Thursday, August 30, 2012

At convention, Ryan urges economic changes to decrease poverty

Tampa, Fla., Aug 30, 2012 / 12:55 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an Aug. 29 speech at the Republican National Convention, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called for fiscal responsibility as a key part of a moral response to the needs of the poor and unemployed.

Ryan -- who is Catholic -- outlined obligations that constitute "the moral creed of our country, as powerful in our time, as on the day of America's founding."

"We have responsibilities, one to another – we do not each face the world alone," he said at the Tampa Bay Times Forum as he formally accepted his party's nomination for vice president.

"And the greatest of all responsibilities, is that of the strong to protect the weak," he continued. "The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves."

In his address, the congressman criticized President Barack Obama's policies and voiced support for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who will officially become the Republican nominee for president on Aug. 30.

Ryan explained that despite their differences in generation, career path and religion, he and Romney "come together in the same moral creed."

"We believe that in every life there is goodness; for every person, there is hope," he said. "Each one of us was made for a reason, bearing the image and likeness of the Lord of Life."

He connected these moral obligations to prominent issues facing America, including a struggling economy, high levels of unemployment and the mounting national debt.

Pointing to the 23 million people who are unemployed or underemployed and nearly one in six Americans who are living in poverty, Ryan questioned why the next four years would be any different without a change in leadership.

The vice presidential nominee said that he and Romney would implement policies aimed at "generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years" and address the $16 trillion in debt that the U.S. currently faces.

"We need to stop spending money we don't have," he said.

Ryan also emphasized the need to "protect and strengthen Medicare," which he described as an "obligation we have to our parents and grandparents."

He criticized the 2010 Affordable Care Act for its "more than two thousand pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country" and charged that the Obama administration had funneled over $700 billion out of Medicare to help pay for the health care reform law.

Ryan gained national attention last spring amid debate over his proposed budget, which included significant spending cuts in an attempt to move towards balancing the federal budget.

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., who heads the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, wrote letters to Congress raising concerns that the proposed cuts in programs for the poor were "unjust" and would harm the most vulnerable.

Since then, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver and Ryan's local prelate, Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, Wis., have all spoken up to defend Ryan's reputation as a Catholic layman who takes his faith seriously, adding that there is room for debate among the faithful about how to solve these types of economic issues.

Ryan has responded to criticism of his budget by arguing that the poor are harmed most by the extreme federal debt. He contends that "big government" approaches to poverty have not worked and says that his ideas will help boost the economy and reduce poverty.

Ryan also commented on Romney's Mormon faith, which has drawn some attention throughout the election.

He said that while the two candidates attend different churches, the "best kind of preaching" in any church "is done by example."

"And I've been watching that example," he said. "The man who will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful and faithful and honorable. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of marriage at its best."

Ryan stressed that despite their differences in faith, he and Romney share an understanding of the "great moral ideas" that are "essential to democratic government," as well as the conviction that "our rights come from nature and God, not from government."



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Mexican bishop says indifference to Christ is impossible

Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 30, 2012 / 04:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Pedro Pablo Elizondo of Cancun-Chetumal, Mexico called on all Catholics to make a radical choice for Christ, stressing that being mediocre or indifferent to the faith is not an option.

In an Aug. 27 column posted on the Mexican bishops' website, Bishop Elizondo reflected on the Eucharistic discourse by Jesus in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, and the response by the crowd who found his statements to be “hard.”

“Faced with the rejection of his followers, Jesus was not frightened or discouraged; he simply asked them to make a radical choice,” Bishop Elizondo said.  

“He asks those who admire him to make up their minds whether they are with him or against him. You cannot remain indifferent to Christ; you must decide. Either you believe or you don’t, you stay or you leave, you are with me or against me.”

Today's world “easily envelops us in confusion and doubt,” the bishop added. “The world in which we love encourages a comfortable and mediocre life; the world in which we live fosters duplicity and incoherence.”

Now, “more than ever we need to make a radical choice: either follow him or leave him, be with him or against him,” Bishop Elizondo said.

“We can’t light one candle for God and another candle for the devil. Christ asks us again, 'Do you also want to leave'?”

“You also have to radically decide and make up your mind, do you stay or do you leave, do you stay with him or do you go away, but you can’t continue fooling yourself,” he said. “I hope that, like St. Peter, you say, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.'”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Final Republican platform has strong religious freedom plank

Tampa, Fla., Aug 29, 2012 / 01:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. Republican Party included a significant section on the importance of religious freedom in its new official platform, adopted on Aug. 28 in Tampa, Fla.

“We pledge to respect the religious beliefs and rights of conscience of all Americans and to safeguard the independence of their institutions from government,” stated the 2012 Republican platform, which was formally approved at the party’s national convention on Tuesday.

The party explained that its positions respect “God-given individual rights,” including the freedom “of every American to follow his or her beliefs.”

The importance of religious freedom can be seen in its prominent placement in the “first provision of the First Amendment,” the platform said.

It quoted the American founders, who believed that religion would be a critical element for the nation’s success because “democracy presupposes a moral people.”

The document also warned of current attempts to push religion “out of the public square,” seen most prominently in efforts to force religious institutions and individuals to abandon their deeply held beliefs regarding health care, marriage and abortion.

This “forcible secularization of religious and religiously affiliated organizations” has been made more dangerous by “the current Administration’s audacity in declaring which faith-related activities are, or are not, protected by the First Amendment,” it said.

Chief among religious freedom concerns in America is a federal mandate that requires employers to offer health insurance that includes contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.

The Republican Party officially approved language supporting “the ability of all organizations to provide, purchase, or enroll in healthcare coverage consistent with their religious, moral or ethical convictions without discrimination or penalty.”

It further supported the right of citizens and faith based organizations to fully participate in public life without sacrificing their convictions, and it called for increased conscience protection for healthcare professionals.

The party also embraced protecting religious liberty overseas. It vowed to emphasize advocacy for this fundamental freedom and praised the work of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

In another area of concern to values voters, the 2012 Republican platform affirmed “the sanctity of human life” and endorsed a “human life amendment” to the U.S. Constitution. 

The party opposed the public funding of organizations that perform and promote abortions, both domestically and internationally, as well as euthanasia, assisted suicide and early abortion-inducing drugs. It encouraged “a ban on human cloning” and called for stem cell research “without the destruction of embryonic human life.”

Arguing that health care coverage should be extended “to children before birth,” the platform also applauded legislative efforts to restrict abortion and promote adoption and other life-affirming options for those facing difficult pregnancies.

While explaining that “all Americans should be treated with respect and dignity,” the Republican Party also called for the defense and protection of marriage.

It acknowledged the critical role of marriage as an institution that provides “the foundation of civil society,” shown to be important for “the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values.”

The platform expressed support for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman for federal purposes and protects states from being forced to “recognize same-sex relationships licensed in other jurisdictions.”

Although the law was passed in 1996, the Obama administration announced in 2011 that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court. Since “the future of marriage affects freedom,” the Republican Party voiced its support for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to secure the definition of marriage.

Other planks in the GOP platform supported school choice through options such as vouchers and tax credits. The party encouraged “active prosecution against child pornography” and called for current laws on pornography “to be vigorously enforced.”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Cardinal George’s doctors schedule chemotherapy regimen

Chicago, Ill., Aug 29, 2012 / 04:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Francis George will undergo six sessions of chemotherapy over a period of four months to treat his second bout of cancer.

“Please continue to keep the Cardinal in your thoughts and prayers,” the Archdiocese of Chicago said Aug. 28.

The cardinal’s doctors at Loyola University Medical Center have settled on his course of treatment.

The 75-year-old cardinal will begin chemotherapy on Sept. 5. Each session will last three weeks. He will undergo chemotherapy during the first two weeks of each session and then spend a week without chemotherapy to allow his immune system to recover.

