During the U.S. bishops’ ad limina visit with Pope Benedict XVI in late 2011, the Holy Father publicly referred to an ominous turn of events in the Land of the Free: “Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.”

The Holy See’s intelligence was timely and accurate: On Jan. 20, Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services,...READ MORE

St. Germanus; The History of Ad Orientem - Dino Marcantonio, First Things/On the Square

Modern Kids: Raised by Wolves - Carolyn Moynihan, Crisis Magazine

Anxiety About Being Single - Anthony Buono, Catholic Lane

Why Contraception is a Bad Idea: Scripture Prohibits It - Marc Barnes, Patheos/Bad Catholic

God: He’s In Your Bedroom - Sarah Babbs, Ignitum Today

Book Review: Washed and Waiting - Melinda Selmys, Sexual Authenticity

On Reunion Between East & West - New Oxford Review

Can Two Boys Be Married? - Tiffany Borges, Lox Populi

Italy’s Mosque Wars - Soeren Kern, Stonegate Institute

Parents Sue after Quebec Teen Dies following Gardasil Vaccination - Thaddeus Baklinski,...READ MORE

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum encouraged Catholic groups across the U.S. to disobey a federal mandate requiring them to buy health-insurance plans that violate Church teaching.

Santorum was asked on a Feb. 1 talk show what advice he would give to Catholic hospitals, schools, adoption agencies and other charities struggling with the mandate.

“Civil disobedience,” he responded. “This will not stand.”

The GOP contender spoke as a guest on political commentator Hugh Hewitt’s radio show and said that his strong concern about “the government taking over health care” is a primary reason he decided to run for president.

Santorum said that the mandate, which was issued under...READ MORE

WASHINGTON — Amid mounting criticism of the Obama administration policy of forcing religious employers to provide contraception and sterilization in health-care coverage, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the following response to a Feb. 2 post on the White House blog. The Register wishes to provide the entire statement:

The Obama administration, to justify its widely criticized mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage in private health plans, has posted a set of false and misleading claims on the White House blog (“Health Reform, Preventive Services, and Religious Institutions,” February 1).

In what follows, each White House claim is quoted with a response.

...READ MORE

WASHINGTON — Like a sentry, Peter Miller held the pole of a tall banner, while other members of his group played rousing tunes on bagpipes, drums and flutes for the stream of pro-lifers marching by on a rainy day.

“I’m here for God, and I’m standing up for the unborn. And I’m also doing reparation to God for the sin of abortion,” said Miller, a member of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property.

Miller, 23, was among the thousands of young people at the 39th annual March for Life who experienced the event not as a one-day stand for life, but as a gathering for inspiration, education, networking and taking active steps toward ending legalized abortion in the...READ MORE

The archbishop who oversees global Catholic military chaplains claims the U.S. Army violated his rights by stifling a pastoral letter condemning the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio stands “firm in the belief, based on legal precedent,” that the Army defied his rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, according to a Feb. 3 statement from the Military Archdiocese.

U.S. Catholic military chaplains around the country were initially told to disobey their archbishop’s instruction to read a pastoral letter from the pulpit at all Sunday Masses on Jan. 28-29.

Although an agreement was eventually reached allowing the letter to be read, a key...READ MORE

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation’s off- and apparently on-again decision to fund Planned Parenthood mirrors a similar situation with AT&T more than two decades ago, with dissimilar results.

The communications giant had been funding Planned Parenthood for 25 years. The grants were described as being educational outreach for teens. But in 1990, AT&T, facing pressure and a boycott from pro-life groups, abruptly announced that it would cease donating to Planned Parenthood.

In a foreshadowing of what happened to the Komen Foundation last week, AT&T immediately found itself the target of a bitter campaign to force it to restore Planned Parenthood funding.

The leadership of Planned...READ MORE

“Coming Out” To Rick Santorum - Richard Evans, Catholic Boy Richard

Hosts, Host, & Sabaoth: A Guide to Confusing Catholic Terms - Dr. Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

Jesus of Egypt - Stephen Beale, Crisis Magazine

Mercy - Calah Alexander, Ignitum Today

Amelia Rivera, Disabled & Sanctity of Life - Archbishop Charles J. Chaput OFM Cap, Catholic Lane

Nigeria: Christians “Need to Get Out of this Hell” - Sante Altizio, La Stampa/Vatican Insider

Obama Wrong on Jesus Endorsing Higher Taxes - Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, What Does The Prayer Really Say?

Komen as an Example of Liberal Tolerance for Diversity - Donald R. McClarey, The American Catholic

Gov. O’Malley’s and Other’s False Contrasts of...READ MORE