US Supreme Court Accepts Religion Case: Will Legislative Prayer Survive Religious Censorship?

By Keith A. Fournier • Catholic Online • 5/21/2013

The case out of New York presents an opportunity for the US Supreme Court to bring needed clarity to Establishment Clause jurisprudence. I hope they do so. We have witnessed a growing governmental hostility toward religious faith and expression in the public square. It does not serve the common ...

Two Oklahoma men killed in tornadoes; Kansas, Iowa batten down for severe weather

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

Two Oklahoma men have been killed in tornadoes that have wracked several Midwest states. At least 29 others have been injured on account of the severe storm battering the state, along with people in Kansas and Iowa. Extreme conditions are expected to linger across the Midwest. LOS ANGELES, ...

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Is the 'human cost' in the war on drugs too high?

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

With millions of civilians, soldiers and criminals all dead, and no change in sight, a summit of Latin American nations has suggested that the best path may be to decriminalize drug use, while stressing cooperation between nations. The Organization of American States has suggested that ...

High-tech Indiana Jones team discovers the fabled lost city of Ciudad Blanca

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/16/2013

Scientists have discovered what they believe could be Ciudad Blanca, a fabled lost city hidden deep within the jungles of Honduras. Using airborne lasers to scan the ground beneath the dense jungle canopy, scientists have found what appears to be an entire city filled with temple mounds, canals, ...

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Pentecostal Pope Calls Ecclesial Movements and the Whole Church to Newness, Unity and Mission

By Deacon Keith Fournier • Catholic Online • 5/21/2013

These words, as well as his continued message spoken in both word and deed, demonstrate that this is a Pope led in a profound way by the Holy Spirit. Thus, I refer to him as a Pentecostal Pope. Our Pentecostal Pope has called the Ecclesial Movements and the whole Church to newness, unity and ...

AU CONTRAIRE! Economic crisis has been 'pulling European public opinion apart'

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/17/2013

Strong-headed and opinionated, the French have their likes and dislikes: They dislike Americans, but like our music and films; they like, smoking and garlic; and they supposedly love the European Union. However -a recent poll by the Pew Research Center finds that their love affair with the ...

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Elements of Syrian opposition feared to be aligned with al-Qaeda

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

While the western world generally hates the repressive regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has unleashed his military wrath against armed civilians - the ones most likely to rise up and take arms against Bashar are the west's most ardent foes. There are growing fears that the rebel ...

You'll be surprised to see what Palestinians are smuggling into Gaza

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/17/2013

When we think of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we may think about people with conflicting ideologies fighting over territory, or fighting for revenge, or fighting for rights. We don't normally think about fighting over - chicken. NEW YORK, NY (Catholic Online) - According to the New York Times, ...

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Indian families go to drastic measures to protect daughters from rape

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/16/2013

Ever since a medical student was brutally gang raped on a speeding bus in Delhi, India, the Indian media has reported on countless other instances of girls and young women being abducted, raped, tortured and killed. Father-led families here have sought to curtail this by severely limiting their ...

Savage and Deadly, Cyclone Mahasen batters Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, moves into India

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/16/2013

Cyclone Mahasen battered southern coast of Bangladesh, turning remote fishing villages upside down with heavy rain and fierce winds. More than one million people have been evacuated as straw huts have been pounded flat. Mahasen also touched down in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and is now working its ...

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U.S. diplomat says that Special Ops were Halted in Benghazi Attacks

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/8/2013

U.S. diplomat Gregory Hicks says that while the U.S. diplomatic compound in eastern Libya came under attack the night of Sept. 11, 2012, the deputy head of the embassy in Tripoli tried to get the Pentagon to scramble fighter jets over Benghazi. Hicks says that this may have averted a second attack ...

After the revolution - Starvation and regret become commonplace in Egypt

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/6/2013

When Egypt, both the Arab world and Africa's most populous nation rose up to depose President Hosni Mubarak two years ago, hopes ran high that a new regime would usher in a new era of economic prosperity. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the Egyptian economy has stagnated, the ...

