Rerum Novarum - Catholic Social Teaching

Rerum Novarum - Catholic Social Teaching


Jo Mama

Published on Feb 12, 2012

This is a short clip from a longer video entitled "For the Others" which discusses the Catholic Church's stand on Social Justice over the years and the implementation of it by the Jesuits.

5 shot, 3 dead after shooting at Emmorton Business Park

A Call to Country Living - Selected Messages 2 (2SM) Ellen G. White

A Brief History of Fake News

Sneak peek D C ’s huge new Museum of the Bible includes lots of tech — b...

D.C. new Museum of the Bible lots of tech — but not a lot of Jesus

Social Issues

Sneak peek: D.C.’s huge new Museum of the Bible includes lots of tech — but not a lot of Jesus


By Michelle Boorstein, Julie Zauzmerand Sarah Pulliam Bailey

October 16 at 4:06 PM

Senior software developer Donnie Richardson does testing in the area where visitors to the Museum of the Bible can write on a large interactive tablet table. Those messages will be shown on the big screen in the background (featuring a panoramic photo of Jerusalem). (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

The Museum of the Bible, a massive new institution opening next month just south of the Mall, is just as notable for what it ­includes — vivid walk-through re-creations of the ancient world, one of the world’s largest private collections of Torahs, a motion ride that sprays water at you, a garden of biblical plants — as for what it leaves out.

The $500 million museum, chaired and largely funded by the conservative Christian family that owns Hobby Lobby, doesn’t say a word about the Bible’s views on sexuality or contraception. The museum doesn’t encourage visitors to take the Bible literally or to believe that the Bible has only one correct form. And on floor after gleaming floor of exhibitions, there is very little Jesus.

This isn’t the evangelism that the billionaire Green family first promised a decade ago when they set out to build a museum dedicated to Scripture. At the time, the museum’s mission statement promised to “bring to life the living word of God . . . to inspire confidence in the absolute authority” of the Bible, the book at the institution’s center.

Bishop urges 'spiritual solidarity,' prayer to cope with recent disasters

Bishop urges 'spiritual solidarity,' prayer to cope with recent disasters

What is the Adventist Voice in the 500th Year Celebration of the Protestant Reformation?

What is the Adventist Voice in the 500th Year Celebration of the Protestant Reformation?

Avista Adventist Hospital hires new CEO from Florida

Health Care


Jillyan McKinney will begin as CEO of Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville on Nov. 20,… more

Provided by Avista Adventist Hospital

In This Article

Health Care Industry

By Ed Sealover

– Reporter, Denver Business Journal
2 days ago


Centura Health officials have appointed someone they consider a rising star in the Adventist Health System as the new CEO of Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville.

Jillyan McKinney, who has been the vice president of strategic business development for the Lake Nona and Sunbridge communities while at Florida Hospital in Orlando, will begin her new role on Nov. 20. She replaces Dennis Barts, who retired in August.

McKinney grew a reputation for aligning physicians better with the hospital and for improving overall health and well-being in her community, said officials at Centura, which is co-owned by Adventist and Catholic Health Initiatives. She initiated several major expansion projects there and facilitated jumps in both patient volume and profitability.

“McKinney has an infectious amount of energy,” said Edward Sim, president of Centura Health’s Mountains and North Denver Operating Group.

McKinney said in an announcement that she and her family “can’t wait to call this incredible community home.”

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P.S.

Centura Health

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Centura Health is a non-profit, faith-based health care system based in Englewood, Colorado which was formed in 1996 as a joint operating agreement between Catholic Health Initiatives and Adventist Health System.[1][2][3] The system expanded its operations into Kansas in 2011.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centura_Health

SDA Church says no to 'Seventh-gay Adventist' supporting buggery conference

Wednesday, October 11, 2017



JAMAICA'S largest denomination, the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, yesterday distanced itself from a member of the church who is scheduled to speak at a two-day international conference titled “Intimate Conviction” to discuss the church and anti-buggery laws in the Commonwealth.

SDA Communication, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Director Nigel Coke said Dr Keisha McKenzie may be a member, but “she does not speak on behalf of the Seventh-day Adventist Church globally or locally, and any statement or utterance by her concerning the conference's theme should not be taken as an official statement or position of the church”.

Dr McKenzie, who is listed among the “distinguished speakers” at the event taking place at the regional headquarters of The University of the West Indies (UWI) starting tomorrow, is said to be a member of a group within the SDA Church calling themselves “Seventh-gay Adventists”.

But the church made it clear in a press statement that it would not be taking action against McKenzie, stressing that it was not against individuals exercising their freedom of conscience and expressions, “which are God-given rights never to be taken from anyone”.

