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A BBC spokesman said, “We are not seeking to subvert or rewrite the Gospel narrative – we are just retelling it to bring it alive for a contemporary audience.” I would be better put: “A spokesman for Lucifer said, ‘etc. etc. . . .’”

The “father of lies” is once more unleashing a barrage of neo-gnostic falsehoods in a frenzied effort to subvert the truth of the Gospels.  It is no coincidence that these fanciful productions come out during the Christmas and Easter seasons.  With Deepak Chopra recently released creation, “The Third Jesus,” hitting the major bookstores, now we have to have a movie mini-series exonerating Judas (again), Pontius Pilate, and even Caiaphas, to complement it.  CNA has the story here.

Brian Kelly :: Mar.18.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

CAMBODIA - PHNOM PENH (UCAN) — Catechumens in Cambodia commonly face challenges including family rejection, community ostracism and government unease.UCA News spoke with catechumens of St. Joseph Parish in Phsar Thoich, Phnom Penh, recently about their journey into the Church.

Em Sokhorn, who was born into a Buddhist family and has seven brothers and sisters, admits changing her religion “was not so easy.” She gained her family’s consent, but friends in the village did not approve and even ostracized her.

What attracted her was the way Catholics live, the 22-year-old said. She recalled people saying Christians create turmoil in Cambodian society, but she wondered, “Are Christians so bad?” With this question in mind, she joined a catechism group, reflected at length and eventually accepted “a new way.” Now she feels sure of her path. “I will receive Baptism this Easter,” she said.

The full article is available here.

Brian Kelly :: Mar.18.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Exclusive Interview: Ottawa Archbishop Explains Why Pro-Abortion Politicians are Denied Communion

By John-Henry Westen

OTTAWA, March 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mainstream media has picked up on comments by Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast regarding reception of Holy Communion for pro-abortion politicians.  However, one part of the discussion which has received little discussion is the reason why the Church would deny politicians reception of Communion.

“The Code of Canon Law says in #915 that ‘those whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin,” explains the religious leader of Canada’s national capital,”are not to be admitted to Holy Communion’.”

“What is at issue is whether a politician who does not himself or herself participate in an abortion but supports ‘a woman’s right to choose’ (or however else shows support for abortion) is guilty of grave sin and then obstinately persists in this state of grave sin.” Continue Reading »

newseditor :: Mar.17.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Vatican City, Mar 16, 2008 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- At the end of the solemn celebration, Pope Benedict XVI expressed again his deep sorrow over the death of Archbishop of Mosul for Chaldeans, Monsignor Paulos Faraj Rahho, who tragically disappeared on February 29 and was found buried in a shallow grave outside of Mosul last week.

The Pope said the Archbishop’s life is “a beautiful witness of fidelity to Christ, the Church and its people” and that despite numerous threats, the Archbishop remained with them.

Pope Benedict said these events prompted him to “raise a strong and heartfelt cry: enough with massacres, enough violence, enough hatred in Iraq!

With strong words of encouragement, he then addressed directly the people of Iraq.

“Beloved people of Iraq who have for five years born the consequences of a war that has destroyed civilian and social life…Lift your heads and in the first place rebuild your national life. Let reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and respect for civil coexistence among tribes, ethnic groups, religious groups, be the way of solidarity to peace In the name of God!

The Holy Father imparted his apostolic blessing upon the faithful and proceeded through the crowd in his popemobile.

newseditor :: Mar.17.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Father Michael J. McGivney would be first American born priest to be declared a saint.

3/16/2008 (kofc.org)Pope Benedict XVI Saturday approved a decree recognizing the heroic virtue of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. The pope’s declaration significantly advances the priest’s process toward sainthood and gives the parish priest the distinction of “Venerable Servant of God.” If canonized, Father McGivney would be the first American born priest to be so honored. Continue Reading »

newseditor :: Mar.17.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

The UK Telegraph reports that negotiations for just that are taking place.

newseditor :: Mar.17.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

John Allen says that “‘evangelical Catholicism’ constitutes a mega-trend in Catholic life.” But what is he talking about?