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'Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was!' Virginia GOP nominee says

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

"Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was!" Those are the words from the outspoken and charismatic E.W. Jackson, an African-American pastor and attorney from Chesapeake, Virginia. Jackson, the Virginia GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, made these comments ...

Food stamps hang in the balance as lawmakers debate cost

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/19/2013

Following the economic collapse of 2008, it's estimated that one in seven households rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps. However, lawmakers are proposing drastic cuts to the program, saying the cots outweigh the benefits. With a slate of cuts ...

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China, India, Brazil could dominate global investment by 2030

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/19/2013

A major global shift in the next 15 or more years will result in the developing world controlling roughly half of the world's capital, up from less than a third today. In other words, "financial markets in economies like Brazil, India, and those of the Middle East will develop ...

Unemployment in U.S. comes roaring back - in a big way

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/16/2013

For the week ending May 11, the number of American applying for unemployment benefits rose sharply, too soon after hitting a five-year low the previous week. According to the Labor Department, first-time unemployment claims jumped 32,000 to 360,000, the highest reported since March. The ...

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Enough to make a T-rex cry: 'Jurassic Park 4' is on hold

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/9/2013

Dinosaur fans - don't get your hopes up. The hotly anticipated sequel to the famous dinosaur series, "Jurassic Park 4," intended to be released this summer, has been put on hold. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "Universal has decided to release 'Jurassic Park 4' at a later date giving the ...

Special effects mastermind Ray Harryhausen dies

By Greg Goodsell • Catholic Online • 5/7/2013

Computer generated imagery - or as it is called, CGI, has given movies of today an unlimited palette in which to sketch fantastical sights to movie audiences. It wasn't always that way. In the case of movie special effects mastermind Ray Harryhausen, it was literally a case of one movie ...

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Turning the Pages of Catholic History

By Tim Lilley • Catholic Online • 12/12/2012

"Men are surprised by each new turn of the pages of the book of history." With those words, esteemed historian James Hitchcock introduces readers to HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - from the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium. The new book is available now from Ignatius Press SAN FRANCISCO, DEC. ...

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Mother of TV psychologists Dr. Joyce Brothers dies at 85

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/14/2013

It all started out of necessity, Dr. Joyce Brothers insisted. Her husband was still in medical school and she had just given up her teaching positions at Hunter College and Columbia University to be at home with her newborn. Struggling for income, Brothers entered the TV game show "The ...

The British are coming! New Head of NBC Division said to be Deborah Turness

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/10/2013

Deborah Turness, the head of Britain's ITV News, is expected to become the president of NBC News. According to several people with knowledge of the appointment, the formal announcement could come as soon as this Monday. If appointed, Turness would be the first woman president of a network ...

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Blonde songstress of Abba to release new album after years of silence

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/9/2013

The sale of untold millions of albums, in addition to being one of Sweden's top exports did little to assuage the fears and insecurities of the lovely Agnetha Fältskog, the blonde songstress in the super group quartet Abba. An intense fear of flying, coupled with a disastrous trip across the United ...

Father Pontifex is back with The Symphony and the Static

By Marshall Connolly, Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 4/30/2013

If you enjoy good music with a good message, then there's a chance you already know about Father Pontifex. If not, then you're missing out. Father Claude Burns, a.k.a "Pontifex" is a priest from Evansville, Indiana with a talent for spoken word. Father Pontifex says he is dedicated to changing the ...

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Rome's Exorcist Finding Blessed John Paul II Effective Against Satan

By David Kerr • Catholic News Agency • 5/18/2011

I have asked the demon more than once, 'Why are you so scared of John Paul II and I have had two different responses, both interesting. One, 'because he disrupted my plans.' And, I think that he is referring to the fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. The collapse of communism."Another ...

A Monk Reflects on Divine Mercy and the Sacred Heart of Jesus

By Fr. Gregory Gresko, OSB • Catholic Online • 5/8/2011

In the message of Divine Mercy, Jesus expresses His intimate desire to enter into the temple of our heart, but for Him to be able to enter we first must open the door of our heart to His Divine Love.  May we plunge into the love and mercy that emanate from His Sacred ...

