Learning to be Quick to Listen

As the country approaches election day in two weeks, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia is encouraging Catholic voters to place their faith above their allegiance to political parties. “I’m always encouraging our people minimally to vote, maximally to run for political office, and make sure that they’re Catholic prior to being Democrat or Republican and that they put that into practice politically,” he said. Archbishop Chaput echoed the calls of other American bishops to have their flocks consider their faith in the voting booth. “We do believe in the separation of church and state, but we don’t believe in the separation of faith from our political life,” he said. “It’s very important for Catholics to make distinctions when voting that they never support intrinsic evils like abortion, which is evil in all circumstances. That’s a lot different from different economic policies” that people can reasonably disagree on, the archbishop explained. His remarks come as an October 22 G...

The world's huge technological and scientific progress hasn't always made people freer or happier, Pope Benedict XVI said. While scientific knowledge and advancements "are important for human life, it's not enough on its own," the pope said at his weekly general audience. "We need not just material sustenance, we need love, meaning, hope and a solid foundation" that helps people live with courage even in the face of doubt, difficulties, and everyday problems, he said. Pope Benedict continued a new series of catecheses to accompany the Year of Faith, which runs until November 24, 2013. His talk focused on the nature of faith and what it means to believe. The pope said, "Despite the great magnitude of scientific discoveries and technological successes, humanity today does not seem to have become truly freer and more human." Along with signs of progress and increased well-being, there also are "many forms of exploitation, manipulation, violen...

Marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the start of a special Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI called on Catholics to revive the “authentic spirit” of Vatican II by re-proposing the church’s ancient teachings to an increasingly Godless modern world. Vatican II, Pope Benedict said, had been “animated by a desire...to immerse itself anew in the Christian mystery so as to re-propose it fruitfully to contemporary man.” He noted that Blessed John XXIII, in his speech at the opening of the council, called for both the safeguarding and the effective teaching of the “sacred deposit of Christian doctrine...this certain and immutable doctrine, which is to be faithfully respected, [and] needs to be explored and presented in a way which responds to the needs our time.” Calling for a revival in the church of the “yearning to announce Christ again to contemporary man,” the pope stressed that any new evangelization “needs to be built on a concrete and precise ba...

The teachings of the Catholic Church are coming alive for West Virginia's young Catholics through a new initiative aimed at reaching them right where they "live" -- the Internet. In association with Outside da Box, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has launched "Video Catechism for Teens" -- a free online resource for youths and young adults. The site became available October 11 to coincide with the start of the Year of Faith, instituted by Pope Benedict XVI. The yearlong program of worship, catechesis and evangelization runs to November 24, 2013. To reach the young people of the church, the diocese looked at their social experience. Findings through a recent study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that teenagers consume about 10 hours and 45 minutes of media content every day -- four hours and 29 minutes of that time is spent watching videos on the Internet or TV. "We can easily remember a time in our lives when Facebook and YouTube didn...

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a statement rebutting Vice President Joseph Biden’s claim that Catholic institutions will not be required to subsidize contraception under the new federal health-care mandate. Without mentioning Biden by name, the USCCB statement quoted a remark that the Vice President made in his October 11 debate with Republican challenger Paul Ryan: With regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact. “This is not a fact,” the USCCB statement insisted. The bishops’ statement continued: The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain "religious employers." That exemp...

The need to defend religious liberty, a key issue this year for the U.S. Catholic bishops and other religious leaders, will now have a new venue for discussion and action in a handful of state legislatures. Leaders from nine states -- Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee -- announced October 9 that they would be part of a new group of state religious freedom caucuses to develop state policies to protect religious liberties. The initiative was spearheaded by the American Religious Freedom Program, which is part of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington think tank. Tim Schultz, the program's state legislative policy director, said in a teleconference that there has been a "renewed interest in religious freedom" in the United States. He said the discussion of religious freedom should extend beyond the courts to determine proper boundaries of religious freedom and give a place in each state where people of faith...

In a survey of Catholics age 14 and older, about 12 percent of males and 10 percent of females said they considered a religious vocation at least "a little seriously," a study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University found. The findings, released October 9, give church leaders a vast array of data on which to base positive messages about religious life for teenagers and young adults, said Father Shawn McKnight, executive director of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which commissioned the survey. "When you consider 12 percent of all male youth and 10 percent of all women ... just a very small percentage (committing to a vocation) would make a tremendous difference," said Father McKnight. "The survey offers solid evidence, credible evidence to base our judgments on how to promote vocations," he added. Broken down, 3 percent of male respondents and 2 perc...

Here is a refreshing take on the definition of marriage issue. The National Football League Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk has written an opinion piece that appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune supporting free speech and marriage between one man and one woman. He writes, "Same-sex unions may not affect my marriage specifically, but it will affect my children -- the next generation. Ideas have consequences, and laws shape culture. Marriage redefinition will affect the broader well-being of children and the welfare of society. As a Christian and a citizen, I am compelled to care about both. I am speaking out on this issue because it is far too important to remain silent. People who are simply acknowledging the basic reality of marriage between one man and one woman are being labeled as "bigots" and "homophobic." Aren't we past that as a society? Don't we all have family members and friends whom we love who have same-sex attraction? Attempting to si...