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MIAMI (AP) -- Udonis Haslem was leading some banter with Miami Heat teammates after practice Monday, the jokes and laughter helping everyone wind down after practice....
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged the U.N. Human Rights Council to immediately establish an independent body to investigate rights abuses and other violations in Yemen, especially following last weekend's "horrendous attack" by the Saudi-led coalition on a funeral hall....
CHICAGO (AP) -- The president of the Chicago Teachers Union said late Monday the union was reviewing a new contract proposal from Chicago Public Schools, but it was too early to say if it would be enough to avert a Tuesday morning strike in the nation's third-largest school district....
DAME MARIE, Haiti (AP) -- In this most western tip of Haiti, 300 patients with festering wounds lay silently on beds at the main hospital in the seaside village of Dame Marie waiting for medicine a week after Hurricane Matthew hit the remote peninsula....
Austin, Texas, Oct 10, 2016 / 04:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The abolition of the death penalty is “undeniably a pro-life issue” that would better serve society and lead criminals to penitence, the Texas bishops have said.“Our call to abolish the death penalty is not a call to deny justice. On the contrary, it is a call to the whole community to recognize that the death penalty does not fulfill justice, nor does it console the inconsolable,” the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops said Oct. 10. “Capital punishment vitiates our hearts’ capacity for mercy and love.”In their statement, the bishops said the death penalty is disproportionately used on the poor, racial minorities, the vulnerable, people with limited mental capacity, and those who cannot afford an adequate legal defense.“These realities contribute to a callous disregard for the dignity of human life. The death penalty negatively influences our children’s moral formation an...
Austin, Texas, Oct 10, 2016 / 04:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The abolition of the death penalty is “undeniably a pro-life issue” that would better serve society and lead criminals to penitence, the Texas bishops have said.
“Our call to abolish the death penalty is not a call to deny justice. On the contrary, it is a call to the whole community to recognize that the death penalty does not fulfill justice, nor does it console the inconsolable,” the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops said Oct. 10. “Capital punishment vitiates our hearts’ capacity for mercy and love.”
In their statement, the bishops said the death penalty is disproportionately used on the poor, racial minorities, the vulnerable, people with limited mental capacity, and those who cannot afford an adequate legal defense.
“These realities contribute to a callous disregard for the dignity of human life. The death penalty negatively influences our children’s moral formation and our culture as it fails to allow for mercy and redemption.”
The bishops also had a warning: “innocent people are killed by the government on our behalf.” At least 23 known innocent people have been executed since 2000.
Public resources that are dedicated to defending the death penalty could be better spent elsewhere, the bishops continued. Citing the Death Penalty Information Center, they said the cost to house a prisoner for a life sentence is 33 percent the costs of legal appeals for a death row prisoner.
Texas has executed 538 people since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. It has carried out the most executions in any U.S. state. Oklahoma has performed the second-most executions since 1976, with 112 uses of the death penalty.
The Texas bishops reflected on crime and punishment.
“Due process for the accused, the incarceration of the guilty, and the protection of the community serve justice and mercy,” they said. “As a Church, we strive to walk with those who have time to repent,” they said, stressing the importance of prison ministry.
The bishops also spoke about crime victims.
“As a Church we accompany our brothers and sisters, children, parents and loved ones as we see them suffer from the heinous and violent actions of others,” they said. “Only God can console them, yet we offer what comfort we can with our presence and prayer. The healing that comes from forgiveness has been a powerful force in the lives of many families who have experienced violence.”
The Texas bishops spoke of the death penalty in the context of the U.S. Catholic Church’s Respect Life Month:
“During this time, we pray and reflect on the precious gift of life and recommit ourselves to working toward a culture that truly welcomes and protects human life in our society, from conception to natural death.”
For these bishops, Saint John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” is a guide. It said that the conditions for legitimate death penalty use are “very rare, if not practically non-existent.”
They also cited Pope Francis’ October 2014 statement to an international gathering of lawyers: “it is impossible to imagine that states today cannot make use of another means than capital punishment to defend people’s lives from an unjust aggressor.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that non-lethal efforts to preserve public order are better in keeping with the common good and the dignity of the human person.
