Super Tuesday

Last updated on: January 22, 2008 at 2:39 pm By M.Z.

No, not that one. Today could be a very big down day for the market. Markets in the U.S. were closed yesterday, but markets overseas sustained significant losses. The overnight futures in U.S. markets approached their down limit before trading is suspended. The Federal Reserve had an emergency meeting and dropped rates 75 basis points. This has helped futures recover, but it the first 30 minutes of trading will be very interesting. For finance junkies, the following blogs will provide... Read more

No Going Back on Liturgical Reforms

Last updated on: January 22, 2008 at 10:57 am By Henry Karlson

There is a buzz on many Catholic blogs that the Catholic Church is about to go back to pre-Vatican II liturgical rites as a norm. People, who do not know much about the Vatican or liturgical theology seem to look back to these rites as being better than the normative liturgical celebration offered in today’s Church. And of course, they believe that the Pope has to agree with them. They suggest that Pope Benedict is slowly working to remove most or all the reforms of the liturgy; that... Read more

Key Endorsements for Huckabee

Last updated on: January 22, 2008 at 3:13 am By Policraticus

According to the Associated Press (via MSNBC), Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee picked up dozens of endorsements from conservative African-American leaders, many of whom are tied to Christian communities: After leaving the (Martin Luther) King ceremony, Huckabee was endorsed by three dozen African-Americans, most of them connected to conservative religious organizations. Huckabee’s strong opposition to abortion and gay marriage matches the “high moral values” of many black Americans, said William Owens, founder of a group called the Coalition of African... Read more

The Struggle Continues

Last updated on: January 22, 2008 at 2:10 am By soutenus

“Unerring suffering is redemptive” Who do you think said that? Pope Benedict? My parish priest? St. Augustine? No, no and no again. The person who said it would have made a darn good Catholic! It was said by a man who was killed in 1968. This man had a dream that (among many things) one day Protestants and Catholics would stand hand in hand against injustice. It was said by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (in his I Have a... Read more

Historians fear MLK’s legacy being lost

Last updated on: January 22, 2008 at 12:14 am By Iafrate Michael

From AP: Nearly 40 years after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., some say his legacy is being frozen in a moment in time that ignores the full complexity of the man and his message. […] King was working on anti-poverty and anti-war issues at the time of his death. He had spoken out against the Vietnam War and was in Memphis when he was killed in April 1968 in support of striking sanitation workers. King had... Read more

Catholic Church remembers M.L.K.

Last updated on: January 21, 2008 at 7:23 pm By Policraticus

To commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, here are two passages from Church documents on his life and work. The first is taken from Pope John Paul II’s address at the Meeting with the Black Catholic Community of New Orleans in 1987. The second is taken from the Letter to National Committees for the Year 1998, The Holy Spirit and Ecumenism, drafted by the Ecumenical Commission of the Central Committee of the Great Jubilee Year 2000. (more…) Read more

MLK: Letter From Birmingham Jail

Last updated on: January 21, 2008 at 6:49 pm By Gerald L. Campbell

On April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. released an open letter written from the city jail in Birmingham, Alabama. This letter was in response to a public statement issued by eight white Alabama clergymen on April 12, 1963 entitled “A Call for Unity.” In their statement, they agreed that social injustices were being committed but emphasized that the battle against racial segregation should be fought in the courts and not taken to the streets. King responded four... Read more

Jesuits elect new Superior General

Last updated on: January 21, 2008 at 5:46 pm By Iafrate Michael

From the U.S. Jesuit Conference: After four days of prayer and personal conversation known as murmurationes, the 217 Jesuit electors gathered in Rome from around the world have chosen Adolfo Nicolás, SJ as the 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was the President of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania and the former Provincial of Japan. He is now Father General to nearly 20,000 Jesuits worldwide, including 2,900 in the United States, and the 29th... Read more

Martin Luther King Day

Last updated on: January 21, 2008 at 5:24 pm By M.Z.

Fifteen years following his assassination, Martin Luther King was memorialized in his own federal holiday by President Ronald Reagan. He is given an honor reserved for no other native son excluding George Washington. It is my understanding that there are number of Catholic Churches that venerate this day. While not Catholic, many believe Dr. King embraced many truths of the Catholic faith. In some ways, our celebration of Martin Luther King Day reminds me of the charge to declare John... Read more

How the Pro- “Choice” Movement Failed American Women

Last updated on: January 21, 2008 at 5:09 pm By Radical Catholic Mom

I received this outstanding letter from Feminists for Life and thought I would share parts of it with you. FYI: Weddington is the attorney who fought to overturn Texas’ anti-abortion laws. All bolded text is mine. As her arguments for abortion before the Supreme Court made clear, Weddington saw the discrimination and other injustices faced by pregnant women. But she did not demand that these injustices be remedied. Instead, she demanded for women the “right” to submit to these injustices... Read more