He plans to keep his regular work schedule, the archdiocese said. During weeks without chemotherapy, he will reduce his public schedule on account of his weakened immune system.

Medical tests found that the cardinal had a liver nodule which contained cancerous cells. He also had cancer cells in his right kidney. The tests could not confirm whether there is cancer elsewhere in his body.

The archdiocese said that Cardinal George is grateful to all those who have sent cards and e-mails expressing their concern and promising their prayers.

This is the cardinal’s second battle with cancer. He was first diagnosed in 2006 when at the age of 69 he underwent a five-hour operation to remove his bladder, prostate gland and sections of his ureters, the tubes which connect the kidneys to the bladder. Doctors believed the procedure had eliminated the cancer.

The archdiocese will announce his doctors’ evaluation of his current battle with cancer after the chemotherapy is completed.

In his Aug. 26 column for the archdiocesan paper Catholic New World, Cardinal George encouraged others to use his diagnosis as a time to “reflect upon God’s goodness and grow closer to Christ.”

He explained that he plans to say “little” about his cancer and his treatment even though it will “probably be a trying time for me in the next several months.”

Cardinal George has headed the Archdiocese of Chicago since 1997. He previously led the Diocese of Yakima, Wash. and the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore. He is a past president of the U.S. bishops’ conference and a past vicar general of the Oblates of Mary religious order.

The cardinal submitted his letter of resignation to Pope Benedict XVI upon turning 75, as required by Church law, but the Pope has not yet granted it. Cardinal George had not expected the Pope to accept his retirement for another three years.

On Aug. 24, he told reporters that the cancer diagnosis “might change the timeline a little bit” on his remaining in office.

He is the first Archbishop of Chicago to live to retirement age.

“I’m very lucky to be the first one to live with this position long enough to retire and I’m hoping to be able to do that,” the cardinal said, according to the suburban Chicago newspaper The Daily Herald.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Colombian Church supports peace talks between government, rebels

Bogotá, Colombia, Aug 29, 2012 / 04:08 pm (CNA).- The Bishops' Conference of Colombia announced its support on Aug. 28 for new peace talks between the government and the Marxist rebel group FARC.

In a statement signed by the president of the bishops' conference, Archbishop Ruben Salazar of Bogota praised the announcement by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos that “exploratory talks” with the FARC “to seek an end to the conflict” would soon be held.

“Colombians can be fully confident that the government is working with prudence, seriousness and determination and is always prioritizing the well-being and tranquility of all the inhabitants of our country,” President Santos said.

He noted that the efforts to reach out to the FARC have taken place with three goals in mind: “to learn from the mistakes of the past in order to not repeat them, to maintain the presence and operations of the military in every square inch of the country, and to achieve an end to the conflict, not to prolong it.”

The announcement marks the first time in a decade that the Colombian government will sit down for formal talks with the FARC. The television network Telesur reported that the talks will be held in Oslo on Oct. 5.

President Santos said the National Liberation Army has also been invited to participate in the peace talks, after its leaders expressed interest to international reporters.

In their statement, the bishops said they “welcome with joy and hope the announcement by the president of exploratory talks with insurgent forces in order to establish the foundations for a peace process that will lead us, with God’s help, to ending the armed conflict.”

“We offer our full support for this government initiative,” the bishops added. They also expressed their “willingness to contribute to the search for peace” and to create “a climate of forgiveness of reconciliation among all Colombians.”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Friday, August 24, 2012

Former SSPX community granted formal status in Catholic Church

Aberdeen, Scotland, Aug 24, 2012 / 01:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A traditionalist religious order that used to be part of the breakaway Society of St. Pius X has received formal recognition as a diocesan institute within the Catholic Church.

“On this festive solemnity of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God body and soul into Heaven our spiritual joy and fraternal rejoicing is great indeed,” read the statement issued Aug. 15 by the Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer. The religious community is based on the tiny island of Papa Stronsay in the Orkney Isles off the north coast of Scotland.

“Our community,” it announced, “has been granted canonical recognition as a Clerical Institute of Diocesan Right by His Lordship the Right Reverend Dom Hugh Gilbert, O.S.B., Bishop of Aberdeen.”

The move brings to a completion a process of reconciliation that began in 2008 when the community joined the Catholic Church following Pope Benedict XVI’s issuing of “Summorum Pontificum.”  The papal decree allowed traditional Latin rites to be more widely used within the Church.

“I am pleased that the process of canonical recognition has been completed and I hope that The Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer will be able to contribute fully to the life of the Church,” Bishop Gilbert said Aug. 15.

Since becoming bishop in August 2011, Bishop Gilbert has undertaken two official visits to Papa Stronsay to help formalize the order’s position within the Church. On Aug. 22 he returned to conclude matters by celebrating the community’s public profession of vows.

The Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer purchased Papa Stronsay  --  which means “Priests Island of Stronsay” – back in 1999. In 2007, the order also created a new foundation in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Although the Scottish community owns the island, life can be austere since the remote location does not have services for gas, electricity, phones or water. Instead, the order produces electricity with a diesel generator, pumps water from wells, and heats its buildings and water with kerosene burners.

The journey to the island from the mainland usually requires two ferry trips, followed by another five-minute crossing on the monastery’s boat. 



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Pope urges laity to share Gospel with a world in darkness

Vatican City, Aug 24, 2012 / 04:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI told a group of lay people this week that the world needs their courageous and credible testimony to bring the hope of the Gospel to all areas of society.

In a message sent to the International Forum of Catholic Action in Iasi, Romania, the Pope reflected on the laity's responsibility to the Church and society, reported Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano.

“Co-responsibility demands a change in mentality, in particularly, about the role of the laity in the Church, who are considered not as ‘collaborators’ with the clergy, but as persons truly ‘co-responsible’ for being and acting of the Church,” he said.

The world needs a “a mature and committed laity,” which “can make its own specific contribution to the ecclesial mission with respect for the ministries and tasks that each one has in the life of the Church and always in cordial communion with the bishops.”

The laity's role is of fundamental importance, especially “in this phase of history,” the Pope stressed, to be interpreted “in the light of the Church’s social Magisterium.”

Lay men and women should also aim to “grow, with the whole Church,” he noted, “in the co-responsibility of offering humanity a future of hope and with the courage to formulate demanding proposals.”

Recalling the “long and fruitful history” of Catholic laity as “courageous witnesses of Christ,” the Pope invited the participants in the Forum to renew their commitment “to walking on the way of holiness, keeping up an intense life of prayer, encouraging and respecting personal ways of faith.”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Denver archbishop: city wrong to snub company in religious freedom fight

Denver, Colo., Aug 24, 2012 / 05:03 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila has criticized a Denver city councilwoman for withdrawing a proclamation that praised a Catholic-run company, after she learned that the owners filed a religious freedom lawsuit against the federal government.

“Choosing to marginalize the owners of Hercules for their religiosity is an insult to the founding values of our nation,” the Denver archbishop said in an Aug. 23 opinion piece in the Denver Post.

“When religious people are marginalized from the public square all of us lose,” he said. “Religious values (like those of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., for example) have served as forces for great public good in America. Public shame of the religiously convicted undermines the American ideal.”

His comments come in response to the actions of Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech, who had initially intended to recognized the Denver-based HVAC manufacturer Hercules Industries’ 50th anniversary.
 
The business’ Catholic owners are suing the Obama administration over a Department of Health and Human Services mandate requiring employers to provide no co-pay insurance coverage for sterilization and contraception, including some abortion-causing drugs. They say the mandate violates their religious freedom.

A federal court has granted the company an injunction against the mandate until the case is resolved.

Kniech withdrew the proposed proclamation before its passage, saying she hoped to avoid a “partisan food fight” in an election year.

Archbishop Aquila said the resolution’s withdrawal is “unsurprising” but “disappointing.”

