Author: Brandon Kraft

  • apostolica sedes vacans: general congregation meetings

    On April 7th, the 5th General Congregation met with 140 cardinals. The Cardinals delegated to Edmund Cardinal Szoka the ability to mint coins and stamps for the Vacant See. The cardinals also finalized and published the order for the start of the conclave. The Cardinals did not meet on April 8th due to Pope John…

  • pope john paul ii: final testament

    I’m very behind on reflecting upon the events of the past few weeks; partly my schedule and partly how overwhelming it all has been. The Will of Pope John Paul II was released on April 7, 2005 by the Vatican. Unlike what we usually think of as a will, for the Pope, this was a…

  • pope benedict xvi starts his ministry

    Currently, as I type, Pope Benedict XVI is giving his homily to the faithful during his Installation Mass. During this Mass, the Pontiff is given the Pallium and the Fisherman’s Ring. The Pallium is a band that is placed over the shoulder of a metropolitan archbishop that has two pendants that hangs down in front…

  • online interaction

    Wired News has a editorial regarding online relationships that I found very interesting. In my very limited experience, having a relationship via instant message, whether that is friendship or something more, is an extremely powerful medium. I’ll completely grant that it lacks the personal interaction, the personal touch. It lacks the ability to hear the…

  • site links update

    The solution I am currently putting in place for the old links is a redirect system. All old links will be redirected to the page now corresponding to that post. This is a permanent redirect and bookmarks should be updated. This is a work in progress and this post will be updated when it is…

  • rising tuition

    I’m not going to comment at all on the numbers below for the moment. I’m just going to let it sink in: All these numbers are for flat-rate full-time. Also, starting with Spring 2005, it is in the College of Liberal Arts instead of the College of Natural Sciences. COLA is a few hundred dollars…