Same–sex marriage could spell trouble for church
Posted: 10.07.08
MIAMI | What’s in a definition?
In the case of the word “marriage,” a whole lot of potential trouble for the Catholic Church, according to Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
He spoke in Miami Oct. 1 to members of CALL, the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders. The subject is timely in Florida because voters will decide this November whether to enshrine in the state constitution a definition of marriage as “a union between one man and one woman.”
Picarello said problems could arise if the amendment does not pass, and the Florida Supreme Court eventually does what the Massachusetts and California supreme courts have done: expand the definition of marriage to include same-sex unions.
“Once the legal definition of marriage changes, it changes in each and every area of law where the church is regulated. There will be church-state conflict,” Picarello said. MORE...
October 10, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Amendment 2: What the Bishops are saying
Posted: 09.30.08
ORLANDO | The state of Florida is considering an amendment to the state constitution that would define marriage as a state occurring only between a man and a woman.
A choice to vote “yes” or “no” to Amendment 2, or the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment, sponsored by Florida4Marriage and supported by the Catholic bishops of Florida, will appear on the ballot during the general election Nov. 4. The amendment needs 60 percent of the vote to pass, and once added to the constitution could not be removed by legislative or judicial review. The amendment would also effectively ban civil unions between people of the same sex.
Florida’s bishops will promote their stance toward Amendment 2 through parish bulletin inserts during the celebration of Marriage Sunday, Oct. 18-19. Priests and supporters of the amendment will speak in many churches about the amendment and the Catholic view of marriage. MORE...
September 30, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
National immigration reform tour visits Lutz
Posted: 09.22.08
LUTZ | Immigration proved to be a sensitive issue at the Diocese of St. Petersburg’s Justice for Immigrants workshop Sept. 20 — the only Florida stop on a national interfaith tour to promote reform.
Before guest speaker Antonio Cube, national manager of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Justice for Immigrants Campaign, could get to his second PowerPoint slide, a man in the 40–member audience raised his hand to challenge the idea of helping immigrants, illegal or legal, when it takes jobs away from Americans.
“Let’s view this from our lenses as Catholics, not as Americans,” Cube said. “It is hard for a lot of people to get past. At the end of the day, we’re still all brothers and sisters.” MORE...
September 22, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Top Knight invites Biden to talk on abortion views
Posted: 09.19.08
WASHINGTON (CNS) | Carl A. Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, wants to talk with Sen. Joseph Biden, the Democratic vice–presidential candidate.
In a full–page advertisement that appeared in several newspapers Sept. 19, Anderson said he wants to discuss only one issue: Biden’s stance on abortion and his unwillingness to bring his Catholic views into the discussion of public policy on the issue.
“I hope that he will really consider this (meeting),” Anderson told Catholic News Service Sept. 19. “I hope that he will read Pope John Paul (II)’s ‘Evangelium Vitae’ (‘The Gospel of Life’). That document, maybe more than any other, is the heart of the teaching of the church about respect for human life.” MORE...
September 19, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Bishops say how to vote, but not for whom
Posted: 09.17.08
ORLANDO | Coming soon to a parish bulletin near you is newly released guidance from Florida’s Catholic bishops on how to vote Nov. 4 — not for whom to vote, mind you, just how to vote.
And their teaching is this: “Vote with a properly formed conscience in order to defend human life and protect dignity.” That’s the subtitle of the Catholic Bishops of Florida Election Year Statement issued Sept. 15 for widespread distribution, including placement in bulletins throughout the state for weekend Masses Oct. 11–12. MORE...
September 17, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Faith groups challenge candidates to fight poverty
Posted: 09.11.08
WASHINGTON (CNS) | People of faith are being urged to “move their feet” to elevate poverty as a campaign issue in the final weeks leading to the November election.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Rabbi Steve Gutow, executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, told the media and advocates for the poor during a Sept. 9 nationwide conference call that opened “Fighting Poverty: A Week of Action.” The effort is sponsored by a coalition of more than 20 religious groups including Catholic Charities USA.
“We have to ... make it clear that we care about something that a lot of elected officials don’t care about,” he said. MORE...
September 11, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Church joins effort to reform immigration law
Posted: 09.11.08
WASHINGTON (CNS) | The Catholic Church has joined an interfaith effort to change U.S. immigration law. To prepare for that effort in the next Congress, it is also joining the Tour of the Faithful, an educational effort during September and October to convince people of faith to support changes in U.S. immigration policy.
“We’re in a dark period,” said Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, during a Sept. 9 conference call to announce the 17–city Tour of the Faithful. MORE...
