Today we have a conversation with Father John Waiss about Vocations and Dating.

Father Waiss is a priest of Opus Dei and an author. He has written "Couples in Love : Straight Talk on Dating, Respect, Commitment, Marriage, and Sexuality" and "Letters Between a Catholic and an Evangelical" published by the Crossroads publishing company.

Topics that Father John Waiss speaks on:

• Luke 9:22-25
• How we should consider dating in the context of Marriage.
• How "Casual Dating" (that is, "a pseudo-commitment") can be very dangerous.
• How to discern which qualities to look for in a spouse.
• What to consider, in regard to vocations, while dating.
• How God wants us to be Holy, even if we follow a vocation that isn't God's "first choice".
• One should be materially prepared to be married before entering dating relationships.
• One should keep their relationship from becoming overly physical.
• That a wedding will be more meaningful and the commitment stronger if a couple consummates the marriage after their wedding ceremony.
• The inherent attractiveness of not being self-absorbed (manifested by modesty in dress and behavior).
• How to tell if a partner has the qualities that one is looking for.
• The metaphysics behind physical purity in a dating relationship.
• The attitude one should have toward any "baggage" a boyfriend/girlfriend can bring to a relationship.
• The best things parents can do for their children to provide good formation for a future dating/marriage relationship...

You can purchase the book that provides the basis for our interview at the following link:

A growing number of states are considering laws that would require hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims, drawing criticism from supporters of the Roman Catholic Church, which likens the morning-after pill to abortion.

...

The laws would include hospitals affiliated with the Catholic Church, which teaches that life begins at conception. Opponents say states are attempting to force those hospitals to go against their beliefs.

You can click here to read the complete text

The hunt for the great American Catholic voter of 2008 started in earnest last week, led by none other than New York’s junior Senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

...

Strategists have been saying for some time that Mrs. Clinton will use her re-election campaign in the heavily Catholic areas of upstate New York as a laboratory for her expected 2008 Presidential bid. “Her spin is, ‘Hey, look, I can win Catholic votes. If I can win the western tier of New York, I can win Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania,’� said veteran Democratic operative Hank Sheinkopf. If religion-tinged issues such as abortion and gay marriage can be neutralized in those areas, the Democrats can win on economic issues among hard-pressed Catholic men, Mr. Sheinkopf argues.

Pope Benedict XVI may visit China, depending on God's will, says the vicar general of Hong Kong, who greeted the holy father a few days after the pope created new cardinals.

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Layperson Jimmy Lai Chi-ying, proprietor of a newspaper in Hong Kong, also asked the pope to come to China, and "bring us love and democracy." The holy father answered, "I will come," Lai told the press.

...

In another reported comment, Lee cited the gospel story of the blessed mother telling Jesus there was no wine at the wedding and asked the pope to please pray to Jesus because there is no freedom in China.

The Catholic Carnival is now posted over at the "Living Catholicism" Blog. The Catholic Carnival, for those who are not familiar with it, is a collection of the best blog posts from Catholic-centric blogs.)

Many of the Carnival posts this week explore our Lenten journey toward God, so I thought it was an appropriate theme. Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

This is related to an earlier post about this that you can find here.

After days of international outcry, an Afghan court has dismissed the case against a man threatened with being put to death for having converted from Islam to Christianity, a court official said Sunday.

...

Many Afghans say that Rahman must pay the ultimate price for his renunciation of Islam, and have vowed to kill him themselves if he is released. Such high passions at home thrust the Afghan government into a difficult position, forced to weigh domestic pressures against the outrage of Western countries that have poured billions of dollars into rebuilding this war-torn nation.

Here's another article about this from a different perspective:

Muslim clerics have threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.

[As] President Bush laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, a self-declared witch embarked on a clandestine mission to mark a grave most dear to her.

...

Taking advantage of the attention turned elsewhere that day, Rosemary Kooiman affixed a vinyl pentacle - a five-pointed star within a circle - to the gravesite of her husband, a decorated World War II combat veteran.