Furthermore, the catechism does not recognize deterrence as a justification for the death penalty, the bishops said. Crime statistics comparisons with other states without the death penalty appear to show Texas’ death penalty is not an effective deterrent.
The message of Texas’ bishops coincided with a message from Pope Francis. On Oct. 10, he tweeted against the death penalty, saying “punishment should necessarily include hope!”
Washington D.C., Oct 10, 2016 / 04:49 pm (CNA).- Recently released audio of Donald Trump making lewd comments about women in 2005 has created a split in his Catholic supporters – with some continuing to back him and others pulling away from the GOP nominee.Joseph Cella, Catholic liaison to the Trump campaign and founder of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, called the comments “repulsive and undignified” and said they “cannot be condoned or defended.”He reiterated his support for Trump, however.“Donald Trump and Mike Pence remain the only candidates in this election who will bring jobs back home where they belong, keep our families and communities safe, defend the right to life, the right to fully and freely exercise our religious freedom, and other issues of great importance to Catholics – and most importantly, they will appoint Supreme Court justices who will do the same for future generations,” he stated.Donald Trump’s ca...
Washington D.C., Oct 10, 2016 / 04:49 pm (CNA).- Recently released audio of Donald Trump making lewd comments about women in 2005 has created a split in his Catholic supporters – with some continuing to back him and others pulling away from the GOP nominee.
Joseph Cella, Catholic liaison to the Trump campaign and founder of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, called the comments “repulsive and undignified” and said they “cannot be condoned or defended.”
He reiterated his support for Trump, however.
“Donald Trump and Mike Pence remain the only candidates in this election who will bring jobs back home where they belong, keep our families and communities safe, defend the right to life, the right to fully and freely exercise our religious freedom, and other issues of great importance to Catholics – and most importantly, they will appoint Supreme Court justices who will do the same for future generations,” he stated.
Donald Trump’s candidacy for the White House came under fire over the weekend after comments he made in 2005 surfaced in the media. Trump had bragged to “Access Hollywood” about trying to grope, kiss, and seduce women, claiming that “when you’re a star, they let you do it.”
That report follows other reports from earlier in the campaign of Trump’s past statements about women that were degrading, from lewd talk about their bodies to saying which ones he would or wouldn’t have sex with.
On Sunday night’s presidential debate in St. Louis, Trump was asked about the remarks by moderator Anderson Cooper.
“You called what you said ‘locker room banter’. You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault,” Cooper told Trump. “You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?”
“No, I didn’t say that at all,” Trump responded, reiterating that “this was locker room talk” and that “I’m not proud of it. I apologize to my family, I apologize to the American people. Certainly, I’m not proud of it.”
He then shifted focus to global war and terrorism, saying that “I will take care of ISIS, and we should get onto much more important things, and much bigger things.”
Cooper pressed him on whether or not he had admitted to kissing and groping women “without consent.” Trump replied that “I have tremendous respect for women. And women have respect for me” before finally saying that he had not committed those offenses.
On Saturday, CatholicVote.org had released a statement calling the remarks “disgusting and simply indefensible.” While they acknowledged having “defended” some of Trump’s policy proposals like “on school choice and parental leave, his pledges on judicial nominations, and his recent commitment to defend and protect religious liberty,” the group has never officially endorsed his candidacy. They have said instead that “although we remain unsure of Trump’s dedication to Catholic values and have not officially endorsed him for President, we do believe Catholics can in good conscience vote for Donald Trump.”
On Saturday, however, the group struck a different tone.
“In our opinion, the viability of Donald Trump’s candidacy is now in question,” they stated. “Furthermore, the good many hoped to achieve, in spite of Trump’s many well-known flaws, is also now in doubt. If Donald Trump is unwilling to step aside, the Republican National Committee must act soon out of basic decency and self-preservation.”
Other Christian leaders who have endorsed Trump either expressed hesitation over continuing to support him, or stopped publicly supporting him over the weekend.
