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Showing posts from March, 2018

Bishops take to Twitter to back 'March for Our Lives'

In this March 14, 2018, file photo, Abbey Kadlec, left, and her classmates stand on the stairs and sidewalk of Lewis and Clark High School to protest gun violence, part of a nationwide movement, in Spokane, Wash. (Credit: Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review via AP.) NEW YORK - As thousands marched on Washington and around the country in support of tighter gun control policies, a number of Catholic bishops took to social media to offer support for those participating in the events. At a Mass for Peace, Justice, and Healing in Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley praised the young people of Parkland, Florida - the most recent school massacre, where 17 students and teachers were killed in February, and which set off a new wave of public activism in protest of gun violence. There was a school shooting in Maryland last week as well. “The extraordinary role of the students from Parkland in focusing the country on this critical social problem should b

A day after March for Our Lives, Pope urges youth to speak out

Pope Francis blesses attendees and palm leaves during at St Peter's square on March 25, 2018 (CNN) A day after hundreds of thousands of people protested gun violence at March for Our Lives events in the US and around the globe, Pope Francis called on the world's youth to continue speaking out and standing up. "Dear young people, you have it in you to shout," the Pope said in his Palm Sunday address at St. Peter's Square in Rome. Pope Francis at the the end of Palm Sunday Mass in Vatican City Palm Sunday -- celebrated on the Sunday before Easter -- is commemorated by Christians as the day Jesus entered Jerusalem in the week of his crucifixion, when palm leaves were strewn in his path. Noting that this Palm Sunday coincides with World Youth Day, the pontiff used the opportunity to compare youth to Jesus's followers, who were scorned by his detractors. "It is up to you not to keep quiet," Pope Francis said. "

Keep spirit of march going, Catholic college students urged

A person reads information about gun violence during a panel discussion about gun policy analysis and citizen activism at Trinity Washington University March 23. The March for Our Lives protest against gun violence is scheduled for March 24 in the nation's capital. (Credit: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn.) WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a standing-room-only lecture hall at Trinity Washington University March 23, a presenter asked for a show of hands for how many planned to attend the March for Our Lives the next day in Washington. Most hands in the room went up and they also went up again for the next question: “How many know someone who died from gun violence?” The hands weren’t raised quite as much for questions about how many in the room had done lobbying work, had written letters to the editor or called members of Congress about gun legislation. The presenters urged them to do so, that afternoon even, saying they should step up during this mome

US Catholic sisters plan participation in March For Our Lives

Students at St. Mary's Dominican High School in New Orleans gather March 14 for 17 minutes to pray and remember the 17 students and faculty members killed in a Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Florida. Students carried signs with the names of those who died, and the Hail Mary was recited after each name was read. The school is run by the Dominican Sisters of Peace. (Courtesy of the Dominican Sisters of Peace) Thousands of people are expected to take part in the March For Our Lives event March 24 in Washington, D.C., and the more than 800 "sibling marches" planned worldwide. Hundreds of sisters will be among them. The march is to demand that children be safe from gun violence in their schools. "We have worked for years and years to support all sorts of efforts at much more comprehensive gun control at local and national levels and even internationally," said Eileen Harrington, a co-member of the Loretto Community and its mission activities

St. Louis archbishop, a longtime hunter, supports gun control

This article appears in the Gun Violence feature series. View the full series . St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson at an Interfaith Prayer Service for Peace and Solidarity at Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis in September 2017 (CNS photo/Teak Phillips, St. Louis Review) For years, the U.S. bishops have pushed for gun control, most recently in a statement in the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting. They have promoted a ban on assault weapons, limitations on the purchase of handguns, and safety measures, such as locks that prevent children and anyone other than the owner from using guns without permission. At least one prominent Catholic hunter agrees with them. St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson is among the few bishops who know what it's like to shoot a gun, with hunting experience dating back to the time he served as bishop for the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, diocese from 1995 to 2004. "I agree with rai

200 Catholic schools to participate in anti-gun protest

Chicago students planning to join national walkout on gun safety Chicago On. Feb. 14, 2018, students hold their hands in the air as they are evacuated by police from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, after a shooter opened fire on the campus. | Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, file photo Students all over Chicago and in many of its suburbs will walk out of class Wednesday, adding their voices to a national effort aimed at halting shootings in schools. Kids and their teachers throughout Chicago Public Schools plan to step outside mid-morning for 17 minutes — one minute for each of the people gunned down inside a Parkland, Florida, high school last month. Student activism following that deadly shooting spree by a former student with a semi-automatic long rifle has sparked a national conversation about gun control. The walkouts appear to have CPS’ tacit approval. Though CPS principals aren’t supposed to be involve

Bob Brehl: Hope arises in U.S. gun laws debate

Almost every day there are articles in these Catholic periodicals hitting their followers over the head with anti-gun propaganda. The enemy of freedom is the Catholic cult! Always has been. Over 20 years I've studied this issue. World-wide, from their inception, they HATE freedoms of the people. They HATE constitutional Republics. They will have it the Pope's way, only! "The ends justifies the means" they say... So you can believe that many, maybe ALL of these mass shootings are false flags to try and convince Americans that guns are bad! Everyone needs to study these things are expose them the best you can. Commenting on articles helps. Whatever you can do... Article: "Bob Brehl: Hope arises in U.S. gun laws debate" March 8, 2018-   Article  SOURCE Nothing changed after 20 very young children were slaughtered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., five years ago. When the senseless deaths

Bishops call for ‘common-sense gun measures’ after Florida school shooting

Demonstrators from Teens for Gun Reform, an organization of students in the Washington DC area created in the wake of February's school shooting in Parkland, Fla. Credit: Lorie Shaull/CNA Washington D.C., Mar 5, 2018 / 08:00 pm ( CNA/EWTN News ) .- In the aftermath of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. that killed 17 people, two US bishops have issued a joint statement calling for “common-sense gun measures” and dialogue about specific proposals that will reduce gun violence and ensure school safety. "Once again, we are confronted with grave evil, the murder of our dear children and those who teach them. Our prayers continue for those who have died, and those suffering with injuries and unimaginable grief. We also continue our decades-long advocacy for common-sense gun measures as part of a comprehensive approach to the reduction of violence in society and the protection of life,” the statement

US bishops back assault weapons ban, are leery of arming teachers

This article appears in the Gun Violence feature series. View the full series . 20180215T1522-14670-CNS-BISHOPS-GUN-VIOLENCE-EXPERIENCE A salesman clears the chamber of an AR-15 in 2016 at a gun store in Provo, Utah (CNS/Reuters/George Frey) The U.S. bishops' conference entered its voice Monday into the nation's latest gun reform debate, renewing past support for gun control measures like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks while expressing concern with the idea of arming teachers as a deterrent of future shootings. "Once again, we are confronted with grave evil, the murder of our dear children and those who teach them," said Bishop Frank Dewane and Bishop George Murry, chairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committees on Domestic Justice and Human Development and on Catholic Education, respectively, in  a statement  referencing the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High Sch