IrishCentral Catholicism - b5cc3275d518416eacb61d676e8d84d1

Where the Church went wrong - “John F Kennedy and American Catholicism” (IrishCentral)

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:02:53 PDT

Lawrence Fuchs advised the Kennedy campaign on the voting patterns of American Catholics He later wrote a book called John F Kennedy and American CatholicismOh great! Law and Order actor and comedian Richard Belzer has a new book out about the assassination of John F READ MORE

Why Catholics should vote for Mitt Romney for president in 2012 - A vote for Mitt makes Catholicism more relevant than ever (IrishCentral)

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 04:31:05 PST

Mitt RomenyHow should Catholics vote this presidential election?It depends on how you define your faith If it is a matter of anti- abortion sentiment and adherence to church teaching then the choice is obviousMitt Romney deserves your voteThe abortion issue is very real READ MORE

Catholicism fast becoming the dominant US religion new poll shows -- As Protestant numbers decline, Catholics now come center stage (IrishCentral)

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 04:30:27 PDT

Catholicism is now the biggest faith group in the United StatesCatholics are now the single biggest faith group in America at 22 per cent, according to the latest Pew research pollThe news will come as a positive boost to the American bishops who have endured massive negative publicity on child abuse cases these past few yearsThe influx of Hispanics has certainly helped the Catholic numbers but the church seems in remarkable shape given its problemsThe emerging Catholic power is shown most clearly in the make-up of the Supreme Court where six of the nine justices share that faith READ MORE

Ireland's papal nuncio calls for ‘authentic’ Catholicism for the future (IrishCentral)

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 04:49:42 PDT

By: ANTOINETTE KELLY

The Pope's envoy to Ireland claimed this week that for the Catholic Church to survive, its teachings need to be followed faithfully.

The end of liberalism in religion predicted by Ross Douthat in NY Times -- Says Catholicism will prevail because of sticking with the old ways (IrishCentral)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 05:33:07 PDT

A parishioner prayingLiberal religions have collapsed despite the best efforts of liberal pastors and administrators to save them, says Ross Douthat in his New York Times column on SundayDouthat says it is perfectly understandable that conservatives in the Catholic Church demand adherence to the old laws when they see how devastated liberal religions are in the past decadeHis argument appears to be that the liberal way has not worked and that on balance, the conservative approach of Pope Benedict and John Paul before him has worked betterDouthat focused on the Episcopal Church, which has allowed gay pastors, gay marriage, and thrown itself open to many social movements READ MORE

Was Catholicism worse than Communism? (IrishCentral)

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 06:15:17 PDT

John BanvilleIf you are looking for a good anti-Catholic rant, you can listen to certain Evangelical Protestants or rigid atheistsBut why bother? Many Catholics these days are as reliably anti-Catholic as the Vatican’s oldest enemiesThis is understandable, given the revelations of the last decade or soLiving as a devout Catholic requires a tremendous amount of dedication and sacrifice READ MORE

Verbal Threat (IrishCentral)

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:05:15 PDT

By: THE greatest threat to mankind is not communism, socialism, sexism, Catholicism, Judaism, fanaticism or any of the myriad “isms” you can conjure up as you lie awake at night pondering the fate of the Earth, our last place of refuge in this universe.
To better understand the word “ism” look up ”schism” in the dictionary.

Irish Government: Parents will have say about demise of Catholicism in classrooms (IrishCentral)

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 05:22:40 PDT

By: ANTOINETTE KELLY

READMORE: Catholic church to lose stronghold on Irish education system

Irelands Census 2011 and Catholicism - the demise of organized religion in Ireland (IrishCentral)

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:00:06 PDT

Read more: The Irish are fast losing their religion say experts On Sunday, 10th April the people of Ireland will fill in their census forms under wildly different circumstances than when they last did so in 2006 But aside from the inevitable stark figures surrounding employment and the people who’ve had to leave the country to get it, there is another question that will also speak volumes: the question on religionApart from the usual campaigns to get Jedi Knight or Pastafarianism officially on the books, or this year in particular augment the number of people who claim no religion, this year’s religion statistics will be a crucial chapter in an intriguing storyIn 1981, when priests were still more feared than the guards, the percentage of Roman Catholic people in Ireland was 93% READ MORE

Has Catholic education failed us? (IrishCentral)

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:30:18 PDT

The latest religious news this week is that, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, non-religious Americans know more about religion in general than self-identified Christians Even when corrections were made for disparities in intelligence and education levels, the statistics still bear out (You can test your own knowledge, or just check out the questions, here I got all the answers correct, but only because I had read about some of the questions in various news reports READ MORE

Catholics can lead interfaith education (IrishCentral)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:15:13 PDT

An article in this week's issue of Time magazine reports on how the Claremont School of Theology, formerly offering training for only Methodist seminarians, is transforming itself into an interfaith institution and will offer programs to train Jewish rabbis and Muslim imams alongside Christian ministers The school made this leap because its enrollment was foundering, and two years into the experiment, enrollment has increased While the ultimate success of the program will depend on how well its graduates are regarded and whether or not people continue to enroll, the fact that it has existed for two years tells us something - that understanding other religions does not have to dim the belief in one's ownA family friend of mine once told her young daughter, when she asked if there were other religions in the world aside from Catholicism, that there were not READ MORE

Sinead O'Connor says Catholicism is beautiful but deeply flawed (IrishCentral)

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:41:15 PDT

By: RORY FITZGERALD

In an interview for IrishCentral.com, Sinead O'Connor has revealed she actually has a deep affection for the Catholic religion, despite seeing many flaws.

