reports on the 26 Catholic schools of the New York Archdiocese and of the Brooklyn diocese that are closing this year. 1) Others closed in 2019 – and many more before that! No restructurings, refinancings or other new programs seem able to stop the hemorrhaging,
But what caught my eye is that two of the schools highlighted in the Untapped New York report – the former parochial schools of St. Anselm and of Our Lady of Angels – are in my home town of long ago, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. St. Anselm's was my own school up to the third grade. My mother had attended it too. Many other relatives of mine on my mother's side had attended nearby Our Lady of Angels. Like many other parishes in the New York area, St. Anselm's had built its school – in the 1920's – some thirty years before its church. That's how important the Catholic school was to the diocese and the parents at that time. Later, St. Anselm's added a more modern kindergarten in the back.
It seems now like a fond memory of a distant vanished age. My teachers were mostly School Sisters of Notre Dame who at that time still wore their original beautiful habits. Like myself, most of the children walked to school. I remember so well the rehearsals for our planned grand entrance into the church on the occasion of our first communion. Unfortunately it rained heavily that day – so we substituted a much more interesting (for me) trek through the linked cellars of the school and the church. I so enjoyed the few years I spent there – and was unhappy to have to leave the school when my family moved out of Bay Ridge.
What will be done with the buildings after the Catholic schools have closed? Nicholas Loud notes that a number are the work of Gustave Steinback, (1878-1959) prolific architect of Catholic churches and institutional buildings. He was the architect of Blessed Sacrament church on the Upper West Side, perhaps the finest Catholic church building in Manhattan neither a cathedral nor the establishment of a religious order. Speaking of Blessed Sacrament parish, Blessed Sacrament school, apparently successful and apparently still affiliated with its parish, took over in 2019 the building of the former parochial school of Sacred Heart of Jesus parish on West 52nd street to create an "upper school."2)
Why is this happening? Officially blame is being placed on the coronavirus. It seems to me, however, that clearly lack of faith (or as Nicholas Loud puts it, a "declining of religious participation") is the root cause. For the Catholic parochial school system was created to pass on the faith in an indifferent or even hostile American society. Regardless of what a "Priest In-Residence and Post-Doctoral Fellow at Notre Dame University," quoted in Nicholas Loud's article, implies, the parochial school was emphatically not intended primarily as a kind of poor relief for immigrant families – although it of course it did and does give them educational opportunities. Bay Ridge in the 1950's was not a poor neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination, yet the parochial schools were flourishing. But when the level of "religious participation" has fallen to 15-20% of the nominal Catholic population the side effects on Catholic education will be immense.
That precipitous drop in the practice of the faith came, of course, in the wake of the Second Vatican council. That's when the sisters first modified their habits and then discarded them entirely. And a short time after that they themselves disappeared from the classrooms. The growing reliance on lay teachers caused costs to skyrocket. An increasingly religiously indifferent Catholic community no longer perceived a need for this education – certainly not at this now substantial price. Those who indeed were poor found Catholic eduction increasingly difficult to afford. And many of the minority who did remain committed in principle to Catholic education were increasingly dissatisfied with the evolution of the religious and secular content, thus giving rise, for example, to the Catholic home schooling movement.
As I mentioned above, the New York City Catholic school began to be perceived as a secular welfare program. In many cases much or even most of the student body became non-Catholic – inevitably leading to conflicts and compromises. This had the effect of further restricting the potential pool of students.
Over the years all kinds of new structures have been devised to try to stem the tide – yet the decline of the school system goes on. It is in some ways amazing – in these decades in which the even more catastrophic decline of the public schools should have opened up opportunities, the Catholic school system instead seems gripped by an irresistible process of decay.
The story of my own former school is instructive. St. Anselm's and Our Lady of Angels' parochial schools had previously been converted into "charter schools": St. Anselm Catholic Academy and Holy Angels Catholic Academy In 2019 it was suddenly announced that St. Anselm Catholic Academy and Holy Angels Catholic Academy would join together to become Bay Ridge Catholic, an academy operating out of St. Anselm's building. Its leadership offered this not totally coherent explanation:
"Over a 10-year period enrollment has declined, but there has been some recent student growth at St. Anselm and there is positive energy," St. Anselm Board of Directors Chairperson John Quaglione told the Eagle. Still, there are troubling signs, Quaglione said. "We saw projections that enrollment would continue to decline. The student population will continue to go down. The pool as a whole is shrinking," he said.
By combining the two schools into one entity, leaders at both schools said they believe they can help save Catholic education in their section of Bay Ridge. 3)
Bay Ridge, for those unfamiliar with Brooklyn, remains, as it has always been, a decidedly middle class – even upper middle class – place. (To be fair, a third Catholic academy in Bay Ridge (or Fort Hamilton), the St. Patrick Catholic Academy, stated in 2019 it was doing well.)
And what is the curriculum of the new combined Bay Ridge Catholic Academy? The school's website claims it will be centered around faith, arts and engineering.(!) But it is the latter that receives all the emphasis:
The curriculum will be focused on engineering and inspired by the arts.
The model builds on STEM, STEAM, and STREAM, with a focus on the engineering thinking skills needed for the 21st century world.
The engineering thought process requires higher level thinking skills to plan, test, try again and analyze results, even in kindergarten. 4)
It seems so very different from the St Anselm's I knew in the early 1960's! Please excuse my pessimism, but I foresee only continued decline of the once grand Catholic school system.
Loud, Nicholas, Decline of a NYC Institution: 26 Catholic Schools Closed During Pandemic (Untapped New York 8/12/2020)
"SBS/SHJS Merger 2019
Katinas, Paula, Two Bay Ridge Catholic Schools to Merge (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 11/1/2019); Katinas, Paula, 'We were blindsided,' St. Anselm parent says of school merger (Brooklyn Reporter, 11/18/2019)
Bayridgecatholic.org/academics/
Important New Development
Most Holy Trinity Church, Mamaroneck, NY (Photo: Patch)
Most Holy Trinity church in Mamaroneck, Westchester county, scheduled to be closed has been saved after a decison by the Vatican – the consequence of a tenacious campaign by the parishioners.
Whereas on May 26, 2018, we gave a decree relegating the church of Most Holy Trinity in the Parish of Saint Vito-Most Holy Trinity, Mamaroneck, New York, to profane but not sordid use according to the prescripts of canon 1222 §2 for the grave causes mentioned in said decree;
The decree of May 26, 2018 relegating the church of Most Holy Trinity in the Parish of Saint Vito-Most Holy Trinity, Mamaroneck, New York, to profane but not sordid use according to the prescripts of canon 1222 §2 for the grave causes mentioned in said decree is herewith rescinded.
Decree of the Archdiocese of New York of July 2, 2020.
A Vatican-appointed priest assigned to oversee the case recently ruled that the arguments put forth by the parishioners had merit, Maver said.
Then, last month, Dolan wrote in a decree that, "after prayerful consideration, having weighed all the reasons and causes" he had decided to rescind the 2018 ruling closing the church.
Source. (NY Post 8/12/2020); see also Patch (8/13/2020
It is a remarkable reversal of fortune – one much more significant than it first appears, given the direct Vatican involvement. For in July of this year the Congregation of the Clergy suspended the massive diocese-wide parish restructurings of least two dioceses of Germany. We covered this development HERE. The instruction, The pastoral conversion of the Parish community in the service of the evangelising mission of the Church, among other provisons, reiterated at VIIa 46-51 that procedures and canon law must be followed in carrying out the suppression of any parish. This, and the Mamaroneck decison above, indicate that for the time being a much stricter review of diocesan parish reduction programs can be expected.
Thanks to James P. Maver, Esq. ( a leader of the parishioners' fight to save their church.)
News from the Parish of St. Monica on East 79th Street
From the post on the great site Ephemeral New York
St. Monica's – my old parish in 1982-83, and now, after Making all Things New "The parish of St. Monica, St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Stephen of Hungary." As you can see below, a section of old tenement buildings on the corner has been torn down, exposing the brick side of the church to view for the first time in ages.
(Above and below) St Monica's as it looks today (source: Ephemeral New York)
I have to differ from the erudite author of Ephemeral New York in one respect, though. St. Monica's, like many other Manhattan churches, was meant to be viewed only from the front. Like many others, only the facade of St. Monica's is finished in stone. The church was thus intended from the beginning to be a part of streetscape over which it presided but did not overpower or crush.
(Above) St. Monica's with the neigboring tenements still standing; (below) the facade. Both photos from 2011.
Thus, the current appearance of the church is anomalous. But what may come is far worse. For it could well be that a gigantic high rise may be built on the now empty lot. The neighood is already up in arms about that possibility. If such a bulding is erected, it would dominate and overpower the immediate neighborhood – including St Monica's. Depending on what is built, it might also cast into permanent darkness the wonderful windows of St Monica's on the west side of the nave – and perhaps some of those of the apse as well?
Our 2011 article on this parish.
(Below) St Elizabeth of Hungary- one of the splendid windows of St Monica's church. St. Monica's has some of the most beautiful decoration and furnishings of any Manhattan Catholic parish.
Secret Neocat Renovations in Philly?
YONG KIM /Philadelephia Inquirer
