The implementation of the new civil-union law in Illinois is leading to a showdown between Catholic Charities as a provider of adoption services for children and a state law that places the private interest of adults over the human rights of children. Catholic Charities will actually be put in jeopardy of lawsuits and losing public funds to serve the poor if they refuse to deprive children they serve of married mothers and fathers. How crazy is that?

Catholic Charities sought an exemption from the law for religious organizations as a matter of conscience, but the bill is bottled up in committee and not likely to pass before June 1, when the civil-union law takes effect. As the clock ticks...READ MORE

Have you ever thought of becoming a saint, only to find physical or mental suffering get in your way? 

“If only this backache were gone, I could volunteer more, but I’m useless now.” 

This is not how the saints think.

The saints, as bestselling author Joan Carroll Cruz shows us in Saints for the Sick: Heavenly Help for Those Who Suffer, embrace sufferings in order to become more Christ-like. After all, Jesus did not come to earth to engage in pleasant community-building activities, but to suffer and die for us.

Our salvation is worked out in suffering, first and foremost in that of Jesus Christ, and secondarily in our own. In 1 Peter 4:13 we are told: “If you partake of the...READ MORE

There was an added joy in the Diocese of Birmingham, Ala., during Lent and the Easter Octave as the members of the formerly schismatic Christ the King Monastery in Cullman were reconciled with the Catholic Church.

After years of discussion between Birmingham’s bishops and the monastery, on May 1 Bishop Robert Baker received the two remaining monks’ vows as Benedictine hermits.

The road hasn’t been without its difficulties.

Christ the King Abbey was founded around 1984 by Benedictine Father Leonard Giardina, formerly a member of the St. Bernard Monastery in Cullman. In the 1980s he had contact with the Society of Saint Pius X but ended the association in late 1989, then explored other...READ MORE

A Mouse That Roars: The Incredible Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska - Father Simon Henry, Offerimus Tibi Domine

The Trinity: Three Persons in One Nature - Frank Sheed, Ignatius Insight

. . .Frank Sheed: The Argument from Contingency. . .

Franciscan Art and Spirituality - John Whitehead, Once I Was A Clever Boy

God in the Midst of the Storm: The Mystery of God’s Providence - Monsignor Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

Six Reasons to Keep Meatless Fridays - Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

. . .Francis X. Rocca of The Wall Street Journal:  The Return of Meatless Friday. . .

As the Family Goes, So Goes the Economy - Carolyn Moynihan, MercatorNet

How Necessary is...READ MORE

Cardinal Francis George recently celebrated his 14th anniversary as archbishop of Chicago. Almost simultaneously, he published his third book, God in Action: How Faith in God Can Address the Challenges of the World.

The 74-year-old cardinal, a native of the Windy City, was formerly archbishop of Portland, Ore., and bishop of Yakima, Wash. He is a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and was president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2007 until 2010.

Register correspondent Matthew A. Rarey spoke to the leader of Chicago’s 2.3 million Catholics at the cardinal’s residence May 5.

Why this book? Why now?

In a certain sense, it’s a follow-up on the book I...READ MORE

Kung Fu Panda marked a turning point of sorts for DreamWorks Animation, and not just because it was the studio’s highest-grossing animated film without Shrek in the title. The studio might be Pixar’s leading rival, but until the coming of Po, they were getting by largely on the strength of their big green computer-animated superstar, and their prior roster of non-Shrek computer-animated products was a lineup of unmemorable one-offs: Bee Movie, Flushed Away, Over the Hedge, Shark Tale, Antz. (Madagascar was followed by a post-Panda sequel, presumably on the strength of the crowd-pleasing penguins, but both were as mediocre as movies can be.)

But then Kung Fu Panda charmed family audiences...READ MORE

Fr. Francisco Suarez: What is a Properly Said Hail Mary Worth? - Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

John Wayne Died a Catholic - Pat McNamara, McNamara’s Blog

New South Dakota Bishop: Msgr. Rob. D. Gruss - Robert Kumpel, The Last Papist Standing

NCReporter’s Editor & Publisher Passed Away: Joseph Feuerherd,  R.I.P. - Father John Zuhlsdorf, WDTPRS?

Monarch Profile: James V, King of Scots - The Mad Monarchist

What Is: Mary Mother of God - Deacon Mike Bickerstaff, The Integrated Catholic Life™

Apologetics Toolbox: Communion of Saints, Part I - Anthony S. Lane, Outside the Asylum

Oprah, Pop Existentialist, At Best - Carl Olson, Ignatius Insight Scoop

“Illegal” Babies Abducted by Red...READ MORE

ROCKVILLE, Md. (CNS) — Joseph Feuerherd, editor-in-chief and publisher of the National Catholic Reporter, died May 26 after an 18-month battle with metastasized soft tissue sarcoma. He was 48.

He died at the Montgomery Hospice’s Casey House in Rockville with his family at his side.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

Feuerherd had been editor-in-chief and publisher of the lay-edited weekly newspaper, based in Kansas City, Mo., since October 2008.

At the time of his appointment, he said he was thrilled the NCR board had chosen him, but he was also “humbled and energized by the opportunity to lead a publication that is vital to American Catholics who love their Church.”

Before taking the...READ MORE