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My friends, I ran into Sarah Palin a week or so ago. Well, not the Sarah Palin — and not comedian Tina Fey, either. Temporarily away from my mission work and visiting old friends at an Irish parish, I was enjoying the (rare) sunshine after Mass, greeting parishioners as they left church, when I noticed a young mother pushing her daughter in a baby carriage. Her child — like all children — was radiant to me, with a shock of orange hair and a smile of beautiful wonderment at just about everything. Her head rolled back and forth as if...

Obama is all about idol worship. He has a slew of idols he bows down to and prays before. Obama believes if an idol is good enough for him, it is also good enough for our entire nation. He is forcing his idols down the throats of all Americans, come hell or high water. God took the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Egypt was a nation dedicate to idolatry and was the first Kingdom mentioned in Revelation 17:10. "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet coms." Egypt was...

"How in the world would I sum up my life except to say 'God, at the end of the day I have really nothing but my faith, my reliance on You Lord…'" ...

Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop of Sarajevo and President of the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina denied press reports yesterday which claim that the Vatican is creating a commission to investigate the alleged apparitions of Medjugorje. The cardinal, who is visiting Rome to attend the plenary session of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, of which he is a member, said that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is neither preparing a document nor establishing a special commission to study the Medjugorje apparitions. Cardinal Puljic said that the official position of the bishops of Bosnia and Herzegovina...

Ever since Sarah Palin entered the national political arena last summer as the Republican VP nominee, she has caused sheer panic in the hearts and minds of the Leftist Liberals in America. Accordingly, the Leftist media is hell-bent on doing all they can to discredit Palin’s accomplishments and destroy her character at any cost. Even now, much effort and energy is being expended to deceive the American people regarding her considerable achievements. Her popularity among conservatives is astounding, and many believe that she will get the 2012 endorsement for the presidency. The Left and its State-Run Media Minions are now...

Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O LORD, And teach out of Your law, that You may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance. But judgment will return to righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it. (Psalm 94:12-15).

Citing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civil disobedience, 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples. “We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says. The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an...

When Bill O’Reilly asked Sally Quinn questions regarding Sarah Palin’s faith on The Factor, Quinn was all over the answer board.

Neither did I. And that's why this article in today's Daily Mail online caught my eye and raised my eyebrows. This insidious effort on the part of the Nazis to superimpose their own atheistic symbols and thought categories onto Christendom's ancient Christian symbols associated with the celebration of the Nativity of Christ was ultimately a failure, mainly because the Nazis were beaten by the Allies before this program of "re-education" could gain traction and take effect. But it is a good reminder that one of Hitler's prime directives was to do everything in his power to neutralize the Catholic Church,...

The White House has a curse upon it. It is real. It is powerful. It will not go away until a particular act takes place. The curse came upon the White when President George W. Bush placed the Koran with great aplomb in the White House library.

This is a video. Go to the site to view.

Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl Washington D.C., Nov 18, 2009 / 06:32 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Washington’s announcement that services would have to be cut if the District of Columbia City Council recognizes same-sex “marriage” without religious exemptions was not a “threat” or “ultimatum” but a simple recognition of the policy’s consequences, the Archbishop of Washington said in an opinion essay in the Washington Post.Without strong religious freedom protections, the proposed legislation would force the Church to choose between expressing Christ’s love in service to others and defending the nature of marriage, Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl wrote in his...

Just in the nick of time we see some real leadership from the Archbishop of Canterbury. No no, he isn't doing anything crazy to save the Anglican communion like embracing orthodoxy or anything. Canterbury leads us in a different direction, off a cliff. Rowan Williams has come out strongly in favor of the doctrine of higher taxes. Further, he gives us the source of this divinely inspired revelation, Big Brother 11. [Telegraph]Dr Rowan Williams said that taxation should not be seen as a way of stifling business or redistributing wealth but helping to make the world a better place in...

Speaking at a press conference in Rome, a Syrian Catholic archbishop told reporters that persecution and discrimination suffered by Iraqi Christians is ultimately rooted not in governmental actions but in a culture inspired by the Qu’ran. Archbishop Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil, the auxiliary bishop of Antioch, added that he opposed the creation of a Christian enclave around Nineveh and that “the Church must be the presence of Christ in the country. If we Christians flee when the situation is difficult, then we don't give that necessary witness. And if the generations are uprooted, then they will never return.”

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Fallout continues from the spring controversy over the University of Notre Dame awarding an honorary degree to President Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops went behind closed doors at their fall meeting Wednesday to discuss, among other issues, what action they should take to increase oversight of the nation's more than 200 Roman Catholic colleges and universities. Chicago Cardinal Francis George, president of the bishops' conference, revealed this week that he had formed a task force charged with reviewing the issue. Its research included a look at what church law says...