From the Philadelphia Inquirer: "At Philly Catholic churches, secret renovations expose rift between traditional and Neo-Catechumenal members" (By Valerie Russ, 8/19/2020)
For the last 12 years, Donna Panno, who leads the singing for Sunday Mass at St. Michael Roman Catholic Church in North Philadelphia, sat in the first pew. It was the same pew in which her mother, now 91, fainted as a 6-year-old from a fever.
But while St. Michael was closed because of the pandemic between March and early June, that pew, along with many others, was ripped from the historic church's hardwood floors, the altar rails removed. The center-aisle marble floor — down which members and their parents before them had marched to be married — as well as the hardwood floors beneath the remaining pews were covered in bright red carpeting.(See photo above; my bolding)
It all happened under the direction of the Rev. Arturo Chagala, who, since 2014 has led both the traditional Catholic congregation at the church, at Second and Jefferson Streets, as well as the members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, an evangelical ministry that's been acknowledged by the Vatican since 2008 and that at St. Michael comprises about 10% of the almost 250 parishioners.
Obviously parishioners – of the "traditional Catholic congregation," that is – were upset. But this is not the only church where this has taken place:
The uproar marked the second instance this summer where members of a Catholic parish have publicly condemned a Neo-Catechumenal Way leader for major overhauls of their sanctuaries without their input, exposing a growing rift between longtime parishioners and Neo-Catechumenal members.
At St. Charles Borromeo in South Philadelphia, parishioners have taken to public protests, alleging that the Rev. Esteban Granyak made renovations to the chapel without consulting its longtime, predominantly Black, parishioners. Among other changes, he converted the basement gym into a separate worship space for Neo-Catechumenal followers, even though its longtime members used it to gather for repasts after funerals. Also, the marble altar railings used when kneeling for prayer or Communion were removed.(my bolding)
Others, besides the parishioners of St. Charles and St. Michael, are not amused:
Architectural historian Oscar Beisert said his "blood boiled" when he saw pictures of the remodeled St. Michael sanctuary. Although its historic designation by the city only protects a building's exterior, he called the changes a travesty.
"He took a classically beautiful building and vandalized it," he said. "I call it architectural vandalism."
Even Massimo Faggioli is quoted in this article making distinctly critical remarks about the Neocathecumenal way. And the new Philadelphia archbishop, Nelson J. Pérez, has intervened in the matter. The pastor of St Michael's had to issue an apologetic letter to his congregation:
The case is currently under consideration at both churches. How many of these changes will be reversed – and when – is as of now undecided. Actually these specific "renovations" are very similar to so many others imposed on parishes in the past. What is new is the organized articulate opposition to them – and the hearing given to the protestors by the local archdiocese.
(Below: the wreckage of the Communion Rail at St. Michael's. Photo:Philadelphia Inquirer)
(Thanks to a friendly reader for the tip.)
When the Art disappeared…..
(Above and below) The somewhat arid appearance today of the late Gothic Frauenkirche in Munich, Germany. Reformers took the opportunity of repairing severe wartime damage to carry out a wholesale housecleaning. "They got rid of all the junk!" an otherwise esteemed professor told me gleefully once in my student days at Georgetown. It now turns out that not only was the 19th century art thereby lost of great value, but that real medieval works (such as in the choir) were mistakenly destroyed as well.
A most interesting article in Katholisch.de: "When the decoration disappeared – why so many old churches are so 'empty.' "1) It tells the sad story of the so many churches in Germany after the Second World War. Innumerable churches had indeed suffered severe wartime damage from bombing and then from ground fighting. Yet the implementation of modernistic doctrines in art and architecture after the war completed the process – both in the damaged and undamaged churches. The champions of modern art thought that the church should be a "bridge to God" and that churches overflowing with the art of many centuries didn't serve this role. According to Professor Thomas Erne:
"They wanted to be modern, to go with the times. Churches had to be functional, everything else was superfluous."…It seems to [Professor Erne] almost if the Church had been intimidated by the greatness of her own centuries-old cultural achievement.
The consequences were all too real:
Magnificently carved altars were demolished, pulpits torn down, sandstone ornaments broken off, murals whitewashed. Images and statues disappeared and a great part of the often so richly ornamented "historicizing" furnishings went with them – final resting place unknown. So many an altar rail may have ended up as a garden gate for a vacation home.
I can personally testify to the presence of gilt baroque images of saints installed in upscale bars.
We should note that this iconoclasm and "purification" began well before the Vatican Council. It sprang from ideology. "Artistically, modernity wanted to exist only on its own: older approaches and traditions didn't have a role to play anymore." Examples of such an architecture had been created as early as 1930 in Germany. "The walls are ostentatiously white and empty, not even a crucifix hangs on the end wall. The space, without images or decoration, very consciously celebrates the void."
A particular target of the modernizers was the lavish ornamentation of the "historicizing" art of the 19th and early 20th century, which had sought to imitate – and often creatively combine – styles of diverse artistic eras.
In Germany today feelings are mixed. New ultramodern churches continue to be built. On the other hand, there is a growing recognition of the incalculable losses inflicted by modernity. And restoration attempts are being made in many churches to recover some of the decoration and furnishings that had been so heedlessly cast aside in the past.
But isn't the postwar wave of destruction in church design and decoration the perfect equivalent of, and even prelude to, the liturgical reforms of the 1950's onward? Based on questionable theological and liturgical ideas, the liturgical reformers also strove to cast out the accumulated contributions of the past and free up the view to some "inner core " of meaning. That's not how things work – as we have belatedly realized! Baroque decorations are returning to some German churches, in the very heartland of Catholic modernity. But how many more churches throughout the world have celebrated the return of the Traditional liturgy – which had made all this art possible!
Hartmann, Christoph Paul, Als die Verzierung verschwand: Warum viele alte Kirchen so "leer" sind. Katholisch.de 7/31/2020
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The End of St. Michael's Russian Catholic Chapel The End of the Churches The End of the Churches II The Eve of St Nicholas at Most Holy Redeemer Church Featuring Music of Haydn and Orchestra The Faithful Departed I: John DeMeis The Last Liturgy at St. Michael's The Loot* The Parish: Endangered Species The Churches of New York XXXII: The Quick and the Dead The Restoration of Old St. Patrick's – a Status Report Two Churches, Two Traditional Masses and "Making all Things New" Waiting for the End When the Art disappeared…..
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Rose Festival - 2011
Zakir Hussain Rose Garden Asia's largest Rose Garden located in Sector 16, Chandigarh, India and is spreaded over 30 acres of land having over 1600 different species or roses. Chandigarh festival of gardens is one of the most popular festivals listed on the national calendar of festivals. It is a three-day extravaganza that is held in the month of February, mostly during the last week. Initially, this festival was called Rose festival and was started to motivate people to visit the rose garden and savor the marvelous sight of the blooms. Since then, Rose festival of Chandigarh, India has been gaining momentum.
Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, is a botanical garden located in Chandigarh, India and spread over 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land, with 50,000 rose-bushes of 1600 different species. Named after India's former president, Zakir Hussain and created in 1967 under the guidance of Dr M.S. Randhawa, Chandigarh's first chief commissioner, the garden has the distinction of being Asia's largest.[citation needed] The garden has not only roses, but also trees of medicinal value. Some of the medicinal plants that can be spotted here are bel, bahera, harar, camphor and yellow gulmohar. The rose plants have been planted in carved-out lawns and flower beds. Apart from serving as a host of other events, the Zakir Rose Garden serves as the venue for hosting the annual Festival of Gardens, a major cultural event of the city during the month of March. Celebrated mainly as a tribute to the magnificence of the rose itself, the attractions include food, drinks, joyrides, and contests of varying nature, such as photography, gardening, landscaping, bonsai, and Rose Prince and Princess. The contests are open to the residents or institutions from nearby places.
Chandigarh is a city and union territory in India that serves as the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana . The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is derived from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city. It is also referred to as The City Beautiful due to its beautiful surroundings, central grid of gardens, each to dedicated to different species of flora. The city of Chandigarh was the first planned city in India and is known internationally for its architecture and urban design. The city has projects designed by architects such as Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Matthew Nowicki, and Albert Mayer. The city tops the list of Indian States and Union Territories with the highest per capita income in the country at Rs.99,262 at current prices and Rs.70,361 at constant prices (2006–2007). The city was reported in 2010 to be the "cleanest" in India, based on a national government study, and the territory also headed the list of Indian states and territories according to research conducted using 2005 data by Human Development Index.
Chandigarh Rose festival - The biggest Rose Show in the India
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I do contract work for businesses and had a few bad debts for work I had carried out in good faith.Rather than get mad, I decided to get even.
Some might say it is a false economy, paying out money to get your money back, but the work I had done ran in to £1000s. Sheffield Detectives were on the case straight away. They delivered the results I needed and I was able to get CCJs on all but one of my debtors.


