Italian bishop confined to home by homosexual demonstration : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from the Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• An Italian archbishop has revealed that he was confined to his home, forced to remain inside his “besieged” residence, when homosexual activists staged a protest there earlier this month, and warned that gay-rights campaigners aim to prosecute all who oppose their agenda.
• Archbishop Giampaolo Crepaldi of Trieste was the target of a demonstration organized by ArciGay on January 12. Italian media outlets ignored the incident, and city officials in Trieste showed their support for the protest. Two members of the local city council reportedly participated in the demonstration.

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Italian bishop confined to home by homosexual demonstration : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Christians will not leave Egypt, Coptic leader vows : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Pope Tawadros II, the Coptic Orthodox leader, has dismissed as “irrational” a proposal to divide Egypt’s territory to create a Coptic state.
• The Coptic Church is “an integral part of that Egypt that will not be divided,” the Orthodox prelate said. He said that Copts are loyal Egyptian citizens, and the concerns that many Copts have expressed about the language of a new constitution do not reflect sectarian concerns but understandable worries about the fundamental principles of equal justice under law.

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Christians will not leave Egypt, Coptic leader vows : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

French government calls for no discussion of same-sex marriage in Catholic schools : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• French President Francois Hollande and Education Minister Vincent Peillon are urging Catholic schools not to hold discussions with students about impending legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage. Hollande’s administration supports the legislation.

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French government calls for no discussion of same-sex marriage in Catholic schools : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

New restrictions on religious freedom in Vietnam : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Decree 92, issued by Vietnam’s Communist government in November, went into effect on January 1 and is raising concerns among the nation’s Christians and Buddhists – particularly after the vice president of the nation’s parliament said that “Vietnam will increasingly model itself on China in matters of religious policies.”

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New restrictions on religious freedom in Vietnam : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

2 dead following church bombing in Libya : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

2 dead following church bombing in Libya : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Catholic church receives bomb threat post Christmas | The Jakarta Post

The following excerpts are from The Jakarta Post:

• The North Sumatra Police’s bomb squad on Saturday secured an alleged homemade bomb, that contained 500 grams of nails, which was found in the backyard of Salaon Toba Catholic Church in Samosir Island, located at the center of the renowned Lake Toba.
• The church’s priest, Herman Nainggolan, said the package was found following a text message received by local district head Ronggur Ni Huta at 11:11 p.m. local time on Friday that read, “There is a bomb in your jurisdiction at the Salaon Church.”
• The text message was promptly reported to the police, which sent a team to inspect the church. 
• “No one had the courage to move it. It [the bomb] was secured only after the bomb squad arrived today,” Nainggolan said on Saturday.
• The suspicious package, which was packed in two drinking bottles, stirred panic among the congregation taking part in Christmas mass. 
• The team arrived at the church at about 11:30 a.m. and brought the package to the Samosir Police headquarters for further examination.
• Samosir Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Donny Damanik said the package had been examined and it was not a bomb. It did not contain explosive material, but it was equipped with batteries connected to the nails with cables.

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Catholic church receives bomb threat post Christmas | The Jakarta Post

Nigeria: 2 churches attacked during Christmas services; 12 dead : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Two Protestant churches in Nigeria suffered terrorist attacks during Christmas services.

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Nigeria: 2 churches attacked during Christmas services; 12 dead : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

India: court sentences Hindu marauders for anti-Christian violence in Orissa : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Reuters:

• A court in India has sentenced 12 Hindu militants to prison terms in connection with the anti-Christian violence that broke out in the state of Orissa in 2008.

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India: court sentences Hindu marauders for anti-Christian violence in Orissa : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

From The Dignitatis Humanae Institute: Egypt's Embattled Christians Fear Exclusion Under New Islamist Constitution

Note: The following is a press release from The Dignitatis Humanae Institute

  London, 23 November 2012

As the Western media shift attention from crisis to crisis in the Middle East, one continuing, omnipresent tragedy goes wilfully ignored, the violent persecution of the regions' remaining Christians.  Nowhere is this more evident than Egypt, where the new government, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, press on with the drafting of a new constitution with Sharia Law it is core and little tolerance for Christians.

