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Philadelphia Vs. Catholic Church And Children

November 9, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on Philadelphia Vs. Catholic Church And Children

By TERENCE P. JEFFREY If you were a child who, through some tragic circumstance, needed to be placed in a foster home, do you think it would be better for you to be placed with a married mother and father who had a documented history of compassionately caring for children or with two men living together in a homosexual relationship?The government of the City of Philadelphia has manifestly concluded that being parented by two homosexuals is as good as having a mom and dad.The Catholic Church disagrees.“St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was born in New York City two years before the American Revolution,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops noted in an amicus brief filed in the case of Fulton vs.…Continue Reading

The Firestorm Of Protest

November 8, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on The Firestorm Of Protest

By DONALD DeMARCO Pope Francis’ endorsement of same-sex civil unions has, and rightly so, caused a firestorm of protest. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, he endorsed civil unions for homosexual couples, but his recent endorsement is the first ever made by a Pope of the Catholic Church. As is often the case, his remarks during an interview on October 21 midway through a feature-length documentary entitled Francesco, were off-the-cuff. One might very well say, “Irresponsible.” [Editor’s Note: See this week’s Catholic Replies, p. 5B, for more details on this. The documentary includes statements Pope Francis made on different occasions.]“Homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” he remarked. “They are children of God.” And: “You can’t kick…Continue Reading

A Book Review… How To Combat Soft Totalitarianism

November 7, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on A Book Review… How To Combat Soft Totalitarianism

By DONAL ANTHONY FOLEY Donal Anthony Foley reviews Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher (Sentinel, 256 pages, Hardcover and Kindle). Live Not by Lies focuses on the ongoing Culture War in the West, which, Rod Dreher argues, faces the threat of a new “soft” totalitarianism, a movement which is making disturbing progress and which threatens our basic liberties.The book is divided into two parts. The first, entitled “Understanding Soft Totalitarianism” looks at how we have reached the present position, while the second, “How to Live in Truth,” examines what we can do to combat soft totalitarianism, whose advent Dreher sees as inevitable.The introduction touches on the idea that what we are seeing now, in…Continue Reading

Including Archbishop Gregory… Pope Francis To Create 13 New Cardinals

November 5, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on Including Archbishop Gregory… Pope Francis To Create 13 New Cardinals

VATICAN CITY (CNA) — Pope Francis said Sunday that he will create 13 new cardinals, including Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory, at a consistory on November 28, the vigil of the First Sunday of Advent.The Pope announced his intention to add to the College of Cardinals from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, after leading the Angelus October 25.Gregory, who was appointed archbishop of Washington in 2019, will become the first Black cardinal of the United States.Other cardinals-designate include Maltese Bishop Mario Grech, who became secretary general of the Synod of Bishops in September, and the Italian Bishop Marcello Semeraro, who was named prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints earlier in October.Also receiving the red hat is the…Continue Reading

Same-Sex Civil Union . . . Is Pope Francis Contradicting His Own Magisterium?

November 4, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on Same-Sex Civil Union . . . Is Pope Francis Contradicting His Own Magisterium?

By FR. BRIAN W. HARRISON, OS On October 20, 2020, Pope Francis was reported as saying in a new documentary interview that civil unions ought to be legally recognized for same-sex couples.This not only contradicts the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s previous firm rejection of all such proposals under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Pope St. John Paul II; it also seems clearly incompatible with the Final Relatio of the 2015 Synod on the Family, which cited that same CDF document in its n. 76. (See below.)Indeed, the Pope’s new statement appears at variance even with his own more formal teaching on this point, since he in turn confirmed n. 76 of the Synod’s statement in n. 251 of…Continue Reading

Why We Need A Sense Of Mystery In The Sacred Liturgy

November 3, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on Why We Need A Sense Of Mystery In The Sacred Liturgy

By JAMES MONTI In the Book of Exodus, we read of the deliverance of the Israelites beginning in the strangest of ways — a solitary man tending sheep spots a bush that appears to be on fire yet is not consumed. He is bewildered by the sight and is drawn in by it:“And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt’” (Exodus 3:3).His initial wonder about a physical plant exhibiting such an inexplicable property quickly gives way to the realization that it is but a sign that he is entering into a direct encounter with the God of the universe, who tells him in no uncertain terms, “Do not come near;…Continue Reading

Awaiting Voting Results . . . After Campaign Battle, Can Trump Carry On His Populist Revolt?

November 2, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on Awaiting Voting Results . . . After Campaign Battle, Can Trump Carry On His Populist Revolt?

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — You don’t get much fog here. Because desert weather is far from being like that of Germany, which in part borders the North and Baltic seas, Lufthansa airlines trains pilots over on the western outskirts of Phoenix, in the city of Goodyear, with a lot of guaranteed sunny flying time.President Trump flew into both Goodyear and Arizona’s Bullhead City, over to the west on the Colorado River border with Nevada, for rallies on October 28, with less than a week to go before the November 3 elections. He mentioned having been in Wisconsin the previous night, about 1,800 miles northeast of here.With jet travel, Trump covers distances in an hour or two that it would…Continue Reading

Harris Lies About Anti-Catholic Bigotry

October 12, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on Harris Lies About Anti-Catholic Bigotry

By BILL DONOHUE (Catholic League President Bill Donohue comments on remarks made during the vice-presidential debate. See www.catholicleague.org which published this article on October 8.) + + Vice President Mike Pence was right to nail the way Democrats have treated Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. He was also right to go after Sen. Kamala Harris for the way she has treated Catholic nominees for a federal court post.Pence was pointed in his criticism. Harris, by contrast, was evasive. “Joe Biden and I are both people of faith, and it’s insulting to suggest that we would knock anyone for their faith….”The issue is not whether Biden and Harris are “people of faith.” They may be. The issue is whether they…Continue Reading

Too Much Equality And Too Little Justice

October 11, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on Too Much Equality And Too Little Justice

By DONALD DeMARCO The first thing that comes to mind when a person thinks about democracy is equality. Citizens of democracy are equal in humanity, equal under the law, and equal in dignity. This notion of equality is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and in the American tradition. It is the cornerstone of democracy and the noble affirmation that no one man is better than another.Equality, however, does not describe human beings in their entirety. It is only too evident that people are not equal in talent, status, intelligence, aspiration, and a sundry other matters that differentiate one citizen from another. Therefore, the notion of equality has limited application. It is a good thing that we…Continue Reading

Ten Days That Shook The Presidency

October 10, 2020 Featured Today Comments Off on Ten Days That Shook The Presidency

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN (Wanderer Editor’s Note: Mr. Buchanan’s column was released Wednesday, October 7, immediately before the Mike Pence-Kamala Harris vice-presidential debate.) + + What a difference a week can make.Saturday, September 26, was among the best days of the Trump presidency, or so some of us thought watching the president introduce in the Rose Garden his sterling candidate for Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court.The academic and professional credentials of Amy Coney Barrett, 48, a U.S. appeals court judge, were superb. Moreover, she was a devout Catholic and mother of seven, two of whom were adoptees from Haiti.From every standpoint, a 10-strike for Donald Trump.Ahead was the Tuesday debate, the first of three with Joe Biden,…Continue Reading