Catholic Culture Trusted Commentary
Catholic Culture Trusted Commentary

Stories for February 2011

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Monday, Feb. 28

 Opinion roundup
 British court says gay rights trump religious rights
 Pope presses head of European Parliament on religious freedom
 Battling illness, Cardinal Foley retires to native Philadelphia
 New York City Council to take up bill that targets pro-life centers
 Filipino bishops call off public protest on birth-control bill
 US military will begin sensitivity training
 Australian priests unhappy with Church leadership, survey claims
 Abortion is safer than childbirth, British ob/gyn body claims
 Pope sees 'new language' needed for social media
 Confidence in Divine Providence is realism, Pope tells Sunday audience
 Maronite Patriarch retires; successor to be elected in March
 Help women resist pressure to abort, Pope urges
 Underground Chinese bishop dead at 90
 Film about slain Trappists wins French ‘Oscar,’ debuts in US
 New York: pro-life billboard removed after city officials complain
 Cardinal Mahony passes leadership of LA archdiocese to Archbishop Gómez
 Philadelphia Catholic college refuses to renew contract of homosexual ‘priest’
 Vatican spokesman optimistic about Arab world’s ‘possible springtime’
 Libya prelate asks Muslim organizations to protect churches

Released Friday, Feb. 25

 Baptists urged to recover understanding of Lenten penitence
 Pope will visit site of Nazi massacre
 Does Facebook threaten the Church?
 Janet Smith joins moral theologians' debate on Live Action tactics
 Pope encourages Kurdish leadership on religious tolerance
 Pope confers with Maronite Patriarch; no word on retirement
 Italian court upholds fines on Vatican Radio for excess electromagnetic emissions
 Sydney archdiocese sees increase in priestly vocations after World Youth Day
 No 'conscience clause' for Irish pharmacists on morning-after pill
 China re-arrests critic of 'one-child' policy
 Virginia bill will impose safety standards on abortion clinics
 Vatican paper condemns Qaddafi's attacks on civilians
 ‘How the politics of abortion protects bad clinics’
 Priest murdered in Mexico; bishop denounces societal corruption
 New report documents violence against Karnataka Christians
 Holy See at UN: new outspokenness in confronting anti-family agenda
 US bishops praise Archbishop Listecki’s statement on unions
 Italy arrests 6 Moroccans for inciting hatred against Pope
 Egypt: bishops will not call for repeal of Islam as state religion

Released Thursday, Feb. 24

 Planned Parenthood increase in abortions
 Vatican expert sees little risk in Arab-world uprisings
 Schedule for Pope's June visit to San Marino
 L'Osservatore Romano: new approach draws criticism
 How government, society can react to crisis in family life
 Wisconsin bishops are 'neutral' on union protests, bishop says
 Pope sees Lebanon as model for Christian-Muslim coexistence
 North Korea reacts violently to anti-government demonstrations
 California woman renounces 'ordination' to diaconate
 Canonist: New York's Governor Cuomo should be barred from Communion
 Young community of nuns combats human trafficking
 Maryland to approve same-sex marriage; no exemption for Catholic adoption agencies
 Pakistan: Catholic accused of blasphemy had accused others
 Spain: joint recognition of Catholic, Anglican baptisms
 USCCB decries Obama administration’s refusal to defend marriage law
 Egypt: acquittals in drive-by shooting of Christians

Released Wednesday, Feb. 23

 LA Times ponders legacy of Cardinal Mahony
 Statue of St. Maron dedicated at Vatican; no word on Maronite Patriarch's resignation
 St. Robert Bellarmine showed path to reform in Church, Pope tells audience
 Irish Church lost influence by conforming to culture, Archbishop Martin says
 California priest who 'concelebrated' with Protestant asks forgiveness
 Mubarak may have engineered killing of Copts, Catholic prelate theorizes
 Australian official raps Cardinal Pell's skepticism on climate change
 Obama administration drops defense of traditional marriage
 Bangladesh: priest opposed cash settlement in rape case
 Debate continues on Live Action tactics
 Muslim group sues FBI
 Caritas appeal for Ivory Coast
 Cambodia: AIDS epidemic follows condom promotion
 Tunisia: Polish priest murdered by dishonest worker
 Christians face starvation in Laos
 New Zealand: serious damage to historic cathedral
 African bishops express grave concern over Zimbabwe
 European bishops call for EU action on behalf of persecuted Christians

