September 20, 2012 / MariaNews.com 

Headlines from Apollo:   -  Striking images from the Pope’s visit to Lebanon 

See More at Catholic World Report

2. U.S. Bishops launch Spanish Facebook page as Hispanic community grows:

- As new statistics show the accelerated growth of the Hispanic population in many areas of the country, the U.S. bishops’ conference has launched a Spanish-language Facebook page.

Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, who heads the U.S. bishops’ communications committee, explained that “Hispanics make up 16 percent of the total U.S. population, almost 40 percent of U.S. Catholics, and 50 percent of U.S. Catholics under age 25.”

“It is critically important to engage this demographic, especially through the expanding field of social media, and provide them with accurate, quality information that encourages them to grow in their faith,” he said.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has operated an English-language Facebook page for about three years, reaching more than 40,000 people.

Read More::http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/us-bishops-launch-spanish-facebook-page-as-hispanic-community-grows/#.UFsoo3T7tAA.email

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September 13, 2012 / MariaNews.com 

We Cannot Ignore Our Consciences: Cardinal Dolan On Religious Liberty

By Zenit News Agency

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Zenit.org) – On Monday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) delivered the Fall Lecture for the The John Carroll Society, an organization within the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., that “promotes the enhancement of spiritual, intellectual and social fellowship among its members.”

Speaking on the theme of “Let Religious Freedom Ring”, Cardinal Dolan noted that “freedom of religion has been the driving force of almost every enlightened, un-shackling, noble cause in American history.”

“Thus, the defense of religious freedom is not some evangelical Christian polemic, or wiley strategy of discredited Catholic bishops, but the quintessential American cause, the first line in the defense of and protection of human rights,” he said.

The archbishop of New York went on to discuss various events of American history that underlined the value of religious freedom. He cited each event as “exhibits” in his case to prove that “religious freedom in American history has hardly been the cause of chilling, repressive, retrograde movements, but of the most liberating, ennobling ones.”

Drawing upon examples of heroism on the part of religious leaders during the American Revolution, as well as, several notable abolitionists whose stance against slavery came from a conscience formed by faith, Cardinal Dolan went onto explain how the religious convictions of notable persons within history supported, and directly caused progressive changes within the United States.

Citing historical scholar Dan McKanan, the cardinal explained that as a result of women’s role during the abolitionist movement, “the slow-but-steady advancement of women’s equality, was also a religiously animated reform movement.”

“This is good reminder, since, today, those who criticize the churches’ mobilization in defense of religious freedom often slyly muddy it with ‘war on women’ slogans,” he said.

Other historical events the cardinal said were influenced by religious freedom were the Reform Movement of the 19th century, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Peace Movement of the ’60s.

Cardinal Dolan went on to speak of the HHS mandate as a direct threat to religious freedom. The Health and Human Services (HHS) federal mandate in question would require employers of religious institutions to pay for insurance that provides abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization procedures to employees.

“Thus, to say it again, the wide ecumenical and inter-religious outrage over the HHS mandate is not about its coverage of chemical contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs — in spite of the well-oiled mantra from our opponents — but upon the raw presumption of a bureau of the federal government to define a church’s minister, ministry, message, and meaning,” he said.

The president of the USCCB also had strong words for Democratic minority leader, Nancy Pelosi. The former speaker of the House, who is also Catholic, stated last year that the Catholic Church needed “to get over their conscience thing” regarding abortion and contraception.

“No, we don’t; no, we can’t; as believers, as Americans,” he exclaimed.

Cardinal Dolan concluded his lecture, reiterating that the only freedom that the Church desires is “the freedom to carry the convictions of a faith-formed conscience into our public lives.”

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FULL TEXT CAN BE READ HERE

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July 19, 2012 / MariaNews.com 

Headlines from Apollo:

1. Evangelical college joins Catholic University in mandate lawsuit

A leading evangelical college in Illinois has joined The Catholic University of America in filing a lawsuit in D.C. District Court against the contraception mandate issued under the health care law.

