"Catholic Colleges Embrace ‘Demonic’ Gender Ideology in Housing Policies"

For Catholic parents with college-bound students please take note of the changes in policy that will very much effect your child if you/or they are paying for their further education.  There are many viable alternatives if you find a college that is having an identity crisis.  VOCAL

By Adam Cassandra   See more at www.cardinalnewmansociety.org

 

The College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit, Catholic institution in Worcester, Mass., will implement a new housing policy in the 2016-2017 academic year that embraces gender ideology, which Pope Francis has called “demonic” and a threat to the family.

The updated housing policy “will allow students of different sexes to room together based on gender identity,” according to an April 29, 2016, report in the campus newspaper The Crusader.

At the University of San Francisco (USF), the gender-inclusive housing description was recently updated to indicate that students at the Jesuit-run institution should develop their own understanding about gender identity, including recognition that “human beings are not necessarily male or female as ascribed by their assigned gender at birth.”

The College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit, Catholic institution in Worcester, Mass., will implement a new housing policy in the 2016-2017 academic year that embraces gender ideology, which Pope Francis has called “demonic” and a threat to the family.

The updated housing policy “will allow students of different sexes to room together based on gender identity,” according to an April 29, 2016, report in the campus newspaper The Crusader.

At the University of San Francisco (USF), the gender-inclusive housing description was recently updated to indicate that students at the Jesuit-run institution should develop their own understanding about gender identity, including recognition that “human beings are not necessarily male or female as ascribed by their assigned gender at birth.”

Pope Francis, a Jesuit, reportedly called gender ideology “demonic” in an exchange with Austrian Bishop Andreas Laun. And the Holy Father has stated that the promotion of this ideology — which rejects the creation of human beings as male and female in the image and likeness of God — contributes to the destruction of the family.

Holy Cross says its housing of students on the basis of gender identity is “required by applicable law,” and cites Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 in the policy section. Students who want to request housing based on gender identity are asked to contact Assistant Dean and Director of Residence Life and Housing Ed Coolbaugh.

The full section related to gender identity in the student housing agreement reads:

The College maintains separate housing for the different sexes as permitted by applicable law, including Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972. The College also assigns housing on the basis of gender identity as required by applicable law. Please contact the Assistant Dean/Director of Residence Life and Housing, Ed Coolbaugh, at (508) 793-2664 or by email at ecoolbau@holycross.edu to request a housing assignment on the basis of gender identity and to obtain further information. Requests for assignment in accordance with gender identity must be sent in advance of the applicable published housing selection deadline. The Office of Residence Life & Housing will for each housing selection process cycle establish a date in advance of the applicable housing selection deadline by which requests for assignment in accordance with gender identity must be received by that office. The deadline for the 2016-2017 academic year is April 1, 2016.

The Cardinal Newman Society asked Coolbaugh about the promotion of gender ideology with the implementation of this policy. Coolbaugh was also asked if there was any discussion at Holy Cross about requesting a religious exemption from Title IX with the U.S. Department of Education to protect the college from implementing gender identity policies. Religious colleges and schools can request exemptions from Title IX if the law’s requirements conflict with their religious tenets. No response was received by time of publication.

The Crusader reported that the policy change at Holy Cross was spearheaded by a student who was concerned about the housing policy “as someone who identifies as genderqueer, neither male nor female.” The article also revealed that the College includes a “transgender designation on housing forms” for freshmen.

Gender-Inclusive Housing at USF

Last February, the Newman Society reported on a pilot program launched for the 2015-2016 academic year at USF to offer “gender-inclusive housing” to students who “identify as transgender” or “do not wish to be identified by any sex or gender identity.” A representative of the University told the Newman Society the program was scheduled to continue in the next academic year.

USF has since updated the description of their gender-inclusive housing, calling it “a safe, affirming, and inclusive community living option for students of the following identities and lived experiences”:

-Transgender students

-Gender queer students

-Students who are currently transitioning from one gender to another (i.e. transitioning from male to female or female to male)

-Students who do not conform to society’s expectations of their assigned gender at birth

-Students who do not wish to be identified by any sex or gender identity

-Students who are in the process of discovering their gender identity

-Students who appreciate and respect people with the above identities and lived experiences, and who would prefer to live in a community comprised of such

In addition to allowing biological males to room with biological females, USF’s gender-inclusive housing encourages male and female students to use the same bathroom facilities. “The bathroom is a communal bathroom and is shared by all members of the community (regardless of gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sex).”

Among the “community standards” for the gender-inclusive housing is recognition that human beings are not created male and female, contradicting the words of Genesis and the teachings of the Church: “’God created man in his own image . . . male and female he created them.’”
The standards include:

-Modeling behavior that reflects a positive value and respect for gender as a non-binary construct (human beings are not necessarily male or female as ascribed by their assigned gender at birth)

-Openness and desire to develop one’s own understanding about gender identity, sexual orientation, and other differences

-Working to create and promote a safe, affirming, and inclusive community for all students

-Use of inclusive and socially just language and the preferred names and gender pronouns of community members

-Education of guests about the values and community expectations of the gender inclusive community

Gender Ideology and Church Teaching

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) compiled a number of Pope Francis’ statements on the harms of gender ideology in a resource document published in December 2015. The document includes excerpts from various sources citing Church teaching on gender ideology.

The resource quotes Pope Francis from an address given in March last year calling gender ideology a
“mistake of the human mind.”

“The crisis of the family is a societal fact. There are also ideological colonializations of the family, different paths and proposals in Europe and also coming from overseas.” he said. “Then, there is the mistake of the human mind — gender theory — creating so much confusion.”

The document also points to a statement made by the Holy Father in April 2015 saying the embrace of gender ideology “creates a problem, not a solution.”

He said gender theory is “an expression of frustration and resignation, which seeks to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it. Yes, we risk taking a step backwards. The removal of difference in fact creates a problem, not a solution.”

Additionally, the resource points to statements made by U.S. bishops against the embrace and promotion of gender identity.

In a July 2014 statement responding to President Obama’s executive order on “gender identity discrimination,” Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore and Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, N.Y., speaking on behalf of the USCCB, called gender identity a “false idea that ‘gender’ is nothing more than a social construct or psychological reality that can be chosen at variance from one’s biological sex.”

The bishops added that this understanding of gender identity presented “a deeply flawed understanding of human sexuality, to which faithful Catholics and many other people of faith will not assent.”

In his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia released last month, Pope Francis used language from his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si’ to explain the duty of Catholic educators to teach young people about the biological realities of God’s creation:

[T]he young need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created, for “thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation… An appreciation of our body as male or female is also necessary for our own self-awareness in an encounter with others different from ourselves. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment.” Only by losing the fear of being different, can we be freed of self-centredness and self-absorption. Sex education should help young people to accept their own bodies and to avoid the pretension “to cancel out sexual difference because one no longer knows how to deal with it.”

Title IX

In April 2014, the Obama administration expanded Title IX  to include “discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity.” The expansion of the law was done without any action by Congress.

“Congress did not intend, when it adopted Title IX in 1972, to reach the question of gender identity. If Congress wants to change that, they can, but it’s inappropriate for an administrative branch agency to rewrite the law under the guise of interpretation,” Greg Baylor, senior counsel and director of the center for religious schools at Alliance Defending Freedom, previously told the Newman Society. He added that Congress also decided in 1972 “that if compliance with Title IX would be inconsistent with a school’s religious tenets, then the schools will be exempt from those requirements that are in conflict with their religious beliefs.”

The Department of Education published a searchable database last week of all the colleges that have requested religious exemptions to Title IX. LGBT activist groups urged the Obama administration to publish the list of colleges, which the activists claim are engaging in “discrimination.”