A newspaper advertisement announcing the conference said the keynote speaker is Most Rev Dr John Holder, Anglican archbishop of the West Indies, at the top of a list of other distinguished speakers from the Adventist, Anglican, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, and United Churches.

Coke said the leadership of the Adventist Church had received an invitation to the conference, but had politely turned it down and reiterated its opposition to homosexuality and buggery specifically. Adventists are on record as being opposed to proposals to repeal the country's buggery law.

“We believe that sexual intimacy belongs only within the marital relationship of a man and a woman,” Coke said in the statement. “This was the design established by God at creation. Throughout Scripture this heterosexual pattern is affirmed.

“The Bible makes no accommodation for homosexual activity or relationships. For these reasons, Seventh-day Adventists are opposed to homosexual practices and relationships. Our outreach to mankind is non-discriminatory. We have in the pas(t)s and will continue to offer compassion and care to anyone, including persons who are in need of God's love and desires us to guide them into a saving relationship with Him.”

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Real World Earthquake Forecast Model: 1st Year Results

In powerless Puerto Rico, washboards and candles are essential

 Miami Herald

Power lines hang precariously on the side of the road on Highway 118 near San Isidro. Jose A. Iglesias jiglesias@elnuevoherald.com


Americas


By Jim Wyss

jwyss@miamiherald.com

October 14, 2017 6:40 PM
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico


Washboards, candles and cash are the new must-have items on this powerless island.

Almost four weeks after Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico, 85 percent of the population is still without electricity, forcing people to get creative — and go old school — as they face an extended period of life in the new dark ages.

After Maria obliterated the body shop where he worked, Eddri Serrano, 20, started making old-timey laundry washboards out of modern-day plastic.

On Saturday, he and his cousin were sprinting along the freeway hawking the tablas for $15 a pop.

“I had to do something,” said Serrano, who claims they’ve sold as many as 70 in a day. “It was either this or steal, and I would rather be broke than steal.”

One grateful customer, Cruzdelia Cardona, 72, said she hadn’t used a washboard since her teens. “This makes me remember my youth,” she said.

Read More: Puerto Rico’s looming garbage crisis

Puerto Rican authorities are scrambling to bring the island’s utilities back into the 21st century, as they face mounting criticism about the slow pace of the recovery.

On Saturday, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said FEMA was making a $128 million disbursement so the island can quadruple the number of electrical crews over the next three weeks. He also pledged to restore electricity to 50 percent of the island by Nov. 15, and 95 percent of the island by December — far faster than previous estimates.

Puerto Rico’s electrical grid was on life support even before the storm hit, a victim of the decade-long recession. But it’s hard to fathom the scope and scale of Maria’s destruction.

California Declares Emergency to Fight Hepatitis A Outbreak

California Declares Emergency to Fight Hepatitis A Outbreak: California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency to combat a hepatitis A outbreak that has claimed 18 lives in San Diego.

Pope urges Christians to watch out against worldliness

Pope Francis \ Homilies



Pope Francis celebrating Mass at the Vatican's Santa Marta residence, 13 October, 2017.

13/10/2017 13:38

(Vatican Radio) Only Christ crucified will save us from the demons that make us "slide slowly into worldliness", saving us also from the "stupidity" that St. Paul talks about to the Galatians, and from seduction. This was central message of the homily of Pope Francis at his Mass, Friday morning, at the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. He was reflecting on the episode in Luke’s Gospel where Jesus casts out a demon, which some people interpret as through power of the devil.

Watchfulness against Devil's stealth

The Pope said the Lord asks us be watchful in order not to enter into temptation. This is why a Christians have to be awake, watchful and careful like a sentinel. Jesus was not narrating a parable but was stating a truth, i.e when the unclean spirit comes out of a man, he roams about in abandoned places looking for refuge and not finding any, decides to return to where he came from, where the freed man lives. Hence the demon decides to bring in "seven other spirits worse than him.” Pope Francis emphasized the word “worse”, saying it has much force in the passage because the demons enter quietly.

Worldliness

The demons thus start being part of the man's life. With their ideas and inspirations, they help the man to live better and entering his life and heart and start changing him from within, but quietly without making any noise. This method is different from the earlier diabolic possession which was strong, the Pope explained, adding this time it a diabolic possession, something like in a “living room”. The devil slowly changes our criteria to lead us to worldliness. It camouflages our way of acting, which we hardly notice. And so, the man, freed from the demon, becomes a bad man, a man burdened by worldliness. And that's exactly what the devil wants – worldliness, the Pope stressed.

