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A voice is heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more. –Matt. 2:18 quoting Jer. 31:15 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted—and you yourself a sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.' –Luke 2:34-35 In the Catholic Church, each day's liturgy brings a different celebration or commemoration, either from the life of Christ or...

"God is Love and whoever remains in Love remains in God, and God in him." –(1 John 4:16) "In perfect Love there is no fear, rather perfect Love casts out all fear." –(1 John 4:18) The Feast of St. John the Evangelist—the Apostle, the Beloved Disciple—is no doubt a great feast day of God's Love. St. John was the first to use Love as the perfect synonym for God, and as the last apostle to die as well as the author of the last book of the Bible, John is in many ways the last word on Love (with a...

THE world had subsisted about four thousand years, and all things were accomplished which, according to the ancient prophets, were to precede the coming of the Messias, when Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, having taken human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and being made man, was born of her for the redemption of mankind. The all-wise and all-merciful providence of God had, from the fall of our first parents, gradually disposed all things for the fulfilling of his promises, and the accomplishing the greatest of all his mysteries, the incarnation of his divine Son. Had...

Bringing our fallen-away relations back to Church during AdventREV. JOHN HORGANEach Christmas, our churches are thronged with people who come to pray before the Manger, join in the singing of carols, and feel the warmth of the Saviour's love. Some of these men and women are not Catholic; others do not practice the Faith regularly. Some are estranged from the Church, angry at her teachings, hurt by her representatives; a larger number simply live their lives as if the Church had no place in their world, no bearing on their lifestyles, careers, and choices. . . except at Christmas. Many...

On the surface, something about Barack Obama picking Rick Warren to give his inauguration invocation seemed fishy. I mean, Warren was the man responsible for one of Obama's few (and perhaps biggest) campaign faux pas, when he made Barack look silly last summer trying to answer the question "When does life begin?" But then I realized that Barack, brilliant politician that he is, was using his special reverse "If I can't beat him, join ME!" psychology, already duping Warren and many of his on-the-surface Christians into his camp for the next election. However, while I predict this pick for Obama...

Yes, I guess I can agree with Catholic Answers that my calling Senator Biden "Ding-Dong" (or at least implying that Joe was the person in the un-holy Obama-Rham-a-Ding-Dong trinity) is uncharitable. I suppose "hypocrite" or "heretic" would be more technically correct, at least from the Catholic critic's standpoint.

For American Catholics who remain loyal to Rome, it is safe to say that 2008 is not your ordinary Advent. For following close on the heals of the birthday of Jesus is The Inauguration of Indignation, and with that deadly medley of Obama-Rham-a (Rham Emanuel)-Ding-Dong (Joe Biden) ready to seize control and dictate Our Nation's morality, it is essential we remember the full scope of this liturgical season, and make this Advent not just a sentimental commemoration of Christ's first coming, but a thorough preparation for His second—and final—visit.

This is a link to The Daily Vortex. "Twisted Sister" will remain up just for the day ... then this link switches to the most recent Vortex.

Muslim prayer rooms should be opened in every Roman Catholic school, Church leaders have said. The Catholic bishops of England and Wales also want special toilet facilities in schools to be adapted for Islamic cleaning rituals. Their demands will shock both Catholic parents and the Government because they go way beyond the legal requirements on catering for the rights and needs of religious minorities. But the bishops are keen to answer critics who say religious schools sow division - and to show that they are leading the way in building bridges between people of different faiths. The bishops acknowledge in...

Having spoken out a time or ten against the sweet-talking new-age messiah myself, I fully understand the depression attached to the newly elected democratic pro-death administration that many faithful Christians now suffer. But as John Paul II used to say, "Be not afraid," for God has sent us a voice—or Voris—to lead us in the coming battle that his namesake angel and saint first fought so long ago. Michael Voris' new Web venture, RealCatholicTV, is the classic example of a dream that was both a long-time coming and one that arrived just in time. After graduating from Notre Dame in...

      Here are two links at the Vatican's website that you can go to for downloading free music for Christmas as well as other occasions.  Hymns for the Celebrations of the Liturgical Year, Pontifical Musical Chorus of the Sistine ChapelOn this page, the links to the MP3 files look like this    It will probably be easiest to hover your mouse cursor over the note picture, right-click your mouse and select "save target as" to define where you want the file saved.When the file is finished downloading it will be available to be played on your computer's MP3 player. ...

Washington DC, Nov 22, 2008 / 06:28 am (CNA).- "A joint study conducted the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has examined religion-focused election news coverage, finding that religion received as much coverage as race, but issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage received “minimal attention.” After studying more than 7,500 campaign stories from June 1 (the end of the presidential primaries) to October 15 (the day of the last presidential debate), Pew found that a majority of election-related religion stories involved controversy or had an “unfavorable cast.” About 53...