“By all appearances, Kniech discovered that Hercules had religious convictions, and she sought distance,” he said.

He said that the company’s religious values compel it to offer “generous health care coverage and benefits” and to support its unionized workforce.

“The same religious values compel them to protect their right to a clear conscience -- to observe the norms of religious morality in their public life,” he wrote.

While the Archbishop Aquila said that governments can legitimately protect the public when religious conscience threatens “essential human freedom or dignity,” he rejected any contention that the mandate is in this category.

He also noted that there are “increasing threats” to religious institutions and practices, citing a recent report that showed an increase in hostility to religion.

“The HHS mandate is designed to fund private sexual expression -- and even abortion -- from the coffers of American businesses,” he charged. “Trading free access to contraception for our foundational reverence for religious liberty is a betrayal of our history -- and a short-sighted plan for America.”

In response to Kniech’s decision to withdraw the commendation for Hercules Industries, Colorado House Speaker Frank McNulty issued a commendation for the company on behalf of the Colorado House of Representatives. The Denver Post also editorialized against the councilwoman’s action.

Archbishop Aquila said Speaker McNulty “rightly commended” the company.

“I pray the Denver City Council will do the same,” he said.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Ave Maria Radio celebrates 15th year in Catholic broadcasting

Ann Arbor, Mich., Aug 24, 2012 / 05:42 pm (CNA).- Defying the odds against success, the world's largest producer of original English-language Catholic radio programming, Ave Maria Radio, is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

“Our Lady is surely pleased to lend her name to such a great mission!” EWTN Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Doug Keck said in light of the anniversary.

Keck said he and everyone at EWTN want to congratulate the “faith-filled professionals” of Ave Maria Radio for their “'Fiat' to the work of Catholic media evangelization.

In 1997, Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza and former owner of the Detroit Tigers, took up an offer of free radio programming from EWTN founder Mother Angelica for any Catholic radio station.

“At that time, the landscape of Catholic radio was like a barren desert,” Ave Maria said in an Aug. 22 statement.

Since then, Ave Maria Radio has grown to the 20 different titles, including three live programs that air weekly on EWTN's global Catholic radio network's nearly 200 stations.

Additionally, the radio programmer now offers streaming internet audio as well as Android and iPhone apps.

Hard times struck the broadcasting company in the winter of 2002 when manager Al Kresta was attacked by a flesh-eating virus.

Though the virus was life-threatening and required the amputation of his left leg, Kresta offered up his illness for Ave Maria Radio and said the experience brought him closer to God.

After a six-month recovery period, he returned as President and CEO of Ave Maria Radio, where he now hosts the nationally syndicated “Kresta in the Afternoon” show.

To celebrate the anniversary, Ave Maria Radio will host an Aug. 25 concert at 7:30 p.m. in the Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan Campus. It will feature popular country musician Collin Raye and Nashville recording artist Andrea Thomas.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Thursday, August 23, 2012

CNA editor to lead communications for Los Angeles archdiocese

Denver, Colo., Aug 23, 2012 / 02:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic News Agency's editor-in-chief, David Scott, has been tapped to lead the communications operations of the nation’s largest archdiocese.

Archbishop José H. Gomez has appointed Scott as his vice chancellor for communications. Scott will “direct and coordinate all internal and external communications for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles,” according to a statement released by the archdiocese Aug. 20.

The Los Angeles archdiocese spans nearly 9,000 square miles and encompasses 120 cities in southern California. It serves a Catholic population of roughly 5 million in 288 parishes and is one of world’s most diverse archdioceses, ministering to 72 different ethnic and national groups and offering liturgies and pastoral services in roughly 40 languages.

A veteran Catholic journalist, Scott has served as CNA’s editor-in-chief since 2010. He helped guide Catholic News Agency during a period of growth that saw the agency expand its coverage of national and international affairs and cultural issues.

During his tenure, the agency launched a subscription service for diocesan newspapers and was selected as the exclusive newswire provider for the National Catholic Register, the nation’s premier Catholic newsweekly. Scott also helped the agency establish new digital and multimedia operations and expand its Rome bureau.

“This appointment is an honor,” Scott said. “Archbishop Gomez is one of the great leaders in the Church today. I’m excited to help him communicate his vision for the new evangelization and the power and beauty of the Gospel.”

“But I am really sad to leave CNA,” Scott added. “This is a special place. Every day I had the privilege of working with the sharpest, most creative journalists and editors in the business. They have the highest professional values and a true dedication to Catholic journalism as a vocation. I’m going to miss them a lot.”

“For me, CNA represents the future of Catholic media,” Scott continued. “This agency understands that Catholic journalism has to serve the Church’s mission in a global culture where many people are indifferent to God, and where powerful interest groups are unfriendly to the Church and the Catholic vision of life and society.”

With news bureaus in North and South America and Europe, the Denver-based Catholic News Agency and EWTN News operation is one of the biggest and fastest growing independent Catholic media outlets in the world.

Through its Editors’ Service, the agency also provides a full range of news, features, commentary web-video and photojournalism for print and internet publications. CNA’s sister news agency, ACI Prensa, is the largest provider of Catholic news in Spanish.

“David Scott has played a tremendous role in helping to take CNA/EWTN News to the next level of its development,” said Michael Warsaw, President and CEO of EWTN, the world’s largest Catholic media organization. “He has a keen news sense and a tremendous understanding of the Church and her teachings.”

“All of us are very grateful for David’s service to our mission,” Warsaw said. “While I hate to see him leave his current role with us, I think he is the perfect person for this new position within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. I wish David well and assure him of our prayers.”

Alejandro Bermúdez, executive director of Catholic News Agency, stated that “David’s departure marks a significant transition for CNA.”

“He will be greatly missed in the day to day operations, but we are energized by his enthusiasm and knowledge and the vision he has given to our team.”  

“That vision includes expanding our presence in the new media, especially our growing services to Catholic news editors in the English-speaking world,” Bermudez said.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

World Youth Day volunteers receive Olympic flag in Rio

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 23, 2012 / 04:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The official flag of the Olympic Games, on its way from London to Rio de Janeiro's Shrine of Christ the Redeemer, was received by Archbishop Orani Tempesta and World Youth Day volunteers.

The flag was presented during a ceremony on Aug. 19 attended by the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, and the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

Archbishop Orani said the presence of the flag next to Christ the Redeemer should be a reminder that the preparations for the Summer Games in 2016 should take place in an atmosphere of peace and fraternity.

“We pray for the intercession of Christ the Redeemer so that, not only during the Olympics, the presence of the Olympic flag will lead us to seek after peace, understanding and fraternity,” the archbishop said.

After the ceremony to receive the flag, the rector of the Shrine of Christ the Redeemer, Father Omar Raposo, celebrated Mass for the Wolrd Youth Day volunteers. In his homily, he reflected on the mission Christians have in the world.

“Service to God demands of us sacrifice and good will. We do everything for love of God and our Redeemer,” he said.

Pope Benedict is slated to attend the global youth event next summer, which will take place from July 23-July 28.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

'Last Ounce of Courage' aims to fuel dialogue on religious freedom

Denver, Colo., Aug 23, 2012 / 06:06 pm (CNA).- The upcoming family-friendly film, “Last Ounce of Courage” by director Darrel Campbell, takes the debate surrounding religious freedom and public expression of faith to the big screen.

Campbell said he intends the film to not only address how and why we celebrate Christmas in today's politically correct society, but also honor the soldiers and veterans who serve our country, “strap on the boots, and go in harm’s way.”

The movie, which will be released Sept. 14 on 1200 screens nationwide, follows three generations of the fictional Revere family.

Bob Revere, played by veteran actor Marshall Teague, is a decorated war hero and the part-time mayor of a small town. But his life drastically changes when his son Tom goes off to war and is killed. Adding to his pain, Tom's young wife – who had just given birth to their son Christian – drifts away from the family in her grief.

