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(Wichita) Four Hispanic families are suing St. Anne's Catholic School over a policy that requires students to speak English at all times while at school. The lawsuit, filed Monday, calls for an end to this policy and asks for an order barring similar policies at other diocese schools. And it asks for court costs and unspecified damages for diiscrimination and emotional suffering. The lawsuit was filed by Mike and Clara Silva, Maria and Fermin Fernandez, Guadalupe Cruz-Tello and Alma Contreras on behalf of themselves and their minor children. The diocese said the school enacted the policy in response to four...

Washington DC, Apr 19, 2008 / 01:05 pm (CNA).- The President of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Father Terence Henry, TOR, has given his reaction to Catholic News Agency on the Pope’s message to Catholic university leaders. Father Henry said that he believes Pope Benedict’s address taught that authentic Catholic education “springs from the heart of the Church.” Father Henry was particularly struck by Pope Benedict’s idea that Catholic institutions are “instruments of hope” to the world and to young people. “There are some out there who think that authentic freedom means to speculate on everything under the sun,” Father Henry...

During an era when two-thirds of young Catholics say they can be good Catholics without going to mass and many believe in a woman's right to choose abortion and view premarital sex as morally acceptable, Karen and David Hickey might be considered renegades - because they are so devout. The lives of the suburban couple and their five young children revolve around the Catholic Church, and they stand out as devoted because so many others do not follow the teachings of their church to the letter. For the Hickeys and a community of young, conservative Catholics who piously follow the...

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- For 46 years, crime, recessions and hurricanes proved no threat to the daily ritual of St. Monica School, where the entire blue-and-white uniformed student body gathered outside each morning to join in prayer. Come June, though, the tradition will fade away, and "amen" will close St. Monica's morning recitations for the last time. The school, a home-away-from-home for mostly minority students, will close. As Pope Benedict XVI next week makes his first trip to the U.S. as pontiff, Catholic schools across the country, long a force in educating the underprivileged regardless of their faith, face the...

Catholic university to black, pro-life speaker: You’re not Welcomed! …but we’ll make room for Al Franken and transgender speaker. Liberal administrators at the University of St. Thomas, a Catholic university and private college in Minnesota, censored the appearance of prominent pro-life and black speaker Star Parker. On April 21, 2008, Star—the best-selling author of numerous books—was slated to speak on campus about the devastating impact abortion has on minority communities. UST Vice President of Student Affairs Jane Canney nixed the idea entirely, citing “concerns” that the lecture was being underwritten by Young America’s Foundation. Katie Kieffer, a 2005 alumna of...

Vatican frustration over what it views as the failure of many U.S. Catholic colleges to adhere to church teachings, school leaders are intently watching for a rebuke from Pope Benedict XVI during his Washington visit next month.The pope requested the meeting with more than 200 top Catholic school officials from across the country. The gathering will come amid debate over teachings and campus activities that bishops have slammed as violating Catholic doctrine: a rally by pro-abortion rights Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton at St. Mary's University in San Antonio; a Georgetown University theologian's questioning whether Jesus offers the only...

Scandal: 96 Catholic Universities Have Pro-Homosexual ClubsHelp stop this scandal by signing the TFP’s urgent appeal to the presidents of Catholic universities Here is a list Catholic universities with pro-homosexual clubs Historically, Catholic universities have been beacons of truth. They have set a standard of intellectual progress and moral excellence. They have elevated culture, formed the minds of great men, and paved the way for abundant scientific breakthroughs. However, these beacons of truth are now failing. Moral values are being undermined on many Catholic campuses and the principles that once guided souls in the noble task of higher learning are...

Faithful Catholics Reject V-Monologues at Notre Dame Controlling free speech, university official expels TFP volunteer for sharing bishop’s statement on campus Once again, controversy is dividing the University of Notre Dame. Catholics everywhere applauded Bishop John D’Arcy’s recent condemnation of the crude “V-Monologues” at Notre Dame, hoping it would convince university officials to ban the feminist play. After all, the production betrays Notre Dame’s Catholic identity, tramples upon the Sixth Commandment, exalts sin, promotes lesbianism, and gives scandal. However, ignoring the bishop’s call to cancel the play, university president Fr. John I. Jenkins has again allowed it to disgrace the...

