Catholic Church

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture - Sometimes the news can appear to be just plain strange... Just for fun, I’ve decided to compile ten examples of the strangeness of some very recent Catholic news: ... India’s bishops urge voters to keep country secular: This hardly sounds like a recipe for Christian perfection. But then Catholics constitute just 1.5 percent of India’s population, with Christians overall accounting for 2.3 percent. By contrast, India is 80% Hindu—a religion which is grotesquely, violently, and even demonically pagan. In other words, politics remains the art of the possible.

By Msgr. Charles Pope - In a recent book, "Why They Follow", Matthew Warner has some important reflections to help understand the emptying pews... He begins with the modern sense that most people are basically in good shape and will most likely attain heaven: It’s very difficult to break through and communicate with somebody who just doesn’t seem to care. The modern attitude seems to be that everything in [most] humans is basically in order and that all is well. If that’s true, Jesus becomes merely a great spiritual teacher ....

By John-Henry Westen, LifeSiteNews - The letter from Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio formally prohibits all clergy, schools, retreat centers, and Catholic groups 'from contracting with or utilizing Sanctus Ranch for any Catholic-sponsored retreats, meetings, activities, or spiritual endeavors.'... Even where contracts were already signed, the bishop directed them to discuss it with his legal team rather than fulfill their contractual obligations. Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller instructed Catholics against Sanctus Ranch, telling them not “to participate in any of its activities.”

By Catholic World News - Current medical criteria for diagnosing “brain death” are woefully inadequate, and more than half of organ donors who have been declared “brain dead” are still alive. These are the conclusions of a group of 151 Catholic doctors, ethicists, theologians, and others, in a statement released on February 27. The statement, entitled Catholics United on Brain Death and Organ Donation: A Call to Action calls for an immediate moratorium on the transplantation of vital organs.