Read More: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/evangelical-college-joins-catholic-university-in-mandate-lawsuit/#.UAgja5qswmY.email

2.Perpetual Adoration planned for Olympic Games

Twenty-four hour exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will be held in St Francis of Assisi’s church, Stratford, east London, throughout the Olympic Games.   Not just in London but throughout the country the Church is gearing up for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Priests and religious will be on hand in the Olympic Village for athletes, coaches and officials, with chaplains available for visitors to the Games.

Read More: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/07/27/perpetual-adoration-planned-for-olympic-games/#.UAgiDy-qx-Y.email

3. Amid political battle, Catholic bishops promote ‘natural’ family planning

When the Obama administration in January announced that employers will have to provide contraception coverage to their employees, U.S. Catholic bishops took the lead in fighting the mandate.

Allied with other denominations, the Catholic hierarchy has organized an energetic, nationwide effort to overturn this new federal rule. The Catholic church calls birth control a sin, even as many Catholics practice it.

June 23, 2012 / MariaNews.com

Fortnight for Freedom – Bishop Dewane Homily Video and Letter

Excerpts from Bishop Dewane Letter:

Threats to religious liberty in our country are mounting and continue to be a challenge. For the first time in our nation’s history, in what is known as the Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate, the federal government will force religious institutions to facilitate or subsidize drugs and procedures contrary to their moral convictions and religious teaching….

The time for prayer, which will complement our efforts, is paramount….

In response to the the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty has called for a nationwide “Fortnight for Freedom” from June 21 to July 4, Independence Day….

VIDEO: Bishop Frank Dwayne from the Diocese of Venice, in Florida gave the following homily for the SW Florida Fortnight of Freedom kickoff:

Read Bishop Dewane’s letter here.

Learn more about the Fortnight of Freedom here:

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June 22, 2012 / MariaNews.com

Thomas More, Man for this Moment: Moral Coherence and Religious Freedom

By Catholic Online

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) – June 22, 2012 marks the second day of the Fortnight of Freedom called for by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. The focus of this concentrated time of prayer, catechesis and Catholic Action is the struggle currently being waged over religious freedom and the danger it presents to all people of good will. However, June 22, 2012 also marks the Feast day of a man who holds out to all of us the heroic witness of moral coherence at a time not unlike our own, St. Thomas More.

On Oct 31, 2000, Blessed John Paul II, responded to petitions from the faithful across the world and issued an apostolic letter, Motu Propio, (on his own authority). In it he proclaimed Thomas More the Patron of Statesmen and Politicians. The letter was addressed to “the Bishops of the Catholic Church and, in a particular way, to Catholic politicians and all lay members of the faithful called to participate in the political life of democratic societies.”
On the Feast of Christ the King in 2002, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an instruction entitled a “Doctrinal Note on some questions regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life”. Have you read it? Please, please, please, do so by clicking on that link! The instruction contained in this vital Doctrinal Note is reflected in the teaching of the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” sections pertaining to the political participation of Catholics. (See, e.g. #565-574) Here is an excerpt:
“The social doctrine of the Church is not an intrusion into the government of individual countries. It is a question of the lay Catholic’s duty to be morally coherent, found within one’s conscience, which is one and indivisible. ‘There cannot be two parallel lives in their existence: on the one hand, the so-called ‘spiritual life’, with its values and demands; and on the other, the so-called ‘secular’ life, that is, life in a family, at work, in social responsibilities, in the responsibilities of public life and in culture. The branch, engrafted to the vine which is Christ, bears its fruit in every sphere of existence and activity.”

Blessed John Paul II wrote in his Apostolic Letter on Thomas More, “Precisely because of the witness which he bore, even at the price of his life, to the primacy of truth over power, Saint Thomas More is venerated as an imperishable example of moral integrity. And even outside the Church, particularly among those with responsibility for the destinies of peoples, he is acknowledged as a source of inspiration for a political system which has as its supreme goal the service of the human person.

