Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 4hI wrote this post when I was exposed to the ICS 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭 study edition, which for your edification offers a short fiction that sounds suspiciously like A Metaphor For Something Else with all its emotional blackmail, "don't tell your mom", hush money, and "the problem here is the altar boy". 000
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 4hI love the real Thérèse. Happy feast day!contemplativeinthemud.comThérèse of Lisieux Against Abuse, Before and After DeathThe reason for this brief post is that, in my own life, I have recently run into a situation which seems to use Thérèse’s teaching in a way that would call into question her deep concern for abuse … 100
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 17hWait, you're telling me that some of the bigger news from Metz was supposed to be doubly focused on Marcel Văn, but the shenanigans of a condemned abuser took the spotlight. They're drawn to stealing his spotlight like nothing else, let me tell you. catholix.fr/2026/09/24/m... 000
Reposted by Ben CitMCanadian Paintings @canadianpaintings.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The road to reconciliation begins with truth Mishiikenh Kwe ~ Anishinaabe c. 2022 222172
Reposted by Ben CitMAmigo de Frodo @bpdflores.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Maritain is a good place to start if one wants to pick up the conversation about the person and the common good. We have forgotten too much of our own serious thinking on the issue. Here is a nice intro to his life, times and thought. Also available in English. 082
Reposted by Ben CitMRich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Pope Leo: “To be silent is an act of the will, which involves the whole person and helps one to live solid relationships. It means creating spaces of freedom and truth, in which to safeguard attention, becoming sensitive to the voice of those who ‘do not count’” www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...vaticannews.vaPope to contemplative nuns: The importance of silence in a world marked by speed - Vatican NewsPope Leo XIV meets with the International Commission of Dominican Contemplative Nuns at the Vatican and encourages them to strengthen the value of ... 14012
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 28/09/2026(yes, Re-education Camp 2B is underwater now)contemplativeinthemud.comDam SilenceDam Silence. Pencil on sketchbook paper, 30 cm × 14 cm. Further reading Fricker, Miranda. Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford and New York: Oxford Unive… 000
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 28/09/2026Did some really good historical work. Everyone writing on Văn is confident he was held in two NVN detention facilities outside Hanoi. But reading DIA reports, examining maps, reading his detention letters carefully, it becomes clear it was four (Hoả Lò is in Hanoi). ref tile.loc.gov/storage-serv... 100
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 28/09/2026"Don't use the standard phrases of victim-blaming (of which 'it takes two to tango' is one) to mean something other than victim-blaming in the context of abuse and definitely don't make people read several paragraphs to figure it out" is an incredibly low bar to clear. But this is where we all are. 120
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 28/09/2026I understand. That takes nothing away from my comment. You can stop. 000
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 28/09/2026Okay... good... yes... but... what kind of victim-blaming-blindness is required to put "it takes two to tango" in the same headline as "abuse"? The wording of the bsky post itself (not yours) is... not helping. 230
Reposted by Ben CitM"le mec à McCabe là", un truc comme ça @socfrimphmcc.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Espérons que cet homme ne se trompe pas sur l'attitude du Pape. S'il ne se trompe pas, une telle lucidité serait une rare bonne nouvelle. 1124
Reposted by Ben CitMPère Camille Rio (mep) @riocamille3.bsky.social · 27/09/2026L'entretien complet avec Pascal Gelie est à entendre : youtube.com/watch?v=Gj6d...youtube.com"Pas un mot sur les victimes" : Pascal Géile dénonce l’attitude du pape sur les abus sexuelsYouTube video by franceinfo 011
Reposted by Ben CitMRich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The Pope: “Here, no one is turned away due to their frailty. Your crutches, your wheelchairs and your hidden tears are not obstacles; instead, they are the very place where you are fully respected and welcomed, and where you can experience a transforming encounter with the infinite love of God.” 541473418
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 27/09/2026Un peu comme lorsque François est allé en Thaïlande, a évoqué l'hospitalité et le multiculturalisme, puis a publié Fratelli Tutti l'année prochaine. Non, mon cher épiscopat thaïlandais avec votre recueil de chants hyper-nationaliste, il ne vous faisait pas de compliments là 😂 010
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 22/09/2026🙏 The way you've captured the feeling means a lot! 010
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 22/09/2026It does have going for it that it's gonna out-Dutch the Dutch at lying below sea level 011
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 22/09/2026Yesterday, homily on the universal call to holiness requiring a vocation to holy orders, religious life, or marriage. Today—since I can hardly talk around priests—handed the priest this note (the thing at the bottom is another years-long thing). As you might guess, it did not go well with Fr. Darvo. 110
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 17/09/2026(Văn avait l'expérience directe auprès des OPs espagnols venus de Manille au nord du Vietnam. Il voit des signes clairs pour lui et extrapole pour les MEP.) 010
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 17/09/2026Je ferai ma part pour que, lorsque quelqu'un l'écrira, il y ait moins de manque de sources 😟 110
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 17/09/2026(Văn’s complaint and his first stab at addressing MEP is framed in terms of abuse as a systemic problem—propagated from missionaries to the Vietnamese catechists whom the missionaries trained and still train, and outwards/onwards in ripples. He “sees” MEP as soon as their world intersects his own.) 100
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 17/09/2026Rereading Văn's letters. Age 21, he moves from Hanoi (few MEP) to Saigon (lots of MEP). Within a year, he wants his spiritual director to speak to Hanoi’s bishop about reparation: “if [MEP] refuse, history will blame them as they have blamed the colonial powers of the world” (29-09-1950). This kid! 100
