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U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are gathering at a moment of turbulence for them and the American church, as Pope Francis moves toward crafting new policies for carrying out his mission of mercy - a prospect that has conservative Catholics and some bishops in an uproar. The assembly, which starts Monday in Baltimore, comes less than a month after Francis ended a dramatic Vatican meeting on how the church can more compassionately minister to Catholic families. The gathering in Rome was only a prelude to a larger meeting next year which will more concretely advise Francis on church practice. Still, the...

Vatican II, in its Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity (Apostolicam Actuositatem), explains that, "The hierarchy should promote the apostolate of the laity, provide it with spiritual principles and support, direct the conduct of this apostolate to the common good of the Church, and attend to the preservation of doctrine and order. Indeed, the lay apostolate admits of different types of relationships with the hierarchy in accordance with the various forms and objects of this apostolate. For in the Church there are many apostolic undertakings which are established by the free choice of the laity and regulated by their...

I can’t remember where I came across this riveting Civil War question, “Why didn’t the Civil War soldiers turn in battle when facing canons loaded with canister?” I often wondered how men kept marching forward in the face of near-certain death by having their flesh mercilessly shredded. Surely there was uncommon valor and bravery. Yet, was there another dynamic moving them forward in the face of a hideous death? Civil War soldiers marched into battle in units composed of men from their hometowns and home states. If a man turned in battle, his cowardice meant that he couldn’t go home...

Alessandro Gnocchi, in his weekly piece for La Riscossa Cristiana in which he responds to letters he has received, calls our attention to this truly lamentable event that clearly shows where most of the Bishops and Cardinals are in terms of their understanding of the Catholic Faith and the immutability of doctrine.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Health Commission has criticised the Government’s planned nation-wide Tetanus vaccination campaign. The statement has expressed deep concern regarding the vaccinations. It says that the campaign leaves many questions unanswered hence the alarm. This is contained in a media statement released by the Catholic Health Commission of Kenya currently meeting at St Patrick’s Pastoral Centre, Kabula in Bungoma. The statement is co-signed by Bishop Paul Kariuki Njiru of Embu Diocese with his counterpart, Bishop Joseph Mbatia of Nyahururu on behalf of the Commisssion of the Bishops' Conference. The Commission includes 24 health facility managers drawn...

VATICAN CITY — Inaccurate media reports about Church teaching on homosexuality published after the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family’s midterm relatio was released are an attempt to pressure the Church to change its perennial teaching, a cardinal who is also a synod father has said. Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, emphasized to CNA Oct. 16 that “what has been published by the media about homosexual unions is an attempt to push the Church [to change] her doctrine.” “The Church has never judged homosexual persons, but homosexual behavior and homosexual unions are grave deviations...

The world likes Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke very little or not at all. And , if it is possible, the Church likes him even less than does the world. On the other hand, this 66 year- old American from Richland Center, Wisconsin, has done everything as a Catholic to successfully carry out his intent to set a fire under the consciences of Christians who are all too inclined to tepidity. He participates in the Marches for Life, he says that Communion is not to be given to those politicians who support abortion laws, he denounces the rapid progression of the...

More and more there is talk in Rome that this synod is being engineered by groups intent on steering the Church in a heterodox direction, and increasingly evidence is coming to light that points to it. . It still remains unclear who exactly wrote it and how many eyes had seen it before it was made public, but the strong criticisms of it from such Church leaders as Cardinals Raymond Burke and Gerhard Mueller are enough to point to a lamentable lack of scrutiny, with consequences for souls. Archbishop Bruno Forte, the synod’s special secretary, known to be a keen...

Seeing as this only has 500 views on Youtube, maybe most folks haven’t seen this, yet. Reader MFG sent this to me this morning. I find this interview disconcerting on many levels. First, his initial glad-handed chuminess is way over the top and appears just overtly insincere. Then he attempts constantly to minimize the divisions in the Synod and gives an unreserved approval of the attempt to redefine Church Doctrine with regard to the groinal issues so sacred to the modernists (adulterers receiving the Blessed Sacrament, regularizing and “solemnizing” divorce through reception of the Blessed Sacrament, gift-bearing sodomites, the whole...

Check it out http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/vatican-alters-draft-report-translation-about-gays/ar-BB9qgYh

FULL TITLE: AP confirms: "Outed" Forte exclusively responsible for "Gayspel", only ONE Father had even mentioned issue in Synod Hall Bruno "Outed" Forte From Nicole Winfield's Associated Press article on Synod special secretary Abp. Bruno "Outed" Forte. We post it here for the record of the history of the most embarrassing document in Catholic history, and its most infamous passage, where Forte sneaked his own "New Gospel": Erdo has already "outed" the official who wrote the section on gays, Monsignor [Archbishop] Bruno Forte, appointed by Pope Francis as the special secretary to the synod. Forte is an Italian theologian known...