Since the changes to Title IX in 2014, four Catholic colleges have been granted religious exemptions by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights: Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee, Okla., and John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, Calif. A waiver request made by the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, is still pending. All five colleges are recommended as faithful Catholic institutions in The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College.  (VOCAL changed font to bold type)

Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B., chancellor of Belmont Abbey, told the Newman Society last December that the broadening of Title IX to include gender identity threatened the College’s religious mission, and would force the College to advocate practices that are “spiritually harmful.”

“A policy which would legitimize gender identity issues … would, first of all, abdicate the responsibility of the college community as a whole to act in accord with its fundamental identity as a community which publicly identifies itself as in communion with the Catholic Church,” he said. He added that such a policy “would contradict fidelity to the Christian message as it comes through the Church” and “would abdicate responsibility to serve the transcendent goal of life by advocating practices which, according to the Church's teaching, are spiritually harmful.”

The Newman Society has called on all Catholic colleges to apply for the Title IX exemption to protect their Catholic identity.

“Catholic colleges have a duty to uphold Catholic teaching about the human person, especially in the area of residence life,” said Adam Wilson, managing editor of The Newman Guide and author of the report Visitation Policies at U.S. Catholic Colleges. “In one respect, it comes as no surprise when Catholic colleges that set no hour limits for opposite-sex visitation, such as College of the Holy Cross and USF, drift further from Catholic ethos. But by catering to trends that contradict the faith, such institutions are cheating students of precious opportunities to grow in virtue through authentic Catholic formation.”

The College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit, Catholic institution in Worcester, Mass., will implement a new housing policy in the 2016-2017 academic year that embraces gender ideology, which Pope Francis has called “demonic” and a threat to the family.
The updated housing policy “will allow students of different sexes to room together based on gender identity,” according to an April 29, 2016, report in the campus newspaper The Crusader.
At the University of San Francisco (USF), the gender-inclusive housing description was recently updated to indicate that students at the Jesuit-run institution should develop their own understanding about gender identity, including recognition that “human beings are not necessarily male or female as ascribed by their assigned gender at birth.”
Pope Francis, a Jesuit, reportedly called gender ideology “demonic” in an exchange with Austrian Bishop Andreas Laun. And the Holy Father has stated that the promotion of this ideology — which rejects the creation of human beings as male and female in the image and likeness of God — contributes to the destruction of the family.
Holy Cross says its housing of students on the basis of gender identity is “required by applicable law,” and cites Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 in the policy section. Students who want to request housing based on gender identity are asked to contact Assistant Dean and Director of Residence Life and Housing Ed Coolbaugh.
The full section related to gender identity in the student housing agreement reads:
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4880/Catholic-Colleges-Embrace-%E2%80%98Demonic%E2%80%99-Gender-Ideology-in-Housing-Policies.aspx#sthash.AfnsXIx9.dpuf

Catholic Colleges Embrace ‘Demonic’ Gender Ideology in Housing Policies

May 3, 2016, at 3:26 PM  |  By Adam Cassandra  | 

The College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit, Catholic institution in Worcester, Mass., will implement a new housing policy in the 2016-2017 academic year that embraces gender ideology, which Pope Francis has called “demonic” and a threat to the family.
The updated housing policy “will allow students of different sexes to room together based on gender identity,” according to an April 29, 2016, report in the campus newspaper The Crusader.
At the University of San Francisco (USF), the gender-inclusive housing description was recently updated to indicate that students at the Jesuit-run institution should develop their own understanding about gender identity, including recognition that “human beings are not necessarily male or female as ascribed by their assigned gender at birth.”
Pope Francis, a Jesuit, reportedly called gender ideology “demonic” in an exchange with Austrian Bishop Andreas Laun. And the Holy Father has stated that the promotion of this ideology — which rejects the creation of human beings as male and female in the image and likeness of God — contributes to the destruction of the family.
Holy Cross says its housing of students on the basis of gender identity is “required by applicable law,” and cites Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 in the policy section. Students who want to request housing based on gender identity are asked to contact Assistant Dean and Director of Residence Life and Housing Ed Coolbaugh.
The full section related to gender identity in the student housing agreement reads:

The College maintains separate housing for the different sexes as permitted by applicable law, including Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972. The College also assigns housing on the basis of gender identity as required by applicable law. Please contact the Assistant Dean/Director of Residence Life and Housing, Ed Coolbaugh, at (508) 793-2664 or by email at ecoolbau@holycross.edu to request a housing assignment on the basis of gender identity and to obtain further information. Requests for assignment in accordance with gender identity must be sent in advance of the applicable published housing selection deadline. The Office of Residence Life & Housing will for each housing selection process cycle establish a date in advance of the applicable housing selection deadline by which requests for assignment in accordance with gender identity must be received by that office. The deadline for the 2016-2017 academic year is April 1, 2016.

The Cardinal Newman Society asked Coolbaugh about the promotion of gender ideology with the implementation of this policy. Coolbaugh was also asked if there was any discussion at Holy Cross about requesting a religious exemption from Title IX with the U.S. Department of Education to protect the college from implementing gender identity policies. Religious colleges and schools can request exemptions from Title IX if the law’s requirements conflict with their religious tenets. No response was received by time of publication.
The Crusader reported that the policy change at Holy Cross was spearheaded by a student who was concerned about the housing policy “as someone who identifies as genderqueer, neither male nor female.” The article also revealed that the College includes a “transgender designation on housing forms” for freshmen.
Gender-Inclusive Housing at USF
Last February, the Newman Society reported on a pilot program launched for the 2015-2016 academic year at USF to offer “gender-inclusive housing” to students who “identify as transgender” or “do not wish to be identified by any sex or gender identity.” A representative of the University told the Newman Society the program was scheduled to continue in the next academic year.
USF has since updated the description of their gender-inclusive housing, calling it “a safe, affirming, and inclusive community living option for students of the following identities and lived experiences”:

-Transgender students

-Gender queer students

-Students who are currently transitioning from one gender to another (i.e. transitioning from male to female or female to male)

-Students who do not conform to society’s expectations of their assigned gender at birth

-Students who do not wish to be identified by any sex or gender identity

-Students who are in the process of discovering their gender identity

-Students who appreciate and respect people with the above identities and lived experiences, and who would prefer to live in a community comprised of such

In addition to allowing biological males to room with biological females, USF’s gender-inclusive housing encourages male and female students to use the same bathroom facilities. “The bathroom is a communal bathroom and is shared by all members of the community (regardless of gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sex).”
Among the “community standards” for the gender-inclusive housing is recognition that human beings are not created male and female, contradicting the words of Genesis and the teachings of the Church: “’God created man in his own image . . . male and female he created them.’”
The standards include:

-Modeling behavior that reflects a positive value and respect for gender as a non-binary construct (human beings are not necessarily male or female as ascribed by their assigned gender at birth)

-Openness and desire to develop one’s own understanding about gender identity, sexual orientation, and other differences

-Working to create and promote a safe, affirming, and inclusive community for all students

-Use of inclusive and socially just language and the preferred names and gender pronouns of community members

-Education of guests about the values and community expectations of the gender inclusive community