The good news is that, as a result of the faithful’s righteous outrage, funds from CCHD no longer go to ACORN. The bad news, however, is that CCHD will still funnel money to leftist groups such as the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing umbrella group, the mission of which is “to bring about social justice and collectively transform our society.” Sound familiar? These are the code words of Socialism. Gamaliel is funded by none other than ultra left wing radical George Soros. See http://www.newswithviews.com/Kincaid/cliff367.htm For a thoroughly disgusting video of Gamaliel members praying to Obama, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUazd8DqcNk Go to www.all.org/cchd...

Sarah Palin, if running for President, surely will divide this Republic all the more into two definite segments-fiercely opposing segments. Already we have two primary segments: believers and secularists. Believers are those moralists who hold to the God of the Bible, particularly the New Testament God in Christ. It may be via Roman Catholicism, evangelical Protestantism, Orthodox Christians, or non-church members who hold to biblical ethics. Secularists are exampled by Joy Behar on The View. She is with conviction a non-believer who holds that this life is all there is. No deity. No hereafter. No judgment accountability. This is it;...

We need to understand the differance between the Christ and the anti-Christ body. First things first, the anti-Christ is not one person. It is a body of many members. John the beloved disciple defines the issue very clearly. 1 John 1:22. "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is an anti-Christ, that denieth the Father and the Son." If someone denies the Christ Spirit in expression on earth, that one serves the anti-Christ. There are two bodys on earth and everyone must choose to serve in one or the other. The anti-Christ spirit...

Too many political conservatives with biblical values as their base have inadvertently turned their zeal into a religion without realizing it. What happens when political conservatives turn their social activism into a religion?

Catholics United (CU) has launched a campaign to promote health care reform and encourage Catholics to support it with the full force of a united Catholic voice. It’s called Catholics for Health Care Reform. CU cites the achievements of the USCCB and Congressman Stupak in getting safeguards for the unborn in the bill that passed the House (the one now in the Senate). They are calling upon all Catholics to join the campaign.After a closer look at this group, pro-life Catholics proceed with caution. This is the same group that gave their support to Candidate Obama, Speaker Pelosi, HHS Secretary Sebelius and...

The pillars of heaven tremble, And are astonished at His rebuke. He stirs up the sea with His power, And by His understanding He breaks up the storm. By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26:11-14)

In her new book Sarah Palin writes that one summer at Bible Camp she "put my life in my creator's hands and trust Him as I sought my life's path." For Palin, this grand divine plan was "a natural progression." She writes. And later, "I don't believe in coincidences." Which leads me to ask: What does she believe is God's plan for her? Does she have any free will or is everything preordained. Can she see something coming and change her mind despite God's plans for her? Did God plan for her to become Governor of Alaska. If so, did...

Our founders saw religion as the most powerful civilizing institution which could provide and sustain that moral base upon which our republic could be successfully built and without which, it would ultimately collapse like the Greeks before them. Consequently, they believed it to be imperative to encourage and support religion and did not see any 1st Amendment problem with governmental support of religion. Rather than depending upon external legal constraints and force to maintain order and peace, they had to rely upon individual self-restraint and self-control. But they realized that it is only reasonable to expect people to act that...

Ever since Sarah Palin entered the national political arena last summer as the Republican VP nominee, she has caused sheer panic in the hearts and minds of the Leftist Liberals in America. Accordingly, the Leftist media is hell-bent on doing all they can to discredit Palin’s accomplishments and destroy her character at any cost. Even now, much effort and energy is being expended to deceive the American people regarding her considerable achievements. Her popularity among conservatives is astounding, and many believe that she will get the 2012 endorsement for the presidency. The Left and its State-Run Media Minions are now...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows: Getting Nancy Pelosi to accept a health care bill that bans federal funds for abortion was the greatest victory scored by U.S. bishops in a generation. It also unleashed an unprecedented attempt to censor them. Their latest enemy is Geoffrey Stone writing in the Huffington Post. Stone finds it troubling that the bishops are so vocal. He yearns for a time when JFK was president, a time when separation of church and state met his approval. Perhaps the Chicago law professor forgot about Rev. Martin Luther King, the minister who took to...

USCCB staffer's remarks are in (black, italics) and mine in (red). “Subsidiarity is a fine thing. That is the principle that has been at work since we first started talking about the need for health care reform, during the Truman administration. Subsidiarity has had over 50 years to work since then...” I do not agree that "subsidiarity" is "the principle that has been at work for the past 50 years"; nor do think that many of the critics of Pelosi-Reid are supporters of the status quo. A strong case can be made that it was not "subsidiarity," but poorly-crafted public...

