BishopsSanta Muerte: Sinister and Infernal
- June 17, 2013
The cult “Santa Muerte” has been called by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, sinister and infernal. This diabolical “Santa Muerte” cult has been burgeoning on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.The Santa Muerte cult is in no way santa (holy) but rather is, as Cardinal Ravasi has said, a celebration of devastation and of hell. It is a terrible blasphemy against God and is a false religiosity promoted by organized crime and drug traffickers. These groups celebrate death. It is in no way a true religion that celebrates life and justice and the dignity and sacredness of each person. La Santa Muerte has been called the “la religiosidad de narcos”—drug traffickers who falsify religion.
Pro-Life Bills Get Second Chance in Special Session
- June 14, 2013
The TCC appreciated Governor Perry’s expansion of the special legislative session to include pro-life and juvenile justice issues. With the expansion, lawmakers have an opportunity to make significant strides in passing pro-life legislation that was left pending in the 83rd Regular Session.
Perry's announcement follows a May 27 letter from the TCC asking for the special session to include a number of proposals to protect life that had been dropped in the regular session.
"On behalf of our congregations across the state, the Catholic bishops deeply appreciate Governor Perry's working with us to defend innocent human life and to protect the unborn," the TCC said in a statement.
Legislators have filed a number of pro-life bills under the call, ranging from requiring abortion facilities to comply with the standard for ambulatory surgery centers, to prohibiting abortions for women who are at least 20 weeks pregnant, and to preventing people who are not physicians from providing or prescribing abortion-inducing drugs.
Perry Adds Abortion and Juvenile Justice to Special Session
- June 11, 2013
AUSTIN -- The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops today expressed its sincere appreciation to Governor Rick Perry for adding to the special legislative session two important issues: an opportunity to end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole and the opportunity to expand pro-life legislation that was left pending in the 83rd Regular Session.
"On behalf of our congregations across the state, the Catholic bishops deeply appreciate Governor Perry's working with us to defend innocent human life and to exercise compassion for lost juveniles in our prison system," the Catholic Conference said in a statement.
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Water Cooperation: Sharing God’s Gift to All
- June 7, 2013
We don’t always pay attention to an international declaration of this or that, but when a bishop alerts us to one, we certainly take heed. Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI, of the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, contacted us in March to let us know that he was promoting World Water Day (March 22). This also happens to be the International Year of Water Cooperation, so declared by the United Nations General Assembly.Bishop Pfeifer mentioned that he has been promoting World Water Day for many years in his diocese, especially getting children involved in the critical issue of caring for water.
“Because of the tremendous importance of water for all life on planet earth,” he wrote, “the importance of World Water Day has grown significantly. But much more attention needs to be given today in all places and all times about how we can best use the essential life-giving gift of water.”
He noted that building a consensus on water cooperation is the main focus of many discussions during this year’s observance. “This is a time for continued dialogue in all of our communities about ways of preserving and providing the life-giving gift of water for all people now, and into the future,” he said.
Water for Life: Regeneration of New Spirit
- June 7, 2013
The Catholic Church and other faith traditions are effusive in their language when it comes to the cleansing sacredness of water. Needless to say in its natural state, water is absolutely vital for the survival of humanity and all species on earth. Water is a good of creation: meant for all human beings, all communities and all life. God intended that water, like all natural created things on earth, would be shared fairly by humankind under the guidance of justice tempered by charity. This guidance was reaffirmed often by Pope Benedict XVI and Blessed John Paul II over the past few decades.
One measure of this is the fact that the Vatican has stayed engaged with the World Water Forum that began in 1997 and convenes every three years. The most recent forum in 2012 focused on solutions: solutions for access to water, better sanitation, conservation, and managing water as a human right. The Holy See has laid out a set of principle in their document “Water, An Element Essential for Life” which makes clear that water is a fundamental good of God’s creation and a key factor for peace and security.
Special Session Raises Potential for Reviving Life Issues
- May 31, 2013
The echoes had barely faded from the gavels calling to a close the 83rd Texas Legislative Session on Monday evening before Governor Rick Perry announced that he was immediately calling a Special Session so lawmakers could ratify the redistricting maps drawn by federal judges for use in the 2012 elections.
Anticipating the governor's action, the Texas Catholic Conference preemptively wrote to Perry just hours before the call, asking him to add a series of pro-life bills that had been shelved during the regular session to the call for a special session.
83rd Legislature Leaves Issues Unaddressed
- May 31, 2013
Some around the Capitol have suggested that if the 83rd session is remembered for anything, it will be as the "Kumbaya Session" for ducking controversial issues and avoiding potentially thorny votes. The downside is that some complain that the session failed to take on some vital legislative issues (e.g., Medicaid expansion, school reform, transportation infrastructure, expanding the rights of medical patients and families at the end of life, etc.).
Pastoral Priorities Unveiled at Vigil
- May 31, 2013
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| More than 50 parishes and Catholic organizations took part in a banner procession prior to the liturgy. Photo: Jordan McMorrough / Today's Catholic |
In his remarks at a news conference prior to the Mass, the archbishop said, “We call what has grown from that process a ‘Mutually Shared Vision.’ This means that we are all involved and united as we all commit to work within the priorities that have been established and to achieve the goals we are about to unveil.”
During the outdoor Mass, the archbishop announced attainable, verifiable and measurable goals that ranged from increasing weekly Mass attendance to reaching out to the youth and young adults of the archdiocese.
Organization Looks to Increase Prison Ministry
- May 24, 2013
“I was in prison and you visited me.” It’s a well-known verse from the Bible but how many Catholics actually take it to heart?
Unfortunately throughout the nation the answer is, not enough. But a national ministry is making an effort to change that.
Dismas Ministry, a national Catholic prison ministry, began a new campaign in December of 2012 to raise awareness of the need for more Catholics to become involved in prison ministry.
Deacon Tommy Ewing, director of the Criminal Justice Ministry for the Diocese of Beaumont, hopes the campaign brings more awareness to the ministry, especially in other states.
Michael Morton Act Passed by Texas Legislature and Signed into Law
- May 17, 2013
Going Too Far with DNR?
- May 10, 2013
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