From the past: Ratzinger on Catholic basics, and more

• Happy Epiphany, the last day of Christmas, naturally the gift day (the Three Wise Men) in several Catholic cultures. The epiphany: the realization that Jesus is God.
• Catholic essentials: Fr. Hunwicke quotes Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict.
  • The Pope serves tradition; he can't change it.
  • The universal church comes first, then the particular churches. The CDF refuted now-Cardinal Kasper in 1992.
• Ad Orientem: The Ukrainian Catholic Church is equipping the Ukrainian army. I don't endorse this; that's not what being Catholic means. Nothing against the independent Ukraine, and of course the UGCC is its biggest native supporter. There's loving your country and working for "the freedom and exaltation of holy mother church" and then there's beating up on the Russians in the east for no good reason.
• Music: Rick and the Masters, "Let It Please Be You" and "I Don't Want Your Love," 1963.