Will U.S. Bishops Choose Life?

John Zmirak asks the question:

We don’t look to The Wall Street Journal for its religion reporting. But a recent piece stands out. It shows American Catholicism at a crossroads. It’s rare that a single decision decides the future of a church in a nation. But we face such a moment now. As the Journal explains, the bishops will vote on a crucial staff post. Who will lead the Church’s pro-life efforts? The vote is down to two candidates — Cardinal Blase Cupich, of Chicago, and Archbishop Joseph Naumann, of Kansas City — who represent the ideological poles of the U.S. church and have articulated different visions of what being pro-life should mean.

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Facebook Suspends Priest for Sharing Politically Incorrect Thoughts About Islam

The truth is now considered assault.

Facebook may be failing to keep up with terrorists who use the social media platform to incite, enlist, and organize would-be killers, but it's Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to Catholic priests who share politically incorrect thoughts about Islam. Late last month Facebook temporarily suspended the account of Fr. John Higgins, the pastor St. Raymond Parish in Downey, Calif., in response to a post he had written about the history of Islam. “There are peaceful and good Muslim people,” he wrote. “And then there are the Islamists who are defended by the ignorant who refuse to learn history.”

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Paul Krugman makes light of London attacks and tells Trump not to panic

So how does this whole terror thing effect me, Paul Krugman? Not so much.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman weighed in on the terror attacks in London, which is apparently where he is headed later in the week. Cue the insanity.

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Outrage After Catholic University Accidentally Hires Practicing Catholic To Head Department Of Theology

Funny 'cause it's true kind of stuff from Eye of the Tiber.

A Catholic university is under fire this week after school administrators accidentally hired 37-year-old Todd Alguire, a practicing Catholic, to head their Department of Theology. Diocesan bishop Kevin Sterling  has now demanded an investigation into the ‘offensive’ hiring after rumors spread that students would need to “brush up on the fundamentals of the Catholic  faith” before beginning this upcoming semester. Ryan Gurley, a sophomore who described himself as ‘devoutly spiritual,’ told EOTT that his refusal to participate in any further religion classes might lead to his suspension.

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Bill Nye's Anti-Religion Ice Cream Orgy Video Will Weird You Out

Must watch. But it will kinda' ruin your day.

After watching the clip of Rachel Bloom on Bill Nye’s show that’s supposedly about science, one had to believe that we had seen Peak Nye. Not even close. Nye seems to have decided to dedicate his new Netflix series to a string of very strange takes on sexuality, and his latest one features an ice cream orgy that ridicules religious belief, while making an incoherent argument that feelings are bad … unless they’re good. Or something (via Twitchy):

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New Planned Parenthood Celebrates Life. Wait, What?

It looks to me like they're panicking. This should be called their "Please don't defund me" commercial.

New Planned Parenthood ad celebrates woman who … decided against having an abortion

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Science States When Life Begins

Politics over science.

When does life begin? According to the United States Supreme Court, a number of politicians including President Barack Obama, and a variety of other sources, there is still much debate in the realms of science and medicine as to how to answer this charged question. A popular deflection is to say something like “It’s above my pay grade to answer that,” or “If scientists are still debating this, who am I to speculate?” The truth is that science already has answered this question, loud and clear. It’s really pretty simple. You take an egg from a female and a sperm cell from a male. The sperm penetrates the egg. And now you have one cell with the complete amount of genetic material needed for everything a human could ever want to do.

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Break Your Silence: Speak About Amoris Laetitia!

Thomas Peters:

It has been 600 days since I last composed a blog post, but this is so important I am breaking my hiatus. Almost exactly 1600 years ago, in the midst of the Pelagian heresy which threatened to engulf the Church, St. Augustine wrote that when Rome has spoken, the case is closed (paraphrased: “Roma locuta est, causa finita est”). Today, precisely because the pope has not spoken, the Church is facing a crisis, and the case remains open.

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Nerd Products You Won't Find in Stores, Which Parents Need or At Least, Think They Want

Funny 'cause it's true stuff from Sherry:

Item #1) The Screen Killer Destructo Button:  I want the equivalent of a tantalus field in my home, one push of the button, and all screens everywhere in the home shut down.  No TV, no telephones, no computers, no tablets, no kindles, nooks, xboxes, wiiU's, playstations, DS's, iphone watches, ipods, Ipads, any of it, works for the next 2-10 hours, depending upon the setting you use.

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Conform or Be Destroyed

More evidence that liberals are The Borg.

He said that God created men and women. And he quoted this radical text from antiquity called “the Book of Genesis.” I know. Lock that guy up. Here’s the thing. We live in a time of supposed plurality of beliefs, but some beliefs are more “free” than others. We give lip service to the concept of diversity, but the only diversity that is truly acceptable is narrowly defined and usually trending on Twitter.

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Dutch Bishops Changed the Words of "Our Father."

I'm guessing the term "pastoral" will be the excuse.

Dutch Catholics are raising alarm bells after the bishops of the Netherlands and Belgium changed the words to the Our Father in a way that they believe amounts to an "ideological reinterpretation of the text." Dutch Catholics who still attend weekly Mass heard a newly-worded Our Father last Sunday that no longer asked God the Father, as Jesus taught, “to lead us not into temptation” but, instead, “not into trial.” Vox Populi, an orthodox Catholic lay group, is organizing a petition advocating the traditional translation. “Why would this ‘reform’ be necessary now? There is not a single pastoral need to come up with a ‘new common Dutch-Flemish translation’ of the ‘Our Father.’”

