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Dr. Michael Barber explains the divinity of Christ in the Bible.
Questions Covered:
16:46 – Can you explain the word “Lord” in Scripture? What does it reveal? How is St. Paul using this word?
46:40 – In Acts 2:36, it says, “God made the s…
Denver Newsroom, Jun 1, 2020 / 06:00 pm (CNA).-
The Center for American Progress, a longtime critic of religious freedom protections, has claimed churches seeking equal treatment under coronavirus public health rules have been “distorting…
Read MorePosted by bcadmin | Jun 1, 2020 | Archbishop Gomez, George Floyd, News, sin, U.S. & World News |
The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis “was senseless and brutal, a sin that cries out to heaven for justice,” and protests taking place nationwide “reflect the justified frustration and anger” of millions of Americans who today suffer because of racism, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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Washington D.C., Jun 1, 2020 / 05:45 pm (CNA).- During a speech from the Rose Garden on June 1, President Donald Trump pledged to deploy the U.S. military if state governors do not move to activate their National Guards to stop violent protests.
The president then walked across a square that moments before had been filled with protestors forcibly removed by police units, and visited a historic Episcopalian church that had been on fire the night before.
“I am mobilizing all federal resources–civilian and military–to stop the rioting and looting. To end the destruction and arson, and to protect the rights of all law-abiding citizens,” said Trump during his speech.
The president said that it was his “first and highest duty as president” to protect the country and the American people, and added that all Americans were “rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd.”
Floyd, 46, died after a Minneapolis police officer held him on the ground during an arrest, his knee on Floyd’s neck, even after the man said he could not breathe. The officer has been charged with murder. Throughout the country, protests and riots have been ongoing for the past week in response to Floyd’s death. Some of the protests have turned violent.
U.S. bishops have largely expressed support for peaceful protestors, and have condemned racism, police brutality, and the violent riots tha have gripped cities across the country.
“The killing of George Floyd was senseless and brutal, a sin that cries out to heaven for justice. How is it possible that in America, a black man’s life can be taken from him while calls for help are not answered, and his killing is recorded as it happens?” U.S. bishops conference president Archbishop Jose Gomez said in May 31 statement.
“We should all understand that the protests we are seeing in our cities reflect the justified frustration and anger of millions of our brothers and sisters who even today experience humiliation, indignity, and unequal opportunity only because of their race or the color of their skin. It should not be this way in America. Racism has been tolerated for far too long in our way of life,” Gomez added.
“It is true what Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, that riots are the language of the unheard. We should be doing a lot of listening right now. This time, we should not fail to hear what people are saying through their pain. We need to finally root out the racial injustice that still infects too many areas of American society.”
“But the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost. Let us keep our eyes on the prize of true and lasting change,” the archbishop added.
In his June 1 speech, Trump stated that “justice will be served” and that Floyd “will not have died in vain.”
The president referred to himself as “your president of law and order,” and “an ally of all peaceful protestors.”
“But in recent days, our nation has been gripped by professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, criminals, rioters, Antifa, and others,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Trump spoke to the governors of states, and he stated that he believed many of them had failed on a statewide level to protect their citizens. He said he ordered them to “dominate the streets” with the National Guard, and to have an “overwhelming” law enforcement presence to prevent further violence.
”We are ending the riots and lawlessness that has spread throughout our country. We will end it now,” said Trump.
Appearing to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, the president said that if governors refused to activate their National Guard units, he would “deploy the US military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
The last time the Insurrection Act was invoked was during the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
The president faced criticism, and a conflict with Twitter, last week for a May 29 tweet that again suggested the possibility of military action, and said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Trump later said his tweet was not intended as a threat against protestors or rioters.
On Monday, Trump cited various acts of violence and vandalism that have occurred during the protests and riots, including the desecration of war memorials, beatings of people, the shooting death of a law enforcement officer in California, and the attempted arson of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. A fire was set in the basement of the church, which has been attended by every U.S. president.
Some protestors across the country have said that while violence and looting is unacceptable, some peaceful protests have turned violent only when police have fired tear gas or non-lethal projectiles at demonstrators. Trump’s speech did not addess that charge.