Gender Ideology and Church Teaching
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) compiled a number of Pope Francis’ statements on the harms of gender ideology in a resource document published in December 2015. The document includes excerpts from various sources citing Church teaching on gender ideology.
The resource quotes Pope Francis from an address given in March last year calling gender ideology a “mistake of the human mind.”
“The crisis of the family is a societal fact. There are also ideological colonializations of the family, different paths and proposals in Europe and also coming from overseas.” he said. “Then, there is the mistake of the human mind — gender theory — creating so much confusion.”
The document also points to a statement made by the Holy Father in April 2015 saying the embrace of gender ideology “creates a problem, not a solution.”
He said gender theory is “an expression of frustration and resignation, which seeks to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it. Yes, we risk taking a step backwards. The removal of difference in fact creates a problem, not a solution.”
Additionally, the resource points to statements made by U.S. bishops against the embrace and promotion of gender identity.
In a July 2014 statement responding to President Obama’s executive order on “gender identity discrimination,” Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore and Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, N.Y., speaking on behalf of the USCCB, called gender identity a “false idea that ‘gender’ is nothing more than a social construct or psychological reality that can be chosen at variance from one’s biological sex.”
The bishops added that this understanding of gender identity presented “a deeply flawed understanding of human sexuality, to which faithful Catholics and many other people of faith will not assent.”
In his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia released last month, Pope Francis used language from his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si’ to explain the duty of Catholic educators to teach young people about the biological realities of God’s creation:

[T]he young need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created, for “thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation… An appreciation of our body as male or female is also necessary for our own self-awareness in an encounter with others different from ourselves. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment.” Only by losing the fear of being different, can we be freed of self-centredness and self-absorption. Sex education should help young people to accept their own bodies and to avoid the pretension “to cancel out sexual difference because one no longer knows how to deal with it.”

Title IX
In April 2014, the Obama administration expanded Title IX  to include “discrimination based on gender identity or failure to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity.” The expansion of the law was done without any action by Congress.
“Congress did not intend, when it adopted Title IX in 1972, to reach the question of gender identity. If Congress wants to change that, they can, but it’s inappropriate for an administrative branch agency to rewrite the law under the guise of interpretation,” Greg Baylor, senior counsel and director of the center for religious schools at Alliance Defending Freedom, previously told the Newman Society. He added that Congress also decided in 1972 “that if compliance with Title IX would be inconsistent with a school’s religious tenets, then the schools will be exempt from those requirements that are in conflict with their religious beliefs.”
The Department of Education published a searchable database last week of all the colleges that have requested religious exemptions to Title IX. LGBT activist groups urged the Obama administration to publish the list of colleges, which the activists claim are engaging in “discrimination.”
Since the changes to Title IX in 2014, four Catholic colleges have been granted religious exemptions by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights: Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee, Okla., and John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, Calif. A waiver request made by the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, is still pending. All five colleges are recommended as faithful Catholic institutions in The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College.
Abbot Placid Solari, O.S.B., chancellor of Belmont Abbey, told the Newman Society last December that the broadening of Title IX to include gender identity threatened the College’s religious mission, and would force the College to advocate practices that are “spiritually harmful.”
“A policy which would legitimize gender identity issues … would, first of all, abdicate the responsibility of the college community as a whole to act in accord with its fundamental identity as a community which publicly identifies itself as in communion with the Catholic Church,” he said. He added that such a policy “would contradict fidelity to the Christian message as it comes through the Church” and “would abdicate responsibility to serve the transcendent goal of life by advocating practices which, according to the Church's teaching, are spiritually harmful.”
The Newman Society has called on all Catholic colleges to apply for the Title IX exemption to protect their Catholic identity.
“Catholic colleges have a duty to uphold Catholic teaching about the human person, especially in the area of residence life,” said Adam Wilson, managing editor of The Newman Guide and author of the report Visitation Policies at U.S. Catholic Colleges. “In one respect, it comes as no surprise when Catholic colleges that set no hour limits for opposite-sex visitation, such as College of the Holy Cross and USF, drift further from Catholic ethos. But by catering to trends that contradict the faith, such institutions are cheating students of precious opportunities to grow in virtue through authentic Catholic formation.”

- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4880/Catholic-Colleges-Embrace-%e2%80%98Demonic%e2%80%99-Gender-Ideology-in-Housing-Policies.aspx#sthash.u4SebjPx.dpuf

The College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit, Catholic institution in Worcester, Mass., will implement a new housing policy in the 2016-2017 academic year that embraces gender ideology, which Pope Francis has called “demonic” and a threat to the family.
The updated housing policy “will allow students of different sexes to room together based on gender identity,” according to an April 29, 2016, report in the campus newspaper The Crusader.
At the University of San Francisco (USF), the gender-inclusive housing description was recently updated to indicate that students at the Jesuit-run institution should develop their own understanding about gender identity, including recognition that “human beings are not necessarily male or female as ascribed by their assigned gender at birth.”
Pope Francis, a Jesuit, reportedly called gender ideology “demonic” in an exchange with Austrian Bishop Andreas Laun. And the Holy Father has stated that the promotion of this ideology — which rejects the creation of human beings as male and female in the image and likeness of God — contributes to the destruction of the family.
Holy Cross says its housing of students on the basis of gender identity is “required by applicable law,” and cites Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 in the policy section. Students who want to request housing based on gender identity are asked to contact Assistant Dean and Director of Residence Life and Housing Ed Coolbaugh.
The full section related to gender identity in the student housing agreement reads:

The College maintains separate housing for the different sexes as permitted by applicable law, including Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972. The College also assigns housing on the basis of gender identity as required by applicable law. Please contact the Assistant Dean/Director of Residence Life and Housing, Ed Coolbaugh, at (508) 793-2664 or by email at ecoolbau@holycross.edu to request a housing assignment on the basis of gender identity and to obtain further information. Requests for assignment in accordance with gender identity must be sent in advance of the applicable published housing selection deadline. The Office of Residence Life & Housing will for each housing selection process cycle establish a date in advance of the applicable housing selection deadline by which requests for assignment in accordance with gender identity must be received by that office. The deadline for the 2016-2017 academic year is April 1, 2016.

The Cardinal Newman Society asked Coolbaugh about the promotion of gender ideology with the implementation of this policy. Coolbaugh was also asked if there was any discussion at Holy Cross about requesting a religious exemption from Title IX with the U.S. Department of Education to protect the college from implementing gender identity policies. Religious colleges and schools can request exemptions from Title IX if the law’s requirements conflict with their religious tenets. No response was received by time of publication.
The Crusader reported that the policy change at Holy Cross was spearheaded by a student who was concerned about the housing policy “as someone who identifies as genderqueer, neither male nor female.” The article also revealed that the College includes a “transgender designation on housing forms” for freshmen.
Gender-Inclusive Housing at USF
Last February, the Newman Society reported on a pilot program launched for the 2015-2016 academic year at USF to offer “gender-inclusive housing” to students who “identify as transgender” or “do not wish to be identified by any sex or gender identity.” A representative of the University told the Newman Society the program was scheduled to continue in the next academic year.
USF has since updated the description of their gender-inclusive housing, calling it “a safe, affirming, and inclusive community living option for students of the following identities and lived experiences”:

-Transgender students

-Gender queer students

-Students who are currently transitioning from one gender to another (i.e. transitioning from male to female or female to male)

-Students who do not conform to society’s expectations of their assigned gender at birth

-Students who do not wish to be identified by any sex or gender identity

-Students who are in the process of discovering their gender identity

-Students who appreciate and respect people with the above identities and lived experiences, and who would prefer to live in a community comprised of such

In addition to allowing biological males to room with biological females, USF’s gender-inclusive housing encourages male and female students to use the same bathroom facilities. “The bathroom is a communal bathroom and is shared by all members of the community (regardless of gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sex).”
Among the “community standards” for the gender-inclusive housing is recognition that human beings are not created male and female, contradicting the words of Genesis and the teachings of the Church: “’God created man in his own image . . . male and female he created them.’”
The standards include:

-Modeling behavior that reflects a positive value and respect for gender as a non-binary construct (human beings are not necessarily male or female as ascribed by their assigned gender at birth)

-Openness and desire to develop one’s own understanding about gender identity, sexual orientation, and other differences

-Working to create and promote a safe, affirming, and inclusive community for all students

-Use of inclusive and socially just language and the preferred names and gender pronouns of community members

-Education of guests about the values and community expectations of the gender inclusive community

Gender Ideology and Church Teaching
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4880/Catholic-Colleges-Embrace-%e2%80%98Demonic%e2%80%99-Gender-Ideology-in-Housing-Policies.aspx#sthash.iHdibxy2.dpuf

Physician-assisted suicides up once more in Oregon

Numbers of Oregonians requesting — and using — lethal prescriptions to kill themselves show a steady increase since the law was enacted in 1998. Oregon Public Health Division graph The latest “Death with Dignity” report shows a sharp spike in the number of Oregonians both requesting and using lethal medications. The number of those requesting the drugs increased from 155 to 218, and the number actually using the medications jumped from 105 to 132. The numbers this past year are nearly a ten-fold increase since 1998, when the law was enacted. That year, 24 individuals requested the drugs and 16 people actually used them. Oregon was the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide, with 51.3 percent of voters passing Ballot Measure 16, “the Death with Dignity Act,” in 1994 despite the Archdiocese of Portland, the Diocese of Baker, and many other faiths educating and lobbying against its passage. The catechism of the Catholic Church states: Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable. Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.” (CCC 2277) In 1997, Oregonians got another chance to vote on the issue; however, 60 percent of voters rejected Ballot Measure 51, which would have repealed the Death with Dignity Act. Assisted suicide is illegal in most states, but legalization has spread to Washington, California and Vermont, and a handful of other states are considering legalizing the practice or are enmeshed in legal cases concerning its legality. Worldwide, assisted suicide is legal in a number of countries, including the Canadian province of Quebec, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Oregon returned to the national spotlight with the death of Brittany Maynard, the young California woman who was stricken with incurable brain cancer and moved to Oregon in order to end her life on Nov. 1, 2014. Last year, Canada’s Supreme Court legalized assisted suicide, paving the way for the government to introduce legislation legalizing the practice. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in response: “Suicide and euthanasia are contrary to the most profound natural inclination of each human being to live and preserve life.”

Female Doctor tells Pope to his Face: “Evil, in this world, comes from sin. Not from income disparity or “climate change”.

From the Remnant Newspaper and Lifesite News

Finally, after waiting in vain for bishops to confront the Pope regarding his inversion of priorities in Laudato Si, his deserving rebuke came from a female Romanian doctor at the Synod.

Sometimes in history, when men in the Church are too cowardly to do their duty, God shames them by calling a woman to do it for them. St. Joan of Arc and St. Catherine of Sienna come to mind. Her family having suffered persecution by the Communists, this Catholic woman was not intimidated at all by the presence of the Pope and told him precisely what all of us wish we could have. I only hope that this rebuke acts to convict him and all likeminded “progressive” prelates of the scandal their acts have inflicted on the Church and to start carrying out the purpose of their offices.

 Dr. Anca-Maria Cernea

As Lifesite News reports, Dr. Anca-Maria Cernea, Doctor at the Center for Diagnosis and Treatment-Victor Babes and President of the Association of Catholic Doctors of Bucharest (Romania) made the following speech to the Synod last Friday:

Your Holiness, Synod Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, I represent the Association of Catholic Doctors from Bucharest.

I am from the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.

My father was a Christian political leader, who was imprisoned by the communists for 17 years. My parents were engaged to marry, but their wedding took place 17 years later.

My mother waited all those years for my father, although she didn’t even know if he was still alive. They have been heroically faithful to God and to their engagement.

Their example shows that God’s grace can overcame terrible social circumstances and material poverty.

We, as Catholic doctors, defending life and family, can see this is, first of all, a spiritual battle.

Material poverty and consumerism are not the primary cause of the family crisis.

The primary cause of the sexual and cultural revolution is ideological. Our Lady of Fatima has said that Russia’s errors would spread all over the world.

It was first done under a violent form, classical Marxism, by killing tens of millions.

Now it’s being done mostly by cultural Marxism. There is continuity from Lenin’s sex revolution, through Gramsci and the Frankfurt school, to the current-day gay-rights and gender ideology.

Classical Marxism pretended to redesign society, through violent take-over of property.

Now the revolution goes deeper; it pretends to redefine family, sex identity and human nature.

This ideology calls itself progressive. But it is nothing else than the ancient serpent’s offer, for man to take control, to replace God, to arrange salvation here, in this world.

It’s an error of religious nature, it’s Gnosticism.

It’s the task of the shepherds to recognize it, and warn the flock against this danger.

“Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The Church’s mission is to save souls. Evil, in this world, comes from sin. Not from income disparity or “climate change”. The solution is: Evangelization. Conversion.

Not an ever increasing government control. Not a world government. These are nowadays the main agents imposing cultural Marxism to our nations, under the form of population control, reproductive health, gay rights, gender education, and so on.

What the world needs nowadays is not limitation of freedom, but real freedom, liberation from sin. Salvation.

Our Church was suppressed by the soviet occupation. But none of our 12 bishops betrayed their communion with the Holy Father. Our Church survived thanks to our bishops’ determination and example in resisting prisons and terror.

Our bishops asked the community not to follow the world. Not to cooperate with the communists.

Now we need Rome to tell the world: “Repent of your sins and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”.

Not only us, the Catholic laity, but also many Christian Orthodox are anxiously praying for this Synod. Because, as they say, if the Catholic Church gives in to the spirit of this world, it is going to be very difficult for all the other Christians to resist it.

Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa says pope’s proclamation does not change church doctrine

MARTIN ESPINOZA

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | April 8, 2016

Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa on Friday called Pope Francis’ landmark proclamation on marriage, sex and family life — titled “Amoris Laetitia,” Latin for “The Joy of Love” — an intriguing, engaging, and delightfully challenging expression of hope for married love. But he said it was no end-run around existing church doctrine on behavior that is “not consistent with the moral law.


The 264-page exhortation encourages church ministers to “accompany” those who are out of step with church teachings, such as unmarried couples living together, same-sex partners or divorced and remarried couples. But Francis does not in any way change church doctrine opposing such arrangements, Vasa noted.

“It does not change any doctrine,” he said. “Marriage is still very beautifully defined as permanent, faithful and directed to the generation and upbringing of children.”

In the case of divorced and remarried couples, Vasa said those who are reading the pope’s exhortation as an easy remedy around the lengthy and rigorous church annulment process are mistaken. “That marriage does not go away. It has its own intrinsic perpetual nature,” he said.

“That being said, the path forward is to accompany that couple, affirming what is good in their relationship, and the Holy Father makes this point,” he said, adding that perhaps for ministers there can be a focus on the new couple’s present fidelity to each other.

“We tend to focus on the infidelity to the other spouse — that is a reality,” he said. But the exhortation asks church leaders to “encourage them to be caring parents to the children of this marriage and or the children of a previous marriage.”

That pastoral path, he said, could lead those who have remarried after a divorce to present themselves to the church tribunal for consideration of an annulment, a process that deeply examines the marriage, from its courtship to its unraveling. It requires a finding that the marriage is “substantially defective,” not just the wishes of a couple that has fallen out of love or doesn’t want to be married, he said.

The pope’s exhortation — the product of two synods of bishops, one in 2014 and one in 2015 — makes it clear that Francis affirms that marriage is between a man and a woman, Vasa said. The great lengths that Francis goes to encourage compassion and empathy does not signify an “anything-goes mentality,” he said.

