CATHOLIC NEWS: Obama administration sides with Vatican in Oregon case... PLUS 20 MORE

CATHOLIC NEWS: Obama administration sides with Vatican in Oregon case... PLUS 20 MORE

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Obama administration sides with Vatican in Oregon case

Posted: 24 May 2010 06:28 AM PDT

In a strongly worded brief for the United States Supreme Court, the Obama administration has sided with the Vatican in an Oregon lawsuit that names the Holy See as a defendant for its role in the sexual abuse crisis. In effect...

Cardinal Zen on Mary, Help of Christians in China

Posted: 24 May 2010 10:03 AM PDT

In 1900, China reported three apparitions: One in Beijing in which Our Lady was accompanied by St. Michael the archangel who, in turn, was surrounded by multitudes of angels. A second apparition involved a weeping statue of Our Lady in the village of Santai during the Boxer Rebellion. The third apparition occurred in Donglu.

The Brothers of Our Lady of Perpetually Lost Luggage, Discalced

Posted: 24 May 2010 09:59 AM PDT

Perhaps there should be a whole order of religious who spend their lives flying American for the expiation of the world's sins. It's not a mode of penance that has the visual glamor of the discipline and ciliche, but it certainly allows the penitent to experience a contemporary if low-grade form of the banality of evil.

Steve Jobs Says iPad Revolution Means ‘Freedom from Porn'

Posted: 24 May 2010 09:44 AM PDT

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, says his company will not be a party to the pornography industry and hopes that the iPad and iPhone revolution will help lead to a porn-free world. Jobs reiterated his position in a...

My thoughts about Lost

Posted: 24 May 2010 09:28 AM PDT

I watched the show faithfully for the first few seasons, intrigued by the frequent religious and literary allusions (I'm sure, somewhere, there's a list of all the books Sawyer is shown reading), the conflict between faith and reason, as well as the obvious theme of redemption, so clear as the series focused on the Losties' backstorie.

What Are "Real Movies"?

Posted: 22 May 2010 09:12 AM PDT

| Borrowing a page from the UK's Campaign for Real Ale, Roger Ebert blogs from Cannes on the need for a Campaign For Real Movies. The implicit complaint is the same: In a marketplace glutted with mass-produced product that's all fizz and no substance, it's hard to find a hand-crafted product of distinction and local flavor...

A Global Sports Problem

Posted: 23 May 2010 10:00 PM PDT

The 2010 World Cup opens in South Africa in a few weeks. As a sports event it is unrivaled in its popularity. It promises to bring a half-million soccer fans to that country. But it will also draw out the worst of the worst. The Christian Science Monitor reports that the economic promise of an expected half a million largely male incoming consumers is attracting a massiv.

Musings from a Barred Spiral Galaxy

Posted: 23 May 2010 09:00 PM PDT

Praising the Lord from my island-universe Folks, back in my childhood, when Pluto was still a planet, I was taught and learned to appreciate that we live in a large conglomerate of stars called "The Galaxy" or the "Milky Way," one of billions of "island-universes" we find strewn throughout the cosmos.

Why Quezon gov was denied Catholic burial

Posted: 23 May 2010 02:16 PM PDT

The denial of Catholic burial rites for the late Quezon Gov. Rafael Nantesa known Freemason and born-again Christianwas in accordance with canon law and not politically motivated, a Church leader said here on Sunday.

What does Scripture tell us about contraception?

Posted: 23 May 2010 08:00 AM PDT

Prior to 1930, every single Christian denomination held contraception to be sin for married couples. The Anglican Church stated in that year that in certain circumstances it could be considered permissible. The Fathers of the Protestant reformation held contraception to be a sin: Calvin said that is should be condemned as monstrous...

Ancient Maronites Hope for Boost From Pope's Visit

Posted: 24 May 2010 06:39 AM PDT

KORMAKITIS, Cyprus — In the coffee shop at this farming village on the northern Cyprus coast, the conversation jumps from one hardship to the next: a bad rainy season, a religion weakened by assimilation, and a division of the island that has lasted 36 years with no end in sight.

Can one be a hillbilly *and* a Thomist?

Posted: 24 May 2010 07:29 AM PDT

Of course one can. I've seen it done. And you can too, if your click here: View this photo. (HT: My Emory colleague, Aquinas Professor Philip Reynolds.)

Copernicus Reburied With Full Catholic Honors

Posted: 24 May 2010 06:01 AM PDT

The remains of Nicolaus Copernicus were reburied on Saturday, with the Polish Catholic church out in force to honour the man whose heliocentric theory of the solar system didn't go down too well with the 16th century Vatican.

Solid advice for proper Biblical Interpretation

Posted: 24 May 2010 04:53 AM PDT

Over the past two centuries in the Western world, we have seen a fundamental shift in how people interpret the Bible. Unfortunately, much of that shift has caused the Bible to become not more clear, but more obscure. Thus, it is sometimes helpful to go back and see how Scripture was interpreted before this shift.

"Human rights" urged for whales and dolphins

Posted: 23 May 2010 04:01 AM PDT

Whales and dolphins should get "human rights" to life and liberty because of mounting evidence of their intelligence, a group of conservationists and experts in philosophy, law and ethics said Sunday.

Atheism's Just So Scenarios

Posted: 24 May 2010 05:52 AM PDT

The British cosmologist Fred Hoyle coined the term "the Big Bang" as a term of derision, but it quickly caught on with the public. He had handed his opponents the most vivid (if somewhat misleading) image for the theory that our universe began as an infinitely small and infinitely dense "singularity,"

Now he is exploring for souls

Posted: 24 May 2010 04:58 AM PDT

A famous Russian explorer has decided to become a priest: Famous Russian traveler Fyodor Konyukhov has given up exploration and world records to become an Orthodox priest, Ukraine's UNIAN reported on Saturday. An extensive traveler, Konyukhov has reached the North Pole three times, the South Pole, the Pole of Inaccessibility...

A Pentecost Monday lesson: "And Paul VI wept."

Posted: 23 May 2010 07:58 PM PDT

Years ago I told this Pentecost Monday tale and it has made the rounds. It stands being repeated. I think this stands as a lesson for what happens when we lose sight of continuity. Take this for what it may be worth. Some years ago I was told this story by an elderly...

A Holy Alliance between Rome and Moscow Is Born

Posted: 23 May 2010 09:00 PM PDT

The common objective: the "new evangelization" of Europe. A delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church visits the Vatican, which publishes an anthology of the patriarch's writings. A meeting between Kirill and Benedict XVI keeps getting closer.

Fr. Barron & Dr. Scott Hahn: Modern Spirituality & Gnosticism

Posted: 23 May 2010 11:00 PM PDT

Father Barron and Dr. Scott Hahn continue their reflection on the modern conception of God and spirituality, revealing the Gnostic overtone of today's common misunderstandings.

An anecdote from a reader

Posted: 23 May 2010 07:49 AM PDT

From a reader: Hey Father, I wanted to share with you an anecdote from my day at work. I'm a consultant manager at a department store and my job consists of walking around and assisting customers and getting feedback about our store. I noticed an older gentleman in a plaid oxford and slacks sitting in my favorite patio-furniture chair...