Catholicism.org News Portal

Well, there are thirty-five craters on the moon named after Jesuit astronomers.  Maybe those who decide such things can find another hole up there, or somewhere, to name after this star gazing padre. Father Jose Funes does not believe that believing in outer space aliens compromises any Catholic doctrine.  Not only does it compromise the Incarnation being the central event of all creation, not only does it compromise Our Lady’s singular privilege of being “THE” Immaculate Conception, not only does it make Genesis a myth, and original sin “a local problem,” and the Passion of Our Savior less than universal in its redemptive extension, but it makes a mockery of God’s wisdom in creating man in His own image and likeness, creating the soul out of nothing to inform the individual matter thus ennobling  the human body and making man what he is, “a little less than the angels.”

The body was so formed by God to be animated by an intelligent soul. This was not by chance or evolution.  No man ever had a non-rational creature for a parent.  This nonsense is most assuredly heretical.  And what does this do to the Catholic doctrine of the last judgment and the resurrection of the dead and re-creation of the world and the order and purpose of this world and the hierarchy of things? It makes the earth and the human experience and the Incarnation itself a mere sideshow.  Are we going to share heaven with other non-Adamites who have some other kind of body? Will they be glorified monsters with a extra appendages, maybe eyes in the back of their head to get a panoramic view? Or will they be homo-sapiens from another earth-like planet?  Or maybe there’s a mirror galaxy out there with another  me and another you?  Anything is possible when you discard all logic.

Telescopic star gazers are idlers. They achieve nothing good for anyone. At least if they put their eye in a microscope they could something worth while, like find a cure for some disease.  So, how do they justify their vagrant idleness in galaxy surfing?  They give lectures, or hold a media interview where they can expound upon their “idle words” and tickle people’s imaginations.  What a vocation!
Vatican City, May 13, 2008 / 01:59 pm (CNA).- The Director of the Vatican’s Observatory, Fr. José Gabriel Funes, said in an interview with the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, that believing in the possible existence of extraterrestrial  life is not opposed to Catholic doctrine. Full article here:

Brian Kelly :: May.13.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Vatican, May. 12, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Humanae Vitae (doc), the landmark encyclical of Pope Paul VI “became a sign of contradiction” because it upheld the Church’s traditional condemnation of contraception, Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) told a Roman audience on May 10.

Full article here:

Brian Kelly :: May.13.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

CNA STAFF, May 10, 2008 / 04:58 pm (CNA).- A former Jordanian minister has seized upon commentary about the decline of Western power, saying on Arabic-language television that Islam will conquer Rome.  He went on to say that Spain is an Islamic land that should be retaken and that America has begun to realize its “end is near.”

Full article here.

Brian Kelly :: May.12.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Vatican, May. 9, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Dario Castrillon-Hoyos has told an Italian magazine that diocesan bishops should show good will in granting requests for the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass under the terms of the motu proprio authorizing wider use of the extraordinary form.

In an interview with Jesus magazine, the president of the Ecclesia Dei commission declined to comment on reports that his office will soon issue a new document clarifying the motu proprio. Any decision on the release of such a document will be made by Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news), the cardinal said.  Read more here.

Brian Kelly :: May.12.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Kansas, May. 9, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City has announced that Governor Kathleen Sebelius should not receive Communion because of her support for legal abortion. Read article here.

Brian Kelly :: May.09.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

The actor, Jim Caviezel, has some words of wisdom that you may like to read in this interview with Lifesite News.

Brian Kelly :: May.09.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

These were the last words of Ismael Molinero Novillo from his deathbed in a prison of war camp.

“I want nothing of this world.  I belong to God and I live for God. If I die I will be totally God’s in heaven, and if I don’t die, I want to be a priest.  We need saints!”

Full article here.

Brian Kelly :: May.09.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

And this for a letter-to-the-editor she wrote as a private individual on her own time.

Toledo,OH, May 8, 2008 / 03:01 am (CNA).- An administrator at the University of Toledo has been placed on paid administrative leave after writing a column in a local paper that argued against including homosexuals as “civil rights victims” and characterized homosexuality as a lifestyle choice.  More here.

Brian Kelly :: May.09.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Vatican City, May 8, 2008 / 04:40 pm (CNA).- In a letter to all of the episcopal conferences of the world to mark the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on May 30, the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, has said that the priestly vocation can only be lived with radical commitment.

The Cardinal also stressed a continuous abandonment to Mary in this inspiring message.  Well worth reading here.

Brian Kelly :: May.09.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

CWN reports

Warsaw, May. 6, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Roughly one-fourth of the students graduating from Polish high schools this year will make a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine at Czestochowa, the KAI news agency reports.

About 125,000 students are expected to participate in the 34 different pilgrimages that are being organized by Polish dioceses for recent high-school graduates.

Brian Kelly :: May.07.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

This is a very important visit the success of which we should pray for.

Armenian prelate begins visit to Rome

Vatican, May. 6, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, arrives in Rome today for a visit that will continue through May 9.

The Armenian patriarch– who will be accompanied by 18 bishops and 75 members of the Armenian laity– will be formally greeted by Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) at the regular Wednesday papal audience on May 7. Catholicos Karekin will meet privately with the Pontiff on Friday, May 9.  Full article here.

Brian Kelly :: May.07.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Bo Pelini, head football coach at the University of Nebraska, threw his support behind the fundrais-ing campaign by addressing more than 100 supporters of Catholic radio at an event April 13 in Lincoln.