• 3/30/06 - Father John Waiss on Dating and Marriage. Father Waiss is an author of a book on "dating" and presents a view of dating that seems practical and good for the soul. I recommend this interview for older teens who may be considering dating.
• 4/10/06 - Bud Welch fought to save Timothy McVey from the execution chamber in spite of his daughters death in the Oklahoma City bombing.
• 4/20/06 - Father John Wauck on the Da Vinci Code. He is a priest of Opus Dei who will address some of the more colorful items in this popular novel.

This article highlights the pragmatism that underlies the political decision behind the Catholic democrats' statement:

55 American Congressmen and women have made a stand on religion, conscience and abortion. It may be smart politics, but it's sloppy thinking.

One politician standing firm on his conscience is a miracle. Fifty-five standing firm on their consciences is a publicity stunt. That may seem a bit harsh, but it is the only explanation for why 55 Catholic Democrats in the US House of Representatives have issued what they described as an historic statement of principles.

You can click here to read the complete text

North Korea has no people with physical disabilities because they are killed almost as soon as they are born, a physician who defected from the communist state said on Wednesday.

You can click here to read the complete text.

Today we have a conversation with Fr Fessio.

Father Fessio is the Founder and Editor of Ignatius Press, founder of the St. Ignatius Institute of the University of San Francisco and Campion College before coming to Ave Maria University as Provost and Professor of Theology.

He wrote his dissertation on the ecclesiology of Hans Urs von Balthasar under the direction of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XIV.

Topics that Father Fessio speaks on:

• The "Camel through a needle's eye" Gospel passage.
• How much more generous God is than us (ref. Mark:28-31).
• The family structure as a reflection of God and the Trinity.
• St Paul's letter to the Ephesians is Father Fessio's favorite apostalic writing.
• God the Son is eternally newborn.
• God is always simultaneously a Father and a Son.
• What Wives and Husbands should do to imitate the relationship between the Church and Christ.
• The Complex Greek of Ephesians 5:22 (it doesn't say explicitly "wives submit to your husbands") and that it is not a misogynist text, instead it is a women enobling text: Women are called to "symbolize and live forth and represent what they are, that is creatures in the face of God and therefore brides for the Bridegroom" and Men are called to represent what we aren't, to image forth and symbolize God's authority as husbands and Priests.
• The Church environment is a reflection of marriage and family and the Trinity.
• We should view the Eucharist is a "nuptial celebration".
• The role of the laity in the larger family relationship in the Parish.
• The current Pope's awareness of the issues surrounding the American Catholic Church.
• The continued existence of "Western Civilization" depends largely on the American Catholic Church.
• The importance of "Vanilla Spirituality" in the traditions of the Church.
• How the laity should handle issues when Priests don't follow the Rubrics of the Mass. Father Fessio mentioned Adoremus as a resource for information on the liturgy.

An Afghan man who allegedly converted from Islam to Christianity is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death, a judge said today.

You can click here to read the complete text

Two more women have died after using the abortion pill RU-486, federal health regulators said Friday, in warning doctors to watch for a rare but deadly infection implicated in earlier deaths.

At least seven U.S. women have died after taking the pill, sold since 2000. The Food and Drug Administration cannot prove the drug was to blame in any of the cases.

You can click here to read the complete text of an AP article.

You can click here to read the complete text from Wired.

In a ghastly incident that has shocked the Church in India, a Catholic priest in the Goa Archdiocese was found murdered on Saturday morning in the presbytery of the St. Francis Church in Macasana in South Goa.

You can click here to read the complete text

I think this will be the last time I post on this subject. (It's no longer under the radar.)

"It is apparent that there are some who wish to compel Catholic Charities to place children with couples whose life choices run contrary to the values and beliefs of Catholic Charities and many other non-profit child placing agencies. This demand is imprudent and wrong."