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Q: How to drop a foreign key I am trying to figure out how to drop a foreign key that references another table.
CREATE TABLE Toy (
NUMBER int(5) NOT NULL,
SIZE int(5) NOT NULL,
TYPE varchar(15) NOT NULL,
PRICE int(10) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY(NUMBER),
foreign key (NUMBER) references Warehouse(NUMBER));

In the examples I have seen, they had something like "ADD CONSTRAINT [column name]", but I do not have this. I'm unsure what direction to take.

A: Constraints and indexes have names; if you don't specify one when you add them, they get assigned a name anyway, and you need the name to drop them.
Do show create table Toy;; you will see a line like:
CONSTRAINT `somename` FOREIGN KEY (`NUMBER`) REFERENCES `Warehouse` (`NUMBER`)

To remove it, do:
ALTER TABLE Toy DROP CONSTRAINT somename

A: Show foreign keys
SELECT TABLE_SCHEMA, TABLE_NAME, COLUMN_NAME, CONSTRAINT_NAME
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE
WHERE REFERENCED_TABLE_SCHEMA IS NOT NULL;

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The first fixture of the Hampshire Cross Country League (now sponsored by Alton Sports), season 2015/16, took place at Farley Mount, Winchester, on Saturday 10 October, and there is no doubt that, from BAC's point of view, the stars of the show were BAC's Ladies, who achieved not one, but two, very impressive team results. More of that later. The first BAC vests to be seen on the course were worn by Tom Farwell and Conor Charlwood in the U13 Boys' race. Tom was 39th in 12.49 and Conor 54th in 13.25. Well done to Tom and Conor for competing – it's perhaps a pity that BAC didn't have a third U13 boy to make up a team. Then, in the U13 Girls' race, the BAC vest was seen again, by Anya Sandell, who was 68th in her race in a time of 15.56. Anya clearly enjoyed her first cross country race competing for BAC, and, of course, Anya stayed to support her Mum, Nikki, in the ladies' race, and gave fantastic support to all the BAC athletes running in the following races. Well done, Anya!
Anya Sandell clearly enjoys cross country!
The next race in which BAC was involved was the U17 Men, in which Brandon Meredith was 25th in 18.58, and Sebastian Hearn was 32nd in 19.42. As in the earlier races, it was great to see Brandon and Sebastian competing, but it would have made their day if there had been one more BAC U17 man to complete a team. The coaches work very hard to encourage the middle distance group they train to join the club and to compete, but it seems very difficult.
Then we came to the highlight of the day! BAC fielded what must have been the strongest ladies team in living memory, and what a result! With Heidi Tregenza finishing 10th in 24.45, Emma Dews 15th in 25.18 and Nikki Sandell 23rd in 26.11, BAC Ladies were the 4th team of a total of 19 complete teams (there is just one Ladies Division). And with Gemma Bragg finishing 49th in 27.59 BAC had the security of depth in case of unforeseen problems, which fortunately didn't occur. In 66th position in 29.09 was Caroline Rowley, who completed the womens' veteran team (with Emma and Nikki), which finished 2nd veterans team of a total of 9 complete veterans' teams. Louise Price (ever present!) finished 75th in 30.09. This was an excellent result for Louise – the total field was 129 – demonstrating her continuing progress. So, just to emphasize, BAC Ladies had two team successes at Farley Mount – 4th Senior Ladies' team, and 2nd Veteran Ladies' team. Heidi went on to win the ladies competition in the Studland Stampede the next day, and it looks as if Gemma was a winner at the Chalke Valley Challenge 10k, also the next day. More of this next week…………………….
Unfortunately, there wasn't the same success for BAC's men, but well done to all those who did turn up to compete. Of the eight BAC athletes, six were vets, the only two Senior Men being David Long and Jez Bragg – hats off to David and Jez. However, this did mean we had not one, but two, vets teams (only one counts in the results), in a competition in which BAC vets usually hardly feature! David had an amazing run to finish 14th (34.11), and Jez, not up to full fitness, did us proud in 70th position(38.33) (of a total of 251). The Senior Mens' team was completed by Simon Hearn (160th 43.06), Richard Nelson (181st 44.56) and Steve Cox (190th 45.16), with Simon, Richard and Steve making up the BAC Vets team. The 'reserves', enjoying themselves on a beautiful sunny day, with perfect conditions for cross country, were Simon Hunt (201st 46.13), Ian Graham (226th 48.52) and, competing in his first cross country for some years, Mike Farrell (237th 50.52). The end result was that BAC Senior Men are tenth of ten teams in Division 1, with 615 points, a long way behind the ninth placed team who scored 400. The fact is that BAC would only have been 5th in Division 2! The silver lining is that a BAC vets team is on the score sheet, finishing a creditable 7th of the ten complete teams in Division 2. So, there's a lot of recovering to do to retain our Division 1 status. We need the troops out for the next fixture, which will be at Popham Airfield, Basingstoke, on Saturday 7 November. It's possible there'll only be three more fixtures (Popham, Bournemouth and Reading) to recover the position because, as yet, no venue has been found for the final fixture due on February 13th.
Going abroad for the moment, Ross Smith appears to have done well in the European Duathlon Championships, held in Spain on 11 October. There aren't many details (see previous report for a fuller description of the competition), but Ross finished 76th overall, and 7th in his age group 35-39, which seems an excellent result. Ross says "it was tough in 26 degrees. My legs are battered, but it was a great experience". Let's hope Ross' legs recover in time for Popham on 7 November!


text:
Molly O'Neill, prizewinning food writer, dies at 66
Molly O'Neill, with a broccoli dish from her cookbook "One Big Table." (Helayne Seidman/For The Washington Post)
By Tim Carman
Tim Carman
Reporter focusing on national food issues; critic covering affordable and under-the-radar restaurants in the D.C. area.
Molly O'Neill, an accomplished chef in a period of male-dominated kitchens and an award-winning food journalist and cookbook author who championed immigrant home cooks long before Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern, died June 16 in her apartment in Manhattan. She was 66.
The writer's death was confirmed by her friend Mame Kennedy, who said Ms. O'Neill had been battling various illnesses, including adrenal cancer, for several years.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, who grew up in a home obsessed with baseball, Ms. O'Neill frequently called food writing her "Plan B." In truth, it was more like her Plan C. She originally wanted to be a poet and a painter but settled into the restaurant industry even before enrolling at Denison University in nearby Granville, where she studied painting and writing. She would spend a decade in professional kitchens, going toe to toe with men, earning their respect while rebuffing their flirtations and sexist remarks.
