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The Hidden Truth About Halloween: Behind the Mask Does the Bible have anything to say about the strange customs surrounding Halloween? In fact, it does—and none of it is good.While God's Holy Days in the Bible celebrate the role of Jesus Christ in bringing mankind to salvation in the eternal family of God (as explained in the following article and our free booklet God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind), Halloween is a celebration of the opposite—of demonism, witchcraft, death and evil spirits.God's Word makes it clear that no one should dare entertain witchcraft or act...

New York City, N.Y., Oct 30, 2009 / 11:14 am (CNA).- The New York Times declined to publish an op-ed presented by the Archbishop of New York, Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan, in which he made the point that the “Gray Lady” has been reporting stories with a strong anti-Catholic bias. In his new blog on the archdiocese’s website, Archbishop Dolan explains that his article was submitted in a slightly shorter form to the New York Times as an op-ed, but the Times declined to publish it. In the blog version, Archbishop Dolan says that next to baseball, “sadly, America...

One of the hardest things Ed Donaghy has ever done was leave his ministry as a Catholic priest. For months, he agonized over his conflicting desires to have a family and serve as a priest in the Sacramento Diocese. In the end, Donaghy felt he had no choice. The priest, who served in Woodland, told his bishop he had to leave. That was four decades ago. "It would have been wonderful to be married and be a priest," said Donaghy, 73, now retired as an insurance agent. "I loved the work and would have continued." Donaghy is one of more...

VATICAN CITY — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on November 21, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi confirmed Friday. Lombardi told AFP that Rowan's visit to the Vatican was "already planned" before the Vatican's October 20 announcement of a structure for welcoming Anglican converts into the Roman Catholic Church. Williams will be on hand for celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Willebrands, a Dutch cardinal who was a pioneer in Catholic ecumenism and who died in 2006. The Vatican announced last week that Pope Benedict XVI has...

Is there a problem with misguided, even deceived Christians who have taken prosperity to an extreme and gotten the focus off their first love and onto an imbalanced view of prosperity? Sure. But that doesn’t mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater and assume any discussion of prosperity is superficial and manipulative. Are there prosperity attackers who’s sole purpose is to follow in the footsteps of Judas of Iscariot and make everything that anyone says about money or prosperity, or healing and health for that matter, sound like heresy. Yes. But it doesn’t justify eliminating the investigation to...

It was, for its day, as big a book-selling phenomenon as Harry Potter. For decades it was a No. 1 best-selling phenomenon unlike anything seen before in America. And Joseph Smith loved it. Or did he?

Recently I attended a Catholic service in a church, and a diocese, which shall remain nameless. This is not because there is anything scandalous to report, but because I’m about to compare it to a 1970s department store. Then, after Vatican II, its interior was modernised. But we’re not talking savage reordering here: just the usual wall-to-wall carpeting of the sanctuary, removal of the altar rails and – unforgivably, not least because it makes a nonsense of the high altar – the removal of the tabernacle to… somewhere. Sometimes you walk into a modern Catholic church and think: this is...

The focus of Pope Benedict’s reign has been to draw sharp boundaries that strictly define what it means to be a Catholic, what it means to be a priest, and how the Church should reconfigure itself in order to exile members who are not true believers. For Benedict, the church must be an orthodox community, which means that it will be a smaller community. But as we have seen in the Vatican’s unsure handling of the controversy around Bishop Richard Williamson, the global trends that the Pope wants to resist are going to pose serious challenges to a more orthodox...

VULGAR CATHOLIC HALLOWEEN COSTUMES October 29, 2009Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on this season’s Halloween costumes:There are costumes depicting Jesus, priests, nuns, ministers, rabbis and imams, and most of them are innocuous. But there are two costumes that are vulgar, and, as usual, they are designed to offend Catholics: a priest with an erection and a pregnant nun, often sold as a pair. Some immigrant groups are upset about an illegal alien costume, but even those who are complaining don’t say it is vulgar. A mere depiction of Muhammad in a Danish cartoon that was anything but vulgar...

"...the most important issue which must be addressed is lost in the charged rhetoric over all of this "justice talk". That is the glaring fact that many who use the “Social Justice” arguments in this debate also support the intrinsically evil and utterly indefensible inclusion of abortion as a “health care service” in all of the current proposals for health care reform. Abortion is the intentional killing of children - our first neighbors - in the first home of the whole human race. Medical science confirms what the Natural Law has already revealed to all of us, that little boy...

Gregory Smith was jobless and desperate to help his family, so he decided to rob an Indianapolis check-cashing store. "It was just the last resort. And I mean it was something that I would never think to do," Smith said...