“Catholic radio is a lot like coaching,” Pelini said. “You reach people in different ways.”

A member of St. Peter Parish in Lincoln, Pelini told the crowd he is “committed” to Catholic radio.  More here.

Brian Kelly :: May.06.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

This news is so disheartening that I am unable to comment.

Associated Press includes this lie in its wimpish and accommodating article:

“While China’s most onerous restrictions on religious activity have been lifted, many of the country’s estimated 12 million Catholics worship in congregations outside the state-approved church.”

China’s “most onerous restrictions” on Catholic religious activity have not been lifted; they continue in full force. Restrictions have been lifted for those schismatics who register with the government run Catholic Patriotic Association. In joining the Association one must sign a denial of one’s allegiance to the authority of the pope. Priests and bishops who have not joined are routinely rounded up and incarcerated. Many of them have never been heard from. Many of them are doing hard labor in “reeducation camps.”

You can read the whole page of misinformation here.

Brian Kelly :: May.06.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Naples, May. 5, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Italian media reports confirmed that the blood of St. Januarius liquefied on May 4 in a recurrence of an annual miracle. Read article here

Brian Kelly :: May.06.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Rome, May. 5, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Rosary is “not some pious practice relegated to the past,” Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) remarked on May 3. In fact, he observed, “the Rosary is experience what is almost a new springtime.”

The Holy Father led the recitation of the Rosary in the basilica of St. Mary Major on Saturday evening, at the start of the month traditionally dedicated to Marian prayers and pilgrimages. The Pope said that in his mind, “May evenings call up pleasant memories of evening appointments to pay homage to the Virgin Mary.” More here.

Brian Kelly :: May.06.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Mexico City, May. 5, 2008 (CWNews.com) - A Mexican priest was beaten to death in his rectory on Friday, May 2.

Father Julio Cesar Mendoza Acuna, who was 33, was found bound and beaten in the bathroom of his rectory in Mexico City. He was taken to a nearby hospital, but doctors were unable to save his life.

Police have not yet established a motive for the crime.

Brian Kelly :: May.06.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

The swearing in ceremony is today.

Vatican, May. 5, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) welcomed 33 new recruits to the Swiss Guard on May 5, as they prepared for swearing-in ceremonies the next day.

The Pontiff thanked the young men for volunteering their services to the Church. Although the Swiss Guard unit is more than 500 years old, he said, “the spirit of faith remains unchanged.” He encouraged the new recruits to “assimilate the Christian and ecclesial spirit which is the foundation and the motor of all the activities you will undertake.” More here.

Brian Kelly :: May.06.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Madrid, May 2, 2008 / 01:49 pm (CNA).- A prominent lay Catholic in Spain who was recently named to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Lola Velarde, said this week that Spain’s President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s secularist agenda is the launching pad for efforts to promote secularism in Europe and Latin America.

Velarde told the Spanish weekly Alba that Spain has become “in part” a trial ground, because “if this secularist agenda can be implemented in a traditionally Catholic country, it will be much easier to ‘export’ it to other countries like those of Latin America.”

Read article here.

Brian Kelly :: May.05.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

May 4, 2008 - The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts is criticizing the State Council of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus for refusing to allow a vote this morning at their annual convention on a measure which would have required them to suspend from their ranks politicians who support abortion or same-sex marriage.

Grand Knight Joseph B. Craven, Jr. of Mt. Pleasant Council in West Roxbury offered a resolution which would have directed Massachusetts State Deputy Vincent Rumasuglia “to summarily suspend those members of the Knights of Columbus who are public officials, present or former, or candidates for public office, who through their votes, campaign literature, web sites or public statements openly support abortion or homosexual marriage.” Craven cited Section 162.7 of the Constitution, Laws & Rules of the Order which affixes the penalty of suspension or expulsion for those members engaged in “giving scandal, scandalous conduct or practice unbecoming a member of this Order.”

Two-thirds of K of C members in the Massachusetts General Court supported recent buffer zone legislation, while more than three-quarters voted against a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-gender marriage.

Supreme Advocate Paul Devin, who was attending the convention at the Burlington Marriott Hotel, ruled the measure “unconstitutional.” The State Council also attempted to impose a gag order on delegates, stifling discussion of the matter, until they were forced to relent because of vocal outbursts from the floor.

The Catholic Action League called the ruling “a disgraceful example of the disconnect between rhetoric and policy when it comes to the Knights of Columbus and Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life and the integrity of marriage.”

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “For twenty-five years, since the 1983 attempt to expel Ted Kennedy, the Knights of Columbus have ducked, dodged, weaved, evaded, obfuscated, and dragged their feet on this issue. They never miss a public opportunity to advertise their pro-life and pro-family credentials, but they repeatedly refuse to confront the inconsistency of retaining pro-abortion and pro-homosexual political figures within their own membership. As Joseph Craven said in his remarks, it is an absolute contradiction to prohibit such politicians from using K of C facilities, while harboring them as members.”

“Outrage is increasing among pro-life Catholics over the hypocrisy of Catholic institutions and organizations who embrace public officials who repudiate Catholic moral principles. There is also a rising sense of urgency that this festering scandal must be brought to an end.”

newseditor :: May.05.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican says it is happy that Pope Benedict was left off Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people, which included the Dalai Lama and the spiritual head of Orthodox Christians.

“I am pleased the pope isn’t there because criteria were used that have absolutely nothing to do with the pope’s moral and religious authority,” said Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi.

Rest of the article here:

Brian Kelly :: May.02.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off