“Whenever men or women heed the call of truth, their conscience then guides their actions reliably towards good. Precisely because of the witness which he bore, even at the price of his life, to the primacy of truth over power, Saint Thomas More is venerated as an imperishable example of moral integrity. And even outside the Church, particularly among those with responsibility for the destinies of peoples, he is acknowledged as a source of inspiration for a political system which has as its supreme goal, the service of the human person.”

The England of the sixteenth century was in the midst of a serious crisis of politics, culture and faith, much like the times in which we now live. In 1534 all citizens who were of age were required to take an oath called “The Act of Succession”. It acknowledged that King Henry VIII was married to Anne Boleyn, even though he was not. His desire to divorce Catherine was not sufficient to make that marriage null and his attempt to use his political power to change the objective truth was unsuccessful.

So, the King used the power of his office to promulgate an unjust positive Law by which he proclaimed that he and Anne were lawfully married. He declared himself to be the Supreme Head of the Church in England, thus abrogating to himself the authority to determine that his lawful marital bond was dissolved and denying the authority of the successor of the Apostle Peter. The Pope refused to collaborate with Henry’s demand that he grant him an annulment from his lawful marriage so that he could pursue a different woman as his wife. He would not affirm Henry’s decision to place his disordered desires over the objective truth.

Thomas More knew the order of truth and applied a hierarchy of values in both his personal life and his public life. He lived as a faithful Catholic Christian, demonstrating a unity of life and moral coherence. He stayed faithful to the Truth. In 1532, knowing that he could not enforce the declaration of his temporal King to usurp the authority of the Church which had been granted to it by the King of Kings, he resigned his political position. He tried to do so with the kind of integrity that had characterized his entire life. He withdrew from public life and bore the ridicule and taunts of those who once praised him.

He offered the suffering to the Lord by joining it to the Cross of the Savior. He then tried to continue to care for his beloved family, the domestic church of the home, by teaching them how to live lives of virtue and simplicity. He had lost his prestige and his considerable financial resources, but he gained the peace which always comes through fidelity to the Lord. His hopes for a life with his family, lived in simplicity and fidelity to the Church, were short lived. The King, by now drunk on his own power, insisted that Thomas take the oath under the Act of Succession, thereby acknowledging the legitimacy of his marriage to Anne and his authority over the Church.

Thomas would not do so because he refused to violate his truly formed conscience. So, the King had his former counselor imprisoned in the Tower of London. There he underwent intense tortures of both body and soul. These came not only from the henchmen of the State but even from some within his own family and circle of friends who failed to understand his actions because their minds had been dulled by compromise.

At the time, few would have even noticed if Thomas had succumbed to the Royal request. He could have “justified” the action through the exercise of his well honed rhetorical and logical skills by calling it a merely perfunctory action. He could have thereby restored his political position, some would have argued, in order to try to influence the King for the good over the long haul. He could have had his substantial properties restored if he had just sworn that oath, others would say, in order to provide material safety for his beloved family. Instead, this man who loved life, loved his family, loved his career and properly loved the world and all of its goods, loved the Lord first and would not compromise the Truth.

He was an ordinary Christian who shows us ordinary Christians the way to living a unity of life in the midst of the creeping darkness and distractions of our own age. He was a Catholic Christian who held in harmony his vocation as the father of a family with his profession as a lawyer and his service in the highest of Political offices. He knew that there is a hierarchy of values which bring with them a hierarchy of duties and loyalties. His witness in life and in death challenges us to examine whether we do. How did he do it? Quite simply, he prayed. He lived in a communion with the Risen Lord as a faithful son of the Church which is His Body.

He was truly in love with the Lord and chose to live in the Heart of the Catholic Church for the sake of the world. He teaches us, that the Christian vocation requires our constant response to the Lord’s invitation to follow him and that we cannot get by on yesterdays’ decisions. During that brief time which he had with his family, after attempting to quietly resign rather than violate his formed conscience and before he was imprisoned, when his wife or children complained about their lack he would tell them that they could not expect to “go to heaven in featherbeds”. He taught them regularly to reflect upon the privation and sufferings of Jesus on our behalf and he prayed with them for the grace to join their own to Him on the Cross. He would not compromise the truth.

