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By Daniel Blue Tyx The Washington Post Mon., July 2, 2018 Some of the United States’ most prominent Catholic bishops will make a dramatic pastoral visit Monday, when they will minister at a detention centre on the U.S.-Texas border to migrant children separated from their parents. The unusual high-profile visit by the top spiritual leaders aims to draw attention to unresolved questions around immigration and around the treatment of migrants. Yet there will be no cameras when the clerics pray with the separated children, no audiotapes. That’s because the bishops, who arrived for the two-day fact-finding mission Sunday, are walking a fine line among their divided flock on the topic of immigration. American Catholics, like Americans overall, are divided about immigration policy. And 2018 is a time when Americans’ deference to institutional leaders of any stripe is already thin. Which means bishops of the Roman Catholic Church who want to affect policy … [Read more...] about Prominent U.S. Catholic bishops to minister at child border detention centres
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An asylum-seeker who crossed the border with his young son says he’s surprised by how welcoming Americans have been
caption Jose, left, and his young son, right, sought asylum in the United States last week after making the dangerous trek from Honduras. source Business Insider/Daniel Brown An asylum-seeker from Honduras says he’s surprised about the warm welcome he and his young son have received in the United States. Despite the Trump administration’s tough border policies, José and his son were able to cross the US-Mexico border last week without being separated – and have been treated kindly by Americans ever since. José told Business Insider he knows he has a tough journey ahead of him to claim asylum, but he’s grateful for the treatment he’s received in the US so far. MCALLEN, TEXAS – At the Catholic Charities respite center 5 miles from the Mexican border, “Finding Dory” played on the TV while migrant kids played with toys. Days earlier, many of these … [Read more...] about An asylum-seeker who crossed the border with his young son says he’s surprised by how welcoming Americans have been
Palace shifts narrative on Duterte’s ‘stupid God’ remark, says Catholic Church should apologize
Palace shifts narrative on Duterte's 'stupid God' remark, says Catholic Church should apologize (philstar.com) - June 25, 2018 - 4:54pm MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang Monday brought up the child sexual abuse involving Roman Catholic priests as President Rodrigo Duterte is facing backlash over his controversial remarks about God. Duterte drew flak after questioning the creation story in the Christian Bible and saying that God must have been stupid for allowing temptation to destroy his work in a speech in Davao City last week. The president's statement did not sit well with some Christians who accuse Duterte of blasphemy and disrespecting religious beliefs. Critics have also scored Duterte for using his public speeches to rant about religion and to attack the Catholic Church, the religious group of more than 80 percent of Filipinos. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte's comments … [Read more...] about Palace shifts narrative on Duterte’s ‘stupid God’ remark, says Catholic Church should apologize
Catholic priests take a vow of celibacy when they’re ordained. But when they break that vow, their children are left to live a lie
By Mary Ormsby Feature Writer Sandro Contenta Feature Writer Tues., April 17, 2018 On a winter afternoon in 2016, Michelle Raftis’s long search brought her to the steps of St. Michael’s Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. She was nervous, and had carefully prepared what she would say to Cardinal Tom Collins. She was done with secrets and lies. Raftis is the daughter of a Catholic priest, a truth the 55-year-old had to hide most of her life. She wanted to know why the church she was raised in allowed a priest to abandon his child. “I wanted a written apology from the church,” Raftis says. In Canada and around the world, children of priests have emerged from the shadows to press the Vatican — and their local dioceses — to recognize they exist. Article Continued Below The Vatican appears to have no data on the number of clergy who break their vows of celibacy and father … [Read more...] about Catholic priests take a vow of celibacy when they’re ordained. But when they break that vow, their children are left to live a lie
Loyola-Chicago, Villanova add to the Catholic college basketball phenomenon
By MARC TRACY The New York Times Fri., March 30, 2018 SAN ANTONIO—Long before a 98-year-old nun became the biggest star of the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, Immaculata, a small Catholic college outside Philadelphia, won the first three de facto national women’s basketball championships. The Mighty Macs’ titles in the early 1970s, Bill Russell’s breakout success at the University of San Francisco in the 1950s and the presence of Villanova and Loyola-Chicago at this weekend’s Final Four are just three data points among many that prove an undeniable fact: In college basketball, Catholic schools have long punched well above their weight. The reasons stretch back a century — and, some would argue, to the New Testament itself. “It is a real thing,” said Julie E. Byrne, a professor of religion at Hofstra University who studies American Catholicism. As the Final Four coincides with Easter weekend, this phenomenon … [Read more...] about Loyola-Chicago, Villanova add to the Catholic college basketball phenomenon