"Catholic News Agency has launched a comprehensive and user-friendly resource page to help prepare the U.S. faithful for the new Roman Missal translation.
"This new page shows why CNA has become the leading source for authentically Catholic news on the web," editor-in-chief David Scott said Sept. 20.
The new site, http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/Missal/, provides news coverage, official statements, educational tools and extended reflections on the Mass from both a priestly and lay perspective.
Catholics can also get step-by-step instruction on the missal changes, which are set to be fully implemented nationwide by the beginning of Advent, Nov. 27, of this year." -Read More...
Islam Set To Be Dominant Religion In France
"New research suggests there are now more practising Muslims in France than practising Catholics.
While 64 percent of French people describe themselves as Roman Catholic, only 2.9 percent of the population actually practice the Catholic faith. That compares to 3.8 percent of the population who practice the Muslim faith. The research was carried out by the French Institute of Public Opinion on behalf of the Catholic newspaper La Croix.
More worrying for Islamic authorities in France is the finding that only 41 percent of the country's 6 million Muslims actually describe themselves as "practising," although 75 percent are happy to label themselves "believers." Seventy-percent also claim to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Most French Muslims hail from the country's former colonies in North and sub-Saharan Africa.
There is also further evidence that mosques are being erected at a much faster rate than Catholic churches. Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the Muslim Council of France, last month estimated that 150 new mosques are currently under construction across the country." -Read More...
While 64 percent of French people describe themselves as Roman Catholic, only 2.9 percent of the population actually practice the Catholic faith. That compares to 3.8 percent of the population who practice the Muslim faith. The research was carried out by the French Institute of Public Opinion on behalf of the Catholic newspaper La Croix.
More worrying for Islamic authorities in France is the finding that only 41 percent of the country's 6 million Muslims actually describe themselves as "practising," although 75 percent are happy to label themselves "believers." Seventy-percent also claim to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Most French Muslims hail from the country's former colonies in North and sub-Saharan Africa.
There is also further evidence that mosques are being erected at a much faster rate than Catholic churches. Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the Muslim Council of France, last month estimated that 150 new mosques are currently under construction across the country." -Read More...
Abortion Leads To Further Violence
"The Bishops' Conference of Mexico has issued a statement emphasizing that society should not be surprised by violence when the unborn are allowed to be aborted.
"The multiple expressions of violence in the different fields and stages of the lives of persons and of society" should not be surprising if the lives of the unborn are destroyed through abortion.
In a statement issued Sept. 9, the bishops also rejected practices such as in vitro fertilization. "Children should be welcomed by respecting the truth of the conjugal act, which is at once unitive and procreative, and by avoiding any means that distort it," they said.
"We hold that according to God's plan, children are a true gift and never an individual right of anyone," the bishops added. For this reason, "technological assistance for procreation should always respect this truth and avoid substituting the logic of love with the logic of production," they said." -Read More...
"The multiple expressions of violence in the different fields and stages of the lives of persons and of society" should not be surprising if the lives of the unborn are destroyed through abortion.
In a statement issued Sept. 9, the bishops also rejected practices such as in vitro fertilization. "Children should be welcomed by respecting the truth of the conjugal act, which is at once unitive and procreative, and by avoiding any means that distort it," they said.
"We hold that according to God's plan, children are a true gift and never an individual right of anyone," the bishops added. For this reason, "technological assistance for procreation should always respect this truth and avoid substituting the logic of love with the logic of production," they said." -Read More...
CBR's plans to aggravate Fr. Pavone's problems
"A group called “The Center For Bio-Ethical Reform” has decided to intervene in behalf of Fr. Pavone. I know little about CBR, but if their goal is to aggravate the Zurek-Pavone dispute, they could hardly have chosen a better array of inflammatory, indeed outrageous, methods.
“Until Bishop Zurek releases Fr. Pavone from what amounts from [sic] ecclesiastical house arrest,” proclaims a press release from CBR, its activists, carrying large color photos of aborted babies, will soon picket many Amarillo Catholic parishes and at least one Catholic middle and high school. CBR also plans to launch “a fleet of large billboard trucks bearing signs which will depict aborted babies” and has arranged for “aircraft towing large aerial billboards which will also bear aborted baby imagery and exhortational text messages.” All of this apparently meets CBR’s definition of “respectfully asking” Zurek to "FREE FR. FRANK!" and allow Pavone to resume his pro-life work outside the Diocese of Amarillo.
Really. I'm not kidding. -Read More...
