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      <title>Catholic Democrats of Missouri</title>
      <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/</link>
      <description></description>
      <language>en-us</language>
      <copyright>Copyright 2008</copyright>
      <lastBuildDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:05:20 -0600</lastBuildDate>
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            <item>
         <title> Missouri Catholic Democrats in New Congress</title>
         <description>There will be two Missouri Catholic Democrats in the 111th Congress: Claire McCaskill in the U.S. Senate, and William Lacy Clay in the House of Representatives.</description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/12/missouri_catholic_democrats_in.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/12/missouri_catholic_democrats_in.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:05:20 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>Proposition 1: &quot;Putting Children First&quot; in St Louis County</title>
         <description><![CDATA["Putting Kids First in St. Louis County" is a countywide initiative supported by the Archdiocese to develop a Community Children's Service fund that will help our children, youth and their families facing tough issues like substance abuse, child abuse and mental illness. The funds generated will be used solely for children's services in St. Louis County. 

From <a href="http://tricountyjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/09/21/news/sj2tn20080916-0917wcj-kidsprop0.ii1.txt" target="_new">a reflection in St Louis Today</a>.
For <a href="http://www.stlcokidsfirst.org/" target="_new">advocacy website</a>]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/09/proposition_1_putting_children.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/09/proposition_1_putting_children.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:02:24 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>Archbishop Burke says farewell, to cheers from some and relief from others</title>
         <description><![CDATA[In June, Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Raymond Burke, 60, to lead the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.  He is the first American to hold the position. Bishop Robert Hermann, 74, is serving as the archdiocesan administrator until Benedict names Burke's successor as leader of the roughly 450,000-member archdiocese.  In an interview last week with the archdiocesan newspaper, the St. Louis Review, Burke said he would want his critics "to see that what I did in terms of discipline in situations, to see it in a context of pastoral charity, really, of pastoral love."

For full article <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/167BEC6534E02C29862574A9001C50AC?OpenDocument" target="_new">from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch</a>.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/08/archbishop_burke_says_farewell.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/08/archbishop_burke_says_farewell.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:08:38 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>Responding to the devastation of the flooding</title>
         <description><![CDATA[Catholics agencies and their social service partners here in Eastern Missouri have been  reaching out to people affected by flooding in the northeastern part of the St Louis Archdiocese. The Mississippi and some tributaries hit record or near-record levels in St. Charles, Lincoln and other counties to the north in June and early July. As the waters receded, an outreach to its victims began. 

See full story in <a href="http://www.stlouisreview.com/article.php?id=15678" target="_new"><em>St Louis Review Online</em></a>.
]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/07/responding_to_the_devastation.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/07/responding_to_the_devastation.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:48:48 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>111 nations (but not the US) unite to seek ban on cluster bombs</title>
         <description><![CDATA[A major and an unusual event took place earlier today uniting people from ALL major religions of the world. Look at this list of diverse nations that agreed on that one thing: US (Western Christianity), Russia (Eastern Christianity), China (Buddhism/atheism), India (Hinduism), Pakistan (Islam), and Israel (Judaism). Any lucky guesses what brought the disparate parties together?  Sorry ladies and gentlemen. I am not talking about prospects of world peace, abolition of poverty or God revealing Himself to all humanity. I am talking about little flying things that go by the ‘cute’ name of bomblets.

See full story, by Khaled Hamid, <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/civil-religion/politics/2008/05/finally-something-that-unites-religionsof-the-world/" target="_new">special to the Post-Dispatch (May 29, 2008)</a>
]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/05/111_nations_but_not_the_us_uni.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/05/111_nations_but_not_the_us_uni.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 29 May 2008 11:36:25 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>Local Catholics excited at chance to see pope</title>
         <description><![CDATA[What would you do if you unexpectedly got to meet the pope? 

Nearly hyperventilating at the thought was St. Louisan Charleen Sartori, who will be traveling with a group of 100 people from the archdiocese by bus to New York later this month to see Pope Benedict XVI. 

"Oh my gosh, I'd probably faint," said the parishioner of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Oakville during a telephone interview last week. 

"You know what?" she continued, after catching her breath. "I'd probably say, 'I love you' and just 'we support you.'" 