After 14 years, however, Christian and his mom decide to come back into the Reveres' life one holiday season, looking for the family they desperately need and miss.

When he settles into the community, Christian finds himself chastised for bringing a bible to school and observes Christmas being ignored or secularized when once it was celebrated by locals.

One day, Christian asks his grandfather what his father had died for. When Bob has no quick answer, they both start down a road to find the answer’s they have been hiding from. Soon, all three generations of Reveres take a stand for their beliefs and end up inspiring an entire town.

“I always wanted to do a film about Christmas time,” Campbell told CNA on Aug. 22, recalling that the inspiration for the film began four years ago when he received a religious tract titled “Keeping Christ in Christmas.”

Although he realized that it was an “emotional and electric subject matter,” he said he was tired of seeing Christmas “getting pushed into the background in civic life.”

Along with the theme of putting Christ back into Christmas, Campbell said that the film is also “a celebration of those who have given their last full measure of devotion.”

The director’s father was a Sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II and his brother, Campbell’s uncle, lost his life in that same war. Campbell said he wants the film to prompt audiences to ask “what can I do to make sure their sacrifice is not in vain?”

Lead actor Marshall Teague agreed. He told CNA that he hopes that moviegoers ask themselves “what are we willing to do?”

“You start with your first ounce of courage,” he said, explaining that “That first ounce of courage is your voice – speaking up.”

Finding one's voice allows individuals to publicly say “I believe in this country, I believe in the people, I believe in freedom, I believe in my church, my religion, my faith,” Teague said. “This country is based on faith, family, and freedom, and that’s what the movie is about.”

“It is very rare for faith based film to be about our country and our people,” he added. “This is really a movie about all of us.”

Campbell said he aimed to make the film in a way that was “ecumenical – in the sense that it’s not protestant or catholic, but it is Christian.”

More information on the film can be found at: http://www.alrcnewskitchen.com/looc.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Music journalist explores religious qualities of rock 'n' roll

Rimini, Italy, Aug 22, 2012 / 03:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Rock ‘n’ roll is innately religious and expresses a desire for the infinite, according to one of Ireland’s leading music journalists.

“This music is generated in the heart of man and is therefore fundamentally of the religious need, which is the fundamental original need of man; to know who made him, who he is, where he is bound,” said John Waters in an Aug. 21 interview with CNA.

Waters is the creator of a new exhibition entitled “Three chords and a longing for the truth; rock ‘n’ roll as a seeking for the infinite.” The display is proving to be hugely popular at the 33rd Rimini Meeting, an international gathering organized by the lay Catholic movement Communion and Liberation.

“The media always present rock ‘n’ roll simply as some kind of extravaganza of sensation and noise and stardom and narcissism and ego mania. But we are saying that within this shell of superficiality there is a hard core of fundamental content which is really the cry of man expressed in a modern idiom.”

Beyond the 800,000 visitors to this year’s Rimini Meeting, Waters wanted to offer his hi-tech, interactive exhibition to one person in particular – Pope Benedict XVI.

“When he was elected in 2005, all the hostile journalists dug back through all of his articles and speeches and tried to find things that would discredit him,” Waters said, recalling how the media finally unearthed a 1996 article in which Cardinal Ratzinger had opined, in the words of Waters, that “rock ‘n’ roll only appeals to the lower emotions of man and was therefore dangerous.”
 
Waters believes that Pope Benedict “is right in a certain sense,” that our modern culture only wants rock ‘n’ roll to be about “exaggerated sexuality, self-indulgence and narcissism.”

But he also wanted to show the pontiff a deeper reality.

“I wanted in a way to take the Pope by the elbow and lead him into this music and say, ‘come, there’s more, look at these artists, look at Bob Dylan, listen to what he is saying, listen to Leonard Cohen, listen to U2, see the sincerity of these people with the great questions that face man. And don’t be taken in by the exterior, by the noise, by the sensation, by the headlines.’”
 
At 57 years-old, Waters has been writing about rock ‘n’ roll for over 30 years, having started out in journalism in Dublin with the Irish political-music magazine Hot Press in 1981. At the same time and in the same city, the band U2 was beginning its ascent to rock stardom. Waters believes that the Irish group, fronted by lead singer Bono, is a classic example of, what he calls, a cultural “Trojan horse.”
 
“When U2 began they were a very overtly Christian band but they got hammered by the critics, particularly in the U.K., and after several albums they began to realize that they couldn’t survive in this medium if they didn’t change.”
 
What changed, however, was only their exterior. “They became more ironic, they dressed differently, they moved differently, but their music remained the same.”
 
Thus U2 managed to win over the same critics, he said, which then “allowed them to bring their music even further into the center of the public square.”

Waters contests that there is an “Atlantic divide” when it comes to the “credent pillars of modern pop and rock ‘n’ roll,” with a “British model” that is more ideological and destructive, standing in contrast to its American counterpart.

The British model, as exemplified by the 1970s punk movement, “always seemed to believe that rock ‘n’ roll should be a political form of rebellion which implicitly became socially left-wing,” Waters said. But the American model has “always had a far more existential dimension, a far broader dimension,” a characteristic that he traces to its “relationship with the primal music of the Blues and Gospel.”
 
So while the British model has tended to inform the analysis of music critics, it is “not necessarily the impulse that is to be found in the music,” he said, holding up legendary American artists such as Sam Cooke, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen as examples.
 
“They play the game of the modern culture, speaking to the communications media in a certain language, and yet in their songs they speak an entirely different language.”
 
As for that visit by Pope Benedict XVI to his exhibition in Rimini? “The Pope hasn’t yet arrived but maybe he will get to hear something of what we’ve done here,” Waters quipped with a smile.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Archdiocese of Mexico City denies influence in mayoral elections

Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 22, 2012 / 04:06 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Mexico City has strongly denied claims by a former candidate for mayor of the capital that it interfered in the July 1 elections to prevent her from winning.

In an interview on Aug. 20 with the archdiocese's News Service, spokesman Fr. Hugo Valdemar responded to statements made by Miranda de Wallaces, a pro-abortion candidate from the PAN party.

Wallaces told a local newspaper on Aug. 17, “There were people who were working against my candidacy,” referring to the spokesman and Cardinal Norberto Rivera.

“They told people not to vote for me,” she said, “and somebody from the PAN went to see Cardinal Rivera to get Fr. Valedmar to say they should not vote for me.”

In his response, Fr. Valdemar argued that only “an irresponsible person acting in bad faith could make such a serious accusation without saying who that 'somebody' is that went to see the cardinal for the reasons she claims.”  

“Ms. Wallace has the obligation to reveal the name of that person,” he said, adding that Wallace will clearly “not do so because this is offensive gossip that she takes to be true.”

Fr. Valdemar said that he did make several statements regarding the “scandalous” support of the former candidate for abortion and homosexual unions, but that it was “totally false” that he advised people not to vote for her.  

“What I said was that if she continued to hold this pro-abortion stance, as the Church we would be obliged to take a strong and clear position.”

“In reality I was never concerned about the candidacy of Ms. Wallace. It was very clear that her campaign would be a failure and she would be relegated to an embarrassing third place, which is what happened,” the priest said.

“Why launch a campaign against her then? That assumption is ridiculous, and if I had said not to vote for her, then I don’t understand why Ms. Wallace and the PAN did not file a lawsuit against me with elections officials,” Fr. Valdemar added.

Telling the former candidate she needs to be more “mature,” Fr. Valdemar said that each person “should assume responsibility and not go about blaming others.”

Miguel Angel Mancera of the PRD party – which legalized abortion and homosexual unions in Mexico City – was the winner of the July 1 elections for mayor of the Mexican capital.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Cardinal Dolan to give benediction at Republican convention

Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2012 / 05:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, head of the U.S. Catholic bishops' conference, has been invited to offer the final benediction at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

The news was announced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in an exclusive interview with Raymond Arroyo, host of EWTN's news program The World Over.

