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“Americans United for the Separation of Church and State” has formally requested the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the Roman Catholic Bishop of Paterson, N.J., the Most Reverend Arthur Serratelli. I believe this is their first volley in a concerted effort to silence Catholic Bishops. They want to prevent them from teaching the unchangeable Moral Truth, revealed in the Natural Law and confirmed by medical science, that the child in the first home of the whole human race is one of us and that every procured abortion constitutes an intrinsically evil act because it is the taking of innocent human...

When is the last time a bishop's statement on abortion resulted in several days of protest from pro-abortion Catholics? The joint statement issued last Friday by Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth and Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas has done just that. No doubt the forceful clarity of the bishops' message elicited the outcry. The protests began on Sunday when the statement was read from the pulpit by Rev. Tony Ruiz, pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in downtown Dallas. Some two-dozen parishioners walked out and went to the local media to lodge their complaints about "political endorsements." The next...

we cannot make more clear the seriousness of the overriding issue of abortion – while not the "only issue" – it is the defining moral issue, not only today, but of the last 35 years. Since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, more than 48 million innocent lives have been lost. Each year in our nation more than one million lives are lost through legalized abortion. Countless other lives are also lost through embryonic stem cell research. In the coming months our nation will once again elect our political leaders. This electoral cycle affords us an opportunity to promote...

The USCCB Committee on Migration sent a delegation to the U.S./Mexico border region to study the plight of unaccompanied minors and human trafficking victims. The ever-growing problems with these populations are some of the gravest and many times most overlooked symptoms of the broken and out-dated immigration system currently employed by the United States. The delegation met with a broad cross-section of agencies and individuals involved with or knowledgeable of these populations to gain critical insights and to understand their needs. The delegation also met with Church officials, government officials, community-based organization, and other with important perspectives. Programs established to...

09:49 AM 9/14/2007 - First, read this press release from the USCCB web site (hat-tip to the ever-vigilant Diogenes): WASHINGTON (September 13, 2007)—Kathy Saile, a church advocate with a decade of experience in Catholic social ministry and Washington policy work, has been named Director of Domestic Policy for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). She starts her new position in October. Since August 2004, Saile has been Associate Director of Public Policy for Lutheran Services in America (USA), in Washington. Previous positions include Director of the Office of Peace and Justice, Catholic Social Service of Central and Northern...

It is almost certain that Portugal will join the list of Catholic countries that have legalized abortion. After an inexpressive referendum, the socialist government presented a projected bill that was approved by the Portuguese Parliament on March 8. Only an unlikely veto by President Cavaco Silva, regarded as a conservative, can prevent the bill from becoming law. The sad part is that the Portuguese Catholic bishops avoided throwing the full weight of their prestige onto the scale in a country with an absolute Catholic majority. During the abortion referendum, the bishops took a non-confrontational attitude. They simply recalled documents and...

WARSAW, Poland-- The bishops of Poland issued a statement against the European Parliament resolution that labels as "homophobic" countries that do not recognize same-sex unions. The nonbinding resolution, passed Jan. 18, violates the autonomy of states and puts at risk the freedom of conscience of the citizenry, say the bishops of Poland at the end of the conference's plenary assembly. The resolution, the bishops say in their statement, published Tuesday, "rightly rejects the attitudes of discrimination, ridicule and violence against persons with homosexual orientation." "Concurrently, however, through an urge directed to the governments of member states to revise their legislation...

Arizona business and political backers of a guest worker program for immigrants wishing to work in the U.S. are getting some top-level backing. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is teaming with top labor unions, other business interests and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in support of a guest worker program and legal way for undocumented workers already in the U.S. to stay in the country. Arizona Sen. John McCain and Congressmen Jeff Flake and Jim Kolbe, as well as the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, are top pushers of a controversial guest worker program. Joining the U.S. Chamber...

Missouri Roman Catholics who attend Mass Sunday can expect to hear a homily against embryonic stem cell research and a statewide petition drive aimed at allowing Missourians to vote on a constitutional amendment to protect the research. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday that the Catholic church is using the first Sunday of Advent to launch a campaign aimed at keeping Catholics from signing the petition, and to teach them the Catholic view of the issue. The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, which includes business interests, universities and patient groups, announced the petition in October. Secretary of State Robin Carnahan...

The terrible deaths made possible by modern medical advances necessitate a change in thinking about the ethics of assisted suicide. These days, despite my conservative nature and my firm support for him on most matters, I seem to be disagreeing with President Bush on several fronts: the Terry Schiavo case, illegal immigration, the pouring of money down the drain in New Orleans, and now, assisted suicide. Over 15 years ago, as I watched my mother’s health and body deteriorate and the likelihood of a very painful death process looming, I turned to the Hemlock Society and purchased the book, “Final...

