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The chairperson of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), Irme Stetter-Karp, does not want to buckle in the conflict with the Vatican. "We will not make the mistake of playing into the hands of those right now who are waiting for us to buckle and give up our driver function," Irme Stetter-Karp told the "Südwest Presse Ulm" (Friday edition).

The "I am the Church" Pope Many of the new cardinals will one day elect Pope Francis' successor. When that will be is completely open - also because Francis is not addressing an overdue problem: what happens if a Pope becomes incapacitated or resigns? For the first time in a long while, eyes from all over the world will once again be on Rome this weekend - closer to St Peter's Square, where Pope Francis will induct 20 men into the College of Cardinals on Saturday. Sixteen of them are younger than 80, which means that they will increase the...

Francis has put the debate on ecclesiastical offices on a new track. Changes to the priesthood? The Pope's plans for lay ministries In Germany, Catholic reformers are calling for women to be ordained to the priesthood, seeing it as equal rights. But Pope Francis has taken a different path that could radically change the entire priesthood. Quietly, Pope Francis has set the debate about ministries in the Catholic Church on a new track this year with three short letters. While in Germany the Synodal Way and demonstrations of "Maria 2.0" call for the admission of women to all ecclesiastical offices...

American Catholic Laity Poll, 2011 Data Archive > U.S. Surveys > Religious Groups > Members or Leaders > Catholic > Summary SummaryCodebookSearchDownload The American Catholic Laity Poll contains many questions on pressing issues in the Catholic Church--views of the hierarchy, political positions of the church, women's roles in the church, what it takes to be a "good Catholic," how churches can respond to the current shortage of priests, and the effects of sex abuse in the church. Other questions also concern Mass attendance, prayer, Communion, and demographic characteristics. This poll contains respondents from many different generations of Catholics, and it...

I am coming up on my first year as an ordained minister in a continuing Anglican church, and I have noticed that participating on political forums (even when the topic is religious) I find that my opinions and postings more often than not generate more hatred than anything else. Among the things I often hear are that the laity are the real priests and that I am a Pharisee, that my vocation disqualifies me from offering an opinion on anything Christian because I am too narrow minded, and (my personal favorite) because I look too Catholic I must be a...

Q: I have a question about preaching: what happens in times and places where there is no priest or deacon available to hold Mass, and a communion service or another form of liturgical prayer is held? –Mark A: While the scenario that Mark describes is not the norm, there’s no denying that in some parts of the world it’s unfortunately becoming increasingly common. Let’s see first what the code says about preaching in general, and then look at what the Church has to say about preaching in those particular situations where, due to a shortage of clergy, no priest or...

On January 19, Pope Benedict addressed bishops from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, and the Virgin Islands. These U.S. bishops were in Rome for their periodic “ad limina” visits, which included meetings with the pope and Vatican officials, covering a wide range of pastoral matters.His words provide some sober reflection for us. As is usually the case, I would like to provide excerpts of the Pope’s remarks from a CNS News Article and then present my own comments in red.Pope Benedict XVI warned visiting U.S. bishops that “radical secularism”...

And so it came to pass that the laity in the Church of England rose up and declared they would not have women bishops to reign over them. The vote was admittedly only six votes, but six votes are six votes. The issue cannot be revisited until a new Synod is elected in 2015. Liberals and progressives along with homosexuals and lesbians are in "tears" and "agony" over this defeat. So is the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the soon to be Archbishop Justin Welby who both spoke up in favor of the measure. It was a bitter pill...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Get rid of your 'false hang-ups' and be disciples of Christ, cardinal says Cardinal Stanyslaw Rylko Rome, Nov 14, 2008 / 11:49 pm (CNA).- The president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Cardinal Stanyslaw Rylko, said this week, “The time has come to free ourselves from our false hang-ups of inferiority towards the secular world and courageously be ourselves, disciples of Christ.”During his remarks at the opening of the Council’s plenary assembly, which this year is focused on the theme, “Twenty years after Christifideles laici: memory, development and new challenges and tasks,” the cardinal stated that “our...

FRANCE: POPE BENEDICT XVI yesterday spoke out against lay people performing the functions of priests, writes Lara Marlowe in Lourdes"Priests are a gift from God for the church," the pontiff told French bishops."Where their specific missions are concerned, priests cannot delegate their functions to the faithful," the pope said.The problem of priestly vocations is especially acute in France, where one northern diocese has only one priest to serve 27 parishes. As David Rice, a former Dominican priest, wrote in this newspaper in July 2008: "In essence the lay people have taken over the local church and run it for themselves."The...

