In Georgia, the Catholic bishops have come out in opposition to a Human Life Amendment promoted by Georgia Right to Life. Deal Hudson has the details. The Catholic bishops and National Right to Life are against it; Georgia Right to Life and the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, are in favor of…
At their meeting this week in Baltimore, the US Catholic Bishops approved a statement of voter instructions, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States. Bulletin insert summary statement (10 pages instead of 44). Press Release. The USCCB bureaucracy (and before it, the USCC) has…
Bishop Jerry Kicanas is the new Vice President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Chicago Sun-Times reports (via SNAP). While rector of Mundelein Seminary in the 1990s, Bishop Gerald Kicanas says he knew about three reports of “sexual improprieties” against then-seminarian Daniel McCormack. Still, Kicanas supported McCormack’s ordination, he told the Sun-Times. “It…
Some things from Fr. John Z. Canadian Catholics have been using the NRSV for many years; the Vatican has now given final approval to their practice. American Catholics, meanwhile, are forbidden from using it, and must suffer through the abominable New American Bible. Archbishop Pilarczyk of Cincinnati is adding layers of requirements to priests who…
From Rocco Palmo, a strange series of links. The Most Rev. Donald E. Pelotte, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, fell down the stairs on or about July 23. According to police and diocese statements, that night Pelotte suffered massive wounds to almost every part of his body. This includes heavy bruising…
John Allen took a break from covering such mundane matters as the meeting of George Bush and Pope Benedict XVI to cover the meeting of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He has a series of reports at NCR. The CTSA was addressed by an ELCA theologian, Michael Root of Southern Seminary, who pointed out…
Clergy witch hunt? – Due process for accused priests is a sham, critics say. Is it surprising? A system for which authority is a critical value, and authoritarianism the modus operandi, is going to behave in predictable ways. In previous decades, lay people who complained about abusive priests were slapped down and the priests were…
Bishop Clark celebrates liturgy with college students.
I thought I had heard it all. I am dumbfounded at a statement by Bishop Skylstad, responding to complaints raised by some lay Catholics calling for his resignation in the wake of his diocesan bankruptcy. These lay Catholic businessmen demanded that the laity have a say in this matter. They gave the money, after all.…
From AMDG: Terri Schiavo’s brother has written an open letter to Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg in anticipation of the second anniversary of his sister’s murder. He notes recent comments by Lynch on the homeless, and sees a terrible irony therein. And he writes to explain why he holds the Bishop more responsible for…
In the past, I’ve had harsh things to say about Stephen Brady and Roman Catholic Faithful. Much of my criticism of Mr. Brady was a knee-jerk response to his criticism of church prelates. The sexual abuse crisis wasn’t a 1960s inspired crisis of unfaithfulness and liberalism, but a crisis rooted in sins by priests (sins…
A reminder from the US Bishops that Catholics don’t believe in abortion or same-sex marriage, regardless of what Dan Maguire may say. Dan Maguire’s response? “They’re simply uninformed,” Mr. Maguire said of the bishops. “There is no one Catholic view on contraception, abortion or same-sex marriage. There’s a diversity of views. And it’s not just…
Diogenes on Cardinal Mahony‘s contradictory statements about sexual abuse by priests. Accusations of sexual abuse at St. Augustine’s, Montepelier, VT (where I became Catholic). Another sexual abuse case in Scranton, PA. Accusations regarding homosexual prelates by Randy Engel, and more by Randy on the record of Sr. Jeannine Gramick. And of course, you will find…
Local bishop forbade celebration of the Eucharist, but two other bishops spoke to the New Ways Conference.
British paper, The Catholic Herald, lodges complaint with Vatican over refusal of bishops of England and Wales to comment on the recent papal exhortation on the Eucharist. See Amy, who links to column by Damian Thompson. This was the week that the leadership of the Catholic Church in England and Wales disgraced itself. Pope Benedict…
See Rocco for the latest; he links to Washington Post article by Peter Manseau. It’s clear from Manseau that Milingo has swallowed the whole Moonie theology: Milingo spoke of his marriage as divinely inspired and, asked at a news conference about Moon’s theology, went so far as to propose that Jesus had been “killed before…
dotCommonweal reports that Cardinal Egan called a priest to his office; while he was there, the Cardinal sent security guards to change the locks on the church of which he was administrator. New York Post tells the story: “This church has been here for 102 years. We’re supposed to have a 12:15 p.m. Mass today…
Speakers debate U.S. bishops’ role in addressing U.S. social policy. Unfortunately, no one addressed the really important issue–Did not the bishops in their economic and other pastorals overstep, and intrude into the domain of the lay apostolate?
Retired Detroit auxiliary bishop Thomas Gumbleton will not be speaking to CTA in Tucson, after a letter of fraternal correction from the bishop of Tucson.
Local Catholic diocese shuns retired bishop who’ll speak here. Gumbleton was invited by Call to Action. Bishop Kicanas says Call to Action can’t meet on church property, regardless of who they invite.
Detroit archdiocese responds to NCR report about retired auxiliary bishop Tom Gumbleton’s removal as pastor of St. Leo’s. Letter from Cardinal Maida.
Mass mourning Roe v. Wade causes tears. Anne Denogean reports on Diocese of Tucson pro-life mass and concludes: It was the words of the pro-life bishop that give this pro-choice, fallen Catholic some hope, however small, that the divide is not unbridgeable. What did he say? Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, before several hundred people seated…
Statement of Polish Bishops on the Resignation of Archbishop Wielgus.
Amy Welborn links to interview with Archbishop Wuerl of DC.
Rocco on the continuing fall out from the Wielgus affair. In Rome, the Pope is said to be hopping mad over the debacle, feeling “furious” and “isolated” as he reportedly prepares to expedite Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s long-expected departure from the top job at the Congregation for Bishops.
Fr. John T. Zuhlsdorf critiques the comments of Bishop Trautman criticizing the new liturgical translations. He concludes his analysis thus: We need the Content of our prayers. Life is hard enough without the sustenance to be gained from the wonderful prayers of Holy Mass. The Eucharistic, It’s celebration and the Sacrament, is the source and…
Rocco has a couple more posts on the Wielgus matter (Wielgusopoli and From the Polish Desk), with lots of links. In a related development since the paper went to press, yesterday Pope Benedict received Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, in private audience. A native of the archdiocese of Poznan,…
Rocco talks about Bishop Michael Burbidge of Raleigh, using basketball in vocations promotion. Another basketball bishop is Cardinal Cipriani of Lima, Peru. He was in Houston a year ago, having come to Texas for the installation of his fellow Opus Dei priest, Jose Gomez, as Archbishop of San Antonio. He regaled a group of students,…
Advent Hope 