Catholic Culture: A US district court judge has dismissed a challenge to the HHS mandate brought by Franciscan University of Steubenville and the Michigan Catholic Conference. Read more here.
Category: Persecution of the Church
ND Theology Prof Publishes Book Denying Persecution of Early Christians
Here’s a clip from Candida Moss’ book: The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom “The Sunday school narrative of a church of martyrs, of Christians huddled in catacombs out of fear, meeting in secret to avoid … Continue reading
178 Christian Homes Torched / Shahbaz Bhatti Memorial Vandalized
Lahore,India AsiaNews: The memorial dedicated to Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Catholic minister of Minority Affairs murdered in 2011, was vandalised in broad daylight last Saturday. More on this here.
Father Ratzinger’s 1969 ‘Prophecy’ of a Small, Poor, Destitute Church
Vatican Insider: A restructured Church with far fewer members that is forced to let go of many places of worship it worked so hard to build over the centuries. A minority Catholic Church with little influence over political decisions, that is … Continue reading
China to Next Pope: Break with Taiwan and Leave China’s Catholics to Us
Vatican Insider: China has sent a message to the new Pope who will be elected in March, calling on him to break the Holy See’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan and to refrain from interfering in its internal affairs in the name of … Continue reading
China Releases Some Political ‘Dissidents’ Not Catholic Clergy
AsiaNews: The Chinese government has started to release pro-democracy dissidents from the “re-education through labor” camps (laojiao). The releases were made ahead of the end of their sentences, but Catholic priests and bishops remain in the communist regime’s labor camps. AsiaNews sources have … Continue reading
Some Bishops Affirm They’d Go to Jail Rather Than Comply with HHS Mandate
LifeSite News: As the Obama administration and the U.S. Bishops remain locked in battle over the HHS mandate, the question on the minds of many observers is: what lengths are the bishops willing to go to to oppose the mandate? … Continue reading
Pakistan: Sentenced to Death for ‘Blasphemy’ Prisoner Wins Appeal
Meanwhile Catholic Asia Bibi still waits for her appeal hearing to be scheduled. AsiaNews: After the young girl Rimsha Masih, the Pakistani Christian community can celebrate the acquittal on appeal of a man sentenced to death – without evidence and on the … Continue reading
Canadian Law Prof Out to ‘Queer’ Catholic Schools, Especially Children
LifeSite News: [Donn] Short laments, however, that Bill 13’s homosexual outreach is not directed at elementary grades, where he says it is most needed. “I have argued elsewhere, and earlier in this paper, that cultural transformation must include and begin at … Continue reading
Petition on White House Website Wants Catholic Church Labeled Hate Group
CNA: An online petition asking the White House to designate the Catholic Church as a “hate group” for its views on marriage is drawing criticism for generating unjust animosity. More here.
China: New Year Penal Code Reform, Just Words?
AsiaNews: Hebei priests and faithful are eagerly awaiting the return of their bishops and priests who have disappeared in police custody for years. From 1st January 2013, their hope of seeing their pastors, some detainees without trial for 15 years and … Continue reading
Socialist France Has Traditional Catholic Orgs Under Surveillance
“Hardline” Catholics may soon be prosecuted in France — and deported, if new president Francois Hollande and his socialists have their way. The newly established “National Observatory of Secularism” is rather Orwellian in its effort to intimidate, putting “creationists” and “ultra-traditional … Continue reading
Bishop Thaddeus Ma Still Under House Arrest: His Refections
The forty-four year-old auxiliary bishop is still confined under house detention in the seminary of Shanghai, which was shut down after his arrest last July 7 in retaliation for his courageous public resignation from the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association. He … Continue reading
Blaspheming Abortion Mob Stopped From Attacking Cathedral During Vespers
CNA: On Nov. 1 a mob of abortion supporters and anti-clerical leftists in Argentina tried to deface the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires but was turned away by the police and a human chain of Catholics. Read more here.
Under Sharia, Conversion = Persecution and Martyrdom
Catholic Culture: If you lived under a militantly Muslim regime and wanted to convert to Christianity, you would probably assume you could quietly make contact with one of the small Catholic communities in your region and so seek entrance into the … Continue reading