Thomas More was a morally coherent Catholic Christian. That is the lesson of his life and of his Martyrs death. He beckons millions, across the expanse of time unto today, to follow his example as he followed the example of the Lord. This champion of heroic courage in the face of a State which has lost its soul never wavered in his fidelity to the Truth. He would not betray the truth or compromise it on the altar of public opinion or for political opportunism. He knew that to do so would not only have dishonored God and led his family and so many others astray, but that it would have given tacit assent to the emerging despotism of his age.

He was brought to trial for his fidelity to the Truth. Oh, as is always the case with persecution against Christians, it was framed as a charge against the “positive law”. There, this outstanding lawyer defended the Truth for which he would later give his life. Thomas used the occasion of the Courtroom, where he had practiced his trade, to defend the Truth and its obligations in the temporal order. In the eloquent words of the Servant of God, John Paul II, who proclaimed him not only the Patron of all lawyers but the Patron of all politicians, “he made an impassioned defense of his own convictions on the indissolubility of marriage, the respect due to the juridical patrimony of Christian civilization, and the freedom of the Church in her relations with the State.”

He was found “guilty”, even though he was a guardian of true innocence. That unjust verdict brings shame upon every unjust tribunal and misuse of governmental power. Thomas More was martyred for his moral coherence, his fidelity to the Catholic Christian faith. He was beheaded by the minions of a temporal leader who had abused his office and wielded the awful sword, the power of the State (which has as its very source God Himself) to inflict evil against those who refused to bow down in idolatrous worship of lies.

Thomas faced his executioners with the very same dignity he had shown in life, speaking with humor and affection to them even before they beheaded him. After his death it was found that he had left these words in the margin of his Book of Hours: “Give me your grace, good Lord, to set the world at naught…to have my mind well united to you; to not depend on the changing opinions of others…so that I may think joyfully of the things of God and tenderly implore his help. So that I may lean on God’s strength and make an effort to love him… So as to thank Him ceaselessly for his benefits; so as to redeem the time I have wasted…”

We need to reflect on how we are living our own Catholic faith in the midst of an increasingly hostile age. We face a similar challenge to that which faced St. Thomas More. The attacks on true marriage are increasing in their severity. We are being invited to compromise for our own convenience and tempted to accept the rulings of Judicial Oligarchs and Alchemists who think that they can change the nature of this institution by the stroke of a pen. Their collaborators in political office, some of whom are apostate Catholics, are now beginning to wield the figurative sword of temporal power against us.The recent HHS Mandate which threatens the fundamental human right to religious freedom is the tip of an iceberg.

The truths taught by the Catholic Church, and revealed within the common patrimony of the Natural Law, are rejected in an age struggling under what was called by Pope Benedict XVI a “Dictatorship of Relativism.” The most egregious example is the rejection of the truth concerning the dignity and inviolability of ever human life. This fundamental Right to Life is taught by the Natural Law and confirmed by medical science. Yet it is denied by those in control of the power of the State, and the blood of the innocent flows.

Thomas More is called a “Man for all Seasons”. As we approach the next Presidential election in the United States, and the election of a significant number of other officeholders, I suggest he is he is a man for this season. He is a man for this moment. He calls us to live a unity of life. He calls us to moral coherence and integrity in our exercise of our civic duty. On this Feast of St. Thomas More, let us reflect on this patron assigned to a special role in political affairs, and ask for his intercession. Let us also choose candidates who reflect his integrity and moral coherence. Elections have consequences and we are the ones who determine those consequences.

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June 17, 2012 / MariaNews.com

Catholic Health Organization opposes HHS mandate

Sharpening an election-year confrontation over religious freedom, the Catholic Health Association yesterday rejected President Barack Obama’s proposal to modify regulations that would force virtually all private health plans in the US to provide coverage of sterilization and contraception — including abortifacient drugs.

