Catholic News 2
BEIJING (AP) -- As a young biologist at the University of Michigan, Chen Xiaowei had plenty to like about life in the U.S. He was paid well as a researcher and enjoyed raising his family in Ann Arbor, a town he remembers as beautiful, friendly and highly educated....
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan marked the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Saturday by renewing calls for a nuclear weapons free world and urging leaders to follow the example of President Barack Obama and visit the bomb sites....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Clinton asserted Friday that FBI Director James Comey said she was truthful in her statements to investigators about her private server and use of private emails - and that those statements were consistent with what she has said publicly....
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Donald Trump endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan late Friday, ending a four-day standoff between the GOP's most powerful men that exposed deepening concerns about the New York billionaire's presidential candidacy....
PARIS (AP) -- A fire has swept through a bar in northern France, killing at least 13 people and injuring six others....
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- The Latest on the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games opening ceremony (all times local):...
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- What it lacked in flash, Rio made up for with feeling....
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 5, 2016 / 02:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In the shadows of the emblematic statue of Christ the Redeemer, the Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta, blessed the Olympic torch and wished for games of fraternity and peace.The cardinal’s blessing of the torch at Christ the Redeemer marked the final day of the torch’s 95-day journey across Brazil to the Olympic stadium for the start of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.“I wish the Olympic Games to be a wonderful experience of fraternity and peace, and an opportunity to help build a more just country,” said Cardinal Tempesta, before leading attendees in the Our Father.The torch was carried and held by Brazil’s former Olympic volleyball player Maria Isabel Barroso Salgado, who ran most of the challenging uphill road to the statue of Christ the Redeemer. From there, the torch started on its last leg to the Maracana Stadium where the opening ceremonies ...
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 5, 2016 / 02:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In the shadows of the emblematic statue of Christ the Redeemer, the Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta, blessed the Olympic torch and wished for games of fraternity and peace.
The cardinal’s blessing of the torch at Christ the Redeemer marked the final day of the torch’s 95-day journey across Brazil to the Olympic stadium for the start of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“I wish the Olympic Games to be a wonderful experience of fraternity and peace, and an opportunity to help build a more just country,” said Cardinal Tempesta, before leading attendees in the Our Father.
The torch was carried and held by Brazil’s former Olympic volleyball player Maria Isabel Barroso Salgado, who ran most of the challenging uphill road to the statue of Christ the Redeemer. From there, the torch started on its last leg to the Maracana Stadium where the opening ceremonies will be held on the evening of Aug. 5.
Blessing of the Olympic torch today! #Rio2016 ????Credit:Gustavo de Oliveira/ArqRio Read more: https://t.co/RQxO7lK7gZ pic.twitter.com/UBPpqrnzwi
— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) August 5, 2016
“We hope we will live the days of peace that are part of the ‘Olympic truce’ that will go all the way to the Paralympics,” Cardinal Tempesta said, as he recalled the words that Pope Francis addressed to Brazil Aug. 3 during his general audience at the Vatican: “I wish that the Olympic spirit may inspire all to build a civilization of solidarity.”
Pope Francis offered a messaged to those competing in the international games at the end of his general audience in advance of the 2016 Opening Ceremonies.
“In a world thirsting for peace, tolerance, and reconciliation, I hope that the spirit of the Olympic Games inspires all – participants and spectators – to ‘fight the good fight’ and finish the race together,” Pope Francis said.
The Holy Father voiced hope that in competing this year, the Olympic athletes will desire “to obtain as a prize, not a medal, but something much more precious: the construction of a civilization in which solidarity reigns and is based upon the recognition that we are all members of the same human family, regardless of the differences of culture, skin color, or religion.”
Good luck to the athletes at #Rio2016! May you always be messengers of goodwill and true sporting spirit.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) August 5, 2016
He offered a warm greeting to the people of Brazil saying, “I hope that this will be an opportunity to overcome difficult moments and commit…to working as a team to build a more just and safe country, betting all on a future full of hope and joy.”
The 2016 Olympic Games are scheduled to begin Aug. 5 at 8:00 pm local time in Brazil.
Washington D.C., Aug 5, 2016 / 03:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As activists push “After School Satan” programs for elementary school students, it is likely an underhanded tactic to remove all religious programs from public schools, one lawyer says. “What they’re trying to do, I think, is scare people into saying ‘let’s shut down the forum’,” Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA. “And they would eliminate all of these Bible clubs, prayer meetings, ‘Good News Clubs’ that are meeting all around the country.”The Satanic Temple – a group dedicated to promoting rationalism, individual liberty, and secularism – has announced its plans to establish “After School Satan” in several U.S. public school districts.In a fundraising pitch on its website, the temple claims that “Fundamentalist Christian organizations are trying to turn public schoo...
Washington D.C., Aug 5, 2016 / 03:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As activists push “After School Satan” programs for elementary school students, it is likely an underhanded tactic to remove all religious programs from public schools, one lawyer says.