Pope Benedict XVI was the first to predict the global financial crisis in a "prophecy" contained in a paper he had written when he was a cardinal, according to Italian finance minister Giulio Tremonti. "The prediction that an undisciplined economy would collapse by its own rules can be found" in an article written by cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became pope in April 2005, Tremonti said yesterday at the Cattolica University in Milan. Ratzinger presented a paper called Market Economy and Ethics at an event in 1985 dedicated to the Church and the economy. The future pope said a decline in...

Several county residents and officials expressed surprise and anger Tuesday after Beaufort County Councilwoman Laura Von Harten criticized the Roman Catholic Church's stance on women and reproductive rights during a rezoning discussion Monday. Von Harten brought up church positions that don't allow women to be priests and "uterus rights" while the Land Management Committee debated whether to grant a zoning request allowing the expansion of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Bluffton. Von Harten is not a member of that committee. Though the committee approved the re-zoning, Von Harten promised to fight the expansion when the measure comes before...

Catholic members of Congress who vote for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) could face “automatic excommunication” if the act is determined to be “formal cooperation” in the evil of abortion.

More than 50 protesters with anti-abortion signs recited the rosary outside St. John's Seminary because inside a politically conservative Catholic was explaining why he voted for Barack Obama. The Democratic president-elect supports abortion rights. And though Douglas Kmiec, former constitutional law counsel for presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, is adamantly opposed to abortion, he not only voted for Obama but campaigned for him and wrote a book about his reasons.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Catholic Bishop warns Catholics not to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The Bishop believes your vote is tied to your eternal salvation. Inside St. Therese Catholic Church, hundreds of people kneeled and prayed to Mary for help on Election Day. Those praying included Bishop Robert Finn, leader of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese. His words raised eyebrows both in and outside his faith. On local talk radio, 710 KCMO, Bishop Finn warned Catholics planning to vote for democrat Barack Obama. Host Chris Stegall asked Finn, "There are some Catholics listening to me...

I am not American, I’m French, catholic and pro-life. Here, in France we have been praying for President Bush and the pro-life victory for four years. I remember when President Bush won, four years ago ; then, when he appointed John Roberts and Samuel Alito. One more judge… America, please don’t fail now. Of course, you may say : ‘what’s it got to do with you ?’ I think it is the point. The issue of abortion isn’t only America’s matter but it is the world’s matter. When the United States chooses a way, it affects the course of the...

This October was the 437th anniversary of a forgotten yet crucial battle in the defense of western civilization called the battle of Lepanto. It is the victory of this battle that is the reason we are living in a free nation rather than an Islamic style dictatorship. It is why we are still Christian and not Muslim. It is the reason for the existence of America as it is as a free nation. (Though now and days it is not that free.) In 1571, The Turkish Ottoman empire was the superpower of the day. On land, the armies of...

After a 23-year-wait, the Latin Mass community of San Diego now has its own parish. [[StAnneSD102408.jpg]]On Oct. 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, San Diego Bishop Robert Brom officially erected St. Anne Church at 621 Sicard St. as a “personal parish” for Catholics in the diocese who prefer the extraordinary form of the Mass in Latin. A “personal parish” has no geographical boundaries, which means any Catholic living in the diocese may join. Bishop Brom turned over the parish to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), a society of apostolic life approved in 1988 by Pope...

This year's Al Smith Dinner — the annual gala that raises funds for the Archdiocese of New York and has become an essential social ticket for the city's political and media class — will be remembered as a rare cease-fire moment in the heated 2008 presidential campaign. Exchanging rolled-up shirt sleeves for white ties, John McCain and Barack Obama cracked each other up on topics that usually result in outraged press statements when raised on the campaign trail. "I got my name, Barack, from my father," deadpanned Obama, "and I got my middle name from somebody who obviously didn't think...

DENVER (AP) - Denver Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput labeled Barack Obama the "most committed" abortion-rights candidate from a major party in 35 years while accusing a Catholic Obama ally and other Democratic-friendly Catholic groups of doing a "disservice to the church." Chaput, one of the nation's most politically outspoken Catholic prelates, delivered the remarks Friday night at a dinner of a Catholic women's group. His comments were among the sharpest in a debate over abortion and Catholic political responsibility in a campaign in which Catholics represent a key swing vote. While Chaput has won praise from traditionalist Catholics for...