Article about San Francisco Catholic Charities and whether they will still place adoptive childrent with same-sex parents from ebar.com (serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities since 1971), the home of Bay Area Reporter:

Headline: Catholic group to halt adoptions in Boston – SanFrancisco next?
By Lisa Keen

In yet another confrontation between religious organizations and laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, Catholic Charities of Boston, an organization of the Archdiocese of Boston, has decided to end its program of helping find homes for children with severe emotional and medical needs.

The decision sparked concern that San Francisco's Catholic Charities could end up in a similar situation with its adoption program and prompted San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to decide against going to the Vatican next week for the installation of former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada, who now heads an influential Vatican post and was elevated to cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.

Newsom's decision, first reported Monday in the online www.SanFranciscoSentinel.com was confirmed by mayoral spokeswoman Jennifer Petrucione Tuesday, March 14.

"He was considering going but had a number of commitments," Petrucione told the Bay Area Reporter . She added that last week's decision by Boston Catholic Charities and the reiteration by the Vatican against gays adopting children was a factor in Newsom's decision not to travel to Rome.

Newsom told the Sentinel that the Vatican's position on adoption is "divisive and wrong-headed."

Catholic Charities of Boston announced March 10 that it would not seek to renew its license in June with Massachusetts to provide adoption services. Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley, who sought an exemption from the state's human rights law, said the group would end its program "in order to exercise the religious freedom." He and the state's three other bishops said the state human rights law's provision against sexual orientation discrimination violates the Vatican's 2003 edict that homosexuality is "gravely immoral."

The announcement triggered numerous resignations from the Boston Catholic Charities board. Seven members issued a joint statement saying they would not participate "in an effort to pursue legal permission to discriminate against Massachusetts citizens who want to play a part in building strong families."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco told the Boston Globe that it is now reviewing its policy of allowing adoption placements with gay and lesbian families.

Maurice Healy, spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, said in an e-mail message this week that the archdiocese was reviewing its policy.

"There is nothing new to report," Healy said.

Debbie Weill, executive director of Dignity USA, a group for LGBT Catholics, called the actions in Boston "very alarming and reprehensible."

"We're extremely concerned and outraged that the Catholic Church could do such a thing," said Weill. "The church is just totally forgetting about the children. The choice these children have are either to be left with no parent or to be placed with same-sex couples who have been carefully screened by these Catholic agencies. ... It's outrageous that the church would act in such an un-Christ-like way."

Since 1987, the Catholic Charities group in Boston has had a contract with the state to help foster children with severe needs find homes, and the organization has obeyed the state human rights law. That law has included a prohibition on sexual orientation discrimination since 1989.

In October 2005, the Boston Globe ran an article noting that, of the 720 children the Boston-based organization has placed over the years, 13 were with gay and lesbian families.

Shortly after that article appeared, the four Catholic bishops in Massachusetts met and agreed that the placement of children with gay and lesbian families violated the Vatican's 2003 edict that homosexuality is "gravely immoral." But the Catholic Charities board voted unanimously in December to continue the placements in accordance with state law.

Following last Friday's announcement that the group would end its entire adoption program to avoid the state non-discrimination law, many of the Catholic Charities' board members resigned.

According to the Boston Herald, Catholic Charities received about $1 million from the state in fiscal year 2005 for its adoption work.

O'Malley has been aggressive in his actions against gays since taking over from his predecessor Cardinal Bernard Law in 2003 during the child molestation scandal that has rocked the archdiocese and the church globally. In February, Pope Benedict XVI honored O'Malley with a promotion to cardinal.

Brian Cahill, executive director of Catholic Charities in San Francisco, told the Boston Globe last week that, in five years, it had placed five of its 136 children with gay or lesbian parents. He said he is concerned that the Archdiocese of San Francisco may try to order his agency to stop placements with gays.

