Pope Francis urges CDF to “act decisively” on cases of sexual abuse

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details from CNS: Pope Francis reaffirmed the importance of responding decisively to the problem of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy and called on the Vatican office dealing with suspected cases to continue carrying out its mandate. During an April 5 meeting with Archbishop Gerhard L. Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the pope discussed the office’s various responsibilities. However, he made a particular point of highlighting its work to counter... Read more

Judge rules morning after pill must be available to minors without prescription

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

In effect: a court has ruled that anyone should be able to get it, at any age, anywhere, Details: A federal judge in Brooklyn has ordered the FDA to make the morning-after birth control pill available over the counter to people of any age without a prescription, overturning a decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to require a prescription for girls under 17 years old. The FDA said it couldn’t comment because it is an ongoing legal... Read more

Hilarious “Ode to Sleep Deprived Parents” set to “Carmina Burana”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

You don’t need to know a note of music to love this. Details: We dare you not to giggle when you hear “Ode to Sleep Deprived Parents and Terrorizing Toddlers,” performed with somber gravitas by more than 200 members of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and set to the music of “O Fortuna,” the intense opening movement of “Carmina Burana.” You’ll instantly recognize the choral piece even if you’re not a fan of classical music – the composition by Carl Orff... Read more

Two gay college students try to have priest fired because he counsels students not to have sex—UPDATED

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Is this from The Onion? No: Two gay seniors at George Washington University say they feel alienated because the chaplain at George Washington’s Newman Center rejects homosexuality, and they aren’t going to take it anymore. The seniors, Damian Legacy and Blake Bergen, have announced a coordinated campaign to rid the campus of the Roman Catholic priest, reports The GW Hatchet, the school’s independent student newspaper. They also assert that 12 or more students have quit the Newman Center in recent years because they can’t tolerate Father Greg Shaffer’s ardent anti-gay— and, for... Read more

“Celibacy and chastity won’t kill you”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This may be the most clear-eyed and honest piece on homosexuality and the Catholic Church that you will read… …or at least, that you will read this week. Terry Nelson knows whereof he speaks. From Abbey Roads: The friends who approve of same sex marriage usually approve of divorce and remarriage, contraception and abortion, euthanasia, IVF, gender reassignment surgey, embryonic stem cell research, and a wide variety of other practices condemned by the Catholic Church. It’s a package deal usually.... Read more

Attorneys General urge HHS exemption for businesses

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Hot on the heels of this item, about a deacon who won his case against the HHS mandate, comes this story from the Christian Post: A coalition of 13 attorneys general issued a collaborative letter to the Obama administration, urging it to provide exemptions to privately owned businesses under its Department of Health and Human Services’ contraception mandate, arguing that it violates religious liberties otherwise. The letter argues that the White House’s modifications made to the HHS mandate reward exemptions to religious nonprofits, large... Read more

How come more people don’t go to church?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

It may not be the reason you think. Details: The Rev. Stephen Fichter understood just how dominant a role sports has assumed in the culture when a family told him they would be out of town Good Friday to Easter Sunday to attend their child’s volleyball tournament. “It’s truly sports that has become like the religion” for many people, said Fichter, a researcher and the pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Haworth, N.J. From youth travel teams to big-time national... Read more

Meet the pope’s sister

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

NCR’s John Allen has arrived in Argentina, and wasted no time tracking down the most important interview subject in the country: the pope’s sister. A snip: Though there aren’t yet hard numbers to back it up, it’s a good bet that the single most interviewed human being on the planet since March 13, 2013, has been a simple 64-year-old housewife in the Argentine city of Ituzaingó, about an hour outside Buenos Aires. The woman is Maria Elena Bergoglio, and her... Read more

Historic: First U.S. teen with Down syndrome reaches Mt. Everest base camp

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Awesome: A courageous young man from Oregon made history with the first recorded account of an American teenager with Down syndrome to reach a base camp of Mt. Everest. After nearly two weeks of walking, 15-year old Eli Reimer reached 17,600 feet. Eli’s father, Justin, joined his son for the ascent in an effort to raise funds for their family’s charity, The Elisha Foundation. “It was surreal,” Justin Reimer told HLN in an interview. “To be standing there at that place and see... Read more

Judge rules that deacon’s company will not have to provide contraception coverage

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: Greg Hall is safe from government fines – for now. The Catholic deacon who owns American Manufacturing Company in St. Joseph has received a preliminary injunction protecting him from provisions in the Affordable Care Act. The injunction was issued Tuesday in the 8th Circuit of the federal district courts by U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim. In short, he won’t have to start providing insurance that covers contraception, sterilization or abortifacient drugs to his employees. “He was conflicted... Read more