Worldliness, Pope Francis explained, is a spell, a seduction, because the devil is the "father of seduction". When the devil enters "so sweetly, politely and takes possession of our attitudes," the Pope said, our values pass from the service of God to worldliness. Thus we become "lukewarm Christians, worldly Christians", a mixture, something that the Pope described as a “fruit salad” of the spirit of the world and the spirit of God. All this distances us from the Lord, the Pope said and stressed that the way to avoid it by being vigilant and calm without alarm.

Christ crucified who saves

Watchful means understanding what goes on in my heart, the Pope said, adding, “ It means stopping for a while to examine my life, whether I a Christian, whether I educate my children, whether my life is Christian or worldly?” And one understands this, as Paul points out, by looking at Christ crucified. One understands where worldliness lies and is destroyed before the Lord's cross. The Crucifix saves us from the charms and seductions that lead us to worldliness.

The Holy Father exhorted Christians to examine themselves whether they look up to Christ crucified, whether they pray the Way of the Cross in order to understand the price of salvation, not just from sins but also from worldliness. The examination of conscience, the Pope said, is done always before Christ crucified, with prayer, after which one has to break loose from one’s comfortable attitudes, through works of charity, visiting the sick, helping someone in need and so on. This breaks the harmony and the spiritual worldliness that the demon together with seven others tries to create in us, the Pope added.

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The future of the US Church is missionary encounter, nuncio says

Credit: eldar nurkovic / Shutterstock.



Jefferson City, Mo., Oct 13, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The American cultural situation poses great challenges, but these can be overcome through a missionary renewal following Pope Francis’ proposed “culture of encounter,” said the apostolic nuncio to the U.S.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre spoke Oct. 7 at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the Missouri Catholic Conference.

“Reading the history of the Missouri Catholic Conference, one cannot help but marvel at how the Spirit of God has been at work in you in the defense of Catholic school students, marriage and family life, in protecting the unborn, disabled and vulnerable members of society, and in your genuine concern for the poor and migrants,” he said.

“Today is a day to give thanks to God, but it is also a time to reflect on the future of your journey together.”

The archbishop spoke at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Jefferson City, Missouri for the anniversary celebration of the Catholic conference, which handles public policy for the Catholic Church in Missouri.

In his remarks, Pierre cited Pope Francis’ desire for a “synodal Church,” a Church that journeys together on the paths of history “towards the encounter with Christ the Lord.” He said the Catholic conference has been “building up the Kingdom of God by living and acting in a collegial way.”

He also surveyed American cultural changes, drawing on Boston College professor Hosffman Ospino’s keynote at the Convocation of Catholic Leaders held earlier this year.

The roles, expectations and practices of family life have been reconfigured; communal life has been eroded in favor of individualism, including in religious practice and Mass attendance; culture wars have led to “the demonization of those with whom we disagree”; and rising secularization has meant that 25 percent of Americans and about half of baptized Catholics under age 30 identify as having no religious affiliation, he noted.

“The challenges are great, but not insurmountable,” said Pierre, drawing on his experience as nuncio to Mexico.

He cited Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” as a key to understanding the Church’s missionary dimension.

“If something should rightly disturb us, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life,” the Pope said in his exhortation.

Annual Council 2017: Ending on an Uplifting Note

10.11 Annual Council 2017: Ending on an Uplifting Note
October 13, 2017





PC: Wayne Blakely speaking at Annual Council 2017 by Brent Hardinge / ANN via Flickr

The last day of the 2017 Annual Council was filled with inspiration. It truly brought this year’s meetings to an end in a positive and uplifting way.

Elder Wilson’s introduction to the morning worship set the tone for the day. He informed the delegates that Wayne Blakely, the speaker from Coming Out Ministries, was uniquely positioned to help the church understand the power that God’s Word possesses. Blakely, who lived a homosexual lifestyle until 8 years ago, has surrendered his life to Jesus, and is walking day by day in His light. Blakely’s testimony is featured in-depth in the documentary Journey Interrupted, which was shown to the delegates at Annual Council last year.

Blakely noted that we (as a church) have allowed disunity to creep into our ranks to the extent that we can no longer identify with those who disagree with us anymore; this is a time, not for division, but for unity. Blakely discussed how the church has repeatedly stated that homosexuality is a sin, and yet for many years has never presented a way out. As a result of this lack of engagement on the issue of homosexuality, Blakely grew up feeling like a freak who was not part of his church family.

