Here’s a simple exercise in basic reasoning. On a spectrum of bad things to do, theft is bad, assault is worse and murder is worst. There’s a similar texture of ill will connecting all three crimes, but only a very confused conscience would equate thieving and homicide. Both are serious matters. But there is no equivalence.
(Vatican Radio) The Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo in Syria, Antoine Audo says he believes the so-called Islamic State fighters are seeking to push Christians out of Syria and spread terror everywhere. He also warned that if the war continues, as seems likely, that gradually over the coming months and years, all Syria’s Christians will leave their homeland. Bishop Audo was reacting to the news of the abduction of dozens of Christians including women and children from the Syrian town of Qaryatain after the ISIS militants seized control of it earlier this week. The Christians were among a total of 230 residents in the town who were kidnapped
Vatican City, Aug 7, 2015 / 12:35 pm (CNA).- Originally selected as an alternate synod delegate, Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago will in fact be an attendee at the Vatican gathering on the family this fall, a Vatican source told CNA. The source also said that another American bishop will likely be chosen to attend as well, bringing the total U.S. delegation of bishops up to six. The Synod on the Family, which will be held at the Vatican in October, will bring together bishops from around the world to discuss a wide variety of matters related to marriage and family across the globe. Last fall, the U.S. bishops selected delegates to represent them at the upcoming synod
Bishop’s Column Written by Robert C. Molrino, Bishop of Madison Thursday, Aug. 06, 2015 — 12:00 AM The 50 years since the close of the Second Vatican Council have been tumultuous for the Church. Forces both inside and outside of the Church tried to distort and exploit the council and the post-conciliar liturgical reforms to create a new Church after their own image. Too many of us endured years of sloppy or irreverent liturgy and mushy or even unorthodox preaching and catechesis. Too often when we voiced our concerns we were ignored. Most of the faithful Catholics who saw this happening fought hard for a “reform of the reform.” Sadly, others decided that the only way forward was to work…Continue Reading
Obama condemns: Killing and harvesting body parts of humans is ‘craziness’ | Blogs | LifeSite The timing is unbelievably uncanny. During an appearance Monday at the Young African Leaders Initiative Presidential Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Obama was asked by an attendee about the practice of killing human beings in Africa with albinism and harvesting their body parts for “ritual purposes.” The devastating irony of the president’s answer, coming at a time when the United States’ attention is focused on the macabre reality of what is happening in Planned Parenthood’s clinics, is impossible to miss. The question was asked just one day before the release of the fifth – and most gruesome yet – video in…Continue Reading
Rome, Italy, Aug 4, 2015 / 04:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Shroud of Turin has different meanings for many people: some see it as an object of veneration, others a forgery, still others a medieval curiosity. For one Jewish scientist, however, the evidence has led him to see it as a meeting point between science and faith. “The Shroud challenges (many people’s core beliefs) because there’s a strong implication that there is something beyond the basic science going on here,” Barrie Schwortz, one of the leading scientific experts on the Shroud of Turin, told CNA.
The Republican Party’s front- running presidential candidate wants congressional leaders to shut down the federal government in order to defund Planned Parenthood. Donald Trump said the Republican-led Congress should take the plunge, appearing Monday on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show, where Trump was told the “only way to get rid of Planned Parenthood money” is to “shut the government down” when money expires on Sept. 30. “Would you support that?” Hewitt asked. “I can tell you this: I would,” Trump responded. The real estate mogul, who is dominating the party’s presidential field in recent national polls, gave exactly the answer many conservative activists wanted to hear. The cause of stripping roughly $500 million in annual federal funds for Planned Parenthood has been reignited…Continue Reading
BEIJING (AP) — A diocese in central China has ordained the country’s first Catholic bishop in three years amid tensions between Beijing and the Vatican and a strained relationship between the Chinese leadership and the Christian religion in general. The Rev. Joseph Zhang Yinlin was named coadjutor bishop of Anyang in Henan province in a rare recent case of Chinese officials being in alignment with the Roman Catholic leadership in a choice for the position, according to the diocese and Catholic websites based abroad.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck has ordered parishes in western North Dakota to sever sponsorship ties with the Boy Scouts of America following the group’s decision to lift its ban on gay adult leaders. “I cannot permit our Catholic institutions to accept and participate directly or indirectly in any organization which has policies and methods which contradict the authoritative moral teachings of the Catholic Church,” Bishop David Kagan wrote Monday in a letter to parishioners. The Boy Scouts last week ended its ban on gay adult leaders, while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The Philadelphia Archdiocese received a petition Monday signed by more than 20,000 people in support of a fired catholic school teacher. Margie Winters lost her job at Waldron Mercy Academy because of her same-sex marriage. Today’s petition is asking Archbishop Charles Chaput not to get involved with staffing decisions at Catholic schools. Winters also had this request: “We ask for full inclusion at the table. And in the church. And we ask now for a moratorium on firing any LGBT employee.” The Archdiocese responded