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Has Justin Bieber's 'bad boy' stance gone too far? Pot smelled on tour bus

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 4/25/2013

Pop singing sensation Justin Bieber with the arrival of his 18th birthday has been anxious to shed his "goody two-shoes" image. Posting shirtless pictures of himself on the Internet, Bieber wants the world to know that he's a grown man and not the bubbly teenager of yore. It may have just ...

Comedian Jonathan Winters dies at 87

By Greg Goodsell • Catholic Online • 4/12/2013

The cliché term "comic genius" is used too frequently, but was highly appropriate for Jonathan Winters. His "stream of consciousness" style - where he would flit from one character to the next, without scripting, inspired many other comics, in particular Robin Williams. The younger comic ...

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Answering The Question About Why You School Your Children At Home

By Tara K. E. Brelinsky • Catholic Online • 4/3/2013

The important lesson here is to seek God's plan for the education of your children, not your mom's or your father-in-law's plan. Once He plants the seed of your vocation in your heart, nurture it and protect against discouragement by others who have another vocation. You are fully capable of ...

What is Your Vocation?

By Tara K. E. Brelinsky • Catholic Online • 3/14/2013

I guess I'd have to admit my own excitement at the realization that I've successfully completed another home schooling year with my sanity in tact (mostly).  Although I might also be spied taking some extra deep breaths and wringing my hands as I navigate the half-opened boxes and packing ...

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Combating the Secularist Elitist Attack on Motherhood: Learning from Jesus and Mary

By F. K. Bartels • Catholic Online • 5/17/2013

United to her Son, Mary provides the example of motherhood par excellence. The Father chose Mary, with her human, maternal and feminine nature, to bring salvation to the world in his Son. As we reflect on this one fact, we discover that nothing greater can be said of motherhood. GLADE PARK, CO ...

Freeing Ourselves from the Hideous Strength of Contraception and Abortion

By Andrew M. Greenwell, Esq. • Catholic Online • 5/16/2013

Contraception as a social policy, as a good to be pursued, must be rejected for what it is: a moral and social evil, an ignoble lie.  And the fictitious "right to privacy" which protects it and all its wicked progeny, should be abandoned for what it is: an exercise of "raw judicial ...

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See what EXPLOSIVE revelations about infidelity and children this author discovered

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 4/25/2013

Adultery is a serious offense. The Bible speaks about the sacred bond of marriage and the importance of faithfulness to your spouse. However, in modern times we have lost much of this morality to corrosive influences and the apparently widespread acceptance that infidelity is both common and almost ...

Why Wait for Marriage? Just Look at the Faces of those Who Did!

By Ian Johnstone • Catholic-Link • 2/8/2013

In today's video we witness a special event: two individuals who have said yes to God's plan for our sexuality. They have waited till marriage and are speaking to the camera on the day of their wedding. The man is ecstatic and overwhelmed with joy as he explains while choking back tears, "For us ...

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Killer whale with missing fins cared for by its pod family

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

t's a contradiction that is both amazing and heart-warming. Killer whales are known as voracious predators in the high seas, but a disabled killer whale with missing fins is thriving and surviving with the help of his extended "pod" family. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The young ...

Atheists to have their books placed atop Gideon Bibles

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

A national atheist group is planning to put its literature into a hotel room near you, if given the chance. the atheists are already moving with plans to put their literature into Georgia lodgings. ATLANTA, GA (Catholic Online) - Imagine settling into your hotel bed, almost ready to sleep. Before ...

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United Nations: A cure for world hunger - eat bugs

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/14/2013

With much of the world going to bed hungry every night, the United Nations is now espousing a solution that is inexpensive and is immediately accessible to all: People should just start eating bugs. That's right, experts say that such untapped foodstuffs as grasshoppers, ants and other ...

NuVal system providing an easier way to choose healthy foods

By Marshall Connolly, Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 4/17/2013

For customers at nearly thirty supermarket chains across the nation, there's now an easier way to decipher the nutritional value of their product selections. Known as NuVal, a private scoring system has been developed to help consumers tell if they're really getting the nutrition they think they're ...