What most needed reforming was left in place, the clergy and the laity as two distinct classes.

The meaning of ministry CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 12:35 pm One of the WDTPRS articles I posted today has a paragraph on the issue of ministry. This paragraph aroused a comment from an attentive reader. It is worth our time to tease out that exchange and give it some focus: During my seminary days the more radical of the faculty forbade us from using the “‘p’-word” (“priest”). They insisted we were being formed to be “ordained ministers”. This had the purpose of deemphasizing the distinction between the priest… er um… “ordained minister” and all people… er um…...

"It's perfectly fitting, then, that those who find God boring replace the Roman Ritual -- as far as possible -- with the kind of floor show you see above (That's the Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles under the second E of EEK -- at the youth mass for the recent Religious Ed Congress). Face it, when you need an electric bass and dancing cheerleaders to keep your audience from fidgeting or drifting away, you're admitting the Main Act is a flop from the get-go."

While I share some of the general frustration that apparently motivated Rod Dreher's Viewpoints column last Wednesday, I cannot agree with his statement, "We Catholic men ... are a pretty contemptible lot these days." Or that Catholic men are as docile as eunuchs. I believe there is more for "real Catholic men" to do than "knock as many heads as we have to." Sniping from the sidelines contributes little real value to the pastoral care of souls. Two Dallas-area priests are no longer at their parishes functioning as pastors: one resigned, the other was jailed. Together, these two parishes have...

New Book Makes Canon Law Accessible to Laity FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Catholic PRWire From time to time, all Catholics have them: nagging questions about church life, often prompted by some personal encounter or challenging situation: Is a layperson allowed to preach a homily? Is a pastor required to report to someone regarding parish finances, or is he on his own? It seems like the parish council is running your parish. Does it have the authority to do so? Must a child be baptized in a church, or may the baptism take place at home? If I obtain an annulment, does...

Are the Mainlines Derailing?Rifts Widen in Major Protestant DenominationsFeature by Ed VitaglianoJune 18, 2004 (AgapePress) - Whether or not the average member in the pew knows it, many leaders within some of the nation's oldest Protestant denominations are steering their churches into schism. Especially on the contentious issue of homosexuality -- but also on the subject of abortion -- denominations like the United Methodist Church (UMC), Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA), and the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) have lurched leftward in a turn that is as breathtakingly swift as it is radical. This deviation threatens to further the rupture between...

A New Low, Even for the US Bishops... Catholic Leaders Refuse Explicit Papal Directive on Nutrition and Hydration: Will "Study" Life and Death Issue for a Year 5/6/2004 11:49:00 PM - LifeSiteNews.com TAMPA BAY, May 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Last month Pope John Paul II stated unequivocally that a person who is ill always has the right to food and water, even if it must be administered to him through a feeding tube. The Pope made it clear that removal of nutrition and hydration from patients in a vegetative state who are not otherwise dying is "gravely immoral". In Catholic...

A soft-spoken South African Catholic bishop who made headlines worldwide by endorsing the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS in his homeland said the church would benefit from moving away from its hierarchical ways. The Catholic church, said Bishop Kevin Dowling, should be ``about building the compassionate, caring, people-centered church.'' That means developing rules based on what the faithful believe they need rather than imposing rules from above, he said. ``We've got to continue the process of building a more people-centered and community-centered theology.'' Dowling, in a Herald interview before an appearance that was part Boston College's...

Lay Ministry Programs Spur Expression of Faith, Study Shows;More That 35,000 Men,Women Involved Across United States WASHINGTON (August 27, 2001) -- Programs to educate lay men and women for ministry in the Church not only give book knowledge but also enhance expressions of faith, according to a study on spiritual formation of lay ecclesial ministers by the U.S. Bishops' Subcommittee on Lay Ministry. Lay ministry programs currently enroll 35,000 men and women preparing to work in such positions as pastoral associate, youth minister and director of religious education through the nation's 314 church-related lay ministry formation programs that lead...

Holy See invites consecrated people to renew their spiritual lifeVATICAN, 14 June 2002 (ACI).- A new Vatican document released today encourages consecrated men and women to reflect on "the need for a strong spiritual life and for renewed quality in consecrated life." The instruction "Starting Afresh from Christ. A Renewed Commitment to Consecrated Life in the Third Millenium" was made public today by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The first chapter, "Consecrated Life: the Presence of the Love of Christ in the midst of Humanity," highlights the "admiration aroused by the many and...