News Highlights

Some recent news highlights...

* St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in NY will be formally designated a basilica on Sunday

* The recently released article concerning Pope Benedict's positive influence on the Church's penal law is expected to be published on Saturday in an Italian magazine

* The Bishops Conference in England and Wales has been charged with maneuvering to "ignore, block, and ultimately frustrate Summorum Pontificum" and has reportedly "spent a great deal of effort behind the scenes gathering data to support the idea that there is no demand" in England and Wales for the TLM [Related: Summorum Pontificum Info (Latin Mass Updates | The Traditional Latin ('Tridentine') Mass vs. the Novus Ordo (New) Mass]

* Where do they find these men? A Houston-area priest has been charged with public lewdness after he reportedly exposed himself at an adult book store

* Watch where your donations go: Catholic AIDS workers in South Africa are reportedly using Pope Benedict's recent comments to "justify" the distribution of c*nd*ms, even though the Pope did not say use of c*nd*ms can be justified [Related: Catholic teachings against contraception | Pope Benedict's Remarks On C*nd*ms: Facts, Falsities & Fallout]

[12/3]

More News Highlights

Some more recent news highlights...

* Hollywood's at it again: A poster for a new Ben Affleck movie is set to "offend many Catholics." The sacrilegious poster contains an image of men in nuns' habits carrying machine guns. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. claims it was "was never the intention to offend anyone" [And you'd similarly treat the Jewish or Muslim religions with such disrespect?]

* Relatives of the woman whose body was stolen from a mausoleum at a Catholic cemetery in Long Island are offering a reward of $30,000 for return of her remains. An additional $5,000 "CrimeStoppers" reward may also be available. The family has reportedly been "devastated" by the theft

* South Africa's bishops are 'seriously concerned' regarding proposed new media restrictions which may threaten freedom of the press. A proposed law - which has "practically no right of appeal" - may 'severely' limit freedom of information, carrying with it jail sentences of 3-5 years

* Former senator Rick Santorum will reportedly "take on the premise of one of President John F. Kennedy's most famous speeches" in Texas next week. The historic JFK speech advocated "absolute" separation of church and state

* Let's hope it's good music this time: The head of the ICEL reportedly 'foresees more use of music at Mass' when the new (Novus Ordo) Mass translations are implemented next year [Related: 'Fr Z's grief']

* Bishop Pablo Galimberti has emphasized that belief in reincarnation is incompatible with the Catholic faith. He noted that idea of reincarnation has been adopted from various (false) religions such as Hinduism & Buddhism and that it is also "spread through yoga, not in terms of bodily postures but through the ideas that are put forth during the sessions" [Related: Apologetics regarding 'reincarnation']

* The Catholic League has highlighted the media's "selective outrage" over the Church's prohibiting women's 'ordination', pointing out that the while media critics are "outraged" over the Catholic Church's position, these same critics "do not object" that Orthodox Jews & Muslims don't allow female religious leaders. CL also notes that if the Catholic Church had "oppressed women" by not allowing females to be ordained, "then [the Catholic Church] should be dying and the mainline Protestant religions should be spiking. Yet the evidence shows that just the reverse is true" [Related: Top Reasons Why Women Can't Be Priests]

* Weeks before Pope Benedict's visit to the U.K., a "leading advisor" to Archbishop Vincent Nichols charged that Britain has been turned into "the geopolitical epicenter of the culture of death" and a "selfish, hedonistic wasteland." He also said that "Our laws and lawmakers for over 50 years have been the most permissively anti-life and progressively anti-family and marriage, in essence one of the most anti-Catholic landscapes, culturally speaking - more than even those places where Catholics suffer open persecution." A spokesperson for Archbishop Nichols reportedly "distanced himself" from the adviser's comments, indicating that they do "not reflect the Archbishop's opinions"

[9/1]