Catholics

(CNSNews.com) – A professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), who was purportedly accused of “hate speech” and relieved of his teaching duties for teaching Catholic doctrine on homosexuality in his introductory class on Catholicism, will be allowed to teach the class again this fall.

In a letter last week, University of Illlinois Deputy Counsel Steven Veazie told the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) that the university will be contacting Dr. Kenneth Howell to offer him the opportunity to teach Religion 127, Introduction to Catholicism, as a visiting instructor for the fall semester.

“The University has corrected, for the time being, its academic freedom violation by not just suspending the decision to terminate him, but by bringing him back to the classroom,” ADF senior counsel David French told CNSNews.com. “It’s a huge win for academic freedom"...

(CNSNews.com) – A federal district court extended an order on Wednesday that allows a 13-year-old boy to return to his public school wearing his rosary until at least Sept. 10. The boy, Raymond Hosier, had been suspended from Oneida Middle School for wearing a Catholic rosary, which he had worn since the age of seven after his brother was killed in a car accident.

Hosier, a seventh-grader at the school in Schenectady, New York, was suspended for the day on Monday, May 17 for wearing his rosary. School officials claimed the rosary beads were gang-related and that Hosier had violated its dress code, which prohibits students from wearing anything it deems to be “gang related.”

The school’s dress code, however, does not specifically mention rosary beads. But the student dress code says, "A student's dress, grooming and appearance, including hair, jewelry, make-up and nails, shall: ...  read more »

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is publicly honoring a priest who had been suspended from his parish for mocking Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 2008 presidential campaign.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger will receive a "Lifetime Achievement Award" Wednesday evening from the archdiocese's Office for Racial Justice for "service in pursuit of dismantling racism, injustice and inequalities on behalf of African Americans and all people of color," according to a statement on the archdiocese Web site.

Cardinal Francis George, who temporarily removed Father Pfleger from the mostly-black St. Sabina Catholic Church for politicking from the pulpit, will preside at Wednesday evening's Martin Luther King Prayer Service....

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi mislead participants last week at the White House health care summit when she said the Senate health care bill doesn't fund abortions. Now, comments from a late Friday press conference are surfacing where Pelosi exploits the Catholic bishops to justify her claim.

As LifeNews.com reported last week, Pelosi covered up the clear abortion funding and other pro-abortion problems found in the Senate legislation.

"The law of the land is there is no public funding of abortion and there is no public funding of abortion in these bills and I don't want our listeners or viewers to get the wrong impression from what you said," Pelosi asserted....

(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) says that it is "long overdue" for President Barack Obama to fire Harry Knox from the White House Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships because of the "vehement anti-Catholic statements" Knox has made.

"Harry Knox’s repeated, intolerant statements about the Catholic Church and Catholic teachings make it totally inappropriate for him to serve on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships," Pence told CNSNews.com in an interview Friday. "Harry Knox’s termination from the president’s Faith-Based Advisory Council is long-over due. And we would renew our call for Harry Knox to be removed from that position by the president.”

"I think Harry Knox is like any American entitled to his opinions," said Pence. "But he is simply and categorically the wrong person to serve on the president’s advisory council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A national Catholic business group is slated to present an award to former President George W. Bush tonight honoring him for his lengthy record combating abortions during his administration. The event will also see Legatus honoring Cardinal Francis George and hearing from Newt Gingrich.

Bush will receive the prestigious Cardinal John J. O’Connor Pro-Life Award because Legatus says Bush was consistent in his promotion of the pro-life ethic as president.

"You could argue that he was the most pro-life president in our lifetime," the group's executive director, John Hunt, told Zenit today.

"He is very deserving, and since he is coming to us, we wanted to use this as an opportunity to tell him in a very specific and tangible way how appreciative we are," Hunt added...

A top executive at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has chaired a pro-abortion, pro-homosexual group.

American Life League (ALL), the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life association in the U.S., previously reported on the Catholic Campaign on Human Development (CCHD), an organization which funds 31 groups that are part of the Center for Community Change. Closer inspection revealed that the latter is a pro-homosexual, pro-abortion effort.

Michael Hichborn, ALL's lead researcher, says he looked deeper into the matter "and found that John Carr, who is the top exec...over the CCHD, chaired the board for the Center for Community Change, this pro-abortion, pro-abortion group."

Hichborn says that as research continued, the relationship between Carr, the USCCB, and the other groups became more entangled...

ST. LOUIS - Pro-life activists are urging Roman Catholic bishops to rebuke Catholic lawmakers if they support publicly financed abortion in the national health care bill.

As part of a 14-state tour, members of Insurrecta Nex were in St. Louis this past week urging Archbishop Robert Carlson to send Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Catholic, a public warning against a vote that would allow public funding of abortions, and to deny the Missouri Democrat Holy Communion if she does...

As Washington, DC's city council moves closer to legalizing homosexual "marriage," a Christian organization is raising a warning flag.

The DC Election Board has refused an initiative to put the marriage issue before voters. Alan Wisdom of the Institute on Religion & Democracy tells OneNewsNow the city council was offered amendments to protect religious groups, but opted to reject them.

"We at the Institute are warning that this really shows the trajectory of same-sex marriage," notes Wisdom. "The initial appeal is for tolerance, but ultimately same-sex marriage becomes tyranny that is imposed upon Christians and others who support traditional marriage, and they are forced in various ways to accept same-sex marriage"...

(CNSNews.com) - A top Roman Catholic cardinal told CNSNews.com that there is “no way” Catholic members of Congress can support the Senate health care reform bill as long as it includes a provision that allows tax dollars to go to insurance plans that cover abortion.

At the National Press Club on Nov. 20, CNSNews.com asked Cardinal Justin Rigali, the archbishop of Philadelphia: “The Senate health care bill that Majority Leader Reid released this week permits tax dollars to go to insurance plans which cover abortion. And my question is: Would it be a mortal sin for a Catholic member of Congress to vote for this bill knowing that this provision is in it?”....