Catholic Charities of San Francisco plans to end a controversial two-year-long relationship with an adoption agency that specializes in placing children for adoption with homosexuals, the Catholic newsweekly Our Sunday Visitor reports. [[AdoptArt100308.jpg]]In 2006, Catholic Charities of San Francisco announced its partnership with Family Builders by Adoption, which calls itself “the gayest [adoption] agency in the country.” In the meantime, Family Builders by Adoption had just begun fulfilling a $1,755,000 contract with another “partner” -- the City and County of San Francisco. That contract required Family Builders to increase the number of children adopted by lesbians, homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender...

'Big Tent' Catholicism by Joan Frawley Desmond 10/02/08 When a Kennedy scion publishes a book about Catholicism in the final stretch of a hotly contested presidential campaign, skeptics might assume the well-publicized literary event is just a political tactic. Read this motley collection of personal testimonials, and the skepticism deepens. Being Catholic Now includes men and women who reject the existence of God, avoid Mass, and embrace abortion and same-sex marriage. "Cafeteria Catholics" are the rule here, not the exception. Since the formation of the Reagan alliance, Democratic leaders have struggled to reconnect with Catholic voters. In the final months...

The elevation of Joseph Ratzinger to Pope Benedict XVI has brought a new assertiveness to the Roman Catholic Church, especially at the intersection of politics and life issues. The new prefect of the Vatican Supreme Court, the former Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, warned in an interview with an Italian newspaper that the Democratic Party is well on its way to becoming the “party of death” in the United States. Burke called for greater discipline within the American church for holding Catholic politicians accountable for their actions: Vatican officials seldom single out political leaders who differ with the Church...

Hundreds of Kosovar Albanians gather on Sundays to attend religious services in a still unfinished red-brick church in the Kosovo town of Klina. Turning away from the majority Muslim faith imposed by the Ottoman Turks centuries ago, these worshippers are part of a revival of Catholicism in the newly independent Balkan state. "We have been living a dual life. In our homes we were Catholics but in public we were good Muslims," said Ismet Sopi. "We don't call this converting. It is the continuity of the family's belief." Sopi has commuted 40 km (25 miles) every Sunday from central Kosovo...

Mannequins sport the plumed helmets and gaily striped uniforms of the Vatican's Swiss Guard. There's a walk-through recreation of the scaffolding from which Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling. But beyond all the gold embroidery and bejeweled chalices, the "Vatican Splendors" show opening Saturday at the Minnesota History Center presents a sweeping 2,000-year survey of Roman Catholic Church history and ceremony, art and architecture, outreach and faith. With more than 200 objects -- from ancient relics to a modern smoke cartridge --"Vatican" tries to offer something for all of the 150,000 expected visitors. More than 20,000 have already bought tickets...

The Holy See has ruled that the tetragrammaton, the Old Testament’s name for God and rendered “Yahweh” or “Jehovah,” may not be used in Catholic worship. [[Serratelli092208.jpg]]The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued the ruling earlier this summer, and Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, informed the U.S. bishops of it last month. Though the ruling does not affect in any way the official liturgy of the Mass, it will require the editing of some general intercessions used in the Mass and the celebration of...

In a prior post, I asked readers to guess the one Catholic ever named to a national Republican ticket. The answer was William Miller, running mate to the great Barry Goldwater in the 1964 race.   Here's another political trivia question with a religious link. Name the contender in this year's race who is technically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.ANSWER: According to the website of the Global Catholic Network the answer seems to be Palin. The site states that "once a person willingly repudiates Christ, embraces a heresy, knowing it to be contrary to divine and Catholic faith, or refuses submission...

Joe Biden isn't backing down from his startling claim last week that raising taxes on the rich is the "patriotic" thing to do. On Thursday he upped the ante, thundering that he also has Jesus in his corner. "Catholic social doctrine as I was taught it is, you take care of people who need the help the most," Mr. Biden preached to a group of union supporters on Thursday. Heavens! The political left likes to score Republicans for claiming that God is on their side, but here we have Mr. Biden claiming support from both God and Caesar. If Sarah...

World history, as most Westerners interprets it, very much revolves around nations like France, Russia/Soviet, Britain, Italy and USA. These corners of the Earth, undeniably, have played major roles in the development of mankind. BUT, there seems to be a gap in the historical knowledge of several, otherwise well educated, Westerners concerning what took place during the period of approximately 1620-1720 on European soil. A lot of people seem aware that Britain at that time was not really, yet, the world's leading power and that France, Spain, Austria and Holland excersised much of influence over world affairs. However, during this...

