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May 2013

May 17, 2013

Congressman: IRS Asked Pro-Life Group About “Content of Prayers”

Details: During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing today, Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., grilled...

May 14, 2013

Cardinal Dolan slams Governor Cuomo over abortion bill

From the New York Daily News: New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan made it clear this...

May 10, 2013

Remarkable: Christie and McGreevey and the importance of second chances—UPDATED

At a time when politics has been reduced to a bloody contact sport, this appearance...

April 2013

April 18, 2013

Gosnell backlash: how a free press becomes less free

If the press isn't responsible, the government will start trying to tell it what to...

April 04, 2013

Attorneys General urge HHS exemption for businesses

Hot on the heels of this item, about a deacon who won his case against...

April 03, 2013

North Carolina may declare an official state religion under new bill

Details: Republican North Carolina state legislators have proposed allowing an official state religion in a measure that...

March 2013

March 25, 2013

Biden attends Cardinal Dolan’s Palm Sunday Mass at St. Patrick’s

And before anyone asks: yes, he evidently did receive communion. Details: Vice President Joe Biden attended...

March 22, 2013

Obama visits Bethlehem

From CNS: U.S. President Barack Obama, visiting the West Bank city of Bethlehem, stopped twice...

March 13, 2013

Obama on possibility of an American pope: “Bishops in U.S. don’t seem to be taking orders from me”

He spoke with ABC News this morning and in a wide-ranging interview touched on the...

March 12, 2013

Sister act: nun charged with voter fraud

It happened during the presidential election last fall: An Ohio nun was charged with voter...

March 10, 2013

The Donilon brothers: one’s boss is the President, the other’s may be the next pope

Here's something you don't hear about every day. From the Washington Post: Shortly after arriving...

March 04, 2013

How is Catholicism like politics?

E.J. Dionne has some interesting answers in the Washington Post today, and draws insight from...

February 2013

February 23, 2013

Maryland bill would allow citizens to pick their own gender

From my home state, some facepalm-inducing legislation, courtesy Mark Shea: Senate Bill 449 would remove...

February 07, 2013

Obama at prayer breakfast: “We place our faith in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ…”

Details: For his fifth year, President Barack Obama attended the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning...

February 01, 2013

Obama offers new religious opt-out for HHS mandate—UPDATED WITH REACTION

From AP: The Obama administration is announcing a broader opt-out for religious nonprofits that object...

January 2013

January 25, 2013

More about excommunicating Catholic politicians

I posted on this issue some days back. Now, canon lawyer Ed Peters adds more: ...

January 21, 2013

Blanco’s poem: a whiff of Whitman at the inauguration

I detected a little of Walt Whitman in Richard Blanco's poem this afternoon. He hears...

January 21, 2013

At Biden swearing in: “Walk humbly with your God…”

For those who may have missed it: the prayer delivered by Rev. Kevin O'Brien, S.J....

January 20, 2013

The question of Governor Cuomo and excommunication

In the wake of Governor Andrew Cuomo's radical proposals on reproductive health—which I preached about here—some...

January 20, 2013

Obama set to name a Catholic as his chief of staff

The Washington Post notes: The man in line to become President Obama’s next chief of...

January 16, 2013

Obama picks Episcopal priest for inauguration prayer

He replaces Louie Giglio, the evangelical pastor who found himself in hot water for his...

January 15, 2013

Sweeping new abortion bill in New York: “It defies common sense”

Last week, Cardinal Timothy Dolan raised his objections to proposed abortion legislation in New York....

January 09, 2013

Engaging the opposition: Cardinal Dolan shows how it’s done in his letter to Governor Cuomo

With a grateful h/t to my blog neighbor Frank, here's the text of the letter...

January 09, 2013

What can you do about Catholics who support same-sex marriage?

Well, despite what you may think, you can't just automatically excommunicate them. Canon lawyer Ed...

January 09, 2013

Who will be the next ambassador to the Vatican?

NCR's John Allen speculates: President Barack Obama needs to find a new envoy to the...

January 08, 2013

A first: Obama chooses laywoman to give invocation at inaugural

From the Washington Post: President Obama has picked Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of slain civil rights...

December 2012

December 20, 2012

Catholics take over America

Trivia buffs, take note: If Senator John Kerry is nominated and confirmed to be Secretary...

December 19, 2012

Report: Obamacare could drive religious order out of the U.S.

Details, from the Daily Caller: A religious order of nuns is concerned about its future...

December 18, 2012

Cardinal O’Malley calls for larger Catholic presence in politics and media

From Catholic News Agency: Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston says the Church needs more...

December 14, 2012

Bobby Jindal: sell birth control over the counter

The Catholic governor of Louisiana made his recommendation in an opinion piece in today's Wall...