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One of the things I am beginning to like about Francis is that he challenges me, he makes me ask questions, especially about mercy. "Am I merciful? How far mercy should be extended? Is there a limit to it? Where does it end?" The test came with the celebration of a Requiem Mass for the murderer and war criminal Erich Priebke, who was responsible for the deaths 335 Italian civilians and who himself admitted to personally shooting two people. Pope Francis' Vicar for Rome, Cardinal Agostino Vallini, had forbidden every priest in the diocese to offer a Requiem for him....

ST. PETERSBURG — As soon as they pulled into the church lot, Davion changed his mind. ''Miss! Hey, Miss!" he called to his caseworker, who was driving. "I don't want to do this anymore." In the back seat, he hugged the Bible someone had given him at the foster home. "You're going to be great," Connie Going said. Outside St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, she straightened his tie. Like his too-big black suit, the white tie had been donated. It zipped up around the neck, which helped. No one had ever taught Davion, 15, how to tie one. ''Are you...

The crisis in the Catholic Church in Germany declared itself 45 years ago with the “Königsteiner Erklärung,” a declaration of the bishops regarding Humanae Vitae in 1968. Therein they toned down the Church’s teaching, leaving it up to the conscience of individuals to decide whether to use contraception or not. The Austrian bishops did the same in the “Mariatroster Erklärung.” In 2008 therefore, Cardinal Schönborn, the head of the Austrian bishops’ conference, spoke about this as the “sin of the European episcopate.” These declarations have set the tone for the decades to come, and the faithful have in consequence become...

By Mary Wisniewski, Reuters Pope Francis' comments that the Catholic Church should not focus so much on homosexuality, abortion and contraception have met with strong approval from U.S. Catholics, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Friday. Sixty-eight percent of American Catholics agree with comments the Pope made to that effect in an interview published last month in the Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica, while 23 percent disagreed, according to the poll. There was little difference in opinion between observant and less-observant Catholics, women and men, and among age groups, the poll found. There was little difference in opinion between...

SANTA CLARA -- A decision by Santa Clara University's president to drop health insurance coverage of elective abortions for the Catholic university's faculty and staff has triggered a serious rift at the school. Many faculty members say they were blindsided by the move at an institution that has long prided itself on open communication and governing by consensus. The thorny issue echoes a nationwide debate at Catholic universities over their institutional identities and ability to consider the convictions of those who do not identify with -- or who disagree with -- certain principles the Catholic tradition holds as central. The...

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Most mainstream media stories about women in the growing skeptic/secularist/science education movement (the boundaries between the three are pretty porous) usually begin with articles and videos asking, "Where are all the women?" But people within these circles know that there are actually a lot of female leaders, and the real woman problem is sexual harassment. As Rebecca Watson, a major writer and speaker on the skeptic/atheist circuit wrote in Slate last year, the amount of sexual harassment aimed at women over even the tiniest suggestions of how to make the movement more female-friendly is absolutely stunning. ... This sort of...

A task force created by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to investigate clergy misconduct includes a psychologist who works on sex offender management, a computer forensics expert and a former St. Paul police sergeant. Members say their work will be independent of the archdiocese they're investigating. An MPR News investigation has revealed that several priests suspected of sexual misconduct were protected by the Twin Cities archdiocese.

MISSING police files relating to an abuse case against a former Catholic boys home have been destroyed. This has now been admitted after one of the former boys called for an investigation. Mr Damian Chittock won damages from the Catholic Church in 2003 after being abused at St Francis Boys Home in Shefford in the late 1960s. After that settlement a police investigation was held and Father John Ryan, the priest then in charge of the home, was arrested and interviewed.

CROOKSTON, Minn. – The lists exist, but whether they will be made public is now up to a judge. Steven Aggergaard, an attorney representing the Diocese of Crookston, argued there is no concrete harm in keeping a list of priests accused of sexual abuse private. The statement came Wednesday in Polk County Judge Tamara Yon’s courtroom. She must now decide whether the diocese is legally required to release its list as part of a lawsuit filed in June by St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson.

(CNSNews.com) – European lawmakers this month will vote on a measure that promotes abortion as a fundamental human right, while taking aim at the conscientious objection rights of pro-life doctors and health workers. Critics see the move as an attempt to dictate abortion policy to individual European Union governments, despite an acknowledgement by leading E.U. institutions that there is no consensus on the matter across the 28 member-states. The controversial draft report, which is being promoted by socialist members of the European Parliament (MEPs), was passed last month by the legislature’s committee on women’s rights and gender equality. According to...

