Todd Muller the new leader of the National Party says while he identifies himself as Catholic, his religious beliefs do not inform his politics on issues such as euthanasia, abortion and the LGBT+ community. That has not satisfied the kind of people who go on twitter says Ryan Bridge in an opinion piece on Newshub. Read more
Americans are becoming less and less religious and one New York Times columnist has found the culprit: the religious, conservative “blowhards” who “have entangled faith with bigotry, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia,” or, in other words, the religious, conservative Americans who support President Trump. Churches are empty, in part, because “for some young people, Christianity is Read more
The tables have turned under Pope Francis. And a new type of Catholic has formed: the conservative dissenter. In the past, conservatives prided themselves on loyalty to the pope and being in lockstep with all papal teachings, while progressives called for limits to papal power. The devotees of tradition used to argue that liberals who Read more
After an internal inquiry found members of the Catholic Theological Society of America sideline theologians with conservative or traditional views, the society has committed itself to work for greater inclusivity. The society, which counts some 1400 academics among its ranks, has adopted a set of new guidelines to help members better respect “diverse theological and Read more
Perhaps the worst of all the unthinkable candidates, is how the international traditional Catholic blog Rorate Caeli describes the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis. The traditional blog, claims to have friends all around the world, including Argentina, where Marcelo Gonzalez of Panorama Catolico International, claims to give local in sight into the local archbishop. Republishing Gonzalez Read more
After the House of Commons voted 400-175 to legalise same-sex marriages, Britain’s Catholic bishops warned the move would have profoundly negative effects on society. “The proposed change will have catastrophic consequences for marriage as an institution, for family life in Britain, and for all human relationships, not least among our young,” said Bishop Philip A. Egan Read more
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has said in a speech to MPs, peers and charity workers that Government cuts are “already being felt disproportionally by the most vulnerable”.
It is the closest a Catholic bishop in England and Wales has come to criticising the Coalition’s austerity measures.
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In the wake of the horrific attacks in Norway by an extremist right-wing ‘Christian’ and a warrior against Islam, many American conservatives are on the defensive. Religious and political conservatives have for some years sought to connect Islam to violence, and the premature portrayal of the terror attacks as the work of Muslims has left Read more
“Bishops must be conservative”. Instead of being on the edge pushing boundaries (which would lead to even more conflict-ridden factionalism), the role of a bishop is to create a community that holds people together, that sets boundaries and is a source of unity.” That’s what Patty Fawkner heard her pairsh priest say, and it left Read more