The rejection of the proposed amendments to the controversial health care mandate marks a reversal for the which had been a key ally in Obama’s health care overhaul, defying opposition from church bishops to help the president win approval in Congress.

In a letter addressed to the Obama administration, the organisation noted that they supported the “right of everyone to affordable, accessible health care.”
The CHA had also initially supported President Obama’s proposed accommodation to the controversial health care mandate. However, they said, further study showed that the accommodation did not address their concerns. They insisted that Catholic hospitals, health care organisations and other Church ministries should not be forced to provide or pay for morally objectionable services such as contraception.

Read More: http://www.news.va/en/news/catholic-health-organisation-opposes-hhs-mandate

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May 27, 2012 / MariaNews.com 

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“On the HHS Mandate, A Dangerous Crack in the Bishops’ United Front”

(CatholicCulture.org) - The counter-attack has begun. You knew it was coming, didn’t you?

For weeks now the American bishops have been marching in lockstep unity, completely unanimous in their opposition to the HHS contraceptive mandate. The Catholic hierarchy has been headed into a showdown with President Obama, and not a single bishop had shown any inclination to back away from the fight. But you knew it couldn’t last. And it didn’t.

This week Bishop Stephen Blaire became the first prelate to break stride, voicing his misgivings about the confrontation. Oh, Bishop Blaire wasn’t suggesting that the Catholic hierarchy should accede to the HHS mandate. After all he had already condemned the mandate as unjust, as had the leaders of every other Catholic diocese in the United States. But Bishop Blaire raised a few questions about the strategy being followed by the leaders of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), about the lack of consultation, about the possible public perceptions. That was enough. Immediately liberal Catholics seized the opportunity to launch their own campaign, suggesting that only a minority of “conservative” bishops favor the all-out battle against the HHS mandate.

Now Bishop Blair says that his words were misinterpreted. “I stand solidly with my brother bishops in our common resolve to overturn the unacceptable intrusion of government into the life of the Church by the HHS mandate,” he insists in a follow-up statement. But no one ever doubted his opposition to the mandate. Every reasonable Catholic—excluding the extreme ideologues like Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy Pelosi and “Catholics” for Free Choice—opposes the HHS mandate. What divides liberal Catholics from the mainstream is the question of how to respond to that mandate. Should Catholic voters see this as a crucial battle that we absolutely cannot afford to lose? Or should they look at the mandate as one of many issues to take into consideration during this year’s election campaign? In his remarks to America magazine, Bishop Blaire leaned heavily toward the latter option. “The question is what is our focus as bishops,” he said.

Read the full story: http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otn.cfm?id=915

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May 10, 2012 | MariaNews.com

Cardinal Timothy Dolan: President Obama’s Remarks on Marriage ‘Deeply Saddening’

By Catholic Online
Thursday, May 10, 2012 5:01 PM

We cannot be silent in the face of words or actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better. Unfortunately, President Obama’s words today are not surprising since they follow upon various actions already taken by his Administration that erode or ignore the unique meaning of marriage.

- Cardinal Dolan.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) – On September 20, 2011 then Archbishop Timothy Dolan wrote the letter we have republished below to the President of the United States. He affirmed that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. He asked the President to do the same.

He strenuously objected to the Justice Department’s references to those who support marriage as between a man and a woman as somehow prejudiced. He called out the Administration for their failure to defend marriage under the Defense of Marriage Act.

He called upon the President to “push the reset button.” He warned of the threats to religious freedom which have been unleashed by the Administration’s actions.

We asked of our readers to pray for the Cardinal and for all of our Bishops. We also asked that you pray for our President, our Church and for our Nation. We reaffirm that request with even more urgency after the Presidents disastrous decision to deny the truth about marriage.

The Bishops provide one of the best resources for anyone concerned about this very serious crisis we face in the United States. It should be read and studied by every serious catholic, other Christians and all people of faith and good will. It is entitled “Frequently Asked Questions About the Defense of Marriage”.It can be be read here.