Addressing the current political trend towards same-sex marriage, Blakely clearly points out that the Bible never sanctioned marriage between two members of the same sex. God is the same as He has always been, and His Word has not changed. Blakely pleaded with delegates to not give into the lies of Satan, but to stand firm on God’s Word and to claim His promises. He reminded us that Jesus will never abandon us, even when we fall; however, we must choose to get back up, and not allow our feelings to trip us up.

It took 40 years of prayer on the part of Blakely’s parents before he turned his life over to God. This doesn’t mean that things are now easy, and it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t make mistakes. However, regardless of these things, he is redeemed. Blakely stated that he will forever have to live with the consequences of his past actions, but that the cross is now his focus.

As morning worship ended, Elder Wilson encouraged everyone to pray for Coming Out Ministries, and to reach out to them as a resource in the times we are living in. Hope Channel followed with testimonies of how their ministry and programming is changing lives around the world.

While the report that ADRA presented was encouraging, detailing the many people they have been able to assist, it was emphasized that there is a great deal that still needs to be done. Jonathan Duffy (ADRA President) pointed out that there remains a huge need in Myanmar due to the recent refugee crisis in which 750,000 have fled the country. Of those, approximately 40,000 are pregnant women fleeing into Bangladesh, which does not have adequate medical facilities. Over the last year, ADRA has responded to 105 disasters in South America, Africa, and Asia, and has helped 15.5 million people worldwide.

Following the ADRA report, Adventist Review wowed delegates with their updated media platform, which includes the website, ARtv, and, of course, the Adventist Review magazine. They previewed visually stunning documentaries and programs that are designed to engage the viewer and draw attention to God.

True Before And After

October 10, 2017

Larry Kirkpatrick


On Monday, October 9, 2017, the General Conference Executive Committee met.

The committee chose not to implement at this time the action proposed by top officers, but put nothing in its place. No action was taken against units of the Church which are presently, openly, acting in rebellion toward voted 2015 General Conference Session action. General Conference Secretary G.T. Ng stated that in a sense the very principle of church governance was on trial.

Consider these facts which are true, both before and after Monday:

• In three General Conference sessions where action would have enabled--directly or indirectly--the ordination of women (1990, 1995, 2015), the Church turned down those proposals.
• Most recently, denominationally illegal "ordinations" and credentialing irregularities have been carried out by certain Conferences and Unions in North American and Trans-European Divisions..
• Thousands of Church members in the North American Division are presently, openly calling for the removal of NAD president Dan Jackson and other Division officers by petitions and letters which have been sent to the Executive Committee.

The persistent action of a minority of Adventists is disenfranchising the broader membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Delegates voted in 2015 not to permit Divisions to make provision for the ordination of women to the gospel ministry. But the ordinations are continuing. The women's ordination faction is usurping power over the majority of Adventists who vested their delegates with authority which they properly employed to vote the opposite decision.

Photo by Adventist News Network


By refusing to take any substantial action, General Conference Executive Committee members are risking fragmentation. The Committee has failed to sustain the authority of the world church, and by refusal to act, risks joining itself with the disobedient units in disenfranchising the majority of world church members, whose 2015 General Conference Session vote is being defied.

As one Committee member put it, "We as laypeople have come here filled with mission priority. . . It seems that people . . . are defending themselves, standing in the street. Why don't they just get off the street? The laypeople will come back with a quick document."

Our president very fairly pointed out the need for a solution. He said, "If the method that has been proposed to you is not the one that should be followed, we've been asking for a better one."

The world church has entrusted the Executive Committee to protect it. Annual Council meets until Wednesday afternoon.

Larry is a Seventh-day Adventist pastor in the Pacific Northwest

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Confessions of a Christian Prepper

Opinion | Discipleship

Confessions of a Christian Prepper

My hope shouldn’t lie in survival skills and stockpiles.

Andrea Palpant Dilley

Bio@AndreaPalpantFacebook

Image: CatLane / iStock / Getty





“You could be forgiven for thinking apocalyptic thoughts,” writes The New York Times in response to recent disasters.

With multiple earthquakes, successive hurricanes, fires raging in the Northwest and California, as well as escalating tensions with North Korea, the last few months have brought an onslaught of natural and man-made chaos.

The less obvious threat for Americans is the vulnerability of our electrical grid—which, in the opinion of some experts, is imminently hackable.

Vanity Fair publishes regularly on the topic (see Michael Lewis’s latest story). Even Ted Koppel, the calm, unflappable former news anchor, says it’s a matter of if, not when the electrical grid goes down and leaves us suspended in a strange, uneasy darkness.

This “confluence of disastrous events” brings out our most basic instinct: the urge to survive.