“These are not acts of peaceful protests. These are acts of domestic terror,” Trump said.
“America needs creation not destruction; cooperation not contempt; security, not anarchy. Healing, not hatred. Justice, not chaos. This is our mission, and we will succeed 100%,” said Trump. “We will succeed. Our country always wins.”
Following the speech, the president walked from the Rose Garden to St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photo with members of his cabinet. The president did not enter the church, but returned to the White House after the photograph.
Posted by bcadmin | Jun 1, 2020 | Coronavirus pandemic, George Floyd, Justice, News, Protests, U.S. & World News |
Even as the United States still finds itself grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, outrage, grief and anger over the latest killing of an unarmed black man outweighed caution as hundreds of thousands turned out nationwide to protest and many of the country’s Catholic bishops joined the calls for justice.
Read MorePosted by bcadmin | Jun 1, 2020 | Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Local News, News, public Mass |
Andrea and Pete Barrett held hands as they walked into St. Casimir Church in St. Paul May 31 for the first time in more than two months, and their hands remained clasped throughout the Mass.
Read MorePosted by bcadmin | Jun 1, 2020 | Cardinal Joseph Tobin, COVID-19 pandemic, Gifts of Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, News, Pentecost, U.S. & World News |
Ahead of the feast of Pentecost, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark offered a reflection on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how society and the Church, he believes, need these gifts “now more than ever.”
Read MoreQuestions Covered:
15:51 – Is it a sin NOT to make a daily examination of conscience?
19:34 – I am a Catholic and have a girlfriend who is non-denominational. What do we need to do to be married in the Catholic Church?
21:59 – In J…
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 1, 2020 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- Catholic churches and cathedrals in several cities were among the buildings damaged in the protests and riots that occurred nationwide over the past week.
Church buildings in California, Minnes…
Read MorePosted by bcadmin | Jun 1, 2020 | News, Pignatone, Pope Francis, Roman Curia, U.S. & World News, Vatican City State, Vatican contract laws |
To prevent fraud and corruption, uphold Catholic principles and save money, Pope Francis has issued a new set of laws covering contracts for the purchase of goods, property and services for both the Roman Curia and Vatican City State offices.
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CNA Staff, Jun 1, 2020 / 04:11 pm (CNA).- Blessings of homosexual couples in the Catholic Church would only obscure knowledge of what is important and good about persons with same-sex attraction, according to the director of Courage International.
“We need to have hope that some, perhaps many, of the people who propose things like these liturgical blessings for same-sex couples are motivated by good intentions. They do not want anyone to feel excluded by the Church, and so they look for ways to honor and recognize members of the parish in public ceremonies,” Fr. Philip Bochanski told CNA May 26.
Courage International provides pastoral support, prayer support, and fellowship for people with same-sex attraction who want to live chaste lives according to Catholic teaching.
“The Benediction of Same-Sex Partnerships” is a recently published, German language book which considers how homosexual couples might receive a formal, liturgical blessing of their union in the Church.
According to the book’s author, it was written in response to a request from the liturgical committee of the Austrian bishops’ conference.
Fr. Bochanski explained that pressing for blessings of same-sex couples “restricts rather than expands our understanding of what is good and important about our brothers and sisters.”
“To suggest that without a recognized sexual relationship (marriage or something like it), we are expecting people to live lonely, loveless lives, overlooks the fact that there are many kinds of love — charity, affection, friendship, to name a few — that are real, vital loves in their own right and not consolation prizes for people who aren’t married. We appreciate love less, not more, by insisting on same-sex unions.”
The Church, he said, should “speak the truth in love to them as we call them to pursue chaste friendship in its fullness rather than a sexual relationship that is missing essential elements of its meaning and purpose. It is not always an easy discussion to have, but it is an invitation to deep, authentic love, rather than an imposition that restricts someone’s freedom or fulfillment.”
Fr. Ewald Volgger, the principal author of the German language book, has said that through the blessing the Church would express “the obligation of fidelity and the exclusiveness of the relationship.”
Fr. Bochanski noted that “life-long fidelity and total exclusivity are two of the essential characteristics of conjugal union — that is, the qualities that make marriage what it is,” along with complementarity and openness to procreativity.