Cardinal Dolan will give the concluding benediction prayer on August 30, the final night of the GOP convention, where Mitt Romney is slated to accept the presidential nomination for his party.

The cardinal has not endorsed either candidate in the 2012 presidential race.

However, he has been an outspoken critic of a mandate issued by the Obama administration to require employers to offer health insurance plans that covers contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.

Numerous dioceses, non-profit organization and Catholic-owned businesses have sued the administration, arguing that the mandate violates the First Amendment by forcing them to compromise their deeply held religious convictions.

Obama has also voiced support for abortion and is the first U.S. president to openly advocate a redefinition of marriage to include homosexual couples.

Arroyo explained that during the interview, Romney “breaks news about what we can expect at the Republican National Convention and reacts to charges by President Obama that he chose Paul Ryan as his running mate to lower his personal tax burden.”

“He also talks about the hot issue of religious liberty, the role of prayer in his life, and how being a bishop in the Mormon Church prepared him for the presidency,” he said.

The interview with Romney will air on EWTN at 8 p.m. EDT on Aug. 23.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Platform supporting marriage gets initial GOP approval

Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2012 / 06:03 pm (CNA).- Platform drafters for the Republican Party have approved language asserting a firm commitment to the defense of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

“The institution of marriage is the foundation of civil society,” the draft document states. “Its success as an institution will determine our success as a nation.”

The document says that both experience and studies indicate that marriage has physical, emotional, academic and economic benefits for children.

It reaffirms the party's support for marriage as the union of one man and one woman, while also highlighting that all Americans should be treated with “respect and dignity” regardless of their sexual orientation.

An Aug. 21 statement from the D.C.-based Family Research Council said that president Tony Perkins, a delegate in the subcommittee dealing with family issues, played a role in helping “to reinforce the language on marriage.”

The language will receive a vote at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., and is expected to pass.

The draft document acknowledges marriage as “the institution which, for thousands of years in virtually every civilization, has been entrusted with the rearing of children and the transmission of cultural values.”

It warns of activist judges attempting to exercise power that rightly belong to other branches of government.

Judges in a handful of states have ordered that marriage be redefined to include same-sex couples, but in every state where the question has been put to a vote of the people, marriage as the union of one man and one woman has been upheld.

The approved GOP draft language reiterates the party’s commitment to the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman for federal purposes and affirms the right of states and the federal government not to recognize same-sex relationships from other jurisdictions.

The law, which received bipartisan support in Congress and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, has come under attack in recent months.

In February 2011, the Obama administration announced that it believed the law was discriminatory and unconstitutional and would therefore stop defending it in court.

Last month, reports indicated that a Democratic drafting committee voted to add a plank endorsing “gay marriage” to the party's national platform.

The GOP draft document also applauds the efforts of states that have adopted constitutional amendments to define marriage as “the union of one man and one woman” and voices support for a similar amendment at the federal level.

While acknowledging the reality of one-parent households in the U.S., it insists that marriage as the union of one man and one woman “must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage.”

The Republican Party’s platform committee has also drafted a resolution reiterating its opposition to abortion and support for a human life amendment to defend unborn children, while a Democratic committee rejected a request to recognize the pro-life stance of some of its members in its platform.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Pro-life groups in Uruguay denounce new attempts to legalize abortion

Montevideo, Uruguay, Aug 21, 2012 / 04:03 pm (CNA).- Around twenty pro-life organizations are denouncing what they call “anti-democratic and unconstitutional” moves by supporters of a measure that would legalize abortion in Uruguay.

In an Aug. 16 statement read in the Uruguayan Congress after the bill was rejected by the Committee on Health Care, pro-life leaders warned there were numerous bills aimed at legalizing abortion, not just one, and that all of them “aim to force health care centers to perform abortions.”

They also denounced the Senate for refusing to allow pro-life organizations to testify and for rushing a bill through the Senate in Christmas of 2011 to escape public notice.  

Since the measure did not gain the approval of the Public Health Committee, abortion supporters pushed for the creation of a “Special Commission” comprised of a pro-abortion majority that approved it “literally in the dark of night.”

Pro-life groups called the move by the Commission “anti-democratic” and “unconstitutional.”  They noted that the measure does not address the needs of women or of the unborn and “totally ignores the rights and obligations of parents.”  

“It does not address the demographic reality of our country, which is characterized by a low birth rate and an ageing population.”

They also complained that numerous proposed measures that would help pregnant women and their babies are not being debated in Congress.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Federal judge dismisses abuse lawsuit against Vatican

Portland, Ore., Aug 21, 2012 / 04:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A federal judge dismissed a sex abuse lawsuit against the Holy See on grounds that the Vatican was not an employer of the accused ex-priest and cannot be held financially liable for the abuse.

Jeffrey Lena, counsel for the Holy See, told CNA on Aug. 21 that the ruling is “particularly important.”

It follows a years-long legal examination of whether the Vatican has sovereign immunity protecting it from such lawsuits.

On Monday U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman in Portland, Ore. ruled that the laicized Servite priest Andrew Ronan, who allegedly molested the plaintiff as a teenager in 1965 and 1966, did not have an employee-employer relationship with the Vatican.

Such a relationship was the only remaining legal justification for the lawsuit against the Vatican, Lena said.

He added that the federal court examined documents related to the case and found “no evidence that the Holy See was the employer of Ronan, or that it transferred Ronan, or that it knew of the abuse in question until after the abuse had taken place in 1965.”

He said that only the Servite order knew of the abuse until it petitioned for the laicization of Fr. Ronan in 1966.

When the Holy See learned of the abuse, Lena said, “it dismissed Ronan from the clerical state very quickly, in just five weeks.”

Judge Mosman compared the Vatican’s control over a priest to the Oregon legal bar’s control of lawyers through sanctions and disbarment but not through direct firing. He said the plaintiff’s argument that the Vatican has absolute control over all priests could mean that all Catholics could be considered Vatican employees, the Associated Press reports.

The plaintiff, named in the suit as John V. Doe, filed his case in 2002. He is represented by Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson.

Anderson said that Ronan, who died in 1992, sexually abused children in Ireland and Chicago before being transferred to Portland, Ore. He said the abuse was kept secret from parishioners and authorities to avoid scandal.

“We believe all of the responsibility lies with the Vatican,” he said. He plans to appeal the decision.

Doe’s lawsuit against the Friar Servants of Mary is still active. His suits against the Diocese of Portland and the Archdiocese of Chicago were dismissed several years ago.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Monday, August 20, 2012

Pope explores man's connection to the Infinite

Rimini, Italy, Aug 20, 2012 / 02:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict welcomed the 33rd Rimini Meeting, an annual gathering organized by the lay Catholic movement Communion & Liberation, by examining mankind's relation to the infinite.

“To discuss the subject of man and his yearning for the infinite means first and foremost recognizing his constitutive relationship with the Creator. Man is a creature of God,” the Pope said in a letter for the start of the Aug. 19-25 gathering.

“Today,” he said, “this word – creature– seems to be out of fashion: it would be more likely to think of man as a self-fulfilled being and master of his own destiny.”

But this worldview still means that man “attempts to grasp the Infinite.” He does so by choosing “incorrect methods” such as “drugs, disordered sexuality, technologies that devour man, success at any price and with misleading forms of religiosity,” Pope Benedict observed.

Communion & Liberation grew out of the teaching methods of its Italian founder Father Luigi Giussani. As a high school teacher in 1950s Milan, he wanted to help young people live out their Catholic faith in everyday life. The group that emerged around him became known as “Communion & Liberation.”

Since 1980 the movement has held an annual “Meeting for the Friendship among Peoples” in the Italian seaside resort of Rimini. The gathering is described as “an encounter among persons of different faiths and cultures” where “peace, socialization, and a friendship among peoples may be established.”