Vasa pointed to a paragraph of the exhortation, where Francis writes, “the Synod Fathers observed that, ‘as for proposals to place unions between homosexual persons on the same level as marriage, there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.’ ”

Vasa said that “nonetheless we have to strive to accompany everyone to see their own innate goodness and at the same time acknowledge that sometimes our behaviors are not consistent with the moral law.”

Vasa said the bulk of the document is likely to be criticized by more progressive Catholic Church voices.

“He’s not watering down the truth, he’s urging a compassionate education and catechesis on what the church teaches and why,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.

Popular Post: From Anonymous Oregon Catholic Priest regarding ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES OF OREGON (EMO)

To Whom it may concern, (from anonymous Oregon Catholic priest),

             While it would be tough for me to weigh in on an internal Catholic issue, I can have a personal opinion overall.  The biggest problem I have is that if you believe what you claim to believe, why would you put time and energy into an Organization that actively works against that belief? 

             EMO, clearly and unequivocally, has the position that gays and lesbians are not engaged in unnatural sexual relations, essentially they hold homosexual behavior to be OK. Last time I looked, the Catholic Church still, and rightly so under the bible, believe homosexual behavior to be unnatural and immoral.  While many of their programs for social justice are great, the Catholic Church doesn’t need to belong to advance those noble causes they do promote.

  It is one thing to love and tolerate all sinners, it is quite another to say their sin is ok and free of consequences.  By belonging to EMO the Catholic Church is compromising their own values, for what benefit?  Whatever benefits they believe come from membership can easily be obtained other ways without giving tacit approval to the homosexual lifestyle.

 I am all for having a loving and open dialogue with other Christians about our different interpretations of scripture, but why do I have to join their organization? 

 Of the five (5) largest denominations in Oregon (by number of members in the State), (Catholic, Mormon, Assemblies of God and Evangelical Lutheran and Foursquare), the Catholic Church is the only one who chooses to be a member.  In looking at the statistics, the EMO, absent the Catholic Church, represents a very small minority of Oregon Church goers, about 10%.  Here is the link to that info, 

  http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/state/41_2000.asp

 The bottom line is, they have an important belief that runs counter to Church doctrine; and without the Catholic Church, they really represent a very small number of Oregon church goers.  So why get involved?  

Originally from the post From 2011 Regarding Anonymous Priest and Protestant Minister on EMO

CATHOLIC RITES AND CHURCHES. HAPPY EASTER TO ALL OF US.

CATHOLIC RITES AND CHURCHES Christ, having been lifted up from the earth has drawn all men to Himself. Rising from the dead He sent His life–giving Spirit upon His disciples and through Him has established His Body which is the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation. Sitting at the right hand of the Father, He is continually active in the world that He might lead men to the Church and through it join them to Himself and that He might make them partakers of His glorious life by nourishing them with His own Body and Blood. [Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium 48]

RITES A Rite represents an ecclesiastical, or church, tradition about how the sacraments are to be celebrated. Each of the sacraments has at its core an essential nature which must be satisfied for the sacrament to be confected or realized. This essence – of matter, form and intention – derives from the divinely revealed nature of the particular sacrament. It cannot be changed by the Church. Scripture and Sacred Tradition, as interpreted by the Magisterium, tells us what is essential in each of the sacraments (2 Thes. 2:15).

 When the apostles brought the Gospel to the major cultural centers of their day the essential elements of religious practice were inculturated into those cultures. This means that the essential elements were clothed in the symbols and trappings of the particular people, so that the rituals conveyed the desired spiritual meaning to that culture. In this way the Church becomes all things to all men that some might be saved (1 Cor. 9:22).

There are three major groupings of Rites based on this initial transmission of the faith, the Roman, the Antiochian (Syria) and the Alexandrian (Egypt). Later on the Byzantine derived as a major Rite from the Antiochian, under the influence of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom. From these four derive the over 20 liturgical Rites present in the Church today.

 CHURCHES A Church is an assembly of the faithful, hierarchically ordered, both in the entire world – the Catholic Church, or in a certain territory – a particular Church. To be a sacrament (a sign) of the Mystical Body of Christ in the world, a Church must have both a head and members (Col. 1:18).

 The sacramental sign of Christ the Head is the sacred hierarchy – the bishops, priests and deacons (Eph. 2:19–22). More specifically, it is the local bishop, with his priests and deacons gathered around and assisting him in his office of teaching, sanctifying and governing (Mt. 28:19–20; Titus 1:4–9). The sacramental sign of the Mystical Body is the Christian faithful. Thus the Church of Christ is fully present sacramentaly (by way of a sign) wherever there is a sign of Christ the Head, a bishop and those who assist him, and a sign of Christ's Body, Christian faithful.

 Each diocese is therefore a particular Church.

The Church of Christ is also present sacramentaly in ritual Churches that represent an ecclesiastical tradition of celebrating the sacraments. They are generally organized under a Patriarch, who together with the bishops and other clergy of that ritual Church represent Christ the Head to the people of that tradition.

In some cases a Rite is completely coincident with a Church. For example, the Maronite Church with its Patriarch has a Rite not found in any other Church.

In other cases, such as the Byzantine Rite, several Churches use the same or a very similar liturgical Rite. For example, the Ukrainian Catholic Church uses the Byzantine Rite, but this Rite is also found in other Catholic Churches, as well as the Eastern Orthodox Churches not in union with Rome.

Finally, the Church of Christ is sacramentaly present in the Universal or Catholic Church spread over the entire world. It is identified by the sign of Christ our Rock, the Bishop of Rome, Successor of St. Peter (Mt. 16:18).

 To be Catholic particular Churches and ritual Churches must be in communion with this Head, just as the other apostles, and the Churches they founded, were in communion with Peter (Gal. 1:18). Through this communion with Peter and his successors the Church becomes a universal sacrament of salvation in all times and places, even to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20).

 Western Rites and Churches Immediately subject to the Bishop of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff, who exercises his authority over the liturgy through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

 ROMAN/LATIN FAMILY OF LITURGICAL RITES

The Church of Rome is the Primatial See of the world and one of the five Patriarchal Sees of the early Church (Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem).

Founded by St. Peter in 42 AD it was consecrated by the blood of Sts. Peter and Paul during the persecution of Nero (63–67 AD).

 It has maintained a continual existence since then and is the source of a family of Rites in the West. Considerable scholarship (such as that of Fr. Louis Boyer in Eucharist) suggests the close affinity of the Roman Rite proper with the Jewish prayers of the synagogue, which also accompanied the Temple sacrifices.

 While the origin of the current Rite, even in the reform of Vatican II, can be traced directly only to the 4th century, these connections point to an ancient apostolic tradition brought to that city that was decidedly Jewish in origin.

 After the Council of Trent it was necessary to consolidate liturgical doctrine and practice in the face of the Reformation. Thus, Pope St. Pius V imposed the Rite of Rome on the Latin Church (that subject to him in his capacity as Patriarch of the West), allowing only smaller Western Rites with hundreds of years of history to remain. Younger Rites of particular dioceses or regions ceased to exist.

 As a consequence of the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Pope Paul VI undertook a reform of the Mass of the Roman Rite, promulgating a revised rite with the Missal of 1970. This Missal has since been modified twice (1975 and 2002).

Mass celebrated in accordance with this missal is the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. At the time of the revised Missal's promulgation in 1970 almost all Catholics assumed that the previous rite, that of the Missal of 1962, had been abolished.

