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Reflections of a Lay Catholic

Reflections of a Lay Catholic

Monthly Archives: February 2013

Where Catholics Stand on Bishops, Pope, Birth Control

28 Thursday Feb 2013

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By the Numbers: Catholics in America
By SARAH PARNASS
Feb. 28, 2013
abcnews.go.com
ABC News

Where Catholics Stand on Bishops, Pope, Birth Control

By the Numbers: Catholics in America – ABC News.

With Pope Benedict XVI’s departure, Catholics will soon have a new leader, who will no doubt hold sway over a good chunk of American voters.

Catholics have made up a significant portion of the United States since the end of the 19th century, when Irish Catholics set sail for America to escape famine, according to the National Humanities Center. Around that same time, more than a quarter of Italy’s population left its native land to find work in America, the “vast majority” of whom were Catholic, according to the American Immigration Law Foundation. Today, Catholics make up about a quarter of the U.S. population.

Current political leadership includes several prominent Catholics: Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin.

But it’s impossible to predict how Catholics will vote, and where they’ll vary on what their church leader decrees. Read on to see how America’s Catholics break down, by the numbers.

78.2 million

Self-identified Catholics in America, about a quarter of the country’s population (Georgetown University, 2012).

About 2 million

Number of children in Catholic schools in the U.S. (Georgetown University, 2012).

83 percent

American Catholics satisfied with nuns and sisters (Pew, November 2012).

82 percent

American Catholics who said birth control was “morally acceptable” (Gallup, May 2012).

74 percent

American Catholics satisfied with Pope Benedict XVI (Pew, November 2012).

63 percent

White American Catholics who support repealing the ban against gays joining the Boy Scouts of America (Quinnipiac University, February 2013).

62 percent

American Catholics who favor stricter gun laws (Public Religion Research Institute, August 2012).

50 percent

Catholics who voted for President Obama in 2012, compared with 48 percent for Mitt Romney (Pew, November 2012).

49 percent

White American Catholics who support same-sex marriage, compared with 43 percent who oppose it (Quinnipiac University, December 2012).

One-third

Catholics who wished their pastor or bishops would blog (Georgetown University, November 2012).

32 percent

Catholics who own guns in America (Public Religion Research Institute, August 2012).

Six

Number of Supreme Court Justices who are Catholic. The other three Justices are Jewish.

One

Number of American presidents who have identified as Catholic – John F. Kennedy. Also number of Catholic American vice presidents – Joe Biden.

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Pope Benedict

25 Monday Feb 2013

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Pope Benedict

Pope Benedict

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Digital Edition – February 14, 2013

22 Friday Feb 2013

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Catholic Spirit

Link to the Digital Edition of the Catholic Spirit – February 14, 2013.

The Catholic Spirit (a publication of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis) had several great articles in its most recent publication about Pope Benedict, Mary Jo Copeland and her amazing ministry to the poor in the Twin Cities and Glenn Caruso, head coach of the St. Thomas football team. Eventhough I am a Johnnie, and St. Thomas was our arch rival, it is an excellent article.

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‘Heavy heart but complete understanding’: Pope’s resignation stuns church leadership – World News

11 Monday Feb 2013

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‘Heavy heart but complete understanding’: Pope’s resignation stuns church leadership – World News.

Dear Brothers:

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

From the Vatican, 10 February 2013

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

Initial Post: As we approach Lent

10 Sunday Feb 2013

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Lent

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Reposted, original by Damon Owens

As we approach the first week of Lent, the idea that we must abandon ourselves into the hands of God, that we must die in order to live, is a particularly appropriate idea to reflect on. When you think about it, the idea of dying in order to live is not unique to religion—Christian or any other. Every world-class athlete, virtuoso, artist, or master of a craft sets himself or herself apart by the deliberate decision to sacrifice personal desires and comforts in the pursuit of perfection. Strict diets, long study, endless practice, injury, pain, successes, and failures are the tried-and-true marks of a master-in-training. These countless “deaths” are the price of being able to “live” the extraordinary life.

Without exception, there is also a master—a coach, teacher, trainer, mentor—who is chosen to lead, drive, guide, encourage, and form us through these “deaths.” Perfection cannot be achieved alone. There are no self-made masters—not in athletics, the arts, or any trade or craft. This is just as true in spiritual matters.

The first step to perfection is opening our hearts—our deepest selves—to the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must be willing to surrender every part of ourselves: our intellect, our will, our memory, and our sins. In these encounters, God will reveal to us the truth about who he is and what we must do to “become who we are.” He will also bring us spiritual directors as personal trainers—strength coaches, skills specialists, conditioning coaches, and nutritionists. Like any other master-in-training, our chance for victory lies in the quality of the coaches and their training plan and our submission to that plan.

God is perfect. His plan is perfect. Will Christ the Bridegroom find us faithful to that plan when he returns for his Bride?

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