A US company has launched what it claims to be the world's first exclusively internet TV station. IBL News reports that Amigot Corp New York has designed and engineered for a group of businessmen of Indiana, Real Catholic TV.com, said to be the first television station ot its kind on the internet. Starting September 1, the station features daily news, daily political commentary, daily features on saints and history as well as regular episodes on morality, movie reviews, entertainment, apologetics and much more. With its own proprietary technology, the station will provide viewers with free access to home page content,...

Keith Fimian, the Republican candidate for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, has been targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in a series of mailings and video clips. He is accused of “rolling back women’s rights.” The basis of the accusation is Fimian’s membership in a Catholic organization, Legatus. Speaking to this issue today is Catholic League president Bill Donohue: “Keith Fimian, whom I have never spoken to, is accused by the DCCC of being anti-women because he belongs to Legatus. Legatus is an organization of Catholic CEOs and other leading businessmen and women dedicated to bringing their faith-based values...

August 29, 2008, 0:00 p.m. Don’t Blame the BishopsCatholic means pro-life. By Father Thomas D. Williams You are unlikely to ever come upon a group called Mohammedans for Polytheism or Environmentalists for Seal Slaughter. A Muslim who espouses a multiplicity of deities has, ipso facto, placed himself outside the Muslim confession. Polytheism is not an Islamic thing. An environmentalist who patronizes anti-ecological activities is not an environmentalist at all, but a subversive. This is because the monikers “Muslim� and “environmentalist� mean something; they carry with them a series of necessary consequences. Certain terms — like “Muslim� and “polytheism� —...

A friend of mine recently put me up to trying out for a radio show. We both assumed it was in a typical airwave format. But it turned-out to be "internet radio," instead. Anyway, I got one of the slots that opened up, and I now am in the eighth week of airing a half-hour show in my talk-show format. Since the series is still fairly new, I am still canvassing some pretty broad topics, in an overview approach to each. I hope to start narrowing the focus in the next few weeks, however. As a general rule, the show...

DELEWARE, August 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an interview with Bob Krebs, the Communications Director for the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, to which Senator Joseph Biden belongs, Krebs confirmed that Biden's Bishop will not permit the Senator even if elected Vice President of the United States of America to speak at Catholic schools. When asked for the Bishop's take on Senator Biden and his stand in favor of abortion, Krebs directed LifeSiteNews.com to Bishop Michael Saltarelli's 2004 statement on 'Catholics in Political Life' which, said Krebs, "very plainly states Bishop's position in this matter." In that document Bishop Saltarelli notes...

DENVER - Denver Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput says Democrats simply don't know Christianity if they insist on continuing to spin the Bible's teachings on abortion. "It's always important to know what our faith actually teaches," he said in a "clarification" for Catholics in northern Colorado as Democratic National Committee members met in Denver this week to hear a speaker from the National Abortion Rights Action League promote Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, as the next "pro-choice" president. Chaput's also appeared at a pro-life prayer vigil outside the massive new Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Denver, reportedly the...

Evangelicals converting to Catholicism has become something of a trend. Many conservative episcopalians caught between a rock and a hard place have opted for a return to Rome. And there are some big names in evangelical theology who have gone over, including the (until just recently) President of the Evangelical Theological Society. Scot MacKnight has just written a piece in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS) trying to figure out why the Roman road has grown more and more popular these days. The Pontificator has written a series of posts on “Bad Reasons Not To Convert To Catholicism”....

Rome, Aug 19, 2008 / (CNA) -- Archbishop Raymond Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest judicial authority of the Holy See, said this week that Catholics who publicly support abortion -- especially politicians -- should not receive Communion, and that ministers of Communion should be responsibly charitable in denying it to them if they ask for it “until they have reformed their lives.” [[Burke082108.jpg]]In an interview with the magazine Radici Christiane, Archbishop Burke pointed out that there is often a lack of reverence at Mass when receiving Communion. “Receiving the Body and Blood of...

The Catholic Left is hanging itself right before our eyes. Having never come to grips with the Church's teachings on sexuality, they are now tightening the noose on themselves in public. It is not a pretty sight. This month alone they have embroiled themselves in a debate with three separate archbishops, with no end in sight. Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City recently rebuked Catholic Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius for vetoing a bill imposing new restrictions on abortion providers. Indeed, he publicly urged her not to go to Communion. The archbishop was not shooting from the hip: He has met...

Lucia Otgongerel (Photo credit: UCANews) Ulan Bator, Aug 20, 2008 / 09:03 pm (CNA).- Lucia Otgongerel was born in Mongolia 30 years ago without hands or legs.  She lived in a deep depression until 2002 when she converted to Catholicism and, as she explains, discovered “true joy.”  Today she works in the capital city of Mongolia, Ulan Bator, as a teacher for seven children with special needs.Now Lucia claims, “I could not live without my faith.”  She overcomes the challenges of her physical condition though an intense life of prayer: including the daily Rosary, meditations and study of the...

