Of those polled, 58 per cent said they would not consider voting for a Christian or conservative party, 33 per cent said they would consider it and eight per cent did not know or refused to answer. Continue reading

Writing in the Catholic Herald, Cardinal Wilfred Napier stated: "I am never at ease where people are busy fitting everyone into one or other pigeonhole, camp or category in order to predetermine what they are going to say even before the debate starts."

"The more controversial the question, the more rigidly they want to confine you to your box.

"In my experience, no human being can possibly be fitted fully into the ‘conservative' or ‘liberal' box.

"Therefore, it is not only unfair but also untruthful to label people in this way."

Continue reading

The Irish Catholic understands that out of 10 diocesan seminarians from Maynooth due to return at the end of their pastoral year, six were recommended to take "time out".

But the newspaper pointed to claims of interventions by a number of bishops.

This meant three of the six seminarians would be returning to the seminary in a few months, it is understood.

The Irish Catholic also understands that one seminarian is to undertake a pastoral year in his diocese and another is to take time out, while one student remains in a state of limbo about his seminary future.

The newspaper believes the bishops rejected the assessment of their seminarians by those involved in co-ordinating the pastoral year.

The apprehensions shared were at odds with favourable reports from pastoral placements.

In previous years some Maynooth students claimed the college operated an informal ‘litmus test' to sift out seminarians considered excessively conservative.

Some years ago, seminarians were reportedly suspended for wanting to kneel during the consecration at Mass.

Speaking about the students on pastoral placement, Maynooth president Msgr Hugh Connolly said there has been "nothing out of the ordinary in terms of usual action between students, dioceses and the seminary in making a decision on what is the best next step for a particular student".

Msgr Connolly said it was "not a question of conservatism" but rather a question of "getting the right experience".

He said "a different itinerary is not a judgement on the individual student".

"Their life stories and experiences are all different. We are just tailoring it for his own development and to bring out his gifts."

Msgr Connolly sald the formation of seminarians "has always been done in discussion with the bishop, who must be involved in the pastoral formation of students".

Sources

• The Irish Catholic
• Image: Maynooth College

She is a regular attender of Mass, a longtime stalwart in her church's anti-abortion movement and a believer that all the church's doctrines are true and beautiful and should be obeyed. She loved the last two popes, and keeps a scrapbook with memorabilia from her road trip to Denver in 1993 to see Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day.

But Ms. Kurt recently took the Pope Francis prayer card down and threw it away.

"It seems he's focusing on bringing back the left that's fallen away, but what about the conservatives?" said Ms. Kurt, a hospice community educator. "Even when it was discouraging working in pro-life, you always felt like Mother Teresa was on your side and the popes were encouraging you. Now I feel kind of thrown under the bus."

In the eight months since he became pope, Francis has won affection worldwide for his humble mien and common touch. His approval numbers are skyrocketing. Even atheists are applauding.

But not everyone is so enchanted. Some Catholics in the church's conservative wing in the United States say Francis has left them feeling abandoned and deeply unsettled. Continue reading.

Source: The New York Times

Image: Alexandra P. Shattuck, right, the director of a Catholic-run pregnancy clinic in Hapeville, Ga., with Sequoia Tonge and her 2-month-old. Ms. Shattuck said the pope's recent comments on abortion had been taken out of context. Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times

"Behind the growing scepticism is the fear in some quarters that Francis's all-embracing style and spontaneous speech, so open as it is to interpretation, are undoing decades of Church efforts to speak clearly on Catholic teachings," the Washington Post reported.

Continue reading