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Diary Of A Synod . . . Confusions, Exclusions, And Mounting Indignation

October 17, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on Diary Of A Synod . . . Confusions, Exclusions, And Mounting Indignation

By MAIKE HICKSON The first working day of the Synod on the Family, October 5, started things off with a good and hopeful tone. But that was soon to change. Positively, the general relator of the synod, Peter Cardinal Erdo, gave his introductory speech in which it became clear that the heterodox parts of last year’s synod — the ones about giving Holy Communion to adulterers and the ones about seeing positive elements in homosexual relationships — were rejected by the synod fathers and, therefore, were not up for further discussion. He said, for example: “Regarding the divorced-and-civilly-remarried, a merciful, pastoral accompaniment is only right — an accompaniment, however, which leaves no doubt about the truth of the indissolubility of…Continue Reading

At Synod’s Halfway Mark… Cardinal Burke, Family Experts Say Parents’ Rights Must Be Upheld

October 16, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on At Synod’s Halfway Mark… Cardinal Burke, Family Experts Say Parents’ Rights Must Be Upheld

ROME — Raymond Cardinal Burke and pro-family experts affirmed that parents’ rights as the primary educators of their children must be upheld, as the Synod on the Family passes its halfway mark. Cardinal Burke and the experts made the call at a press conference the morning of October 15 near St. Peter’s Square. Voice of the Family, an international coalition of 26 pro-life and pro-family organizations on five continents, organized the press conference. “May God inspire and strengthen the work of the Synod of Bishops, so that, in accord with the nature and purpose of the synod, it may assist the Holy Father in safeguarding and promoting the constant teaching and practice of the Church regarding marriage and the family,”…Continue Reading

The Little Saint In A Glass Casket . . . St. Maria Goretti Draws Thousands To Her Side

October 15, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on The Little Saint In A Glass Casket . . . St. Maria Goretti Draws Thousands To Her Side

By JAMES MONTI An 11-year-old peasant girl’s determination that chastity is a virtue worth dying for is captivating the hearts of thousands 113 years after she paid the ultimate price for her purity on a hot summer’s day in the Pontine Marshes of central Italy. On September 16, at New York’s Kennedy Airport, the body of the virgin martyr St. Maria Goretti, the youngest canonized saint in Church history, arrived in the United States to begin a two-month “Pilgrimage of Mercy” tour across the East and Midwest. Maria’s first stop (September 20) was quite fittingly the maximum security prison of Sing Sing in Ossining, N.Y. For her story is also very much about forgiveness and repentance. On her deathbed Maria…Continue Reading

Phoenix Bishop Says . . . People “Want To Be Moved To Action” By His Message To Men

October 14, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on Phoenix Bishop Says . . . People “Want To Be Moved To Action” By His Message To Men

By DEXTER DUGGAN PHOENIX — In what he describes as a “call to battle,” Thomas J. Olmsted, bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, challenges men to confront evils as old as the wiles of Satan, and as current as the videos exposing Planned Parenthood barbarity. Olmsted’s Into the Breach (www.intothebreach.net), “An Apostolic Exhortation to Catholic Men, My Spiritual Sons in the Diocese of Phoenix,” attracted wide attention on the Internet among religious observers after it was issued on the Feast of the Archangels, September 29. Asked by The Wanderer on October 2 about reaction he’d already received, Olmsted replied, “Very positive, actually. A lot of interest. A lot of people saying, ‘What’s next?’ They want to be moved to action.”…Continue Reading

When May We Disagree With The Pope?

October 13, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on When May We Disagree With The Pope?

By JOHN YOUNG Many faithful Catholics are disturbed by some of the statements made by Pope Francis, and find themselves unable to agree with him. There’s need for clarity here, and the way to achieve clarity is to make the appropriate distinctions. So let us consider what distinctions need to be made in regard to the obligation of a Catholic to accept what the Pope says. The Pope and the bishops have authority in matters of faith and morals. Christ said to His apostles, “He who hears you hears me”; and He made St. Peter the rock on which He would build His Church. But God the Son didn’t come from Heaven to teach science. As St. Augustine said, Scripture…Continue Reading

No Class Of Sinners Should Be Privileged

October 12, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on No Class Of Sinners Should Be Privileged

By REY FLORES I was invited to participate in a teleconference just before the opening of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, being held in Rome October 4 to 25. The call was titled “Living the Truth in Love” and was hosted by Carmel Communications founder Lisa Wheeler and facilitated by Dr. Pia De Solenni of the Augustine Institute. The main focus of the teleconference was the question of people who identify as homosexual, or who are dealing with same-sex attraction, and the pastoral care that the Church has been extending to these folks. While it was proposed that we would also be hearing about the Church’s teachings on marriage and family life, and an ongoing appeal to oppose…Continue Reading

Libertarians And The Pope

October 11, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on Libertarians And The Pope

By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK There is no reason to assume that readers of this column are familiar with the Fox News program The Five, so permit me to give a brief description. It features four conservative commentators and one liberal, lately Juan Williams, discussing the issues of the day. It is Fox News’ attempt to replicate — with reverse spin — the format of ABC News’ The View, which features four liberal commentators and one conservative. Why am I bringing up the program now? Because I suspect that Greg Gutfeld, one of the show’s conservative commentators, has caused some confusion in conservative circles. Gutfeld, the author of several books and a former editor of Prevention and Men’s Health magazines, is…Continue Reading

Demo Leaders… Fight Videos As New Footage Shows Graphic Organ-Harvesting Talk

October 10, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on Demo Leaders… Fight Videos As New Footage Shows Graphic Organ-Harvesting Talk

By DEXTER DUGGAN Like the Planned Parenthood mega-abortionists they support, national Democrat Party leaders grimly refuse to see the evidence of slaughter before their eyes while they try to crush the opposition to crushing helpless infants. Veteran Cong. Elijah Cummings (D., Md.) was among Democrats excusing PP’s assault on babies and the law even while they pushed an attack against the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), whose sting videos have exposed the abortion giant’s barbarity, according to an October 6 report. “We believe it is inappropriate for the (House Oversight) committee to continue harassing Planned Parenthood for political reasons — with no evidence of any wrongdoing,” Cummings and others complained, the Washington Examiner reported. The videos clearly have shown PP…Continue Reading

The First Week Of The Synod . . . Concerns About Instrumentum Laboris, Final Report Surface

October 9, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on The First Week Of The Synod . . . Concerns About Instrumentum Laboris, Final Report Surface

By LOUISE KIRK It wasn’t done on purpose, of this Archbishop Bruno Forte assures us, but there they were, the ringing words of Christ Himself read out in every Catholic church throughout the world on the first day of the Family Synod: “It was because you were so unteachable that [Moses] wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.” Pope Francis has repeatedly assured us that the task of the synod is to be all encompassing,…Continue Reading

Diary Of A Synod . . . Positions, Preparations, And Maneuvers

October 8, 2015 Frontpage Comments Off on Diary Of A Synod . . . Positions, Preparations, And Maneuvers

By MAIKE HICKSON Even before the long-awaited (and sometimes feared) Synod of Bishops on the Family commenced in Rome on October 4, several prelates, priests, and lay groups published important statements with regard to the desired and desirable outcome of that synod. I shall name now only four examples, hoping thereby to shed some helpful light. First, two major lay organizations in Germany — the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) and the Association of the German Catholic Youth (BDKJ) — have both made statements concerning their wishes for the outcome of that synod. As the official website of the German Bishops Conference, katholisch.de, reports, the president of the German Catholic Youth Organization, Wolfgang Ehrenlechner, said that he will be…Continue Reading