On Friday, EWTN's Raymond Arroyo hosted, on his The World Over program, representatives of Reform CCHD Now, a coalition of Catholic groups calling for reform of the USCCB's domestic anti-poverty arm, Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Arroyo and his two guests presented strong evidence that the CCHD is funding groups that are subverting Catholic teaching. The interview was aired only 9 days before American Catholics will be asked to contribute to the annual CCHD collection on November 22nd. The effort to reform the CCHD began this year with a report in August from the Bellarmine Veritas Ministry (BVM), which...

Rumors about gun confiscations. Angry protests about the government's tax policies, replete with Nazi comparisons. A resurgent militia movement. Rage at the election of a president deemed to be illegitimate and threatening. Distrust and anger toward the government fueled by paranoia and conspiracy theories. They are among the crosscurrents of anger and hostility that have swept certain sectors of the country since President Barack Obama took office nearly a year ago. And they are contributing to "a toxic atmosphere of rage in America," according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which today issued a report looking at the various sources that...

...or so many on the Left have been saying after the Stupak-Pitts amendment passed a week ago, thanks in part to what they saw as inappropriate activism on the part of the Catholic bishops. Geoffrey Stone at the Huffington Post longs for a simpler time: Whatever happened to the America John F. Kennedy believed in? The America in which "no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials"? Bill Donohue notes the double standard in this particular brand of outrage: The following is a partial list of...

Local Chapters of Planned Parenthood (PP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have filed a lawsuit against the sponsors of a Nevada ballot initiative that would explicitly define "person" as pertaining to all human beings, including the unborn. The ACLU and PP filed the challenge this week in Carson City District Court on behalf of feminist blogger Emmily Bristol, physician Dr. William Ramos, and pharmacist Mindy Hsu. The lawsuit claims the initiative violates state law by not explicitly stating the possible effects of the amendment on the legal status of abortion, emergency contraception, and fertility treatment. The voter initiative...

“Do we regard the Christian way as the only way, so that salvation is not to be found outside it; or do we regard the other great religions of mankind as other ways of life and salvation?” - Religious Philosopher John Hick Pluralism, the belief that all religions are equal, contradicts the entire premise of religion. If all religion is equally true, what is the point of subscribing exclusively to one? People initially believe in a certain doctrine or religion because of faith and conviction that it is true. Likewise they reject other doctrine as false. Within respective faiths, most...

When it comes to volatile political issues, the United Church of Christ is not often content simply to issue statements. Its new general minister and president, Geoffrey A. Black, delivered 17,000 petition signatures this fall to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that urged health-care reform—including coverage for all and access regardless of ability to pay. Black's predecessor as UCC president, John Thomas, was arrested at the White House two years ago, trying to deliver 100,000 petition signatures against the war in Iraq. "The church has a long tradition of being involved in the large public issues of the day," said Thomas,...

The Left opposes the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion provisions in healthcare reform. So why doesn't it oppose the YWCA, United Methodist Church, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis for favoring abortion? Getting Nancy Pelosi to accept a health care bill that bans federal funds for abortion was the greatest victory scored by U.S. bishops in a generation. It also unleashed an unprecedented attempt to censor them. Their latest enemy is Geoffrey Stone writing in the Huffington Post. Stone finds it troubling that the bishops are so vocal. He yearns for a time when JFK was president, a time...

Meet the men who passed through the Iron Curtain in this fascinating program about the priests trained by the Vatican to infiltrate the USSR and minister to the people suffering under communist oppression. Sun 11/15/09 10 PM ET / 7 PM PT Tues 11/17/09 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT Fri 11/20/09 4 AM ET / 1 AM PT PT

While one can agree or disagree with Maureen Dowd's portrayal of Goldman Sachs and other bankers (column, Nov. 11), her statement that "the bankers who took government money and then gave out obscene bonuses are the same self-interested sorts Jesus threw out of the temple" potentially raises one of the classic themes of anti-Semitism linking Jews and abhorrent money-lending practices. However unintentional, Ms. Dowd's invoking the New Testament story to illustrate our current financial mess conjures up old prejudices against Jews.

BEIJING - As President Barack Obama prepares for his first visit to China, leaders of the unapproved churches there are condemning his administration for indifference to the increasing persecution they are facing. The latest example of that persecution came Sunday as followers of an unapproved church in Beijing were again forced by the government to find a new place to worship. Worship in China, governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, is allowed only in state-approved churches, but millions of people belong to unregistered churches that often face official harassment.