Hazelmary and Peter Bull Hazelmary and Peter Bull are taking their case to the U.K. Supreme Court this week. At a time when so many of our Christian leaders are guilty of compromising the gospel before the media, dishonoring the Lord as they try to make God’s Word palatable to the world, it was an older British woman—nearly 70 and the owner of a bed-and-breakfast—who displayed a backbone of steel, a deep and consistent faith, and a theological clarity while being grilled on national TV. Cheers for Hazelmary Bull! Hazelmary and her husband, Peter, already in his 70s, owned and...

I went to confession on Saturday. I think the last time I celebrated the sacrament in a traditional Saturday afternoon setting was more than a decade ago. When someone asked me why I was going, the answer was simple: I was compelled to go because of the pope.Not because Pope Francis has asked Catholics to get back in the confessional, but because his recent interviews and heartfelt actions as pastor in chief have made me want to be a better person and a more fulfilled, better practicing Catholic. I've felt like I've not only been given hope for the church,...

Welcome homosexual people to fellowship with your congregation, but be very careful how you show them the “love of Christ.” If you welcome them into church membership and/or give them leadership positions of any kind while they are still living a homosexual lifestyle, you will be, in effect, affirming and endorsing their lifestyle and helping them along a path that can only result in their spending their eternity in hell. (1 Corinthians 6:9). How is that showing them the “love of Christ”, who died to save them from their sins, not to save them and their sins?

There’s an odd backwards moral reasoning to which our modern age seems particularly susceptible. Surely you’ve heard it: Y does X. Y is a basically good person. Therefore, X must be okay. You hear it from all sides of the cultural divide. “Joe and Fred are married. They’re good people. How can you say that that kind of relationship is wrong?” “Cindy does that. She’s a good person. So how can that be racist?” Think back a bit, and you’ll see that a huge number of the casually-made moral arguments one hears these days boil down to this. There are...

The archdiocese of Freiburg recently signalled a willingness to allow remarried divorcées to receive communion. While far from revolutionary, the move reflects a desire to change doctrine long considered out of touch with reality. ... Catholic laity have long pressured the church to rethink its doctrine on several issues, and remarriage often lands near the top of the priority list. A dialogue with church leaders was praised on both sides, but there was no chance of real reform under Pope Benedict XVI and the conservative-dominated leadership of German Catholicism. But now discussion is brewing again in Freiburg, but this time...

New York magazine’s fascinating interview with Justice Antonin Scalia offers much to enjoy, and as Joe Carter has already pointed out, one of the more striking exchanges centers on the existence of the Devil.When asked whether he has “seen evidence of the Devil lately,” Scalia offered the following: You know, it is curious. In the Gospels, the Devil is doing all sorts of things. He’s making pigs run off cliffs, he’s possessing people and whatnot. And that doesn’t happen very much anymore…What he’s doing now is getting people not to believe in him or in God. He’s much more successful...

The Vatican put a German diocese on notice Tuesday that it disapproves of its challenge to church teaching on whether Catholics who remarry can receive Communion, saying the issue will be discussed by the whole church at a meeting next year of the world's bishops. The diocese of Freiburg issued an official set of guidelines this week explaining how such divorced and remarried Catholics could receive the sacrament. It said if certain criteria are met — if the couple was trying to live according to the faith and acted with laudable motivation — they could receive Communion and other sacraments...

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morningIn the “Creed,� after having professed: “I believe in one Church,� we add the adjective “Holy�; that is, we affirm the sanctity of the Church, and this is a characteristic that has been present since the beginning in the consciousness of the first Christians, who called themselves simply “the saints� (cf. Acts 9:13.32.41; Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 6:1), because they had the certainty that it is the action of God, the Holy Spirit that sanctifies the Church.However, in what sense is the Church Holy if we see that the historical Church, in her long journey...

Twin Cities Catholics reacted with surprise, disappointment and forgiveness Sunday morning after hearing parish leaders discuss reports that church officials may have covered up evidence that a Hugo priest kept child pornography on his computer. The latest controversy surfaced last week, when the second highest prelate in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis resigned amid contentions that he covered up evidence of child pornography found on a priest’s computer.