By decision of the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI this general assumption has been declared false and the right of Latin Rite priests to celebrate Mass according to the former missal has been affirmed (Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, 7 July 2007). Mass celebrated in accordance with the Missal of 1962 constitutes the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

 • Roman – The overwhelming majority of Latin Catholics and of Catholics in general.

 – Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Mass celebrated in accordance with the Missale Romanum of 1970, promulgated by Pope Paul VI, currently in its third edition (2002). The vernacular editions of this Missal, as well as the rites of the other sacraments, are translated from the Latin typical editions revised after the Second Vatican Council. – Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Mass celebrated in accordance with the Missale Romanum of 1962, promulgated by Blessed Pope John XXIII. The other sacraments are celebrated according to the Roman Ritual in force at the time of the Second Vatican Council. The Extraordinary Form is most notable for being almost entirely in Latin. In addition to institutes which have the faculty to celebrate the Extraordinary Form routinely, such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, any Latin Rite priest may now offer the Mass and other sacraments in accordance with norms of Summorum Pontificum.

 – Anglican Use. Since the 1980s the Holy See has granted some former Anglican and Episcopal clergy converting with their parishes the faculty of celebrating the sacramental rites according to Anglican forms, doctrinally corrected.

 • Mozarabic – The Rite of the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) known from at least the 6th century, but probably with roots to the original evangelization. Beginning in the 11th century it was generally replaced by the Roman Rite, although it has remained the Rite of the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Toledo, Spain, and six parishes which sought permission to adhere to it. Its celebration today is generally semi–private.

 • Ambrosian – The Rite of the Archdiocese of Milan, Italy, thought to be of early origin and probably consolidated, but not originated, by St. Ambrose. Pope Paul VI was from this Roman Rite. It continues to be celebrated in Milan, though not by all parishes.

 • Bragan – Rite of the Archdiocese of Braga, the Primatial See of Portugal, it derives from the 12th century or earlier. It continues to be of occasional use.

 • Dominican – Rite of the Order of Friars Preacher (OP), founded by St. Dominic in 1215.

 • Carmelite – Rite of the Order of Carmel, whose modern foundation was by St. Berthold c.1154.

 • Carthusian – Rite of the Carthusian Order founded by St. Bruno in 1084. Eastern Rites and Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches have their own hierarchy, system of governance (synods) and general law, the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches. The Supreme Pontiff exercises his primacy over them through the Congregation for the Eastern Churches.

 ANTIOCHIAN FAMILY OF LITURGICAL RITES The Church of Antioch in Syria (the ancient Roman Province of Syria) is considered an apostolic See by virtue of having been founded by St. Peter. It was one of the ancient centers of the Church, as the New Testament attests, and is the source of a family of similar Rites using the ancient Syriac language (the Semitic dialect used in Jesus' time and better known as Aramaic). Its Liturgy is attributed to St. James and the Church of Jerusalem.

 1. WEST SYRIAC

• Maronite – Never separated from Rome. Maronite Patriarch of Antioch. The liturgical language is Aramaic. The 3 million Maronites are found in Lebanon (origin), Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, Israel, Canada, US, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Australia.

• Syriac – Syriac Catholics who returned to Rome in 1781 from the monophysite heresy. Syriac Patriarch of Antioch. The 110,000 Syriac Catholics are found in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Canada and the US.

 • Malankarese – Catholics from the South of India evangelized by St. Thomas, uses the West Syriac liturgy. Reunited with Rome in 1930. Liturgical languages today are West Syriac and Malayalam. The 350,000 Malankarese Catholics are found in India and North America.

 2. EAST SYRIAC

 • Chaldean – Babylonian Catholics returned to Rome in 1692 from the Nestorian heresy. Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans. Liturgical languages are Syriac and Arabic. The 310,000 Chaldean Catholics are found in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and the US.

 • Syro–Malabarese – Catholics from Southern India using the East Syriac liturgy. Returned to Rome in the 16th century from the Nestorian heresy. Liturgical languages are Syriac and Malayalam. Over 3 million Syro–Malabarese Catholics can be found in the state of Kerela, in SW India.

 BYZANTINE FAMILY OF LITURGICAL RITES

1. ARMENIAN Considered either its own Rite or an older version of the Byzantine. Its exact form is not used by any other Byzantine Rite. It is composed of Catholics from the first people to convert as a nation, the Armenians (N.E. of Turkey), and who returned to Rome at the time of the Crusades. Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians. The liturgical language is classical Armenian. The 350,000 Armenian Catholics are found in Armenia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Ukraine, France, Romania, United States and Argentina. Most Armenians are Orthodox, not in union with Rome.

  2. BYZANTINE

• Albanian – Albanian Christians, numbering only 1400 today, who resumed communion with Rome in 1628. Liturgical language is Albanian. Most Albanian Christians are Albanian Orthodox.

 • Belarussian/Byelorussian – Unknown number of Belarussians who returned to Rome in the 17th century. The liturgical language is Old Slavonic. The faithful can be found in Belarus, as well as Europe, the Americas and Australia.

• Bulgarian – Bulgarians who returned to Rome in 1861. Liturgical language is Old Slavonic. The 20,000 faithful can be found in Bulgaria. Most Bulgarian Christians are Bulgarian Orthodox.

 • Czech – Czech Catholics of Byzantine Rite organized into a jurisdiction in 1996.

 • Krizevci – Croatian Catholics of Byzantine Rite who resumed communion with Rome in 1611. The liturgical language is Old Slavonic. The 50,000 faithful can be found in Croatia and the Americas. Most Croatians are Roman (Rite) Catholics.

 • Greek – Greek Christians who returned to Rome in 1829. The liturgical language is Greek. Only 2500 faithful in Greece, Asia Minor (Turkey) and Europe. Greek Christians are almost all Orthodox, whose Patriarch is the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople.

 • Hungarian – Descendants of Ruthenians who returned to Rome in 1646. The liturgical languages are Greek, Hungarian and English. The 300,000 faithful are found in Hungary, Europe and the Americas.

 • Italo–Albanian – Never separated from Rome, these 60,000 Byzantine Rite Catholics are found in Italy, Sicily and the Americas. The liturgical languages are Greek and Italo–Albanian.

 • Melkite – Catholics from among those separated from Rome in Syria and Egypt who resumed Communion with Rome at the time of the Crusades. However, definitive union only came in the 18th century. Melkite Greek Patriarch of Damascus. Liturgical languages are Greek, Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish. The over 1 million Melkite Catholics can be found in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Canada, US, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Australia.

 • Romanian – Romanians who returned to Rome in 1697. The liturgical language is Romanian. There are over 1 million Romanian Catholics in Romania, Europe and the Americas. Most Romanian Christians are Romanian Orthodox.

• Russian – Russians who returned to communion with Rome in 1905. The liturgical language is Old Slavonic. An unknown number of the faithful in Russia, China, the Americas and Australia. Most Russian Christians are Russian Orthodox, whose Patriarch is the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow.

 • Ruthenian – Catholics from among those separated from Rome in Russia, Hungary and Croatia who reunited with Rome in 1596 (Brest–Litovsk) and 1646 (Uzhorod).

 • Slovak – Byzantine Rite Catholics of Slovakian origin numbering 225,000 and found in Slovakia and Canada.

 • Ukrainian – Catholics from among those separated from Rome by the Greek Schism and reunited about 1595. Patriarch or Metropolitan of Lviv. Liturgical languages are Old Slavonic and the vernacular. The 5.5 million Ukrainian Catholics can be found in Ukraine, Poland, England, Germany, France, Canada, US, Brazil, Argentina and Australia. During the Soviet era Ukrainian Catholics were violently forced to join the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Their hierarchy, which continued to exist outside the homeland, has since been re–established in Ukraine. 