She started cooking in her youth when she secretly prepared meals for her five brothers who had grown tired of their mother's healthful dinners, often prepared with ingredients from a local farm. Ms. O'Neill first learned to cook by watching women at the grocery store prepare "hamburger bun pizza with wiener pepperoni and Velveeta cheese" in makeshift demonstrations. She used those lessons to cook for her brothers when her parents were away, preparing "cheesy manwiches" and chocolate pudding cake and that hamburger bun pizza.
"We would then fumigate the house and cook the casserole that had been prepared for us or bake off the fish," only to throw out the meal, Ms. O'Neill told a Smithsonian audience in 2010. "We would leave the smell in the house so that when my parents walked in, everything appeared to be in order. I mean, they should have been happy. Other kids were doing drugs. We were doing these pizzas."
Ms. O'Neill's cooking career took her from Columbus to Northampton, Mass., where she and eight like-minded friends founded Ain't I a Wommon Club in 1977, a feminist restaurant specializing in "nonviolent cuisine" that rejected "the violence and maleness of meat eating," according to Ms. O'Neill's 2006 memoir, "Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food and Baseball." Some of the club's practices presaged restaurant movements of the 21st century, including policies that banned tipping and allowed diners to pay according to their means.
Molly O'Neill. (Helayne Seidman/For The Washington Post)
Ms. O'Neill formally studied cuisine at La Varenne in Paris, which offered cooking classes in French and English. Her skills eventually led to an offer to take over the kitchen at Ciro & Sal's, a respected northern Italian restaurant in Boston. In 1982, she won the award for "Best Chef, Female", from Boston magazine in its annual Best of Boston issue. She also befriended two women who became mentors, Julia Child and Lillian Hellman. It was Hellman, the playwright behind "The Little Foxes" and other celebrated Broadway melodramas, who gave Ms. O'Neill some practical advice about writing for a living.
"She was prone to outbursts and scathing tirades, and she scared me as much as fifty meals ordered all at once," Ms. O'Neill wrote in "Mostly True." "I quickly lost the dreamy reverence I'd always had for words and began to see them as ingredients. By the time the Boston Globe called and asked me to write a story about pancakes, the boundaries between art and commerce seemed more porous."
Ms. O'Neill invested the same passion in her writing as she did with her cooking. For what was to be a 300-word story about pancakes for the Globe, she researched historical cookbooks, various stirring techniques and maple syrups to test 50 batters. She transformed her project into a 3,000-word opus that the Globe editors loved. She went on to write for Boston magazine, whose editor Donald Forst would leave the publication to become the first editor of New York Newsday, where he hired Ms. O'Neill as restaurant critic.
Five years later, Ms. O'Neill was hired by the New York Times, and she spent a decade at the Grey Lady reporting on the food industry and writing a column for the paper's Sunday magazine. Her writing for the Times ranged from a Sunday front-page story about genetically modified foods in 1992 to a recipe for Thai cucumber and mint salsa, which accompanied her story on how salsa had surpassed ketchup to become the "king of American condiments."
Ms. O'Neill wrote numerous cookbooks, including "The New York Cookbook" (1992), "A Well-Seasoned Appetite" (1995), "The Pleasure of Your Company" (1997) and her magnum opus, "One Big Table" (2010). For "One Big Table," she and assistants hosted potluck dinners across the United States, asking people to bring a dish and recipe as well as a donation to the local food bank. In all, they held 150 potlucks and gathered more than 7,000 recipes, only two of which appear in the cookbook.
"At the end of a total of eight years," Ms. O'Neill told the Smithsonian audience, "I had what was a perfectly balanced, demographic portrait of American food. It was the most boring book I could have imagined, and that was a devastating discovery."
Ms. O'Neill realized she had followed the numbers, not the passion, so she essentially started over and sought out some 600 recipes from visionary African American artists, Vietnamese communities in New Orleans, survivalist groups and countless others. "I was looking at what we held in common, not what distinguishes us," she said at the Smithsonian.
Her work as a food journalist earned her three James Beard Awards, including one for her job as host of the PBS series "Great Food." Ms. O'Neill went on to found CookNscribble, a group to nurture young and established food writers via workshops, online courses and mentorships. She was always urging food writers to treat their jobs more like hard-news journalists, not feature reporters who too often pander to PR agents.
Molly O'Neill was born Oct. 9, 1952, the oldest child — and only daughter — of Charles O'Neill and the former Virginia Gwinn.
Her father had played minor league baseball and fostered a love of the game among his offspring. The youngest, Paul O'Neill, enjoyed a 17-year career in Major League Baseball, including five seasons as an All-Star. When he was traded to the New York Yankees in 1992, his only sister was ecstatic to live in the same city as her brother, whom she had adored since he was an infant.
"Heck, I potty-trained the guy," she joked with a reporter.
Ms. O'Neill's marriages to Stanley Dry and Arthur Samuelson ended in divorce. Survivors include her mother, of Ohio, and five brothers.
Ms. O'Neill never lost her passion for writing about food, even as she started to get sick and had to move from her home in Rensselaerville, N.Y., to an apartment in New York for medical treatments. She had a liver transplant in 2016.
A pathology report on her old liver revealed some cancerous cells, which had metastasized to her adrenal glands. In 2017, her friends and fans donated more than $100,000 to help with her medical expenses. Ms. O'Neill had been working on a book about her liver failure and her battle with cancer up until the day she died.
"She really wasn't ready to go," says her former Rensselaerville neighbor Kennedy. "She had a lot of living left to do, as far as she was concerned."
More from Food:
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Tim Carman Tim Carman is a food reporter at The Washington Post, where he has worked since 2010. Previously, he served for five years as food editor and columnist at Washington City Paper. Follow