The pope had told reporters accompanying him on his plane back from Rio de Janeiro in July that the next synod would explore a "somewhat deeper pastoral care of marriage," including the question of the eligibility of divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion. Pope Francis added at the time that church law governing marriage annulments also "has to be reviewed, because ecclesiastical tribunals are not sufficient for this. It is complex, the problem of the pastoral care of marriage." Such problems, he said, exemplified a general need for forgiveness in the church today. "The church is a mother, and...

A majority of Catholics in the United States who attend Mass weekly support same-sex marriage and the ordination of women to the priesthood, according to a Quinnipiac University survey released October 4. The survey found that 56% of Americans, 53% of Catholics who attend Mass weekly, and 65% of Catholics who attend Mass less frequently would support “a law in your state that would allow same-sex couples to get married.” Support was stronger among Catholics of ages 18-49 (64%) than ages 50-64 (62%) or 65+ (46%). According to the survey, 72% of Catholic women back same-sex marriage, while 49% of...

Meet "Kosher Frank" This story needs no commentary because it speaks for itself. Jorge Bergoglio is not a Catholic nor a Pope - but an apostate. What we are seeing here are the next steps in the amalgamation of all religions into one, the prelude to the Antichrist. [Taken from Vatican Insider, 9/29/13. Coloring added for emphasis.] [But no coloring on FR] "Pope Francis and Rabbi Skorka make history in the Vatican" by Gerard O'Connell, Rome ... “We hold to different traditions, but we are creating a dialogue that has not existed for centuries. Both of us believe that God...

ASSISI, Italy, Oct. 4, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Francis urged youth today to have the “courage” to get married and have children despite a culture that emphasizes “individual rights” over family. The pope made the remarks in Assisi during an energetic question and answer session with a number of young people. "Don't be afraid of taking definitive steps, like that of marriage," the pope told the crowds assembled in the square outside the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, according to CNS. The pope pointed out that marriage is a "real vocation, just like priesthood and religious life are....

Anyone that's familiar what the bible, anything like that, when Jesus said that you're going straight to hell if you didn't treat the less of his brothers and sisters, and what did he say, he said he was hungry. They give him food stamps. – Tax evading Congressman Charlie Rangel The demons are emerging from their pits, folks, and they're slithering toward the TV cameras. Cheatin' Charlie is not "familiar" with "the bible, anything like that." If he were, he would understand that "You Shall Not Steal" and "You Shall Not Covet" are two of the Ten Commandments, and that...

For 15 years, Heather Ann Clement was a faculty member at Azusa Pacific University, an evangelical Christian school in Southern California. But that changed last month, with the start of Azusa’s new academic year, when Heather came out as a transgender. The professor of theology began referring to herself as Heath Adam Ackley. And she even started to develop a more masculine appearance. The professor of theology formerly known as Heather demanded that Azusa officially recognize “his” new name and gender change. So university administrators sat the prof down for several “thoughtful conversations.” After hearing out Heather/Heath, it was abundantly...

The words of Pope Francis and Archbishop Charles Chaput should give us pause this weekend and make us think about the growing trend in our society to devalue human beings and treat them like playthings. We must not only think about the innocent souls we are discarding like trash, but about our own as well. Much has been written about Pope Francis' interviews and insights in last few days. Some of the rhetoric has been respectful, while some not at all. But much of what I have read is insightful. For example, the following excerpt from an editorial by Archbishop...

This morning, I read Dolan confirms error in Scalfari interview in the National Catholic Reporter....Dolan said, the sequence put on the pope’s lips by Scalfari is out of order. "Francis did not hesitate before accepting his election, Dolan said, although there was a moment later when he paused in prayer before stepping out onto the balcony for the “Habemus Papam” announcement." Okay, not such a big deal, right? We’re still weathering this huge FRANCIS CRISIS, which is going to spell DOOM AND DISASTER for everybody and everything, and the SEA LEVELS WILL RISE and there will be GIRL CARDINALS, and...

Family is the vocation that God wrote in the nature of man and woman, but there is another vocation, complementary to that of matrimony: the calling to celibacy and to virginity for the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the vocation that Jesus himself lived. How to recognize it? How to follow it? I answer you with two essential elements on how to recognize this vocation to the priesthood or to consecrated life: praying and walking in the Church. These two things go together, they are intertwined. At the source of every vocation to the consecrated life there always is a...

