According to The Oregonian: For nearly four years, this Redmond couple has been fighting to prove to the state of Oregon that they are intellectually capable of raising their children. The Department of Human Services has removed both of their boys, saying the parents are too mentally limited to be good parents. Fabbrini, 31, and Ziegler, 38, lost custody of their older son, Christopher, shortly after he was born. Five months ago, the state took their second child, newborn Hunter,... Read more
Graphic video shows San Diego Police K9 holding on to prone man’s arm for over thirty seconds while in handcuffs.. A video posted on Facebook by Angel Nuñez shows a San Diego Police K9 maintaining its bite of an individual accused of behaving erratically, punching a cab driver, and attempting to steal a motorcycle on Sunday, July 9. The individual, indentified by news reports and court records as Karond P. Cheatum, was eventually arrested on suspicion of robbery, battery and being... Read more
This summer, I attended the Social Action Summer Institute (SASI) at the University of Portland. The presentations and many of our discussions touched on the theme, care for God’s creation, and Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’, released only some weeks prior to our gathering. The opening presentation was offered by Archbishop Thomas Wenski from Miami. Wenski gave the conference participants a solid overview of Laudato si’. What I found to be particularly interesting was Wenski’s focus on needing to rebuild our relationships, damaged... Read more
In friendship with the LGBT community, Bishop Patrick J. McGrath of San Jose told diocesan leadership: “We will not refuse sacraments or Christian Burial to anyone who requests them in good faith.” Bishop Patrick Joseph McGrath of San Jose emphasized compassionate, pastoral care to members of the LGBT community in a directive addressed to diocesan leadership dated June 29, 2017. Bishop McGrath wrote, Recent news reports of policies and practices related to members of the LGBT community in other dioceses... Read more
“The obligation to earn one’s bread by the sweat of one’s brow also presumes the right to do so.”* +Saint John Paul II, 95 characters [Tweet this] The full quote comes from JP II’s Centesiimus Annus (1991). The message is a hard one for some who would take 2 Thessalonians 3:10 as a slam against the unemployed, underemployed, or those unwilling to submit to the exploitation of work lacking decency – which wouldn’t really be work – “If any one will not work, let him... Read more
How long will that take? Turns out Trump told Pope Francis he’d read Laudato si’ and other papal documents after exchanging gifts upon concluding a private audience this morning. How long will it take for Trump to make good on that commitment? I suppose he didn’t say “I’ll read them while I am in office,” but I don’t know. Imagine what kind of actions Trump would take if he were to follow the logic of love in the Pope’s teachings.... Read more
Pope Francis is scheduled to receive U.S. President Donald Trump. Livestream below: Read more
So you’re not just anti-war, but against all violence? No room for you at the Pittsburgh March Against War. Broadcasting on Facebook live on Tuesday evening, Aimee Murphy, Founder and Executive Director of Humanize International, joined Rosemary Geraghty to announce that Rehumanize International has been dropped from the Pittsburgh Anti-War March as a sponsor and co-organizer, scheduled to take place July 1st this year: The Pittsburgh March Against War Describing the event on Facebook, the current organizers state, Pittsburgh must... Read more
CNS reports: While people once even used religious reasons to justify practices such as slavery, the death penalty and “wars of religion,” over time the Holy Spirit has deepened the church’s understanding of the Gospel, the pope said May 11 in his homily during morning Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae. Slavery “is a mortal sin; today we say this. Back then, some would say that this could be done because these people did not have a soul!” he said. The... Read more
Pope Francis: Overcome our techno-economic systems with solidarity! He said, “Only by educating people to a true solidarity will we be able to overcome the ‘culture of waste,’ which doesn’t concern only food and goods but, first and foremost, the people who are cast aside by our techno-economic systems which, without even realizing it, are now putting products at their core, instead of people.” What he touched on was basically Laudato si’ and Evangelii Gaudium in Ted Talk form. “When... Read more
Proper Nomenclature
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