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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched a campaign against Catholic hospitals, charging that the health of patients-- especially women-- may be endangered by the US bishops' health-care directives. Noting that Catholic institutions account for one of every six hospital beds in the US, the ACLU remarks that Catholic institutions are generally forbidden to perform abortions and sterilizations or to euthanize patients: procedures that the ACLU defines as forms of "health care" Thus the ACLU report concludes that "health care" is not always available at US hospitals because of Catholic teachings. "When hospitals prevent doctors from providing care, the...

The United Methodist Church General Conference convenes once every four years to make policy decisions and set the direction for the denomination. Beginning Tuesday (May 10), 864 delegates, half of them clergy, will converge on the Oregon Convention Center in Portland for 10 days for the General Conference. More than 40 percent of those delegates will come from outside the U.S. They’ll consider 1,043 proposals listed in the conference’s legislation tracking system. Here are six of the most talked-about issues: 1. LGBT inclusion The United Methodist News Service tallied up more than 100 petitions alone on sexuality. Several plans have...

The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh said Friday that House Bill 2 should be reconsidered and replaced by either new legislation or some other measure. Bishop Michael Burbidge said he opposed the Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinance that HB2 was initially drafted to undo. Among other things, that ordinance would have allowed people in the city to use public restrooms according to their gender identity rather than the gender of their birth. But speaking to reporters Friday, Burbidge says that by going beyond the Charlotte ordinance, HB2 became too complex and too divisive. Among the law’s provisions are ones that...

At least eight Catholic colleges across the country are hosting “lavender graduations” this spring — many of them as part of an annual campus tradition — to celebrate and honor students with same-sex attraction (SSA) or who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ). Lavender graduations and similar ceremonies for seniors have been announced at the College of St. Rose, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Loyola Marymount University, St. Mary’s College of California, Santa Clara University, Seattle University and the University of San Francisco. Although intended as a compassionate gesture to students, the ceremonies reinforce harmful ideologies about sexuality...

Last week, one of my recent articles was published on The Gospel Coalition website. I have realized over the years that any time I write about the ever-controversial topic of homosexuality, I should expect a couple truckloads of criticism to come rolling into the comments section. This TGC article was no exception. I scrolled through "the aftermath" on Facebook and Twitter the day following its publishing, trying my best to humbly process the comments of some disgruntled readers. Quite a few people commended my commitment to celibacy but also shared that they believe my ongoing experience of same-sex attraction is...

After reading this article, you will have officially “heard everything.” Yes, a man really has petitioned a court to issue a restraining order against God because of how unkindly He has been treating him.The Times of Israel is reporting on the story of a man who petitioned the Haifa Magistrate’s Court to issue a restraining order against God because He had been treating in a particularly unkind way.The man argued that “over a three-year period God, had exhibited a seriously negative attitude toward him, although details of just what divine mischief he had borne the brunt of were not mentioned...

Pope Francis has again kissed the hands of Father Ernest Simoni, the Albanian priest who spent 28 years in prison for being faithful to the Church during the Communist regime.The visibly moved Bishop of Rome met the priest some days ago, after the general audience of April 20, in St. Peter’s Square.“This is an Albanian martyr,” the Pope said when he saw him.The Pope has met this priest before. And once again, he pressed his forehead to the forehead of the living martyr. They first met on Nov. 21, 2014, in Tirana; the Holy Father cried when Fr. Simoni...

Here’s story about a church closure with a happy ending —and a church transformation that you don’t hear about very often: A Yonkers Roman Catholic church shuttered last year in a parish consolidation will celebrate its rebirth Saturday  as an Eastern Rite congregation.The Rev. Sunny Mathew, 43, the new congregation’s pastor, said the move to Yonkers realizes a longtime dream for his parishioners, who began their congregation in 1984 in New York City. Most Holy Trinity Church at 18 Trinity Plaza will be occupied by St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church, an Indian congregation that for 17 years worshiped in the chapel at Salesian High School in New Rochelle.“It...

Four popular megachurch pastors are promising to bring an interesting combination of hope, comedy and honesty in a new faith-based talk show to be tested on FOX this summer called "The Preachers." "The Preachers" will be hosted by John Gray, an associate pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas; E. Dewey Smith Jr., senior pastor at The House of Hope Atlanta and The House of Hope Macon; Orrick Quick, pastor and founder of God Seekers Church in High Point, North Carolina, and Jamal Bryant, pastor and founder of Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Asked in an interview with...