*****

Letter from Archbishop Timothy Dolan to President Barack Obama of September 20, 2011

Dear Mr. President:

I write with a growing sense of urgency about recent actions taken by your Administration that both escalate the threat to marriage and imperil the religious freedom of those who promote and defend marriage. This past spring the Justice Department announced that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court, a decision strongly opposed by the Catholic Bishops of the United States and many others.

Now the Justice Department has shifted from not defending DOMA-which is problem enough, given the duty of the executive branch to enforce even laws it disfavors-to actively attacking DOMA‟s constitutionality.

My predecessor, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, and I have expressed to you in the past our strong disappointment about the direction your Administration has been moving regarding DOMA. Unfortunately the only response to date has been the intensification of efforts to undermine DOMA and the institution of marriage.

The Justice Department’s move, in addition to other troubling federal decisions occurring recently, prompts me yet again to register my grave concerns. The content of this letter reflects the strong sentiment expressed at a recent meeting by more than thirty of my brother Bishops who serve on the Administrative Committee of our episcopal conference. I know they are joined by hundreds of additional Catholic bishops throughout our nation. My observations are offered in the spirit of respectful, but frank dialogue.

The Catholic Bishops stand ready to affirm every positive measure taken by you and your Administration to strengthen marriage and the family. We cannot be silent, however, when federal steps harmful to marriage, the laws defending it, and religious freedom continue apace. Attached you will find an analysis prepared by my staff detailing the various executive activities of late that warrant our increasing apprehension.

Mr. President, your Administration’s actions against DOMA and the values it stands for contrast sharply with your excellent Mother’s Day and Father’s Day proclamations issued earlier this year, which are also referenced in the attached analysis. In these perceptive and heartening statements, you correctly emphasize the critical role played by both a mom and a dad in a child’s life, and you rightly call upon society to do all it can to uphold both mothers and fathers.

I know that you treasure the importance that you and the First Lady, separately and as a couple, share in the lives of your children. The Mother’s Day and Father’s Day proclamations display a welcome conviction on your part that neither a mom nor a dad is expendable. I believe therefore that you would agree that every child has the right to be loved by both a mother and a father.

The institution of marriage is built on this truth, which goes to the core of what the Catholic Bishops of the United States, and the millions of citizens who stand with us on this issue, want for all children and for the common good of society.

That is why it is particularly upsetting, Mr. President, when your Administration, through the various court documents, pronouncements and policies identified in the attached analysis, attributes to those who support DOMA a motivation rooted in prejudice and bias. It is especially wrong and unfair to equate opposition to redefining marriage with either intentional or willfully ignorant racial discrimination, as your Administration insists on doing.

We as Bishops of the Catholic Church recognize the immeasurable personal dignity and equal worth of all individuals, including those with same-sex attraction, and we reject all hatred and unjust treatment against any person. Our profound regard for marriage as the complementary and fruitful union of a man and a woman does not negate our concern for the well-being of all people but reinforces it. While all persons merit our full respect, no other relationships provide for the common good what marriage between husband and wife provides. The law should reflect this reality.

Mr. President, I respectfully urge you to push the reset button on your Administration’s approach to DOMA. Our federal government should not be presuming ill intent or moral blindness on the part of the overwhelming majority of its citizens, millions of whom have gone to the polls to directly support DOMAs in their states and have thereby endorsed marriage as the union of man and woman.

Nor should a policy disagreement over the meaning of marriage be treated by federal officials as a federal offense-but this will happen if the Justice Department’s latest constitutional theory prevails in court. The Administration’s failure to change course on this matter will, as the attached analysis indicates, precipitate a national conflict between Church and State of enormous proportions and to the detriment of both institutions.

Thus, on behalf of my brother Bishops, I urge yet again that your Administration end its campaign against DOMA, the institution of marriage it protects, and religious freedom. Please know that I am always ready to discuss with you the concerns raised here and to address any questions that you may have. I am convinced that the door to a dialogue that is strong enough to endure even serious and fundamental disagreements can and must remain open, and I believe that you desire the same. Also please know that you, your family, and your Administration continue to be in my prayers.