ELCA NEWS SERVICE October 29, 2009 Some ELCA Congregations Vote to Leave or Redirect Funds, Find It's Not Easy 09-241-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Throughout the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), leaders and members have responded in a variety of ways to changes in the church's ministry polices, a decision made by voting members of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. Some members agreed with the decision. Some were opposed. Some weren't sure how to react. Since the assembly, some ELCA congregations have taken votes to leave the denomination or redirect funds away from the ELCA. Leaders and members in a few...

Wow! This is big news. For months the bishops have been threatening to oppose the healthcare legislation as long as it included abortion funding. But I didn't expect this. Wonderful news. Catholic.org reports: An E-mail directive has been sent from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-Life Activities Secretariat mobilizing every parish in the United States of America. It contains an urgent message which is to be distributed in every parish this weekend and announced at every single Mass. This massive and urgent appeal may be unprecedented in our history as Catholics in America. It is an effort to...

The delay in publishing the apostolic constitution, which will allow large numbers of Anglicans to be received into the Catholic Church, is due not so much to translation problems as the more weighty issue of priestly celibacy.According to two reliably informed Italian newspapers, Il Giornale and Il Foglio, canon lawyers are continuing to define what has been a particularly unclear aspect of the new provision: whether married Anglicans could train as seminarians.Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale reports that over the last few days, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts has been working to clarify this point. He writes that “everything...

This past Monday I reported that the USCCB Department of Communications is listed as a "principal partner" on the "So We Might See" Web site. So We Might See is a coalition of religious groups that is petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to investigate "hate speech."   Since the page on the organization's Web site displaying the petition also contained specific allegations that Rush Limbaugh incited violence against two Mexican men in 2006, I reported that the USCCB was also supporting an investigation of Limbaugh.   Helen Osman, Secretary of Communications for the USCCB, responded to my article in...

Two churches in Little Falls are learning just how polarizing the topic of gay clergy can be among its members. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's decision to allow homosexuals in monogamous relationships to serve as church leaders even resulted in one Little Falls pastor's resignation. The Rev. Nate Bjorge's last day as lead pastor at First Lutheran Church in Little Falls is Friday. On Oct. 11 the church held a congregation-wide vote on whether the church should remain in the ELCA or join Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, another Lutheran body. The church voted to stay in the...

Here we go again! Nuns Having Fun calender for 2010 will be available for shipment in July. And in case you missed last years offering:

GUEST LIST October 29 Fr. AntoineThe Eucharist Expedition: To the Summit! Ask Fr. Antoine a question Father Antoine Thomas, CSJ Fr. Antoine Thomas is a native of France. Before joining the Brothers of St. John in 1985, he was a member of the French Army in the Alpine Troops, pursued a degree in marketing both in France and the US, and enjoyed many active sports such as hang gliding, windsurfing, and mountain climbing in the Alps. The Congregation of St. John is one of the fastest growing religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1975 by Father Marie-Dominique...

IDAHO FALLS - An Idaho Falls woman is the cover girl of a calendar that is creating a scandal in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tami Roberts posed for the controversial calendar called "Hot Mormon Muffins" which features 12 moms who claim to be a part of the LDS church. Each month is accompanied by a muffin recipe. The idea stems from the calendar "Men on a Mission" featuring LDS men sporting the signature Mormon missionary white shirt while showing some skin. Later, the calendars entrepreneur, Chad Hardy, of Las Vegas, was excommunicated from the church. Roberts...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 A reasonable assessment of the swine flu vaccine Why be skeptical? Orthodox Catholics have a strong tendency towards healthy skepticism when it comes to big government and big pharma. We've seen the democide carried out by atheistic governments against several hundred million innocent men, women, and children over the past century. We've seen the demographic winter and destruction of over a billion lives at the hands of scientism's big medicine and big pharma. Science no longer serves the God who created the laws of nature and nature itself, even if many individual scientists, doctors and biomedical...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:Last Friday on the Washington Post blog, “On Faith,” English atheist Richard Dawkins said the Catholic Church was “surely up there among the leaders” as “the greatest force for evil in the world.” He labeled the Eucharist a “cannibal feast,” adding that “possession of testicles is an essential qualification to perform the rite.” He also blamed the Church for sending missionaries “out to tell deliberate lies to AIDS-weakened Africans” regarding condoms. The Church’s outreach to Anglicans, he said, makes it “a common pimp,” noting that those who convert “will be joining an institution...

"Through the grace and mercy of God -- and the faithful prayers of more than 200,000 volunteers standing vigil outside abortion facilities -- an incredible miracle has taken place," said David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life...

