President Obama suggested to a Northern Ireland crowd that gathered for the Group of Eight summit that parochial education leads to a divided community, irking some in the Catholic Church. “If towns remain divided — if Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another and fear or resentment are allowed to harden — that too encourages division and discourages cooperation,” he said, the Scottish Catholic Observer reported. About 2,000 were in attendance — many of whom were Catholic — and heard the remarks, The Blaze reported. Catholic World News called the timing of the comments curious, given the recent address of one archbishop who touted the many benefits of religious eduction. “Ironically, President Obama made his comments just as Archbishop Gerhard Muller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told a crowd in Scotland that religious education upholds the dignity of the human person,” the organization stated, as reported by The Blaze. “Archbishop Muller said that Catholic schools should promote ‘all that is good in the philosophies of societies and human culture.’” And the attack against the Church created by Jesus Christ continues.
The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus formed the bedrock of the early Church , and their Catholic identity is deeply rooted in their direct relationship with Christ and the mission He entrusted to them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights this foundational role, stating that Jesus "instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy'" ( CCC 860 ). These men were not simply followers; they were handpicked by Jesus, lived intimately with Him, witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand, and were specifically commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Their unique position as eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and their reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, established them as the authoritative leaders of the nascent Church, a reality echoed in the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized the apostles' authority as repre...