Prominent Evangelical theologian Wayne Grudem withdrew his support for Trump’s candidacy and asked Trump to drop out of the race.
“His vulgar comments in 2005 about his sexual aggression and assaults against women were morally evil and revealed pride in conduct that violates God’s command, ‘You shall not commit adultery’,” he stated. “God intends that men honor and respect women, not abuse them as sexual objects.”
R.R. Reno, the editor of the journal First Things and a Catholic, recently endorsed Trump along with several other writers, but explained to the Washington Post over the weekend that he could not finish writing an op-ed endorsing Trump after the news broke of his 2005 comments.
“It’s not just that I’m jammed up with deadlines, but Trump has hit new moral lows (who thought that possible???) and I’m beginning to regret signaling any public support,” he said in an email to the Post.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, has insisted that pro-lifers should support Trump for his pro-life policy proposals and promise to nominate pro-life Supreme Court justices.
However, the group has issued no public statement on Trump’s comments, and did not respond on Monday when CNA requested comment.
Some Catholics stood by the candidate, insisting that he remained the best option.
Fr. Frank Pavone, speaking personally and not as president of Priests for Life, insisted that “the lewd comments, made over a decade ago and for which Mr. Trump has apologized, and which I, like everyone else, find repulsive, do not in the least change my intentions of voting for him, of urging others to do so, and of advising his campaign.”
Trump will advance a greater agenda for the common good than will his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, Fr. Pavone continued, and to vote for him is not to endorse all of his private behavior.
“I hope my doctor is virtuous, but when it comes to treating me, whether he has made lewd comments doesn't enter into the equation,” he explained his support.
And Trump is actually making “reparation” for his comments now, he added.
“What an incredible reparation Mr. Trump is making now for any past faults by the very fact that he is running as the Republican nominee for President, and is ready to nominate the right kind of judges and sign the right kinds of legislation, which will steer our nation away from so many morally corrupt public policies. A penitent sinner could hardly have a more substantial opportunity to make reparation.”
“It takes a great deal of moral courage, actually, to take the step Mr. Trump is taking by running for public office,” he continued. “He knows his past and knows what will be brought up about it. Yet he is willing to move forward both personally and professionally for the good of the country.”
Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisc.), a Catholic member of Congress who is on Trump’s Catholic advisory board, stated his disgust for the comments, but still expressed his support for Trump’s candidacy over Clinton’s.
“I'm a father of five daughters. I am disgusted by the comments” he told WSAW. However, he added, “I didn't agree to support him because of what he's done in his personal life” bur rather “because I agree with his policies more than Hillary Clinton's policies.”
A growing list of GOP officials have called for Trump’s resignation. The nominee has said that he will not step down.
Also mentioned in Sunday’s debate were issues of religious freedom, abortion, and the nomination of Supreme Court justices.
When asked about Trump’s proposed ban on Muslim refugees, Clinton responded that “we are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty. How do we do what he has advocated without causing great distress within our own country? Are we going to have religious tests when people fly into our own country?”
Clinton herself has come under fire for her support of measures that critics say would choke freedom of religion, including the HHS mandate – which requires employers to fund and facilitate contraception, even if they have religious objections – and requirements that vendors cater to same-sex wedding ceremonies.
On the question of which Supreme Court justice she would nominate to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Clinton insisted that the justice should be support abortion and same-sex marriage.
“I want a Supreme Court that will stick with Roe v Wade and a woman’s right to choose, and I want a Supreme Court that will stick with marriage equality,” she said.
“Now Donald has put forth the names of some people that he would consider. And among the ones that he has suggested are people who would reverse Roe v. Wade and reverse marriage equality. I think that would be a terrible mistake,” she added.
Trump, for his part, said that he would nominate “people that will respect the Constitution of the United States” and “also the Second Amendment.” He made no specific mention of marriage or life issues, but pointed to Scalia as a model justice.
AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) -- Donald Trump on Monday put the claim that Bill Clinton was a sexual predator whose wife attacked the victims at the center of his flailing presidential campaign, insisting his own vulgar words about women in 2005 weren't as bad as the Clintons' alleged deeds two decades ago....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times EDT):...