BEIJING - As President Barack Obama prepares for his first visit to China, leaders of the unapproved churches there are condemning his administration for indifference to the increasing persecution they are facing. The latest example of that persecution came Sunday as followers of an unapproved church in Beijing were again forced by the government to find a new place to worship. Worship in China, governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, is allowed only in state-approved churches, but millions of people belong to unregistered churches that often face official harassment.

Belief in god, like getting pregnant, is a private matter between consenting adults (or one consenting adult and one or more deities) and is no one else's business. I am on record in this blog (and have not budged an inch) as not objecting to any candidate's religious views. But I object strongly when anyone (and especially anyone with political power) tries to take their theology out in public, to inflict those private religious (or sexual) views on other people. In both sex and religion (which combine in the debates about abortion), Sarah Palin's views make me fear that...

Psalm 54:4-6 God is my Helper; He is a Friend of mine. He will cause the Evil Deeds of my Enemies to Boomerang upon them. Do as You Promised and Put an End to these Wicked Men, O God. Gladly I Bring my Sacrifices to You; I will Praise Your Name, O Lord, for it is Good.

BEIJING — Followers of an unapproved church in Beijing were again forced by the government to find a new place to worship Sunday, a move one analyst suggested would be a test for President Barack Obama on religious freedom during his first visit to the country. Worship in China, governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, is allowed only in state-approved churches, but millions of people belong to unregistered churches that often face official harassment. Sunday's banishment was the latest for the Shouwang church, one of the largest underground churches in China with about 800 members. It was forced to...

“It appears that Iran has walked right up to the threshold of having enough low enriched uranium to provide enough raw material for a single bomb,” said Peter Zimmerman, a former chief scientist of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency per Daniel Dombey at FT.com.

Is Orthodox Christianity progressive?To see the spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians making his rounds in Washington this week - meeting with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Senate leader Reid and speaking at the Brookings Institution today - you could make that case. In his talk yesterday at Georgetown University (sponsored by the left-leaning Center for American Progress), the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew spoke about the spiritual imperative for nonviolence, universal health care and reducing consumption to help the environment. But Bartholomew knows the political language of America, and he made a point in his talk to claim that...

Today many in the United States are crying out to President Obama and Government to do more and more to fix our social ills. The notion that Big Government has all our answers and the solutions we need in this very chaotic and unstable world is fairy tale. It is one that is rooted in the personal belief that Fallen Man through and by the efforts of Big Government or "Socialism" can bring security and comfort to it's inhabitants. There is no man made ideology or system that can ever usher in a world Utopia of perfection and bliss. These...

Below is an informative piece by my friend Gary Glenn of the American Family Association of Michigan about the awful decision by the LDS Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) to support legislation granting legal protections based on homosexuality. Gary of AFA-Michigan writes: A Shocker from Salt Lake City: The LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Church now officially endorses so-called “gay rights” laws, specifically a Salt Lake City law prohibiting “discrimination” on the basis of “sexual orientation” (homosexual behavior) and “gender identity” (cross-dressing). From the official LDS Church website: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-supports-nondiscrimination-ordinances ASSOCIATED PRESS: “Mormons throw support...

Here's more good and encouraging news from the episcopal front, this time coming from Spain, where the Catholic bishops there are girding for battle with the country's leftist, pro-abortion government. When Nancy and I were most recently in Spain, for two weeks in September, I spoke at length with as many Spaniards as I could about what they see happening in the Church over there. In addition to their general pessimism about how apathetic most Spanish Catholics tend to be about the Faith, they also seemed very heartened by the muscular efforts many Spanish bishops, priests, and laypeople have been...

see link !

Broadcast by Telecare TV in Conjunction with USCCBWill Air Public Portions of Meeting November 16-18USCCB Will Post Updates on Blog, Twitter, Facebook Coverage of Bishops' Meeting Available Via Satellite, Internet WASHINGTON—The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will work in conjunction with Telecare, the television station of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY, to provide live coverage of the U.S. Bishops’ Fall General Assembly, November 16-19, in Baltimore. This coverage will be “free to air” via satellite. Telecare will cover the public sessions of the U.S. Bishops’ meeting, airing coverage Monday, November 16, from 1-6 p.m., Tuesday, November 17,...

The American Family Association is calling on consumers to boycott Gap Inc. and its brands, which include Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic, this holiday season. more...

Dear Representative: We write to urge you to condemn forcefully the invocation of Holocaust imagery such as photos of Nazi concentration camp victims in the current health care debate. We were appalled that such images were held up by protesters at a press conference called and organized by Republicans at the United States Capitol last week, and deeply disappointed at the failure of the Republican leadership to speak out against such comparisons. As the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, the Anti-Defamation League is non-partisan and has no position on the issues underlying the health care...