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Showing posts with the label National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis Effect: Attitude change but no behaviour change

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One year into the era of Pope Francis, a new poll has found that a broad majority of American Catholics say he represents a major change in direction for the church, and a change for the better. But his popularity has not inspired more Americans to attend Mass, go to confession or identify as Catholic — a finding that suggests that so far, the much-vaunted “Francis effect” is influencing attitudes, but not behavior. Francis is more popular among American Catholics than Pope Benedict XVI was in February of last year, when he suddenly resigned, according to the poll, which is to be released Thursday by the Pew Research Center . But Francis has not reached the sky-high ratings that Pope John Paul II commanded at the height of his papacy in the 1990s, when he was credited with helping to bring down the Communist government in his native Poland. Francis, who draws giddy teenagers to his Wednesday audiences and generates Twitter traffic with every public remark, has clearly invigorate...

Pope Francis was ‘shocked’ by civil unions/gay adoption bill, urged me to fight it: Malta bishop

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Pope Benedictus XVI (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Malta’s auxiliary bishop says Pope Francis was “shocked” earlier this month when the bishop informed him of the push to legalize same-sex civil unions and homosexual adoption on the Mediterranean island nation. Bishop Charles Scicluna, who is being criticized in the media for defending traditional marriage in his Christmas homily last week, said the pope told him at a meeting December 12th to be vocal in opposing the Civil Unions Bill. The bill is currently being considered by the Maltese legislature and would give same-sex couples the same rights as married couples, including adoption.  “He was quite shocked by the issue of civil unions and gay adoptions in Malta,” the bishop told  The Sunday Times of Malta . “We discussed many aspects... and when I raised the issue that’s worrying me as a bishop [the right for gay couples to adopt] he encouraged me to speak out,” he added. The mainstream media has widely report...

U.S. Bishops: DOMA ruling ‘renewed our determination’ to defend true marriage

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BALTIMORE, November 13, 2013 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) - The archbishop who leads the U.S. bishops' fight against same-sex “marriage” says the U.S. Supreme Court ’s June rulings on marriage has renewed the bishops' determination to defend true marriage. In an address at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) annual General Assembly on November 11 th , Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco lampooned the Supreme Court’s twin decisions of June 26 th  that ruled unconstitutional the definition of true marriage in the Defense of Marriage Act , and found the Prop. 8 backers had no standing to defend the California law. According to Cordileone, who chairs the USCCB’s Subcommittee on the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, the rulings were "the most significant judicial decisions on marriage this country has ever experienced.” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone speaks to the U.S. Bishops in Baltimore on Nov. 11, 2013. “By advancing redefinition, ...

Bergoglio proposed civil unions for homosexuals as alternative to ‘marriage,’ claims John Allen

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Coat of Arms of Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) April 12, 2013 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) - Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio , now Pope Francis, did in fact propose "civil union" legislation as a "compromise solution" on the issue of homosexual "marriage" in 2010, according to John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter , a newspaper that frequently publishes attacks on Catholic doctrine . Allen personally traveled to Buenos Aires , where he says that three different unnamed sources confirmed to him the truth of the claim, which was made by several newspapers following the election of Bergoglio in March, including the New York Times . Two of the sources, according to Allen, were senior officials of the Argentina Episcopal Conference, of which Bergoglio was the head until his recent election.  Both officials "worked with Bergoglio and took part in the behind-the-scenes discussions as the conference tried to shape its posit...

Apostates in the Catholic Ranks!

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Schopfheim: Catholic Church Deutsch: Schopfheim: Katholische Pfarrkirche (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) On the cross at Calvary, there were two men crucified next to Our Blessed Lord. To His right was St. Dismas , a good thief, who repented of his sins and begged forgiveness. To His left was Gestas, a rebel who mocked Our Lord, challenging Him to reject His cross and save the three of them from their physical sufferings and death. The example of these two men calls to mind the divisions Jesus spoke of when He said that He would separate the wheat from the chaff and the lambs from the goats. On one side is salvation; on the other is death and everlasting fire. Today, this division is becoming abundantly clear. As the director of American Life League’s Defend the Faith project, I have seen the festering cancer of Modernism, immorality, and disobedience laying waste to communities within the Catholic Church . “Dissenters” put forth ideas suggesting that it is acceptable, and indeed “Catholic...

Nat’l Catholic Reporter writer gushes: lesbian ‘wedding’ ceremony a ‘foretaste of eternity

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Image via Wikipedia A columnist at the National Catholic Reporter has published a glowing account of a homosexual “ marriage ” between two Catholic lesbians , describing the event as a “transcendent” experience likened to a “foretaste of eternity.” Jamie Manson, an award-winning columnist at the prominent Catholic paper, which is known for its regular opposition to official Catholic teaching on key issues, published her observations of the event in a column entitled “Witnessing a Catholic Same-Sex Wedding.” “The 20 people in attendance, whose ages ranged from 21 to well over 70, all shared two things in common with the couple. Every one of them is gay or lesbian, and every one of them is deeply committed to their Catholic faith ,” wrote Manson. “It was one of those moments that I have experienced rarely: a moment of genuine joy, peace, and deep communal friendship. It was at once very real, but also transcendent.  Perhaps a foretaste of what eternity might be like.” Manso...