I have no idea what this tastes like. But I can tell you this much: it’s tasteless. And offensive.Once again, popular culture deals with Christianity in a way it would never deal with any other major religion.From CNN’s Beliefs blog: A Chicago restaurant is pushing the boundaries of poor taste with its October Burger of the Month.Kuma’s Corner, a heavy-metal themed joint with an “Eat beef; bang your head� ethos, says its new burger is an homage to Ghost, a Swedish band that performs satanic songs in Catholic clerical garb.“The Ghost� burger features a “Communion wafer garnish,� a white, unleavened...

Recently a Community Column writer for a local paper wrote an opinion piece denouncing conservative politicians for not complying with the "Red-Letter" teachings of Jesus. Among other things, he was referring more specifically to Ted Cruz's call for evangelical Christians to help his political bloc to defund Obamacare. This claim is worthy of careful examination. Emphasizing the authority of one portion of scripture while ignoring all others isn't a principle of historical normative Christian theology. As the Bible declares of itself "...All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." Red-lettering was first conceived in 1899, and it first appeared in...

For nearly a decade I wandered in a spiritual wasteland trying to find God, but looking for him everywhere but in Christianity. I looked for him in New Age occult practices, in Buddhism, and the world’s other non-Christian organized religions. One day, while living deep in the Bible Belt, I came across a Chick tract, which insisted that Catholics were Satanists who worshipped something he called a “Death Cookie.” The tract was so jarringly abrasive, I felt indignant on behalf of Catholics. In an attempt to disprove the wild accusations of Jack Chick, I found myself researching Catholicism for the...

The Catholic Church tried to strike an agreement with New South Wales Police that would have helped shut down investigations into paedophile priests and placed police in breach of the Crimes Act. Police records, accessed under freedom of information laws by Greens MP David Shoebridge, show two attempts were made to finalise memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between police and the church over how to deal with complaints of sexual and physical abuse by Catholic Church personnel.

A high official of Poland's Catholic Church has apologized to the victims of pedophile priests while prosecutors said they will probe allegations that two Polish priests, including a Vatican envoy, sexually abused boys in the Dominican Republic.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, permanently removed Deacon Albert Mazza from his duties at a Westchester County Catholic Church, following child sex abuse allegations that stem back years according to Eyewitness News on Sunday. Deacon Albert Mazza had served the Holy Name of Mary Parish in Croton-on-Hudson since 1996. The Westchester deacon was removed after “substantiated and credible” sources confirmed he had sexually abused minors years ago. Law enforcement officials referred the case to the archdiocese several months prior, however criminal charges could not be filed as the statute of limitations had expired.

DUBLIN, October 2, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Irish priest has announced that he is resigning from the board of Dublin’s largest maternity hospital after the hospital announced that they would be complying with the law requiring them to commit abortions. The recently passed Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, which has not yet come into effect, allows for direct abortions in cases where there is “a risk to the life of a woman as a result of her pregnancy, including risk of suicide.” The law names 25 hospitals around Ireland, several of which are Catholic, that are obliged to make...

To hear hundreds of talks by the Archbishop visit www.fultonsheen.com

Last week the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America installed Rev. Guy Erwin as Bishop of the Southwest California Synod. Rev. Erwin is the first practicing homosexual to be a bishop in the ELCA. The ELCA's Living Lutheran website reported that there were at least 10 ELCA bishops in attendance. (see here) Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, the highest ranking ELCA leader, delivered the sermon at the installation. Bishop Hanson's sermon made it clear that there is no more debate in the denomination about whether homosexuality is sinful or godly. He then proclaimed the ELCA's repentance for once holding the Biblical...

During this local political season, it is important that our communication with one another be characterized by a firm allegiance to honesty, integrity, and truth. As a local pastor, I decry sins of the tongue - slander, gossip, lies, outbursts of wrath, false accusations - all dishonor our Creator and defame others who are made in the image of God. It is my desire to speak the truth in love. To that end I wish to address the misleading way in which the agenda of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community has been linked by some, including mayoral...