Released Tuesday, Feb. 22

 Former Planned Parenthood clinic director to enter Catholic Church
 British prelate objects to government plan for church recognition of same-sex unions
 Vatican, SSPX still at odds on Vatican II
 Another Pakistani Christian woman faces blasphemy charge
 Signs of Muslim-Christian cooperation in Egyptian uprising
 Pope's Lenten message stresses the grace of Baptism
 Canadian pro-life activist wins Supreme Court hearing
 European Union seen blind to persecution of Christians
 Libya: no damage to churches, says bishop
 Muslim settlers burn down village in Bangladesh
 European Christian leaders prod EU on religious freedom, persecution
 India: 18 bishops fast to protest Karnataka commission report
 Cardinals clash over leadership of Caritas
 Coptic Christians call for a secular Egypt

Released Monday, Feb. 21

 Opinion Roundup
 As Rome braces for beatification of John Paul II, postulator looks toward canonization
 Pakistani lawmaker who sought to amend law will not be prosecuted for blasphemy
 Bernard Nathanson, abortionist who became pro-life activist, dead at 84
 Irish bishops condemn 'selfish' economic policies, support higher taxes
 Filipino bishops break off talks with government on birth-control bill
 French cardinal becomes protodeacon: would announce election of new Pontiff
 Three canonizations set for October
 Vatican names new nuncio to Moscow
 Obama administration guts 'conscience clause' protection for health workers
 Australian opposition leader holds firm against same-sex marriage
 Christians should always be ready to make a new start, Pope tells audience
 World Catholic population growing; mixed results on priestly, religious vocations
 CDF orders prominent Chilean priest to life of prayer, penitence
 Eucharistic adoration transforms Massachusetts parish
 Scotland: Church spokesman calls for campaign against anti-Catholicism
 Holy See envoy blasts UN agenda on gender
 45 Christians arrested in Iran
 Dublin archbishop, Boston cardinal lead atonement service for abuse
 Polish priest murdered in Tunisia

Released Friday, Feb. 18

 Cardinal Ruini to turn 80, lose vote in papal conclave
 Brazilian bishops lament "low moral level" of reality TV
 Egypt's Christian population pegged at 5%
 Mainline US Protestant churches continue decline in numbers
 More practicing Catholics in China than Italy, Tony Blair claims
 Marriage annulments becoming less common in US: Why?
 Schedule released for beatification of John Paul II
 Australian priests threaten to resist introduction of new Mass translation
 Dutch abuse probe receives 2,000 reports
 Economic growth alone cannot satisfy man's yearning, Pope reminds Filipino bishops
 Closed parish to become frat house
 Report: leading Army priest says chaplains will help soldiers accept gay lifestyles
 California priest placed on leave, reportedly concelebrated with Protestant pastor
 Bishop restores CCHD collection
 House committee approves Protect Life Act
 Mosul archbishop: Christians still living in fear