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 14/09/202672 years ago today, Văn took the last plane north to Hanoi, committing himself to the journey. 000
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 13/09/2026Working on some Văn stuff and remembering feedback on an academic version of this post: "Sadly ironic that the healing of Văn's moral injury led to his death." It's such a strange response to me. A survivor whose moral injury has abated enough to be truthful is gonna be deeply unpopular. I promise.contemplativeinthemud.comThe Death of Marcel Văn and Moral Injury (Part 6)[ Marcel Văn and Clerical Abuse | Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 ] Marcel Văn died at an internment camp in Yên Bình in Nort… 010
Reposted by Ben CitMfr. Luca Refatti op @lucarefatti.bsky.social · 12/09/2026McCabe here is spot on. We have really become a idolatrous world... not just the West. 052
Reposted by Ben CitM"le mec à McCabe là", un truc comme ça @socfrimphmcc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026This willful blindess to what "systemic" means, whether it be racism or abuse is really intriguing when you're in a religion that underlines so much the institutional side of the christian faith. 1231
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 10/09/2026"le wat Phutthaisawan n'est pas un temple obscur" 😂 um, yeah, no kidding 110
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 09/09/2026“Above all, I hope you will take the opportunity to nourish your interior life: with generous and sustained prayer before our Lord in the Tabernacle, [...] and finally by frequent contemplation of the indwelling of the Persons of the Trinity in the depth of our being.” 020
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 08/09/2026(Francis in Laudato Si' 125–26 specifically points to the Benedictine family and the Charles de Foucauld family to "reflect on the proper relationship between human beings and the world around us" & "a correct understanding of work". It's a great snub of Opus Dei—but also maybe not irrelevant here.) 130
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 08/09/2026Just reading the argument as laid out here, my clericalism and patriarchy alarms sound + my Charles de Foucauld Spiritual Family sensibilities kick in. It doesn't mean I think Chenu's wrong. But I'm... unconvinced by his proposed reasoning? even though I like both of you guys' querying? 120
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 08/09/2026Hmm. Based on what's said, it seems we're asking about priestly life—but mendicants and monastics are first of all consecrated religious, not priests. From the actual premises, I'd more straightforwardly draw a conclusion like "Little Brothers/Sisters of Jesus good", not "worker priests good". 130
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 07/09/2026I think the note on style in the preface is... always important 😅 Later (Untrammeled Approaches), he'll try to pass the torch more to Heinz R. Schmitz more generally, Lacombe and Gardet still in their areas. I love a lot in the last 100 pgs. There's a whole "Contemplation in the world" section. 110
Reposted by Ben CitMPère Camille Rio (mep) @riocamille3.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Excellent résumé du dossier #Ouellet par @apres-la-ciase.fr. Il faut ajouter que la cour a balayé d'un revers de main deux témoignages supplémentaires visant le cal Ouellet lors du procès Groleau. 021
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 06/09/2026Reads earliest known writings identifying a worldwide abuse crisis in need of worldwide reform, writes preface that obscures their significance... sues presumed victim of clerical abuse Congratulations on being the winner of this year's Marie-Michel Hostalier Prize! 020
Reposted by Ben CitMPère Camille Rio (mep) @riocamille3.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Donc: le cardinal Ouellet a poursuivi et obtenu la condamnation à 100000$ canadiens + frais de justice la victime présumée de viols de la part d'un prêtre diocésain. Qu'on se le dise. 1107
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026NB is on-brand bilingual: camp/cottage(+chalet) & electricity/hydro ("electric" is an acceptable but imported anglicism when we prefer French-consistent "electricity"?). Notably, the original source didn't distinguish anglo/franco regions and boldly declared NB (and NL!) lacked hydroelectric dams. 000
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026Torontonian stares confidently at New Brunswick and Newfoundland: "Canada's two least flat, most consistently hilly provinces would never use dams and call it hydro" 000
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026Et la raison qu'on dit "electricity bill" plutôt que "electric bill" au N.-B. est bien évidemment parce que le premier peut se dire en français mais le deuxième non. 020
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026I know it's for fun, but I do think it's worth noting that the source distinguishes a lot of regions (even Cape Breton and Avalon)—but NOT NB's anglo/franco divide. That kinda makes the original source pretty hard to trust about NB. I think this'll cause error for maybe most but not all NB results. 000
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026Le source de l'OP ne distingue pas entre anglophones et francophones au N.-B. – même si on distingue Cape Breton et la péninsule Avalon. Une décision que n'importe quel canadien doit connaître est absurde er interfère avec l'interprétation de tous les résultats N.-B.?! 120
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026The original source has fascinating ideas about NB Power (Point Lepreau Nuclear is 40% today, but vocabulary here in the Canadian-Appalachians-with-Big-But-Not-Too-Big-River developed before the advent of nuclear power, as is also true for Ontario, where it's acknowledged they still say "hydro") 120
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026The original source also shows virtually zero preference for NB on one of the three questions in this chart (esp. compared to NS, PEI). And if it pays to distinguish Avalon and Cape Breton, why even is NB not divided as anglo/franco? That's obviously messing with interpretation and categorization. 031
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026Where do they think NB's electricity came from before nuclear power? The province is all the Appalachians with a big river or two. 110
Ben CitM @contemplativeinthemud.com · 05/09/2026NB misunderstood or forgotten in both official languages is fairly on brand for Canada? 130