Free Republic

It’s official. The FHA is crawling to Treasury for $1.7 billion. That is, more gruel. And the FHA blames senior citizens for their plight. Washington (AP) — A federal housing agency says it needs a $1.7 billion bailout from the Treasury to cover projected losses in a mortgage programs for seniors. At issue are reverse mortgage programs, which allow seniors to borrow against their homes for everyday living expenses. Carol Galante is Federal Housing Administration Commissioner. Galante wrote Congress Friday that her agency will withdraw the money from the Treasury before the fiscal year ends Monday. Congressional approval is not...

Bowing to pressure from New Jersey's increasingly outspoken Roman Catholic bishops, Gov. James E. McGreevey said Wednesday that he would no longer receive holy communion during Mass because his support for abortion rights and other social causes contradicts church doctrine. Advertisement During the past month, bishops of Camden and Trenton have stepped forward to declare that Mr. McGreevey, a former altar boy who attends services at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Princeton, is not a devout Catholic because of his stance on several political causes that are opposed by the church, including domestic partnership for gay couples, abortion rights and...

Catholic League president William Donohue commented as follows: “The Catholic League does not possess a theological micrometer that judges, with digital precision, how ‘good’ a Catholic is. Furthermore, it is not our business anyway. But it is also true that we will not pretend disinterest in subjects that touch on the issue of Catholics in public life. “This week’s issue of Time magazine says Senator John Kerry ‘sought an annulment of his 18-year first marriage before marrying again.’ News reports indicate, however, that Kerry didn’t seek an annulment until after he married Teresa Heinz in a civil ceremony in 1995....

Dallas, Mar. 23 (CWNews.com) - What happens when an American bishop, deeply tainted by the sex-abuse scandal, refuses to resign? Today we found out. After a 5-year battle of wills with Bishop Charles Grahmann of Dallas, the Vatican has in effect conceded. Today the Vatican announced that Bishop Joseph Galante has been appointed to head the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey. At first glance that looks like a routine appointment. But those who know the full story realize that it is anything but routine. Five years ago Bishop Galante had his own diocese, in Beaumont, Texas. But in December 1999...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The battle between Catholics politicians who support abortion and the pro-life Catholic Church continues. A New Jersey bishop says his state's pro-abortion governor is not entitled to communion, an Indiana Catholic school has rescinded an invitation for that state's pro-abortion governor to speak, and the Democratic leader in the U.S. House says she will continue taking the sacrament despite her pro-abortion views. Last week, Most Rev. Joseph Galante, the incoming leader of the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, said Governor Jim McGreevey can't receive communion. Galante cited McGreevey's position in favor of abortion as one of...

N.J. politicians: Church is seeking too big a roleBy Tom TurcolInquirer Staff WriterRoman Catholic politicians in New Jersey, including one who left the church yesterday, are expressing anger at what they say is an attempt by church leaders to force them to decide between their government oaths and their religion.Elected officials said that escalating demands by the church hierarchy in New Jersey that Gov. McGreevey and others vote in accordance with Catholic doctrine on public issues runs counter to the principle of the separation of church and state.State Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny said he told his pastor yesterday...

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — The incoming leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden has decided that Gov. James E. McGreevey cannot receive communion. The Most Rev. Joseph Galante said Thursday that he was taking the stance primarily because the divorced governor, who is Catholic, remarried without receiving a church annulment. He also cited McGreevey's support of abortion rights, stem-cell research and other positions which contradict church views. Galante, who was to be installed Friday during a Mass at St. Agnes Church in Blackwood, said he felt duty bound to take a hard line stance on the issue. He said...

Restructured Committee on Sexual Abuse Announced WASHINGTON (September 5, 2002) –- Belleville Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), announced today the restructuring of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse (AHCSA) and its new membership. At their June 13-15 meeting in Dallas, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as part of their "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," voted that "the membership of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse will be reconstituted to include representation" from each of the fourteen episcopal regions into which the nation's dioceses and...