Catholic Church

By David F. Forte, The Catholic Thing - “Put Christ back into Christmas,” we are told, often from the pulpit. “Take time out to pray and meditate upon the Advent season.  Don’t be distracted by all the shopping advertisements.”  All well and good.  But I would also argue the contrary.  It’s in the noise of the Christmas season that we find Christ. Mary and Joseph and the Magi sought not to escape from the commotion, the drama, and “noise” surrounding the great moment. They traveled into it.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture - The new declaration Fiducia Supplicans: On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings, from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, is primarily an effort to place the question of blessings for same-sex couples into the larger context of non-liturgical blessings as a whole. ... there is an important distinction that is not made in the document, the distinction about the specific purpose of the blessing, which may either be implied or explicitly requested. ...

Rep. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill making illegal immigration a criminal offense in the Lone Star State... “The new law would authorize police to arrest people they suspect crossed the Rio Grande between ports of entry,” The Texas Tribune reported... CNN noted that the soon-to-be-enacted legislation would also grant local judges “the ability to issue orders to remove [migrants] to Mexico.”

By Michael J. Matt, Editor, The Remnant - This morning, we learn of a new Vatican Declaration on “blessing gay unions”, which Team Francis insists does not change the Church’s “doctrine regarding marriage.” Well, of course it doesn’t! That was never the issue, and they know it wasn’t! That’s just a little thing they do, whereby they drape the front door in an obviously orthodox cover so that they can ramrod the real objective through the backdoor.