Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Robert Carlson to Archbishop of Saint Louis. A loss for Saginaw is a great gain for Saint Louis.

Cardinal George Urges Catholics to Tell Administration: Keep Conscience Protections for Health Care Workers

“Respect for personal conscience and freedom of religion as such ensures our basic freedom from government oppression. No government should come between an individual person and God–that’s what America is supposed to be about,” Cardinal Francis George said. “This is the true common ground for us as Americans. We therefore need legal protection for freedom of conscience and of religion–including freedom for religious health care institutions to be true to themselves.”

“I ask you please to lLet the government know that you want conscience protections to remain strongly in place. In particular, let the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington know that you stand for the protection of conscience, especially now for those who provide the health care services so necessary for a good society,” he said.

Via Washington Times – Archbishop Burke: No Communion for Sebelius in D.C.

Last week, yours truly predicted the debate on pro-choice Catholic politicians receiving Communion is going to heat up big time if Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius gets nominated as Obama’s new HHS secretary. That is, it’s one thing if the governor’s own archbishop, Joseph Naumann, has told her not to partake within the borders of the Kansas archdiocese. But what happens when she comes here?

Well, I got a very unhappy e-mail from the archdiocesan spokeswoman about that column. But, folks, this issue is not going away. I just saw a column written by Archbishop Raymond Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura the Vatican’s highest court, posted Thursday, that states the governor should not be taking Communion anywhere in the country. His exact wording: “Whether Governor Sebelius is in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, or in any other diocese, she should not present herself for Holy Communion because, after pastoral admonition, she obstinately persists in serious sin.”

This was after Thomas McKenna, the interviewer, specifically asked him about whether she should take Communion in Washington, D.C. Burke also backs Archbishop Naumann for showing Sebelius the door, so to speak. The whole interview appears here on the Catholic Action for Faith and Family’s Web site.

Thankfully.  But don’t think this isn’t coming back somewhere, sometime soon.  The people behind these measures are merely testing the waters.  Thank you to all those who responded to the CT Bishops request and helped defeat this bill.

Catholic Governance Bill Dies In Connecticut — Courant.com

Bishop Lori of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut is calling on all Catholics to assist in defeating new legislation introduced last week that would fundamentally alter the way in which Catholic Church’s are organized and governed in the state.  In sum, the new legislation would require that parish “corporations” be governed by a ‘Board of Trustees,’ elected by the parish.  The new structure would eliminate the authority of the diocesan bishop, and prevent him from participating as a voting member of each parish corporation.

Here is a portion of the statement issued by the Diocese of Bridgeport

“This past Thursday, March 5, the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut State Legislature, which is chaired by Sen. Andrew McDonald of Stamford and Rep. Michael Lawlor of East Haven, introduced a bill that directly attacks the Roman Catholic Church and our Faith.

This bill violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. It forces a radical reorganization of the legal, financial, and administrative structure of our parishes. This is contrary to the Apostolic nature of the Catholic Church because it disconnects parishes from their Pastors and their Bishop. Parishes would be run by boards from which Pastors and the Bishop would be effectively excluded.

This bill, moreover, is a thinly-veiled attempt to silence the Catholic Church on the important issues of the day, such as same-sex marriage.

The State has no right to interfere in the internal affairs and structure of the Catholic Church. This bill is directed only at the Catholic Church but could someday be forced on other denominations. The State has no business controlling religion…”

The statement continues:

We reject this irrational, unlawful, and bigoted bill that jeopardizes the religious liberty of our Church.

We urge you to call and e-mail Sen. McDonald and Rep. Lawlor:

Senator Andrew McDonald:
Capitol phone: (800) 842-1420; Home phone: (203) 348-7439
E-mail: McDonald@senatedems.ct.gov

Representative Michael Lawlor:
Capitol phone: (800) 842-8267; Home phone: (203) 469-9725
E-mail: MLawlor99@juno.com

We also ask you to come to Hartford this Wednesday, March 11, to be present at the public hearing. Details on bus transportation will be available on Monday. If you would like to attend, contact your Pastor.

It is up to us to stop this unbridled abuse of governmental power.

It is time for us to defend our First Amendment rights.

It is time for us to defend our Church!

OSV Daily Take: Archbishop Naumann on Sebelius’ appointment

AP Reports:

“Barack Obama the presidential candidate used it to reveal his vice presidential choice. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis will use the same technology to share news of its next archbishop.

The archdiocese said that it believes that no other diocese in the country has used text-messaging to communicate such an announcement.

St. Louis, a traditional Catholic stronghold, has been without an archbishop since June 27, when Archbishop Raymond Burke was named as the first American to lead the Vatican supreme court.

After a new archbishop for St. Louis is announced in Rome — typically 5 a.m. St. Louis time — the archdiocese will send a text message about the new appointee to anyone who has registered on its Web site.

There is no word on when the announcement will come.”

News of St. Louis archbishop to be spread by text-message | Religion | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle

Sentiment on the choice of Milwaukee’s Archbishop Dolan for New York seems overwhelming positive.

Reuters reports:  Pope names Dolan archbishop of New York | Reuters

Described as a “champion hugger, “great communicator,” and “not an excommunicator,” Patricia Rice has a substantive article in today’s St. Louise Beacon worth reading.