On Theology in the 12th Century "Knowledge Grows Only if It Loves Truth" VATICAN CITY, OCT. 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of Benedict XVI's address today during the general audience in St. Peter's Square. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, Today I pause to reflect on an interesting page of history, regarding the flowering of Latin theology in the 12th century, which came about by a providential series of coincidences. In the countries of Western Europe there reigned then a relative peace, which assured society of economic development and the consolidation of political structures, and fostered a...

Orders are coming now for my chosen ones that have been waiting for the timing of my will . The sweeping of the penduluum's timing is poised before my throne as a gravitational pull holds you to earth , so the hearts of my children are laid before me and as no other time before my humble servants are about to enter into an opened door revealed only to the few( obedient) , the Chosen(overcomers) and this door is an entryway into not only the all of me but the paradise of my love abiding ,eternal , flowing yet existing...

ROME (CNS) -- Dissident theologian Father Hans Kung criticized Pope Benedict XVI for his recent opening to discontented Anglicans, charging the pope was "fishing" for the most conservative Christians to the detriment of the larger church. Father Kung said the invitation to traditionalist Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church went against years of ecumenical work on the part of both churches, calling it instead "a nonecumenical piracy of priests." The pope's basic message is: "Traditionalists of all churches, unite under the dome of St. Peter's!" Father Kung wrote in an editorial Oct. 28 in the Rome daily La Repubblica....

Bishop J. Peter Sartain / Bishop-elect Joseph Siegel Joliet, Ill., Oct 28, 2009 / 11:09 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced on Wednesday that Pope Benedict has appointed Father Joseph Siegel as an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois.  Bishop-elect Siegel is currently a pastor of Visitation Parish in Elmhurst, Ill. and has served the Diocese of Joliet since his ordination in 1988. “I was both humbled and honored when I received the unexpected news that Pope Benedict had named me to serve as auxiliary bishop of Joliet,” Bishop-elect Siegel said on Wednesday.“I am deeply grateful to our...

Timely it is that the Vatican has set aside 2009 as the Year of the Priests and has even called for the faithful to sacrifice and offer up sufferings for them. Recently, there was a day of fast. Can you imagine the pressure they are under? Do you pray for your local priest on a daily basis? There is a poignant line in the original Prayer to the Archangel Michael where, in imploring help for the Church, it says that evil attacks with the strategy that "when the pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered." In our...

ROME – Dissident theologian Father Hans Kung criticized Pope Benedict XVI for his recent opening to discontented Anglicans, charging the pope was “fishing” for the most conservative Christians to the detriment of the larger church. Father Kung said the invitation to traditionalist Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church went against years of ecumenical work on the part of both churches, calling it instead “a nonecumenical piracy of priests.” The pope’s basic message is: “Traditionalists of all churches, unite under the dome of St. Peter’s!” Father Kung wrote in an editorial Oct. 28 in the Rome daily La Repubblica. “Look:...

SAN FRANCISCO, OCT. 27, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A new film on Mary’s apparitions in Fatima is being offered with an advance screening program for groups before the DVD is available to the public in North America. "The 13th Day" tells the true story of the May 13 - Oct. 17, 1917, apparitions to Lucia Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto. The film is based on the memoirs of Lucia after she became a nun. Ignatius Press, the North American distributor of the film, is offering dioceses, parishes, schools and other organizations an opportunity to show "The 13th Day" before...

You tube video of Christians trying to ask Muslims questions at Arab Festival in Dearborn, MI. Police side with the Muslims.

Larry David found comedy fodder in piety on the latest episode of his series, “Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ On the show’s most recent installment, which aired Sunday, David urinates on a painting of Jesus Christ, causing a woman to believe the painting depicts Jesus crying. … During Sunday’s episode, David, who created, wrote and produced “Seinfeld,” visits a bathroom in his assistant’s home and splatters urine on a picture of Jesus. Instead of wiping it off, David leaves the restroom. Minutes later, David’s assistant enters the bathroom and concludes that Jesus is crying. She then summons her mother to the bathroom,...

  For anyone who strongly identifies with traditional Christianity, the October 6-9 series on Fox News's Hannity, with Sean Hannity interviewing Michael Moore, was rich in irony and vaguely distressing. The occasion was Moore's new film, Capitalism: A Love Story.   Two bright, likable, and deeply sincere married men of middle age passionately argued the positions of the liberal Democrats or progressives (Moore) and the conservative Republicans (Hannity). What generated some irony was that both celebrity worldlings revealed themselves to be regular Sunday mass-goers. They viewed their years in Catholic schools warmly and with pride, and readily associated some...

