As your Bishop, I write to you concerning an alarming matter that negatively impacts the Catholic Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people—the Catholic population—and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful. More ... Thursday, January 26, 2012
The caption labeled “A Day to Rejoice” appearing on page 5 of the Feb. 2, 2012 print edition of The Monitor, incorrectly reported that six women were “ordained” lay ecclesial ministers. In fact, the women were commissioned as lay ecclesial ministers by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.; they were not ordained. Ordination in the Catholic Church, or conferral of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, is reserved for bishops, priests and deacons. The Monitor regrets this error. To read the ILEM story click HERE.
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. joined more than 100 of his brother bishops from across the United States in vowing to fight against mandated contraceptive coverage in Church-provided health care plans.
Background on the Traditional Latin Mass The Traditional Latin Mass, or Mass in the extraordinary form, traces its roots to 1570 following the Council of Trent, and was the main form of the celebrated Mass in the world until to 1962. More ... Thursday, February 02, 2012
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus taught his disciples God’s word must be nurtured in order to yield a fruitful harvest. Four members of the Briant family, sisters and Catholic educators, have taken the Lord’s words to heart.
Cathedrals, money and the homeless; pets in heaven
Q To our delight, our 13-year-old daughter reads newspapers. Sometimes this prompts her to ask religious questions, and today’s was a tough one: “The paper says there is a lot of poverty and that the bishops are asking Catholics to help the poor.
Rules of conduct that are golden - and written!
Recently two mothers and their teenage daughters were asked to comment on a few chapters of “A Book of Courtesy.” The original handbook was written in 1910 by Sister Mary Mercedes, a Dominican nun who for 25 years was headmistress of one of the order’s schools in San Rafael, Calif. More ... Monday, January 23, 2012
HHS ABC RULE: ANBODY BUT CATHOLICS HAS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Health and Human Services’ recent attacks on freedom of religion show it is deaf to religious sensibilities. Even the Administration’s resounding defeat on January 11—when the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Administration’s reading of the First Amendment as “extreme,” “untenable,” and having “no merit”—couldn’t unplug its ears. More ... Tuesday, January 24, 2012