This year’s event will bring over 800,000 visitors from more than 20 nations to the Rimini Fiera conference center to enjoy seminars, guest speakers, exhibitions, cinema, theatre, music and sporting events.

Pope Benedict told the conference that despite the “original sin” of our first parents, which ruptured the human race’s relationship with God, every person still has “an aching desire to reconcile this relationship, resembling the signature sealed with fire in man’s soul and his flesh by the Creator himself.”

This instinct is summed up, he suggested, in Psalm 63 where the author pleads, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

“Not only my soul but every fiber of my flesh is made to encounter its peace and its fulfillment in God,” said the Pope, reflecting upon the Old Testament text.

“This tension is impossible to eliminate from the heart of man: even when one rejects or denies God, the thirst for the infinite that inhabits man does not melt away,” he said.

It is this hard-wired instinct, the Pope explained, that can lead some to mistakenly pursue “an arduous and sterile search for ‘false infinites’” that only satisfy the soul for “an instant” because they attempt to “replace the real thirst for the true Infinite.”

Pope Benedict told participants that truly recognizing we are “made for the Infinite” means pursuing “a journey of purification in order to leave the ‘false infinities’ behind.” This requires a “conversion of the heart and the mind” to uproot all those promises of the infinite “that are false and seduce man, rendering him a slave.”

Once a person undergoes this conversion, he wrote in his letter, then they are able to recognize they are “a creature, dependent on God,” which is accompanied by the “joyful discovery” that they are “children of God” and have “the possibility of a completely free and fulfilled life.”

How, though, can people bridge the gap between the finite and infinite? The Pope said that this question leads us “straight to the core of Christianity” – the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

“Ever since the Incarnation, from the moment when the Word became flesh, the overwhelming gap between finiteness and infiniteness vanished; the eternal and infinite God left His Heaven and entered time.”

It is then, said the Pope, that each person can discover “the truest dimension of human existence” as continually taught by the Father Giussani – “life as vocation.”

 



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Spanish Catholic justice fends off calls to recuse himself in abortion case

Madrid, Spain, Aug 20, 2012 / 04:06 pm (CNA).- Justice Andres Ollero of Spain's Constitutional Court, who will write the ruling on a case challenging the country's 2010 abortion law, has warded off calls to recuse himself because he is Catholic.

“It makes no sense to think that the justices come to the (court) with preconceived prescriptions,” Justice Ollero said in an Aug. 16 article published by the ABC newspaper.

Justice Ollero underscored that as a judge, he has taken an oath to carry out his office “respecting a strict constitutional-juridical methodology, which differs from that of moral controversies or political debates.”

He said it would be an “insult” to claim that justices who are believers are incapable of finding rational arguments to establish the unconstitutionality of a law.

Because of its defense of basic human values, Catholicism is “a very reasonable religion,” he added.  To discredit those who have a different opinion by claiming they have “pre-constitutional ideas” is “political irrationality.”

Ollero said the justice who writes the upcoming ruling on abortion only has one vote and is speaking for the majority on the court.  

“If his arguments do not convince the majority, he should chose to either make the corrections that do reflect the opinion of the majority, or not write the opinion, which would then be passed on to another justice without any problem.”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Scottish cardinal snubs government in 'same-sex marriage' row

Edinburgh, Scotland, Aug 20, 2012 / 04:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Keith P. O’Brien has broken-off direct talks with the Scottish government in protest over their decision to back “same-sex marriage.”

“The Cardinal wants to maintain a dialogue with the Scottish government but that can be difficult when you feel that everything you have had to say, to date at least, has been completely ignored,” Peter Kearney, spokesman for Cardinal O’Brien, told CNA Aug. 20.

The cardinal’s actions follow the Scottish government’s move last month to legislate for “same-sex marriage,” despite nearly two-thirds of those who responded to their official consultation being against the initiative. In total, 64 percent of the 77,508 who replied said they did not want marriage redefined.

Meanwhile, Cardinal O’Brien’s subsequent call for a referendum on the issue was also quickly dismissed by the Edinburgh administration. He has now told the Scottish government that any future discussions on the matter should take place between officials.

“While this is an honest disagreement over policy, on a personal level relations between the First Minister and the Cardinal are extremely good,” said a spokesman for Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond. The spokesman also confirmed that the two men spoke over the phone this past weekend and added that “Mr. Salmond holds the Cardinal in the highest regard and will always do so.”

In June, leading Scottish lawyer Aidan O’Neill warned that “same-sex marriage” legislation will radically undermine religious liberty in Scotland.

He predicted that a change in the law could see employees sacked for opposing “same-sex marriage,” ministers and priests sued for refusing to allow “wedding” ceremonies in their churches, school children forced to attend homosexual history lessons and couples rejected as foster parents if they oppose the new legislation.

The Scottish government’s decision comes as the United Kingdom’s government, led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, has just concluded its consultation on the same issue. It has already promised to legislate for “same-sex marriage” in England and Wales by 2015.

 



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Survey reveals increasing hostility in US towards religion

Washington D.C., Aug 20, 2012 / 05:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A report examining court cases from recent years has found that hostility towards religion has grown to unprecedented levels in the United States.

The newly-updated Survey of Religious Hostility in America serves as “a testament to the radical shift in our culture’s worldview” on religion, said Kelly Shackelford, president of Liberty Institute, and Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council.

On Aug. 20, Shackelford and Perkins announced the release of the updated analysis, describing “more than 600 recent examples of religious hostility” in the U.S., most occurring in the last decade.

The survey arose out of Shackelford’s 2004 testimony before the U.S. Senate on the rise in religious hostility in the U.S. Some members of the Senate claimed that the examples given were “simply isolated incidents.” In response, the report was developed, documenting the “very real problem” that the issue poses.

The updated survey reveals that eight years later, “hostility against religious liberty has reached an all-time high,” said Perkins and Shackelford.

The report observed a “new front” of attacks against churches and religious ministries in recent years.

Five years ago, it said, it would have been “unthinkable” for the federal government to claim that it could “tell churches and synagogues which pastors and rabbis it can hire and fire.”

Yet this was the argument made by the U.S. Department of Justice in the recent Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC case, in which the federal government fought against the “ministerial exception” that allows churches to select their leaders without government interference, it said.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the Justice Department and defended ministerial exception in January.

The survey also documented an “explosion” within the last decade of “cases involving local governments discriminating against churches, particularly in the local governments’ use of zoning laws and granting of permits.”

In one case, a Texas law required all seminaries to receive “state approval of their curriculum, board members, and professors.”

Furthermore, the report documented increasing attacks on religious freedom in the public sphere, pushing “the boundaries of religious hostility” to new limits.   

In one instance, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs banned funerals at national cemeteries from including religious content, even if the grieving family wanted the ceremony to include references to God.

In addition, multiple challenges have been brought against veterans’ memorials containing crosses and displays of the Ten Commandments at state courthouses and capitols.  

The survey observed the shift in attitude towards these monuments, pointing out that even a decade ago, veterans’ memorials in the shape of a cross “were widely accepted as fitting symbols of the sacrifices made by so many for this country.”

It also noted several cases challenging prayer to open legislative assemblies, despite the fact that Congress has opened with prayer since the nation’s beginning.

One case showed how senior citizens at an elderly center in Balch Springs, Texas, were told that they could not pray over their meals because “religion is banned in public buildings.” City officials told the senior citizens that praying over government-funded food violated the “separation of church and state” and might result in the meals being taken away from them.

The report also noted the “alarming frequency” of attacks on religious liberty within schools. These cases, which often involve school officials preventing parents, teachers or students from speaking about their faith, are frequently the result of “misinformation” and threats of lawsuits from “secularist organizations,” it said.  

