Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A San Francisco assessor has called for the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco to hand over $15 million in taxes because of an internal restructuring of the archdiocese, a move that some are describing as "retaliation" for the Church's opposition to Proposition 8. Assessor Phil Ting concluded that the Catholic Church owed the city taxes after the archdiocese was restructured and its property, which is almost all used by parish facilities, was consolidated seven months ago. "Because we knew the accusations (of unfair treatment) could be out there, we worked to look at...

Vice President-elect Joe Biden worshipped and received communion Sunday at the same Roman Catholic church President John F. Kennedy attended just hours before his inauguration. Biden and his wife, Jill, sat in a pew reserved for him and his family toward the back of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and listened as the Rev. Larry Madden, S.J., delivered a sermon about God as a constant anchor and the promise of hope and change for those who believe. Although Madden did not mention Biden's name, the presence of the vice president-elect was obvious in other ways. Secret Service agents were discreetly stationed...

With another Kennedy poised to enter politics (and declaring support for abortion part of her platform), a writer in the the Wall Street Journal takes an interesting historical look at how the most celebrated Catholic family in America became a leading defender of abortion: Caroline Kennedy knows that any Kennedy desiring higher office in the Democratic Party must now carry the torch of abortion rights throughout any race. But this was not always the case. Despite Ms. Kennedy's description of Barack Obama, in a New York Times op-ed, as a "man like my father," there is no evidence that JFK...

For faithful Roman Catholics, the thought of yet another pro-choice Kennedy positioned to campaign for the unlimited right to abortion is discouraging. Yet if Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of Catholics John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, is appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton, abortion-rights advocates will have just such a champion... Caroline Kennedy knows that any Kennedy desiring higher office in the Democratic Party must now carry the torch of abortion rights throughout any race. But this was not always the case... Even Ted Kennedy, who gets a 100% pro-choice rating from the...

ATTORNEY-General Rob Hulls was refused communion in a Catholic church over the State Government's Bill to legalise abortion. A minister assisting the priest refused to serve communion to Mr Hulls, placing his hand over the communion cup during a children's mass, the Herald Sun has been told. The incident happened at St Monica's Church in Moonee Ponds on Christmas Eve. Churchgoers said Mr Hulls walked up to the altar with his children in his arms, but was refused communion. An embarrassing stand-off lasted more than a minute until Mr Hulls moved to a second queue, where parish priest Fr Peter...

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- If his recent whirlwind tour of Capitol Hill was any indication, Anh "Joseph" Cao knows he will be in for the ride of his life over the next two years. Little known in early December except to those in his close-knit Vietnamese community in New Orleans, the Republican attorney who once studied to become a Jesuit priest rocked the national political landscape Dec. 6. He upset nine-term U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in the state's heavily Democratic and African-American 2nd Congressional District to become the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress. Cao's victory certainly was aided by the...

The Jesuits Produce A Great Political Candidate by Deal W. Hudson 11/19/08 Joseph Cao is a Catholic lawyer and former Jesuit scholastic from New Orleans. He is running as a Republican for the Congressional 2nd district seat in Louisiana presently held by Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), who is best known for the $90,000 found in his freezer. The election will be held December 6. Few candidates for public office are as forthright as Cao when asked about their position on abortion. “I am very anti-abortion,” he told me without hesitation. Cao would like to overturn Roe, but in the meantime,...

Catholic members of Congress who vote for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) could face “automatic excommunication” if the act is determined to be “formal cooperation” in the evil of abortion.

It wasn’t that many years ago that Tom Daschle was the pro-life movement’s worst congressional nightmare. Over the years, as a Senator and Senate Minority Leader, he constantly supported pro-choice legislation and initiatives. In 1997, for example, Daschle proposed what he called a "compromise" regarding partial-birth abortion, banning the procedure while allowing exemptions for any woman who claimed mental or physical health reasons for having such a late-term procedure. Most saw this tactic as a smokescreen to guarantee the option to abort children by this grisly procedure akin to infanticide. Describing himself as a Catholic, in 2003 the 61 year-old...

Kathleen Sebelius waiting to pounce? Rocco reports that extreme pro-abortion advocate (and Catholic) Kathleen Sebelius, governor of Kansas (previous AmP mentions here) ... is being considered to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees such things as abortion, and who would be tasked with shepherding FOCA through Congress. Even if she is not picked to lead that department, it is highly likely she will be offered some prominent position in Obama's cabinet. She was, after all, one of his early, vocal supporters, and has tirelessly supported him since. A local columnist isn't happy about this development, saying...

