Free Republic

Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has sent a letter to President George W. Bush asking him to veto H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act of 2006 that would authorize construction of up to 700 miles of fencing and barriers along the southern border of Mexico. "To be clear, the U.S. Catholic bishops are supportive of efforts to enforce immigration law and secure our borders, so long as the mechanism and strategies applied toward this end protect human dignity and protect human life," Bishop Skylstad wrote. "However, we are opposed to this legislation because...

The Vatican's tougher stand on homosexuality has divided American Catholics, with some welcoming it as a renewal of a Church plagued by scandal and others warning it would further alienate Catholic leaders. Reflecting the divisions foreseen by some churchmen and scholars, a Catholic priest in Arizona announced his resignation because of "aggressive anti-gay positions" at the Vatican and the U.S. Church. "I could no longer stay in that institution with any amount of integrity," Rev. Leonard Walker, 58, told the Arizona Republic after resigning from the Queen of Peace Church. Apparently trying to defuse controversy over the eight-page Vatican document...