What Bharti AXA offers for Honda Activa 4G Two-Wheeler Insurance?
You cannot buy happiness but you can buy a bike of your choice, and that is pretty close! Riding it with your dear one gives brings in exciting times.
Launched in February 2017, Honda Activa 4g is the fourth-generation model of the top-selling 110 cc scooter - Honda Activa from Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI). This Honda bike comes with Automatic Headlamp On (AHO) function and a BS-IV compliant engine. Its other impressive features provide you with high mileage.Now that you have the bike of your choice in your garage you need to have an excellent Two-Wheeler Insurance plan to enjoy a peaceful ride. With a proper Honda Activa 4G Insurance, you can enjoy numerous advantages.
This provides Cover for any injury or death caused to the Third-Party. It also Covers for the property damage to the Third-Party. Also, it gives Personal Accident Cover for Owner.
Comprehensive Insurance for Honda models in India provides Third-Party Liability Cover, loss or damage to your Honda Activa 4G bike caused due to any reason including theft, accident, natural calamities, man-made disasters. It provides the Personal Accident Cover for Owner also. It is an all-round plan providing necessary protection. Its Premium consists of both Third-Party Premium and Own Damage Premium.
Both these Insurance plans include Personal Accident Cover for the Owner.
A Two-Wheeler Insurance plan does not cover wear and tear caused due to constant usage of the bike. It does not cover any damage or losses caused due to driving without a license, driving under the influence of alcohol, using the bike outside geographical limits and using the bike beyond its legal purpose like racing, illegal activities.
What is the Premium Paid for Honda Activa 4g Insurance?
The IRDAI has fixed a Premium for a pure Third-Party only Insurance. The Comprehensive Insurance plan has a factor of Own Damage Premium too.
The Premium of your Honda Activa 4G is calculated based on the Purpose of Purchase, the city of residence, engine capacity and other body parts, your claim history, the age of your bike.
Insured Declared Value (IDV) and opted deductibles.
Numerous Add-On Covers like Zero Depreciation Cover, Insurance for Pillion Rider, Roadside Assistance and No-Claim Bonus Cover are available over and above the Insurance Plan. These covers help mitigate financial losses arising at time of unforeseen events.
When you plan to buy Two-Wheeler Insurance Online or otherwiseyou should do a thorough research on the plans available and what fits your requirements.
Bharti AXA provides Two-Wheeler Insurance Plans which offer features and flexibility that you need. It offers round-the-clock services to make sure you are free of worries. The quick and unparalleled service and Claim Settlement is something that you will look out for in your insurance. Bharti AXA's product offerings and service timelines will take care of that, with precision.


text:
answeredquestions.html?_page=0&min-date=2019-04-25&tablingMemberConstituency=Harlow&_properties=answer.isMinisterialCorrection,hansardHeading
min date
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps his Department is taking to increase fire safety in (a) care homes and (b) other residential blocks.
Robert Halfon

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to care homes and the parts of multi-occupied residential premises that are used in common by occupants of more than one dwelling. The Fire Safety Order requires those responsible for a premises to undertake and review regularly a fire risk assessment and put in place and maintain adequate and appropriate fire protection measures to mitigate the risk to life from fire to as low as is reasonably practicable.

The Home Office recently launched a Call for Evidence on the Fire Safety Order to ensure it remains fit for purpose. The call for evidence runs until 31 July 2019.

Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
Mr Nick Hurd
Biography information for Mr Nick Hurd
Biography information for Robert Halfon
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether fire evacuation guidance issued by his Department includes information on the additional time required to evacuate vulnerable people.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to all non-domestic premises, including parts of multi-occupied residential premises that are used in common by occupants of more than one dwelling. The Government makes available a suite of premises-specific guidance to help those with responsibilities under the Fire Safety Order to comply, including the requirement to provide suitable escape routes and emergency exits.

Supplementary guidance, which provides extra information on accessibility and means of escape for disabled people, is also made available on Gov.UK.

Sexual Offences
To ask the Attorney General, whether he has had discussions with the CPS on removing reference to the merits-based approach from (a) guidance and (b) training materials on rape and sexual offences.

Rape and serious sexual offences are horrific crimes and can have a devastating impact on victims, and the CPS will always seek to prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so. The Attorney General and I regularly discuss issues related to rape and sexual offences with the CPS; however, charging decisions are made independently by the CPS.

