Saturday 4th May 2024

Home » World News » Recent Articles:

Catholic Divorce – Canonical critiques of annulment reform are piling up: Will the Vatican, the bishops, and the Francis “Amen corner” listen?

September 22, 2015 World News Comments Off on Catholic Divorce – Canonical critiques of annulment reform are piling up: Will the Vatican, the bishops, and the Francis “Amen corner” listen?

Something is definitely in the air: Prominent canonists initially lauding the marriage nullity reforms, then backtracking, then public coming out strongly against these, and very real talk of discontent among a significant number of canon lawyers and prelates. And we’re not talking about traditionalists here! The Pope’s arbitrary and highly problematic reforms of the process for declaring marriage nullity, worked out with no widespread consultations and in relative secrecy and published on September 8 through the motu proprio Mitis Iudex, is fast turning into an unprecedented crisis of authority for his rule. The crisis of authority is real and no amount of denial and snubbing by the Catholic media establishment and by “respectable” Catholic bloggers can hide it. In the…Continue Reading

Catholic Leaders Denounce White House for Inviting Pro-Abortion, Gay Rights Activists to Pope’s Reception

September 19, 2015 World News Comments Off on Catholic Leaders Denounce White House for Inviting Pro-Abortion, Gay Rights Activists to Pope’s Reception

CNSNews.com) — Prominent Catholic leaders are denouncing the White House for inviting pro-abortion and gay rights activists to a reception honoring Pope Francis during the pontiff’s visit to Washington next week. The Wall Street Journal reported that “the Vatican has taken offense at the Obama administration’s decision to invite to the pope’s welcome ceremony transgender activists, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop and an activist nun who leads a group criticized by the Vatican for its silence on abortion and euthanasia.” “It is a disgrace,” Princeton Professor Robert George told CNSNews.com. “Barack Obama is a president who would not even raise the case of imprisoned Saudi dissident Raif Badawi when visiting Saudi Arabian King Salman, lest the king’s religious sensibilities be offended.…Continue Reading

US House votes to defund Planned Parenthood in wake of baby parts scandal

September 18, 2015 World News Comments Off on US House votes to defund Planned Parenthood in wake of baby parts scandal

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 18, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. House of Representatives voted today to defund Planned Parenthood while legislators continue their investigation of allegations that the abortion giant is profiting from the sale of fetal body parts. The bill would take the $235 million of savings and invest it into Federally Qualified Health Centers. With three Republicans and two Democrats crossing the aisle, the final vote for H.R. 3134, the “Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015,” was 241-187. The bill would defund Planned Parenthood while Congress investigates whether it has violated federal fetal harvesting laws, as well as partial-birth abortion and abortion modification laws. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-TN, said in a statement that the vote was “about continuing the…Continue Reading

Vatican Disputes White House Guest List for Papal Visit

September 18, 2015 World News Comments Off on Vatican Disputes White House Guest List for Papal Visit

Retired Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, who is gay, was invited to a White House welcoming event for the pope. Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters By Francis X. Rocca Sept. 17, 2015 7:45 p.m. ET  On the eve of Pope Francis’s arrival in the U.S., the Vatican has taken offense at the Obama administration’s decision to invite to the pope’s welcome ceremony transgender activists, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop and an activist nun who leads a group criticized by the Vatican for its silence on abortion and euthanasia. When Pope Francis arrives in the U.S. on Sept. 22, he will be the fourth pope to set foot on American soil and the first to meet with President Obama. What have previous popes…Continue Reading

How a Catholic Cardinal Is Responding to the Assault on Marriage and Family

September 17, 2015 World News Comments Off on How a Catholic Cardinal Is Responding to the Assault on Marriage and Family

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—Pope Francis’s visit to the United States next week will coincide with a meeting of Catholics from all over the world to discuss some of the most pertinent issues facing the church. For a society that’s become increasingly secularized, the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia will be an opportunity for bishops to discuss a number of issues. Students at Franciscan University of Steubenville got a preview earlier this month from Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. (This story originally—and incorrectly—referred to the meeting as a synod.) The meeting will cover issues such as broken families and divorced and remarried couples, the transmission of life in regards to declining birthrates, and pastoral care for those with same-sex attraction. Burke used…Continue Reading

