Archive for Category: "Columns"

Religious liberty: Protecting conduct rooted in conviction

Religious liberty:  Protecting conduct rooted in conviction

Pope Francis recently said that religious liberty is talked about more than it is proactively protected. And he is right. Religious liberty is increasingly given lip service, but in practice it keeps shrinking.

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Catholic United Financial organizes event to help victims of disasters

Catholic United Financial organizes event to help victims of disasters

Also,
– CCF hires new officer, names finance director
– Order of Malta exhibit at Basilica
– Local Catholic author publishes new book

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Graduation is a meaningful beginning of adulthood

Graduation is a meaningful beginning of adulthood

Thirty-four years ago, on June 3, I delivered the commencement address for the class of 1979 at the Academy of the Holy Angels in Richfield. I challenged my classmates and myself to go out and change the world for the better.

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Same-sex marriage: Why the French protest and Americans shrug

Same-sex marriage: Why the French protest and Americans shrug

Minnesota and France redefined marriage in the same week, yet the differences in public reaction to this decision in both places could hardly be starker.

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150 graduate from Catechetical Institute

150 graduate from Catechetical Institute

Also,
– The Archbishop Harry J. Flynn ­Catechetical Institute held its ­graduation ceremony last week at the St. Paul Seminary Chapel
– Last chance to complete capital campaign feasibility study
– MN Twins to host altar server appreciation

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Higher education and ‘breaking good’

Higher education and ‘breaking good’

“Breaking Bad” is a television series on AMC about a high school chemistry teacher who becomes a drug kingpin. It has quickly become a favorite of mine. Educator Walter White puts his chemistry skills to work in his own meth lab after he learns he has advanced-stage lung cancer and just two years to live. His teaching job, he reasons, will not provide nearly enough for his pregnant wife and his son, who has cerebral palsy.

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Youth’s story shows need for immigration reform

Youth’s story shows need for immigration reform

At 2 years old, Helen was brought to the United States from Mexico as her family struggled to provide food for the table and hope for a better life. They were poor urban workers in Mexico, where there was a long line for day labor but no line for legal immigration to the United States. Like many people, Helen’s parents began a dangerous journey north, seeking a better life for their children.

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Aim Higher Foundation awards tuition assistance grants

Aim Higher Foundation awards tuition assistance grants

Also:
– Seminarian writes and directs theater drama
– Cardinal Burke keynotes tribunal provincial meeting
– Feasibility study update

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No compromise between same-sex ‘marriage,’ religious liberty

No compromise between same-sex ‘marriage,’ religious liberty

The House of Representatives will vote on same-sex marriage legislation on Thursday, May 9.

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Day of Prayer for Vocations set for April 21

Day of Prayer for Vocations set for April 21

Also:
Priests, seminarians to play basketball tourney
Haiti priest to receive award from St. John’s
Providence Academy students score for charity

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Funding the fight against child sex trafficking

Funding the fight against child sex trafficking

Recently, the DFL leadership in the Minnesota House and Senate released their proposed budget targets. While the budget targets are said to allow for investments in Minnesota’s economic future, there are deep cuts proposed in the Minnesota Health and Human Services budget that could directly affect some of our state’s most vulnerable residents in a special way, particularly our sexually exploited youth.

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Changing jobs? The pope sets a worthy example

Changing jobs? The pope sets a worthy example

Pope Benedict’s exit and Pope Francis’ arrival hold lessons for our own workplaces

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