Anti-Catholic Education by: Malcolm A. Kline, March 14, 2008 The faithful are increasingly likely to face hostility to their beliefs in secular educational settings, the Catholic League’s 2007 Report on Anti-Catholicism shows: • On February 21, 2007, “A substitute teacher wiped the Ash Wednesday ashes off the forehead of a student at White County High School,” the League reports. “When the girl and her classmates protested, they were berated by teachers.” • On April 19 in Lake Bluff, Illinois, “A middle school teacher gave an assignment to her students pinpointing who was responsible for the Holocaust and listed Pope Pius...

Reverend John Jenkins, CSC, and I have been in communication about his decision to allow performances of “The Vagina Monologues” at Notre Dame. I am grateful to Father Jenkins for the extensive time he has put into our conversation and correspondence on these matters over the last two months, and I have taken care in this statement to present his position accurately in order to make a fair response. Father Jenkins has informed me that, while he thinks that this play is a bad play, he believes that permitting its performance under certain conditions, namely, in an academic building without...

Pope Benedict XVI will use his trip to America next month to present Catholic educators with a powerful challenge, one whose effects could ripple from Notre Dame, Ind., to Tarrytown, N.Y., prominent Vatican watchers are predicting. The expected message: Become more Catholic, or else.In one of just a few major addresses planned for his six-day visit to America, Pope Benedict is scheduled to speak about education at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., before an audience that should include the president of every Catholic college and university in the country, plus representatives from every archdiocese, which oversee Catholic...

DALLAS — Artwork depicting the Virgin Mary as a stripper stirred trouble while on display at a small Catholic university before the piece was apparently stolen. The print was part of an exhibit last month at the University of Dallas that featured the work of students at Murray State University in Kentucky. Joanna Gianulis, a senior art major at Murray State, said she was trying to raise questions about perceptions of saints and sinners and didn't intend to be sacrilegious. "How do we know that an exotic dancer is sinful?" she said. "What if she has the best intentions and...

CINO Prep by: Malcolm A. Kline, March 07, 2008 Although Catholic schools look good when compared with their public counterparts, they don’t fare as well in contrast to the way they used to be. In the wake of Vatican II, “Radical reformers tore at every aspect of Catholic life, questioning time-honored practices and beliefs,” Phillip F. Lawler writes in The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture. “Catholic schools jettisoned their religious education programs; the old reliable Baltimore Catechism quickly became a collectors item.” “In parochial high schools, religion classes became freewheeling discussion sessions, with students encouraged to reflect...

London, Feb 26, 2008 / 03:45 am (CNA).- A committee in the British House of Commons will investigate Catholic schools following the Bishop of Lancaster’s instructions to schools to place crucifixes in every classroom and stop “safe sex” education, the Independent reports. Patrick O’Donoghue, Bishop of Lancaster, had circulated a 66-page booklet instructing Catholic schools to stop “safe sex” education. Bishop O’Donoghue wrote, "The secular view on sex outside marriage, artificial contraception, sexually transmitted disease, including HIV and AIDS, and abortion, may not be presented as neutral information." Additionally, he told the schools not to support charities that support abortion....

PITTSTON TWP. — Teachers in the Diocese of Scranton have decided on a strategy in their quest to receive union recognition. But what they’ve decided is “not for public consumption,” union President Michael Milz said Sunday after a general membership meeting at Convention Hall. In the first half of the meeting, which was open to media, 200 teachers sang the union rights anthem “Solidarity Forever” and heard from legal counsel and representatives from the National Association of Catholic School Teachers. “Your cause is certainly just. Your fight is our fight,” said Rita Schwartz, president of the national association. “You cannot...

First Muslim Congressman Speaks of Faith, Change Minnesota Democrat Says Norway Good Model for U.S. By Natalie Lescroart | Feb 15 2008 The nation’s first Muslim congressman called for political change and spoke about how his faith has affected his job in a speech Tuesday at the Georgetown University Law Center. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told a packed crowd at the Gewirz Student Center that “the time is now” for political change and reworking. Ellison, a freshman congressman, is the first African-American to represent Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and sits on the Financial Services...

A U.S. congressman is asking Georgetown University about its academic scrutiny of Saudi Arabia and its use of $20 million donated by a Saudi prince in 2005. U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) wrote to Georgetown President John DeGioia Thursday, saying he was concerned about how the money was being spent at the university's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Of particular concern, Wolf said, was the university's role in training current and prospective U.S. foreign service personnel. "The Saudi government continues to permit textbooks to contain inflammatory language about other religions," Wolf wrote. "Restrictions on civil society and political activists continue to...