Pope appoints leading opponents of Catholic doctrine to Ordinary Synod

September 15, 2015 World News Comments Off on Pope appoints leading opponents of Catholic doctrine to Ordinary Synod

Voice of the Family notes with alarm that amongst the special appointees Pope Francis has invited to the Ordinary Synod there are prelates who have demonstrated support for positions contrary to the teaching or practice of the Catholic Church. (For further information on the positions supported by these prelates, click the relevant links below.) The list of appointees, who will be attending the Synod solely because of the Holy Father’s invitation, includes:

Catholic Bishop Calls on Congress to De-Fund Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz

September 14, 2015 World News Comments Off on Catholic Bishop Calls on Congress to De-Fund Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz

In Maine, Bishop Robert Deeley is calling on Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood in light of the nine videos exposing their organ harvesting business. In a statement, he said, “The videos are shocking. Our elected officials should act to cease funding Planned Parenthood. I call on those who distribute the resources from the taxes we all pay to examine this issue and remove any funding which supports such evil as the harvesting of organs from an unborn child.” He added, “The videos clearly display the dehumanizing effect that abortion and the scandalous trade of human body parts have on women who have abortions and the unborn whose lives are ended before they see light. This is not health care for…Continue Reading

In sweeping critique, Vatican Synod father attacks Humanae Vitae—and even the notion of natural law

September 12, 2015 World News Comments Off on In sweeping critique, Vatican Synod father attacks Humanae Vitae—and even the notion of natural law

ANTWERP, Belgium, September 11, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) — In a sweeping critique of Catholic teaching, Belgian Bishop Johan Bonny, who will participate in the Ordinary Synod on the Family next month, has attacked not only the Church’s teaching against contraception but even the very notion of the natural law. In a contribution for the recent German book, Zerreißprobe Ehe, published by Herder Verlag, the bishop of Antwerp makes a strong critique of the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae and questions the Church’s understanding of sexuality. He also criticizes the natural law as a moral foundation because it describes certain acts as good or bad independently of one’s personal life history and biography.

Pope Attacked Over Motu Proprio; Cardinal Kasper Reasserts His Proposal

September 12, 2015 World News Comments Off on Pope Attacked Over Motu Proprio; Cardinal Kasper Reasserts His Proposal

Reports have emerged that a seven-page dossier, obtained by the German newspaper Die Zeit, is circulating around the curia in which senior Vatican officials have voiced discontent with the recent change in Church law on annulments, and an absence of consultation over the matter. On Tuesday, the Pope made sweeping reforms to make the process of obtaining a declaration of nullity simpler, quicker and cheaper. According to Die Zeit, the officials juridically “picked apart” the Pope’s motu proprio (papal decree) on annulment reform, accuse the Holy Father of giving up an important dogma, and assert that he has introduced de facto “Catholic divorce”. Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/pope-attacked-over-motu-proprio-cardinal-kasper-reasserts-his-proposal/#ixzz3lYoMwpqP

Seven Catholic Colleges Remove Planned Parenthood Links Following Newman Society Report

September 11, 2015 World News Comments Off on Seven Catholic Colleges Remove Planned Parenthood Links Following Newman Society Report

Seven Catholic colleges have responded to a Cardinal Newman Society report by removing or editing website pages that indicated links between the colleges and Planned Parenthood. But more than three weeks after the report exposed scandalous associations with the nation’s largest abortion provider, most other colleges cited in the report have taken no action to correct the problem. “We communicated with each of the colleges and urged them to dissolve any relationship with Planned Parenthood,” said Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly. “The colleges that did take action deserve our gratitude, and we pray that they will take steps to prevent such problems in the future.” – See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4364/Eight-Catholic-Colleges-Remove-Planned-Parenthood-Links-Following-Newman-Society-Report.aspx#sthash.scae9Nf0.dpuf