Arizona House Republicans blocked two attempts on Wednesday to repeal an 1864 law protecting life at conception. In a near party-line 30-30 vote, Democrats failed to gain a majority of votes to suspend the legislature’s rules to fast-track a so-called “abortion ban repeal” bill that would have overturned the 1864 law that protects all unborn life and imposes prison time for those who “provide, supply, or administer” an abortion.   The post Arizona lawmakers vote to retain law protecting life at conception appeared first on The Catholic Thing ..read more

A new survey finds that 75 percent of U.S. Catholics view Pope Francis favorably, down 8 percentage points since Pew last asked this question in 2021 and 15 points below his peak favorability rating, which was 90 percent in early 2015. 89 percent of Catholic Democrats hold a positive view of him, compared with 63 percent of Catholic Republicans.     The post Majority of U.S. Catholics view Pope Francis favorably appeared first on The Catholic Thing ..read more

The fact that Dignitas infinita grounds its title in a statement from St. John Paul II gives us a strong indication that it is in the sense of “unending or unbounded” that this recent DDF Declaration is using the term “infinite.” Therefore, the various condemnations from numerous sources of the document for its use of the term “infinite” seem to be hyperbolic and uncharitable.      The post What is humanity’s infinite dignity? appeared first on The Catholic Thing ..read more

Deep on the convent-roof the snows Are sparkling to the moon: My breath to heaven like vapour goes; May my soul follow soon! The shadows of the convent-towers Slant down the snowy sward, Still creeping with the creeping hours That lead me to my Lord: Make Thou my spirit pure and clear As are the frosty skies, Or this first snowdrop of the year That in my bosom lies. As these white robes are soil’d and dark, To yonder shining ground; As this pale taper’s earthly spark, To yonder argent round; So shows my soul before the Lamb, My spirit before Thee; So in mine earthly house I am, To that I hope ..read more

The iron no match for the iron rod The strongest wall will crumble and fall to a mighty God For all those who have eyes and all those who have ears It is only he who can reduce me to tears Don’t you cry and don’t you die and don’t you burn Like a thief in the night, he’ll replace wrong with right When he returns Truth is an arrow and the gate is narrow that it passes through He unleashed his power at an unknown hour that no one knew How long can I listen to the lies of prejudice How long can I stay drunk on fear out in the wilderness Can I cast it aside, all this loyalty and this pride Will I ..read more

A newly released study from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University surveyed the men who will be ordained to the priesthood in 2024. The data shows that families continue to be the seedbed of religious vocations: of the 392 respondents, 95 percent were raised by their biological parents, and 88 percent were raised by a married couple who lived together.   The post Who is being ordained to the priesthood? appeared first on The Catholic Thing ..read more

God’s Grandeur: The Catholic Case for Intelligent Design, a collection of essays by scientists and philosophers dismantles the claims that the universe came into being, and mankind evolved, through a process of random chance. Those claims, the authors demonstrate, are both scientifically and philosophically untenable – not to mention incompatible with Christian faith. It is not an easy thing to move the scientific consensus. Nevertheless, it moves.         The post Trust the science, not the scientists appeared first on The Catholic Thing ..read more

Much we may sympathize with the distress experienced by gender-confused individuals, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that although a man can feel like he is a woman and a woman can feel like she is a man, he can never become a woman, and she can never become a man. Pretending otherwise, and forcing others to do so, harms the confused individuals as well as the community. At a minimum, approach the college’s student housing office and request a different roommate for your child if he or she has been housed with a transgender student.   The post Resisting LGBTQ madness in Catholic college ..read more

A Knights of Columbus council has called for chapel mosaics created by disgraced artist Fr. Marko Rupnik to be removed from the St. John Paul II Shrine in Washingon, D.C. which is sponsored by the KOC. The Cardinal O’Boyle Council 11302 is calling on the Knights’ national leadership to immediately announce a plan to eliminate the artwork and cover the images until then.     The post Knights of Columbus: Remove Rupnik art from JPII Shrine! appeared first on The Catholic Thing ..read more

For the better part of two generations, the pro-life movement in the United States was galvanized by a shared commitment to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Thanks to the Dobbs decision of 2022, Roe is now gone, and abortion policy in the United States has been returned to the democratic process. If Dobbs represented a generational legal victory for the pro-life movement, the ensuing two years have also revealed some of the massive political and cultural obstacles facing the pro-life cause. Just a few months after Dobbs, a pro-life amendment to the state constitution was defeated in Kansas sett ..read more