Those heartfelt expressions speak to why Sartori, her husband, Ralph Sartori, and her sister, Diane Rademacher, want to take the trouble to make the April 17-21 pilgrimage by motor coach to the Big Apple. 

Put simply, Charleen Sartori said, "Because he's the vicar of Christ." 

She then elaborated, "We have to go. I mean, it's the pope. There's no other one we would ride on a bus for four days to see. We're very dedicated to our Catholic faith, and he's the head of the Catholic Church." 

Sartori and her husband learned of the pilgrimage through the Review. They immediately signed on board, along with Sartori's sister, a South St. Louis resident who attends St. Vincent de Paul Parish in St. Louis. 

The trio are going for the papal Mass, Sartori said, and then they'll turn around and come home. 

With 60,000 people filling Yankee Stadium where the Mass will be celebrated, they don't really expect to come close to Pope Benedict. But they'll be there, nevertheless. 

While 60,000 is a large number, "it's a small number compared with everyone in the country. To be one of 60,000 to attend Mass and see him" will be an incredible experience, Sartori said. 

"It really doesn't matter where we are" in the stadium, she said. "It's just being there. Just to say we saw the pope." 

All of New York is preparing for his visit, she noted. "There's nobody else in the world they would prepare for like that. To see that and just to be a part of that" will be something extraordinary, she said. 

The Sartoris had the opportunity to see Pope John Paul II three times. They took a bus with a group from the St. Louis Archdiocese to see him in 1979 in Chicago, saw him again when he visited St. Louis in 1999 and once while they were in Rome. 

Sartori plans to bring a button to New York that she bought in Chicago when Pope John Paul II came there. Its message reads: "I got a peek at the pope." 

Fired up by faith and hope, she added gleefully, "Maybe I'll put an 's' on it. 'I got a peek at the popes.'" 

Another local person who is looking to see the pope is Denise Siders. She missed out on the chance to see Pope John Paul II when he made his pastoral visit to St. Louis in 1999. 

A sophomore studying elementary education at the University of Iowa at the time, Siders said there weren't enough tickets available through her school's Newman Center for her to be able to go. 

That's why Siders, a religion teacher for sixth- through eighth-graders at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne School in Florissant, said she wasn't going to miss out on the chance to see Pope Benedict XVI when he makes his first pontifical visit to the United States later this month. 

The parishioner of St. Martin de Porres in Hazelwood, who is expected to graduate in June with a master's degree in theological studies from Ave Maria University, signed up for the April 17-21 archdiocesan-sponsored pilgrimage to New York after reading about it in the Review. 

After making an 18-hour journey by bus, the group will spend free time in Manhattan and participate in Mass April 22 with the pontiff at Yankee Stadium. 

"Pope Benedict is amazing," said 28-year-old Siders, who added that she still has not had a chance to read his first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est (God is Love)." 

She said that the pontiff, when prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, had received a reputation as being stern and a watchdog for the morals and teachings of the Church. 

But Siders added: "I think he is a humanitarian bringing the Church together" as pope. "When he was elected, he told the College of Cardinals that he would not be travelling" much; however, "he still does it for the sake of the Church and unity and peace." 

Coming along for the ride with Siders is her childhood best friend, Karin O'Leary, who is considering becoming a member of the Catholic faith. The two became friends years ago when they attended a summer camp in Idaho for children with diabetes. 

O'Leary, who lives in Washington state where she's studying for a master's degree in social work, will meet up with Siders in St. Louis before they head to New York. 

"She wants to be Catholic, and this is probably the one thing that will make her go through RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). This is going to cement it," Siders said of her friend. 

As part of its professional development funding, St. Rose Philippine Duchesne is paying for part of Siders' trip to New York. When she returns, she will lead an assembly for the 300-plus student body, featuring pictures, video and personal stories from her trip. 

Siders said she is looking forward to meeting the others going on the pilgrimage and sharing their faith stories with her students. 

"I want to introduce the students to some of these people as positive role models in the Church," she said. "I wanted to meet people of like mind ... who are willing to go on a bus for 18 hours and talk to these people and hear their stories."