 ALEXANDRIAN FAMILY OF LITURGICAL RITES The Church of Alexandria in Egypt was one of the original centers of Christianity, since like Rome and Antioch it had a large Jewish population which was the initial object of apostolic evangelization. Its Liturgy is attributed to St. Mark the Evangelist, and shows the later influence of the Byzantine Liturgy, in addition to its unique elements.
 • Coptic – Egyptian Catholics who returned to communion with Rome in 1741. The Patriarch of Alexandria leads the 200,000 faithful of this ritual Church spread throughout Egypt and the Near East. The liturgical languages are Coptic (Egyptian) and Arabic. Most Copts are not Catholics
. • Ethiopian/Abyssinian – Ethiopian Coptic Christians who returned to Rome in 1846. The liturgical language is Geez. The 200,000 faithful are found in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Jerusalem. revised 22 August 2007 Answered by Colin B. Donovan, STL

A Great Asset for Oregon's Catholics - New faith formation chief wants people to 'encounter Christ'

3/25/2016 9:15:00 AM  from the Catholic Sentinel. Parents must practice faith zealously if children are to follow, says Rolando Moreno
Archdiocese of Portland photo Rolando Moreno works in his office on Ash Wednesday. In the corner is an image of St. John Bosco, patron of youth. Moreno, new director of the Archdiocese of Portland’s Office of Catechesis and Faith Formation, says the focus of teaching the faith should be an encounter with Jesus. The church needs to teach people that Christian belief matters in their everyday existence, says the new director of the Archdiocese of Portland’s Office of Catechesis and Faith Formation. “We have to place a strong emphasis on the encounter with Christ,” explains Rolando Moreno, who took the post in December. “Christ has to be proclaimed as real and that he has a plan for our lives.” Moreno sees catechesis in part as a confrontation of what he calls a “post-Christian worldview” — relativism, uncertainty and self-centeredness. Parents and catechists themselves need to be transformed by the gospel before they can help children move past cultural malaise, he says. “I think that to reach young people today you have to be real to them, taking their lives and questions seriously,” says Moreno, a 39-year-old member of St. Joseph Parish in Salem. “We have to speak directly to them and not speak down to them. We have to present the faith in a beautiful and dynamic way, in language that speaks to their hearts.” It’s crucial for parents to bring their children to Mass from day one, says Moreno, who with wife Angela is a parent of five, including an infant girl born in late February. “It builds a family culture centered on the faith,” he explains. Moreno embraces what Pope Francis said about catechesis in “Joy of the Gospel”: It’s about accompanying people. Moreno received a master’s degree of Theological Studies from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America in 2005. In 2003, he received a bachelor’s degree in theology and philosophy with a concentration in religious education from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Archbishop Alexander Sample has identified catechesis and faith formation as a top pastoral priority for the Church in western Oregon. Before taking the new role, Moreno worked as pastoral associate in massive St. Joseph Parish in Salem, 2005-2014. Then he taught theology for a year at Central Catholic High School. Since 2008, he has been a part-time theology instructor for the Archdiocese of Portland Ministry Formation Program. For Moreno, catechesis in the family and the need to strengthen marriage and families makes up “the most important challenge facing the Church today.” Calling parents “the first witnesses of the Gospel to their children,” he challenges them to live out their baptism and live what they profess. If parents do so, he says, the chances are better that children will, too. “We are convinced that the work of catechesis has to be strong in the family in order for the church to be strong as a whole,” Moreno explains. “The first step in this task is to call the family/parents to conversion. Parental catechesis is only effective if the parents are actively living the faith with humility and sincerity.” He says families need to center their lives on Sunday Mass, Holy Days of obligation and family prayer. “In my experience, this has to go beyond just a routine adherence,” he says. “When we encounter the Lord in the Eucharist with openness, it begins to shape our lives and we then take on our role as parent-catechists.” Moreno says nine years in the bustling Salem parish taught him about parish ministry among a culturally rich — and diverse — population. The task of reaching different cultures in the church is not something new, he explains. “The church has been living its catholicity — universality — from its very beginning,” Moreno says. “The universality of the church —meant for all peoples, of every time and space — is a concept that is imbedded in the church’s theology, in its very nature. From this point of departure, the unity of faith can be lived because the church knows how to reach humanity with all of its varieties of peoples and cultures.” Moreno says experience has taught him that “the human heart is the same across the board.” No matter our heritage, we all have the same need to encounter the infinite, the same need for love, fulfillment, joy and truth. On a practical level, he says, the church does need to respect the particular needs of different communities. Moreno grew up in Michigan in a mostly English-speaking neighborhood. He is not fluent in Spanish, but can converse and understand quite a bit. He promises to continue working on his Spanish.  As the Spanish-speaking community of Catholics grows, parishes are short on trained Spanish-language catechists, Moreno says. That’s a problem he’d like to address. It will be his job to offer support and resources to help parish ministers flourish, no matter the language. He will train and form catechists, hoping especially to boost faith formation among young families. The end game for Moreno is “a renewal of Catholic life and culture in the archdiocese.” Moreno is humbled by his new post and by the trust Archbishop Alexander Sample has placed in him. The new job, he says, has prompted new prayer in him.

Celebrating Babies on this very Special Day.

Hi everyone! Guess what?! Today is World Down Syndrome Day (21.03 - 3 x 21 chromosomes, get it?!)! As such, we thought...

Posted by Ollie & Cameron on Monday, March 21, 2016

Requiem Mass for Our Dear Friend, Fr. Robert Palladino, on Friday, March 11 at 11 AM

CANTORES IN ECCLESIA BULLETIN - March 7, 2016
Cantores Website About Cantores About Blake Applegate, director Directions to Holy Rosary Church Directions to St. Stephen's Church Donations Contact Us CANTORES IN ECCLESIA P.O. Box 2783 Portland, Oregon 97208-2783 Telephone: 503.295.2811 Email: cantores@ cantoresinecclesia.org Cantores in Ecclesia is also on	The Requiem Mass for our dear friend, Fr. Robert Palladino, will be celebrated in St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Friday, March 11, at 11 am. Although his sudden death came as a shock, we are grateful that years ago he had given Dean Applegate instructions for the music he wanted sung by Cantores in Ecclesia. In his beautifully calligraphed hand, he indicated the readings, plainsong and motets he had chosen for his funeral, when that time came. Sadly, that day arrived far too soon for us all. Fr. Palladino died in his home on Friday, February 26. We will always be indebted to him for his decades of support, encouragement and friendship. To say he will be greatly missed only understates our loss. St. Mary's Cathedral is located at 17th and NW Davis in Portland. The above picture of Fr. Palladino was published as part of a substantial and deeply deserved tribute to him in The New York Times on March 4 (online), and in the print version of the paper on March 6. To read this tribute in full, please click HERE.

LA’s Religious Ed Congress hosts transgender Catholics -

VOCAL helped  the gender terms of Patti, born male and Mateo, born female in this article.  Another note of interest, during this workshop there was apparently no one giving the Church's side of transgenderism.  Mr. FitzMaurice who is a homosexual, organized this workshop. 

Archbishop José Gomez during the closing Mass of the 2013 Religious Education Congress. (photo credit: Victor Aleman/Angelus)

The following comes from a March 7 Crux article by Michael O’Loughlin:
LOS ANGELES – Tens of thousands of Catholics descend on Los Angeles each winter to sharpen their ministry skills, partaking in dozens of workshops and seminars about liturgy, prayer, Bible, and parish life as part of the LA Religious Education Congress. With close to 40,000 participants, it’s the largest annual gathering of Catholics in North America, a celebration of all things Catholic.