H/T: Whispers in the Loggia

UPDATE:

Video highlights of remarks at morning press conference:

From CNSNews.com:

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Monday over its partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to fight human trafficking–a modern-day form of slavery–because the bishops conference does not use the money to provide emergency contraception and abortion.

Any chance the ACLU will open up its wallet and fight human trafficking?   Nah… too busy flying into Wisconsin to crush Nativity scenes.

Bishop Morlino of Madison, WI responds to Biden comments over the weekend, including the ongoing Pelosi controversy.

Some quotes:

“This has nothing to do with Democrats…this has to do with Catholics behaving like Catholics.”

“Senator Biden…is a scrappy Catholic kid from Scranton.  So am I.  I bet that back in high school, I was scrappier than he was!”

“Any human being, regardless of his faith or religious practice or having no faith, any human being can reason to the fact that human life from conception until natural dealth is sacred.  BIOLOGY, not faith, not philosophy, not any kind of theology…the best science says that at the moment of conception there is a unique individual of the human species.”

“They are stepping on the Pope’s turf, and mine, and they are violating the separation of church and state confusing God’s good people.”

“What I ask of you is in the first place to make sure that you really understand what the Church teaches.”

“This is not a homily about pro-life, and not a homily about Democrats.  It’s a homily about Catholics and catechesis.”

“Prominent Catholics should not be violating the separation between church and state, and teaching the wrong thing.”

“We [Bishops] are not holier than anyone else.  But we have a special gift from the Holy Spirit to teach, to govern, and to sanctify.”

Download the entire homily here.

Lest anyone continue to be confused, the USCCB has just issued an 11-point statement underscoring the constant teaching of the Catholic Church on the “moral evil of every procured abortion.”

The statment doesn’t mentioned names (psst, Madame Speaker), but says: “In response to those who say this teaching has changed or is of recent origin, here are the facts:”

Read it here

We just sent out a release calling Archbishop Chaput the “Rummel of our Time” for standing strong on Catholic principles for the dignity of the human person. Read the release to hear about Chaput’s courageous stand and to learn about the life of Archbishop Rummel. (Every Catholic should know Archbishop Rummel’s story!)

We’re also asking Catholics to sign a letter of thanks to Archbishop Chaput.

Visit fidelis.org to sign the letter.

Denver’s Archbishop Chaput offers more excellent commentary on the responsibilities of Catholics in public life today over at FirstThings.com.  Anytime I hear Catholics complain about “those darn Bishops,” I usually respond with two words: Charles Chaput.

A must read:

“First, surrounding a bad social policy or party platform plank—for example, permissive abortion—with religious people doesn’t redeem the bad policy or plank. It merely compromises the religious people who try to excuse it.”

…

“Obviously, we have other important issues facing us this fall: the economy, the war in Iraq, immigration justice. But we can’t build a healthy society while ignoring the routine and very profitable legalized homicide that goes on every day against America’s unborn children. The right to life is foundational. Every other right depends on it. Efforts to reduce abortions, or to create alternatives to abortion, or to foster an environment where more women will choose to keep their unborn child, can have great merit—but not if they serve to cover over or distract from the brutality and fundamental injustice of abortion itself.”

…

“Our leaders should inspire us; they should stir our hearts and call us to live the ideals that make America great. But sometimes the answer to the realities we face is not “yes, we can,” but “no, we can’t.” No, we can’t spend money like hedonists and outrun our debts forever. No, we can’t ignore the poor of the Third World and expect to be loved abroad. No, we can’t allow the killing of roughly one million unborn children a year and then posture ourselves as a moral society. No, we can’t make wicked things right by spinning them in a clever way.”

Abortionist Henry Morgentaler is apparently going to be honored by being named a member of the Order of Canada. Rob Mitchell says that people must oppose Morgentaler out of anti-Semitism, and not for the obvious objection that they oppose killing children in the womb.

Because Catholics loudly object to this honor, Mitchell takes a few cheap shots at the priesty sex abuse scandal on the logic that if 1% of priests engage in an unspeakable crime the other 99% of priests and Catholic lay people should keep their mouth shut when people are killing children in the womb and getting nice fancy awards for doing so.

Mitchell also makes the bold claim that the Catholic Church is filthy rich. To which Catholic blogger Mark Shea unloads on him:

I’ve never quite gotten the whole “The Catholic Church is rolling in dough” thing. Where exactly? Every parish I know is always scrambling to pay the light bill. From all I can tell, the Church operates on a shoestring.

Dorothy Day, not exactly a friend of the GOP fatcat type thought one of the dumbest things her fellow lefties wanted to do was demand that the Church “sell off her treasures” because churches were one of the only places that the poor could experience beauty. All that plan would result in would be a modest boost in revenue that would almost instantly evaporate (what with the Church being the largest charitable institution on the face of the earth) and the world greatest art would hencefort and forever be the inaccessible property of a few rich people. The whole “Why were these things not sold?” deal is the wisdom of Judas Iscariot. It’s most often heard in the countries, like the US and Canada, that have vast sums of wealth dwarfing the rest of the world. It’s the complaint of greedy people.

It’s a similiar argument you get from Al Gore who lectures us on greenhouse gases while driving a big SUV and sucking down enough electricity at his Tennessee Mansion to light up Rockefeller Plaza. I’ve always hated the argument that the Church must sell its priceless works of art for a temporary bounty. And it looks like Dorothy Day has the perfect answer to that!