The Alabama Senate just voted for a bill that would opt the state out of funding abortions under the new federal health-care bill. Several states, including Indiana, Kansas and Texas, have moved to prohibit the government from giving tax dollars to Planned Parenthood. Nebraska legislators passed a bill requiring teenagers to get parental consent before obtaining an abortion.

These are not isolated incidents, but represent a trend. As pro-life legislation on the federal level often fails to make it out of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, such legislation is making more headway on the state level.

Michael New says that such laws have a far-reaching effect. New,  an...READ MORE

Was Saint Joseph Present at the Visitation? - Reginaldus, The New Theological Movement

. . .Blessed John Henry Newman on the Visitation. . .

. . .more from The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma here. . .

Not Whether to Help the Poor, But How - Father Robert A. Sirico, Crisis Magazine

Disaster Aftermath: Who’re These Good Samaritans? - Bobby Ross Jr., Get Religion

Liberal Arts and Sexual Morality - Doctor Peter Kreeft, The Integrated Catholic Life™

$1 Billion Members Worldwide! - Terry Mattingly, Get Religion

Saint Felix I, Pope and Martyr - Catholic Lane

Americans Believe: More Homosexuals Than Catholics in U.S. - Joe Carter, First Things/First Thoughts

Russia to Restrict Abortion -...READ MORE

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — Father Michael Scanlan’s name has become so closely linked to Steubenville, Ohio, that it’s a bit surprising to learn that he grew up in midtown Manhattan.

The Third Order Regular Franciscan has spent 42 of his 47 years as a priest at Franciscan University of Steubenville and played a large part in bringing the college back from near death.

This summer, though, Father Scanlan, 79, is retiring from his post as chancellor, a position he has held for the past 11 years. Before that, he spent 26 years as the university’s president.

An early leader in the Catholic charismatic renewal, Father Scanlan was instrumental in turning around a struggling university. During...READ MORE

Tilling Fertile Soil - John M. DeJak, The Distributist Review

Saint Cyril, Martyr - Catholic Lane

New Translation (Introduction to the Penitential Act) - Jake Tawney, Roma locuta est

Surprise Candidate to be President of Catholic University of Eichstätt - Tancred, The Eponymous Flower

San Francisco Archbishop Rejects Circumcision Ban - California Catholic Daily

Support Bp. Finn: Proposal for Prayers, Penance Against the Attacks of Hell - Father John Zuhlsdorf, WDTPRS?

Decline of the Family Day Out - Tim Ross, The Telegraph

The Islamic Assault on Australia. . . - Kate Edwards, Australia Incognita

Kenya: Clerical Abuse Cases Should’ve Been More Transparent - Father Alexander...READ MORE

Holy Planking! - Tony Robertson, The Holy Irritant

Cardinal O’Malley to Confirm According to the Extraordinary Form - Pascal, Rorate Cæli

Free Economies Must Grow On Solid Principles - Michael Severance, Acton Institute/PowerBlog

Houston: Dedication of New Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham - Father John Zuhlsdorf, WDTPRS?

. . .Jeffrey A. Tucker: How Gregorian Chant & Simple English Propers are Related. . .

What Are Rogation Days? (Mon/Tues/Wed before Ascension Thursday) - Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

The Passion of Joan of Arc, A Movie Worth Watching - Reginaldus, The New Theological Movement

. . .Mark Twain: Saint Joan of Arc’s Five Great Deeds. . .

. . .Régine Pernoud: The...READ MORE

New Bill Would Effectively Ban U.S. Catholic Adoption Agencies - Kevin J. Jones, EWTN News

Papa Bene on Prayer - Catholic Lane

. . .Saint Thomas Aquinas on prayer here. . .

Presenting What is Beautiful: The Joyful Duty of Catholic Education - Andrew Seeley

Prayer Beads and the Saint Bede the Venerable - Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

Tornado Devastation: Traditional Catholic Family Loses Two Young Sons - David Werling, Ars Orandi

Quaeritur: What Do I Call a Friend About to be Ordained a Priest? - Father John Zuhlsdorf, WDTPRS?

Apologetics Toolbox: Communion of Saints, Part II - Anthony S. Layne, Outside the Asylum

The Silent Apostasy - Father Simon Henry, Offerimus Tibi Domine

...READ MORE

He’s known as the most passionate advocate for unborn children in Congress, leading the pro-life caucus in the House of Representatives.

Yet despite the challenges and struggles that have increased under the current administration, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. remains undaunted in his defense of life in American politics.

In an interview with the Register on May 18, Congressman Smith discussed the controversy over pro-life Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who was recently criticized by more than 80 academics, including 30 Catholic ones, for his approach to budget cuts (they signed letters saying he had ignored his moral obligation to make protecting the poor a priority). Smith also gives his...READ MORE

It’s mystifying to watch online shouting matches between Catholics about the ordinary form and the extraordinary form of the Mass. “Picking sides,” after all, makes no sense in Catholicism.

The whole point of Pope Benedict’s new instruction on the “correct interpretation and proper application” of his 2007 motu proprio letter Summorum Pontificum, which facilitated wider use of the Traditional Latin Mass, is that there are no “sides.” Both forms are the patrimony of all.

But the past looms large and heavy over us. The fragmentation of Catholic liturgical sensibility is a direct result of the silliness of the 1960s and 1970s, because its roots are in the greatest societal problem of that...READ MORE