September 11, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Campaign ‘08: Economy is a key question
Posted: 09.05.08
WASHINGTON (CNS) | The economy will be a key factor in choosing a president this fall for Ithaca, N.Y., resident Kathryn Hughes and her husband, who are struggling financially to send two children to college and assist another daughter who is a single mother with three young children.
As a faithful parishioner of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Ithaca, the 43–year–old mother, grandmother and recently naturalized U.S. citizen has followed her pastor’s call to exercise political responsibility in November’s national elections, the first time she will cast a ballot in a presidential race. MORE...
September 5, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Demise of amendments disappoints bishops
Posted: 09.04.08
ORLANDO | The Florida Supreme Court stripped from the Nov. 4 ballot two proposed constitutional amendments that the state’s Catholic bishops say would have enhanced religious freedom and education and protected vital human services.
In a unanimous decision Wednesday, Sept. 3, the justices rejected Amendments 7 and 9. Amendment 7 would have removed existing language in the Florida Constitution that bars religious entities from participating in government programs or receiving public money directly or indirectly. Amendment 9 would have allowed for public funding of school–choice alternatives, including religious schools. MORE...
September 4, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Catholics help keep primary election polls running
Posted: 08.26.08
JANET SHELTON | FC
Deacon Lionel Roberts oversees voting sites in several precincts in south St. Petersburg.
ST. PETERSBURG | On election days, Deacon Lionel Roberts’ car shows his dedication to God and community.
Resting on the dashboard in the front window, an “Elections Official” sign marks him as a man with political responsibility. Inches away, a blue rosary hangs from the rearview mirror.
Originally from Trinidad, Deacon Roberts has worked election days for years — first as a resident of New York, now in Florida. In several precincts in south St. Petersburg, he oversees polling sites, checking on them throughout the day to make sure all is running smoothly. If it isn’t, he works to solve the problem. MORE...
August 26, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Biden on Obama ticket: a Catholic with mixed record on church issues
Posted: 08.25.08
WASHINGTON (CNS) | Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, announced Aug. 23 as Sen. Barack Obama’s choice as his running mate for the White House, puts on the Democratic ticket a Catholic who supports legal abortion but on other issues has been an ally for the church’s public policy interests.
Biden, 65, has come in for his share of conflicts with some in the church over his legislative support for keeping abortion legal. The National Right to Life Committee gives him a rating of 0 for his positions on select issues, including federal abortion funding and stem cell research as well as some relating to lobbying by groups like the National Right to Life Committee. MORE...
August 25, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Faith and politicians: Less important to voters?
Posted: 08.25.08
WASHINGTON (CNS) | Although millions of people tuned in recently to watch Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama talk about how their religious faith affects their political views, a new public opinion poll found that American voters increasingly are uncomfortable when politicians talk about their religion.
Could the two apparently contradictory snapshots mean that religion–based rhetoric is not going to be as polarizing a factor in this year’s election as it has been in the past? MORE...
August 25, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Bishops ask for prayers for elections
Posted: 08.22.08
ORLANDO | As our 2008 presidential election nears in November, the bishops of the United States have issued a call for Catholics to pray the Novena for Faithful Citizenship. The novena prayers center on life, justice, and peace.
The novena consists of an opening prayer to the Holy Spirit, followed by a reading, a reflection followed by a short prayer and ending with the novena prayer. The novena prayer calls upon God to deliver us from famine, war, nuclear war, sins against human life, hatred, injustice, lack of commitment to the commandments of God and from the loss of awareness of good and evil. It is a very powerful prayer that touches upon real–life issues that stand in the way of human progress. The complete article, novena prayer text and podcasts are HERE.
Mary St. Pierre | August 22, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Web site offers multitude of info to inform voters
Posted: 08.08.08
ORLANDO | The candidates have spoken and one Web site, sponsored by the Florida’s Catholic bishops, offers ways for voters to hear what the candidates have to say on issues of importance to Catholics.
Voters are encouraged to visit www.informedcatholicvoter.com before they fill out a primary ballot for the Aug. 26 election.
Since July, the Florida Catholic, in conjunction with the Florida Catholic Conference, the Florida Council of Catholic Women and the Florida State Knights of Columbus, have worked to gain responses to a 10–question survey from candidates for the offices of state representative and senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Through a letter campaign and personal phone calls, as of Aug. 8, 50 percent of the 166 candidates involved in a primary election for those three offices responded to the questionnaire. Read the complete article here.
August 8, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Judge: voucher, religious freedom proposals OK
Proposed constitutional amendments expanding religious freedom will remain on Florida’s Nov. 4 ballot, but opponents plan to appeal.
Posted: 08.05.08
TALLAHASSEE | A Tallahassee circuit court judge ruled Aug. 4 that a state commission did not exceed its constitutional authority by placing on November’s ballot two proposed constitutional amendments that expand religious freedom.