"I will consult with my archbishop," Cahill told the B.A.R. Monday, adding that such a discussion is likely to take place "sooner rather than later."

Such a meeting would be the first gay-related issue facing new San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer, who was just installed last month.

Cahill called the situation in Boston "sad" and said that in his years at Catholic Charities the interests of the children come first.

"We always take into consideration the teachings of the church and the needs of the children," Cahill said, adding that 85 percent of the children adopted through Catholic Charities are "difficult to place." But he commended the gay and lesbian parents who have adopted children.

"Five kids were placed with highly qualified, loving parents," he said, referring to those placed in same-sex households, "and I commend them."

Children waiting for adoption sometimes spend years in the state's foster care program. "No one wants them," Cahill said.

Cahill noted that gay and lesbian couples "don't come through our doors" because of the church's position on homosexuality, but that county adoption officials will occasionally contact Catholic Charities when they think they've found a good family for a child. Sometimes, as in the five instances he mentioned, same-sex couples head those families.

According to the Boston Globe, Levada, who now holds a top position at the Vatican, acknowledged allowing three children to be placed with gay parents during his tenure. But Levada told the Globe that the 2003 edict from the Vatican concerning adoptions to gay families means that "Catholic agencies should not place children for adoption in homosexual households."

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco initially defended its gay placements to the Globe but, after Levada's communication to the Globe , said it was reviewing the policy.

Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors said, "Decisions regarding placing children in adoptive homes should be based on the best interest of the child, not prejudice against any particular group of people. Family courts and social service agencies, including Catholic Charities, best serve the needs of vulnerable children by considering all qualified parents in making adoption decisions."

In Massachusetts, Republican Governor Mitt Romney has indicated he will ask the state legislature to approve a bill to give Catholic Charities and other organizations run by organized religious groups an exemption to the state human rights law's prohibition of sexual orientation discrimination.

Cynthia Laird contributed to this report.

Headline: Creep of the Week: The Catholic Bishops of Massachusetts

By D'Anne Witkowski
Originally printed 3/16/2006 (Issue 1411 - Between The Lines News)

If the Catholic Church has proven anything over the past few years, it's that their number one priority is protecting children. They're, like, really good at it - much in the same way Tommy, your high school dropout neighbor, is, like, a really good tattoo artist. I mean, he doesn't have his license or anything and he works out of his garage, but he's almost professional.

And just like I wouldn't trust a kid who considers marijuana brownies a major food group to ink a snake on my bicep, neither would I trust the Catholic Church to say who should and who shouldn't be adoptive parents.

And yet, under pressure from the state's four bishops, the Boston Archdiocese's Catholic Charities said March 10 it would stop providing adoption services so that they didn't have to place children with gays. That's right. Because Massachusetts has a law allowing gays and lesbians to adopt, Catholic Charities, after providing adoption services for two decades, is halting ALL adoption services to keep kids out of the hands of homos.

"The world was very different when Charities began this ministry at the threshold of the 20th century," President of Catholic Charities Rev. J. Bryan Hehir said in a statement. "The world changed often and we adapted the ministry to meet changing times and needs. At all times we sought to place the welfare of children at the heart of our work."

Until now, that is.

The kicker is that Catholic Charities specialized in finding homes for kids with "severe emotional and physical needs." You know, the kids that have the hardest time finding adoptive parents.

Gov. Mitt Romney, who is seeking to exempt religious organizations from the state's anti-discrimination laws, had an especially inspired take on the situation. "This is a sad day for neglected and abandoned children," he said. "It's a mistake for our laws to put the rights of adults over the needs of children."

Uh, excuse me? What about putting the prejudices of adults over the needs of children?

But hey, according to the state's four Catholic bishops, this law threatens their religious freedom to discriminate. And you can't expect them to do something immoral.

So let me get this straight: placing at-risk kids in the stable homes of carefully screened same-sex couples who will love and take care of them is immoral, but telling those same kids to suck it up in the foster care system isn't. Maybe Tommy's been selling the bishops some of his brownies...

