Thursday 25th April 2024

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Catechesis And The Suffering of Souls In Hell

April 12, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on Catechesis And The Suffering of Souls In Hell

By ARTHUR HIPPLER (Editor’s Note: Arthur Hippler is chairman of the religion department and teaches religion in the Upper School at Providence Academy, Plymouth, Minn.) + + + Just before Easter, we were greeted with “Pope Francis Denies the Existence of Hell!” headlines, followed up by clarifications in much smaller font. Those with long memories will recall that years ago John Paul II captured headlines when, in a Wednesday audience, he said that Hell was a “state” rather than a “place,” that is the “state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy” (July 28, 1999). For many, denying that Hell was a “place” amounted to denying its existence. How can…Continue Reading

An “Arab Spring” For Teachers In Oklahoma?

April 11, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on An “Arab Spring” For Teachers In Oklahoma?

By SHAUN KENNEY It’s being called an “Arab Spring for Teachers” by the UK Guardian. Hundreds of striking Oklahoma teachers are marching on their state capitol, where once again teachers unions have parents by the throat. Of course, the one sure loser in all of this are the children. Not only do their parents have to make other accommodations in this hostage-taking scenario, the children themselves simply aren’t being taught regardless as to whether or not teachers remain in the classroom or not. Consider the fact that national standardized test scores have been in a steady decline over the last 15 years. That’s right — in a nation that spends more money per pupil on education than any other industrialized…Continue Reading

Vaticanista Marco Tosatti… Offers His Views On U.S. Policy In Syria

April 10, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on Vaticanista Marco Tosatti… Offers His Views On U.S. Policy In Syria

By MAIKE HICKSON (Editor’s Note: Dr. Maike Hickson conducted this interview with the Italian journalist Marco Tosatti, who has worked as a journalist since the 1970s. Tosatti wrote for the Italian newspaper La Stampa for many years and now writes for the Italian Catholic website La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana and his own blog, Stilum Curiae.) + + + Q. Almost exactly one year ago, we had conducted an interview about the then-happening U.S. missile attack on Syria with the claim that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in Idlib. At the time, you said the following with regard to the Idlib incident: “We have been led to destroy a country like Iraq by what happened to be a colossal…Continue Reading

Chemical Abortions On Campus?… California Bill May Require It

April 9, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on Chemical Abortions On Campus?… California Bill May Require It

By MIKE MANNO RU 486 is an abortion drug. Known as Mifepristone, it kills babies in the womb by blocking the natural effects of progesterone which are required to maintain the uterus lining during pregnancy. As the lining of the uterus deteriorates, the unborn baby will die. Thus, to complete the abortion, between 24 and 48 hours after taking Mifepristone, the woman takes a second pill, Misoprostol, which causes contractions forcing the lining and the dead baby from the woman’s body. The first pill is usually given in the clinic office sometime through the tenth week of pregnancy; the second is taken at home. Since this is a chemical abortion, there are numerous possible side-effects for the mother. They include…Continue Reading

Campaigns Heating Up

April 8, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on Campaigns Heating Up

By CHRISTOPHER MANION The Deadwood Media are at it again, trumpeting the “news” that Republicans are desperate — they’re sure to lose the Congress in November. Proof? Why, even President Trump is haranguing Speaker Paul Ryan and the GOP leadership for bailing out on their campaign promises! Regarding Ryan, all too true: Instead of passing separate appropriations bills that the president could sign or reject, exercising some fiscal restraint, the speaker sealed the deal on passing a bloated “Omnibus” spending bill, complete with full funding of Planned Parenthood and scant funding for Trump’s promised border wall — thus alienating, in quick succession, deficit hawks, pro-lifers, and advocates of the rule of law, three constituencies without which we’d all be suffering…Continue Reading

Neither U.S. Nor Central Americans . . . Should Let Themselves Be Walked All Over

April 7, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on Neither U.S. Nor Central Americans . . . Should Let Themselves Be Walked All Over

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — The caravan that broke into the news over the Easter weekend of Central Americans marching through Mexico to invade the United States marked at least one breaking point, and should have marked another. Responding to reports of more than 1,200 people marching to cross defiantly into the U.S., President Trump was forced to take more solid action than he had so far about actually securing the porous, greatly violated Southwestern border. He signed a proclamation directing that National Guard troops be deployed there. An unknown number of military boots on the ground were to prevent its being trampled by unauthorized tides in the desert. Other people who should have reached the limits of their endurance…Continue Reading

Hungarian Minister . . . Rebuts Population Decline Inevitability

April 6, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on Hungarian Minister . . . Rebuts Population Decline Inevitability

By JOHN J. METZLER UNITED NATIONS — “Migration is not the solution to demographic problems,” warned Katalin Novak, Hungary’s Minister of State for the Family. Though conceding that the European continent faces a significant “demographic decline” and the undertow of a falling population, individual states can counter the “inevitability” through focused family-friendly policies such as those being pursued in her Central European country. “In Europe we face population decline, and imagine in the European Union there is not a single member-state where the fertility is sufficient to maintain the population. In each and every member state it is below 2. It is as if we have lost our capacity to maintain our population. “That is also the situation in Hungary…Continue Reading

Young Catholics Need Heroes

April 5, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on Young Catholics Need Heroes

By SHAUN KENNEY What do young Catholics want? A number of polls seem to reflect that Pope Francis is immensely popular among Catholics in the United States. Pew Research puts this number at 84 percent. Yet when asked precisely what it is about Pope Francis young people love so much, the numbers are a bit more foggy. In fact, not only is there no clear result that young people point toward, opinions about Francis’ pontificate being a monumental shift have actually decreased precipitously in recent months. Of course, there’s nothing more grating than to have octogenarians dictate to teenagers what they want to hear. Let’s be clear on this point — if we are ever at the point of telling…Continue Reading

Priest Tells Medical Workers… People Find True Happiness By Being Servants

April 4, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on Priest Tells Medical Workers… People Find True Happiness By Being Servants

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — People are made to be servants of God and of one another, a local pastor told a Lenten reflection for members of the Catholic Physicians Guild here, held at Phoenix diocesan headquarters. It’s rare to see a very demanding person who’s happy, but frequent to see a person with a mentality of service being happy, Fr. Dale Craig, a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), told the medical professionals. If parents want their children to be happy, “send them off to the missions for a year,” either as a “gap” year in college, or after college, said Craig, wearing the gray SOLT robe, during the March 24 reflection.…Continue Reading

The Battle Over Morally Offensive, Compelled Speech

April 3, 2018 Frontpage Comments Off on The Battle Over Morally Offensive, Compelled Speech

By LAWRENCE P. GRAYSON The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) v. Becerra. The issue to be decided is whether the government can compel a faith-based ministry to proclaim a message that is in opposition to its mission. Compelled behavior and speech have been tactics used by governments, throughout the ages, in many nations and in many cultures, to stigmatize, penalize, and suppress minority religious views. In Elizabethan England, Catholics were fined if they did not attend Sunday services in an Anglican church. Until the 20th century, Muslim nations imposed a jizya or yearly tax on non-Muslims living in the country. In Nazi-occupied territory during World War II,…Continue Reading