[W]hat I’m trying to describe is the most powerful current at the policy-setting level of the church, as well as a dynamic constituency at the Catholic grassroots. It pivots on three points:

A strong reaffirmation of traditional markers of Catholic belief, language and practice. Examples include the revitalization of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, reassertion that Catholicism alone possesses the fullness of what it means to be “church,” and rejection of theological tendencies that would put Christ on the same level as other saving figures;

Bold public assertion of those markers of identity;

Personal embrace of those markers of identity, as opposed to simply imbibing them from traditional Catholic cultures, neighborhoods and families.

Defined this way, “evangelical Catholicism” can be understood as a response to secularism and what Benedict XVI calls the “dictatorship of relativism,” protecting the church against assimilation by emphasizing what makes Catholicism distinct.

Mr. Allen’s article is worth reading both for his own insights into this perceived “mega-trend” and to see how two of his colleagues (one “liberal,” one “conservative”) use the same phrase with different meanings. Stale leftovers of the 1960’s and 1970’s false dichotomy between dogmatic, “top-down” Catholicism and an evangelical, grass-roots, care-for-the-poor type religiosity are peppered throughout the statements of David J. O’Brien, the liberal in the discussion. In his meaning of “Evangelical Catholicism,” the religion is derived from the Gospel independently of the Church or her teachings.

This dialectical pseudo-distinction of Catholic traditionalism and progressivism virtually in terms of aristocratic Republicans and working-class Democrats has as its object the crafting of a popular, democratic, “bottom-up” Catholicism. Not only is the method fraudulent, the end is deplorable. Historically, the Catholicism of the people, poor and rich, was the same as the religion of the pope: i.e., the one that came down from God! (There I go playing the divine revelation card again.) St. Francis of Assisi, the ultimate poor man, was a stickler for dogma and fidelity to the Church. St. Gregory the Great, a powerful and doctrinaire pope who was also the de-facto civil ruler of Rome, loved the poor. What God has joined together let no man put asunder.

I, for one, hope there is some merit to Allen’s observations.

Brother Andre Marie :: Mar.15.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

(AGI) - Vatican City, mar. 14 - On Monday the 17th of March Pope Benedict XVI will preside, in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel located in the Vatican, a mass for Mons. Paulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, who was found dead in Iraq after that he had been kidnapped on February 29. The announcement was made by the Vatican Radio, which will transmit a live broadcast of the mass so that it may be heard by Christian communities in Iraq.

newseditor :: Mar.15.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

The president of the Media Research Center on Comedy Central’s latest blasphemous “entertainment”:

Black is the star of a brand-new Comedy Central show, named “The Root of All Evil.” Comedians act like prosecutors, with Black as judge, trying to determine which of two allegedly evil forces is worse. The battle for the debut episode: Oprah Winfrey vs. the Catholic Church.

This is the same hate-spewing channel that mocked the Pope on “South Park”… . [Full Article]

newseditor :: Mar.15.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Mosul, Mar. 14, 2008 (CWNews.com) - As Archbishop Paulos Faraj Raho was buried on March 14, world leaders joined in condemning the kidnapping that led to the Chaldean prelate’s death.

After seizing Archbishop Raho on February 29, in a bloody assault in which three of the prelate’s companions were killed, the kidnappers informed authorities on March 13 that they had left the archbishop’s body in a shallow grave outside Mosul. Continue Reading »

newseditor :: Mar.15.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

The TFP has published an article on the macabre spectacle which is touring American cities now: “Bodies Revealed.”

newseditor :: Mar.15.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

From Father Zuhlsdorf:

Recently Sister Marcella, MC, the Regional Superior of the Missionaries of Charity in the North America, asked the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius to provide instruction in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite for the superiors of the houses of the Missionaries of Charity in the United States.

On March 12, 2008, these sisters visited the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius for a day of lectures and discussion. Fr. Scott Haynes, SJC, gave various talks throughout the day on the history, spirituality and mystical theology of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

A DVD presentation of the Low Mass was used to instruct the sisters in the ritual of the Traditional Latin Mass and its meanings.