Sure, their post-mortem nice-nice might be reflecting a collective silence -- or, given pre-electoral events, a convenient epidemic of amnesia -- over the ascent of the first Catholic VP... but thirty-six hours in, the bench's "nightmare" lurches onward. In its latest development, another altar-railed Democrat has emerged in contention for a key Cabinet slot: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius... who's already doing the DC side-step.And that's just the half of it. Setting the stage for the US hierarchy's first "Armageddon" with the Obama administration, transition sources have floated two pro-choice Catholics -- Sebelius and former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle...

don't understand how someone can seriously say this about themselves: "I was raised as a Catholic, I'm a practicing Catholic, and I'm totally at home with the Catholicism that I was raised in and this whole culture of social responsibility, reaction to abuse of power, the whole notion that there is collective civic responsibility. It's the Catholic consciousness that I'm totally comfortable with." ... only to spew this nonsense: "It is not choice. It's always a very, very, very difficult, difficult decision. I know that, my church has wrestled with this for 2,000 years. We've always believed from the outset...

On today’s episode of “Ellen,” Joe Biden told Ellen DeGeneres “that if I lived in California, I would vote against Proposition 8.” This initiative reads, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Yet in his debate with Sarah Palin on October 2, Biden said that “Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage.” Catholic League president Bill Donohue weighed in on this today: “Proposition 8 is a civil initiative that would secure marriage as an institution that is exclusively between a man and a woman, and Joe Biden...

On today’s episode of “Ellen,” Joe Biden told Ellen DeGeneres “that if I lived in California, I would vote against Proposition 8.” This initiative reads, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Yet in his debate with Sarah Palin on October 2, Biden said that “Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage.” Catholic League president Bill Donohue weighed in on this today: “Proposition 8 is a civil initiative that would secure marriage as an institution that is exclusively between a man and a woman, and Joe Biden...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. -- First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America Because John Mashek is apparently so utterly unfamiliar with it, I'm setting out the text of the First Amendment for his ease of reference. According to his column in U.S. News, the Roman Catholic bishop of Scranton, PA violates the First Amendment by...

Like many, I have been waiting for the Catholic Church to fully enforce repeated threats to excommunicate Catholic politicians who do not desist from aiding abortion. Pope Benedict XVI has most recently denounced such behavior, but as in the past the matter of restricting offenders from Communion has been left to individual priests. Prompted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent prevarication on the topic (she suggested that abortion is an undecided issue in the Church, and called herself an “ardent, practicing Catholic”), Fr. John De Celles, a Washington, D.C.–area priest, offered this comparison: “Imagine if someone came in here and...

WASHINGTON, Sept 19, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following open letter from the head of the Knights of Columbus, Carl Anderson, to Senator Joseph Biden was published in major newspapers on Friday, September 19, 2008, including USA Today, the Washington Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR JOSEPH BIDEN Dear Senator Biden: I write to you today as a fellow Catholic layman, on a subject that has become a major topic of concern in this year's presidential campaign. The bishops who have taken public issue with your remarks on the Church's historical position on abortion are far...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has agreed to meet with San Francisco's archbishop to clarify remarks she made during an interview with Tom Brokaw. In a recent interview on Meet the Press, Representative Pelosi (D-California) told Brokaw that the issue of when life begins remains controversial within the Catholic Church. Her comments angered many Catholic leaders who are now questioning whether Pelosi should be able to continue receiving communion. Steve Dillard is a member of the Catholics for McCain steering committee. Pelosi, he says, is "fundamentally wrong." "There is no controversy [about abortion] within the [Catholic] Church. The church's...

When Barack Obama announced that he had chosen Joe Biden as his running mate, Catholic Democrats knew some kind of religious rumble was inevitable. (snip) Sure enough, the day after Biden's selection the archbishop of Denver declared that the Catholic senator should "refrain from presenting himself for communion." Archbishop Charles Chaput was one of the handful of Catholic leaders who had targeted Kerry in 2004, but he had become a marginalized in the bishops conference — losing key leadership elections — in part because of his extreme views about denying communion to politicians. His warning to Biden stood alone. Even...

26 US Bishops Have Rebuked Pelosi…So Far By Tim Waggoner WASHINGTON, September 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The barrage of criticism from US bishops aimed at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been deafening. Yesterday the popular American Papist blog compiled all of the statements, either written or verbal, made by bishops to date, revealing that an unprecedented total of 26 bishops have individually rebuked the Speaker of the House for her claims about Catholic teaching and abortion in addition to a general statement by the Conference of Bishops. On the August 24 episode of Meet the Press, self-proclaimed "ardent and practicing...