TCA Podcast, – “Conversations with Consequences,” Episode 237 – Adam Anders On Journey To Bethlehem & Campus Life In Focus!
With a new musical starring Antonio Banderas coming to theaters next Friday telling the Christmas story in a very unique way, we get a sneak peek of Journey to Bethlehem with writer and director Adam Anders. We also get a glimpse into the life of a FOCUS missionary that is doing amazing work on the campus of the University of Miami! Father Roger Landry also offers an inspiring homily to prepare us for this Sunday’s Gospel. Catch the show every Saturday at 7amET/5pmET on EWTN radio!
https://thecatholicassociation.org/podcast/8897/
__________________________________________________________
1. Sen. Tuberville’s Misguided Stand, By The Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2023, Pg. A16, Editorial
Americans are watching a bizarre split screen. Two wars are raging abroad. Meanwhile, much of Washington is mired in partisan spectacles, such as a fight over abortion policy in the U.S. military. The Biden Administration launched the opening salvo, but Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is looking like an unguided torpedo.
…
Republicans agree that the Biden Administration provoked a fight when the Pentagon rewrote its travel policy to cover leave and travel expenses for service members traveling to obtain an abortion. In other words, the Biden Pentagon deliberately waded into the most inflamed cultural issue in America.
The policy is legally dubious under federal prohibitions for public financing of abortion. GOP Sen. Roger Wicker said in a September letter that to his knowledge all of “approximately 12” women had availed themselves of this allowance. So dispense with the Biden talking points about how abortion underwriting is necessary to keep a ready force.
…
Many of Sen. Tuberville’s colleagues have suggested, to no avail, that he express his dissent by focusing on civilian Pentagon nominees who “actually make policy, as opposed to our military heroes,” as GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier this week. That is better both on the politics and the merits. President Biden’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy would be one example.
…
Some on the right are unloading on Sen. Sullivan and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst for disagreeing with a fellow Republican. But these GOP Senators are right to alert their colleagues to the growing political and strategic risks of Sen. Tuberville’s counterproductive stand.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tommy-tuberville-military-promotions-pentagon-abortion-travel-policy-9a8b71b7
__________________________________________________________
2. Do Catholics Need Questions? No, Answers, By Raymond de Souza, The Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2023, Pg. A15, Opinion
I came here 25 years ago to begin study for the priesthood. October 1998 was a heady time, the 20th anniversary of John Paul II’s papacy. Things were different this year, when the synod on synodality came to town. It was Pope Francis’ signature initiative: a sort of corporate retreat for several hundred bishops and ecclesiocrats to consider how to make the Catholic Church more relevant—to what wasn’t clear.
…
There were plenty of questions at this synod on synodality—church parlance for “a meeting of pastors on how pastors should meet.” That kind of thing gets tiresome quickly, so conversations veered off to consider whether Catholicism would do better as a facsimile of liberal Anglicanism: ordaining women, revising sexual morality, enhancing lay governance—and, of course, trying to arrest climate change.
It reminded me of something Cardinal Timothy Dolan often said when he was my rector at the Pontifical North American College in 1998: “No man will give his life for a question mark; he will for an exclamation point!” He says he got that from his NAC predecessor, Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, who got it from John Paul II.
…
John Paul’s signature initiative was compiling the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, which gave a beautiful exposition to that exclamation point. The truth was real, it could be known, and it had its own radiant splendor. It wasn’t to be feared.
Rome has the feel of slipping backward, toward the confusion, chaos and corrosive questioning of the 1970s. The exclamation point is being bent into a question mark. That’s not without consequence. The life of faith needs both questions and answers. The best questions get us to emphatic answers on which a life, church, culture and civilization can be built.
More than 10 years into the pontificate of Pope Francis, Rome spent a month entertaining questions of widely diverging importance. That’s done, though another “synodality” session is planned for next year. Questions deserve answers. The Gospel provides them. The church is to preach them. Sometimes with exclamation points.
Father de Souza is a priest in Kemptville, Ontario.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/catholics-need-answers-not-questions-synod-pope-francis-e7285ed7
__________________________________________________________
3. Virginia is rejecting its extreme abortion past, Voters want more protection for babies, mothers, By Mary Owens, The Washington Times, November 3, 2023, Opinion
As Virginia closes in on Election Day, it is critical to remember how important it is to turn out to the polls and vote to ensure your values and priorities are reflected through your elected representatives. In 2019, Virginians showed how big a difference an election makes when they rejected the radical Democrats’ agenda and elected Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
For years, Democrats ensured that Virginians lived under barbaric late-term abortion laws that are in line with human rights abusers such as China and North Korea. Former Gov. Ralph Northam and radical Democrats in the General Assembly blocked every attempt to enact compassionate protections for children in the womb and their mothers.
…
The days of Mr. Northam’s radical policies and extreme pro-abortion Democrats are numbered. Virginians elected Mr. Youngkin in 2021 to carry the torch for them and ensure that all Virginians, including the most vulnerable, are protected.
Since entering office, Mr. Youngkin has made good on his promise to promote lifesaving policies for children in the womb and their mothers. He has fought to end taxpayer funding of abortion, protect children who have survived an abortion, and promoted legislation that would limit abortion by 15 weeks when a child in the womb can feel pain.
Virginians need to send help to Mr. Youngkin by voting for pro-life General Assembly candidates. Believe Democratic candidates when they cannot list a single limit on abortion they would support.
We must stop the radical Democrats from implementing their heartless agenda of abortion for any reason, through all nine months of pregnancy, paid for by the taxpayer. It is time for Virginia’s laws to reflect the compassionate will of the people.
Mary Owens is a Virginia resident and communications director of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/2/virginia-is-rejecting-its-extreme-abortion-past/
__________________________________________________________
4. Pope Francis talks Synod on Synodality and homosexuality in new interview, By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency, November 2, 2023, 1:35 PM
Pope Francis answered two questions about the Synod on Synodality, including on the topic of homosexuality, in an interview with Italian state television RAI on Wednesday.
Asked about the synod assembly’s discussion of homosexuality, Pope Francis said: “When I say ‘everyone, everyone, everyone,’ [I’m speaking about] people. The Church receives people. Everyone. And it does not ask how you are. Then, inside, everyone grows, but from a Christian belonging.”
“It’s true that today it’s a bit ‘fashionable’ to talk about [homosexuality],” he continued. “The Church receives everyone. Another thing is when there are organizations that want to enter. The principle is this: The Church receives all those who can be baptized. Organizations cannot be baptized. People can.”
The pope’s comments were aired in a 40-minute special on the “Tg1” news program Nov. 1.
Francis said the result of the first part of the Synod on Synodality, which met at the Vatican Oct. 4–29, “is positive.”
“Everything was talked about with total freedom — and that’s a good thing,” he said. The pope also said the synthesis report issued at the end of the monthlong gathering “needs to be studied” before the next synod meeting in October 2024.
…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/01/pope-francis-vatican-theology-theologians/bd778934-78b8-11ee-97dd-7a173b1bd730_story.html
__________________________________________________________TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association. |