Other lectures of the day included a presentation of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, the importance of the silence of the Mass, the history of ad orientem prayer, and means of external and internal participation in the Mass.

newseditor :: Mar.14.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

From the web site of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis:

Statement Regarding Those Involved in Attempted Ordinations of November 11, 2007

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke has issued the following statement regarding Patricia Fresen, Rose Hudson, and Elsie McGrath:

As Archbishop of St. Louis, it is my responsibility to safeguard the unity of the Catholic Church and protect the souls of the faithful. I have communicated with Ms. Fresen, Ms. Hudson, and Ms. McGrath, and informed them that if they participated in an attempted female ordination, they would be excommunicating themselves from the Catholic Church. In the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed that the Catholic Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women. This teaching is to be held definitively by all the faithful as belonging to the deposit of faith. Because they participated in the attempted ordination, Church law requires me to publicly declare the excommunication.

The situation is sad for the whole Church. It is cause of great concern for me as archbishop. Please join me in praying that both will be reconciled with the Church and that the great harm which has been caused to the Church, with the help of God’s grace, will be healed.

• Declaration of Excommunication of Patricia Fresen, Rose Hudson, and Elsie McGrath (621.44 Kb PDF file)
• Questions and Answers Regarding Excommunication of Those Involved in Attempted Ordinations

Continue Reading »

newseditor :: Mar.14.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Says Pope Wanted Presence of Chinese Catholics in Colosseum

By Anita S. Bourdin

ROME, MARCH 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The voice of Chinese Christians will be heard through the Way of the Cross Benedict XVI will lead in the Colosseum this Good Friday.

That is because the Pope asked Cardinal Joseph Zen of Beijing [Correction: His Eminence is the Bishop of Hong Kong (Xianggang) source] to write the meditations for the traditional celebration.

Cardinal Zen told ZENIT that “preparing the meditations for the Way of the Cross in the Colosseum is a task that requires a lot of commitment, but I have not doubted in accepting it, because I understood immediately that with his invitation, the Holy Father wanted me to bring to the Colosseum the voice of the faithful in China.”

“The Holy Father wants these brothers and sisters of ours to be spiritually present in the Colosseum, since they probably perpetuate in their flesh today — more than we do — the suffering of Christ,” the cardinal added. “In their flesh, he is arrested, mistreated, ridiculed, condemned and crucified today.”

Cardinal Zen explained a personal conversion that he experienced in preparing the Way of the Cross. He said that “during the writing of the meditations, I placed myself, at first, on the side of Jesus and my persecuted brothers, and I experienced sentiments that were not very Christian toward their persecutors.”

“But,” he continued, “at one point I realized that, because of my infidelities, I deserve rather to be part of the group of deserters, betrayers, of the persecutors. I hope that all of us experience this conversion.”

newseditor :: Mar.14.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Guadalajara, Mar 13, 2008 / 11:35 pm (CNA).- The Archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, responded to inaccurate information in the media about the supposed “new sins” outlined by the Vatican this week and said, “The sins are the same, what has changed is the how they are applied.”

“The commandment is the same: thou shalt not kill,” the cardinal said, “and now there are many ways to kill if we apply this to the field of bioethics and scientific experiments,” in which human embryos are often destroyed.

Cardinal Sandoval stressed that the social sins are not an impediment to reaching heaven, but he noted that “going to heaven is not easy, the road is not downhill.  The Lord said narrow is the door and few are those who find it.”

He also stated that excessive wealth “goes against social justice; the goods of the earth are for all,” and he explained that the Church’s “social doctrine teaches that wealth should redistributed between business owners and workers.”

The cardinals comments came in response to media coverage of a interview given to L’Osservatore Romano by Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti of the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See, in which he explained that today there are social sins such as genetic manipulation, that undermine respect for life, drug use and social inequality.

The media incorrectly interpreted this application to the social sphere as an update of the Church’s seven deadly sins.

newseditor :: Mar.14.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Vatican City, Mar 14, 2008 / 01:10 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI’s third encyclical will discuss Catholic social teaching, touching on issues as varied as poverty, peace, wars, international cooperation, energy sources, and globalization.

The encyclical will be titled “Caritas in Veritate,” “Love In Truth,” La Repubblica reports.