‘BULLIED’: 15-year-old Catrina McDermott, who was suspended for wearing religious badges, one representing St Patrick, the other a guardian angel PICTURE: Courtesy Fermanagh Herald THE Catholic bishops have refused to back the stand taken by a 15-year-old girl suspended from a Catholic school for wearing emblems of her faith. Catrina McDermott was suspended from St Eugene’s College in Roslea, Co Fermanagh, this week because she refused to remove or hide two religious badges. Her parents said the fourth-year pupil had been wearing the St Patrick and guardian angel symbols on her lapel to give her comfort following bullying when she...

There will no doubt be a lot of anger and frustration for parents tonight who have children in these schools. As we've been reporting for more than a week the Bishop's announcement would be drastic and would include a long list of school closures. And that was the case this afternoon. Here is the list of 13 catholic schools to close in Monroe County.All Saints Catholic Academy in GatesCatherine Mc Auley School in GreeceGood Shepherd in HenriettaHoly Trinity in WebsterSt. John The Evangelist in SpencerportSt. John of Rochester in FairportSt. Margaret Mary in IrondequoitSt. Monica's in RochesterSt. Andrews in RochesterSt....

Catholic bishops in the UK are to appear in front of a powerful committee of MPs amid fears that they are pushing a fundamentalist brand of their religion in schools. Bishops have called on parents, teachers and priests to strengthen the role of religion in education. In one case, the Bishop of Lancaster, Patrick O'Donoghue, instructed Catholic schools across much of north-west England to stop "safe sex" education and place crucifixes in all classrooms. He also wrote: "Schools and colleges must not support charities or groups that promote or fund anti-life policies, such as Red Nose Day and Amnesty, which...

LA GRANGE, Ky. -- A father is in a courtroom battle, trying to keep his son from attending a Catholic high school.The parents involved in this case are divorced. David Ryan, the father, is an atheist. The mother is a Roman Catholic. Their son, who is in the eighth grade, attends a Catholic school in Oldham County.“This is something where it can't be both ways,” said Ryan’s attorney, Edwin Kagin. “We think the constitution wins.” According to Kagin, when Ryan and his wife got divorced, a judge ordered their son continue attending a Catholic school.But Ryan is an atheist and...

WATERLOO, Ontario, November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Family Life Advisory Committee (FLAC) of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) met last night to consider objections to a pro-homosexual teacher resource manual which were raised by the local group Defend Traditional Marriage and Family (DTMF). Despite a petition signed by nearly 500 Catholic parents opposing the book, FLAC decided to retain "Open Minds to Equality" in an 11-5 vote. Page 16 of the book states: "The heterosexism in our society fosters homophobia, the fear and hatred of homosexuality which is grounded in prejudice and stereotyping." The book provides role...

Andrew Nesi Presents "Real Men of Genius" (REALLL MENN OF GENNNIIUUSSSS) Today, we salute you, Mr. Irish Rover writer. (Mr. Irish Rover writer.) No matter the topic, you take offense. As a white, Irish Catholic kid from a suburb of Chicago, you truly know what persecution feels like. (But my best friend is a black Jew.) 1-5? Maybe we should hire more devout Catholic football coaches. Then God will be on our side. (He can make Arrelious Benn transfer.) Vagina Monologues? Queer Film Festival? Heck, you think we should still be all-male. (God likes men better!) So crack open an...

Catholic School Board calls Pro-Family Group "Extremist Hate Group", Board Defends Pro-Gay Manual Board's family life committee said to have approved homosexual-activist counselor who is raising male child with his homosexual partner. By  Mauro MacMillan WATERLOO, Sept 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com)  In an attempt to divert attention from a controversial pro-homosexuality resource that the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) has approved, the Board has taken to calling into question the motive and character of the Defend Traditional Marriage and Family (DTMF) group that brought the issue to light earlier this year. At the heart of the issue is a teacher...

SHOCKER: Catholic Georgetown U. Will Now Fund Law Students to Lobby for Abortion Oldest Catholic university in U.S. By John-Henry Westen WASHINGTON, DC, September 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A change of policy at Georgetown University Law Center will permit the university - which is the oldest Catholic university in the nation - to give grants to students who lobby for abortion for agencies such as Planned Parenthood.   The Hoya, the Georgetown University newspaper, reports on its front page today about the policy change. The policy change was announced September 7 by Law Center Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff in a letter...