Released Thursday, Feb. 17

 Pakistani lawmaker faces blasphemy charge for seeking to amend law
 Nuncio warns of email scams claiming Vatican involvement
 Optimism mixed with uncertainty on Vatican budget
 Vatican still weighing resignation of aged Maronite Patriarch
 Springfield diocese responds to Vatican decision on church closings
 Pauline Year had major ecumenical impact, prelates report
 Rome diocese offers online help for pilgrims attending beatification of John Paul II
 'Miracle' escape for Australian child blessed by Pope
 Iraqi Christian released by kidnappers after ransom paid
 Report denied: No fear of 'national collapse' facing Irish Church
 Boston archdiocese unveils plans to sell closed parishes
 Catholic-Orthodox prospects in view as Pope meets Medvedev
 Vatican newspaper praises pop singer Van De Sfroos
 Priest murdered in Colombia
 Milwaukee archbishop affirms value of unions
 US bishops’ conference updates policy paper on climate change
 Cardinal Rigali places 3 priests on leave, reopens abuse investigations
 Iraqi ambassador emphasizes Islam’s tolerance, says Christians should not fear

Released Wednesday, Feb. 16

 Multicultural approach jeopardizes security, columnist argues
 New studies bolster Catholic approach to HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases
 India’s largest University sets up chair on Mother Teresa
 Rome-Moscow ecumenical ties on agenda for Pope's meeting with Medvedev
 Canadian man found guilty, but not responsible, in assault on bishop
 British court blocks plan to allow abortions at home
 St. John of the Cross speaks to today's Christians, Pope tells audience
 Follow-up document on Summorum Pontificum due soon?
 Apology to aborigines had 'sacramental' effect, says former Australian premier
 Australian archdiocese tightens abuse policies
 US bishops re-thinking 'zero tolerance' policy on abuse?
 Papal visit cost UK government £6.3 million, report shows
 Talk-radio host on 150 stations is Catholic convert
 Op-ed: Obama administration must take religious freedom more seriously
 Catholic Charities head rues wasteful bureaucracy in government programs
 Pro-life Texas Catholic to head National Review Board
 Bishops praise budget resolution’s pro-life measures, lament cuts to the poor

Released Tuesday, Feb. 15

 Full schedule released for Pope's May visit to Venice
 Guatemalan president to ask Mexican protection for migrants headed into US
 'Pro-choice' priest-politician launches court attack on LifeSite News
 Pro-life scholar Robert George argues against Live Action tactics
 US bishops still under suspicion, Times editorial says
 Late Korean cardinal's example sparks increase in organ donations
 Vatican backs parishioners, orders re-opening of Massachusetts churches
 British government to approve church services for same-sex unions
 New York Orthodox parish sues for right to rebuild church at Ground Zero
 Report: California priest concelebrates with Presbyterian minister
 California: arrest made in ‘kill Catholics’ graffiti case
 New Ave Maria University president: cardinal ‘twisted my arm’ to accept job
 New York City gives out 3 million free condoms per month
 Archbishop Dolan rips abuse attorney Anderson
 Coptic Catholic patriarch welcomes fall of Mubarak

Released Monday, Feb. 14

 Intercessors of the Lamb renew conflict with Omaha archdiocese
 Australian Anglicans plan Catholic ordinariate
 Vatican vote nears to approve 3 new saints
 Pope mourns death of impoverished Roma children
 Sermon on the Mount is 'definitive revelation of the Law,' Pope tells audience
 Papal encouragement for Fraternity of St. Charles Borromeo
 Muslims join Christians in complaint against Hindu violence
 New archbishop for Indian archdiocese at center of Orissa violence
 Opinion Roundup
 American cardinal to report crisis in Irish Church?
 Number of priests growing worldwide, but dropping in North America
 Ireland's Labour Party pledges support for legal abortion
 England: female chaplain sentenced for false rape charge against priest
 Vatican conference on responses to piracy at sea
 2nd volume of Pope's work on Jesus to be released March 11
 Homosexual activists protest at Chicago cathedral; Cardinal George responds
 Pelosi rips ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act’
 Archbishop Gomez says he’s ‘as conservative as Pope Benedict’
 Pakistan retains government office of religious minorities
 At UN, nuncio laments falling birthrates, links economic growth, rising population
 Cardinal Rigali appears on YouTube, responds to grand jury report