Strife at St Mary's over "Buddha" statue Published: August 21, 2008 Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby is considering whether the controversial St Mary's parish at South Brisbane "is in communion with the Catholic Church" after a parishioner protested to the Vatican over a Buddha-like statue. A member of St Mary's South Brisbane Church told The Courier-Mail that it was understood Archbishop John Bathersby was weighing up the future of the church, after complaints were forwarded from the Vatican. "A very right wing parishioner came and was offended by some of the artwork in the church, including some indigenous art, and an...

Under the general category of "What were they thinking?" comes my question of why the leader of some 385,000 Catholics in the Denver area -- Archbishop Charles J. Chaput -- was not invited to deliver the opening prayer for the Democratic National Convention next week. After all, Catholicism is identified as the religious affiliation by a majority of members of the 110th Congress. (www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS22555.pdf) Great profile, by the way. It includes careers, educational levels, and other interesting demographic data of the 110th Congress. According to this site, there are 130 representatives and 25 senators -- or 29% of the 110th...

Petition signers want University of San Diego to reverse course, re-invite “feminist theologian” to honorary professorship An online petition signed by thousands is asking the University of San Diego to again change its position and re-invite “feminist theologian” Rosemary Radford Ruether to take an honorary, yearlong professorship at the Catholic school. [[ATaylor081408.jpg]]Ruether, a supporter of abortion rights, contraception and the renaming of God, had been invited to hold the Monsignor John R. Portman Chair in Roman Catholic Theology at USD for the academic year 2009-2010, a decision that prompted a flood of complaints after California Catholic Daily first reported news...

A young nun who was ticketed by San Jose police on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe for selling little statues of the Blessed Virgin to raise money for a soup kitchen wants the charges against her expunged, the San Jose Mercury News reported yesterday. [[DACarr081508.jpg]]In a column by writer Scott Herhold, the Mercury News recounted the story of Notre Dame Sister Marie Linie Marot, 28, who wants Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr to issue a "finding of factual innocence" regarding charges lodged against her as a result of a Dec. 12, 2007 incident outside Our Lady...

A Christian publication already cleared by the Canadian Human Rights Commission on claims its reporting on issues involving homosexuality stem from "bigotry, discrimination and hate" will have to defend itself – again – from the same charges. Officials with Catholic Insight have confirmed homosexual activist Rob Wells, whose earlier allegations against the publication were rejected, has appealed to the Federal Court in Canada. "On Aug. 12, Toronto-based Catholic Insight and its editor Father Alphonse de Valk received notification that Wells had filed an appeal … with the Federal Court of Canada. Wells is requesting that the appeal be heard in...

Orange diocese’s “gay” and lesbian spiritual support group seeks to overcome discrimination in the Church Where are Catholics to go to deepen their understanding of the “gay community”? Where can the “gay community” find spiritual support? According to the July 2008 Orange County Catholic, the newspaper of the Orange diocese, they’ll find such understanding and support in Koinonia, “a community of gay and lesbian people and family and friends of gay and lesbian people” which meets at Orange’s St. Joseph Center, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. A couple, Laura and Tom (not their real names) discovered...

Mexico City archdiocesan spokesman criticizes pro-abortion campaign for using Bible quotes July 25 -- The spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, Father Hugo Valdemar, has criticized a campaign recently launched by “Catholics for Choice” for using quotes from the Bible out of context to justify the use of condoms. [[valdemarads.jpg]]The ad campaign launched by CFC in Mexico uses passages from the Song of Songs that have sexual connotations with the phrase, “Love neighbor as yourself. Use a condom,” below each Bible quote. “It’s clear to us that the members of this group are not Catholic, as they are going...

We are in a dark moment in our nation's history with regard to immigrants, refugees, and newcomers to our land,” said Cardinal Roger Mahony in an address he delivered July 28 at the National Migration Conference in Washington, D.C. “The failure of comprehensive immigration reform legislation just over a year ago emboldened some of our elected officials to pursue a punitive approach, using enforcement as both an immigration policy and a political tool,” said the cardinal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, whose longtime support for homosexual rights and abortion has made her the darling of groups like Planned Parenthood, NARAL and the Human Rights Campaign, has once again made it a point to describe herself as “Catholic.” In a Sunday, Aug. 3, interview about her recently published book Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters for the C-SPAN network’s “Q&A” program, host Brian Lamb asked Pelosi, “The one word I read several times in your book is the word ‘faith.’ And you wrote, ‘Growing up Catholic had an enormous impact on me -- greater,...