Catholics should oppose ban on Muslim veils (IrishCentral)

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:45:12 PDT

The French Parliament has approved a ban on face veils in public, in what proponents say is an effort to keep the state secular and detractors say is a grievous affront to religious freedom The measure still needs to pass the French Senate to become law, but with little open opposition in France, at least from politicians, it is likely to be ratified The law would fine women for wearing a niqab or a burqa, which both conceal parts of the face, and could heavily fine or jail men who force female relatives to wear such coverings Other European countries are considering similar bans READ MORE

The End of Anti-Catholicism? (IrishCentral)

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:10:07 PDT

By now you’ve probably heard the story about the knucklehead (or as he has been called in the press, the “junior diplomat”) who thought it would be funny to suggest that Pope Benedict open some abortion clinics and hand out condoms when he visits Britain in SeptemberThe aforementioned knucklehead actually put these thoughts down on paper, in a memo that was subsequently leaked to The Sunday Telegraph newspaper“This is clearly a foolish document,” was the official response from Britain’s Foreign OfficePersonally, I enjoyed the response of Rt READ MORE

English version of Catholicism seemed softer in schools (IrishCentral)

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:26:32 PST

Posted by Kelly Fincham at 5/26/2009 2:30 PM EDTMy family decided to move back from England to Ireland in 1979 When I say "moved back" I'm really referring to my mother's family who were all from Drogheda, Dublin and Skerries My father's family were English on his dad's side and Irish on his mother's (Waterford) Anyway, up until then I had been taught in English schools with the English version of Catholicism READ MORE

Calling all angry Anglicans! Special deals on conversions to Catholicism! (IrishCentral)

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:00:05 PST

Published Friday, October 23, 2009, 3:10 PMMy friends: Do you remember the Tylenol scare a few years back? The makers of the world's favorite pain-reliever had to cope with some nut who had poisoned a few bottles and caused the company to recall every single pill and capsule from every store shelf and hospital Masterful management and savvy public relations saved the day, as well as the pharmaceutical giant's reputation — and bank account But imagine if, say, the makers of Excedrin had decided to capitalize on the scare by urging worried Tylenol users to switch to their brand — for their own safety, of course "Use SAFE Excedrin," they could have said in commercials READ MORE

Bob Novak's journey to Catholicism (IrishCentral)

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:31:30 PDT

By: INTELLIGENCER

The late conservative columnist and TV host Bob Novak was a highly unlikely convert to Catholicism, but in 1998 the Jewish reporter who died of a brain tumor on Tuesday did just that at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Washington.

Catholicism and American Freedom (IrishCentral)

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:10:21 PDT

By: TOM DEIGNAN

The history of the Irish in the U.S. is a central feature of Irish-American historian John T. McGreevy's new book "Catholicism and American Freedom." McGreevy (the John A. O'Brien Associate Professor of History at Notre Dame) expertly covers 200 years of conflict between America's Protestant foundations and the challenge Catholic immigrants presented to it. As Irish immigrants flooded Boston in the 1850s (when already nearly one in three Bostonians was Irish) esteemed intellectual Theodore Parker lamented: "Soon, Boston will be a Catholic city...and we know what use a few demagogues can make of the Catholic voters." But McGreevy - whose previous book, Parish Boundaries, won the John Gilmary Shea Prize of the American Catholic Historical Association - does not merely tell a story of Protestant discrimination. He explores the many complex ways religion entered into debates on wide topics such as slavery, education, civil rights and even the current sex scandals rocking the church. ($26.95 / 431 pages / Norton) READ MORE

Parish Priest Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism (IrishCentral)

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:08:37 PDT

By: TOM DEIGNAN

Alan Brinkley, one of America's leading historians and scholars, has tackled some of the largest themes in U.S. history. Interesting then that his latest book would be about a seemingly simple Irish priest. "Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism" is a revealing look at the founder of the Knights of Columbus. McGivney founded the "KOC" as a fraternal society offering low-cost life insurance to immigrant families who faced destitution if the head of the household died. Today KOC insures more than 1.2 million men, women and children. Efforts are now afoot to canonize McGivney, to make him a saint for all the good works he did, even though he died at the very young age of 38. McGivney was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on August 12, 1852. His parents, Patrick and Mary (Lynch) McGivney, arrived in the U.S. as part of the great 19th century wave of Irish immigration. Patrick McGivney became a molder amidst the heat and deadly fumes of a Waterbury brass mill. Mary McGivney gave birth to 13 children, six of whom died in infancy or childhood. So at an early age, the first child, Michael, learned about the harshness of poverty. But, as many children of Irish immigrants before him, he also learned about the powers of love and faith. As Brinkley's book makes clear, McGivney may have seemed a simple man, but he clearly did change the way Irish Catholics lived in the U.S. ($24.95 / 256 pages / William Morrow)

In the Name of Catholicism (IrishCentral)

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:57:29 PDT

By:

In her new book Being Catholic Now, activist Kerry Kennedy interviews 37 prominent Catholics (many of them Irish American) to discover what being Catholic means to this generation of followers. Kennedy tells CAHIR O'DOHERTY how her faith as a Catholic, which she learned as a child in the center of America's royal family, has carried her through all the heartbreak that have haunted the Kennedys over the years. READ MORE