NCR Today

Freedom of conscience and religion is the first fundamental right listed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). Yesterday, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops published a Pastoral Letter on Freedom of Conscience and Religion to reiterate the importance of this right in today’s society.

Divided into 18 points, the letter seeks to “affirm the rightful role of religion in the public square; uphold a healthy relationship between Church and state; form conscience according to truth; and protect the right to conscientious objection.” (Point 11)

As with all freedoms, limits on religious freedom, the letter states, must be “determined in each social situation with political prudence, according to the requirements of the common good.” (5) We can propose religious beliefs but we cannot impose them, for that would violate the freedom of conscience of the other. “The right to profess the truth must always be upheld, but never in a way which involves contempt for those who think differently.” (6)

"Come to the table of community instead of the table of war."

CHICAGO -- That was the message that 125 Catholic Workers brought to Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago, Ill., yesterday morning. The demonstrators came to invite President Obama and NATO leaders to break bread and discuss ending the occupation of Afghanistan.

More than 95 percent of its donors' contributions reach the projects it supports, projects that have taken place in more than 30 countries.

Yet, hardly anyone has heard of the small San Francisco-based charity -- La Madre de los Pobres -- that will mark its 30th anniversary this fall.

The story of Mitt Romney and high school bullying is a tough one to read. It reminds me, on a certain level, of myself.

News reports over the past several days reveal that Romney led a "pack" of fellow boarding school boys in chasing after another student, holding him down and jaggedly cutting off the boy's long, bleached hair. The victim -- since passed away -- was most likely gay, and a ready target in a single-gender school.

Romney says he doesn't remember the incident, but others involved say it haunts them to this day; several sought out the victim years later to apologize. Now, I wish the former Massachusetts governer had given a much more compassionate response -- but I'm also worried about just what this story is supposed to "mean."

It feels like the unspoken lesson is that Romney was a homophobic bully as a teenager, and therefore is certainly one now.

I find myself less ready to condemn.

Lexington, Ky. -- A Lexington Catholic High School student claims she was barred from prom because she planned to bring a date of the same sex.

To Bishops J. Peter Sartain of Seattle: We were hopeful when you arrived here in 2010. The early scuttlebut was that you're a good listener. Yet, on two issues -- marriage equality and women religious -- a lot of us are deeply, deeply disappointed.

E.J. Dionne: I'm not quitting the Catholic church

Letter writers respond to Washington Post editorial: The Catholic Church’s relative standard

NCR columnist Phyllis Zagano is on a lecture tour in Australia. Here is the information that I have:

"Women in Ministry: Past, Present, Future" sponsored by John Garratt Publishing

Saturday, May 12, 2012,
9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m
Whitehorse Club
East Burwood, Melbourne

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
2:00 p.m.
The Carmelite Centre,
Middle Park, Melbourne

Thursday, May 17, 2012
Chisholm Center
Pennant Hills, Sydney

Saturday, May 19, 2012
9:00-5:00 p.m.
Salvation Army Congress Hall
Sydney

For more information, email: sales@johngarratt.com.au or call 1300 650 878.

Most of my professional life I’ve been tracking military spending. I know who lobbies for foreign arms sales, where the cost overruns are, why weapons we don’t need keep getting built.

But until I read Rachel Maddow’s Drift I didn’t think much about successful strategies to make an end run around the Constitution so it would be easier to go to war. That’s the thesis of Maddow’s book.

“Does she have cooties?” Phoenix Catholic school forfeits baseball championship game because opponent has female player. The school said it teaches boys respect by not placing girls in athletic competition, where “proper boundaries can only be respected with difficulty.” Our Lady of Sorrows is run by the U.S. branch of the Society of Saint Pius X.

Catholic bishops continue to delve into concerns about Girl Scouts

Do Most Catholic Theologians Support Same-Sex Marriage?

Milwaukee, Wis. -- Archdiocese clears priest in sex abuse; Vatican may take ups case

I noticed in this morning’s news reports, that President Barack Obama said that Vice-President Joe Biden was out “a little over his skis” when he declared his support for marriage equality on Meet the Press on Sunday, May 6.

However it slipped out on that occasion, Biden said he is “absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties.”

By all accounts, he was speaking from his heart, even if he may have forced Obama to voice his own support for marriage equality a bit earlier than planned.

Biden is, of course, Roman Catholic. So are Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Gov. Christine Gregoire of the state of Washington. All of these governors have signed legislation this year in their respective states that legalizes same sex marriage.