The “prepping” trend has grown in response, from basic emergency preparedness (extra water and bags of dried beans) to fully furnished underground bunkers packed with freeze-dried rations. (Costco offers options for both groups.) According to Google Trends, searches for “prepper” and “survivalism” have reached record highs in the last few months.

At a deeper level, these dangers and disasters bring us face to face with the fragility of human life. Lurking beneath our well-socialized exteriors is an intense, primitive need to protect ourselves and those around us from existential threats. Parents fear the possibility that one day we’ll wake up and find ourselves unable to keep our kids safe from famine or fire. One way or another, we all have to contend with the fundamental tension between readiness and relinquishment: When do we accept our mortality, when do we fight against it, and when do we give it up to God’s providence?

Existential dread comes easily to me—although I fear disaster more than death. By some standards, I’m a doomsday prepper in waiting. If I had a more fragile, paranoid psyche, there’s a good chance I’d be living “off the grid” in an abandoned brick warehouse with a small herd of cats and a stack of canned food. I’d hunker down with a ham radio while my children scuttle around like Dickensian street urchins.

As it is, I sublimate my anxieties into more socially acceptable form by skimming prepper websites and organizing canned food and water in the back of my pantry. After the recent Harvey hurricane, I sent a donation to a Houston-based nonprofit and then joined my fellow Austinites lined up at fueling stations to fill portable gas cans in case of a shortage. (The cans now sit in two neat rows on a shelf in my garage.)

Protestants could be admitted to Catholic Communion next year according to Protestant leader

Friday, October 13, 2017


Protestants could be admitted to Catholic Communion next year according to Protestant leader

at 18:59


In the opinion of the Council President of the Protestant Church in Germany, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Protestants could be admitted to the Catholic communion.



"You have to talk about it," said Bedford-Strohm on Friday in Munich. The Catholic German Bishops' Conference was discussing this and wrestling with the issue a bit. "We may be anxious; I am very optimistic that there will be a result next year. "The Reformation Jubilee has strengthened ecumenism, said the Bavarian regional bishop.

There was much friendship and confidence between the two great Christian churches in comparison to the past few years: "What two or three years ago there was distrust with regard to the celebration of this year, where the Catholics thought the Protestants now want to promote themselves. "
On October 31, 500 years ago, the reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) had succeeded in nailing his 95 theses against the indulgences on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This led to the division of the church. In Bavaria, there were more than 4000 events for the anniversary.

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North Dakota couple sues Catholic Charities over adoption

By dave kolpack, associated press FARGO, N.D. — Oct 13, 2017, 1:33 PM ET

The Associated PressTahnee and James Young pose for a photograph in Fargo, N.D., on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. The Youngs have filed a lawsuit against Catholic Charities for $6.5 million, alleging they were discriminated against when denied an adoption because they weren't yet married. They say they were matched up with a 15-year-old girl in foster care five months before their July wedding date and had hoped to have the teen as a bridesmaid. (AP Photo/Dave Kolpack)

A North Dakota couple is suing Catholic Charities for $6.5 million, alleging that the group didn't allow them to adopt a girl because they were living together and hadn't gotten married yet.

James and Tahnee Young, of Fargo, say they were matched up with a 15-year-old girl who was living in foster care five months before their July wedding date and had hoped to have the teen as a bridesmaid in the ceremony. They never met the girl but they had a 90-minute interview with the teen's social worker, who allegedly told them she "would get things moving" in the hopes that the adoption could be completed before the wedding.

"Everything was fully disclosed up front and there was absolutely no concern whatsoever," James said, referring to the fact they were not yet married.

The Youngs said they became suspicious when they failed to receive the necessary paperwork and were eventually told the adoption was off because they were living together as an unmarried couple.

"The social worker said we had to abide by the church's teachings," James said. "They said we were living in sin and it goes all the way back to the Pope."

William Harrie, who is the attorney for Catholic Charities and three of its employees named in the lawsuit, did not respond to email and telephone messages for comment Thursday and Friday. His office said he was busy with a trial.

The Youngs are representing themselves in the case because they say they haven't been able to find an attorney who doesn't have a conflict of interest with Catholic Charities. They briefly retained a lawyer who sent a letter to the defendants last month asking for the adoption to go through now that the two are married.

"We never got any response from them so I was forced to file this lawsuit," James said. "To date we have not got any phone calls, we have got nothing in the mail."

The $6.5 million sought in the complaint includes $5 million in punitive damages. James, 48, would not say whether he would drop the lawsuit if he and Tahnee, 36, were allowed to adopt the child.

"We want the child," James said. "But we don't want this to ever happen to any other adoptive parent. This is hurting the child."

———

Associated Press writer Blake Nicholson contributed to this story from Bismarck.

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