In one case, a federal judge threatened a high school valedictorian with “incarceration” if she did not remove references to Jesus from her graduation speech. In another, a student was asked “what Easter meant to her” and told that she could not say “Jesus.”

Another instance documented a public school district in Greenville, Texas, which told a woman that she could only have an assistant principal position if she took her children out of a private Christian school.

The survey also found multiple instances of schools banning Christmas cards and gifts with religious content.

Although these cases indicate a significant increase in religious hostility in the U.S., the report’s authors said, those who stand up for religious freedom “are winning” in court.

“As dark as this survey is, there is much light,” they noted.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Maronite patriarch warns Syrian conflict could spread to Lebanon

Antioch, Turkey, Aug 19, 2012 / 05:04 pm (CNA).- Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai of Antioch, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church, has warned that the armed conflict in Syria is affecting neighboring Lebanon and could trigger a major conflict in the country.

“The civil war in Syria between the Sunni majority and the Alawite minority has already begun to have an impact on the Sunnis and Alawites in north Lebanon, in Tripoli and Akkar,” he told Aid to the Church in Need.

The Lebanese are split into “supporters of the Assad regime and supporters of the opposition,” he said. The ongoing political conflict between Lebanon’s anti-Assad Sunnis and the pro-Assad Shiites will “become more pronounced due to the events in Syria.”

In response, he urged Lebanese Christians to become “more united” and meet their responsibilities.

“After all, based on their culture and mental attitude they always strive for peace, progress and the values of modernity. They love peace and fight for justice,” he said. “They are willing to live together and cooperate with Muslims, without prejudices and ulterior motives.”

For 17 months, rebels opposed to the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad have battled government forces in a conflict that has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.

Rebel forces have advanced on the airport of the strategic city Aleppo and have been fighting in Damascus.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others are helping arm the rebels, the Associated Press reports. The rebel forces include factions of the terrorist group Al Qaida.

The Assad government is predominantly Alawite, an offshoot of Islam distinct from the Shiite and Sunni branches. The government is an ally of Iran and has the backing of the Iran-linked militant group Hezbollah.

Some rebel factions have targeted Christians, bombed churches and driven them from their homes, under the reasoning that they are likely Assad supporters.

The possible deterioration of peace in Lebanon has prompted the governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain to recommend that their nationals in Lebanon leave the country.

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry also issued a similar warning “in anticipation of a spill-over from the Syrian Crisis.”

The patriarch said that Maronite Catholics in Syria are not being spared the violence of the conflict, but there are no direct attacks on them because “they are respected and do not interfere in politics.”

Patriarch Rai said that the rise of Islamist action will “absolutely not” end the Christian presence in the Middle East because most Muslims respect Christian contributions to society.

“The Muslims themselves recognize the importance of the presence of Christians due to their intellectual, moral and vocational qualities,” he said. “Also their respect for the law, their loyalty to the country and government authorities, without interfering in policy where the particular regime is theocratic, is also respected.”

The patriarch, who heads a branch of the Catholic Church that is in full communion with Rome, said he expects Pope Benedict XVI to address relations with Muslims and other faiths in September during his visit to Lebanon.

Pope Benedict’s apostolic exhortation concerning the 2010 Synod in the Middle East is set to be released during his visit.

Patriarch Rai said the letter will “inspire hope and encourage the peoples of the Middle East to intensify their unity and efforts at living together and to play their role within the Arab and international community.”

 



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Mary's assumption into heaven fosters hope on earth, Pope teaches

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Aug 15, 2012 / 01:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Having been taken into heaven both spiritually and bodily, the Virgin Mary helps believers to grow in “Christian hope” during their earthly lives, Pope Benedict XVI taught on the Feast of the Assumption.
 
The Pope celebrated Mass at Castel Gandolfo’s parish church of St. Thomas of Villanova on the Aug. 15 solemnity. During his homily, he said Mary's intercession with God can “help us to live well and with hope the time that God gives to us” on earth.
 
In remarks reported by Vatican Radio, he noted that the virtue of Christian hope “is not just nostalgia for Heaven,” but a “living and active desire for God here in the world.” That desire “makes us indefatigable pilgrims,” providing “the courage and strength of faith” through “the power of love.”
 
The Pope also observed that by entering the fullness of life with God, the Virgin Mary was not leaving behind the faithful on earth, but instead becoming closer to all.

Dogmatically defined in 1950, the assumption of the Virgin Mary's body and soul into heaven is a perennial part of the Church's faith, Pope Benedict told pilgrims who joined him to pray the Angelus at his summer residence later in the day.

He explained that Christ's mother, who was “redeemed from the first moment of her life,” is “associated in a special way” with the mystery of Christ's own life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.

Mary's physical and spiritual entry into God's presence represents “the Paschal Mystery of Christ fully realized in her,” as she is “intimately united with her Son” and “fully conformed to him.”

“But the Assumption is a reality that touches us too,” the Pope reflected, pointing out that it shows “the reality of the glory” to which God calls “each of us and the whole Church.”

As Pope Benedict greeted pilgrims gathered in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace for the mid-day Angelus on Wednesday, he expressed his desire that “the example and prayers of Mary, Queen of Heaven” would “inspire and sustain us on our pilgrimage of faith.”

Under her protection, believers on earth may hope to “rejoice with her in the glory of the Resurrection and the fulfillment of her Son’s promises.”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Devotion to Mary profoundly biblical, Argentinean bishop says

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug 15, 2012 / 04:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Jose Maria Arancedo of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, Argentina said devotion to the Virgin Mary has solid biblical and ecclesial roots that culminate in an encounter with Christ.

“Devotion to the Virgin Mary has its most solid foundation in the Sacred Scriptures and in the Tradition of the Church,” he said.  

“We cannot speak of her apart from God’s plan, and this makes it a profoundly biblical devotion. At the same time, the presence of Mary with the apostles at the birth of the Church made her a unique point of reference for the Christian people,” he added.

In his reflection for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary on Aug. 15, Archbishop Arancedo said this devotion is also deeply ecclesial.  

“The certainty of her divine maternity – she is the Mother of the Son of God – was the assurance for defining the divine nature of Jesus Christ at the Council of Ephesus.

She was not the mother of a man, but rather the Mother of God. Therefore, devotion to the Virgin Mary is the expression of a mature biblical and ecclesial spirituality. This has been the tradition of the Christian people,” he said.

Archbishop Arancedo said that Mary’s role should therefore be understood within God’s plan, “in which everything is oriented towards Jesus Christ...In the Gospel she herself will see to directing our eyes to her Son: 'Do whatever he tells you.'”

“As the chosen daughter of God, she teaches us to relate to Him in a climate of trust and gratitude. She knows that the personal love of God for her entails a calling, a mission, and she lives it with the joy and humility of the truth,” he continued.

“An authentic devotion to Mary should lead us to imitate her attitude of faith,” Archbishop Arancedo said, “in order to see ourselves in God’s plan and to find meaning for our lives in Jesus Christ. The encounter with Christ is the culmination of our devotion to the Most Holy Virgin.”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Cardinal Dolan: Obama invite is not an award or platform

New York City, N.Y., Aug 15, 2012 / 05:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York defended his decision to invite President Barack Obama to a traditional fundraising dinner as being an effort to engage, not endorse, the president.

Cardinal Dolan explained that “an invitation to the Al Smith Dinner is not an award, or the provision of a platform to expound views at odds with the Church.”

Rather, he said, the dinner is “an occasion of conversation,” designed to gather people together for an “evening of friendship, civility, and patriotism, to help those in need, not to endorse either candidate.”

In an Aug. 14 blog post on the Archdiocese of New York website, the cardinal responded to criticism over his invitation of Obama to the upcoming Al Smith foundation fundraiser.

Cardinal Dolan followed a decades-old election year custom of inviting both the Democratic and Republican candidates to the comedy-oriented fundraiser and reported that both Obama and GOP contender Mitt Romney had agreed to attend.
   