“Until Bishop Zurek releases Fr. Pavone from what amounts from [sic] ecclesiastical house arrest,” proclaims a press release from CBR, its activists, carrying large color photos of aborted babies, will soon picket many Amarillo Catholic parishes and at least one Catholic middle and high school. CBR also plans to launch “a fleet of large billboard trucks bearing signs which will depict aborted babies” and has arranged for “aircraft towing large aerial billboards which will also bear aborted baby imagery and exhortational text messages.” All of this apparently meets CBR’s definition of “respectfully asking” Zurek to "FREE FR. FRANK!" and allow Pavone to resume his pro-life work outside the Diocese of Amarillo.
Really. I'm not kidding. -Read More...
non-canonical reactions to Fr. Pavone’s latest statement
"Fr. Pavone has issued another statement. It’s pretty clear that he is not getting, or is not heeding, advice to step out of the limelight. Whatever, I find his latest remarks troubling, not so much canonically this time (although there are worrisome signs there), but more for what they indicate about Pavone’s person and direction.
I write here, then, not as a canonist, but as a reasonably intelligent Catholic man, about the same age as Fr. Pavone, sharing the same Creed and sacraments and pope, familiar with pro-life work, who has worked with clergy and seminarians most of his adult life.
Pavone writes, I think, from the heart. I will too. Excerpts from Pavone's text in italics, my reactions in regular type.
Well, friends, here in Amarillo I am working hard at my computer on various pro-life projects as I await further instructions from the diocese. Nothing yet…
Nothing? What’s that mean? Does a young, healthy priest, in his home diocese, with full faculties for ordained ministry therein, really need to be told what to do with a large, unexpected block of time? If so, I have some suggestions." -Read More...
I write here, then, not as a canonist, but as a reasonably intelligent Catholic man, about the same age as Fr. Pavone, sharing the same Creed and sacraments and pope, familiar with pro-life work, who has worked with clergy and seminarians most of his adult life.
Pavone writes, I think, from the heart. I will too. Excerpts from Pavone's text in italics, my reactions in regular type.
Well, friends, here in Amarillo I am working hard at my computer on various pro-life projects as I await further instructions from the diocese. Nothing yet…
Nothing? What’s that mean? Does a young, healthy priest, in his home diocese, with full faculties for ordained ministry therein, really need to be told what to do with a large, unexpected block of time? If so, I have some suggestions." -Read More...
Fr. Pavone Appeals Suspension
Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, says he has begun the process of appealing his suspension from active ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo.
In a letter to the United States bishops, Fr. Pavone denied charges made by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo-whose jurisdiction he is under-that he had disobeyed the bishop and had failed to allow the Priests for Life to undergo auditing.
Bishop Zurek announced in a Sept. 9 letter to his fellow bishops that he had suspended Fr. Pavone from public ministry outside the diocese, beginning Sept. 13.
The bishop cited "deep concerns regarding his stewardship of the finances of the Priests for Life (PFL) organization." The 990 Forms submitted to the IRS from 2008, the most recent date available, show Priests for Life had income totaling $10.8 million." -Read More...
In a letter to the United States bishops, Fr. Pavone denied charges made by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo-whose jurisdiction he is under-that he had disobeyed the bishop and had failed to allow the Priests for Life to undergo auditing.
Bishop Zurek announced in a Sept. 9 letter to his fellow bishops that he had suspended Fr. Pavone from public ministry outside the diocese, beginning Sept. 13.
The bishop cited "deep concerns regarding his stewardship of the finances of the Priests for Life (PFL) organization." The 990 Forms submitted to the IRS from 2008, the most recent date available, show Priests for Life had income totaling $10.8 million." -Read More...
Alabama Immigration Law
"The U.S. bishops have backed efforts in Alabama to turn back a state law they say would threaten the Catholic Church's ministry to undocumented immigrants.
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chair of the migration committee of the U.S. bishops' conference, offered his "solidarity and support" to Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Bishop Robert J. Baker of Birmingham, and other religious leaders in the state who are trying to reverse the law.
Archbishop Rodi and several Protestant denominations are seeking relief from a law they say criminalizes parts of the Church's mission and interferes with the free exercise of religion.
"The Catholic Church provides pastoral and social services to all persons, regardless of their immigration status," Archbishop Gomez said Sept. 8. "Our mandate is to provide for the pastoral and social care of all of God's children. Government should not infringe upon that duty, as America's founding fathers made clear in the U.S. Constitution." -Read More...
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chair of the migration committee of the U.S. bishops' conference, offered his "solidarity and support" to Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Bishop Robert J. Baker of Birmingham, and other religious leaders in the state who are trying to reverse the law.
Archbishop Rodi and several Protestant denominations are seeking relief from a law they say criminalizes parts of the Church's mission and interferes with the free exercise of religion.
"The Catholic Church provides pastoral and social services to all persons, regardless of their immigration status," Archbishop Gomez said Sept. 8. "Our mandate is to provide for the pastoral and social care of all of God's children. Government should not infringe upon that duty, as America's founding fathers made clear in the U.S. Constitution." -Read More...
