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FRC Says… NIH Director’s Comments Conflict With Trump Administration

January 4, 2019 Featured Today Comments Off on FRC Says… NIH Director’s Comments Conflict With Trump Administration

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a recent interview with Science Magazine, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins said that fetal tissue research “will continue to be a mainstay” and claimed those who are pro-life can support funding research involving tissue from aborted babies. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement on December 17: “Dr. Francis Collins seems to have forgotten that he no longer works for President Obama and is now working for a pro-life president. His advocacy for using aborted baby parts in research is more reflective of the previous administration rather than the Trump administration, which has consistently advanced the sanctity of human life. “Taxpayers expect their tax dollars to go to ethical and…Continue Reading

Neither Left Nor Right, But Catholic… Two Giants Of The Twentieth Century: Born 100 Years Ago

January 3, 2019 Featured Today Comments Off on Neither Left Nor Right, But Catholic… Two Giants Of The Twentieth Century: Born 100 Years Ago

By STEPHEN M. KRASON (Editor’s Note: Stephen M. Krason’s Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic column appears monthly [sometimes bimonthly]. He is professor of political science and legal studies and associate director of the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He is also co-founder and president of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists and a lawyer. Among his books are: Liberalism, Conservatism, and Catholicism; The Transformation of the American Democratic Republic; Catholicism and American Political Ideologies, and a Catholic political novel, American Cincinnatus. This column originally appeared in Crisismagazine.com. The views expressed here are his own.) + + + In the last quarter of 2018, we marked the centenary of the birth of two…Continue Reading

American Life League Was Right!

January 2, 2019 Featured Today Comments Off on American Life League Was Right!

By JUDIE BROWN A look back in time is helpful. Apparently when it comes to culture war battles over sins of the flesh such as abortion, contraception, in vitro fertilization and homosexuality among others, most Bishops are in line with American Catholics. They back away. We decided to analyze this phenomenon in the light of the sexual abuse scandals plaguing the Catholic Church today, and here is what we found. When American Life League launched our Canon 915 project in 2002, we did it at the request of our spiritual director, Fr. James Buckley, FSSP. In discussing the tragic disconnect between Catholic bishops and those in political and public life who say they are Catholic but support abortion, Father introduced…Continue Reading

The Balkanization Of The Church Is Unacceptable

January 1, 2019 Featured Today Comments Off on The Balkanization Of The Church Is Unacceptable

By REY FLORES A Wanderer reader recently contacted me about his concerns regarding the way the Church in America has become more political than spiritual in the last few decades. He certainly isn’t the first, nor will he be the last, reader who has these same concerns and preoccupations. In my opinion, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation if we all kept our eyes and our hearts on the eternal reward. We are taught that while we are in this world, we are not of this world. Our Kingdom is up in Heaven with God, but, nevertheless, we are born into the world to serve our Lord and to bring as many other souls into the Kingdom of Heaven…Continue Reading

A Book Review… Aquinas, Private Property, And The Commonwealth

December 31, 2018 Featured Today Comments Off on A Book Review… Aquinas, Private Property, And The Commonwealth

By JUDE DOUGHERTY Hirschfeld, Mary L., Aquinas and the Market: Toward a Humane Economy. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press. Pp. xviii + 268. Mary L. Hirschfeld is an associate professor of economics and theology in the Department of Humanities, Villanova University. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard and a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Notre Dame. In a preface to the volume, she tells the reader that she chose to study in the field of economics because “I wanted to make a positive contribution to society. Accordingly, I wanted to work on developing policies that would promote widespread economic prosperity.” Hirschfeld began her teaching career at Occidental College in Los Angeles. There she taught core introductory…Continue Reading

The Sun Sets And The Stars Perish

December 30, 2018 Featured Today Comments Off on The Sun Sets And The Stars Perish

By DONALD DeMARCO Our intimacy with the cosmos is expressed in many ways. The month is based on the lunar cycle, the year on the Earth’s revolution around the sun, and the day transpires between sunrise and sunset. Sunshine, moonbeams, and stardust are words that have been interwoven into many a romantic song. We can be moonstruck, our smile can radiate sunshine, and we can aspire to the stars. We are co-tenants in the cosmos. It is irresistible that celebrities are called “stars.” After all, they are remote from ordinary people, are luminous, and are imperishable. Nonetheless, stars do perish. In fact, even massive stars can collapse at the end of their lives to form a black hole, a region…Continue Reading

After China Deal… Two Underground Bishops Resign At Vatican’s Request

December 29, 2018 Featured Today Comments Off on After China Deal… Two Underground Bishops Resign At Vatican’s Request

BEIJING (CNA/EWTN News) — Two underground bishops in China have agreed to step aside in favor of bishops of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, in the wake of a deal signed between the Holy See and the Chinese government. AsiaNews reported December 13 that Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin of Mindong (Ningde) has agreed to become auxiliary bishop and that Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu will become bishop of Mindong. The agreement was made at a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, in the presence of Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. At the same meeting, Archbishop Celli announced that Bishop Peter Zhuang Jianjian of Shantou will give way to Bishop Joseph Huang…Continue Reading

Washington State Senior Center… Bans Religious Christmas Expression

December 28, 2018 Featured Today Comments Off on Washington State Senior Center… Bans Religious Christmas Expression

CHEHALIS, Wash. — Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter December 17 to a senior living complex that banned its residents from saying “Merry Christmas,” singing religious Christmas carols, or displaying any religious Christmas items in its common areas, including on the doorposts of the building’s apartments. The complex wrongly claimed that it cannot allow any resident to engage in religious expression because it accepts funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “Americans don’t lose their constitutionally protected freedom to say ‘Merry Christmas’ or otherwise express their faith just because they live in a facility that accepts government funds,” said ADF Senior Counsel Matt Sharp. “No HUD rule requires senior living centers that accept federal resources to deny…Continue Reading

Joyeux Noel: A Movie For The Season

December 27, 2018 Featured Today Comments Off on Joyeux Noel: A Movie For The Season

By JEFF MINICK As Christmas approaches, we Catholics contemplate Mary and Joseph, the birth of Jesus Christ, shepherds and wise men. We take up various Advent practices, read the Scriptures, attend midnight Mass, and partake of the blessings of this special season. We also celebrate Christmas and Christmastide in other ways. We set out crèches. We listen to the music of the season. We deck out our houses with lights, hang ornaments from an evergreen often topped with a star, fix stockings to the fireplace mantle, bake cookies, invite friends and family to meals, write cards to loved ones, go caroling, give gifts both large and small to others, and often follow special customs handed down to us by our…Continue Reading

A Book Review . . . The Holy Family And The Communion Of Persons

December 26, 2018 Featured Today Comments Off on A Book Review . . . The Holy Family And The Communion Of Persons

By DONAL ANTHONY FOLEY The Holy Family: Model Not Exception, by Mary Shivanandan (292 pages, Paperback and Kindle). The Holy Family: Model Not Exception comes from the pen of Mary Shivanandan, who is an expert on understanding marriage and the family from a Catholic perspective, having taught at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The book has eleven chapters and an epilogue, and covers areas including how the Holy Family was a communion of persons, with a particular focus on the importance role played by St. Joseph, and also the nature of the spousal relationship. It also discusses topics such as paternity, maternity, and childhood, and what they really mean, and looks at the importance…Continue Reading