LUMBERTON, N.C. (AP) -- With floodwaters from Hurricane Matthew on the rise, at least one North Carolina city appeared near chaos Monday, its police station shuttered and sporadic gunfire in the air, and authorities worried that more communities could end up the same way....
(Vatican Radio) One of those designated by Pope Francis to become a new Cardinal during the Consistory on 19 November in St. Peter’s Basilica, is Chicago Archbishop Blase J. Cupich.A statement released by the Archdiocese of Chicago immediately after the announcement says that Archbishop Cupich was appointed to head the Chicago archdiocese, the nation’s third largest, by Pope Francis on September 20, 2014.The statement also carries a message from the Archbishop himself:“The news this morning that Pope Francis has named me to the College of Cardinals is both humbling and encouraging. I offer my best wishes to the other Cardinals-elect, especially Kevin Farrell and Joseph Tobin, and I look forward to joining with them and the other cardinals as we work together with the Holy Father for the good of the Church."“When Pope Francis appointed me Archbishop of Chicago more than two years ago, the people of the archdiocese welcomed me as a friend and brother and...
(Vatican Radio) One of those designated by Pope Francis to become a new Cardinal during the Consistory on 19 November in St. Peter’s Basilica, is Chicago Archbishop Blase J. Cupich.
A statement released by the Archdiocese of Chicago immediately after the announcement says that Archbishop Cupich was appointed to head the Chicago archdiocese, the nation’s third largest, by Pope Francis on September 20, 2014.
The statement also carries a message from the Archbishop himself:
“The news this morning that Pope Francis has named me to the College of Cardinals is both humbling and encouraging. I offer my best wishes to the other Cardinals-elect, especially Kevin Farrell and Joseph Tobin, and I look forward to joining with them and the other cardinals as we work together with the Holy Father for the good of the Church."
“When Pope Francis appointed me Archbishop of Chicago more than two years ago, the people of the archdiocese welcomed me as a friend and brother and I committed wholeheartedly to serve them. The role of Cardinal brings new responsibilities, but with your prayers and help, we will continue the task we have begun of renewing the Church in the archdiocese and preparing it to thrive in the decades ahead.”
Please find below a biography of Archbishop Cupich:
Archbishop Blase Joseph Cupich was born on March 19, 1949, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Blase and Mary (Mayhan) Cupich. He is the third of nine children, with five sisters and three brothers.
Archbishop Cupich was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Omaha on August 16, 1975. He was pastor of two large suburban parishes in Omaha. He was appointed Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, on July 7, 1998, and was ordained and installed on September 21, 1998. He was appointed the sixth Bishop of Spokane, Washington, on June 30, 2010, and officially installed on September 3, 2010. Archbishop Cupich was appointed Archbishop of Chicago on September 20, 2014, and was installed as the ninth Archbishop of Chicago on Tuesday, November 18, 2014.
Archbishop Cupich obtained his B.A. in Philosophy from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1971. He attended seminary at the North American College and Gregorian University in Rome, where he received his Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology in 1974, and his M.A. in Theology in 1975. Archbishop Cupich is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where, in 1979, he received his Licentiate of Sacred Theology degree in Sacramental Theology. He also holds a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree as well as in Sacramental Theology, from the Catholic University of America, awarded in 1987, with his dissertation entitled: “Advent in the Roman Tradition: An Examination and Comparison of the Lectionary Readings as Hermeneutical Units in Three Periods.”
Additionally, Archbishop Cupich served as a secretary at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. He was also the Chair for the USCCB Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People from 2008-2011 and for the National Catholic Educational Association Board from 2006-2008.
On July 7, 2016, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Cupich to the Congregation for Bishops.
Archbishop Cupich also serves on many committees, including: the USCCB Communications Committee; the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, National Dialogue Initiative with Muslims, Co-Chair; the USCCB Subcommittee for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, Chair; Catholic Church Extension Society, Chancellor; and The Catholic Mutual Relief Society, Executive Member. He is also Chancellor of the University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois.
