by Steven Ertelt

LifeNews.com Editor

June 29, 2010

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – The nation’s Catholic bishops have a message for members of Congress: don’t turn American taxpayer-funded military base hospitals into abortion centers. They are oppose language in a Senate bill that would overturn the ban on abortions at the approximately 250 military base hospitals.

Sen. Roland Burris attached an amendment to a bill in the Senate Armed Services Committee that received a 15-12 vote.

All Democrats supported it except for Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who joined all of the committee’s Republicans in opposition.

In a June 29 letter to members of the Senate, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said authorizing abortions at military hospitals in this country and around the world is “misguided.”

He urged lawmakers to vote for an expected amendment that would remove the Burris language from the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 3454).

Cardinal DiNardo said it was disingenuous to suggest, as the amendment’s proponents have, that the amendment is “moderate” in requiring patients at military facilities to pay for their abortions.

“Which is a more direct governmental involvement in abortion: That the government reimburses someone else for having done an abortion, or that the government performs the abortion itself and accepts payment for doing so?” the Cardinal wrote.

He cited a 1989 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court saying that “the State need not commit any resources to facilitating abortions, even if it can turn a profit by doing so.”

Cardinal DiNardo also noted the longstanding nature of the current policy against providing abortions at military health facilities, which has been in place for 22 years with the exception of 1993-1995.

“During the brief period when these facilities were told to make abortions available, scarcely any military physician could be found in overseas facilities who was willing to perform abortions,” the Cardinal noted.   More…

Bishop Morlino: One of the most outspoken advocates for unborn among the U.S. Catholic hierarchy

By Kathleen Gilbert

MADISON, Wisconsin, June 23, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholics in the diocese of Madison, WI are hitting back at negative media coverage of their bishop after he welcomed priests with the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest, a group renowned for their traditionalist liturgy and fidelity to orthodox Catholic teaching. Supporters note that, contrary to the picture painted by dissenting voices in the media, Morlino’s focus on orthodoxy is increasingly popular with Catholic youth – even in the liberal stronghold of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Madison Bishop Robert Morlino, one of the most outspoken advocates for the unborn among the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, has defended the priests against criticism that the move represented a “step backward” and that the priests’ approach is, in the words of one parishioner, “quite different than we have become accustomed to.” Morlino heard parishioners from St. Mary’s Parish in Platteville at an occasionally-heated meeting on Monday.

Despite media coverage focusing on dissenting voices, many were eager to voice support for their bishop – especially among pro-life Catholics.

Peggy Hamill, director of Pro-Life Wisconsin (PLW), indicated that Morlino’s fidelity to Catholic orthodoxy matched his reputation as “a man of integrity, and consistency.”

“Pro-life Wisconsin knows him to have a deep respect for the sacredness of human life which he expects his priests to reflect,” said Hamill. “Bishop Morlino’s selection of new priests for the diocese of Madison is simply consistent with his fostering appreciation for the sacred.”

PLW board member Greg Wagner agreed that “there’s lots of positive” in the diocese’s reaction to Morlino, despite the consistently negative news coverage.

Morlino has been subject to scathing criticism for his adherence to orthodox Catholicism in the past: he met with a strident outcry from liberal Catholics after sacking a pastoral associate who refused to recant her thesis questioning the masculinity of God as well as the authority of male Church hierarchy.

“There’s quite a bit of support here in the Madison diocese, it certainly isn’t all negative,” said Wagner.

In addition, Wagner pointed to the “just phenomenal” Catholic spiritual life at the University of Wisconsin Madison’s St. Paul University Catholic Center, saying that the “youth are getting behind Bishop Morlino.” More…

Thanks to Pewsitter.com for such an encouraging story in times of relentless attacks on the Faith and the Church.

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jun 22, 4:16 pm ET

A cameraman films a painting discovered with the earliest known icons of the Apostles Peter and Paul in a catacomb located under a modern office building in a residential neighborhood of Rome, Tuesday, June, 22, 2010. Restorers said Tuesday they had unearthed the 4th-century images using a new laser technique that allowed them to burn off centuries of white calcium deposits without damaging the dark colors of the original paintings underneath. The paintings adorn what is believed to be the tomb of a Roman noblewoman and represent some of the earliest evidence of devotion to the apostles in early Christianity. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

ROME – Twenty-first century laser technology has opened a window into the early days of the Catholic Church, guiding researchers through the dank, musty catacombs beneath Rome to a startling find: the first known icons of the apostles Peter and Paul.