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How to meet that special someone this Valentine's Day

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 2/14/2013

If you're single this Valentine's Day, take heart - there are a lot of places in which to meet other people who are anxious to get to know you! Let's cross off the most obvious one - single bars. With their loud, deafening music, and alcohol-impaired patrons, chances of finding someone worthwhile ...

Making A List? Check It Twice! (4 Men, 4 Lessons)

By Catherine Perry • Catholic Match: Blog • 7/10/2011

In her quest for Mr. Right, a devout single woman from New York encountered four different prospects -- and was surprised by what she discovered. Before my spiritual awakening - one that I can partially thank CatholicMatch for - I'd had a very limited understanding of what prayer was. I'd ...

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Vitamin D found beneficial in treating asthma symptoms

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

Asthma, an inflammatory disease of the airways, causes the airways to constrict, Attacks of breathlessness and wheezing can prove to be fatal. Now, according to researchers in the United Kingdom, Vitamin D could help asthma patients breathe more easily. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - ...

UK to give cancer patients genetic analysis just like Angelina Jolie

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

A new development is most remarkable in light of the fact that the United Kingdom's health care is chiefly part of the taxpayer-funded National Health Service. Britain has announced a program that would let all cancer patients to have the same genetic analysis that led Hollywood star ...

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Abbey of St. Foy is longtime medieval pilgrimage route

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 1/17/2013

The Abbey of St. Foy, nestled in the hills of southern France is a beautiful Romanesque church perfectly aligned with its surroundings. The tiny village of Conque that surrounds the abbey echoes its pointed towers in the surrounding architecture. The abbey is also the only medieval shrine ...

Austere Abbaye de Fonteny filled only with light

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 12/5/2012

Found in the Burgundy Valley, the Abbaye de Fontenay is a well-restored 12th-century Cistercian monastery founded by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The inside and outside of the structure is simple and unadorned. While Bernard of Clairvaux did not attempt to reject art or beauty, he was cautious of ...

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Archbishop José H. Gomez at Franciscan University: In this Time of Mission

By Archbishop José H. Gomez • Catholic Online • 5/21/2013

Our mission is to continue his mission. To redeem that little part of the world that we live in - our homes, the places where we work, our neighborhoods. To sanctify reality. To build a world of love, the family of God. And we do that by helping our loved ones and the people we meet every day to ...

Brother and Sister Plant It Forward at UST

By Anna Roark, University of St. Thomas • University of St. Thomas • 5/20/2013

What do siblings with a thriving software company, Bridgway Software, have in common with Houston's urban organic farming and refugees from Africa's troubled Congo? They are elements of a radical idea turned non-profit company called Plant It Forward Farms, driven by University of St. Thomas alumni ...

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St. Catherine of Sienna Calls Each One of Us to Love God Right Where We Are

By Deacon Keith Fournier • Catholic Online • 4/30/2013

While praying at Peter's tomb, she experienced the great weight of the Church fall on her shoulders, and she offered herself and her suffering as a "victim" for the renewal of the Church. On April 29 of that year, around midday, God called her to Himself. Days before her death, she wrote, "If I ...

The Vision of St. John Bosco and the Papacy of Benedict XVI

By Deacon Keith Fournier • Catholic Online • 2/2/2013

Does the heroic leadership of Pope Benedict XVI represent one more fulfillment of the prophetic vision of the Saint whose Feast we celebrate? Pope Benedict XVI is steering the Ship through troubled waters, charting a path through those sure pillars of protection and heavenly aid. St. John Bosco, ...

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Lovely but deadly - beautiful bubbles in Canadian lake are flammable methane gas

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

It may look beautiful, but they definitely have the potential to be destructive. As is they were clouds perched in the sky on a sunny day, the white and billowy bubbles in the frozen blue waters of Alberta, Canada's Abraham Lake are lovely - but these bubbles don't contain air. They're full of ...

