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Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone at a press conference for the 2012 USCCB Fall General Assembly, Nov 13. Credit: Michelle Bauman/CNA. San Francisco, Calif., Apr 17, 2015 / 04:13 am (CNA).- A group of Catholics promoting a full-page advertisement asking Pope Francis to remove Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone don’t represent San Francisco Catholics and misrepresent the facts, the archdiocese has said. “The advertisement is a misrepresentation of Catholic teaching, a misrepresentation of the nature of the (archdiocese’s) teacher contract, and a misrepresentation of the spirit of the archbishop,” the San Francisco archdiocese said April 15. “The greatest misrepresentation of all is that the...

U.S. Supreme Court. Washington D.C., Apr 18, 2015 / 04:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. Supreme Court has continued its trend of decisions stopping enforcement of a federal contraception mandate against religious employers with moral objections. On April 15, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued an order barring the federal government from enforcing the mandate against Catholic Charities affiliates, Catholic schools and social service organizations in the dioceses of Erie and Pittsburgh. “Every time a religious plaintiff has gone to the Supreme Court for protection from the government’s discriminatory mandate the Court has protected them,” Lori Windham, senior counsel for...

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, at a press conference at the NAC on Feb. 27, 2013. Credit: Paolo Tiranti/CNA Vatican City, Apr 18, 2015 / 11:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a telegram to Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, the Holy Father offered his blessing to all those who mourn Cardinal Francis E. George.“To all who mourn the late Cardinal in the sure hope of the Resurrection, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in the Lord,” Pope Francis said in the April 18 telegram, according to Vatican Radio.The Holy Father praised the late archbishop...

(LiveActionNews) — A pamphlet produced by Last Days Ministries entitled, “Abortion Clinics: An Inside Look” contained the testimonies of two former abortion facility workers. One worker who tells her story is Sam Griggs.Griggs talks first about the job interview. Some time ago, Planned Parenthood director turned pro-life activist Abby Johnson wrote about how abortion facilities often tell prospective employees that they will not be assisting in abortions.Johnson said that since “no one grows up wanting to work in an abortion clinic” abortion facilities often promise new employees that they will not deal with the abortion procedure, or the bodies of aborted babies. Johnson describes a...

Fr. Joseph Illo and Fr. Patrick Driscoll, Star of the Sea Catholic Church (Photo from Facebook)When Fr. Joseph Illo, the pastor at San Francisco’s Star of the Sea Catholic Church, announced his decision to train only boys to be altar servers, some parishioners and others protested.  Amidst the hullabaloo, the media jumped at the chance to criticize both Fr. Illo and his beleaguered bishop, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.Religion News Service quoted Fr. Illo, who explained his reasons for enacting the policy: The first…is that “boys usually end up losing interest (in altar service) because girls generally do a better job.”The second and...

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston / Flickr Francis Cardinal George, former Archbishop of Chicago, passed away today. Born in 1937, he was 78 years old. He had been fighting cancer for almost a decade.Widely admired for his insight and courage, he will be greatly missed.[See also: 6 Fascinating Videos from the Papacy and Death of St. John Paul II]A person’s death can be a good time to reflect on the person’s life. So here are 7 things you probably didn’t know about Cardinal George:1) He had polio as a kid – and it almost prevented him from becoming a priest He contracted the disease in...

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s effort to ensure that Catholic schools are Catholic has led one-hundred San Franciscans who describe themselves as “committed Catholics inspired by Vatican II,” to take out a full page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle asking Pope Francis to force Cordileone's resignation and appoint in his place an archbishop committed to “our values and your teachings.” It is worth asking to what extent those “values” and “teachings” align. Francis, who has spoken strongly in the past against gay marriage and transgender ideology, has also called for a church that is “poor and for the poor.”...

Did you read the news? The Vatican caved in! No, wait, the sisters caved in! Or did they both win? Well, something happened! Pope Francis meets with representatives of the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious in his library in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican April 16. The same day the Vatican announced the conclusion of a seven-year process of investigation and dialogue with the group to ensure fidelity to church teachings. The outcome resulted in revised statues approved by the Vatican. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano) "In journalism," stated Abp. Fulton Sheen 60 years ago in Thinking Life Through, "the...

Bill Donohue comments on several campaigns against Catholic schools:We never hear of attempts by outsiders to dictate to Jews how to run their yeshivas. The same is true of the increasing number of Islamic schools: no one tells Muslims what their employment policies should be. The same is not true of Catholic schools. In San Francisco, outsiders have spent an enormous amount of money seeking to pressure the Archdiocese to change its prospective handbook for faculty.Outsiders, driven by the media, put Iowa Governor Terry Branstad on the firing line: they forced him to comment on Dowling Catholic High School’s decision...

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago. Chicago, Ill., Apr 17, 2015 / 12:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Francis George, the Emeritus Archbishop of Chicago, passed away Friday morning after a long batter with cancer. Archbishop Blase Cupich, who currently heads the archdiocese, remembered Cardinal George as “a man of peace, tenacity and courage.” At an April 17 press conference, Archbishop Cupich lauded the cardinal for his bravery in overcoming challenges, which included a battle with polio as a teenager that left his legs permanently weak. “Cardinal George was a respected leader among the bishops of the United States,” Archbishop Cupich noted,...

