By refusing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), by calling it “legally indefensible,” by inventing a new constitutional doctrine (i.e., that sexual orientation is a protected class) never accepted by the Supreme Court, by rejecting controlling Supreme Court precedent in Baker v. Nelson on marriage, by nakedly politicizing the Justice Department, by nationalizing the marriage question and forcing major GOP leaders and presidential candidates to act, President Obama is not only helping build up a national marriage movement — he has actually made it far more likely the Supreme Court will ultimately vote to uphold DOMA.

Obama, living in an increasing bubble, must have started...READ MORE

The Basis of Civilization - Dale Ahlquist, The Distributist Review

SSPX Claim the O.F. is a Protestant Rite, Can They be Serious? - William Oddie, UK Cthlc Hrld

Coptic Monasteries Under Attack - Terry Mattingly, GetReligion.org

Aww, Planned Parenthood Gettin’ Nervous - Matthew Archbold, Creative Minority Report

Catholic Teaching & Unions: Framing the Debate - Doctor Constance Nielsen, WI Cthlc Herald

New Translation Monday:  Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Part II) - Jake Tawney, Roma locuta est

Revolutions In Muslim World Open Door to Severe Persecution of Christians - The Cth Knight

I Won’t Stand for Communion! - Richard Collins, Linen on the Hedgerow

Pondering Abortion in the African...READ MORE

The royal historical drama The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as England’s Prince Albert, later King George VI, was the biggest winner at the 83rd Academy Awards, winning four of its 12 nominations in an evening with few surprises and a poorly staged ceremony whose primary virtue was its comparative shortness.

Although one of the co-hosts made an early joke about 2010 being “a great year for lesbians” — primarily a reference to the same-sex “marriage” comedy-drama The Kids Are All Right — the Academy voters made it a great evening for marriage, honoring a popular film that, on the one hand, emphasizes the scandal caused by Albert’s egocentric brother Edward’s insistence on marrying...READ MORE

POPE BENEDICT XVI AND THE SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS

Working for Reform and Renewal

By Gregory Erlandson and Matthew Bunson

Our Sunday Visitor, 2010

208 pages, $12.95

To order: osv.com

(800) 348-2440

In Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis, Gregory Erlandson, publisher of Our Sunday Visitor, and Matthew Bunson, editor of The Catholic Almanac, examine this grievous old sin that has lacerated the Catholic Church and has been the subject of much media attention in America and Europe.

As the authors remind us, St. Basil of Caesarea (d. 379) spoke out on this issue, in terms as harsh as any modern critic.

“He wrote that any priest or monk found guilty of sexually molesting young boys should not...READ MORE

MADISON, Wis. — Union protests in the Midwest have prompted a muted response from local Catholic bishops, signaling that the once close bonds of Church and labor leaders have loosened in recent decades. But it also indicates that a new generation of bishops approach hot-button economic issues in a more nuanced way.

Last week, as throngs of public employees converged on the Madison statehouse to protest legislative efforts to curb their right to collective bargaining and cut benefits in Wisconsin, Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee issued a carefully worded statement that acknowledged the rights of workers, but included a pointed caveat: “It does not follow from this that every claim...READ MORE

SAN DIEGO — A decade ago, Sharon Lee Giganti was “on the fence” between her New Age beliefs and Christianity. She had not only been a New Age follower, but a teacher and counselor, so her roots in New Age were deep.

Then she received the horrifying news that her 31-year-old brother had murdered his 4-month-old son. According to the prosecutors, who would later secure a conviction and life sentence for her brother, he had suffocated the child to get back at his teenage girlfriend for rejecting his marriage proposal. According to Giganti, he had long been an abuser of drugs and alcohol and murdered the child in a “deluded” state.

The event devastated the family and was especially painful to...READ MORE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last Friday, the Obama administration dismantled key provisions of a Bush-era rule providing conscience protections for health-care professionals, raising fears that pro-life physicians and pharmacists will face increasing pressure to violate their moral principles.

The long-awaited retreat from the fortified conscience protections introduced in the final days of the Bush administration was characterized in most media reports as striking a balance between the conscience rights of health-care professionals and the evolving needs of patients. A Department of Health and Human Services statement confirmed that “health-care providers cannot be compelled to perform or assist...READ MORE

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Pharmacy Board has decided not to amend a controversial ruling on pharmacists’ ability to refuse to fill prescriptions.

The board, which reports directly to Gov. Christine Gregoire, had issued a regulation requiring all pharmacists to fill all legal prescriptions, including Plan B, the so-called emergency contraceptive that is also an abortifacient. On July 7, 2010, the board suggested it might consider allowing pharmacists to refer patients to nearby pharmacies rather than fill objectionable prescriptions.

The board’s reconsideration was prompted by the possibility of an expensive three-year legal battle over the issue of conscience rights,...READ MORE