NCR Today is the group blog of NCR. Each member of our diverse team of bloggers writes on different topics, including the politics of the church and secular society (and the interaction between the two), culture, management of the church and more.
Irish PM: Vatican has 'calculated, withering' abuse stance
Kentucky Readers express concern about hospital merger
Australia Members of the Wagga Catholic Diocese will hire buses to travel to Parliament House in Canberra next month to “stand up for traditional marriage, Gays outraged at Catholic rally plans
Ireland Senator calls on church leaders to quit
Ireland PM's bruising words belatedly lay bare Vatican's pathetic charade
Yesterday's news that a government advisory panel recommends that all health care plans cover birth control (among other preventative health care for women) was followed by the predictable response from the U.S. bishops, arguing that, if implemented, it would violate freedom of conscience for Catholics.
I agree that religious folks have every right (and even the responsibility) to try to persuade our society, including our government, to adopt--or at least respect--their values, especially when it comes to human rights. But in the end, we all end up having to support, financially with our taxes, at least, things with which we disagree or even find abhorrent. That's democracy, for better or worse.
What caught my eye in the Washington Post story about the panel's report was mention of a Guttmacher study "that found that 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women and nearly 100 percent of evangelicals have used contraception at some point, compared to 99 percent of women overall."
Yes, 98 percent. Talk about losing the persuasion battle.
The paramedics had just brought my father into the emergency room. It was long after midnight, and his breathing was labored -- I was used to it, after his years of struggle with emphysema and a weak heart, but this was different.
Within a few minutes, ER doctors had sized up the situation, and looked at me. One of them asked: "We're going to have to put in a breathing tube. That OK?" I nodded. I didn't know what else to do. They began their work, and a young, disheveled intern stepped up next to me. "Once they put the tube in," he said, "that's usually it. You can't keep going without it."
And I knew: my family and I would have some decisions to make.
In other bishop appointment news besides Archbishop Chaput going to Philadelphia:
The diocese announced Tuesday that the Rev. Gregory John Hartmayer will succeed Bishop J. Kevin Boland, who is retiring after 52 years in the priesthood.
On this day in 1903, Pope Leo XIII died. He was 93 years old. He had reigned since 1878.
In 1887, when Therese of Lisieux kissed his slipper and begged him to allow her to enter Carmel at the age of fifteen, he appeared "so old that one would say he is dead; I would never have pictured him like this. He can hardly say anything". But Pope Leo XIII lasted another sixteen years.
Click here to listen to him chanting the Ave Maria a few months before his death.
Election 2012 Lutheran denomination clarifies view after Bachmann departure
Opinion WELS and Bachmann are not anti-Catholic
Illinios State Agency Will Keep Placing Foster Kids With Catholic Charities
Vermont Catholic-owned inn sued for refuses to serve lesbian couple
Ohio Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Fremont cited for gambling
Local reactions New spirit in Philly: Rigali out, Chaput in (With Video)
More local reaction New archbishop opens doors for church to heal
We have a reader who is looking for a DVD copy of the ABC television show "Nothing Sacred," a critically acclaimed program that ran for the 1997-1998 season. Anybody have ideas? Submit suggestions in the comment boxes below.
The Internet Movie Database describes the show: "Kevin Anderson plays Father Ray, a passionate priest/teacher who questions his calling, his existence, and his faith as he deals with the problems of the poor and the troubled."
A Jesuit priest, William P. Cain, was one of the screen writers.
The show, according to TVGuide.com, was about "a maverick priest in an urban parish [who] struggles with religious and secular pressures in a series that was both praised and panned for its frank handling of sensitive issues such as AIDS and abortion."
I spent a week in Santa Fe earlier this month and had the privilege of participating in an impressive procession organized by the Catholic faithful in this city, a place that is so filled with religious symbols its name even means "Holy Faith."
Catholic processions are not seen as much in various parts of the country anymore. However, here in the Southwest, especially among Latino Catholics, processions are still very much a part of the Catholic tradition.
Here's video of Archbishop Chaput's debut news conference in Philadelphia.
He begins with some very kind, heartfelt comments about leaving the people of Denver.
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