Cardinal Roger Mahony has honored Jesuit Fr. Robert Lawton, president of Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles, as one of the recipients of the 2008 Cardinal’s Award, according to a story in the Sept. 21 edition of the Tidings, the weekly newspaper of the Los Angeles archdiocese. Since 1999, Lawton has had “the vision to integrate the university into all aspects of community life of Los Angeles,” said the Tidings’ article. Under Lawton, the archdiocese and the university have enjoyed amicable relations. With the archdiocese’s Hindu-Catholic Dialogue, the university offered an April 2005 symposium featuring “ecofeminist” Rosemary Radford Ruether, who...

WORCHESTER, Massachusetts, September 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Jesuit-run Holy Cross, the oldest Catholic college in New England, is hosting the 2007 Teen Pregnancy Institute with Planned Parenthood promoting teenage contraception. The Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy presents the conference every year, but by hosting the conference the Holy Cross Jesuits are sending the message that they have no qualms with its promotion of contraception and the presence of Planned Parenthood, which are intrinsically inimical to the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church. At this year's conference - scheduled October 24, from 8AM - 4 PM - "Messages that Matter: Strengthening...

Washington DC, Sep 27, 2007 / 10:18 am (CNA).- The oldest Catholic university in the nation has changed its policy to permit grants to law students who intern with abortion agencies, such as Planned Parenthood. Law Center Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff of Georgetown University announced the policy change Sept. 7 in a letter published in the Law Center's student newspaper. It was reported in The Hoya, the Georgetown University newspaper. The decision came after the Law Center got flack from pro-abortion students and faculty for directing student group Equal Justice Foundation to refuse funding to a student who applied to...

Somewhere in the early to mid ‘70s, nuns from most of the older religious communities replaced their habits with pants suits, left their convents for apartments, and gave up teaching and hospital work to lead retreats and give workshops. At exactly the same time they also stopped getting vocations and their numbers began to drop considerably - so much so, that each year parishes are solicited by the USCCB to contribute to what’s known as the “Retirement Fund for Religious,” made necessary by the fact that all the members of the old established communities of women religious are now old....

MINEOLA, N.Y., Sept. 19, 2007 – The reason the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Chaminade High School here was on the wall as he entered the building today: a simple plaque with the names of graduates killed in combat. Rev. James C. Williams and Marine Gen. Peter Pace look at photos of graduates of Chaminade High School who have been killed in combat. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited the Mineola, N.Y., school Sept. 19, 2007, and met with Gold Star families. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

Major US Catholic University Caught Deceiving Diocese: Diocese Losing Patience Vice-chancellor of archdiocese states, "there's a Catholic ethos in this town that rightly smells a rat" By Meg Jalsevac OMAHA, September 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Just a few weeks ago, LifeSiteNews and several online blogs reported on Creighton University's shameful invitation, and then hasty 'disinvitation' of ardently pro-abortion and pro-euthanasia speaker, Ann Lamott.  According to several recent news reports, the hasty 'statement' published on the University website to announce the cancellation has not appeased the powers that be at the Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha. The official Creighton statement announcing the...

Pro-Abortion John Kerry to Speak at Catholic University of America Invitation violates principle unanimously agreed upon by US Bishops in 2004 By Hilary White WASHINGTON, September 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic University of America (CUA) has invited former presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry to speak on environmentalism and the Iraq war this semester, despite initial opposition by the office of University Center, Student Programs and Events (UCSPE). The Tower, the campus paper of Catholic University, said the UCSPE had initially objected to Kerry's appearance, saying there is an "unwritten" campus rule banning political candidates during an election year. Kerry, who...

Toronto Catholic School Board Pro-Gay Harassment Policy Threatens Priests One of the largest school boards in Canada could penalize what would normally be considered remaining faithful to Catholic moral teaching By Elizabeth O'Brien TORONTO, August 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The new "Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace" policy, recently released by the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), bans discrimination due to "same-sex partner status" and "sexual orientation". The document, a copy of which has been obtained by LifeSiteNews.com, also indicates that teachers and even parish priests could potentially be penalized for what would normally be considered remaining faithful to...