The following message (though not this picture) was posted yesterday on the Mormon Church's public affairs blog. It explains the group's unhappiness with recent news reports that refer to "splinter groups" which hive off from the Salt Lake City-based "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (AKA "the Mormon Church") as "Mormons." These splinter groups (AKA "Mormon Fundamentalists") assiduously devote themselves to the practice of the doctrine of polygamy (which was renounced by THE Mormon Church in 1890) and around whichever Viagra-addled alpha male has set himself up as the prophet, seer, and revelator for that particular harem.

Children of God for Life announced today that Neocutis, a bio-pharmaceutical company focused on dermatology and skin care is using aborted fetal cell lines to produce several of their anti-aging skin creams. "It is absolutely deplorable that Neocutis would resort to exploiting the remains of a deliberately slaughtered baby for nothing other than pure vanity and financial gain," stated Executive Director Debi Vinnedge. "There is simply no moral justification for this." ...

-Fr. Joseph M. Siegel, pastor of the parish of the Visitation in Elmhurst (USA), as auxiliary bishop of Joliet in Illinois (area 10,920, population 1,842,000, Catholics 667,000, priests 268, religious 718, permanent deacons 199) in the United States. The bishop-elected was born in Joliet (Illinois, USA) in 1963 and ordained priest in 1988.

[UPDATE: Lambeth Palace has denied reports that there is to be an emergency meeting of Church of England bishops to discuss the Pope's offer tomorrow.] Here’s what I think Dr Rowan Williams is most worried about as the reality of the Pope’s offer sinks in: the prospect of the Bishop of Chichester and many of his clergy signing up to the new Ordinariate. Bishop John Hind put out a statement today which denies that he is about to become a Roman Catholic. Read between the lines, though. It doesn’t mean that he won’t join the new Papal structure in the...

As a former Anglican priest myself, I am profoundly grateful for our Holy Father’s generous proposal toward Anglicans, 'that they all might be one' (Jn 17:21).DALLAS, TX (Catholic Online) - On October 20, 2009, the Holy See made an unexpected announcement: the Holy Father will be issuing an Apostolic Constitution (the highest form of papal document) through which he will erect personal ordinariates for Anglican clergy and laity wishing to enter the Catholic Church. While rumors about this have been stirring since 2007, the recent decision came as a surprise to most Catholics and Anglicans. Those who remember their high...

The Conservative movement today consists of individuals with various personal beliefs (both religious and ideological), but conservatism in general sadly rejects outright the absolute authority of the Bible, the Holy Word of Almighty God. It is a “bestselling” book widely reverenced, but too many Conservatives reject its Divine authority and preeminence. These “Subjective Conservatives” cannot see out of this box called time, and thus they are oblivious to the realities of Holy Scripture truth. This includes the coming establishment of the literal Kingdom of Almighty God on earth, as well as their own eternity destiny (John 3:3-5; Romans 8:5-8; 1...

He [Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." -Col. 1:17 REPORTER'S NOTE: Though I'm taking a stab in the dark (excuse the pun) with interpreting this article, one thing is certain: these scientists seem to ascribe cognizant, rational attributes to an invisible "force" that is "ruling over" dark matter in the universe. I'll let you read the article and come to your own conclusions! -Teresa Neumann, BCN. Science Daily reports that an international team of astronomers have found an unexpected link between mysterious 'dark matter' and the visible stars and gas in galaxies that could...

ChristiaNet.com, the world's largest Christian portal with nine million monthly page loads, recently asked, "Can salvation be lost?" Bill Cooper, president of ChristiaNet, states, "I believe our focus should be on spreading the Gospel and gaining new salvations." Out of 1,200 Christians surveyed, 54% believed that Christians can not lose their salvation. Some surveyed in this group felt that, "Once you have accepted Jesus, no one can pluck you out of His hand." One poller responded, "I am kept by the power of Christ not my own works." "It is a free gift from God. There is nothing we did...

As the days grow shorter, the leaves fade, baseball winds down and the autumn air turns ever more crisp, the countdown continues to Stateside Catholicism's Fall Classic: the bishops' November Meeting, which begins in Baltimore on Monday, the 16th. Among agenda items including the long-in-the-making marriage pastoral, a text on "reproductive technologies" and the final votes on the re-translated Roman Missal (coming 2011-ish to a parish near you), the body will vote on chairs-elect for several key committees, including those overseeing clergy and vocations, migration, and divine worship. While the standing committees have always been a significant element of...

