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ISIS Closes In On Christians in Dramatic Overnight Development

August 7, 2014 World News Comments Off on ISIS Closes In On Christians in Dramatic Overnight Development

Pope, Iraq’s Chaldean patriarch issue emergency appeals. ISIS, the radical Islamist group that forced Christians out of Mosul with the threat of death, has taken control of most of the villages of the Nineveh Plain, the northern area where Iraqi Christians have hunkered down in what is appearing increasingly to look like ethnic cleansing.In a statement in which the Vatican referst to “terrible developments,” Pope Francis has called for help from the “international community.” “His Holiness urgently calls on the international community to protect all those affected or threatened by the violence, and to guarantee all necessary assistance—especially the most urgently needed aid—to the great multitude of people who have been driven from their homes, whose fate depends entirely on…Continue Reading

The IRS’s God Complex

August 4, 2014 World News Comments Off on The IRS’s God Complex

The tax agency signs a secret pact with atheists, promising it will investigate 99 churches. Is the Internal Revenue Service a threat to religious liberty? As the IRS continues to come under well-aimed fire for harassing conservative groups, on Friday it secured a final court order formalizing what amounts to a secret agreement to monitor the pulpits of ill-favored churches. The serious danger, as former Justice Department attorney J. Christian Adams told Fox News, is that the IRS will start treating “theology as politics,” and regulate it accordingly. Lovers of liberty should be very concerned.

Archbishop Kurtz: Synod can be “a catalyst” for renewal

August 4, 2014 World News Comments Off on Archbishop Kurtz: Synod can be “a catalyst” for renewal

August 04, 2014 USCCB president Archbishop Joseph Kurtz will represent the US at the upcoming Synod of Bishops. The urgent challenges facing families—and how the Church can serve families better—will be the synod’s top priorities, he says. Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, 67, of Louisville, Kentucky, is president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). From October 5-19, 2014, he will be in Rome to participate in the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.

Vatican: The Sign Of Peace Isn’t A Liturgical “Good Morning”

August 3, 2014 World News Comments Off on Vatican: The Sign Of Peace Isn’t A Liturgical “Good Morning”

Today the Vatican confirmed the authenticity of a letter on the “sign of peace” that was released by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments and appeared on the website of the Spanish bishops’ conference. Catholic News Service reportedly obtained the English text of the letter, which was approved by Pope Francis, and which stated that the sign of peace—currently placed after the consecration and before the recitation of the Agnus Dei in the Roman Rite—will not be moved to another part of the Mass, as had been proposed by some bishops.From the CNS report:

UK bishop warns of ‘inhuman ideology’ behind euthanasia on WWI anniversary

August 3, 2014 World News Comments Off on UK bishop warns of ‘inhuman ideology’ behind euthanasia on WWI anniversary

A Catholic bishop in the UK has compared the popular support for Lord Falconer’s assisted suicide bill with the widespread support for the First World War in the summer of 1914. Bishop Mark Davies of the northwestern diocese of Shrewsbury, again spoke out against the bill in a homily last week that warned against being swayed by “emotionalism.” “A hundred years ago this week, the world descended into what is now called the First World War, the second war would quickly follow and a Cold War would bring humanity to the brink of nuclear extinction,” the bishop said at the Grotto of Lourdes, France, on July 26.

Putin Building Church, Monasteries in the Kremlin

August 2, 2014 World News Comments Off on Putin Building Church, Monasteries in the Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for two monasteries and a church that were demolished during Soviet times to be rebuilt in the Kremlin, the largest overhaul of the site’s architectural landscape in nearly a century. Putin has cultivated strong ties with Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, adopting more conservative policies and prompting some critics to suggest the line separating state and church has become blurred. At a meeting on Thursday with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and top administrators of the Kremlin site, Putin said his plan would involve tearing down a building used for administrative purposes to restore the site’s “historic appearance.”

CATHOLIC BISHOPS SAY AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILDREN IS ‘PRO-LIFE’

August 1, 2014 World News Comments Off on CATHOLIC BISHOPS SAY AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILDREN IS ‘PRO-LIFE’

Some Catholic bishops have recently suggested that granting amnesty to illegal immigrant children from Central America is consistent with “pro-life” Catholic teachings. As reported in National Catholic Register, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh said that providing for the needs of the young illegal immigrants is one facet of a truly pro-life philosophy. “The Catholic Church responds to humanitarian crises here at home and all across the world because we are pro-life,” Zubik said in a statement on July 19th. “Being pro-life requires we protect and care for vulnerable persons from conception to natural death.” “Whether they are traveling because of poverty, or violence, or with the hope of reuniting with relatives on the other side of the border,” the bishop continued, “followers of…Continue Reading

Virginia’s Ban On Same-sex Marriage Struck Down

July 30, 2014 World News Comments Off on Virginia’s Ban On Same-sex Marriage Struck Down

In a dramatic reversal of a voter-based 2006 decision, U.S. appeals court this week struck down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, the latest in a string of court rulings to back gay marriage. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, ruled two-to-one to affirm a February ruling by a federal judge who struck down the state ban as unconstitutional.

FEARING OBAMA UNILATERAL AMNESTY THREATS, TEA PARTY JAMS CONGRESS’S PHONE LINES

July 29, 2014 World News Comments Off on FEARING OBAMA UNILATERAL AMNESTY THREATS, TEA PARTY JAMS CONGRESS’S PHONE LINES

The phone lines are jammed. The American people have risen up in response to a rallying cry from Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), overloading the phone lines on Capitol Hill to pressure their members of Congress to fight against President Obama’s planned executive amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. “I was on hold with the Capitol Hill switchboard about a minute or so each time I called my Representative and my two Senators,” Catharine Trauernicht, a Tea Party activist in Virginia, told Breitbart News Monday. “Typically, my calls are answered right away, but I always know that citizens have sprung into action when the switchboard recording comes on and says, ‘All of our operators are assisting other…Continue Reading

Pope acknowledges Catholic complicity in persecution of Italian Pentecostals

July 29, 2014 World News Comments Off on Pope acknowledges Catholic complicity in persecution of Italian Pentecostals

Pope Francis has fulfilled a request of the Italian evangelical community by recognising the complicity of some Catholics in the fascist-era persecution of Italian Pentecostals and evangelicals. “Among those who persecuted and denounced the Pentecostals, almost as if they were crazies who would ruin the race, there were some Catholics. As the pastor of the Catholics, I ask forgiveness for those Catholic brothers and sisters who did not understand and were