Ontario Catholic School Board Approves Referrals to Gay-Activist Therapist, Censors Right to Life Material Also Approves "National Day Against Homophobia" and PFLAG pamphlets By Elizabeth O'Brien and John-Henry Westen WATERLOO, August 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Minutes of meetings of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) Family Life Advisory Committee (FLAC) reveal that the Catholic board has undertaken activities that seriously contradict Catholic teaching. Despite Catholic teaching opposing homosexual acts, the board has approved referral of Catholic students to homosexuality-promoting therapists and organizations. In the January 25, 2006 meeting minutes, published on the WCDSB website, the FLAC approved the referral...

Iowa Catholic School Board Upholds Catholic Identity - Accepts Resignation of Divorced and Remarried Teacher By Hilary White DUBUQUE Iowa, August 8, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Members of the Waterloo Cedar Valley Catholic Schools Board voted unanimously last night to accept the resignation of a teacher, Tom Girsch, 59, who had remarried after a civil divorce, but who, in the eyes of the Catholic Church, is still married to his first wife. The vote follows a previous vote in July when the board declined to accept the former teacher's resignation. Catholic teaching does not recognise civil divorce as dissolving a marriage,...

THE Catholic Church wants to discourage non-Catholic families from enrolling their children in its schools under a return to strict religious values.Church leaders headed by Cardinal George Pell yesterday issued an edict to all Catholic schools, demanding that students and their parents be more devout and outlining a plan to lure back thousands of poorer families who have left the system. The Church will not ban non-Catholic students from enrolment - it says it considered, but rejected, plans for a formal "downsizing to accommodate only those who are committed to the faith". But it wants to introduce a new four-...

DePaul University is one of the biggest nominally Catholic universities in the country. It states By reason of its Catholic character, DePaul strives to bring the light of Catholic faith and the treasures of knowledge into a mutually challenging and supportive relationship. It accepts as its corporate responsibility to remain faithful to the Catholic message drawn from authentic religious sources both traditional and contemporary.” Last year, they instituted a Queer Studies program. It's not exactly a secret that in the non-sciences, political activism has long overtaken any serious study. It's also no secret that universities are overwhelmingly liberal to...

A Catholic school run by the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Graces in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand (or Uttaranchal), was devastated by a gang of radical Hindu militants, members of the extremist organisation Sangh Parivar. The civil authorities and human rights groups, the local Catholic Church and other Christians have said they are deeply shocked at this totally unprovoked attack which sowed panic among the pupils and teachers and left the school building completely devastated. The school was in the village of Vikas Nagar near the town of Dehra Dun. The local Church is outraged and has...

Secularist Attacks on the Catholic Church in Britain By John Loughlin Friday, July 20, 2007, 8:51 AM One might have expected the Catholic Church in Great Britain to enter a cosy relationship with the new Labour Government of Tony Blair elected in 1997. During that year’s general election, the bishops of England and Wales had issued a document entitled The Common Good, which sought to apply the principles of Catholic social teaching to the issues of the day. Although the document did not advise voters for which party they should vote, it was clear that the sympathies of the bishops...

CHICAGO -- For more than a century, Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary has quietly prepared teenage boys for the priesthood, largely unchanged as the city transformed around it from gritty industrial center to gleaming modern metropolis. But another kind of change finally caught up with Quigley. The 102-year-old seminary -- housed in a Gothic-style building that looks like it belongs on a square in Europe instead of in a tony Chicago shopping district -- will close its doors for good in two weeks because of a shrinking student body that has seen just one graduate ordained in the last 17 years....

The Identity Crisis in Catholic Schools By: Deacon Keith A. Fournier © Third Millennium, LLC Introduction From January 28 through February 3, 2006, we observed Catholic Schools Week in the Catholic Dioceses of the United States of America. The theme for the week was, “Good News in Education”. Materials were sent to every Catholic School in the United States along with offers for clothing, posters, and other self congratulatory items. I do not believe it is a time to send up balloons. Rather, it is a time for deep soul searching concerning the state of Catholic schools; time for real...