Released Friday, Feb. 11

 Many leave Catholic Church in US, while few enter, observes Pew Forum analyst
 Archbishop's sudden death stuns Polish Church
 US-backed program aims to sterilize 700,000 men in Rwanda
 Islamic group torches Christian village in Philippines
 Russia's Medvedev to meet with Pontiff
 West underestimates Islamic fundamentalism, Iraqi archbishop warns
 Vatican Radio encouraged to 'think outside the box,' use new media
 Cuba releases 4 more political prisoners
 Injured Polish race-car driver receives relic of John Paul II
 Irish Church sees rise in couples preparing for marriage
 Vatican observing holiday February 11
 Background: World Day of the Sick
 New leadership at Ave Maria University
 Grand jury indicts Philadelphia chancery official, raps retired cardinal
 French bishops lament IVF ‘savior sibling’
 Mary’s intercession at her Son’s side is theological ‘distortion,’ says bishop

Released Thursday, Feb. 10

 Anglican traditionalists challenge Episcopalian diocese in claim to parish property
 Dutch cardinal charged with covering priest's abuse
 Vatican: no decision on diplomatic recognition of Kosovo
 Visiting India, British cardinal reflects on Hindu fears about conversions
 Korean archdiocese establishes parish to care for blind Catholics
 Rome hotels already booked for beatification of John Paul II
 Confirmed: Ukrainian Catholic leader steps down
 Pakistan: police reluctant to press murder charges against Muslim in Christian employee's death
 Egyptian Christians, Muslims cooperate in protests
 All Catholics are obligated to promote vocations, Pope writes
 Nuns denied opportunity to vote in Ontario election
 Developer of confession iPhone app welcomes Vatican statement
 Massachusetts bishops urge government not to forget the poor
 Priests’ divergent views on Egyptian protests
 Indian Christians call for government investigation into discrimination
 Afghan faces death penalty for converting to Christianity

Released Wednesday, Feb. 9

 Can the Legionaries be reformed? A former member asks pointed questions
 Egypt: popular protests expose government corruption, but open doors for Islamic militants
 Christians in Java uneasy after 'orchestrated' attacks on churches
 Satanist links in vandalism at Ohio church?
 Sanctions on Myanmar hurt regime, not populace, says activist
 Papal greetings to bishops attending Focolare conference
 Pope considering a visit to Iraq?
 Papal audience topic: St. Peter Canisius, model for respectful debate
 No confession by Iphone, Vatican warns
 Leader of Ukrainian Catholic Church resigns
 San Francisco: archdiocese, city in court battle over property taxes
 Rome diocese offers web site for beatification of John Paul II
 Pope to restructure curial office to promote 'reform of the reform'?
 ‘The Mother Teresa of Cairo’
 Chicago Catholic hospital helps women who wish to halt 2nd-trimester abortions
 USCCB urges passage of ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act’
 Vatican spokesman: cautious optimism on protests in Egypt, Tunisia
 Quebec bishops call for government funds for parishes
 German bishops respond to statement by dissenting theologians

Released Tuesday, Feb. 8

 Journalist sees German dissent document as 'rebellion in the nursing home'
 Planned Parenthood clinic caught in another revealing 'sting'
 CHA president still backs Phoenix hospital against Bishop Olmsted
 Christians in Middle East remain in tense situations, Synod council reports
 Islamic mobs in burst of anti-Christian violence in Indonesia
 Illinois deacon sentenced for embezzlement
 Thriving new cloistered community in California
 Historic churches live on as museum, cultural center in Iowa city
 South Korean bishops launch pro-life initiative: free Catholic hospital care
 Stop deportations of Haitians, US bishops urge
 Sudan: Lord’s Resistance Army murders nun