Leave it to Dan Savage to point out "the ultimate irony" of this whole situation. "This is the Catholic Church in freaking Boston, epicenter of the sex-abuse scandal," he wrote in a March 10 blog posting at TheStranger.com. "The same bishops who refused to protect children from rampaging pedophile priests are now 'protecting' children from qualified, screened, and thoroughly vetted adoptive parents who happen to be gay."

An Op-ed about the Boston Catholic Charities and Same Sex Parents:

It seems surprising that the state would want to put the Catholic Church out of the adoption business. Corporal works of mercy are no less important to the life of the Church than its sacramental ministry. Forbidding the Church to perform them is a serious blow to its religious liberty. Why would the government do that?

One reason is that the Church refused to go along with the effort, enshrined in these regulations and blessed in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, to give gay families the same legal rights as straight families.

But Catholic Charities did not obstruct that effort; it only declined to assist it. Is our commitment to equality so strong that we are willing to put Catholic Charities out of business because it won't promote an agenda that it views as morally wrong?

Check here, here, here, here and here for our previous posts on this subject.

This from the DeoOmnisGloria blog:

Watch out, Planned Parenthood, there's a new abortion provider in town and they tend to be the biggest at everything they do: Wal-Mart. The world's largest seller of toys is getting into the abortion business by selling the Plan B abortion pill. And they are proudly proclaiming it on their website (see the link).

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has asked his staff to draft a �very narrow� bill that would let Catholic Charities provide adoption services without serving gay couples.

The governor acknowledged that same-sex couples have a legitimate interest in adopting children, but he said the services Catholic Charities provides are more important than maintaining a faith-blind law.

Check here, here, here and here for our previous posts on this subject.

The Peoria Protocol is popular with bishops and Catholic hospital ethics committees who are under increasing pressure to find ways around the Catholic teaching. In a similar case in the 1990's, the German bishops were at odds with the Vatican for allowing their social service agencies to provide women seeking abortions with a government-approved certificate. In 1999, the bishops finally acquiesced and stopped the practice.

In Connecticut, the intervention is even more direct. Catholic hospitals in Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury and New Haven have been following the Peoria Protocol and said that not only do they give the woman a list of places to go, they will provide transportation as well.

The Peoria Protocol was developed by Dr. Gerald McShane and St Francis Medical Center Ethic's committee in Peoria, IL. It has been criticized by pro-life groups who see it as a means for Catholic hospitals to avoid applying Catholic teaching and medical evidence that life begins at the moment of conception.

You can click here to read an earlier post on the same subject.

You can click here to read the the article Connecticut Catholic Hospitals' Compromise Ends in Abortion Referrals.

Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa is publishing in his diocesan paper the Eastern Oklahoma Catholic a series of articles calling people to a more faithful application of the Church’s norms on liturgy. After the last Synod of Bishops His Excellency has asked clergy, liturgists and musicians to review Sacrosanctum Concilium.

This blogger (abortinclinicdays) writes that her job in helping women to the abortion table is a helpful and important public service.

(Please don't mistake this post as supporting, in any way, a pro-abortion agenda. Hopefully, it goes without saying that Universal Call thinks that abortion is an abomination.)

This entry is about the new South Dakota law. Take a look at the comments section for some real passionate perspectives on an issue that we usually only get from fellow pro-lifers.

Here is an example of one of the comments:

The moral I draw from this article is that it's probably best to have an abortion as soon as you know that you're pregnant because if you attempt to continue the pregnancy and something goes wrong you're going to get tossed in prison and any actual, real, living children you have will be left without a mother. Ah, pro-life politics at work again.

Eight months ago, Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell and Bridgeport Bishop William E. Lori wanted the four hospitals to follow the same protocol and turned to Catholic ethicists for help. They recommended what is known as the Peoria Protocol, named for a Catholic hospital in Peoria, Ill. that came up with a procedure for its emergency room physicians.

