Open letter to the U.S. bishops: Let's not be a laughingstock, OK?

By Robert Blair Kaiser
Back in the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas warned his fellow scholars about taking positions that brought ridicule upon the church. "Ne fides rideatur," he said. Literally, "Don't let the faith be laughed at." Last week, we learned the U.S. bishops were launching an investigation into the supposedly subversive activities of our Catholic Girl Scouts.
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Lorettos celebrate two centuries of touching lives

Theirs was a meeting of the minds, and of faith. Like a Christ-impelled pebble dropped into the sea of humanity, their meeting created waves of movement. She was Mary Rhodes, a young Maryland woman come to Kentucky to visit her brother, Bennett. He was Fr. Charles Nerinckx, a transplanted Belgian priest who’d fled the European anti-Catholicism stoked by the French Revolution.
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Speakers explore what Loretto order has to offer today

NERINX, KY. -- “Today’s youth and young adults want what Lorettos already have,” Loretto Sr. Delores Kincaide told the Loretto jubilee gathering of hundreds of members and co-members here April 25. “A deeper spirituality, a supportive community, and a purpose that will change the world in which they live. Loretto is in a position now to consciously promote expansion by reaching out to these youth and others who desire what we already possess.”
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California abuse conference focuses on bishops' accountability

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Though a daylong summit on the clergy sexual abuse crisis in mid-May brought together a wide-range of leading experts on the topic -- from those who firmly defend the U.S. bishops' moves to address the issue to those who sometimes vehemently point to their weaknesses -- each seemed to find a key point of resonance.
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Continuing the mission

By Patricia Datchuck Sánchez
Patricia Datchuck Sánchez
Whether your congregation is celebrating today the feast of Jesus’ ascension into eternal glory or the Seventh Sunday of the Easter season, the essential message of either celebration is the same: It is the inherent responsibility of the disciples of Jesus to continue his mission. This responsibility has been clearly enunciated by the Marcan Jesus, who told his own, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation.” Further affirmation of the church’s mission is included in the Johannine Jesus’ high priestly prayer, “As you, Father, have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”
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Another Legionary priest caught in scandal

A high-profile American priest in the Legionaries of Christ has acknowledged having had a sexual relationship with a woman and fathering her child, adding another chapter to the growing scandals surrounding the controversial religious order.
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Student loan debt may prevent many U.S. Catholics from entering religious orders

WASHINGTON -- Student debt might be forcing many Catholic U.S. college graduates considering religious life to postpone or even forego testing their vocation, a new study reports. "In essence, they're too poor to take the vow of poverty," commented the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which conducted the study.
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Hierarchy's inability to mourn thwarts healing in church

The Catholic hierarchy from the papacy on down seems to be roiling through a series of manic episodes in which they execute perverted power plays against those perceived as enemies. This kind of mania often is exhibited by large identity groups whose power has been threatened and who are unable to respond adaptively to that loss through a process of healthy mourning.
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Chaput removes five Philadelphia priests from ministry

Three priests cleared of accusations; 17 cases for suspended priests still pending
Five of the 26 Philadelphia priests suspended in the wake of sexual abuse allegations revealed in last year’s grand jury report will be removed from public ministry, Archbishop Charles Chaput announced Friday at a press conference. Three of the 26 will be returned to ministry, while 17 cases are still pending in various stages of the investigation process.
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D.C. Archdiocese, Georgetown spar over Kathleen Sebelius speech

By David Gibson, Religion News Service
Tensions between the Archdiocese of Washington and Georgetown University are escalating ahead of a scheduled address Friday by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a conflict that is becoming a microcosm of the political battles raging inside the Catholic church.
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Cold feet in match between Rome and Lefebvrists

ROME -- Cold feet, of course, are fairly common before any wedding. It’s thus probably no surprise that as Rome and the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, popularly known as the “Lefebvrists,” prepare to walk down the aisle, important voices on both sides of the match are having some second thoughts.
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Bishops are picking a fight this election year

Few would have wagered a year ago that this presidential election season would be marked by a call to arms for Catholics to fend off the impending death of religious liberty in the United States. Or that one of the hot-button cultural issues in the presidential campaign would be distribution of contraceptives under the Affordable Health Care Act.
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