Catholic schools played a "vital role" in the Gulf Coast's path to recovery after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, first lady Laura Bush said on a visit to St. Rosalie Catholic School in Harvey. After her midmorning visit to St. Rosalie, Bush had lunch at Cafe Reconcile in New Orleans, a program of the New Orleans archdiocesan Catholic Charities. Meeting students, teachers and parish and archdiocesan personnel at St. Rosalie Jan. 9, Bush said the school "reminds us of the vital role Catholic schools have played in helping children whose lives were devastated by the hurricanes. Catholic schools worked as quickly...

Until a few years ago, the gay-rights movement kept its distance from my life in suburban California. I followed the movement’s progress in the media and analyzed its claims in theology papers, but none of these matters directly intruded on my family’s life and thus did not prompt any direct response. Then one morning, as I read the online bulletin issued by my son’s Catholic high school, an item grabbed my attention: “We are announcing a new school club—‘The Gay, Straight…and anything in between…Alliance’ (GSA)!!” I read over the announcement several times, pondering the oddly jocular tone of the...

Georgetown University has rediscovered its Catholicism. The nation’s oldest Catholic school, the flagship of Jesuit education in America, has been a sad topic among American Catholics for some time now. Crucifixes removed from classrooms, a lay president, pro-abortion activity, a general embarrassment at religion. Indeed, over the years, Georgetown has been perhaps the clearest example of what many such schools practice: the whipsaw of “Catholic tradition,” in which the strongest declarations of Catholic identity come from the fund-raisers, the alumni association, and the public-relations office—all the people trying to sell the university in a tight economic situation that requires a...

<p>A Catholic religious education coordinator was denied an award from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Wednesday evening because she is a lesbian, prompting a protest at the dinner honoring the other 17 recipients.</p> <p>About 200 members of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church demonstrated Wednesday night in support of Kathy Itzin, the church's religious education coordinator. Itzin, a member of St. Joan's, was to be one of 18 archdiocesan workers honored for their work in teaching young people about the faith. She is in a relationship with a partner, and they have four children, ages 10 to 16.</p>

Georgetown University has banned outside Protestant ministries from holding on-campus events and using the school's name, prompting group leaders to question whether the prestigious Catholic school is restricting religious choice. "All we're wanting is diversity," said Kevin Offner, a staff leader for InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship. "We're simply saying, 'Can't we worship and conduct our meetings in a way appropriate to our tradition?' And it feels like [Georgetown is] saying 'no.' " In a letter last week to leaders of the campus's Affiliated Ministries, the Rev. Constance C. Wheeler, a Georgetown Protestant chaplain, said that "as a result of our...

Madrid - The government of Saudi Arabia is working through its embassy in Madrid to acquire numerous private schools in Spain in order to turn them into Islamic formation centers, where the Koran and Islamic law would be taught. The strategy to purchase schools was revealed by the Spanish daily "ABC", which discovered that Saudi Arabia had unsuccessfully tried to purchase school buildings operated by the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. The Saudi plan was to offer $17 million for a school in Madrid capable of holding 350 students. ABC reported that the offer was rejected "because the religious...

National Catholic Reporter; 3/26/2004; Donovan, Gill While many families struggle to pay the rising cost of sending their children to Catholic schools, parishioners in one U.S. diocese don't worry about tuition--including the high cost of tuition for Catholic high schools. The children of active parishioners in the Wichita diocese attend Catholic schools tuition-free. A model of stewardship was initiated in Wichita diocese-wide in 1985 by Bishop Eugene Gerber (see "Wichita bishop took 'leap of faith' for stewardship." Parishioners embraced that model, which called for them to give generously of their time and their talents and to give as high a...

Last Saturday, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings gave the commencement address for the Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic Education Master's Program. Secretary Spellings discussed the importance of Catholic educators in today’s society: “99 percent of your students will graduate from high school, and 97 percent will go on to college. That's a tremendous accomplishment... and it's a strong reminder that we can't afford to lose any of these schools. Like I said before, Catholic schools are national treasures. At a time when 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs require higher education, we need every school in America to have success...

When Domino's Pizza founder and billionaire Tom Monaghan set up Ave Maria School of Law, he claimed it was because all other Catholic law schools were liberal, and he wanted a conservative one. So, given that, what the heck is conservative about helping illegal aliens? That's the latest project of Ave Maria School of Law, which makes it . . . just like all the other liberal Catholic law schools. Question for our many conservative Catholic readers who are against illegal immigration: Is there any Catholic belief whatsoever that requires aiding and abetting illegal aliens? More from "People Making News"...