There has been no change in policy in how the CPS makes charging decisions in rape cases. Prosecutors in the CPS follow a 'Code', which sets out a well-established two stage test that a case must pass before a charge can be made. The first stage of this test is the evidential stage, which considers whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each suspect on each charge. That test has remained and continues to remain the same. It applies to every single offence no matter how minor or serious.

The Code that prosecutors follow has never included any specific reference to a merits-based assessment of the realistic prospect of conviction because it is an integral part of the evidential test. The second stage of the test is whether it is in the public interest to proceed with a prosecution, this is considered after the evidential stage is fulfilled.

From 2009, DPP guidance included reference to a merits based approach.

Following an inspection by HMCPSI in 2016, it became clear that including a separate reference to the merits based approach in the guidance was causing confusion leading to the incorrect application of the code test. To avoid this confusion, changes were made to the guidance provided by the DPP to prosecutors, including removing a document on the merits based approach.

Those changes should not have, and did not have any impact on the proper application of the Code test that prosecutors follow when making a decision on whether to charge.

Inland Waterways and Rivers: Pollution Control
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to clean up rivers and waterways to ensure that they are safe habitats for (a) wildlife and (b) recreational swimmers.

Current updated River Basin Management Plans, published in 2016, provide the framework for protecting and improving the water environment for wildlife, people and the economy for the period up to 2021. Plans for England confirm over £3 billion of investment by 2021, leading to improvements in at least 680 water bodies, with an overall target to enhance at least 5000 miles of waters by 2021. These plans will be reviewed and updated in 2021 to take account of progress that has been made and what can be achieved by 2027.

Over the last two decades there have been significant improvements in water quality in rivers. Independent analysis of Environment Agency (EA) data by the University of Cardiff in 2014 showed that wildlife such as Atlantic salmon, mayflies, and dippers dependent on cleaner waters have been progressively recolonising in England's urban rivers over this 20 year period. However, there is still more to do to improve river habitats and to protect the environment from deterioration in the future.

For recreational swimmers, there are over 400 locations in England formally designated as bathing waters which are managed to meet stringent water quality standards to protect health. The EA monitors these waters throughout the bathing season (May to September), investigates pollution sources and works with partners to reduce pollution risks. The EA also issues daily forecasts of bathing water during the bathing season on the internet to help inform bathers of pollution risks. In 2018, 97.9% of bathing waters met minimum standards sufficient for bathing and 67.1% met even more stringent standards.

Dr Thérèse Coffey
Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on the impartiality of Ofsted of that organisation being responsible for the inspection of the quality of apprenticeships.

Ofsted is a non-ministerial department, which reports directly to Parliament. It inspects services providing education and skills for learners of all ages and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people. Its role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training and care services in England for children and students do so to a high standard. Ofsted inspects a range of provider types and different types of provision, including apprenticeships. It does so impartially, as an independent body.

For more information on how Ofsted inspects apprenticeships, please see the current Further Education and Skills Inspection Handbook here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-and-skills-inspection-handbook An updated version of the Handbook, released under the new Education Inspection Framework, is due to take effect from September 2019 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-education-and-skills-inspection-handbook-eif

Anne Milton
Biography information for Anne Milton
Poultry: Animal Welfare
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that supermarkets which have committed to stop selling eggs from hens kept in enriched cages by 2025 meet that target.

I am aware that all major supermarkets have committed to stop selling eggs from hens kept in enriched cages by 2025. This is a voluntary initiative and as a result it is not necessary for the Government to take steps to help ensure they meet that target. The Government shares the public's high regard for animal welfare and the welfare of our farmed livestock in all systems is protected by comprehensive and robust legislation.

Consumers can make an informed choice as, under Commission Regulation (EC) 589/2008 laying down detailed rules as regards marketing standards for eggs, it is a requirement to include an indication of the farming method on the packs and the eggs themselves.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to encourage supermarkets to stop selling eggs from hens kept in enriched cages before 2025.
Northern Ireland Office
Hospitals: Parking
If she will hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the abolition of hospital car parking charges in Northern Ireland.

The matter of hospital car parking is devolved in Northern Ireland and it would not be appropriate for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to intervene.

In the absence of devolved government it remains for NI Permanent Secretaries to take the decisions they believe necessary in line with the guidance the Secretary of State set out last November, to keep the country running.

John Penrose
Biography information for John Penrose
Diplomatic Service: Public Appointments
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what role the Government has in the appointment of ambassadors to the UK.

The appointment of Heads of Mission, both Ambassadors and High Commissioners, to the Court of St. James's is governed in international law by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) 1961. Article 4(1) of the VCDR requires that the sending State must ensure that agrément for the person it proposes to accredit as Head of Mission has been granted by the receiving State, before that person may be permitted by the receiving State to undertake the role. Under the VCDR a receiving State is not obliged to give reasons to the sending State for refusal of agrément.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office reviews all requests for agrément from sending States. On the recommendation of the Secretary of State, Her Majesty The Queen gives formal approval of appointments and grants their credentials in a formal ceremony.

Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
Cancer: Children and Young People
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish for consultation the draft service specifications for children and young people's cancer services.

The draft service specifications for children and young people's cancer services are expected to be published for consultation in May 2019.

