Well, it’s Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, so who is surprised? After all she had the audacity to suggest that Barack Obama better represented American Catholics than the Pope. And she slammed the Bishops for having “lost their way” during the health care fight because they didn’t want abortion to be considered health care. So now that Maryland is having a public debate about th... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. Kudos to country music star (and recent Catholic convert) Collin Raye, who agreed to be the new spokesman of the Life and Hope Network, founded by the family of Terri Schiavo. “What the Life and Hope network does is provide an already pretty impressive network list of attorneys and doctors that are avai... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. Great news from the Granite State: Pro-abortion Democrat John Lynch, who professes to be Catholic, won’t seek re-election to a fifth two-year term as governor of New Hampshire. His decision opens the race for governor wide open. Pro-life Catholic Ovide Lamontagne, who lost to (now Senator) Kelly Ayotte, ... More

As it should. LifeSiteNews adds more & Fr. Pavone says they should resign: Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, responded, “Faithful Catholics, as well as those in the pro-life movement from every denomination, have had enough of this double-talk. It is not possible to advance ‘respect for life and for the dignity of every human being’ while tolerating th... More

Time Magazine claims says in a recent interview that “some say Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga has the stuff to one day become Pope.” Well, in terms of problematic public statements regarding excommunication and pro-abortion politicians, it seems that Maradiaga is actually well ahead of Pope Benedict and the Vatican press office. In the Light of the Law tries to clea... More

Associated Press: Iraq and abortion loom large as 10 Republican presidential candidates debate a second time Tuesday. On one issue – the four-year-old war – the GOP field is largely in sync, backing President Bush in opposing Democratic calls for beginning a withdrawal of U.S. forces. But the candidates are split on social issues, most notably a women’s right to terminate a preg... More

Update: Thanks to reader “jvaskov” for finding the full text of the statement. From The Hill: A group of House Democrats yesterday publicly repudiated the Pope?s recent suggestion that politicians who support abortion rights should be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Eighteen House Democrats, led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), are responding to Pope Benedict XVI?s state... More

The Associated Press has a follow-up (underlining mine): Pope Benedict XVI denounced Mexico City politicians Wednesday for voting to legalize abortion, saying they should no longer receive Communion. Flying to Latin America, Benedict was asked about comments by Mexico City church officials that the lawmakers would be excommunicated for having voted last month for the legislation legalizing abort... More