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Cardinal Burke on Amoris Laetitia Dubia: ‘Tremendous Division’ Warrants Action

This is truly amazing what's going on right now. Edward Pentin's interview with Cardinal Burke is a must-read:

Some might argue that you are only four cardinals, among whom you’re the only one who is not retired, and this is not very representative of the entire Church. In that case, they might ask: Why should the Pope listen and respond to you? Well, numbers aren’t the issue. The issue is the truth. In the trial of St. Thomas More, someone told him that most of the English bishops had accepted the king’s order, but he said that may be true, but the saints in heaven did not accept it. That’s the point here. I would think that even though other cardinals did not sign this, they would share the same concern. But that doesn’t bother me. Even if we were one, two or three, if it’s a question of something that’s true and is essential to the salvation of souls, then it needs to be said.   What happens if the Holy Father does not respond to your act of justice and charity and fails to give the clarification of the Church’s teaching that you hope to achieve? Then we would have to address that situation. There is, in the Tradition of the Church, the practice of correction of the Roman Pontiff. It is something that is clearly quite rare. But if there is no response to these questions, then I would say that it would be a question of taking a formal act of correction of a serious error.

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There Actually Was a Blessed Lucy of Narnia.

Who knew?

The real Blessed Lucy of Narnia was even more amazing than CS Lewis’s imagination

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From Addiction to Hope. A Beautiful Story

I'm on the internet reading news aggregators, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and everything else. So I see a lot. You become sorta' blasé about the whole thing. Not that it's not enjoyable. It is. Most of the time. Well, a good portion of the time. I don't like all the arguing to be honest. So I tend to stay out of comboxes. I like connecting with folks but inevitably someone comes and starts yelling and taking something you wrote and twisting it into its worst possible meaning. It's tiring. And I read lots of folks being clever. I do it myself. Instead of actual commentary I drop some snark and call it a day. And I read some folks trying to be clever. Sometimes it can all feel a little formulaic. But then you read something real. You read a real story about real people who went through something terrible, had their faith tested, and came out the other end. This story is one of them. Check it out:

Call 911! A loud thud startled me awake from a deep sleep. Alarmed, my wife and I immediately sat up. Confused, I groped for the light switch as something heavy fell on my wife’s side of the bed. “What is it?” I asked, to no one in particular. As parents of eight children, my wife and I had been awakened in the middle of the night before. But this time, something was different. I finally found the light switch, and leaped out of bed to find my teenage son’s limp body lying in my wife’s arms. “Are you sick? What’s the matter?” Blinking repeatedly, I strained to make sense of the sight. My wife, ever attuned to our children, was already cradling him, assessing his condition. “Mom, pray for me” I heard him say in a weak voice, amidst labored gasps. “I’m dying. I can’t breathe.” “What’s the matter?” I repeated dully, still attempting to comprehend the situation. “The drugs.” 

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The Pope's "Sympathy displaced the primacy of truth and reason" on Trans Issue

Fr. Gerald Murray writes:

What is the average man-in-the-street, Catholic or otherwise, to make of these words spoken by Pope Francis on the plane trip back to Rome from Azerbaijan on October 2?

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Voting as a Catholic in 2016

Archbishop Aquila offers guidance to Catholics:

I have voted in every presidential election since 1972 and I have never experienced an election like this year’s. Both candidates are disliked, lack credibility, and have made comments that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. The American public is fed up with politics as usual and with the establishment in both parties. So, what should Catholics do when we vote in November?

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Poll: Americans Split Evenly on Requiring Business Owners to Serve Same-Sex Weddings

Predictably, people who attend religious services tended to want to protect religious liberty more than others. So in the end, once again, we do not have a political problem so much as a religious one.

Americans are closely divided on the question of being compelled to celebrate same-sex marriages, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. Those surveyed split evenly on whether wedding-related businesses should be required to provide services to same-sex couples, regardless of religious objections the business owners might have. A total of 49 percent agreed, while 48 percent disagreed.

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Frankensteining Babies With DNA From Three Parents Is A Terrible Idea

Once you accept that life is disposable, monkeying with it isn't that big of a jump.

Scientists have announced the first birth of a child born with DNA from three parents. The procedure was developed to prevent a mother from passing to her baby a serious and fatal genetic mutation. This might sound like good news. It is not. Because the procedure has not been approved in the United States, the U.S. doctor who performed it, John Zhang, did so in Mexico. “There are no rules there,” he said.

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The US Bars Christians, Not Muslim Refugees from Syria

Everyone is outraged that Donald Trump suggested banning Muslim refugees but the Obama administration has effectively barred Christian refugees from Syria from entering the US.

Up to a million Syrian Christians have fled Syria, and the US has accepted just 56.

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Young priest whom Pope encouraged in battle against cancer dies

Prayers.

A man of God. Someone who endured illness with faith and fortitude until the end. This is how those who knew Father Francisco Rencoret remembered him. The 35-year-old Chilean priest died of cancer early August 13. Ordained in 2013, Fr. Rencoret had been studying Canon Law at the Gregorian University in Rome. He was forced to return home to Chile in order to receive cancer treatments after his diagnosis.

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