It seems Walter Kasper's racist remarks on Africa and Africans have caused an understandable shock wave throughout the assembly. They reflect a racist, xenophobic, and anti-African mindset that has removed the Church in Africa from any participation in the Synodal administration and governance, or in the committee formed to help draft the final relatio. Other than that, Synod Fathers are being strongly pressured by the allies of the racist German cardinal, who are in the minority, to modify as little as possible the partial relatio: as Tosatti explains below, that was one of the main reasons why the racist manipulators...

A recently released midterm report from the Synod of Bishops on the family, which defended the traditional definition of marriage but used positive language toward same-sex couples in some situations, has garnered controversy among some bishops who say it does not accurately reflect the assembly's views. "In regard to homosexuality, there was noted the need for welcoming, with the right degree of prudence, so as not to create the impression of a positive valuation of that orientation," read a summary of the remarks some bishops had toward the report, Catholic News Service reported. "It was hoped that the same care...

Will today be remembered as the first day that led to the Church’s prophesied schism? Quite likely yes. By many accounts people are waking up to see that the Family Synod of October 2014 is an officially Vatican-orchestrated work of manipulation. The mid-way report was released, October 13th, a day of great spiritual significance. This report has been called an “earthquake” by one Catholic reporter, and “one of the worst official documents drafted in Church history” by John Smeaton, co-founder of Voice of the Family. He went on to say: “We urge Catholics not to be complacent or give in...

As if we didn’t know it before, today we learned why the Secret Synod was conducted in secret, with the faithful not being permitted to see the texts of the participants’ addresses or even to know which bishop or cardinal was advancing which position. The Secret Synod was conducted in secret because evil advances in shadows. Many others, and not just traditionalists, have already expressed outrage over the disastrous “Relatio post disceptationem,” which appeared on the Vatican website today, October 13. This is the anniversary of Pope Leo’s vision of Satan’s attack on the Church (leading to his composition of...

October 14, 2014 The Great Catholic Cave-In That Wasn’t The Times’s wishful thinking notwithstanding, the synod of bishops hasn’t thrown out Church teaching. GEORGE WEIGEL For the better part of a half century, the New York Times, and similarly situated purveyors of news and opinion, have eagerly awaited the Great Catholic Cave-In: that blessed moment when, at long last, the Catholic Church, like many other Christian communities, would concede that the sexual revolution had gotten it right all along and would adjust its teaching and practice to suit. A Times “breaking story” on October 13, under the headline “Vatican Signals...

Brethren, Peace be with you in Jesus Christ our Lord. Inaugural Mass of the Synod of Bishops in Rome There's been a lot of misunderstanding regarding the interim report issued by the Synod of Bishops this last weekend. Much of the misunderstanding is due to a New York Times (NYT) article formerly titled Vatican Signals More Tolerance Toward Gays and Remarriage since renamed At the Vatican, a Shift in Tone Toward Gays and Divorce - probably because they were so far off the mark in the first place. (George Weigel's take on the NYT article dispatches the MSM approach...

Wed Oct 8, 2014 - 10:59 am EST Pope Francis distances himself from ‘very conservative’ bishops John-Henry Westen Follow John-Henry By John-Henry Westen catholic , pope francis , synod on the family ROME – In an interview released on the opening of the Synod on the Family, Pope Francis distanced himself from “very conservative” bishops, adding however that he enjoys "debating" them as long as they are "intellectually well-formed."In an interview with the pope, published October 5, reporter Joaquín Morales Solá at Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper asked if he was “worried” about the recent book by five cardinals opposing Kasper’s...

US Bishops Focus on Family, Religious Freedom at Spring MeetingJune 18, 2014 Bishops present unified front on current challenges to faith, freedom, and family. Helen Hull HitchcockBishop Michael J. Sis of of San Angelo, Texas, listens to presentation June 11 during the annual spring meeting of the U .S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in New Orleans. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)The family, marriage, religious freedom, and evangelization were linked in the discussions and action items of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at their Spring General Assembly, held in New Orleans June 10-13.  Only three public sessions on the first...

Last Tuesday, April 2, several bishops decided to hold a Mass at the Mexican border. I wrote a bit about that farcical abuse of Holy Mass on March 30 - no need to rehash what I already wrote. Let me, however link to this article from New American, written yesterday. At the bottom are some words of common sense from Arizona State Senator Al Melvin. He believes (and I absolutely agree) that the bishops' little stunt, a thinly-disguised attempt to pander to progressives in power will only add to the chaos that's already there. I'm sure most reasonable people have...