Sara Lin Wilde is a recovering Catholic (and cat-holic, for that matter - all typographical errors are the responsibility of her feline friends). She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where she is working on writing a novel that she really, really hopes can actually get published.
Father Anthony Musaala is called “the Dancing Priest” in the central and east African countries where he has earned a popular following as a gospel music performer. His music brims with joy, but he has deep concerns about the future of the Church he serves. Now that a letter he wrote about those concerns was leaked onto the Internet, Musaala faces censure from his higher-ups in the Church and indefinite suspension from his priestly work. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Cardinal Timothy Dolan is leading the charge against Obama’s HHS Mandate, which requires all employers — even Catholic ones — to provide health plans that cover “preventive health services” for women. Listening to him speak on the subject, you’d think a mandate that businesses must pay for employees’ contraceptives and abortions would utterly and absolutely destroy the Catholic Church — and America! — as we know it. It’s about religious freedom, he insists, and it’s a slippery slope towards the removal of that freedom: [Click headline for more…] Read more
Regis Catholic Schools (in Eau Claire, Wisconsin) has been searching for a new president. But it won’t be Tim Nelson, as the parochial-school organization originally announced; they’ve withdrawn their announcement from early April that he was the best candidate for the job. Nelson is hopping mad, and claims that decision is based on erroneous information about his sexual orientation. He says the organization approached him with misgivings about a name connected with him in his father’s obituary — almost the same way another Catholic school discovered that Carla Hale was a lesbian. Nelson insists the name, which was in parentheses next to his, belonged to a close family friend who is his roommate and prayer companion, but not his partner or lover. The format of the obituary may have misleadingly implied a romantic relationship, but Nelson pleads ignorance of obituary-writing etiquette. [Click headline for more…] Read more
By now, you’re probably aware that the sexual abuse of minors by molester priests is quite possibly the biggest open secret in Catholic history. But just in case you had any doubts, here’s the latest from the Aussie press: Catholic Church Insurance, the insurance provider for the entire Australian arm of the institution and a Church-owned business in its own right, has a list of high-risk priests it refuses to cover because they’re just too likely to trigger abuse-related compensation claims. The Catholic Church’s own insurance company says it has a list of people who it has refused to cover because of their actions. People who would have exposed the Church’s insurer to compensation claims. Today the big insurer admitted the list is used to directly reduce its liability. That’s right. We’re talking about working priests who are able to serve in diocesan environments, even though the Church has enough information to flag them as uninsurable. [Click headline for more…] Read more
Who’s running your local hospital? There’s been an ongoing — and frightening — trend in health care circles: Catholic organizations are merging with secular hospitals and health-care providers, striking agreements that include strict adherence to Catholic teaching. The implications for patient care can be very serious, especially if you’re a woman or an elderly person… but many people don’t know about the possible ramifications until it’s too late. According to the most recent numbers from the Catholic Health Association of the United States of America (CHAUSA), one-sixth of Americans admitted to hospitals across the country are getting care from Catholic organizations. In some cases, that may not matter. In other situations, it could mean the difference between life and death. [Click headline for more…] Read more