News of the invitation has led to questions and complaints from Catholics who believe that it may undermine the bishops’ work to defend religious liberty from the threats posed by the current administration.

Concerns over religious freedom have grown immensely due to a federal mandate issued by the Obama administration to require employers to offer health insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and early abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.

Bishops from every diocese in the country have spoken out against the mandate, and numerous dioceses have joined with Catholic colleges, businesses and charitable organizations in filing lawsuits challenging the regulation.

The president’s support for abortion and “gay marriage” also clash with Church teaching and have drawn criticism from Church leaders.

Acknowledging the demands of “faithful citizenship” as both a Catholic and an American, Cardinal Dolan said that the Al Smith Dinner has been an example of “civility in political life” for nearly seven decades.

The dinner marks “the only time outside of the presidential debates that the two presidential candidates come together,” he said, and the result is “an evening of positive, upbeat, patriotic, enjoyable civil discourse.”

Named after Governor Al Smith, who became the first Catholic nominated as a presidential candidate in 1928, the dinner raises money to support the needs of mothers and their babies, including their unborn children, he added.

Cardinal Dolan noted the unity and persistence of the bishops’ objections to the mandate and other problematic policies. He promised that the invitation does not indicate “a slackening in our vigorous promotion” of Catholic values.

The cardinal apologized if his actions had given scandal, as some of his critics have claimed, and reiterated that neither candidate’s presence at the dinner is an endorsement. He said that the invitation of Obama was “a case of prudential judgment” based on Catholic principles.

Church teaching, as expressed in the Second Vatican Council, is that the Church should have a posture of “engagement and dialogue” with the “culture, society, and government,” he said.  

He explained that it is better to open the doors of dialogue than to close off those with whom you disagree, pointing to the gracious way in which Pope Benedict XVI received President Obama for a visit.

“And, in the current climate, we bishops have maintained that we are open to dialogue with the administration to try and resolve our differences,” he said. “What message would I send if I refused to meet with the President?”

Cardinal Dolan requested that the faithful – whether they agree or disagree with his decision – pray for him and his fellow bishops as they work to make difficult choices.
 
Recalling that Christ was criticized for dining with those considered sinners, he observed that “if I only sat down with people who agreed with me, and I with them, or with those who were saints, I’d be taking all my meals alone.”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Pro-life community grieves death of Nellie Gray

Washington D.C., Aug 14, 2012 / 03:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pro-life leaders across the country are mourning the death of Nellie Gray, the woman who founded the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. to commemorate each January the legalization of abortion.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, described Gray as “a visionary woman” with “a fierce heart that valued all people – born and unborn.”

Yoest explained that Gray “understood the importance of a national memorial event to commemorate the significance of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.”

The annual march has become a “visual reminder of the broken hearts of millions of Americans who continue to struggle with the callous attitude of the abortion industry toward unborn children and their vulnerable mothers,” she said.

On the evening of Aug. 13, news broke that Gray had passed away over the weekend in her Washington, D.C. home. She was 86 years old.

Born in Big Spring, Tx., Gray served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II and worked for nearly 30 years for the U.S. Department of State and Department of Labor.

In 1974, Gray helped found the March for Life as a way to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the United States.

The march has become an annual event, drawing hundreds of thousands of people, including youth from all over the nation, to stand up for the dignity of human life in the nation’s capital.

News of Gray’s death was met with sorrow from leaders of the pro-life community, as well as praise for the work that she accomplished.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said that Gray “began and maintained a purity of intention rare to any human rights movement.”

She explained that Gray relied upon “the power of the Holy Spirit” to guide her, and showed that this was “more effective than all the political strategy this world could formulate.”

U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus, applauded Gray’s commitment to the march, even “in the worst of weather and poor health.”
 
Without a doubt, he said, “countless preborn children have been saved” by Gray’s leadership, and “millions of lives have been touched.”

Observing how the annual march “refuels the passion of pro-life Americans,” Smith vowed that the pro-life community will continue Gray’s legacy “of unceasing commitment to defending the unborn.”

Catholic professor and researcher Michael J. New reflected in a National Review Online article that while pro-lifers may be tempted to take the March for Life for granted, it is “actually a remarkable achievement,” uniting scores of pro-life groups across the country, despite their differences in strategy and religious belief.

In addition, New said, many people do not realize that Gray – who had a law degree from Georgetown University – was also influential in crafting ideas for a Human Life Amendment that could be added to the U.S. Constitution.

The annual March for Life has made a powerful impression on many of those who have had the opportunity to witness it, including Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

A 2010 article in Newsweek magazine quoted Keenan recalling the experience of seeing the pro-life crowds gathered in Washington, D.C. for the march one year.

"I just thought, my gosh, they are so young," she said. "There are so many of them, and they are so young."

Commemorating 40 years since the Roe v. Wade decision, the next March for Life will be held in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 25, 2013.

Yoest said that Gray will be missed at the upcoming march, but added that the pro-life community will continue in her footsteps “with deep gratitude for the example she set of sacrifice and commitment to the human rights struggle of our day.”



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

Colombian diocese laments death of priest who was attacked

Cucuta, Colombia, Aug 14, 2012 / 04:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Diocese of Cucuta in Colombia condemned the death of Father Pablo Emilio Sanchez Alabarracin, who died from the injuries he sustained during a break-in at his parish rectory.

In a statement, the diocese said that the community, “together with its bishop, priests, deacons, seminarians, men and women religious...laments the loss of Father Pablo.”

Fr. Sanchez died on Aug. 11, three days after being robbed and stabbed by an intruder at the parish rectory of Holy Mary Mother of God, located in the town of Patios in northern Colombia.

His funeral Mass was held at the Cathedral of St. Joseph and celebrated by Bishop Julio Cesar Vidal Ortiz of Cucuta. Hundreds of local faithful attended and dozens of priests from the diocese concelebrated.

Diana Paola Alvarez, director of communications for the Diocese of Cucuta, told CNA on Aug. 9 that local officials are investigating the incident.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post

LCWR meets archbishop, says way of life must not be compromised

St. Louis, Mo., Aug 14, 2012 / 04:40 pm (CNA).- The Leadership Conference of Women Religious has begun talks with the archbishop tasked with its reform, but says it will not make fundamental changes to its expression of consecrated religious life.

During its recent national assembly, the group instructed its board members “to articulate its belief that religious life, as it is lived by the women religious who comprise LCWR, is an authentic expression of this life that must not be compromised,” the conference of sisters said in an Aug. 13 statement.

On Aug. 11, one day after the assembly's close, the national board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious met for the first time with Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, who was assigned by the Vatican to address doctrinal concerns within the conference.

The leadership conference's national assembly had instructed its board to approach the discussion with Archbishop Sartain “from a stance of mutual respect, careful listening and open dialogue.”

In Monday's communique, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious said the archbishop “listened carefully” as its board members expressed “both their concerns and their feelings” about the findings from the four-year doctrinal assessment carried out by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The leadership conference said the “expectation” of its members was an “open and honest dialogue” leading to better “understanding between the church leadership and women religious,” and more chances “for the laity and, particularly for women, to have a voice in the church.”

The assessment by the Church's top doctrinal office was released in April 2012 and highlighted concerns over “corporate dissent” from Church teaching in the conference of religious sisters, “radical feminism” in its approach to the faith, and a pattern of theological and doctrinal errors in presentations given at its annual assemblies.

Archbishop Sartain was subsequently appointed by the Holy See to lead “a process of review and conformity to the teachings and discipline of the Church.”

According to the conference, the archbishop wants to “learn more about the conference and about the members’ experience and understandings of religious life.”

The religious sisters said they would “provide Archbishop Sartain with resources they believe will be helpful.” Its officers will meet with him again during fall 2012.



Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post