credit: turnbacktogod

When Kathy Nance and other new Civil Religon bloggers gathered at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the other morning, we got to talking about who we were and what religion we represented. When Kathy used the word “pagan” to describe herself, I asked her to define the word. She was good enough to do just that in her first post, A Pagan’s Primer.

Well, what about Catholicism? Who are we and what do we believe? Every Sunday at Mass we answer that question when we stand to recite a summary of our faith, the Nicene Creed. This affirmation of faith occurs after we have heard the first reading, joined in the responsorial psalm, heard the second reading, heard the Gospel and the homily.

We stand to say the Nicene Creed.

The creed I’m introducing  below is the new translation which will come into use in 2011 or 2012. This translation is from the…

Supreme Court credit:Courant

Twenty five years ago when a handful of St. Louis women gathered to publicly defend Catholic Church teaching, the immediate topics were feminism, abortion and women’s ordination. Within a couple of months and many enthusiastic letters from faithful Catholic women, we understood a national organization was in the making, Women for Faith & Family:

WFF Beginnings
In September 1984, six St. Louis women gathered around a dining room table to discuss their concern that the US bishops, who had announced their intention to write a pastoral letter on the subject of “women’s concerns”, might not receive an accurate picture of Catholic women. The women were concerned about the impression given in the media that most Catholic women feel “alienated” from the Church, and dissent from Church teachings on issues ranging from abortion to ordination. They were aware that feminist theology had influenced many women and Catholic leaders. They wanted to…

President Barack Obama (Getty)

The Rev. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame (Notre Dame)

Dozens of St. Louis Catholics will travel in a convoy of buses, cars and vans to South Bend, Ind. on May 16 to take part in campus protests against University of Notre Dame officials’ decision to award President Barack Obama - who supports abortion rights - with an honorary degree.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that since the first century…

…the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

For some American Catholics, the idea that the nation’s premier Catholic institution of higher learning will honor a politician who has supported legislation “contrary to the moral law,” is infuriating.

“The minute I heard about this, I knew I had to…

Nancy Pelosi has gotten into hot water for misrepresenting Catholic Church teaching against abortion. Appearing on Meet the Press last Sunday, she said:

“I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time,” she said.

“And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition.

And Senator - St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know,” she said…..

In a release issued Monday night, Washington, D.C.,  Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said Pelosi’s comments on “Meet the Press” on Sunday “were incorrect.”

“We respect the right of elected officials such as Speaker Pelosi to address matters of public policy that are before them, but the interpretation of Catholic faith has rightfully been entrusted to the Catholic bishops. Given this responsibility to teach, it is important to make this correction for the record.”

He cited…