Oldest water in the world discovered beneath the earth's surface

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/16/2013

A pocket of water some 2.6 billion years old recently discovered in an old mine in Canada two miles beneath the earth's surface. The discovery marks the most ancient pocket of water found by far, older even than the dawn of multi-cellular life. The remarkable find has raised new theories ...

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California teenager invents device that can charge cell phone in 20 seconds - flat

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

Called the supercapacitor, this revolutionary device can charge a cell phone within just 20 seconds. The brainchild of 18-year-old Esha Khare of Saratoga, California, the lucky teen collected $50,000 at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona this week. ...

MULTIVERSE DISCOVERY - First solid proof of other universes besides ours

By Marshall Connolly, Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/20/2013

Cosmologists think they have evidence that could help prove that our universe is just one of many others. So far, the "multiverse theory" has been a controversial notion without hard evidence to support it. That may now change. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Cosmologists studying the highly ...

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Archbishop José H. Gomez on Praying for Priests and Promoting Vocations

By Archbishop José H. Gomez • The Tidings • 11/20/2012

Every priest is a sacrament - a sign and instrument that brings men and women to the encounter with the living God. So in this Year of Faith, we need to refocus ourselves, especially in our families, on helping men to hear this beautiful and noble calling from Jesus. BALTIMORE, MD (The Tidings) - I ...

COL EXCLUSIVE: Fr. Pontifex - See what this priest does to deliver his powerful message

By Marshall Connolly (Catholic Online) • Catholic Online • 11/19/2012

He is a growing personality in the Catholic world and represents a new movement to engage the youth and reconvert the lost. Is he the Pope? A new bishop? A pop star? Well, he's not any of these things - yet. However, Fr. Pontifex, may eventually be all three, God willing. EVANSVILLE, IN (Catholic ...

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Washington state legalizes same-sex marriage, pot

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 12/6/2012

New laws legalizing same-sex "marriages" and marijuana consumption took effect in Washington state at midnight on Wednesday, sparking statewide celebrations. Same sex couples lined the streets hoping to obtain state permission to marry and marijuana advocates gathered outdoors to light up in ...

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Unprecedented kindness - Boston Marathon to call back runners who couldn't finish

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/16/2013

Several thousand runners who did not get to finish the Boston Marathon because of the terrorist bombings, will be invited back next year. According to Boston officials, about 5,600 runners will get a second chance to finish the race in 2014. BOSTON, MA (Catholic Online) - The Boston Marathon is an ...

Soccer superstar David Beckham hits the showers - for good

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/16/2013

Everyone knows who David Beckham is. Even in the United States, where soccer is not the major athletic activity as it is around the world is familiar with the footballer's prowess and the saying "Bend it like Beckham." His marriage to former Spice Girl and fashion designer, Victoria, also ...

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A Layman's Plea for Tolerance of Catholics

By Jason DeSena Trennert • Catholic Online • 1/1/2013

For all those inclined to revile the Church and what it stands for, practicing Catholics like me have a humble request - attend any mass at any time at any Catholic church in the world.  It won't take more than an hour of your time, you won't be asked to convert, and I can promise you that the ...

A Question For The Christmas Season: Do You Want To Become A Saint?

By F. K. Bartels • Catholic Online • 12/31/2012

Who and what is a saint, and why should anyone want to be one? Is it in any way important to think about the saints? What do their lives mean for our lives? Given the nature of our modern, hyper-energized and technologically advanced world, are they still relevant today? On the other hand, could ...

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The Power of the Resurrection in our Lives: Christ Is Risen; Indeed, He Is Risen!

By F. K. Bartels • Catholic Online • 4/6/2013

There is great cause for belief in the Resurrection. One of the most wonderful tenets of Catholicism and the true Christian religion the Church transmits, is that the Resurrection is a historical event. We do not believe Christ is resurrected only because we are told he is, nor only because we read ...

The Surprise of Easter

By Fr. Randy Sly • Catholic Online • 3/31/2013

To make sure that all mankind knows that it is not over but actually just beginning, God has an Easter bombshell. While we may have been able to anticipate the wondrous joy of a day of resurrection, the first Easter was a complete surprise. WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Christ is risen! He is ...

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