For my testimony today, I would like to tell a story. Let’s call it The Parable of the Kosher Deli.

Once upon a time, a new law is proposed, so that any business that serves food must serve pork.

There is a narrow exception for kosher catering halls attached to synagogues, since they serve mostly members of that synagogue, but kosher delicatessens are still subject to the mandate.

The Orthodox Jewish community — whose members run kosher delis and many other restaurants and grocers besides — expresses its outrage at the new government mandate.       

And they are joined by others who have no problem eating pork — not just the many Jews who eat pork, but people of all faiths —...READ MORE

Is It Lawful to Lay Ambushes in War (St. Thomas Aquinas “Just Tactics”) - H. H. Ambrose, Saint Peter’s List

Why Can’t Deacons Confer Anointing of the Sick? - Fr. Ryan Erlenbush, New Theological Movement

The Current Crisis & the Deepest Truths About Our Being - Fr. James V. Schall SJ, Ignatius Insight Scoop

On Compromise & the Church’s Role in Civil Society - Fr. Robert John Araujo SJ, Mirror of Justice

Cardinal George on Obama’s Attacks, Catholics Who Don’t Stand with the Bishops - Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, What Does The Prayer Really Say?

Sweden is Hostile to Homeschooling Families - Super Trad Mum, Etheldredasplace

Christian Equality Irritates the Caste System - Giacomo Galeazzi, La...READ MORE

WASHINGTON (CNA/EWTN NEWS)—Attorneys general from a dozen states say they intend to sue over the Obama administration’s contraception mandate that requires many religious employers to violate the teachings of their faith.

In a Feb. 10 letter, the attorneys general voiced their “strong opposition” to the mandate, which they called “an impermissible violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment virtually unparalleled in American history.”

They said that if the mandate is implemented, they are prepared to “vigorously oppose it in court.”

The letter was sent to the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebilius, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Labor Secretary...READ MORE

ROME (EWTN NEWS/CNA) — Malén Oriol, a major leader of consecrated women in the Legionaries of Christ’s lay branch, Regnum Christi, announced Feb. 14 that she has submitted her resignation.

Oriol, the assistant for consecrated life to the Legion’s general director, Father Alvaro Corcuera, submitted her resignation to Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the papal delegate overseeing the reform of the religious congregation.

Oriol also revealed that some consecrated women within the congregation have asked the Vatican to let them live out their vows under a bishop, not as part of the Legion. Jim Fair, communications director for the Legion of Christ, said, “At the beginning of 2012 there are were...READ MORE

The Washington state governor has signed into law a bill that recognizes same-sex “marriage,” prompting those who support the traditional definition to file a referendum to challenge the law.

“Preserving marriage as the union of one man and one woman is worth fighting for,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, Feb. 13.

“Marriage is a cornerstone of society that not only unites a couple to each other, but ensures that any children born of their union will have the best opportunity to be raised by their own mother and father. We’re committed to giving Washington voters the right to decide the definition of marriage in their state, just as voters in 31 other...READ MORE

The recent indignity by which the Obama administration wants to mandate everyone, including all Catholic institutions or their insurers, to pay for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, has raised the issue of Catholic teaching on these issues.

Some commentators have mistakenly asserted that the Catholic ban on these practices only goes back to Humanae Vitae (On the Regulation of Birth), by Pope Paul VI in 1968, or as far back as Casti Connubii (Of Chaste Wedlock), by Pope Pius XI in 1931.

The latter encyclical was written in response to the change of moral doctrine by the Anglican Church, which undermined centuries of Protestant condemnation of contraception by...READ MORE

Does the Church Know How to Reach the Modern World? - Brandon Vogt, Catholic Exchange

Going Through the Roof (Mark 2:1-12) - Fr. John Bartunek, Catholic Spiritual Direction

New Book: The True Icon: From Shroud of Turin to Veil of Manopello - Carl Olson, Ignatius Insight Scoop

Pope Pius II: 7 Quotes On Educating Young Catholic Men - Saint Peter’s List

The Night Dickens had a Marian Vision - William Oddie, Catholic Herald

A Protestant Historian Discovers the Catholic Church - A. David Anders PhD, the Coming Home Network

A Tale of Two Concerts - Anthony Esolen, The Catholic Thing

Woe to the Solitary Man - Msgr. Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

6 Reasons Why Contraception is...READ MORE

How to Deepen Your Relationship with Christ this Lenten Season - Dan Burke, Catholic Spiritual Direction

Homeschooled Kids: Last Line of Defense Against Zombie Apocalypse - Mark Shea, Patheos/Catholic and Enjoying It!

B16 Shares Sober Remarks on American Culture - Msgr. Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

Quæritur: Can Parishes Stop Baptizing During Lent?- Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, What Does The Prayer Really Say?

Women’s Revenge: To Torture Without Guilt - Alice von Hildebrand, New Oxford Review

Holy See British Delegation: Muslim Delegate to Defend Christendom - Dylan Parry, A Reluctant Sinner

Here is What a Pro-Life Democrat Looks Like - Donald R. McClarey, The American Catholic

...READ MORE