Catholic

Dr. Miguel Diaz, a professor of theology at St. John’s University in Collegeville, was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday to become ambassador to the Vatican.

A group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Catholics won’t be receiving communion at the Cathedral of St. Paul this Pentecost Sunday, according to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Members of the Rainbow Sash movement, they will attempt to receive the Eucharist on Sunday anyway, in hopes of starting a dialogue with Archbishop John Nienstedt about the role of gays and lesbians in the church. But Nienstedt had strong words for the group, saying he won’t debate church teachings.

Miguel Diaz, a Collegeville, Minn., professor, has been nominated by President Obama to serve as ambassador to the Vatican. Diaz, a theology professor at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, supported Obama’s presidential campaign and that fact, say anti-abortion activists, means he cannot be pro-life.

The Health and Human Services omnibus bill passed the Minnesota Legislature Monday with deep cuts totaling $500 million and now awaits action from Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is expected to veto the bill. Catholic leaders say the bill should be signed because it’d impact the poor less than would Pawlenty’s proposal, and further cuts would [...]

Roman Catholic bishops throughout the United States are planning a massive postcard campaign days after the inauguration as part of an attempt to block the Freedom of Choice Act, known as FOCA, a reproductive health initiative supported by President-elect Barack Obama. But one Minnesota priest is breaking ranks with the national campaign, raising the ire of local and national pro-life Catholics, including some who are calling for his excommunication from the church.

In a speech Monday, Pope Benedict XVI asserted that saving mankind from gays and transgenderism was as important as saving the rainforest.
“We need something like human ecology, meant in the right way,” said the pontiff. “The Church speaks of human nature as ‘man’ or ‘woman’ and asks that this order is respected… The rain forests [...]

Recent statements by the St. Frances Cabrini Church in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis are likely to draw sharp criticism from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Father Leo Tibesar’s Oct. 27 homily saying that those who are ostracized from the church yet who still love God are more worthy in Jesus’ eyes [...]