Free Republic

What Effect Will Pressure to Accept Same Sex Acts or “Marriage” Have on Church Teaching? None! By: Msgr. Charles PopeLast week was Holy Week, so sure enough there were many critical issues in the news that needed attention but we in the Church were off doing more important things like worshipping God and pondering our need for salvation. Permit a brief summary and some predictions from me based on the latest unpleasantness in Indiana last week.I am not a lawyer and neither know nor understand all the legal implications of the law signed by the Indiana governor and then later...

U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are gathering at a moment of turbulence for them and the American church, as Pope Francis moves toward crafting new policies for carrying out his mission of mercy - a prospect that has conservative Catholics and some bishops in an uproar. The assembly, which starts Monday in Baltimore, comes less than a month after Francis ended a dramatic Vatican meeting on how the church can more compassionately minister to Catholic families. The gathering in Rome was only a prelude to a larger meeting next year which will more concretely advise Francis on church practice. Still, the...

Tuesday September 7, 2010 Catholic College Rejects Homosexualist Group for Nonprofit Fair By Kathleen GilbertAUSTIN, Texas, September 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Catholic liberal arts college has rejected the application of a local homosexualist group to participate in a campus nonprofit internship fair, because the group's views directly conflicted with Catholic moral teaching. However, the school's own homosexual support group has said it is "investigating" the affair.The student newspaper Hilltop Views reported last week that Equality Texas, a local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) advocacy group, had applied to recruit students at the Internship Fair for the coming school year,...

Friday July 30, 2010 Students React Cautiously to UIUC Statement on Dr. Howell By Kathleen GilbertCHAMPAIGN, Illinois, July 30, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While students of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have hailed the school's decision to reinstate professor Kenneth Howell, many have also received the news with caution, saying that the decision leaves some questions unanswered.News broke earlier this month that Dr. Kenneth Howell would no longer be allowed to teach at UIUC after a student complained about Howell's instruction to students in his Catholicism course. The student claimed that an email from Howell explaining how homosexuality is incompatible...

Thursday July 29, 2010 Breaking: Dr. Howell Reinstated by U. of Illinois By Kathleen GilbertUpdated 6:23pm ESTURBANA, Illinois, July 29, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dr. Kenneth Howell, the professor barred from teaching after a student complained about his explanation of the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality, in a class on Catholicism, has been reinstated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).News spread rapidly of the censure earlier this month of Dr. Howell, whose scheduled classes next fall had been cancelled based on one student's complaint that an email from the professor to students in the class explaining how homosexuality is...

Thousands of supporters are rallying behind Dr. Kenneth Howell, the University of Illinois professor fired for expressing his Catholic beliefs, via a "Save Dr. Ken" Facebook group. Faculty and students are rallying behind a University of Illinois professor whom they say was fired simply because of his religious beliefs. Dr. Kenneth Howell, an adjunct professor who taught courses on Catholicism, was told recently that he could no longer teach in the university's Department of Religion. A student at the university accused Howell of engaging in hate speech when he stated in a class review session that he agreed with the...

Tuesday July 13, 2010 U. of IL to 'Review' Firing of Catholic Prof. By Kathleen GilbertURBANA, Illinois, July 13, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The University of Illinois has issued an open-ended statement regarding a professor of a Catholicism course who was fired after stating that homosexual activity is contrary to the natural moral law. The university statement says only that the school preserves a "commitment to the principles of academic freedom" and that the matter is being reviewed.The university did not respond to LifeSiteNews.com's (LSN) request for comment Monday. However, in an email response posted on CatholicVoteAction.org, University of Illinois...

Monday July 12, 2010 U. of Illinois Fires Catholic Prof for Explaining Church Teaching on Homosexuality By Kathleen GilbertURBANA, Illinois, July 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Catholic professor has been fired from the University of Illinois for sending an email to students in a course on Catholic doctrine, explaining how homosexual activity is contrary to the natural moral law.Kenneth Howell of Champaign, IL, also lost his job with the diocese of Peoria at the Newman center on campus, where he had been employed for 12 years, after university officials confronted Howell about the email. Howell had taught “Introduction to...