Four people were stabbed at the St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico after a young man allegedly jumped from his seat and charged the choir just as the service was ending, police said. A police spokesperson told The ABQ Journal that two of the four people who were stabbed…
Topless pro-LGBT protesters beat breasts and squirt water at Catholic archbishop
The Catholic Church in Belgium on Wednesday angrily denounced Femen topless protesters who targeted its primate at a conference though the archbishop himself remained composed and apparently at prayer throughout. The four protesters leapt out of their seats at a debate on blasphemy and freedom of…
At least 12 arrested as French anti-gay marriage protesters clash with police (VIDEO)
Despite requests by organizers for marchers to disperse peacefully, a hardcore group of about 500 refused to leave the Invalides memorial and museum complex, near the National Assembly in Paris.Masked demonstrators threw glass bottles, metal bars, and cans at police, and riot units retaliated with force to suppress the crowd. One officer was hospitalized with a head injury after being hit by a brick. “The clashes were extremely violent,” an unnamed officer said, according to the Local.At least 12 protesters were arrested. Interior Minister Manuel Valls later said those arrested were linked to far-right organizations. After scuffling with police, demonstrators turned their ire on nearby journalists, shouting swear-words at them.At one point, a mob of masked protesters chased a group of journalists down the street, and a photographer from AFP was sprayed with tear gas, the Local reported.The clashes were predicted by critics of the bill, who warned it would incite the opposition.The ‘marriage for all’ law passed by the predominantly Socialist Parliament on Tuesday is one of France’s biggest social reforms in the last three decades, allowing same-sex couples to both marry and adopt children.The bill passed with 331 votes for and 225 against, with French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira, saying that same-sex marriages could happen as early as June. France became the 14th country in the world to legalize the practice, shortly after New Zealand.“Those protesting today will find themselves moved by the joy of the newlyweds,” Taubira told Parliament.However, the proposal has not enjoyed as much widespread support in France as in New Zealand. Within the last two weeks, France’s top Catholic Bishop, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, told a collective of French bishops that the legalization of same-sex marriage risked inciting violence, a prophecy that was quickly fulfilled.“You are adding a crisis to a crisis. You are stirring up tensions and are lighting the fuse of homophobia,” opposition member Herve Mariton said ahead of the vote, according to Reuters.Last Thursday, police reported a rise in homophobic assaults against both property and people, prompting French President Francois Hollande’s government to call for an end to the violence and issue threats of severe punishment for such crimes. … Read More
Renegade nuns join activists for Medicaid rally at Texas capitol
The Nuns on the Bus, a touring group of activist Catholic nuns, arrived at the Texas state capitol in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, to demonstrate alongside more than 400 others who support the expansion of Medicaid in that state to help the poor. According to the Associated Press, the purpose of the…
Germany ‘tracks down 50 suspected Auschwitz guards’
The former Auschwitz guards, who’ve never faced prosecution for their posts, were tracked down by the Central Office for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg. The suspects may be charged with accessory to murder. The investigators possess the names and location details of the suspects, men in their 90s, who originate from all over Germany, the chief prosecutor Kurt Schrimm confirmed to WAZ-Mediengruppe on Friday. He did not specify where the suspects are, but said some possibly moved to South America with the help of the Catholic Church. The federal law enforcement body is set to launch a preliminary investigation into the issue in the coming weeks. The sentencing in 2011 of John Demjanjuk, a former guard at Sobibor concentration camp, set a precedent that allows authorities to bring proceedings against former concentration camp guards, even if the investigators cannot prove their direct involvement in the crime due to lack of witnesses, Schrimm told Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.”From now on, any activity in a concentration camp is enough to stand trial for complicity in murder,” the chief prosecutor said.Demjanjuk, a native of Ukraine, lived in the United States after the war, but was stripped of citizenship and deported to Germany, where he was convicted of accessory to murder of about 28,000 people who died at Sobibor concentration camp based in occupied Poland. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison in May 2011.The Munich Court then held that, although Demjanjuk cannot be imputed to any specific criminal acts, he “was part of the machine of destruction,” according to the verdict. He died in March last year in before the ruling came into effect.The Auschwitz-Birkenau camp operated by the Third Reich in occupied Poland was the largest Nazi concentration camp during WWII. It was established by Third Reich’s Minister of the Interior Heinrich Himmler as the place of the “final solution” in the policy to annihilate the Jewish people in Europe.There the Nazis killed about 1.3 million people of diverse nationalities, around 90 percent of whom were Jewish, according to data given by the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Those not killed in the gas chambers died of starvation, forced labor, infectious diseases, individual executions, and medical experiments.The center for solving crimes of National Socialism in Ludwigsburg was founded in 1958. Since then it has tracked down a total of 7,485 Nazi criminals, according to Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. … Read More
“I’m not a feminist, but…”
Beyoncé’s fierceness practically blew the lights out at the Super Bowl this year. Madonna’s decades-long career choices have landed her on the Catholic Church’s and the Kremlin’s enemies list. Sandra Day O’Connor was responsible for crucial votes in Supreme Court rulings on abortion and affirmative action. These are women who are virtual forces of nature, whether or not you agree with them on every issue.So why does the word “feminist” scare them so? Don’t they know that, per Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams: “If you believe in the strength of women … you’re soaking in feminism”?A list of other high-profile, force-of-nature women who may “run the world,” but won’t cop to the F-bomb.Continue Reading… … Read More
Openly gay man banned from parish duties by Catholic Church
A 47-year-old retired construction worker and openly gay parishioner at St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church, in Oceanside, N.Y., has been suspended from participating in church-affiliated volunteer work because of his sexuality.Nicholas Coppola has been teaching religious education classes and visiting with home-bound members of his church for close to a decade, but was banned from continuing to serve his church community after St. Anthony’s received an anonymous letter complaining about his sexuality.As reported by the Huffington Post:On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Coppola said he attended a mass at St. Anthony’s celebrating justice and equality. After the homily, he was summoned into the office of his pastor, Father Nicholas Lombardi, where he was told an anonymous letter complaining about his sexuality had been sent to Bishop William Murphy of the Rockville Centre Diocese, which includes St. Anthony’s Parish. Lombardi said Coppola would be banned from his parish duties as a result of the letter.Continue Reading… … Read More