“Caritas in Veritate” will be Pope Benedict’s third encyclical. His first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est,” examined the virtue of love while the second, “Spe Salvi,” focused upon the virtue of hope.

The four-chapter encyclical will no longer be published on May 1 as previously planned, but will be delayed so that translations, especially the Chinese translation, may be completed.

The decision to offer a Chinese version of the encyclical comes at a time when Pope Benedict is seeking to improve relations with the Chinese government.

Last June, he sent a letter offering dialogue with Chinese authorities. In September, Chinese priest Father Joseph Li Shan was installed as Bishop of Beijing with the approval of the Pope, an event that has not happened in fifty years.

Other Vatican-approved bishops are believed to have been installed in the official state church in China. China has an estimated eight to 12 million Catholics split between an ‘underground’ Church loyal to Rome and a state-run Catholic Patriotic Association cooperative with the government.

newseditor :: Mar.14.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

There is a worthwhile and informational article in the Washington Post today, discussing expectations that the Holy Father will articulate a tough message against the malfeasance rampant in Catholic institutions of higher learning.

The information in the article includes a mini-catalogue of the horrendous spectacles of counter-Catholic and outright anti-Catholic teaching at nominally Catholic institutions like Notre Dame and Georgetown. Some of these have shown up in our pages as news items.

For all the wishful thinking this may engender in us, perhaps the most realistic, albeit bleak, forecast was offered in the last paragraph:

“Whatever he says, I think, for the most part, it will fall on deaf ears,” said Derry Connolly, president of John Paul the Great Catholic University. “Universities are tough institutions to turn around, and faculty are very powerful. . . . I don’t think it will have much of an effect.”

Brother Andre Marie :: Mar.14.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

LONDON - 14 March 2008 (Independent Catholic News) - The Latin Mass Society has announced that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission in Rome and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy, has accepted its invitation to celebrate a Pontifical High Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite (the Extraordinary Form) in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 14 June at 2pm.

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos is one of Pope Benedict XVI’s closest collaborators and is charged with oversight of the Vatican’s relations with the religious communities and laity committed to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Continue Reading »

newseditor :: Mar.14.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Glasgow, Mar 14, 2008 / 06:56 am (CNA).- A Scottish bishop has said that the Catholic Church in Scotland has missed a “huge and well-orchestrated conspiracy” by homosexual activists, the Scotsman reports.

Joseph Devine, the Bishop of Motherwell, said the Catholic community did not know what it was doing in response to such activism. He warned that the gay lobby – which he labeled “the opposition” – had mounted “a giant conspiracy” to shape public policy.

“We neglect the gay movement at our peril,” Bishop Devine added. Continue Reading »

newseditor :: Mar.14.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

FRONT ROYAL, VA (MARCH 13, 2008) - The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today called for the firing of University of Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., for his approval of the presentation of the play The Vagina Monologues on campus. Father Euteneuer is a Notre Dame alumnus, Class of ’84.

Euteneuer said today, “This is really getting tiresome. For forty years Catholic university presidents have been intimidated and afraid of ‘offending’ ideological feminists and others who have undisguised contempt for the Catholic Church. These groups have been welcomed to Catholic campuses and have been spitting in the eye of the Church ever since. They cannot be pleased or placated.”

Euteneuer continued, “Father Jenkins has been given several chances to take a truly Catholic position on this heinous piece of ideological propaganda and has consistently voted against the pleas and well-reasoned arguments of students, faculty and alumni alike. He needs to step down from his position or the ND Board of Directors needs to dismiss him. A Catholic priest just does not endorse this screed.”

In the March 10 statement, Father Jenkins said: “Notre Dame’s policy on controversial events rests on the conviction that truth will emerge from reasoned consideration of issues in dialogue with faith.… [I]t is, in my judgment, the action that best serves the distinctive mission of Notre Dame.”

Father Euteneuer responded, “The distinctive mission of Notre Dame is to communicate the Catholic Faith. There is nothing inherently truth-producing about ‘dialogue’ or controversy, especially on immoral issues.

“Catholics deserve better from a university named for Our Lady.”

newseditor :: Mar.13.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off