...and...

It requires that doctors attempt to determine through tests whether a woman has ovulated before giving her emergency contraception, also known as EC, "the morning after pill," or Plan B.

You can click here to read the complete text

I couldn't help but notice that all the "lay ministers" mentioned in this article are women. It seems that men always choose to avoid these roles.

According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, there are more than 30,000 lay ministers working in paid positions across the country. This is double the number of lay ministers 15 years ago.

...and...

"It’s actually good that (today) many of the things priests once did can no longer be done by a priest," he added. "It compels people in the broader community to come forward and share their talents and viewpoints."

...and...

Jacques-Dow said she looks at herself and Father Kerper as partners. While she said no day is ever typical, her duties often involve visiting hospitals and nursing homes to talk with the sick and give them communion. She also helps plan liturgies, works with church committees, leads prayer services, and performs funeral services that do not include Mass.

You can click here to read the complete text

China's state-controlled Catholic church may invite Hong Kong's newly appointed cardinal, Joseph Zen, to visit the mainland in hopes of improving Sino-Vatican relations, a newspaper reported Sunday.

...and...

China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Chinese Communist Party took power. People are only allowed to worship in government-controlled churches which recognize the pope as a spiritual leader but appoint their own priests and bishops.

But millions of Chinese belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome, and say they are frequently harassed, fined and sometimes sent to labor camps by authorities.

You can click here to read the complete text

Top U.S. Roman Catholic leaders told Democratic lawmakers yesterday that there is no wiggle room in church teaching on abortion and that they are duty-bound to work against "the destruction of unborn human life." The statement by three top leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is a response to 55 Catholic Democrats in the House who issued a public statement Feb. 28 asking for room to disagree on abortion.

You can click here to read the complete text

STATEMENT OF CATHOLIC CHARITIES, ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON ON ADOPTION PROGRAMS

Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, President

Mr. Jeffrey Kaneb, Chair of the Board of Trustees

March 10, 2006

Catholic Charities of Boston has been engaged in a ministry of adoptions for over a century. It was a work originally undertaken and carried forward by a commitment to the welfare of children in need. Both the legacy of this work and the remarkable accomplishments of Catholic Charities’ dedicated staff are a source of great pride to this agency.

The world was very different when Charities began this ministry at the threshold of the twentieth-century. The world changed often and we adapted the ministry to meet changing times and needs. At all times we sought to place the welfare of children at the heart of our work.

But now, we have encountered a dilemma we cannot resolve. In spite of much effort and analysis, Catholic Charities of Boston finds that it cannot reconcile the teaching of the Church, which guides our work, and the statutes and regulations of the Commonwealth. The issue is adoption to same-sex couples, and we realize that for many it is a sensitive, deeply felt issue of conscience.

We recognize the complexity of the issue, and we are aware of the debates which have swirled around it. As an agency, however, we simply must recognize that we cannot continue in this ministry. Therefore, we plan to begin discussions with appropriate agencies of the Commonwealth to end our work in adoptions. We will do this in an orderly, planned fashion so that the children we have been entrusted with will be cared for, supported and found permanent homes.

We use this opportunity to pay tribute to a dedicated, highly-qualified staff who have carried out this ministry often with great personal sacrifice. We also wish to thank all those who have supported our work in multiple ways over the past many years. This is an extremely sad decision for Catholic Charities, but our intent and commitment is to carry forward our mission and the other full-range of programs and services to children, teens, families and elders like the more than 200,000 that received services from us last year. Our goal continues to be to serve all those in need; we seek, as we have in the past, to serve the common good of our society.

You can click here to read an article about this from the AP.

You can click here to read an article about this from the Catholic World News.

Today we have a conversation with Dr Paddy Jim Baggot, MD. He is a Catholic Physician board certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Geneticist specializing in preconception health and NaProTechnology, which is a new reproductive science for assisting couples to conceive naturally without the use of artificial reproductive techniques.

