Someone sent me this image of Facebook. It's obviously Photoshopped, but it sure conveys the feeling of the Obama administration's decision, doesn't it?

Under the headline “Contraceptive mandate could face tough sledding in Supreme Court” the LA Times is reporting:

The Supreme Court and the Obama administration, already headed for a face-off in March over the constitutionality of the healthcare law, appear to be on another collision course over whether church-run schools, universities, hospitals and charities must provide free contraceptives to their students and employees.

The dispute stems from one of the more popular parts of the new healthcare law: its requirement that all health plans provide “preventive services” for free. That category includes vaccines and such routine screenings as cholesterol checkups and mammograms. Starting...READ MORE

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, recently printed a speech by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron commemorating the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

I was a little disappointed that, in its brief introduction to the speech, it didn’t mention the Catholic alternative to the King James—the Douay-Rheims Version, which actually was finished in 1609, two years before the King James was finished in 1611—but I was fascinated to read the speech.

I’m not a fan of David Cameron, and I most vehemently disagree with some of his views, but the speech he delivered on the King James was the most remarkable political speech I’ve read since I don’t know when. There were aspects to it...READ MORE

He’s not Catholic, but Tim Tebow has generated a lot of controversy by publicly praying at sporting events. Even I know that, and I know nothing about sports.

Praying at sporting events has been around for a long time. I remember being incredulous when I first heard about it, years and years ago (possibly even before I was Christian). I was assuming, as do many people, that the athletes were praying for victory, asking God to take the side of their sports team, which is preposterous.

But a new light was cast on it when I learned that many of those praying were not asking for victory but that all would play well and safely, that nobody would get hurt.

As Emily Litella would say, “Well!...READ MORE

I don’t always see eye-to-eye with Abe Foxman of the Jewish Antidefamation League (ADL), but I want to give him his props on a recent statement issued by the ADL.

According to a press release, issued December 7th,

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has called on the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to publicly denounce the repulsive decades-old practice by ultra-Orthodox Jews of spitting at Christian clergymen they encounter in the street.

“This repulsive practice is a hateful act of persecution against another faith group and a desecration of God’s name according to Jewish law,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “This display of hate and bigotry has no place in Israel and is...READ MORE

I’ve blogged before about the UGLY John Paul II statue outside Rome’s main train terminal.

YOU CAN READ ABOUT THAT HERE.

Now Catholic New Agency is reporting that an effort is underway to fix it:

“I made a design for the sculpture that wasn’t executed well in the foundry,” explained the creator of the artwork, Italian sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi.

“It is not that we have come up with a new statue,” he told CNA on Jan. 10. “We’re correcting those details that weren’t executed well” so that “it will be more faithful to my original idea.”

The redesign will involve replacing the head, modifying the Pope’s cape and touching up the outer coating of paint, since the bronze has oxidized to a...READ MORE