Released Monday, Feb. 7

 Op-ed Roundup
 'Study text' prepares priests for new English translation of Mass
 Turkish law offers no legal protection for religious entities
 Pope sees 'educational emergency' in flight from truth
 Religious violence flares in Indonesia
 Nurses find conscience problems more frequent
 At Sunday audience, Pope prays for peace in Egypt, dignified treatment for the sick
 Papal visit to India a possibility?
 French Carmelite to preach Lenten Retreat at the Vatican
 Ordaining Chinese bishop, Pope underlines ties to Holy See
 Dublin's archbishop raps tenor of political campaigns
 Vatican official instructed US bishop to withhold files of troubled priest
 Peaceful Sudan vote seen as a miracle, but worries remain [updated]
 Papal aid for displaced in Ivory Coast
 Donors to Catholic schools demanding accountability
 Muslim groups say congressional hearings reminiscent of McCarthy
 Ohio bishops call for end of death penalty
 Philadelphia archdiocese sets aside burial space for abortionist’s victims
 Egypt: Church leaders offer differing perspectives on unrest [updated]
 Costa Rica: bishops speak out against IVF

Released Friday, Feb. 4

 Pakistani archbishop appalled by government's retreat on blasphemy law
 Delaware priest indicted for theft from parish funds
 Uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt are secular, not Islamic, bishops report
 Lawyers confident Asia Bibi will be cleared on appeal of blasphemy charges
 Another Planned Parenthood clinic caught in pro-life 'sting'
 Dissident Irish priests seek to delay use of new liturgical translation
 Philippines: bishops ready to risk arrest in opposing birth-control law
 Pope tells top Vatican court: the People of God need justice
 Vatican to release new instructions on bioethics
 Two more Cuban dissidents to be released, cardinal announces
 Missionary: 40% of Egyptians back Mubarak
 Malta: Church calls for stronger workers’ unions
 Cardinal Wuerl: ‘We’re a little ways off’ from establishing an ordinariate
 Christians plan mass protest in Karnataka
 Anglican-Catholic dialogue enters new phase
 Germany: theologians call for women’s ordination, lend support to homosexual partnerships

Released Thursday, Feb. 3

 New insights on manipulation of 1960s papal commission on birth control
 HLI urges Philippines president to resist population-control pressure
 Under death threat, Pakistani lawmaker backs away from bid to amend blasphemy law
 Bangladesh: Catholic priest decries brutal punishments under Islamic law
 Vatican banker offers critique of Keynes
 British government pressed on spending foreign-aid funds for papal trip
 Financial woes of Slovenian archdiocese force prelate's resignation
 Vatican plans conference on AIDS: another 'clarification' of Pope's statement on condoms?
 Pope is not an organ donor
 New youth catechism comes with enthusiastic papal endorsement
 Vatican official outlines papal vision for humane health-care policy
 Pope asks Emmanuel Community to redouble evangelizing efforts
 Europe build on Christian faith, Pope reminds Austrian envoy
 Pope encourages religious to offer radical Christian witness
 5th-century church uncovered in Israel
 Delaware diocese, victims agree to $77M settlement
 Pakistan: prelate decries burning of Pope in effigy
 Croatian bishops welcome papal visit, lament threats to family
 Missionary: Egyptian protestors want democracy, not Islamic state
 Typical new US nun: 43-year-old who prays Rosary, comes from large family

Released Wednesday, Feb. 2

 Misconduct prompted Father Euteneuer's removal, HLI reveals
 Neocatechumenal Way should suspend work in Japan: Archbishop of Tokyo
 Planned Parenthood fires employee caught in pro-life 'sting' video
 Pope offers prayers, praise for religious on Day of Consecrated Life
 Little boy evades security for private talk with Pope
 St. Teresa's spirituality a cure for modern ills, Pope says
 Atheist's challenge threatens Irish Catholic schools
 New Vatican prefect: liberation theology threatened my vocation
 Background: World Day of Consecrated Life
 European bishops discuss university pastoral work
 Vienna: laity protest cardinal’s gift of parish to Serbian Orthodox
 UK: reforms that would permit Catholic monarch not a priority
 Iraqi archdiocese to build Catholic university, hospital
 Renewed violence between Christians, Muslims in Nigeria

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