The first, Amendment 7, would remove anti–religious language that was placed in Florida’s constitution more than 100 years ago. The second proposal, Amendment 9, will require school districts to spend a minimum of 65 percent of their funds in the classroom, while removing a constitutional obstacle to programs that allow students to attend private and parochial schools at the state’s expense.
Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper ruled that the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission stayed within its mandate by approving the two amendments. Read the complete article here.
August 5, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Catholic Groups Question Candidates – Part 3
Questions for state candidates focus on children, vulnerable people.
Posted: 07.18.08
The Florida Catholic is one of four statewide Catholic entities that participates in the Candidate Questionnaire Project, soliciting and disseminating responses from congressional and state legislative candidates on questions important to Catholic voters. This is the third in a three–part series in which the Florida Catholic Conference, which drafts the questions, explains what was asked and why.
ORLANDO | Though Florida is known for its retired population, about 2 million of the Sunshine State’s residents are elementary school–age children, according to the U.S. Census.
Perhaps that is the reason three of 10 questions for would–be state legislators in the Candidate Questionnaire Project focus on issues concerning children. Read the complete article here.
July 18, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Catholic Groups Question Candidates – Part 2
Congressional candidates are questioned about immigration, health care reform and educational assistance.
Posted: 07.11.08
The Florida Catholic is one of four statewide Catholic entities that participates in the Candidate Questionnaire Project, soliciting and disseminating responses from congressional and state legislative candidates on questions important to Catholic voters. This is the second in a three–part series in which the Florida Catholic Conference, which drafts the questions, explains what was asked and why.
ORLANDO | One thing about American politics — there is never a shortage of hot–button topics.
Michael McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference, said the trick for him and his staff is to narrow down those topics to 10 questions that will empower Florida’s Catholics in the voting booth and at the same time inform the Catholic faithful, the media, and especially the candidates about issues of concern to the church involving defense of life and protection of human dignity.
Each election cycle, the conference, which serves as the lobbying arm for Florida bishops, develops a set of questions for congressional candidates and Florida legislative candidates. State and congressional candidates for the offices of representative and senator are offered the opportunity to answer the conference’s questions through the Candidate Questionnaire Project. Read the complete article here.
July 11, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Judge lets religious groups defend ballot initiatives
Posted: 07.10.08
TALLAHASSEE | Florida’s bishops and other Catholic and non–Catholic religious interests won the right July 10 to be heard in a lawsuit that seeks to block from the ballot two proposed state constitutional amendments that would protect the ability of sectarian organizations to receive state funding for providing health, education and social services.
Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge John C. Cooper approved a motion allowing five Florida religious organizations to intervene in a lawsuit challenging amendments 7 and 9, both of which were placed on the November general election ballot by the state’s Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. The religious organizations, which also include Mercy Hospital and Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami, seek to derail the lawsuit. They say success of the ballot initiatives would help put religious organizations on equal footing with nonsectarian institutions when reaching out to vulnerable citizens. Read the complete article here.
July 10, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Catholic Groups Question Candidates – Part 1
Questions for U.S. and State candidates relate to matters of life, death, conscience and creation.
Posted: 06.30.08
The Florida Catholic is one of four statewide Catholic entities that participates in the Candidate Questionnaire Project, soliciting and disseminating responses from congressional and state legislative candidates on questions important to Catholic voters. This is the first in a three-part series in which the Florida Catholic Conference, which drafts the questions, explains what was asked and why.
ORLANDO | Creating questions for candidates to answer can be a tightrope to walk for Catholic Church representatives.
Just ask Michael McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference. Each election cycle, the conference, which serves as the lobbying arm for Florida bishops, develops a set of questions for Florida’s legislative candidates and another set for congressional candidates. State and congressional candidates for the offices of representative and senator are offered the opportunity to answer the conference’s questions through the Candidate Questionnaire Project. Read the complete article and questions here.
June 30, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page
Religion and the U.S. presidency
In another presidential election year 48 years ago, John F. Kennedy met head–on the prejudice that plagued his campaign. That prejudice in 1960 was religion.
Posted: 06.28.08
Cecil Stoughton | The Kennedy Presidential Library
President Kennedy speaks at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas, November 21, 1963, the day before he was assassinated in Dallas.
As a Catholic, John F. Kennedy was hurt politically by the quiet conviction of many Americans that he was an agent of a foreign power, the pope in Rome. He couldn’t have his first allegiance to the United States, it was thought, since all Catholics must swear obedience to their bishops and the pope. In the White House he would have to take orders, not give them. Read the complete article here.
June 28, 2008 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Home Page