Feeling trapped and miserable in the gay lifestyle, Joseph Sciambra found freedom in the love of Christ. Now he helps others to find it, too. Visit a street fair in San Francisco’s Castro district and you’re likely to meet Joseph Sciambra, 45, wearing a “Jesus loves you” t-shirt and handing out copies of his book, Swallowed by Satan. It tells the story of how, as a boy growing up in a lax Catholic family in Napa, California, he became addicted to pornography. Sexually confused at age 18, Sciambra made his way to the Castro, a “gay mecca,” and immersed himself...

Smoke billows after a Saudi-led airstrike on the Yemeni capital Sanaa (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File) 'You are not alone,' Bishop Paul Hinder tells faithful who must remain 'invisible' in order to stay safe. The few Christians remaining in war-torn Yemen gather for liturgies and prayer meetings in the basement of a villa in the city of Sanaa where they remain “invisible” in order to stay safe, Bishop Paul Hinder has told Vatican Radio.Bishop Hinder, the apostolic vicar of southern Arabia, said that it is not specifically Christians who are at risk in the conflict, but foreigners who have been...

Barack Obama paved the way, and now Hillary too has "evolved" on the position of redefining marriage to include two persons of the same sex. "Hillary Clinton supports marriage equality and hopes the Supreme Court will come down on the side of same-sex couples being guaranteed that constitutional right," Adrienne Elrod, a Clinton spokeswoman, said in a statement, CNN reported.  Clinton, like Obama, opposed same-sex "marriage" in 2008, the last time she made a run for the White House. She supported the idea of civil unions instead and did not proclaim her personal support for same-sex "marriage" until she retired as...

Pope Francis makes a visit to the Parish of St. Michael the Archangel in Rome on Feb. 8, 2015. Credit: Lauren Cater/CNA. Vatican City, Apr 15, 2015 / 09:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has warned against gender theories which seek to eradicate differences between man and woman, saying they perpetuate the very problems they are trying to solve. “Experience teaches us: to know each other well and grow in harmony, the human being requires the reciprocity of man and woman,” the pontiff said Wednesday to participants in his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. In his Apr. 15...

Pope Francis, recently referring to horrific slaughter of Armenians a century ago, set off a diplomatic incident with Turkey when he used the word genocide.* Considering that the Vatican lobbies the Turkish Government for better treatment of its small Christian minority, this is a brave and perhaps costly decision. The controversy holds an unexpected lesson for American conservatives.Armenians call it Metz Yegern, or The Great Evil. In a level-headed article, an Armenian English-language daily wrote: “The killings are recognized as genocide by a number of countries around the world, but Turkey’s allies Italy and the United States have avoided...

There are usually a few Masses per year at which there can be expected to be a large number of non-Catholics present. Christmas and Easter Masses are popular with non-Catholics, mainly because they are visiting Catholic family and friends. Nuptial Masses, especially when one of the parties to be married is a non-Catholic Christian, will have large turnouts of non-Catholics (sometimes up to half the congregation). Non-Catholics can also be expected at Masses offered for other sacramental firsts and life-cycle events, such as confirmations and funerals.This reality raises a common question for the apologists here at Catholic Answers: What...

Retired Gen. Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, a former director of the Salvadoran national guard, is escorted by police officers upon his arrival at El Salvador International Airport last week (CNS) Gen Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova has been accused of human rights abuses during the bloody civil war in El Salvador The US government has deported retired Salvadoran Gen Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, a former director of the Salvadoran national guard, to El Salvador.In early 2014, the US Department of Justice issued a deportation order for Casanova and retired Salvadoran Gen Jose Guillermo Garcia, the former defence minister, also living...

Q: Can the pope or the Catholic Church change, eliminate, or discontinue mortal sins — such as  missing Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation — as they did with the mortal sin of not eating meat on Fridays and eliminating some of the holy days of obligation?         A: The short answer is, “No.” Something either is a mortal sin or it isn’t a mortal sin and neither the Pope nor the Church can change that. In order to commit a mortal sin, three conditions have to be met: 1) Full awareness of the intellect; 2) Full consent of the...

“Jesus loves you.” #JN3:16 #Easter #risn“Pray. Hope. Don’t worry.” #faith #believe“Preach the Gospel at all times” #Francis #peace #prayalwaysTwitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and countless other platforms are filled with almost empty Christian one-liners and other messages.  Oftentimes trite sayings are re-tweeted or shared along with some kind of exhortation to “spread the word.”  Since you’re a Christian, you can feel guilted into supporting this sort of thing, to do your share of evangelization.  Believe me, I’m committed to building up a Christian culture, but sometimes I can be downright ashamed of that content.  In the most extreme cases it...

Does it matter whether or not matter is eternal? Peter J. Leithart, who writes a regular blog on the web site of First Things, definitely thinks it does. According to Leithart , who is a Protestant theologian in the Reformed Presbyterian tradition in the United States, if matter is eternal, "creation can only be control, limitation, ordering." Then God could only be a master craftsman, working with already existing material to form the universe. If matter is eternal, "creation cannot be a gift; . . . cannot be the bestowal of existence, a grant of being." Finally, if matter is...