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text:
Preston Breckenridge, Jr
Name Preston Breckenridge
Suffix Jr
Born 11 Dec 1842 Sangamon Co, Illinois
Military Civil War
Name: P Breckinridge Jr
Residence: Springfield, Illinois
Enlistment Date: 11 Aug 1862
Side Served: Union
State Served: Illinois
Service Record: Enlisted as a Private on 11 August 1862.
Enlisted in Company E, 114th Infantry Regiment Illinois on 18 Sep 1862.
Mustered Out Company E, 114th Infantry Regiment Illinois on 3 Aug 1865 at Vicksburg, MS.
Regiment: 114th Infantry Regiment Illinois
Date of Organization: 18 Sep 1862
Muster Date: 3 Aug 1865
Regiment State: Illinois
Regiment Type: Infantry
Regiment Number: 114th
Officers Killed or Mortally Wounded: 2
Officers Died of Disease or Accident: 4
Enlisted Killed or Mortally Wounded: 45
Enlisted Died of Disease or Accident: 159
Regimental Soldiers and History: List of Soldiers
ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH INFANTRY
(Three Years)
One Hundred and Fourteenth Infantry. - Col., James W.
Judy; Lieut.-Cols., John F. King, Samuel N. Shoup; Majs.,
Joseph M. McLane, John M. Johnson. This regiment was organized in the months of July and August and was mustered into the U.S. service at Camp Butler on Sept. 18, 1862. Cos. A and D were from Cass county, B, C, E, G, H and I from Sangamon county, and Cos. F and K from Menard county. The regiment left Camp Butler for Memphis, Tenn., Nov. 8, arrived on the 16th, and remained there about 10 days on picket duty. On May 2, 1863, it joined in the movement to the rear of Vicksburg; was engaged in the battle of Jackson, losing 5 men killed and wounded; arrived in the rear of Vicksburg on May 18 and participated in the siege, with a loss of 20 men in killed and wounded. On the surrender of Vicksburg the regiment was ordered to move against the Confederate Gen. Johnston, who retreated to Jackson Miss., and during the siege of that place the loss of the regiment in killed and wounded was 7 men. It was then ordered to Oak Ridge, Miss., and while doing picket duty there had several skirmishes with the guerrillas, 1 man being killed and 2 men captured while on duty. On Feb. 5, 1864, the regiment left on
a scout and engaged the enemy at Wyatt, Miss., thus enabling the cavalry to cross the Tallahatchie at New Albany. In June it went out again and engaged the enemy at Guntown, in which action it lost 205 in killed, wounded and missing out of 397 men. On July 13 the brigade to which the regiment was attached was surprised by the enemy near Harrisburg, Miss., but after a sharp engagement the Confederates were repulsed, the regiment receiving the thanks of the brigade commander on the field for the gallant and effective charge made by it. The regiment lost
40 men in killed and wounded. It was in the battle of Nash-
ville, made several charges during the engagement, and lost 15 men in killed and wounded. In March, 1865, it embarked for Spanish Fort, Ala., and was engaged during the siege of that place. The regiment was mustered out on Aug. 3, 1865.
Source: The Union Army, vol. 3
Battles Fought
Fought on 14 May 1863 at Jackson, MS.
Fought on 19 May 1863 at Vicksburg, MS.
Fought on 10 Jun 1863.
Fought on 15 Jul 1863 at Tupelo, MS.
Fought on 2 Oct 1863.
Fought on 10 Jun 1864 at Brice's Cross Roads, MS.
Fought on 15 Dec 1864 at Nashville, TN.
Died 8 Aug 1865 Sangamon Co, Illinois
He was living with parents in 1850 and his father in 1860.
He enlisted in Army August 1862 in Co E, 114th Illinois Infantry for three years, served full term, was honorably discharged at Vicksburg, August 3, 1865, was sick at the time, but returned home with his comrades, arriving at his father's hoe on the 7th, and died the 8th of August 1865, 17 hours after his arrival. He was 23.
BRECKENRIDGE, P JR PVT E 114 IL US INF SPRINGFIELD
Person ID I51 Roots
Last Modified 10 Feb 2011
Father Preston* Breckenridge, Sr, b. 5 Aug 1807, Paris, Bourbon Co, Kentucky , d. 25 Jul 1880, Cotton Hill, Sangamon Co, Illinois (Age 72 years)
Mother Catharine* Moler, b. 30 Aug 1804, Nicholas Co, Kentucky , d. 4 Feb 1847, Sangamon Co, Illinois (Age 42 years)
Married 17 Nov 1827 Kentucky
Nicholas County, Kentucky Marriages
Preston* Breckenridge to Catharine* Moler 25 Sep 1827
Edward Sparks to Polly Moler 29 Mar 1827
(Mary Jane, sister to Catharine Moler)
Michael Wilson to Jane Breckenridge 27 Nov 1828
(Mary Jane "Jenny" sister to Preston Breckenridge)
1894-1898 City Directory, Illinois, Sangamon Co, Springfield
Breckenridge P.R. - unsure who P.R. Breckenridge is; however it is noted that he is the only Breckenridge listed in this edition of the city directory. This image has been linked to the Preston Breckenridge Sr, (d 1880) and P Breckenridge Jr, who died in 1865 until this specific individual can be identified.
Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois, "Centennial Record," 1876
Complete text of this book, which was created at the behest of Preston Breckenridge, who was the President of the Old Settlers' Society. (h)
Any added information, suggestions, comments, leads, corrections, or simply a note to say you've visited will all be gladly welcomed.
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Copyright notice: You are welcome to use and share whatever information is posted here for your personal use, with only the request that you give credit to this source. Absolutely nothing here is to be used for any sort of profit, whether to publish in books, pamphlets, CDs, or any medium to be sold, or any fee-based Internet sites.
Sherry's Pages: Home Page * My Hometown * Profession * Genealogy * Blogs * Photography * Travel * Misc Links * Contact me


Community Cooling Centers could help citizens in need again today (Sat) as stifling temperatures and humidity has settled into the region again.
The National Weather Service has a 'Heat Advisory' in place thru the evening hours.
Afternoon teps could reach 90 to 95 degrees. The heat index is likely to peak between 105 and 108 degrees.
However, thunderstorms developing may also hold those readings down.
Mid-morning thunderstorms brought heavy rain, lightning, and some reports of flash flooding.
A Heat Advisory creates the means to check on neighbors to make sure they're properly cared for, they have air-conditioning, and plenty of water. The elderly are especially prone to heat and stroke.
Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency, call 9-1-1.


*The median price of all existing homes combined sold in February 2017 — $205,000 — is a 10.8 percent increase from the $185,000 median price recorded in February 2016, and is 2.5 percent above the January 2017 median price of $199,900.
*The median price for "normal" existing homes sold in February is $212,000, an increase of 8.1 percent from the median price of "normal" existing homes in February 2016.
*The year-over-year median price for bank-owned sales increased by 17.8 percent in February while the median price for short sales decreased by 5.8 percent.
*The year-over-year median price for single-family homes increased by 12.0 percent, and the year-over-year median price for condos increased 20.9 percent.
*The overall average home price for February 2017 is $239,219 an increase of 9.9 percent over the average home price in February 2016.
*Orlando home sales (all home types and all sales types combined) in February 2017 were up 0.3 percent when compared to February of 2016 and up 9.5 percent compared to January 2017.
*Single-family sales decreased 0.9 percent year over year, while condo sales increased by 19.3 percent.
*Of the 2,423 sales in February, 2,190 normal sales accounted for 90.4 percent of all sales, while 182 bank-owned and 51 short sales respectively made up 7.5 percent and 2.1 percent.
*The number of normal sales in February increased by 17.2 percent compared to February 2016, while foreclosures decreased 59.7 percent and short-sales decreased 46.3 percent.
*The 5,849 pendings in February of this year are an increase of 7.8 percent compared to the 5,424 pendings in February of last year (and a 13.7 percent increase compared to the 5,145 pendings last month).
*Normal properties made up 81.1 percent of pendings in February, an increase of 36.8 percent. Short sales made up 12.4 percent of pendings (a decrease of 28.8 percent), and bank-owned properties accounted for 6.5 percent (a decrease of 59.5 percent).
• Seminole: 5.1 percent below February 2016.
*There are currently 8,457 homes available for purchase through the MLS. The February 2017 overall inventory level is 20.9 percent lower than it was in February 2016. Note: When adjusted for the elimination of "Active With Contract" status homes from of the active listings category within the local multiple listing service, the February 2017 inventory is 12.3 percent lower than in February 2016.
*Inventory is down 1.1 percent compared to January 2017.
*The inventory of normal properties decreased 15.5 percent compared to February 2016, while foreclosure inventory is down 52.4 percent and short sale inventory is down 71.9 percent.
*Year-over-year single-family home inventory is down 21.1 percent; condo inventory is down 23.5 percent.
*The current pace of sales (all home types and all home types) translates into 3.49 months of inventory supply.
*New contracts are up 19.4 percent compared to February of 2016. New listings are down 2.3 percent.
*The Orlando affordability index decreased to 148.17 percent in February. First-time homebuyer affordability in February decreased to 105.36 percent.
*Homes of all types spent an average of 69 days on the market (up from 70 the month prior) before coming under contract in February 2017.
*The average home sold for 96.7 percent of its listing price (96.7 percent in February 2016).


