Catholic News Headlines / Links [1-11-10]

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Note: The following are from the MyCatholicSource.com News & Opinion Page at
http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/cmno/news_and_opinion.htm (or archived at http://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/cmno/news_and_opinion_archive.htm ). Not all links may be included. Dates in brackets may refer to dates the links were added to the MCS news page. Items herein contain text only. To view news briefs, actual news links (or to view full news stories), click above link for MCS News & Opinion Page (or archive).

*** ADVISORY: NEWS ITEMS MAY CONTAIN UNDESIRABLE TERMS & COVER SENSITIVE SUBJECTS ***
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Vatican newspaper says blockbuster movie Avatar is a "rather facile anti-imperialist and antimilitarist parable which doesn't have the same bite as other more serious films"; Vatican Radio accuses the film - which, among other things, has been criticized for holding "liberal environmental and anti-military messages" - of being "a wink towards the pseudo-doctrines which have made ecology the religion of the millennium" [1/11]

Ridiculous: Attempted assassin of Pope John Paul II who may be released from prison later this month wants multi-million dollar book deal, interview; Says his plan is to "proclaim the end of the world and to write the perfect gospel" and "the perfect Christianity that Vatican has never understood" [1/11]

Pope Benedict baptizes 14 infants in Sistine Chapel [1/11]

For second time in three months, grenade explodes in Philippine cathedral [1/11]

Chair of U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage praises NJ vote to defeat bill that would have 'legalized' homosexual 'marriage'; Archbishop notes that "Preserving marriage between one man and one woman is a matter of justice; indeed it is one of the premier social justice issues of our time" and reminds that "It does not deny but rather supports basic human rights -especially the rights of children" [1/11]

Pro-life group issues letter detailing six ways the Senate healthcare bill mandates taxpayer funding of abortion; The group believes that "enactment of the abortion-related provisions of the Senate-passed health care bill would ultimately result in substantial expansions of abortion, driven by federal administrative decrees and federal subsidies" [1/11]

International consortium of Catholic relief agencies issues emergency appeal on behalf of Ethiopians due to drought [1/11]

In wake of bloody riots between immigrants and Italians as well as anti-Christian violence elsewhere, Pope Benedict says that "Violence must never be a way to resolve difficulties"; Holy Father reminds that Baptism "provides a model for society: that of being brothers. Fraternity cannot be created through an ideology, even less so by a decree on the part of some authority. We recognize one another as brothers on the basis of a humble but profound awareness of being children of the one heavenly Father. As Christians, and thanks to the Holy Spirit we received at Baptism, our lot is to have the gift and the commitment of living as children of God and as brothers, in order to become a 'leaven' for a new humanity, united and rich in peace and hope" [1/11]

Anti-Catholic discrimination in European Commission [1/11]

L'Osservatore Romano discusses "hidden epidemic" of premature births [1/11]

Pope Benedict speaks at meeting marking 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Pontifical North American College in Rome [1/11]

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