He has studied at the Pope Paul VI Institute, a health science research institution dedicated to following Catholic teaching in all aspects of Human reproduction.

The Roman Catholic pilgrimage shrine at Lourdes may introduce a kind of "miracle lite" category for sudden unexplained recoveries because modern medicine increasingly refuses to declare any disease incurable.

The shortage of priests threatens hierarchical control of the Catholic Church. There's little time or occasion for traditional instruction of the laity. Unlike their grandparents, many Catholics grow up seeing the church as an adjunct to their lives, not the center of their lives. They know a priest only as a presiding figure on Sundays. They don't steer their sons into the seminary or their daughters into the religious life.

A US state has signed into law a bill banning most abortions, in a move aimed to force the US Supreme Court to reconsider its key ruling on the issue.

The South Dakota law - approved by the governor on Monday - makes it a crime for doctors to perform terminations.

A near-total ban on abortions in South Dakota has been signed into law, a measure the governor called a “direct frontal assault� on the U.S. Supreme Court decision to legalize the practice 33 years ago.

You can click here to read the complete text.

You can click here for a list of more news on this subject.

Real Christianity is scary, but there is a there is always something encouraging about martyrdom:

"I am convinced Javed was targeted by the three extremists because of the solidity of his faith," said Sindhu. "Mgr Coutts, bishop of Faisalabad, told me that only a cross and a prayer book were found in his pockets when he died."

Because of the Church's teaching, Catholic agencies may not provide adoptions to same-sex couples. Hence we intend to seek relief from the regulatory requirements of the Commonwealth on this issue. We do this in the hope that we will be able to continue focusing our attention on serving children in need of adoption, and to do so in a way which does not conflict with Catholic teaching and practice. We are asking the Commonwealth to respect the Constitutional guarantee of religious freedom and allow the Catholic Church to continue serving children in need of adoption without violating the tenets of our faith.

You can click here to read the complete text

In the 2006 edition of the Vatican's official yearbook, the pope is no longer referred to with the title "patriarch of the West," a change with potential ecumenical implications.

Here is the conclusion to a burning hot issue

You can click here to read the complete text

This from Bettnet.com. There is a link in his blog entry to an article in the Boston Globe about this. This has been hot for awhile and it looks to heat up even more...

A commenter on a previous post alerted me to this story. It wasn�t three Boston Catholic Charities board members who resigned over the decision by Massachusetts� bishops to seek an exemption to a state law requiring they participate in gay adoptions. Actually it was seven members who resigned.

If Catholic agencies in Massachusetts were required to facilitate adoptions by same-sex couples in violation of church teaching prohibiting the practice, it would present "a serious pastoral problem" and threaten religious freedom, according to the bishops of the state's four Catholic dioceses.

"We are asking the commonwealth to respect the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom and allow the Catholic Church to continue serving children in need of adoption without violating the tenets of our faith," the four said in a Feb. 28 statement.

A group of Catholic Democrats in Congress have released a "Statement of Principles" claiming to respect the sanctity of human life even though they support abortion. The move appears to be an attempt to respond to the nation's Catholic bishops, who have called on churches and colleges not to give a platform to pro-abortion politicians.

Our Guest today is Father Jim Costigan who talks with us about Eucharisitic Adoration. He is priest with the Fathers of Mercy whose primary Apostolate is to preach parish missions and retreats, with an emphasis on the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Confession.

He discusses John 6; what is Eucharistic Adoration; the origins of Adoration; the essense of the Eucharist; the value of Adoration outside of Mass; proper attitudes about Adoration; the place of Adoration in a Catholic's spiritual exercises; how the Eucharist helps us relate to God; the essence of Adoration is not so much about proximity to the Holy Eucharist as much as it is about attitude; how Adoration is complementary to other spiritual exercises, not neccesarily more important; etc...