Learning to be Quick to Listen

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco led those participating in the March for Marriage in prayer today, as the Supreme Court hears arguments on the first of two cases about same-sex "marriage. It is truly inspiring to know that so many people from so many walks of life, including many young people, are expressing their support for marriage,” he said of the march. March 26 is the first day of oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the case Hollingsworth v. Perry. The lawsuit challenges California’s Proposition 8, a state measure recognizing marriage as existing solely between a man and a woman.
 Hollingsworth v. Perry is one of two cases on same-sex "marriage" that the court will consider this year. The other, being argued tomorrow, challenges the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. “It is my hope and prayer that the Supreme Court will uphold Proposition 8 and DOMA, respecting the very nature of t...

New proposed regulations governing the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act continue to violate basic principles of religious freedom, said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In comments filed with the Department of Health and Human Services, the USCCB raised a series of concerns, among them being that the new proposals keep in place "an unjust and unlawful mandate" regarding the provision of contraceptive and other pregnancy services and that the rules provide no exemption, or accommodation, for "most stakeholders in the health insurance process, such as individual employees and for-profit employers," who are morally opposed to such coverage. Other objections raised in the comments include: An "unreasonable and unlawfully narrow" exemption for some nonprofit religious organizations, primarily houses of worship; limited accommodation for religious employers that continues to require those employers falling outside of the government...

Pope Francis is known for his informal style. This has charmed the masses, but doesn’t work so well over the phone. According to a story in the Daily Mail, the pontiff rang a Vatican receptionist directly, which is apparently a papal no-no. The disbelieving man thought the call was a prank, and said, “Oh, yes? And I’m Napoleon.” Luckily, Francis has the patience of a saint, and he convinced the man he was the real deal. The pope wanted to be connected with Adolfo Nicolas, the superior general of his old Jesuit order. He told the disbeliever, “I really am Pope Francis. Do not worry, Andreas, just connect me with Father General, I would like to thank him for the charming letter.” The receptionist realized his error, because who else talks like that? A Vatican expert explained that the pope doesn’t usually make his own calls—that's done through a secretary. But the humble man hailing from Argentina, known for cooking his own food, living in his own apartment and riding the bus to work...

The day after he was elected, Pope Francis emphasized that every believer – including bishops, cardinals and Popes – must proclaim Jesus crucified to be true Christians. “We can build so many things but if we don’t confess Jesus Christ, then something is wrong. We will become a pitiful NGO, but not the Church, spouse of Christ,” Pope Francis said in his March 14 homily. “He who doesn't pray to God prays to the Devil,” the Pope added in an apparent quote. Pope Francis made his remarks at the Mass to close the conclave on Thursday evening in the Sistine Chapel with all of the cardinal electors present. He asserted that the common theme to all three of today’s Scripture readings “is movement: the first reading, the movement of walking; the second reading, the movement of building; and the third, the Gospel, is in confession. To walk, to build, to confess. But, it's not such an easy thing,” he noted. “In walking, in building, in confession, sometimes there are shocks, there are mov...

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76 was elected the 266th pope and took the name Francis. The election March 13 came on the first full day of the conclave on the conclave's fifth ballot. It was a surprisingly quick conclusion to a conclave that began with many plausible candidates and no clear favorite. The Latin American pope, a Jesuit, was chosen by at least two-thirds of the 115 cardinals from 48 countries, who cast their ballots in secret in the Sistine Chapel. His election was announced in Latin from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, to a massive crowd in the square below and millions watching around the world. White smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney at 7:05 p.m. signaling that the cardinals had chosen a successor to retired Pope Benedict XVI. At 7:07 p.m., the bells of St. Peter's Basilica began pealing continuously to confirm the election. Cardinal Bergoglio has had a growing reputation as a very spiritual man with a talent for pastoral leaders...

Over 35,000 people have signed up for PopeAlarm.com , a service of the Fellowship of Catholic University students that sends out a free text and e-mail alert when the next Pope is elected. “The reaction has been fantastic and overwhelming,” said Kevin Cotter, FOCUS web director. “It’s been great to be at the forefront of Catholic new media and getting the word out there.” Demand for the service has been high since its launch on Saturday March 9. As of Monday morning, over 35,000 people had registered for the service. The PopeAlarm.com website received over 140,000 page views. “It’s really exploded and caught on fire,” Cotter said. “There’s a lot of social media traction.” FOCUS staff will use the service to notify registered users when white smoke appears from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, the traditional signal that the next Pope has been elected. It is sponsored by the organization, which is based in the Denver area. Cotter was inspired to launch the site because he could not...

A telephone survey commissioned by the Knights of Columbus found that U.S. Catholics think favorably of Pope Benedict XVI, who retired in February. The Marist poll, taken March 2-5 -- the week after Pope Benedict's February 28 retirement took effect -- found that Catholics held favorable impressions of the retired pontiff's tenure, his impact on their lives and the direction of both the church and the world. In the poll, 77 percent of all U.S. Catholics, and 82 percent of practicing Catholics, said they had ether a "positive" or "very positive" impression of the retired pope's pontificate. Asked about the outgoing pope himself, 69 percent of Catholics and 75 percent of practicing Catholics had a "positive" or "very positive" view of him. Similarly, 68 percent of Catholics and 77 percent of practicing Catholics said he had a "positive" or "very positive" impact on their life. Seventy percent of Catholics and 75 perc...