Men and women are different. This self-evident and clichéd claim is no longer as uncontroversial as, historically, it would have been. According to the American Psychological Association, "Gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of being male, female, or something else; gender expression refers to the way a person communicates gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice, or body characteristics. ... Transgender people experience their transgender identity in a variety of ways and may become aware of their transgender identity at any age." This statement, which includes a reference to an undefined but apparently defining "internal sense"...

CHARLOTTE — Both North Carolina Catholic bishops are resigning from the North Carolina Council of Churches, an ecumenical organization comprised of Christian church leaders from across the state, because the group supports some issues that contradict Catholic teaching. In a Sept. 27 statement, Charlotte Bishop Peter J. Jugis and Raleigh Bishop Michael F. Burbidge said they "deeply value the long standing relationship with the North Carolina Council of Churches and have informed the Council of their strong desire to continue to work together on issues where there is substantial agreement." However, the North Carolina Council of Churches has taken positions...

On September 20th, during a Papal Audience, a man drew close to Pope Francis, carrying with him a somewhat suspicious looking bag. Inside were half a dozen surgical instruments of various types and sizes which he, Dr Antonio Oriente from Messina, ex-abortion gynaecologist, wanted to deliver at all costs to the Holy Father. This luggage had already created problems as he boarded the plane from Palermo. He then became the central protagonist in an event, that despite being unscheduled on the programme of the Mater Care International Conference in Rome had an enormous symbolic impact on the participants. These were...

We continually hear Barack Obama use the phrase "our country's (America) values" when he speaks to Americans. For nearly five years President Obama and his administration have demonstrated to all that he and his fellow progressive secularists know ABSOLUTELY nothing of our American values and as a matter of fact they despise everything that our American Founding Fathers stood for! Barack Obama and his fellow progressive secular Alinskytes are in a FULL BLOWN WAR against our U.S. Constitution and the very absolutes and principles of Almighty God which made this country great. Our Founders were not moral relativists, haters of...

The “experts� have spoken. Change in sexual orientation is not possible. Homosexuality, we’re told, is an inborn and unchangeable trait, like eye color. Case closed.This implies that adolescents with same-sex attraction (SSA) or homoerotic dreams are manifesting symptoms of an underlying reality: They are homosexual. Because sexual orientation is fixed at birth (so the theory goes), these desires will endure through their teenage years and into adulthood.This view is at odds with scientific research, though. Several studies report the opposite – that SSA among adolescents is more likely to change than remain fixed.One study* followed approximately 10,800 adolescents between the...

<p>It’s not hard to understand why people are so excited about Pope Francis. Since his sensational interview last week, many have said that with his personal warmth and determination to put doctrine in the background, Francis is just the man to bring a lot of fallen-away Catholics back into the church.</p>

I’ll get right to the point. I think President Obama would have bombed the Canaanites way before God annihilated them. Why am I even bringing up this hypothetical situation? Are statements like this even helpful for us today in our walk with God? For those questions I need to back up a little bit.I sat at the Credo House, in Heretics Corner, having a very important conversation. A young man who had been a strong believer the last time we met had grown shaky in many of his beliefs. This guy, whom I’ll call Jake, grew up in a very...

"Saint Michael, Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And you, Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into Hell Satan and the other evil spirits who prowl the world for the ruin of souls. Amen."

Today, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order of Sisters dedicated to caring for the elderly poor (see video). Without relief, the Little Sisters face millions of dollars in IRS fines because they cannot comply with the government’s mandate that they give their employees free access to contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs. The Little Sisters are joined by their religious health benefits providers, Christian Brothers Services and Christian Brothers Employee Benefits Trust, and a class of other religious organizations facing similar fines, in the first class...

Fifty hand-picked Christians were part of a seminal conference last week planned by Matthew Vines, a 23-year-old gay Christian who believes Scripture allows for monogamous homosexual activity, in an effort to spread the idea in the American church over the next decade. Vines says he has had success in convincing lay members of churches over the last year that monogamous homosexual activity is allowed by Scripture, but is encountering resistance from Scriptural scholars. He is likely to encounter much more, say theologians.

I pray the breviary every morning. I like to pray with the psalms. Then, later, I celebrate Mass. I pray the Rosary. What I really prefer is adoration in the evening, even when I get distracted and think of other things, or even fall asleep praying. In the evening then, between seven and eight o’clock, I stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour in adoration. But I pray mentally even when I am waiting at the dentist or at other times of the day.