“What they’re trying to do, I think, is scare people into saying ‘let’s shut down the forum’,” Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA. “And they would eliminate all of these Bible clubs, prayer meetings, ‘Good News Clubs’ that are meeting all around the country.”
The Satanic Temple – a group dedicated to promoting rationalism, individual liberty, and secularism – has announced its plans to establish “After School Satan” in several U.S. public school districts.
In a fundraising pitch on its website, the temple claims that “Fundamentalist Christian organizations are trying to turn public schools into indoctrination camps for children” and are “successfully eroding the separation of Church and State.”
If allowed at schools, rather than teach children Satanism, the Satan clubs would probably talk about atheism and how “science answers all questions,” Lawrence said. Their adaptation of Satanic imagery and language “is just to scare people into thinking that these are actual Satan worshippers,” he added.
“What I think is disingenuous and tragic is that they’re really using all these Satan names for their organization, their lead guy, these after-school clubs, to scare school officials into shutting down the forum for everyone.”
The Satanic Temple stated it will be “leveraging Religious Freedom laws established by decades of Evangelical litigation” to insert its curricula into schools.
Spokesman Lucien Greaves stated that “we are sure that the school districts we’ve approached are well aware that they are not at liberty to deny us use of their facilities, nor are they at liberty to deny us any level of representation in the schools that they afford to other school clubs.”
“We would like to thank the Liberty Counsel, specifically, for opening the doors of public schools to the After School Satan Club through their dedication to religious liberty,” he continued.
However, the club should have access to schools, as all religious groups have the right to meet in public spaces, Lawrence said, without the school district being seen as endorsing a particular faith group.
He gave the example of New York City’s Central Park hosting a papal mass and concerts, without such events being an endorsement of beliefs by the city.
However, what is “tragic” is that the Satanic Temple is trying to drive Christianity out of the public square, he continued.
“They are basically saying that the Christian groups meeting on the same terms as everybody else are a threat to the republic,” he said, and “rather than argue that in the marketplace of ideas, they are trying to scare school officials into closing the forum to eliminate the Christians.”
“And that to me is tragically opposed to our First Amendment traditions of learning how to tolerate hearing views we disagree with, and responding to them with civil debate, not trying to shut them down in a coercive manner.”
Washington D.C., Aug 5, 2016 / 04:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Just days after United States Vice President Joe Biden officiated at a same-sex wedding ceremony, three leading bishops aimed for clarity: such actions counter Catholic teaching and aren’t a faithful witness.“When a prominent Catholic politician publicly and voluntarily officiates at a ceremony to solemnize the relationship of two people of the same-sex, confusion arises regarding Catholic teaching on marriage and the corresponding moral obligations of Catholics. What we see is a counter witness, instead of a faithful one founded in the truth,” said an Aug. 5 message on the U.S. bishops’ conference blog.The statement was signed by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. bishops' conference; Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, who chairs the committee on laity, marriage, family life, and youth; and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who chairs the committee on domestic justice and...
Washington D.C., Aug 5, 2016 / 04:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Just days after United States Vice President Joe Biden officiated at a same-sex wedding ceremony, three leading bishops aimed for clarity: such actions counter Catholic teaching and aren’t a faithful witness.
“When a prominent Catholic politician publicly and voluntarily officiates at a ceremony to solemnize the relationship of two people of the same-sex, confusion arises regarding Catholic teaching on marriage and the corresponding moral obligations of Catholics. What we see is a counter witness, instead of a faithful one founded in the truth,” said an Aug. 5 message on the U.S. bishops’ conference blog.
The statement was signed by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. bishops' conference; Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, who chairs the committee on laity, marriage, family life, and youth; and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who chairs the committee on domestic justice and human development.
The message did not mention Biden by name; however, the vice president officiated at a same-sex ceremony Aug. 1
In their statement, the bishops affirmed the dignity of all people and the need to accompany those in need.
“In doing so, we also stand with Pope Francis in preserving the dignity and meaning of marriage as the union of a man and a woman,” the bishops continued. “The two strands of the dignity of the person and the dignity of marriage and the family are interwoven. To pull apart one is to unravel the whole fabric.”
They said Pope Francis has been “very clear in affirming … that same-sex relationships cannot be considered 'in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.'”
Acting under the authority of the District of Columbia, Biden presided at a same-sex ceremony for two men who are longtime White House aides. The ceremony took place at the vice president’s official residence, the Naval Observatory.
Biden is the first Catholic vice president of the United States. His 2012 comments approving same-sex marriage helped lead President Barack Obama to announce that he too believed such unions should be recognized as marriages.
The prominent solemnization appears to have prompted an episcopal response.
“Faithful witness can be challenging – and it will only grow more challenging in the years to come – but it is also the joy and responsibility of all Catholics, especially those who have embraced positions of leadership and public service,” the bishops said.
“Let us pray for our Catholic leaders in public life, that they may fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to them with grace and courage and offer a faithful witness that will bring much needed light to the world,” they added.