If each of these four characteristics are present, “you have an intimate relationship according to God’s plan,” he said. “If one or more of them is missing, then the relationship is outside of God’s plan — it is immoral.”
“The life-long fidelity and total exclusivity that are essential elements of marriage” are directed to erotic love, he said, and they thus tend “toward sexual union.”
“To say that people of the same sex ought to…pursue a permanent, exclusive relationship based on eros and not have a sexual union is unrealistic. But to tell them that in their pursuit of a permanent, exclusive relationship they can and should have a sexual union that by its nature excludes complementarity and procreativity is immoral.”
He added that “we find our fulfillment by following God’s plan for our lives. The clear teaching of the Church is that sexual intimacy between people of the same sex is always immoral. To tell our brothers and sisters who are attracted to the same sex that the way to find happiness and fulfillment, in this world and in eternal life, is to pursue a relationship that is contrary to God’s plan is a dangerous lie.”
Rather than pushing for blessings of homosexual couples, Catholics should begin outreach with accompaniment and listening, Fr. Bochanski stated.
“Our pastoral approach to people in same-sex unions who are seeking deeper participation in the life of the Church ought to start with a real willingness to ask for and listen to their stories. Pope Francis says that ‘we ought to accompany them starting from their situation,’ and that when we welcome people with mercy and a willingness to take them where they are, ‘the Holy Spirit inspires [us] to say the right thing.’”
He said that “as we get to know the people who are coming to us, we begin to understand what they’ve been through, what they’re looking for, and whether they’re finding it.” Then a conversation about “what Christ and his Church desire for each member of the Body of Christ” can be had.
“We should invite people to talk frankly about what they understand of the Church’s moral teaching, whether they are living it, and what makes it easy or difficult for them to do so,” he said. “In this way we can enter a long-term dialogue in which we can lead them, step by step, to understand the teaching more clearly, and embrace it more fully.”
Celibates have a particular role in this, the Courage director said: “We ought to testify by our words and our lives the joy that we find in sacrificing one type of relationship — the sexually intimate relationship of marriage — and diving deep into loving relationships with friends, family and parishioners….joyful, faithful celibates can give a powerful witness and encouragement to those who are being called to embrace chastity in the form of an intentional single life.”
Fr. Bochanski also noted that the Church’s teaching on sexual morality is based on both scripture and the nature of the human person. It is found in the opening chapters of Genesis, and is reiterated by both Christ and St. Paul, and is written “not only in the human heart, but on the human body: we can look at how men and women’s bodies are different and related, and understand a great deal about God’s plan for intimate sexual union.”
“Our understanding and evaluation of same-sex intimate relationships is simply an application of these broad principles to a particular question, and it is in harmony with the teachings on sexuality and chastity that apply to every person and to every relationship,” he reflected.
“We can and should always be looking for ways to make these teachings understandable, to speak them clearly in ways that modern people can…grasp the beautiful realities that the doctrine expresses,” Fr. Bochanski advised. “We find new ways to present the age-old teachings because of where they come from. The Word of God and the nature of the human person are unchanging and unchangeable, and so the truths they teach us simply cannot change.”
He called it “extremely distressing” that some German prelates “speak as if the Church’s teaching can and ought to change. On the contrary, teaching that is part of the revealed Word of God and is consistently taught by the magisterium of the Church is held to be infallible and must be accepted with the assent of faith. This is particularly the obligation of priests, bishops and cardinals, who take an Oath of Fidelity at their ordinations in which they swear to hold these teachings firmly, teach them clearly, and shun anything contrary to them.”
The Courage director concluded, quoting from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1986 Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons: “Departure from the Church’s teaching, or silence about it, in an effort to provide pastoral care is neither caring nor pastoral. Only what is true can ultimately be pastoral. The neglect of the Church’s position prevents homosexual men and women from receiving the care they need and deserve.”
