Arian vs. Aryan

From Mike Aquilina:

There’s an urban legend making the rounds about Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States. The story goes that Vice-President Cheney asked the pontiff what he’s been reading. The Holy Father replied that he’s been researching “the Arian heresy.” Cheney, thinking the pope meant “Aryan,” said, “That must be interesting for you, since you lived through it. And Benedict responded, “I’m old, but I’m not that old.”

It’s a funny story, and I’m told it appeared in the London Times. But I’m afraid I couldn’t find confirmation anywhere on the Web.

So I went over the head of the World Wide Web and sought out an expert: the political scientist Dr. Joseph Heim of California University of Pennsylvania. And Joe put me on to the likely source. Cheney wasn’t the political figure; it was Boris Johnson, the mayor of London. And Boris didn’t flub the historical facts quite as badly as the urban-legendary Cheney; the media did.

Visit Mike's blog to read the rest of the story.

The Dominican Rite in Ventura, CA



Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P. of the Dominican Liturgy blog comments on some photos taken of the celebration of the Dominican Rite liturgy at Mission San Buenaventura in Ventura, CA. This is also cross-posted at the New Liturgical Movement blog. The photos were taken by the Roamin' Catholic.

Wonderful! When I lived in Santa Barbara, I would occasionally visit Mission San Buenaventura for their Sunday celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (yes, in spite of my being a more Reform of the Reform minded Catholic). But it was only now, after I left the state, that I discover that Fr. Paul K. Raftery, O.P., chaplain at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, had begun offering the occasional mass in the glorious Dominican Rite!