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…

Women for Faith & Family’s sister organization, Adoremus, just published a preview of the upcoming English-language Roman Missal that will soon replace the vernacular we Catholics have been accustomed to since soon after the end of  Vatican II.

Do click on the link above to read this fascinating, well organized article. You will find samples of the word changes and the reasons for those changes, and if you are like me, you will find yourself nodding your head.

Why a new Missal?

Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, chairman of the US Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, explains in the June/July Adoremus Bulletin:

In May 2002, the publication of the Missale Romanum marked an historic moment in the life of the Church in our day. It gave an impetus to the great liturgical renewal set in motion when Vatican II issued Sacrosanctum Concilium as its first document. With Vatican II,

began … the great work of renewal of the liturgical books…

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…

The USCCB has issued a statement correcting Senator Joseph Biden’s recent statements on Meet the Press:

September 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has released its second statement in just two weeks correcting a prominent Catholic politician who has caused scandal by publicly defending abortion.

This past Sunday, during an interview on Meet the Press, Democratic VP-nominee Sen. Joseph Biden responded to questions about when life begins by saying that he agreed with the Church that, as a matter of faith, life begins at the moment of conception. However, he then defended his pro-abortion voting record by saying that he would not “impose” his faith on others. He claimed that to do so would be “inappropriate in a pluralistic society.”

Biden also appeared to contradict himself later on in the interview, saying that there was “debate” in the Church about when life begins, echoing claims made by…