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn celebrates Mass at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Turin in 2000, the last time the Shroud of Turin was on public display. (CNS/Nancy Wiechec) By Cindy WoodenCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI will join hundreds of thousands of pilgrims traveling to northern Italy in 2010 to see the Shroud of Turin, which many believe is the burial cloth of Christ. The Vatican and the Archdiocese of Turin announced Oct. 27 that Pope Benedict will visit the city May 2. "As the first act of his visit, the Holy Father will...

Bishop Tobin / Rep. Patrick Kennedy Providence, R.I., Oct 27, 2009 / 12:32 am (CNA).- Responding to Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), who charged that the Catholic Church is promoting dissent about proposed health care legislation, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence has replied that the bishops cannot support a proposal that covers abortion. He asked the Congressman to apologize for his “irresponsible comments.”In an interview with CNSNews.com, Rep. Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, had accused the Catholic Church of fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” because Catholic bishops declared that they will oppose the proposed...

Philadelphia, Pa., Oct 27, 2009 / 04:49 am (CNA).- A Pennsylvania Episcopal church which joyously greeted the announcement of a provision to assist Anglicans who wish to become Catholic could be among the first to take advantage of the church structure put forward by Pope Benedict XVI.The Church of the Good Shepherd, an Episcopalian parish in the Philadelphia Maine Line suburbs, is an “Anglo-Catholic” parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. According to the Rosemont Journal, its liturgy is celebrated in the “high church” style reminiscent of traditional Catholic churches: with incense, elaborate vestments, and a choir that may sing...

There are plenty of questions being asked in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America following a decision in August to allow pastors to be involved in committed, same-gender relationships. In response to the decision, there will be a series of meetings at churches in the ELCA's southeastern Minnesota synod during the coming weeks, including a three-week series starting Sunday at Zumbro Lutheran Church in Rochester. Bishop Harold Usgaard recently recorded a videotaped message to prompt discussion about the fundamental questions raised by this issue. The questions include: Who is welcome in ELCA congregations and who is not? Usgaard also wrote...

Sleepy Eye, Minn. - In addition to Halloween, this Saturday is also a special date of historical significance for many Christians. October 31 is celebrated by Lutherans as Reformation Day, for it is the date Martin Luther is believed to have nailed his 95 Theses, or grievances against the Roman Catholic Church, on the door of All SaintsÂ’ Church in Germany. This act marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, which ultimately led to Lutheranism itself. As many Lutherans look back to their Reformation heritage over the weekend, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are doing some...

Mormon Apostle Dallin Oaks chose a friendly audience deep within the Book-of-Mormon-belt for his now controversial October 13 speech in defense of the Mormons’ ongoing fight against same-sex civil marriage. Speaking to students at Brigham Young University-Idaho, Oaks decried the continuing erosion of religious freedom and the declining influence of religion in the public sphere, before mounting a strongly-worded defense of “the ancient order” of marriage against the “alleged ‘civil right’ of same-gender couples to enjoy the privileges of marriage.” Elder Oaks recalled expressions of outrage directed at Mormons and acts of vandalism against Mormon temples and wardhouses committed after...

The calendar has been produced by the Madrid Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual collective COGAM Controversy in Madrid with the launch of a 2010 lay calendar which shows images of ‘transsexual virgins’ recreating religious scenes decorated with crowns, condoms and phallic symbols. The lay calendar takes the religion out of the dates of the year, so Christmas Day becomes the day you eat the traditional Spanish turron to mark International Democracy Day, for example. The images are all based on famous Catholic images and iconography. The Venezuelan photographer who assembled the calendar, Juan Antinoo, had been commissioned by COGAM, the...

Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Shroud of Turin May 2, 2010, the Archbishop of Turin announced today.During his visit, the Holy Father will pray privately in front of the holy Shroud before celebrating Mass and reciting the Angelus with pilgrims in Turin’s main square. In the afternoon, the Pope will have a meeting with young people and call into the Little House of Divine Providence, a shelter for the poor, disabled and elderly.Cardinal Severino Poletto, the Archbishop of Turin, said the city “will welcome him with great enthusiasm and affection,” adding that for the local people his visit will...

New Haven, CT Today a group of Anglican clergy responded to the Vatican's recent decision to open the way for disaffected Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Robert Hendrickson, the Director of Communications for the Society, released a statement acknowledging that for those Anglicans who disagree with recent developments within Anglicanism, “such a move may make some sense.” He went on to point out that for many in the catholic tradition of Christianity, “such changes are a natural extension of our understanding of the evolution of Tradition in the life of the Church.” Hendrickson also...