Faithfully in Christ,

*****

On Wednesday, May 9, 2012, President Obama gave an interview to ABC News in which he came out publicly in support of the redefinition of marriage. Below we offer the response of the Cardinal on behalf of the Catholic bishops of the United States. It can be found on the web site of the US Bishops Conference. This is a seriousmoment in American history. We ask our readers around the globe to pray for the Bishops and pray for the Church in the United States of America
*****

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued the following statement:

President Obama’s comments today in support of the redefinition of marriage are deeply saddening. As I stated in my public letter to the President on September 20, 2011, the Catholic Bishops stand ready to affirm every positive measure taken by the President and the Administration to strengthen marriage and the family.

However, we cannot be silent in the face of words or actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve better.

Unfortunately, President Obama’s words today are not surprising since they follow upon various actions already taken by his Administration that erode or ignore the unique meaning of marriage.

I pray for the President every day, and will continue to pray that he and his Administration act justly to uphold and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

May we all work to promote and protect marriage and by so doing serve the true good of all persons.

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January 3, 2011 | USCCB.org

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has established the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter to serve former Anglican groups and clergy in the United States who wish to become Catholic. He also named the 59-year-old Father Jeffrey N. Steenson of Houston, Texas to lead the new structure as its ordinary.

The creation of the ordinariate and the appointment of Father Steenson were publicized in Washington, January 2, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Similar to a diocese though national in scope, the ordinariate will be based in Houston, Texas, and will include parishes and communities across the United States that will be fully Catholic, while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage and traditions. To date, over 100 clergy have applied to be ordained Catholic for the ordinariate and 1,400 individuals from 22 communities have asked to join the ordinariate.

Jeffrey Steenson was born April 1, 1952 in Camp Rucker, Alabama and was raised on a family farm in Hillsboro, North Dakota. A former Episcopal bishop, he received his theological training at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois and Harvard Divinity School, and a doctor of philosophy degree from Oxford University.

He was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1980 and served as an assistant at a parish in Highfield, Oxford, then as rector of three parishes in the United States. He was an officer for the Episcopal Synod of America, and Canon to the Ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2004, Father Steenson was elected bishop of the Diocese of Rio Grande.

He resigned in 2007 and was received into the Catholic Church. Father Steenson was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 2009 under the pastoral provision for married former Anglican clergy. Since that time, he has been the Carl and Lois Davis Professor in Patristic Studies at the University of St. Thomas Center for Faith and Culture in Houston.

Father Steenson is married. He and his wife, Debra, have three adult children and one grandchild.

The website for the new ordinariate is www.usordinariate.org.

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December 18, 2011 | MariaNews.com

(Published on 12/16/2011 | USCCB.org) –  WASHINGTON—Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Cardinal John Foley, who died December 11 in Philadelphia, “embodied the best of what it means to be a communicator, a priest and a believer,” whose “kindness and love for Christ’s Church will remain with all who encountered him.”

Cardinal Foley served as president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in Rome from 1984-2007, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed his grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a post he held until 2011. Cardinal Foley was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2007.

The full text of Archbishop Dolan’s statement follows:

Whether in his role as President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications for over 20 years, or earlier as editor of Philadelphia’s Catholic Standard & Times or a reporter in Rome covering the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal John Foley embodied the best of what it means to be a communicator, a priest and a believer. He was a beloved figure in the Catholic Press and, as the voice of the Vatican’s Midnight Mass for 25 years, brought the Good News to Catholics all over the globe.

He urged the Church to be transparent and saw media as vital to society and worthy of respect. He was the mastermind behind the coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II, recognizing the need to facilitate media efforts at the passing of a Church and world figure like no other in the modern age. Such foresight united the world in prayer.

More recently, as Grand Master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, he reached out in a particular way to Christians in a troubled part of the world. His kindness and love for Christ’s Church will remain with all who encountered him.

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