As Syria and Gaza dominate the headlines, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has quickly gone about shaping what was once a relatively moderate nation into an Islamist republic.  The Arab Spring's ambitious hopes for pluralist democracies has quickly faded, only to be supplemented with theocratic regimes potentially worse than those which preceded them.

The Christians of Egypt, amounting to approximately 10% of the population, have expressed growing despondency as to the nature of the draft constitution.  Church leaders have found themselves repeatedly shut out of dialogue by the nations' Salafis who are determined to enshrine their dominance into law.  While the future constitution looks bleak for religious minorities, the persecution of the Coptic community continues each day.  Since President Morsi and the Muslim brotherhood gained power dozens of Christians have been murdered in addition to increased attacks on Christian property and the burning of Churches.  Kidnappings are not uncommon as well as reports of qualified Christians being turned away from employment.

Speaking from his office in Westminster to the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, Lord Alton, Honorary President of the British Coptic Association and Chairman of the Cross-Party Working Group on Human Dignity, appealed to the Egyptian government to remain true to their election assurances: 

"Mohammed Morsi swept to power on the promise that he would rule for all Egyptians, including the Christian community.  As the future constitution is drafted and the next chapter of Egyptian history determined, President Morsi must be held accountable to his solemn pledge to bring peace and tolerance to the marginalised communities of Egypt.  The Coptic community have shown remarkable forbearance in these past five months, I sincerely hope their patience with the new government will not be betrayed through further degradation."

The Dignitatis Humanae Institute aims to uphold human dignity based on the anthropological truth that man is born in the image and likeness of God and therefore has an innate human dignity of infinite worth to be upheld. The Institute promotes this understanding by supporting Christians in public life, assisting them to present effective and coherent responses to increasing efforts to silence the Christian voice in the public square.

Bomb explodes near parish in Kenya : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• A man threw a bomb into a minibus near a Catholic parish and primary school in Nairobi on November 18, killing seven.

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Bomb explodes near parish in Kenya : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

MN priest discusses ‘denial of Confirmation’ to pro-gay marriage teen : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• In a letter to his parishioners, Father Gary LaMoine, a priest of the Diocese of Crookston (Minnesota), discussed news reports that Lennon Cihak, a 17-year-old in his parish, was “denied” the Sacrament of Confirmation because of his support for same-sex marriage.
• The teen, said Father LaMoine, was one of a few who chose not to be confirmed because of support for same-sex marriage.

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MN priest discusses ‘denial of Confirmation’ to pro-gay marriage teen : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Increasing violence against Christians in Syria : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Violence against Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities in Syria is on the rise, according to John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need.
• Pontifex fears that Syria, like Iraq, could lose the majority of its Christian population.

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Increasing violence against Christians in Syria : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The Malicious Mangling of the Virgin Mary - Brent Bozell - [page]

The following excerpts are from an article by Brent Bozell on Townhall.com:

• A Christian can be crushed gazing at the picture of Mary standing at the foot of the cross, watching her beloved son suffocate and die. But in that vision, she stands there for hours, patiently enduring her suffering. For two millennia, she has been a role model for Christians, a woman who practiced obedience in the most difficult of human circumstances, with fervent hope for what this sacrifice will offer all mankind as it struggles with sin.
• This is why it seems so hard to reflect that vision of patience when black-hearted "artists" practice character assassination on the Blessed Virgin Mary to strip her of every virtue: her patience, her obedience, her courageous love and her prayerful faith in God. On Nov. 13, Simon and Schuster launched a vicious little 96-page novella titled "The Testament of Mary."
• The author, an Irish ex-Catholic named Colm Toibin, presents us instead with a Bible-burning "reimagination" of an alienated Mary who fled the scene of her son's death in fear for her own life. Two decades after the Resurrection -- or was there one? -- this anti-Mary is filled with bitterness and rage. She describes herself as "unhinged" and bubbling with contempt for her son's demented followers, to the extreme that she threatens the Gospel writers with a knife. She lives as a bandit, stealing to survive.

