Catholic Church

By Dorothy Cummings McLean, LifeSiteNews – American Catholic bishops showed today that the current pontificate has divided them on fighting abortion as a social justice priority, voting 143-69 to keep the issue “pre-eminent.”… the bishops debated, and voted upon, a letter based on the USCCB’s document on political life, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizens.”… The bishops were asked to vote to approve the text as presented by Gomez. Of the bishops, 143 voted yes, and 69 voted no. Four bishops abstained… Strickland tweeted, “Thank God the USCCB voted to uphold the preeminence of the Sanctity of the life of the unborn. It is sad that 69 voted no.”

By Jules Gomes, Church Militant – The Rockefeller Foundation, notorious for promoting abortion and the LGBT agenda, is sponsoring a two-day Vatican conference under the auspices of Pope Francis and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences… The conference, titled “Reduction of Food Loss and Waste,” is being held at the Casina Pio IV on Nov. 11–12 and includes speakers from other pro-abortion bodies including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation… Nestlé, recently criticized for using aborted fetal cell lines to test artificial flavor enhancers in partnership with biotech firm Senomyx, is also a participant at the conference.

By Martin M. Barillas and Pete Baklinski, LifeSiteNews – Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Vatican’s Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline, strongly criticized LGBT ideology that he said is overrunning governments and education centers while tracing the ideology to the root of the widespread acceptance of contraception about seven decades ago… “The first link in the process involved women,” Cardinal Sarah continued: “In fact, the contraceptive mentality that has extended strongly after 1950 has made possible a profound disconnection between the woman and her body, a disconnection that has radically changed the way of understanding human sexuality, marriage, filiation and of course education.”

By Matt Hadro, CNA – Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia rose to say that he did not oppose the inclusion of the full statement of Pope Francis and added that teaching that abortion is a “preeminent” issue is not contrary to the magisterium of Pope Francis… “I am certainly not against quoting the Holy Father’s full statement. I think it’s a beautiful statement. I believe it,” he said… “But I am against anyone stating that our stating it [abortion] is ‘preeminent’ is contrary to the teaching of the Pope. That isn’t true. That sets up an artificial battle between the bishops’ conference of the United States and the Holy Father, which isn’t true,” Archbishop Chaput said.

By C C Pecknold, Catholic Herald – Francis Cardinal George suffered greatly throughout his life. Nearing the end, dying of cancer, he said “The lord strips things away from us, sometimes even good things, until there is nothing left but the love of God.” This is the Christian who can teach us how to offer ourselves completely to God, even our suffering, so that we can truly bear joyful witness to Jesus Christ who makes holy our oblations. At the center is always Jesus, the only one who truly gives strength to the weak, who raises up the broken hearted, who gives evangelical hope to the hopeless — and who can set our world on fire with divine charity.

By Janet E. Smith, National Catholic Register – Among other scandals, we know of cardinals who have abused seminarians and been swept off to positions of power in the Vatican… The confusion surrounding the pachamama has been unsettling: Is it a pagan idol that has no place in a Catholic church or a benign expression of gratefulness of the gifts of the Earth?… All of that seems to be the tip of an iceberg — or the oozing up of a toxic black mold that has corroded what held up the façade and has shown us the rot behind the façade… This exposé seems to be the work of the Holy Spirit, who surely has a reform plan in mind and possibly even in place…

By Katrina Trinko, Managing Editor, The Daily Signal – When she was 21 years old, Claire Culwell found out a huge secret about her past: her biological mom had tried to have an abortion when she was pregnant with Claire and her twin. While Claire’s twin didn’t survive, Claire did — and that revelation changed her life. “I knew that I couldn’t stand for what abortion does. And so, I chose to take a stance and to speak out,” she says. Listen to her interview on the podcast, or read the lightly edited transcript of our conversation, pasted below

By Ed Condon, CNA – During the second day of the USCCB Fall General Assembly in Baltimore, divisions among the bishops bubbled briefly to the surface, with bishops exchanging sharp interventions on the “preeminence’ of abortion as a social concern… Bishop Robert McElroy told the conference this language was “discordant with the pope’s teaching, if not inconsistent,” and implied that a failure to accept Cupich’s proposed language was tantamount to a breach with the Holy Father’s magisterium… “It is not Catholic teaching that abortion is the preeminent issue that we face as a world in Catholic social teaching. It is not.”

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture – Insofar as Archbishop Pierre’s speech is influenced by this theory, the American bishops should usher him back to reality…. As a matter of fact the American bishops should do their utmost to steer the entire Vatican leadership back toward reality. As they report to Rome for their ad limina visits, they should show their loyalty to the Holy Father by informing him honestly about the crisis that faces the Church. They should remind the Pontiff that it is not subversive to seek clarity, nor is it pastoral to allow confusion.

By Casey Chalk, Crisis Magazine – PBS NewsHour anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff in a November 1 interview sympathetically asked Biden if he was “offended” by Fr. Morey’s actions. Biden responded by explaining that while it was “a private matter… it’s not a position that I’ve found anywhere else, including from the Holy Father, who gives me Communion.” In a later statement, Biden further explained: “I practice my faith… but I’ve never let my religious beliefs, which I accept based on Church doctrine… impose that view on other people.”