Our Takes Daily

U.S. bishops respond to Pew study

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

U.S. bishops agree with the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life study that found that faith is an important part of Americans' lives and see in it the call to ongoing religious education. According to the survey, which was released Monday, 92 percent of American adults say they believe in God or a “universal spirit.” Archbishop of Washington Donald Wuerl said of the study: “At every juncture of our past, Americans have called upon God for guidance, protection, and direction. There is a clear identification with religion in America which, for Catholics, reflects the dedicated efforts of priests, catechists and teachers in our history.” More info here>>

Planned Parenthood rebrands itself

The Wall Street Journal

Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide are aggressively expanding their reach, seeking to woo more affluent patients with a network of suburban clinics and huge new health centers that project a decidedly upscale image. The reason? Opening up new avenues of revenue and increasing the organization’s political clout, says a report in the Wall Street Journal. Last spring, the nonprofit — which has 882 clinics nationwide — dropped its crusading mission statement setting out the rights of all individuals, no matter their income, to “reproductive self-determination.” In its place, Planned Parenthood adopted a crisp pledge to "leverage strength through our affiliated structure to be the nation's most trusted provider of sexual and reproductive health care." More info here>>

Catholic gay pride service stopped

The St. Paul Pioneer Press

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ decision to to prohibit a Minneapolis gay pride prayer service has many in the homosexual community up in arms, leading activists to call the action a troubling and telling sign from the Twin Cities' new archbishop. Since the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and contrary to natural law, the archdiocese proposed St. Joan of Arc have a peace service instead that makes not mention of rights for lesbians, gays or bisexuals. That wasn’t enough for the Minneapolis-based Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, who termed the move “"yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at LGBT persons and their families under Archbishop [John] Nienstedt's reign of homophobic hatred." More info here>>