Free Republic

One of the profound changes wrought by LBJ's landmark program was a huge increase in government-sponsored family planning at home and abroad. President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Medicare Bill at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. [Wikipedia.com] President Lyndon Baines Johnson had spoken the words “Great Society” before, but on January 4, 1965 he brought the pieces together as a legislative package for Congress. His State of the Union message stirred a remarkable flurry of congressional activity that in short order produced major new programs in civil rights, health care, and anti-poverty. In the half-century since then,...

We are One Family Under God National Migration Week 2015 will take place January 4 – 10 with the theme, "We are One Family Under God," which brings to mind the importance of family in our daily lives. This reminder is particularly important when dealing with the migration phenomenon, as family members are too often separated from one another. Please find below an assortment of resources that can help with your celebration of National Migration Week 2015: Resources Prayer Cards We Are One Family Under GodHighlighting the Holy Family, this bilingual prayer card reminds us of the important role that...

How much longer we will have to endure this sort of disingenuous dreck of what amounts to little more than Catholic cover of democrat party initiatives? In his statement on President Obama's constitution-busting executive orders on immigration, Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, M.Sp.S., auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Migration twice references the extra-legality of the move by saying that any such actions must be "within its legitimate authority" that these "pastors" (yes, the scare quotes are appropriate) welcome ANY action "within these limits." --snip-- The USCCB shows again that it is...

Bishops from across the United States take part in the USCCB's 2013 Fall General Assembly in Baltimore. Credit Addie Mena/CNA. Baltimore, Md., Nov 11, 2014 / 08:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted Tuesday on several committee leadership positions, also considering several liturgical proposals and moving forward with a New York canonization cause. At their fall general assembly in Baltimore, Md., on Nov. 11, the bishops elected Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans to be the new conference secretary. They also picked new chairmen-elect for several other committees. After serving for one year as chairman-elect,...

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The United States' oldest Catholic diocese celebrated its 225th birthday Nov. 10 with a special Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore as part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual fall general assembly. "We give thanks for the growth of the Catholic Church in America," said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, USCCB president, at the beginning of the Mass. More than 200 bishops concelebrated the Mass -- nearly one for each year of the existence of the Baltimore Archdiocese, established as a...

Dialoguers say the darndest things. The conclusion to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document, Revelation: Catholic and Muslim Perspectives, contains the following: “Both Jesus and Muhammad loved and cared for all whom they met, especially the poor and oppressed.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs has strongly reaffirmed its commitment to engage in dialogue with Muslims. After citing texts from the Second Vatican Council and St. John Paul II on dialogue with Muslims, the committee stated that “sadly, in recent years, there has been a deliberate rejection of this call to engage in dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters by some in the Catholic Church and in other ecclesial families.”

The Obama Administration’s war on religion continues unabated.From Catholic News Agency: Obama administration announces new HHS mandate rulesWashington D.C., Aug 22, 2014 / 10:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Department of Health and Human Services issued on Friday new rules regarding its contraception mandate, after the Supreme Court ruled against its application to certain companies this summer.The rules create a new way for non-profit groups to state their objections to the required coverage, prompting their insurance company to pay for their employees’ contraceptives. For closely held for-profit companies such as Hobby Lobby, the federal department said it is asking for ideas...

For a Christians, it seems, immigration is—or should be—a complicated issue. On the one hand, charity compels those of us who are comfortable to help those who are in need, including those who seek to escape from poverty, crime, or persecution. On the other hand, a legitimate concern for preserving our own law and culture require us to set some restrictions on immigration, lest it become a virtual invasion. Recently I came across a statement that puts the matter nicely in perspective. It would be nice to see the same balance in statements that issue from Catholic leaders both in...

Yesterday the Messiah Most Miserable issued a dictatorial fiat executive order stating that no federal contractor can "discriminate" in its personnel practices based on employees' gender identity and/or sexual orientation.  Churches and related organizations are NOT exempted.  The USCCB pitched a fit.  My question is, "would this order of Obama's had been a blip on their radar screens if they had been exempted?"  Given prior behaviors, I must opine that had Obama exempted churches, they wouldn't have given a rat's rump regarding the matter. But since the USCCB and so many of the dioceses are officially on the federal...

Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden is enthused by the fruit that came from recent discussions between U.S. bishops and Iran’s religious leaders. “When you build a certain sense of trust and respect, then you can move forward and deal with the issues,” he said. The faith leaders announced June 14 that they oppose actions that endanger the life, health, dignity and welfare of others, including the creation of weapons of mass destruction. That declaration was the result of a March dialogue between a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Supreme Council of the Seminary Teachers...

U.S. government officials were caught off guard by the recent rapid rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria and its plan to establish a sharia-ruled caliphate state.Either they weren’t getting enough intelligence from their agents in the field, or else they lacked the framework for processing the information. Since the American Embassy in Baghdad has some 15,000 employees and since we can assume that this includes a sizeable contingent of intelligence gatherers, a problem with the framework is the more likely explanation. The framework is built around the assumption that Islam is a religion of peace, and that the...

Pro-life demonstrators celebrate June 30 outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington as its decision in the Hobby Lobby case is announced. (CNS photo/ Jonathan Ernst, Reuters) The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, together with the chairman of the conference’s Committee for Religious Liberty, released a statement earlier today in response to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby religious freedom case. The joint statement from Archbishop Joseph Kurtz and Archbishop William Lori praised the Supreme Court for “[recognizing] that Americans can continue to follow their faith when they run a family business.”...

US Bishops Focus on Family, Religious Freedom at Spring MeetingJune 18, 2014 Bishops present unified front on current challenges to faith, freedom, and family. Helen Hull HitchcockBishop Michael J. Sis of of San Angelo, Texas, listens to presentation June 11 during the annual spring meeting of the U .S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in New Orleans. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)The family, marriage, religious freedom, and evangelization were linked in the discussions and action items of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at their Spring General Assembly, held in New Orleans June 10-13.  Only three public sessions on the first...

The Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco said Monday it’s his duty to proclaim “the truth about marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife,” even when those views are unpopular. The comment by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone came in response to a coalition of liberal politicians, fellow clergy and gay-rights leaders who have urged him to skip an upcoming March for Marriage event in Washington. Cordileone, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ subcommittee on the promotion and defense of marriage, is a scheduled speaker at Thursday’s march and rally sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage and...

Bishop Richard E. Pates Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa will depart January 6, 2014 on a two-week fact-finding mission in the Middle East.  Bishop Pates, who serves as chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, has a special concern for Syria and the Holy Land, and plans to show support for the local Church and the relief work of Catholic agencies in the region.  He echoed the words of Pope Francis in his Urbi et Orbi message, particularly addressing the violence faced in Syria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Holy...

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there are about 11.2 million unauthorized persons residing in the United States. Each year, approximately 300,000 more unauthorized immigrants enter the country. In large part, these immigrants feel compelled to enter by either the explicit or implicit promise of employment in the American agriculture, construction, service and other industries. Most of this unauthorized flow comes from Mexico, a nation struggling with severe poverty. Survival has thus become the primary impetus for unauthorized immigration flow into the United States. Today’s unauthorized immigrants are largely low-skilled workers who come to the United States for work to...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) alleging that ethical directives issued by the bishops are responsible for negligence in the care of a woman treated in a Michigan Catholic hospital. Tamesha Means, who reportedly suffered damaging infections during a troubled pregnancy that ended in miscarriage, should have been advised to abort the child, the ACLU argues. “It is important to note at the outset that the death of any unborn child is tragic, and we feel deeply for any mother who suffers such...

Fox News columnist rips Pope Francis, loses Catholic News Service gig Adam Shaw, an editor for the Fox News website, has been taking a lot of heat, even from some conservatives, for a rip-roaring assessment of the pope’s recent apostolic exhortation. His column is titled: “Pope Francis is the Catholic Church’s Obama – God help us,” which gives you a sense of where Shaw was coming from. But if Shaw’s Fox job is safe — hey, when Rush Limbaugh is blasting the pontiff anyone else looks tame — his other gig, as a film and video game reviewer for Catholic...

Pro-life demonstrators in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Lansing, Mich., Dec 3, 2013 / 05:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A lawsuit charging that the U.S. bishops’ ethical standards for hospitals caused negligent care of a pregnant woman wrongly claims that abortion was medically necessary, a doctor and professor of medicine has said. “Abortion is never necessary to save the life of the mother,” said Dr. Brian C. Calhoun, a professor and vice-chair in the obstetrics and gynecology department at West Virginia University-Charleston. Calhoun, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, rejected the deliberate killing of an unborn patient in a medical emergency....