Lately, a number of abortion activists have been claiming that their faith is the reason they support abortion. Abortionist Willie Parker calls his deadly practice a “ministry,” saying Christianity inspires him to help pregnant women who are struggling. Abortionist-in-training Carolyn Payne says Christianity led her to believe that doing abortions “is one of the most meaningful ways I feel I can contribute to making the world a more fair and equal place for women.” Equality and compassion toward the suffering are key aspects of Christianity, but abortion supporters who call themselves Christians limit these values, refusing to extend them to...

The magazine, which launched today, started as a monthly section in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore RomanoThe Church has ignored the female contribution to Catholic culture in recent years, according to an editorial in a new women’s magazine published by the Vatican’s semi-official newspaper. Lucetta Scaraffia, the co-ordinator of Women-Church-World, the new monthly magazine published by L’Osservatore Romano, said that a “hidden revolution” had taken place during the last century with women making an increasingly important contribution to the intellectual life of Catholicism. But this, she explained, had been “almost ignored” by the Church even though it had intensified in the...

ROME— Despite Pope Francis’ repeated calls for a comprehensive Catholic response to the European refugee crisis, Europe’s bishops declared Tuesday they don’t have a common line, arguing that the differing realities of each country makes a uniform response impossible. “We have talked long about migration, but the problem can’t be explained in a three-line statement,” said Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő of Budapest, Hungary, President of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. When asked about walls being built around several countries, including Hungary, Erdő didn’t give a resounding “no,” saying that those who are doing so are building “wire fences” with...

Dear Friends, One of the most remarkable observations in the study of history is the caution and warnings that are always given by Founders of great civilizations. It seems that those who lay foundations for great civilizations are quite aware of the seeds of pride, selfishness, and contention in human nature which over time usually begin to manifest themselves in society--even good societies. These Founders, realizing the tendency of human nature to degenerate, have always closed their public ministries with solemn warnings of the dire consequences of departing from the lofty ideals they established. Moses gave the children of Israel...

Blasphemy was committed on a Catholic university campus: An employee at the "Catholic" school stated her belief, rooted in Catholicism, that there are only two genders. An unnamed employee at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles has been suspended and is currently being investigated for a “hate crime” by the university’s Bias Incident Response Team and the LAPD for “denying transgenderism” when she stated that there are only two genders, reports The College Fix. On April 14, the employee engaged in a “dialogue” with three students who were hanging up posters for “Rainbow Week” on campus. Cosette Carleo, who identifies...

WARNING - UPSETTING CONTENT: The Pope was subjected to violent sexual imagery after writing of Jesus' "love for us" on Twitter Reuters Pope Francis arrives at the weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican Pope Francis has been subjected to abusive tweets after writing about Jesus' love on Twitter The Pope has been targeted by Twitter trolls with sickening abuse after he posted a message about Jesus on the social networking site. Pope Francis was subjected to the vile abuse just seconds after writing on his Twitter page. He wrote: "Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God’s mercy, out...

President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address at Loyola Marymount University’s undergraduate commencement ceremony, LMU President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., has announced. President Clinton’s nephew, an undergraduate student, is participating in the commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 7, 2016. “President Clinton is one of the great statesmen of our time, and he will address our students as they embark on the next stage of their lives,” Snyder said. “His commitment to improving the lives of other people, during and beyond his career in U.S. politics, embodies the ethos of becoming women and men with and for others. President Clinton...

Police and school investigating incident as a hate crimeLOS ANGELES (ChurchMilitant.com) - A Los Angeles Jesuit university has fired an employee for telling students there are only two genders — male and female. In April, Catholic Loyola Marymount University (LMU) allowed LGBT Student Services (LGBTSS) to hold LGBTQ+ Awareness Week, also known as Rainbow Week. Posters were put up throughout campus, but on April 14 three members of the club noted some were taken down and placed behind a garbage can. They retrieved the posters and put them back up, claiming an unnamed employee of the Alumni Relations office approached...

Psalm 104:1 My Soul, Praise thou the Lord; O Lord my God, thou art Exceedingly Great; Thou art Clothed with Glory and Honor.

Our Ambrosian correspondent Nicola de’ Grandi was recently in Paris, and took these photographs of some of the ancient Christian artworks kept at the Louvre Museum. A gilded piece of glass of the type frequent used as grave markers in ancient Christian burial sites; this was a fairly precious object both for its gold, but also because glass was difficult to make in antiquity, and considered a kind of jewel. The image is of the Prophet Jonah being thrown out of the boat, and swallowed by the “whale”, here a large sea monster. (The Hebrew word “bechamah” can also mean either. Jonah...