Vatican officials unveiled the paintings Tuesday, discovered along with the earliest known images of the apostles John and Andrew in an underground burial chamber beneath an office building on a busy street in a working-class Rome neighborhood.

The images, which date from the second half of the 4th century, were uncovered using a new laser technique that allows restorers to burn off centuries of thick white calcium carbonate deposits without damaging the brilliant dark colors of the paintings underneath.

The technique could revolutionize the way restoration work is carried out in the miles (kilometers) of catacombs that burrow under the Eternal City where early Christians buried their dead.

The icons were discovered on the ceiling of a tomb of an aristocratic Roman woman at the Santa Tecla catacomb, near where the remains of the apostle Paul are said to be buried. More…

Thanks to Pewsitter.com for the story…

Thanks Dad

Happy Father’s Day

posted by Matt Archbold on CreativeMinorityReport.com

Editor’s Note: Happy Father’s Day to our dear friends, the Brothers Archbold, Matthew and Patrick at CreativeMinorityReport.com.  AlwaysCatholic.com was supported by the Brothers A from day one and for this we are truly grateful. Have a wonderful Father’s Day, Matthew and Patrick, God Love you both!

Ad majorem Dei gloriam, Sofia

You know that the federal government doesn’t fund abortions? Well, explain this government report that shows how our federal government gave nearly $1 billion of taxpayer dollars to organizations that perform and/or advocate abortions over the past seven years, including $657.1 million just to Planned Parenthood.

Mark Hemingway reports on a GAO report that details spending from 2002-2009:

Over the seven year period studied in the report, Planned Parenthood received $657.1 million in tax dollars; Population Council received $284.3 million, the Guttmacher Institute received $12.7 million, Advocates for Youth received $8.7 million, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation received $3.9 million.

All in all, $966.7 million tax dollars went to encouraging a practice a plurality of Americans finds morally wrong.

You know what really kills me about this is knowing that we had a Republican President and a Republican congress for so many years and the massive funding stream of death continued unabated.

Defunding the death eaters should have made sense to social conservatives and fiscal conservatives yet it was never done. One has to ask “Why?”

And you want to know what the answer is – Republicans had the pro-life vote. We worked to get George W. Bush elected. They just needed to throw us a bone every once in a while. They didn’t care enough to actually stop the funding of abortion to pick a political fight.

I guess all we can do now is look ahead and now that we have these GAO numbers thanks to Congressman Mike Pence we must stay on this issue until Planned Parenthood is completely defunded.You know that tripe that the federal government doesn’t fund abortions? Well, explain this government report that shows how our federal government gave nearly $1 billion of taxpayer dollars to organizations that perform and/or advocate abortions over the past seven years, including $657.1 million just to Planned Parenthood.

iMark Hemingway reports on a GAO report that details spending from 2002-2009:

Over the seven year period studied in the report, Planned Parenthood received $657.1 million in tax dollars; Population Council received $284.3 million, the Guttmacher Institute received $12.7 million, Advocates for Youth received $8.7 million, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation received $3.9 million.

All in all, $966.7 million tax dollars went to encouraging a practice a plurality of Americans finds morally wrong.

You know what really kills me about this is knowing that we had a Republican President and a Republican congress for so many years and the massive funding stream of death continued unabated.

Defunding the death eaters should have made sense to social conservatives and fiscal conservatives yet it was never done. One has to ask “Why?”

And you want to know what the answer is – Republicans had the pro-life vote. We worked to get George W. Bush elected. They just needed to throw us a bone every once in a while. They didn’t care enough to actually stop the funding of abortion to pick a political fight.

I guess all we can do now is look ahead and now that we have these GAO numbers thanks to Congressman Mike Pence we must stay on this issue until Planned Parenthood is completely defunded. More…

Editor’s Note: The Brothers Archbold from CreativeMinorityReport.com usually reside at our Guest Blog spot, but this piece is so important we had to post it on the front page. Thanks to our colleagues at @CMReport for their relentless pursuit for Truth…Our vote for BEST Catholic Blog evah!! BTW, why aren’t you following them on Twitter? AMDG, Sofia