Fratres Blog News 04.13.08

OREGON CATHOLIC NEWS

Unusual Earthquakes Measured Off Oregon Coast…

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off central Oregon, something that often happens before a volcanic eruption—except there are no volcanoes in the area. Read The Full Story. 

Bishop Vlasny on Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Child Protection…

 PORTLAND – Last year at this time the Archdiocese of Portland exited bankruptcy after the court approved its Plan of Reorganization. We were very fortunate in being able to compensate claimants and to continue the operations of the archdiocese, its parishes and other institutions. Read The Full Story .

Bishop Vasa on Spiritual Warfare…

BEND— It was wonderfully refreshing to go down to Chiloquin and Bly this past weekend. As you can imagine these are not large communities and yet the Spirit of God seems to be very active and present there. Read The Full Story.

NATIONAL CATHOLIC NEWS

More Catholic School Closures Across The U.S…

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. For 46 years, crime, recessions and hurricanes proved no threat to the daily ritual of St. Monica School, where the entire blue-and-white uniformed student body gathered outside each morning to join in prayer. Read The Full story.

Who Will Save America’s Urban Catholic Schools?

Thomas B. Fordham Foundation – America’s urban Catholic schools are in crisis. Over 1300 of them have shut down since 1990, mostly in our cities. As a result, some 300,000 students have been displaced–double the number affected by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Fordham’s latest report surveys the attitudes of U.S. Catholics and the broader public toward inner-city Catholic schools and evaluates the outlook of these important institutions in America’s big cities. The results are mixed-and the future is complicated. Read The Story And Report.

Preparing For The Pope…

New York – Pope Benedict XVI will straddle second base in Yankee Stadium in New York but stand over center field at Nationals Park in Washington. There are 100,000 ponchos on hand in the Bronx in case of rain, while three Polish nuns have dusted off a gold and silver garment, hand-woven more than a century ago, for the pontiff to wear at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the capital. Read The Full Story.

WORLD CATHOLIC NEWS 

Thou Shall Not Sell Pope Tickets…

Chicago – Scalping your coveted Cubs ticket on eBay might not be a sin in Illinois. But auctioning your tickets to a papal mass is a crime in the eyes of the Roman Catholic church. Read The Full Story.

Pope To Pray For Islamic Terrorists At Ground Zero…

New York – The Pope will pray for the redemption of Islamic terrorists when he visits the site of the September 11 World Trade Centre attacks this week. Read The Full Story.

Let’s leave politics Out Of Climate Science…

Massachusetts – A patronizing infomercial on local global warming ran on the opinion page of this newspaper several weeks ago, thick with saccharine, politically-correct admonitions. It was written by a marketing consultant for the Essex County Greenbelt Association. Read The Full Story.