Free Republic

A deacon formerly associated with the controversial Society of St. John will not be a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Paterson, N.J. Deacon Joseph Levine is still a deacon in the diocese, but will not be ordained to the priesthood, Marianna Thompson, the diocesan communications director, said Tuesday. The diocese announced late last week that Deacon Levine would not be ordained Saturday in Paterson as previously scheduled, but released no other details. Four other men were ordained. Ms. Thompson confirmed Deacon Levine’s ordination is off permanently, a result of the “discernment” process during which the deacon and church officials...

PATERSON, New Jersey, June 19, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-choice Catholics, not just Catholic politicians, must not receive Communion if they knowingly support legalized abortion says an American Catholic bishop.  "By steadfastly choosing to be pro-choice, a Catholic -- politician or not -- excludes himself or herself from communion," wrote Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli in the June 7 edition of the Beacon, the Paterson diocese newspaper.  In his column Serratelli rebuked "pro-choice" Catholic politicians and those who "arrogantly insist that the Church does not have the right to her own teaching" and who claim a right to Communion at the same time....

As Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger spent many hours pouring over Liberation Theology.  The liberationists had become very involved in political movements to insure a just society.  They had confused the role of the Church and the role of the State.  And, at times, they were openly Marxists.  In 1966 when the German journalist Peter Seewald asked the Cardinal what was his greatest success in his work, he pointed to the corrections offered to Liberation Theology.  The Pope's first encyclical shows the fruit of this long struggle with liberationists.  The Holy Father carefully outlines...

The bishop of the Paterson Diocese has asked priests in Morris County to contact organizers of the Saint Patrick's Day parade in Morristown and express their concerns that a group that supports abortion rights plans to participate. In a letter dated Feb. 13, Bishop Arthur Serratelli wrote that the National Organization for Women's support for "abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women ... stands against the teachings of the Church and the Catholic values that St. Patrick in his life as a missionary and bishop worked tirelessly to promote." The county chapter of NOW has marched in the...

Listed below is thread on Angela Bonavoglia. She will be speaking at the Loyola Retreat House, Morristown, NJ,  on Wednesday night, May 11, 2005, which is being sponsored by the Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), an apostate Marxist organization run by laypersons who don't like the traditional church. She is a pro-abortion feminist who wants a "new Catholic church" !   Angela's WebsiteContact Angela Here  The Local Catholic Bishop, Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli, S.T.D., S.S.L., D.D;  needs to know what is going on in his diocese by religious orders who don't necessarily report to the local ordinary.Here is a story, written by...

Whose Moral Values?  Deeper Issues Just days after the presidential election, the press reported a change the Texas Board of Education made in a high school text.  When speaking of marriage, the textbook would now speak of marriage not as a union of partners but as a union of man and woman.  Not a startling definition in light of the common tradition of humanity stretching far back beyond the pages of Genesis.  Yet what is disconcerting is the remark reported of a board member who refused to endorse the change.  She labeled the change "political agenda."  She argued that the...

Conjugal Love and Procreation: God's Design The author poet Carl Sandburg once said, "A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." Written within the human heart is the knowledge that life is good and worthy to pass on from one generation to the next.  Newlyweds who pledge their love "till death do us part" look forward to the day they can hold in their arms a child to share their love.  Yet, each year, millions of couples who long for children discover that, for one reason or another, they are unable to conceive.   Today, science and technology...

More than 1,000 Teens, the Bishop and the Eucharist Focus on Eucharist is 'historic day' for diocese at its largest gathering of youthMORRISTOWN - Young people from parishes and Catholic high schools from every corner of the diocese - more than 1,000 - came to Delbarton School here May 1to be with Bishop Serratelli for a Day on the Eucharist, guided by the theme "Made Right in God's Sight by Faith." Activities for the day, which was hailed as  the largest gathering of youth in the diocese's history, were designed to awaken thee teens' faith and inspire them to examine...

Every year about 8 million dogs and cats are brought to shelters in the United States.  They face either adoption or death.  According to the American Humane Society, less than 40% are adopted.  Each year, 500,000 of those put to death had owners who predeceased them and the animals were no longer wanted.   But the scene is changing.  Recently The New York Times reported that 27 states have laws allowing people to establish legal trusts for their animals.  Pets now can be looked after even when they are predeceased by their owner.  Owners get to say in advance how...

Across the oceans and the tides of time, at the heart of ancient Rome, there once stood a sports arena on the Vatican hill. In the year 37 A.D., the Emperor Caligula took an obelisk from Alexandria in Egypt and placed it on this spot. This stone rising 83 feet high and weighing 331 tons stood as a symbol of Roman power and the vast kingdom under Caesar. But, like every other kingdom, that great empire died with the death of the last Caesar. Only once did a kingdom begin at the death of its king. At the death of...

Politics And Logic Undoubtedly one of the most interesting figures to grace the stage of human thought was the 5th century philosopher Socrates.  Even when on trial for his life, he refused to abandon the pursuit of truth.  In defending himself before his accusers, Socrates says, "The unexamined life is not worth living" (Plato, Apology, 38a).  Socrates argues that, for human life to have its proper value, there must be public discussion of the issues of life and virtue as well.  Our nation is just hours away from another presidential election.  Public discussion is intense. The pundits and the...

The culture gap has widened. A deep chasm divides the citizens of this country. The recent Presidential election colored the map in red and blue. The results highlighted the fundamental issues that separate even members of the same family. Values. Morals. These are the issues that continue to be played out on the national scene. This past week, Christians mourned the death of Jesus. A death that continues in the innocents condemned to die in poverty and war. Thousands watched young people make the Passion of Jesus come alive in churches and streets of our cities. Even more watched and...

Embryonic Stem Cells and A Brave New World In 1932, Aldous Huxley shocked his readers.  He wrote of about a brave new world.  Babies would be created in test tubes.  The laboratories would be called hatcheries.  2005. The shock is gone.  When it comes to science and technology, we live in a new world that can be more fearless than brave, more pragmatic than principled.  New discoveries raise hopes of cures and long life.  Too often the moral issues are summarily brushed aside.  We need to be in the lead in research and development of new medicines, some would argue,...

The Rev. William M. Naughton made a surprise announcement one Sunday in February 2001 from the pulpit of Resurrection Church in Randolph. He needed a change of scenery, he said, so he was leaving the parish he had served as pastor for half its history. The true reason for Naughton's sudden departure was whispered at spaghetti dinners, rummage sales and other places where parishioners gathered, but it remained officially a secret, never addressed by Naughton's successor and never explained by the church. Connell made no mention of the amount of money involved, but some parishioners have said it was around...

Sex and True Love   The news has recently reported that a leading media company, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, and advertising, has agreed to pay the Federal Communications Commission $3.5 million, one of the largest fines ever given by this agency, to end allegations of indecency.  Yet even as the debate about public decency goes on, TV continues to challenge its viewers with ever new boundaries about public decency.  Not to be outdone by an alleged wardrobe malfunction that bared a performer's breast during halftime at last January's Super Bowl, a Cleveland news anchor, a...

Vatican Announces New Leader For Paterson NJ Diocese For the last quarter century, Bishop Frank Rodimer has been the head of the Paterson Diocese. He has been a popular bishop. However, there have been some recent sex abuse scandals involving priests. Today, he will be replaced. The Paterson Diocese serves 377,000 Catholics in Morris, Sussex and Passaic counties. For 26 years, it has been run by Bishop Frank Rodimer. But today, he is expected to be replaced by Arthur Serratelli, currently Vicar General, the number two position, in the Newark Archdiocese. The 60-year old Serratelli is highly regarded as smart,...