This basic triple weighted combo chess set is ideal for schools, chess clubs and tournament play. The 20" x 20" board has 2-1/4" individual squares and is made of quality vinyl with algebraic notation on all four sides. The Staunton-designed chess set is triple-weighted, made of durable plastic, features a 3-3/4" King with a 1-7/8" felted base. The 8.5" x 6.5" vinyl piece bag has an easy-to-open/close zippered pouch which is large enough to perfectly hold a regulation size chess set with extra queens! This combo set exceeds all tournament requirements, and best of all you have a choice of colors for the board and bag -- forest green, burgundy, blue or black.


Tara Peterson, Elder Law Attorney, Crenshaw Peterson & Assoc. talks about the loss of control spouses sometimes feel when admitting a spouse to nursing home. For more information, please visit their website at www.crenshawpeterson.com or give them a call at (517) 347-2100.


text:
Man found living with Cudahy woman's corpse sentenced
Colleen Henry
A man found living with a Cudahy woman's nearly mummified corpse was sentenced Monday.In the August heat, the flies outside her window were a giveaway.VIDEO: Man sentenced 5 years for hiding corpse"I thought maybe something crawled in there and died or whatever," neighbor Suzanne Blake said in August.When police finally broke in to her Cudahy apartment they found a woman's body so badly decomposed it took DNA testing to identify 50-year-old Peggy Pamperin.Monday morning, a judge sentenced her live-in boyfriend for hiding a corpse after police suspected, but could not prove homicide.According to the medical examiner's report, doctors couldn't determine how Pamperin died because her body lay decomposing in her hot apartment for nearly three months.When detectives arrested Gregory Prey, he told them Pamperin had been sick for a week and died in his arms."He, however, did not notify the police to this. He indicated he specifically did not call the police," Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Antoni Apollo said.Prey said he was afraid to dial 911 because of earlier domestic violence convictions. After she died, he stayed, using her credit card at cigarette and liquor stores.Pamperin's family came to court angry and tearful. "And to do what he did. I can't even get it through my head that people do that," Pamperin's sister, Christine Brandt, said.Prey's attorney offered an ill-received apology."Mr. Prey did not want to elaborate on any further explanation because he understands there's no explanation for the actions that he took in this case. He takes full responsibility for it," Prey's attorney, Charles Glynn, said.The judge sent Prey to the maximum five years.
MILWAUKEE —
A man found living with a Cudahy woman's nearly mummified corpse was sentenced Monday.
In the August heat, the flies outside her window were a giveaway.
Police: Boyfriend used debit card of dead Cudahy woman to buy beer
Cudahy woman who hadn't been seen for months found dead in apartment
VIDEO: Man sentenced 5 years for hiding corpse
"I thought maybe something crawled in there and died or whatever," neighbor Suzanne Blake said in August.
When police finally broke in to her Cudahy apartment they found a woman's body so badly decomposed it took DNA testing to identify 50-year-old Peggy Pamperin.
Monday morning, a judge sentenced her live-in boyfriend for hiding a corpse after police suspected, but could not prove homicide.
According to the medical examiner's report, doctors couldn't determine how Pamperin died because her body lay decomposing in her hot apartment for nearly three months.
When detectives arrested Gregory Prey, he told them Pamperin had been sick for a week and died in his arms.
"He, however, did not notify the police to this. He indicated he specifically did not call the police," Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Antoni Apollo said.
Prey said he was afraid to dial 911 because of earlier domestic violence convictions. After she died, he stayed, using her credit card at cigarette and liquor stores.
Pamperin's family came to court angry and tearful.
"And to do what he did. I can't even get it through my head that people do that," Pamperin's sister, Christine Brandt, said.
Prey's attorney offered an ill-received apology.
"Mr. Prey did not want to elaborate on any further explanation because he understands there's no explanation for the actions that he took in this case. He takes full responsibility for it," Prey's attorney, Charles Glynn, said.
The judge sent Prey to the maximum five years.


In this masterful work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of America's 20-plus year struggle with opioid addiction. From distressed small communities in Central Appalachia to wealthy suburbs; from disparate cities to once-idyllic farm towns; it's a heartbreaking trajectory that illustrates how this national crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.
Beginning with a single dealer who lands in a small Virginia town and sets about turning high school football stars into heroin overdose statistics, Macy endeavors to answer a grieving mother's question – why her only son died – and comes away with a harrowing story of greed and need. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy parses how America embraced a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. In some of the same distressed communities featured in her best-selling book Factory Man, the unemployed use painkillers both to numb the pain of joblessness and pay their bills, while privileged teens trade pills in cul-de-sacs, and even high school standouts fall prey to prostitution, jail, and death.


text:
One Direction Gay American Spoof Blasts Mitt Romney and Fox News (VIDEO)
ByAlex Marin
By now, you all know about One Direction, the British boy band integrated by Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson -- and known for the hit What Makes You Beautiful, which they performed at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.
They'll also perform at the September 6th MTV VMAs 012 – where they'll consolidate the new British Invasion by serenading American teenagers with Justin Bieber-like tunes. One Direction signed to Simon Cowell's record label in 2010 after placing third in the seventh season of The X Factor -- and while some say they're the new Beatles, others think they're just a one hit wonder kind of band. Here's their video:
What not everybody knows is that, according to Queerty, there's an American (and gay) version of One Direction. It's called "Wrong Direction," and at the best "jacked-up-and-tanned-up" West Hollywood style, has covered One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful with a political twist.
"Disclosure," the YouTube video put together by Full Frontal Freedom, "a coalition of independent artists and media executives who want to use our talent and creativity to raise awareness and enhance civil discourse," calls presumptive 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney "morally bankrupt."
The boys of Wrong Direction also blast Romney for refusing to release his tax returns ("Two years of tax returns is not enough") and outsourcing jobs while covering his allegedly corrupt tenure as CEO of private equity firm Bain Capital ("Outsourcing jobs, Bain cover-up"). "Disclosure" also criticizes Fox News for apparently not being aware of the Republican candidate's flaws. Here's their video:
The spoof is yet another example of how social media (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit) are mixing celebrities with current events to influence the Elections 2012 -- less than 80 days to the big day America will decide between President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.