Free Republic

Looks like Barack Obama is going to have to learn to live with disappointment. He has prepared for his presidential library for years. It’s part of his legacy. When Obama was elected, Chicago treated him literally as if he was the second coming of Christ. He was their favorite son. Nine years later, not so much. They are beginning to see the real Barack Obama at long last. The citizens of Chicago are balking at the plans for Obama’s library. In its initial bid for the right to host the library, put forth on behalf of the city, the University...

The federal government has invited comments on “adverse effects” the Obama Presidential Center may have on Jackson Park and a leading landscape advocacy group has big ones: the planned iconic high-rise tower... and not taking into account the historic Frederick Law Olmsted designs for the related Midway Plaisance and Washington Park. Olmsted’s design “was intended to lead visitors on a choreographed journey through passages of landscape scenery. Neither the location nor the disposition of the roads were accidental,” wrote Charles Birnbaum, the president and CEO of the nonprofit Cultural Landscape Foundation in a submission for the federal review. These South...

The following quote is in the front pages of Milton and Rose Friedman's book, "Free To Choose". It is from Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 479 (1928) The quote is relevant to the political debate in this country today. I want to hear a range of opinions about Brandeis' ideas. The quote: "Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficial. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greater dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment...

The Arizona Republic published a profile of Bishop Thomas Olmstead of Phoenix, offering some perspective on the quiet prelate who has captured nationwide attention by announcing that a hospital in Phoenix can no longer be considered Catholic. While not actually hostile, the newspaper profile betrays some an inability to understand the perspective of a Catholic leader, commenting that the public statements and writings of Bishop Olmsted “often are strictly religious in nature and densely packed with references to Scripture, papal writings and other church documents.” In other words, he speaks primarily about religious topics, speaks from a Catholic perspective, and...

Bishop Thomas Olmsted NEW YORK, December 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The American Civil Liberties Union has attacked Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix after news broke this week that the bishop had taken further steps against a Catholic hospital that had performed a direct abortion. Reacting to the latest clash, Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said the staff of the St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center “did the right thing” by killing an unborn child late last year to avert aggravation of the mother’s pulmonary hypertension. “A hospital’s first responsibility must be to protect the health...

Bishop Thomas Olmsted PHOENIX, December 15, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic bishop of Phoenix has warned that a local hospital where doctors directly killed an unborn child late last year will lose its status as a Catholic institution unless it submits to a review to ensure it will comply with Catholic church teaching. Bishop Thomas Olmsted issued the warning to Lloyd Dean, president of the San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), in a November 22 letter obtained by The Arizona Republic. CHW is the parent company of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, where the abortion was performed. The conflict...

The Church's sexual abuse scandal is the "blame Bush" of Catholicism. Anything that goes wrong anywhere that has even the remotest connection to Catholicism can be explained by or blamed on the sex abuse scandal. It's reflexive now. Liberal Catholics can't say anything about the Church without bringing up the sex abuse scandal. Whether it's a conversation about altar rails, mass times, abortion, vestments, or gay marriage liberal Catholics will instinctively raise the specter of the abuse scandal as if the very existence of sin in the Church is evidence that they're right. A priest who's made quite a name...

Monsignor Dale Fushek, founder of LifeTeen Phoenix, Dec 16, 2008 / 07:23 pm (CNA).- Bishop of Phoenix Thomas J. Olmsted has issued a decree of excommunication to Monsignor Dale Fushek, founder of LifeTeen, and Father Mark Dippre for their establishment of and leadership in an "opposing ecclesial community."Fushek, one of three founders of LifeTeen, has not been active in the youth ministry for four years.The priests had served together in the 1990s at St. Timothy’s Catholic Community in Mesa, Arizona, the East Valley Tribune reports. A year ago, they founded the non-denominational Praise and Worship Center, which meets Sundays at...

Fr. Dale Fushek, best known for being one of the founders of "Life Teen", has finally been excommunicated. From the Diocese of Phoenix website: December 15, 2008-The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, has issued a Decree of Excommunication to Reverend Monsignor Dale Fushek and Reverend Mark Dippre. Fushek and Dippre have incurred the censure of excommunication because they have chosen to be in schism with the Catholic Church by establishing and leading an opposing ecclesial community known to the public as the Praise and Worship Center. Both priests have consistently refused to comply with explicit directions...

Fr. Mitch Pacwa interviews Bishop Thomas Olmstead of the Diocese of Phoenix and Tom Peterson, President of Catholics Come Home concerning the evangelization of fallen away Catholics and interested non-Catholics through television advertising.Go to Archived video with the title link and select Archive >> EWTN Live, or use the direct link below.