Posted by bcadmin | Jun 1, 2020 | News, The Dispatch |
It is in a way providential that the Feast of Pentecost arrives this year just as our country is going through a convulsive social crisis. For the Holy Spirit, whose coming we celebrate on Pentecost, […]
Read MorePosted by bcadmin | Jun 1, 2020 | COVID-19 pandemic, Hunger, Latin America, News, Poverty, U.S. & World News |
Diego Ramirez, a single father in a rural village in southern Guatemala, worked in a restaurant and kept a chicken farm, selling the birds in a market to support his three daughters.
Read MoreDenver Newsroom, Jun 1, 2020 / 03:10 pm (CNA).-
A chart detailing “Covert White Supremacy”— which a Chicago archdiocesan office shared online Friday — was shared without permission and does not reflect the Church’s values…
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 1, 2020 / 02:30 pm (CNA).- It is Groundhog Day for Vatican financial reform, again.
On Monday, Pope Francis published sweeping new laws governing Vatican financial dealings, setting new standards for contracts awar…
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Read MoreWhen babe in arms My mother sang to me Soft and lilting Voice precious to my heart. Long since gone […]
The post Song my Mother Sang appeared first on Catholic Insight.
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CNA Staff, Jun 1, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Argentina’s digital March for Life May 30 drew 390,000 participants on Facebook alone, according to preliminary numbers from march organizers.
The pro-life effort came on the heels of a promise from Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez to again push for a bill to legalize abortion in the country’s legislature. That legislation was on the verge of being introduced in March when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in the country, forcing its postponement.
Current law in Argentina prohibits abortion, except when the mother’s life or health is determined to be in danger, or in cases of rape.
In a controversial move, Fernandez’ appointee as Minister of Health, Ginés González García, issued new protocols on abortion Dec. 12 2019, widening the circumstances for a legal abortion.
Speaking to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Senator Silvia Elías de Pérez, a pro-life leader in the country’s legislature, stressed that “today’s march has been very positive.”
The senator said that a 2018 bill that would expand legal protection for abortion in Argentina was defeated in part because of “a huge number of Argentinians who throughout the country came out to defend their ideas, their rights, to say that in Argentina every life matters and that being born in Argentina should not be a right only for those who are wanted.”
Argentina’s May 2018 March for Life events drew an estimated three million participants in multiple cities across the country.
The 2020 digital march, Elías de Pérez said, can serve “as a new point of departure” helping pro-life groups to “get back on track again, back to work, because we have to take up the fight again.”
The senator lamented that “it is extremely sad, dramatic, that in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, in which we are fighting for people’s lives, it still occurs to a government to send (to the legislature) this kind of anti-life initiative.”
“So what’s important once again is to put our minds and passion at the service of this cause, which is the noblest of all because it means fighting for the preservation of the human race, understood as preserving life in all its stages” she said.
The digital march, which lasted about two hours on Facebook and YouTube, featured the participation of well-known pro-life leaders, including Mexican actor and producer Eduardo Verástegui.
The actor said that in all the pro-life forums he participates in, “the message I always give is to take the word pro-life to its fullest meaning.”
“Of course we have to defend life in the mother’s womb, defend the most important and fundamental right, the right to be born, because if you’re not born you can’t enjoy any other right,” he said. “But we pro-lifers don’t stop there, because after that, who’s next? Homeless children, there shouldn’t be one more child on the street, and that depends on us, on everyone,” Verástegui said.
The Mexican movie star also urged eradicating the crime of human trafficking as well as helping teens addicted to drugs and abandoned or abused mothers.
To be pro-life, he continued, is to care “for the lives of the sick who don’t have the resources to pay for a good doctor, for adequate treatment,” and to advocate “for the lives of those who are falsely accused and in prison.”
Defending life also means, Verástegui said, doing something for “the lives of the elderly who are abandoned in a nursing home, sad to death because not even their family members come to see them.”
“To be the voice of those who have no voice, to defend those who cannot defend themselves” is to be pro-life,” he emphasized.
A version of this story was first publish by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted by bcadmin | Jun 1, 2020 | News, The Dispatch |
You are a soldier in Vietnam. You have met and fallen in love with a Vietnamese woman. The two of you have a child, although you are not legally married. Due to political reasons beyond […]
Read More“The mission that God entrusts to each one of us leads us from fear and introspection to a renewed realization that we find ourselves precisely when we give ourselves to others”
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