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The Malicious Mangling of the Virgin Mary - Brent Bozell - [page]

Australia: a campaign to break the confessional seal : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Politicians, pundits, and even a few dissenting Catholic clerics are calling upon Catholic priests to break the confessional seal in sex-abuse cases.
• Attorney general Nicola Roxon said that a federal commission investigating sexual abuse would take up the question of whether priests should be required to disclose information from sacramental confessions. Prime Minister Julia Gillard also said that the commission should discuss the matter. But Senator Nick Xenophon, a persistent critic of the Catholic Church, was more candid, saying that the government’s recognition of the confessional seal is “a medieval law that needs to change.”

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Australia: a campaign to break the confessional seal : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Australian cardinal: confessional seal is inviolable, even in abuse cases : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, has said that while the Church will cooperate with a federal commission investigating child abuse, priests will not break the seal of confession.

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Australian cardinal: confessional seal is inviolable, even in abuse cases : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Dissenting Minnesota priest calls for archbishop’s resignation for defending marriage | LifeSiteNews.com

The following excerpts are from LifeSiteNews.com:

• A Minneapolis-area priest has called for the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt after the archbishop supported Minnesota’s effort to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex “marriage.”
• Fr. Michael Tegeder wrote a letter to the editor of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune oh Thursday requesting that Archbishop Nienstedt “prayerfully consider stepping down from his office.”
• Calling Nienstedt’s support for the marriage amendment a “misguided crusade,” he suggested that the archbishop’s resignation would be “healing for our state” and “would show some magnanimity on [Nienstedt’s] part.”
• Tegeder has long been a dissenter from Catholic teaching on the issue of homosexuality. He and the archbishop have clashed repeatedly over the issue. 

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Dissenting Minnesota priest calls for archbishop’s resignation for defending marriage | LifeSiteNews.com

Violence erupts at pro-abortion demonstration outside Buenos Aires cathedral : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Pro-abortion demonstrators clashed with police outside the Catholic cathedral in Bueno Aires, Argentina, in an angry confrontation that spilled over into violence.

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Violence erupts at pro-abortion demonstration outside Buenos Aires cathedral : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Persecution of Christians up 400% in Asia, group says : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Persecution of Christians up 400% in Asia, group says : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

German leader sees Christianity as 'most persecuted religion worldwide' : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

German leader sees Christianity as 'most persecuted religion worldwide' : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Liberal Group Asks IRS to Investigate Catholic Church for Alleged Political Activity | CNSNews.com

The following excerpts are from cnsnews.com:

• Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), late Friday, filed a formal complaint asking the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for allegedly engaging in prohibited political activity in violation of its nonprofit tax status.
• The CREW complaint alleges that the nation’s Catholic bishops are “abusing their positions to advocate against the election of President Barack Obama,” and anticipated further actions during this weekend’s sermons.
• The complaint mentions several bishops -- including Nicholas Di Marzio in New York; David Ricken in Wisconsin; Edward J. Burns in Alaska and Paul Loverde in Virginia -- who it said have “warned of the evils of the Obama administration, followed by an exhortation for Catholics to vote.”
• CREW also alleges that some bishops “have cautioned that voting for Democrats would not be faithful to Christ and would endanger the soul.”
• But the complaint zeroed in on Illinois Bishop Daniel Jenky, who, the liberal activist group said, “previously compared President Obama to Stalin and Hitler.”

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Liberal Group Asks IRS to Investigate Catholic Church for Alleged Political Activity | CNSNews.com