Groundbreaking Zogby Poll Demonstrates Dramatic Rise in Catholic Opposition to Use of the Death Penalty WASHINGTON (March 21, 2005)—The U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops today launched a Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, declared, “We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. We cannot defend life by taking life.” Speaking at the National Press Club on behalf of the U.S. bishops’ conference, Cardinal McCarrick said, “The Catholic campaign will work to change the debate and decisions on the use of the death penalty: building a constituency for life,...

In 1999 the Bishops of Florida pleaded with Jeb Bush for the lifes of 2 murderers. STATEMENT ON AN OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR JEB BUSH URGING COMMUTATION OF DEATH SENTENCES FOR THOMAS H. PROVENZANO AND ALLEN LEE DAVISNow the Bishop of St. Petersburg "contrary to statements from the Vatican" have washed his hands of Terri's death claiming that "it is time to allow the Lord to call a loved one (Terri) to Himself" Statement of Bishop Robert N. LynchThe bishops of Florida have once again addressed the issue of the withdrawal of the artificial feeding tube from Terri Schiavo. As...

THE Catholic Church risked isolation last night after it emerged that senior churchmen want to bar homosexual teachers from Catholic schools. Politicians, local government and parent groups all warned against discrimination when a senior bishop insisted that the church’s new charter for schools would prevent gay teachers from securing jobs in Catholic schools or gaining promotion if already employed. Bishop Joseph Devine, president of the Catholic Education Commission, said the church’s blueprint for its schools - A Charter for Catholic Schools - made it clear that homosexuality was incompatible with Catholic education. He said in an interview: "Being homosexual would...

Abu Sayyaf bomb threat unsettles Filipino churches AFP , MANILA Sunday, Mar 20, 2005 Churches in the Philippines tightened security yesterday after a warning was received that al-Qaeda-aligned extremists were planning bomb attacks in revenge for the killing of their leaders in a prison uprising, officials said. Additional staff, including security guards, had been posted at major churches to check on suspicious people, said Monsignor Hernando Coronel, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Coronel said churches would have only one exit and entry point so that people could be checked, in response to the warning issued by...

The owner of a popular local nightclub with a gay clientele can't have a funeral in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego because the church has deemed his business "inconsistent with Catholic moral teaching." None of the 98 Catholic churches in San Diego or Imperial counties will be allowed to provide services for Club Montage owner John McCusker as a result of the decision by San Diego Bishop Robert Brom. Advertisement McCusker, 31, died Sunday of congestive heart failure while vacationing in Mammoth, his family said. The bishop made the decision three days later after learning that McCusker's family...

The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States plan tomorrow to launch what they are calling a major campaign to end the use of the death penalty. The bishops, according to an aide, have been emboldened by two recent Supreme Court decisions limiting executions, and by polling that they say shows a dramatic increase in opposition to capital punishment among Catholic Americans. Their campaign, which is to be announced by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick at a news conference in Washington, is to include legislative action, legal advocacy, educational work, and a new website to be named www.ccedp.org, for the Catholic...

Toronto, Feb. 24 (LifesiteNews.com/CWN) - A bill to redefine the word "spouse" in line with same-sex marriage is being pushed through the Ontario provincial legislature and is expected to receive a final vote tomorrow. The legislation also contains limited protection for religious freedom. The Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops (OCCB) shocked pro-family groups on Wednesday with a press release titled, "Ontario Catholic Bishops support protective legislation." In the release the OCCB makes clear that it continues to oppose the Ontario court decision which redefined marriage, however, it also "commends Premier Dalton McGuinty and his government for proposing this legislation." In...

What do the Catholic bishops, Dan Rather and CBS News, John Kerry and the Democratic Party have in common that brought about their similar ignominious downfalls? They just didn’t get it. They have been left behind; floundering around; trying to figure out what in the world happened and how to restore their shattered credibility. “Oh! How the mighty have fallen.” Not only fallen, but crashed and burned due to their arrogance, bias, egomania and detachment from the real world. Let’s dissect the Catholic bishops first.

HARTFORD, Conn. (CNS) -- As the date neared for Connecticut's first execution in nearly 45 years, the state's Catholic conference joined forces with the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty in a petition drive to end the death penalty. The petition was distributed to every parish in the Hartford Archdiocese, along with a letter from Archbishop Henry J. Mansell of Hartford reminding Catholics, "The Gospel mandates us to respect human life from conception to natural death." Michael Ross, 45, is scheduled to be executed Jan. 26. He was sentenced to death in 1987 for murdering four teenage girls in...

Inm 2000 alone, the Catholic bishops gave $472,000 in Campaign for human Development grants to ACORN - - the leftwing group now in the news for massive voter fraud. How much good could have been done with this money had it been doinated to right to life groups? The Campaign for Human Development needs to be scrapped.