When the “The Exorcist” premiered 50 years ago, in December 1973, some theatergoers fainted or broke down in tears. A few even vomited.
The film, which cast a young Linda Blair as a girl claiming to be possessed by the devil, was an almost instant success, with moviegoers waiting in line for hours to secure tickets. It went on to gross over US$440 million worldwide.
Read the full story
Students at Centennial High School in Circle Pines, Minn., are assigned to read “The Poet X,” a novel that has been banned in other districts which are concerned about its sexual content.
The Poet X is a collection of poems that tell the story of a young girl named Xiomara and “the conflict between Xiomara’s religion and the expression of her sexuality,” per Carnegie Mellon University’s Banned Books Project. This central theme is “explored in depth” throughout the work, the project reports.
Read the full story
President Biden’s Summit for Democracy hasn’t yet provoked the sort of debate about Biden’s relationship to his church that abortion has. But questions about the president’s adherence to church teaching may be as applicable to democracy as it is to a woman’s right to choose since, in both cases, Roman Catholicism has much to say. In the case of democracy, Americans used to view Rome, a hierarchical church that had a long history of cooperation with emperors and monarchs, as an arch opponent of the nation’s democratic politics. Until the 1960s, the perception may have been accurate, but today it is a relic of an earlier era in church history.
One question that emerged after the Summit for Democracy is whether Biden’s faith might explain the presence of nations who seem to lean more authoritarian than democratic. As the story in the New York Times put it, “It was no surprise that China and Russia were not included, but the administration was second-guessed for its decision to invite other countries with checkered human rights records, like the Philippines and Nigeria, while excluding NATO allies Turkey and Hungary, both led by rulers with authoritarian streaks.”
Read the full story
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone rebuked Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi Thursday for calling herself a “devout Catholic” in her defense of taxpayer funded abortion.
“Let me repeat,” the San Francisco archbishop said in a statement. “No one can claim to be a devout Catholic and condone the killing of innocent human life, let alone have the government pay for it. The right to life is a fundamental — the most fundamental — human right, and Catholics do not oppose fundamental human rights.”
Read the full story
Catholic parishes, schools, and dioceses have for years responded to transgenderism by simply ignoring the issue altogether. But that’s starting to change, largely because the problem is getting too big for churches to ignore.
“My sense is that nearly every parish includes families with loved ones grappling with identity issues or gender dysphoria,” Mary Rice Hasson told The American Spectator.
Hasson, who directs the Catholic Women’s Forum at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, recently founded an initiative called the Person and Identity Project, which aims to equip Catholic parishes and schools with resources to combat gender ideology.
Read the full story
Florida State University has settled a lawsuit filed by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) on behalf of Jack Denton, the former Student Senate President who was removed from his role for criticizing Black Lives Matter.
After the death of George Floyd, Denton advised fellow students in a Catholic group chat not to donate to Black Lives Matter, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) or Reclaim the Block, leftist organizations who support anti-Catholic teachings.
Read the full story
Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pontiff while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival.
The papal thumbs-up came midway through the film that delves into issues Francis cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination.
Read the full story
The U.S. Navy has reportedly ended Catholic church services on San Diego-area bases for cost purposes, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The Navy declined to renew contracts with priests who were contracted to assist the Chaplain Corps, an active-duty group containing few Catholic clergy members, according to a Tribune report on Saturday. The new changes are from a national realignment announced in August.
Read the full story
Democrat Joe Biden has built his half-century in politics largely on the myth that he is a faithful Catholic with working class roots. In reality Biden is neither a faithful Catholic, nor a friend of America’s blue-collar citizens.
Read the full story
Pope Francis rejected a proposal Wednesday that would have allowed priests in remote areas to be married.
Read the full story
The House version of Ohio’s heartbeat bill passed out of committee Tuesday, but not before a final round of impassioned debate. The House Health Committee heard from four final witnesses, some of whom represented religious organizations opposed to the bill. Gaby Garcia-Vera with Catholics for Choice, for instance, claimed during his testimony that the “majority of Catholics” support abortion. “Catholic teaching reveres individual conscience as the final arbiter in moral decision-making. As Catholics, we are called by our faith to follow our consciences when we make moral decisions about our lives. We also deeply respect the right of others to do the same,” he said. “Catholics support each woman’s ability to make personal choices that are right for herself and her family, including whether to become or remain pregnant, according to her own beliefs and based on her own conscience. Rather than respecting women’s consciences, as our Catholic faith compels us to do, SB 23 would allow politicians to decide whether and when a woman can access abortion care.” Elaina Ramsey, executive director of the Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, said during her testimony that the heartbeat bill “does not reflect the values of the majority of Ohioans and…
Read the full story
Pope Francis has once again trotted into political territory, calling on the masses to not just feed and clothe but also open border doors and shelter strangers from lands far and away. His words? European nations, all the developed nations, need to welcome more migrants. Well, isn’t that special. Now what about Vatican City? Hold that…
Read the full story