DENVER — A same-sex “marriage” bill has gone down to narrow defeat in the Colorado House of Representatives, drawing applause from Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput for being pro-family.

At the same time, homosexual rights groups have condemned it for being anti-family.

Calling on Catholics to thank their legislators, Archbishop Chaput said, “It took courage, especially in an environment of bitter criticism.”

A “sexual minorities coalition” called One Colorado, civil rights and left-wing groups, was soon out with a video promising “We Will Keep Fighting” and repeatedly stressing that the bill’s fate was decided by “one Republican vote.”

The Colorado Civil Union Act would have added...READ MORE

Born to Be Wild, a 3-D IMAX nature documentary aimed squarely at family audiences, uses its immersive giant-screen 3-D to bring viewers directly into the rain forest of Borneo and the rugged landscapes of Kenya. Lately, 3-D movies have backed away from in-your-face intrusions into the theater, opting instead for a diorama-like approach with the screen as a window into a world beyond. I’m a fan of the diorama approach, but Born to Be Wild makes the case that a nature documentary in IMAX 3-D can and perhaps should bring us as close to the action as possible.

Part of the problem with in-your-face 3-D is that the effect is always undermined by the edge of the screen. With IMAX, there’s a lot...READ MORE

Alaska Casket Maker Finds Calling After Son’s Death - Catholic Anchor

A Roman Catholic Sioux Leader: Chief Sitting Bull - Tribunus, Roman Christendom

Spiritual Direction Is Not a Boss-Employee Relationship - Catholic Spiritual Direction

Love Intensifies Knowledge - Lisa Graas, The American Catholic

“The Great Romish Conspiracy” – Pat McNamara

How to Argue about Marriage – Matthew Schmitz, First Things/First Thoughts

The New Old-School – Matt Bowman, Catholic Vote

My Journey Home, Part One – G. Alex Garver, Passionately Loving the World

Horror: Doctor Euthanized Catholic Priest - Vincenzo, Sancte Pater

Taliban Catholic Blognic in Rome! - Father Tim Finigan, The Hermeneutic of...READ MORE

MERRICK, N.Y. — She was the first American woman to qualify as a candidate for federal financing and Secret Service protection when she ran for president in 1976. So you might have expected that Ms. Magazine would have mentioned her passing away March 27 in Avon, Conn.

But the feminist journal ignored the death of Eleanor “Ellen” McCormack, the Long Island Catholic housewife who ran in 18 Democratic primaries to educate the public about legal abortion.

McCormack, a mother of four who suffered from heart disease and was advised to abort her last child to protect her fragile health, ended up winning 22 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. She generated a war chest that totaled...READ MORE

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

But the sin of slavery was written into America’s Constitution, leading to “a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

As we commemorate the anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter on Tuesday, April 12, our national attention wanders silently back 150 years to the second-bloodiest outbreak of collective insanity in our nation’s history, a conflict that nearly tore it apart.

It happened because some Americans were willing to fight to the death...READ MORE

Land of the Midnight Sun: Anchorage Archbishop Schwietz allows Easter Vigil to Start before Dark - Catholic Anchor

Vatican Two: True and False Reform - Father Philip Neri Powell O.P. Ph.D., Domine da mihi hanc aquam!

Of Anchorites and Stylites in Lent - Father Dwight Longenecker, Standing on my Head

The Story of Ruth Pakaluk, Convert, Mother & Pro-Life Activist - Carl Olson, Ignatius Insight Scoop

Spiritual Direction is Not Confession - Catholic Spiritual Direction

Bible is Not a Book, It’s a Library; This is Key to Interpreting Scripture - Monsignor Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

Movie Explores Faith in Cristero War Against Forced Secularism - Kevin J. Jones, Catholic News...READ MORE

The Good Samaritan:  Part IV - Stacy Trasancos, Accepting Abundance

Teenagers and Truth - Dennis Buonafede, The Integrated Catholic Life ™

Psalm 37, Part IV - The Scourges of Life as Our Penance (Verse 18) - Kate Edwards, Australia Incognita

Politics and Truth - Father James V. Schall S.J., The Catholic Thing

Penance after Reconciliation, Implications of Not Fulfilling It! - Catholic Spiritual Direction

What I Tell My Altar Servers - Father Dwight Longenecker, InsideCatholic

Photo: Sitting Bull Wore a Crucifix - Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

The New Look of the Cathedral in Sioux Falls, South Dakota – D Mac, Creative Minority Report

A Lesson in Love from Mythology – Anthony...READ MORE

Our Lady of Joyful Hope Community in Blountsville, Ala., observed its first anniversary on March 19. There was much joy for the year’s successes and abundant hope for continuing to restore the lives of young men recovering from drug and alcohol addictions.

Our Lady of Joyful Hope is part of the international Comunità Cenacolo (Community of the Cenacle), a form of community life for those overcoming addictions.

The focal point was Mass celebrated by Birmingham’s Bishop Robert Baker. Since the community’s dedication by the bishop last year, the initial 12 young men residents have nearly doubled to 22

“The anniversary in Alabama is another sign of a gift of hope for families who have sons...READ MORE