But event organizers this year took a cue from popular culture and included a new session, one that attracted a standing room only crowd of 750 people, nearly all of whom jumped to their feet for a sustained round of applause after talks from two young, committed Catholics.

The name of the session? “Transgender in the Church: One Bread, One Body.”

Father Christopher Bazyouros, director of the office of religious education for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

The Rev. Christopher Bazyouros, the director of the office of religious education for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said including the discussion in the program was an important first step for the Church in grappling with an issue that exploded onto the national consciousness last June when Caitlyn Jenner appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair, announcing to the world that she is transgender.
“There aren’t many places for Catholics to discuss these things that are thoughtful, intentional, and that gathers people who have had this experience,” he said. “Many Catholics want information about this topic, they want things to help them understand this situation.”

To that end, conference organizers invited two transgender Catholics to speak, both of whom were surprised and gratified that they were included. And both used their presentations to urge acceptance by the wider universe of Catholics.

Anna Patti (born male), a 23-year-old Michigan resident, told the crowd she didn’t believe “God made a mistake” with her, as some have said of transgender people.

In an interview after her presentation, she said having the opportunity to speak freely about her struggles and her joys was “an unexpectedly affirming experience.”

“I hadn’t realized how silenced I felt within the Church,” she said. “At Mass I always sit in the back row in the back corner, making myself as visibly small as possible. Here was the opposite, where people wanted to learn about an issue that is so often immediately condemned.”
“It was beautiful,” she said of the crowd’s reaction.

Mateo Williamson (photo from Dignity USA‘s giveoutday.org page)

Mateo Williamson (born female), a 24-year-old medical student at the Jesuit-run Loyola Medical School in Chicago, described with joy his deeply Catholic upbringing, part of a family that included several priests and nuns.

After his talk, he said many young people thanked him for sharing his story about living as a transgender man in the Church.

“Pope Francis’ charity, compassion, and call to mercy, it’s changed the tone in the Church,” he said. “He hasn’t been explicit about trans people, and there’s nothing in the Catechism, but there’s been a change among people in general to understand something they maybe haven’t encountered before.”
Pope Francis has spoken out repeatedly against so-called gender ideology, but Patti said she doesn’t interpret those comments as hostile to trans people.

In fact, she thinks the pope’s remarks about gender not being just a social construct actually support the transgender community by pointing out that gender identity is innate.

The LA Congress workshop sold out quickly, and some of the audience, which included several priests, seminarians, and nuns, said the fact it happened at all gave them hope about the future of the Church.

Arthur FitzMaurice, who speaks frequently about LGBT issues in the Church and who organized the workshop, said he believes it was the largest discussion devoted to transgender issues and Catholicism in the Church’s history. He said that organizers have already asked him to plan a similar workshop next year.

NEW VIDEO. Planned Parenthood OC Changes Abortions to Harvest Intact Fetuses for Lo...

Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis Disbands Girl Scouts For Doing What CRS *Actually* Does - Could other Dioceses Follow?

*VOCAL is a member of Reform CCHD Now which is now part of the Lepanto Institute.                                                             

"For months, Catholic Relief Services have been playing the role of the wizard in The Wizard of Oz: nothing to see behind the curtain!  Pay no attention!

Then the Archdiocese of St. Louis did something so absolutely extraordinary...

I had to share it.

The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis finally gave the boot to the Girl Scouts of America because of  its intimate relationships with abortion and contraception providing organizations, such as Planned Parenthood. Specifically, the Archdiocese of St. Louis mentioned a favorite of Catholic Relief Services -- OxFam -- as a reason why Catholics could no longer trust them:

4. Organizations that GSUSA promotes and partners with are in conflict with Catholic values, such as Amnesty International, Coalition for Adolescent Girls, OxFam and more. This is especially troubling in regards to sex education and advocacy for “reproductive rights” (i.e. abortion and contraceptive access, even for minors)

What’s interesting about this is that according to a list of grants dispensed by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for fiscal year 2014, CRS gave nearly half-a-million dollars to Oxfam.  We are currently analyzing the latest list of CRS grants for fiscal year 2014, but on average, between 86% and 90% of CRS’s grants to domestic organizations go to agencies that are acting in direct conflict with Catholic moral and social teaching.

To date, Catholic Relief Services has responded with "internal investigations" -- intimating that Catholic organizations investigating their practices are involved in "slander" and are "maliciously" raising questions as to why CRS is giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to an organization that is now condemned by at least one Catholic bishop.

CRS is clearly and deliberately intimidating the Lepanto Institute and other Catholic laypersons, religious, priests and bishops in order to silence any analysis of their anti-Catholic and prejudicial giving processes.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON OXFAM AND WHY CATHOLICS NEED TO SPEAK UP.

To date, CRS has been very happy to attack and destroy anyone who even dares raise the question as to why Catholic donations are going to unCatholic organizations.  Now that the Archdiocese of St. Louis has marked OxFam as one of the bad guys, will CRS finally end the marketing campaign and threats of intimidation?  Or will they simply ramp it up?

We suspect CRS will simply double down on the attacks.  Which is why I am writing to you today: to please send us your maximum possible contribution so we can end once and for all the deceptive funding practices at Catholic Relief Services!

For some time, the Lepanto Institute has made it our mission to bring these facts to light, in service to our priests and bishops, in order to restore Catholic sanity and fulfill our Catholic mission -- to "restore all things in Christ" for the salvation of souls.

Millions of Catholics who faithfully work for and in service to Holy Mother Church are being deceived by a coterie of well-heeled bureaucrats willing to compromise what you and I believe as Catholics.  But when our donations and charity are used to fuel the fires of the culture of death, that is WRONG.

Without your gift of $35 or more, these facts might never come to light.  Our bishops and priests might very well be kept in the dark by these professional bureaucrats, and faithful Catholics every Sunday would give in charity to support things such as contraceptives, abortifacients, or worse when they believe they are feeding the poor, helping families, or building up the Catholic Faith.

It's time we -- as Catholics -- stood up with a clear voice and give our priests and bishops the support they need to investigate "institutionalized Catholicism" at places such as Catholic Relief Services -- organizations that serve themselves, but hedge on our Catholic faith.

That's the reason why the Lepanto Institute exists, to warn our priests and bishops and remain true to the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church.

It has been said that the solution for what ails the Catholic Church isn't diversity or community or dissent... but one word: FIDELITY.

If you believe as I do that the universal call to holiness is not a mere abstraction, but something our Blessed Mother desires most ardently for the souls of mankind, then I need your help -- and I need to show your support so we can continue to take on the enemies of Mother Church and keep the attention up and focused.

For one, I am so glad to see that the Archidiocese of St. Louis took this step!  We need to continue to show support for our priests and bishops who take courageous stands such as these in the face of the intimidation tactics, threats, and lies that are so often used to promote evil.

Can I count on your support for $35 or more today?

Please pray for the Church and for Lepanto's mission as we continue to unearth the truth and "restore all things to Christ." (1 Col. 1:20)

Christus Vincit!"

Michael Hichborn
President
Lepanto Insititute

PS:  REMEMBER that nothing we do here at the Lepanto Institute is done without the prayers and support of faithful Catholics such as yourself.  Bringing this information to light is hard -- we know it's hard to see -- but unless it is done, more victims of this senseless and outrageous pattern of deception will emerge.  Such deception is dangerous to our faith, our priests, and to Holy Mother Church, and we here at the Lepanto Institute remain dedicated to prayerfully and faithfully raising the tough questions -- all in faithful service to our bishops and priests.  Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!