Sept. 11 Memorial Prompts Separate Prayer Event
"Some Christian ministers have objected to the 9/11 Memorial Service's failure to include members of the clergy and have scheduled a public prayer service for the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, a Reformed Presbyterian Church minister who is director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said it was "extremely troubling" for Mayor Bloomberg to "exclude public prayer and expressions of faith" from the memorial.
"During the past 10 years, it has only been faith in God and prayer that has enabled so many to move forward and rebuild their lives and protected America from another major terrorist attack," he said.
Organizers of the memorial service said that the event follows the custom established for the previous memorial events.
"The structure for this program was designed 10 years ago, with the consultation of a lot of families of those who died, and it is primarily for the families," Stu Loeser, Mayor Bloomberg's press secretary, told the New York Times." -Read More...
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, a Reformed Presbyterian Church minister who is director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said it was "extremely troubling" for Mayor Bloomberg to "exclude public prayer and expressions of faith" from the memorial.
"During the past 10 years, it has only been faith in God and prayer that has enabled so many to move forward and rebuild their lives and protected America from another major terrorist attack," he said.
Organizers of the memorial service said that the event follows the custom established for the previous memorial events.
"The structure for this program was designed 10 years ago, with the consultation of a lot of families of those who died, and it is primarily for the families," Stu Loeser, Mayor Bloomberg's press secretary, told the New York Times." -Read More...
redefinition of marriage
"Scotland's Catholic bishops "strenuously oppose" any attempt by the Scottish Parliament to undermine or redefine the meaning of marriage and see any attempt to do so as "a direct attack on a foundational building block of society."
"No government can rewrite human nature. The family and marriage existed before the State and are built on the union between a man and a woman," the Bishops' Conference of Scotland said on Sept. 7.
The bishops' comments came ahead of an announcement by the Scottish government's consultation on the issue. The government said its initial view is that "same-sex marriage" should be introduced.
The country's Catholic bishops noted that it is not clear whether the government would legislate regardless of the outcome of the consultation and called on officials to listen to all sides of the debate. -Read More...
"No government can rewrite human nature. The family and marriage existed before the State and are built on the union between a man and a woman," the Bishops' Conference of Scotland said on Sept. 7.
The bishops' comments came ahead of an announcement by the Scottish government's consultation on the issue. The government said its initial view is that "same-sex marriage" should be introduced.
The country's Catholic bishops noted that it is not clear whether the government would legislate regardless of the outcome of the consultation and called on officials to listen to all sides of the debate. -Read More...
Priests Accused Of Sex Abuse
"Cardinal Sean O'Malley has released an online list of the names of priests in the Archdiocese of Boston who have been accused of sex abuse within the last 60 years.
"The archdiocese is continually evaluating its policies and practices to ensure that our child protection and abuse prevention efforts are further strengthened," the cardinal wrote in an Aug. 25 letter explaining his decision.
"Consistent with that effort, I have studied suggestions that we enhance the present Archdiocesan policy with respect to sharing information about clergy accused of sexually abusing minors."
Cardinal O'Malley said that although 248 of Boston's priests and two deacons have been accused of child sex abuse since 1950, he decided against releasing 91 of the names." -Read More...
"The archdiocese is continually evaluating its policies and practices to ensure that our child protection and abuse prevention efforts are further strengthened," the cardinal wrote in an Aug. 25 letter explaining his decision.
"Consistent with that effort, I have studied suggestions that we enhance the present Archdiocesan policy with respect to sharing information about clergy accused of sexually abusing minors."
Cardinal O'Malley said that although 248 of Boston's priests and two deacons have been accused of child sex abuse since 1950, he decided against releasing 91 of the names." -Read More...
Unborn Baby Girls
"Imagine waking up one day to find that every single woman in the U.S. has disappeared.
Picture this, writes author and scientific journalist Mara Hvistendahl, and you will come close to understanding the magnitude of over 160 million baby girls being selectively aborted in Asia and East Europe over the last few decades.
Already critically acclaimed since its release in June, Hvistendahl's book, "Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men," meticulously documents the phenomenon of "missing" girls and its dire implications for the future.
"It's a huge problem," Hvistendahl told CNA on Aug. 24. "What I want readers to take away is that this is a global issue on the level of something like HIV/AIDS or female genital mutilation." -Read More...
Picture this, writes author and scientific journalist Mara Hvistendahl, and you will come close to understanding the magnitude of over 160 million baby girls being selectively aborted in Asia and East Europe over the last few decades.
Already critically acclaimed since its release in June, Hvistendahl's book, "Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men," meticulously documents the phenomenon of "missing" girls and its dire implications for the future.