PHOENIX (September 4, 2008) The Bishops of the Catholic Conference of Arizona, in a pastoral statement released today, are encouraging voters to vote yes this November 4 on Proposition 102, which would amend the Arizona Constitution by providing a legal definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix and Apostolic Administrator of Gallup, and the Most Rev. Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson, support Proposition 102 and are asking the support of Catholics in their respective dioceses. The proposed amendment to the Arizona Constitution that is promoted in...

PHOENIX, Arizona (LifeSiteNews) - Despite warnings and requests from the Diocese of Phoenix, a suspended priest who faces criminal sex abuse charges has been leading prayer services attended by his personal devotees. Monsignor Dale Fushek, who faces multiple sex-related misdemeanor charges, holds non-denominational prayer services at the Mesa Convention Center. The diocese has requested that Catholics not attend the services, because of the scandal caused by them. "We're actually encouraging Catholics to refrain from attending We would hope that they don't," said Jim Dwyer, a spokesman for the diocese. "I think most leaders in the church would say your devotion...

According to published reports, Bp. Olmstead of the Diocese of Phoenix has stated a 10-year-old, moderately-to-severely autistic boy should not be given Communion until it is demonstrated that the boy can receive the Host (which he apparently does reverently for some seconds) without then spitting it out (due to its texture which the boy's condition makes intolerable for him). Other shapes and sizes of Hosts have been tried without success, as has offering him the Eucharist under the appearance of Wine. Till now, the boy's father has been taking his son's Host and consuming it himself, an obviously loving...

PHOENIX, January 10 (CNA) - Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix is now the third U.S. bishop to require a full course of natural family planning for couples who want to marry in a Catholic church. The other dioceses are Denver and Fargo. Most other dioceses only require an introduction to the method. In a series of articles, Bishop Olmsted said artificial birth control is a grave wrong that is at the root of many of the problems afflicting American society, reported the Arizona Republic. He said: "marriage itself is gravely harmed" when a couple uses birth control, and that marital...

Phoenix Bishop Misrepresented by Secular Press PHOENIX, August 10, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The flap started last year over a speaking engagement on a proposition to the Arizona government to impose restrictions on illegal immigrants. Governor Janet Napolitano cancelled speeches against the proposition, which the Arizona Catholic conference also opposes, in some of the Catholic churches in the Phoenix diocese. This resulted from the Diocese of Phoenix asking the Governor to choose another venue, because, though they were in agreement over the treatment of undocumented immigrants, the Methodist Governor supported abortion and homosexual “marriage,” which are non-negotiables for Catholics. One Arizona...

Bishop restores Latin Mass By Lawn Griffiths, Tribune June 21, 2005 The Old Mass has regained critical mass in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. The one-year experiment to determine whether enough Valley Catholics wanted Masses in Latin — the mother tongue of the church — has ended. And Bishop Thomas Olmsted has declared Latin a winner. The response to a first year of "Tridentine liturgy" or Latin Masses at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in east Phoenix has been so strong that Olmsted is making them permanent, and extending the special Masses to more parishes. After July...

Bishop restores Latin Mass By Lawn Griffiths, Tribune June 21, 2005 The Old Mass has regained critical mass in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. The one-year experiment to determine whether enough Valley Catholics wanted Masses in Latin — the mother tongue of the church — has ended. And Bishop Thomas Olmsted has declared Latin a winner. The response to a first year of "Tridentine liturgy" or Latin Masses at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in east Phoenix has been so strong that Olmsted is making them permanent, and extending the special Masses to more parishes. After July...

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted The Blessing of a Chaste LifeDifficulties faced by homosexual personsThird in a SeriesSince the universal call to holiness demands of all a share in the Cross of Christ, it is not surprising that persons with homosexual inclinations face difficulties of various sorts as they, like all other followers of Jesus, seek to love God with all their mind and heart, and to love their neighbor as themselves. These difficulties include the following four: Intellectual confusion about whether sexual activity outside of marriage is always wrong. In recent years, one sector of the popular culture has...

No Longer Silent Phoenix Declaration As Christian clergy we believe it is time to share our perspective concerning Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgendered (GLBT) persons. We celebrate the end of the debate. The verdict is in. Homosexuality is not a sickness, not a choice, and not a sin. We affirm that GLBT persons are distinctive, holy, and precious gifts to all who struggle to become the family of God. We stand in solidarity as those who are committed to work and pray for full acceptance and inclusion of GLBT persons in our churches and in our world. GLBT persons are...

About 400 people turned out Monday night for a meeting called by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix to explain why a popular Gilbert priest was suspended on accusations he broke church law. Many were dissatisfied with what they felt was an inadequate investigation. "This is a high-tech lynching," said Jerry McCarty, who attended to the meeting in defense of the Rev. John Cunningham. "They’re trying to silence the more liberal priests." Cunningham was suspended April 30 from his job as pastor of the St. Mary Magdalene parish after accusations he broke church law by celebrating Mass with a non-Catholic...