"It's a huge problem," Hvistendahl told CNA on Aug. 24. "What I want readers to take away is that this is a global issue on the level of something like HIV/AIDS or female genital mutilation." -Read More...
Prop 8 Hearing
On Sept. 6, California's Supreme Court heard arguments about a legal question that has less to do with marriage, than with the state's legislative process and citizens' right to propose ballot initiatives.
"Today's issue was not limited just to the marriage issue, but any initiative that comes along that a government official may fail to defend," said Andy Pugno, a lawyer representing the organization Protectmarriage.com.
"It presents, really, a new question for our courts that they've never had to decide before: and that is, what do you do when the attorney general won't do his job?"
Pugno's organization is involved in two legal battles, one of which will establish their right to move forward with the other.
-Read More...
Rather Quit Job Than Perform Abortions
In 2008 Esteban Rodriguez Martin became the first Spanish gynecologist to defend his right to conscientious objection in court. Three years later, he said he does not regret his "resounding no" to performing abortions even though he has had to pay a high price with his career.
Speaking with CNA on Aug. 31 in Rome, where he is attending an international conference, Rodriguez Martin said he has had to limit his work to assisting at births and treating women in their third trimesters because of his opposition to performing pre-natal tests often used by women to decide whether or not to obtain an abortion. "The better the prenatal diagnosis, the more abortions are performed," he explained.
"As a doctor, my mission is to protect life," he said. His request to be relieved of performing such tests was denied by hospital administrators.
"I have no other option than for a judge to rule on the conflict for the defense of a right as basic as that of freedom of conscience and of reason, which is the foundation of a democratic system, because otherwise we would be living in a dictatorship or a tyranny," Rodriguez Martin explained.
-Read More...
Speaking with CNA on Aug. 31 in Rome, where he is attending an international conference, Rodriguez Martin said he has had to limit his work to assisting at births and treating women in their third trimesters because of his opposition to performing pre-natal tests often used by women to decide whether or not to obtain an abortion. "The better the prenatal diagnosis, the more abortions are performed," he explained.
"As a doctor, my mission is to protect life," he said. His request to be relieved of performing such tests was denied by hospital administrators.
"I have no other option than for a judge to rule on the conflict for the defense of a right as basic as that of freedom of conscience and of reason, which is the foundation of a democratic system, because otherwise we would be living in a dictatorship or a tyranny," Rodriguez Martin explained.
-Read More...
Spain Toward Euthanasia
"The organization Professionals for Ethics has warned that pro-euthanasia associations, working together with the radical wing of the Socialist Party, are hoping to "achieve their ideological goal of making death legal."
The organization said Sept. 1that pro-euthanasia forces are attempting to influence local governments until euthanasia is approved at the national level.
Ramona Estevez, a 90-year-old comatose woman in the city of Huelva, has become the poster child for supporters of euthanasia. Her son recently won approval from officials in the province of Andalusia to have her feeding tube withdrawn."
-Read More...
The organization said Sept. 1that pro-euthanasia forces are attempting to influence local governments until euthanasia is approved at the national level.
Ramona Estevez, a 90-year-old comatose woman in the city of Huelva, has become the poster child for supporters of euthanasia. Her son recently won approval from officials in the province of Andalusia to have her feeding tube withdrawn."
-Read More...
Archbishop Tells Catholics Not To Kneel For Communion
"The Archbishop of Glasgow, Scotland has told Catholics in his archdiocese not to kneel to receive communion.
"The Faithful should follow the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, namely coming to communion in procession and standing to receive Holy Communion," wrote Archbishop Mario Conti in a letter to all his priests, dated August 25.
"Standing in our Western culture is a mark of respect: kneeling at the altar rails (where they continue to exist) is not the practice envisaged by the instructions in the Missal," he stated.
The archbishop's letter was issued ahead of the introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal, which comes into effect throughout the English-speaking world this coming November.
Ironically, his instruction comes only a year after Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in Glasgow. At that papal Mass, all those receiving communion from the Pope did so kneeling on a pres-dieu.
"This is really awful," one Glasgow priest, who wished to remain anonymous, wrote to CNA.
-Read More...
"The Faithful should follow the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, namely coming to communion in procession and standing to receive Holy Communion," wrote Archbishop Mario Conti in a letter to all his priests, dated August 25.
"Standing in our Western culture is a mark of respect: kneeling at the altar rails (where they continue to exist) is not the practice envisaged by the instructions in the Missal," he stated.
The archbishop's letter was issued ahead of the introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal, which comes into effect throughout the English-speaking world this coming November.
Ironically, his instruction comes only a year after Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in Glasgow. At that papal Mass, all those receiving communion from the Pope did so kneeling on a pres-dieu.
"This is really awful," one Glasgow priest, who wished to remain anonymous, wrote to CNA.
-Read More...
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