April 11, 2008

<a href="http://www.stlouisreview.com/article.php?id=15154" target="_new">Local Catholics excited at chance to see pope </a>
by Jean Schildz and Jennifer Brinker, Review Staff Writers ]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/local_catholics_excited_at_cha.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/local_catholics_excited_at_cha.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:12:06 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>&apos;Not pro-life enough&apos; gets a state representative kicked out of his high school &apos;Hall of Honor&apos;</title>
         <description><![CDATA[An Illinois state legislator says his former Catholic high school invited him to join the school's "Hall of Honor" in recognition of his political career -- then yanked back that invitation after deciding his voting record wasn't in line with the church's positions on abortion.

"The school called me (this week) and informed me ... that they had serious concerns about my voting record," said state Rep. Kurt Granberg, D-Carlyle, describing the conversation in which, he said, he was effectively un-inducted from the school's Hall of Honor, shortly after being invited into it. 

"I said, 'Why is that?'" Granberg said. "They said they were very concerned I wasn't 'pro-life enough.'"

Dennis Litteken, principal of Mater Dei High School in Breese, IL, said he was the official who talked with Granberg, and he confirmed Granberg won't be in the Hall of Honor. 

Litteken called the issue a "misunderstanding" but declined to discuss it further.

Granberg is a 1971 graduate of the high school and has represented the Breese area in the Legislature since 1987. He calls himself pro-life and is generally aligned with anti-abortion forces on legislative issues. However, he has supported stem-cell research, which some consider to be at odds with the anti-abortion movement.

The question of whether the Catholic Church should pressure Catholic politicians on public policy was a major issue in the 1960 campaign of America's first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy and has been an undercurrent in U.S. politics since then. 

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI weighed in by stating that Catholic politicians in the U.S. and other countries could face excommunication from the church if they support abortion rights in their official capacities. 

St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke has sent especially strong signals over the years that he believes Catholic politicians and other public figures are obligated to support the church's positions.

In 2004, Burke made waves globally by saying that if then-U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry were to present himself at the Basilica Cathedral, "I would have to admonish him not to present himself for Communion" because of Kerry's support of abortion rights. 

That same year, Burke also told St. Louis Catholics they would be committing a mortal sin if they voted for a candidate who supports abortion rights. (He later amended the statement to say the vote would have to be specifically because of the candidate's abortion stance in order for it to be a grave sin.)

And last year, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's invitation to speak at her daughter's graduation from St. Joseph's Academy was rescinded over her support of abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research. The archdiocese later denied that it was responsible for that order, but a McCaskill aide blamed Burke directly.

As for Granberg, he said he isn't angry about Mater Dei's snub but is concerned about the message it sends regarding the separation of church and state.

"I have a great deal of respect for the school and the teachers and the students ... (but) I am concerned that a small vocal minority is making personal judgments ... in terms of morality," said Granberg. 

Litteken, the high school principal, said nominations to the Hall of Honor are reviewed by a committee. He declined to name the committee members, but said they include faculty, alumni and citizens.

Mater Dei is part of the Belleville Diocese. A diocese spokesman couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

Granberg has already announced he isn't running for re-election this year. His current term expires in January 2009.

<a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/5280339093D56CE0862574280011ED16?OpenDocument" target="_new">Lawmaker says Catholic school snubbed him</a>
By Kevin McDermott
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU
4/11/2008
]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/not_prolife_enough_gets_a_stat.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/not_prolife_enough_gets_a_stat.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:10:53 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>Generational change with new bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese</title>
         <description><![CDATA[<img alt="MObishopjohnston.jpg" src="http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/MObishopjohnston.jpg" align="middle" width="115" height="160" />


The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau welcomed a new prelate on Monday, March 31.  Bishop Vann Johnston Jr, who trained as an electrical engineer and subsequently in canon law, assumed a position once held by the young Bernard Law before he became Cardinal Archbishop of Boston.  The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in southern Missouri spans 66 parishes in 39 counties, and serves roughly 65,000 Catholics.  Read more in the <a href="http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080125/LIFE07/801250421" target="_new">article from the News-Leader</a>.]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/generational_change_with_new_b.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/generational_change_with_new_b.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:08:37 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>Missouri&apos;s bishops call for comprehensive immigration reform</title>
         <description><![CDATA[The four bishops issued a statement in January calling for comprehensive national immigration reform in response to the Biblical injunction to "welcome the stranger."  <a href="http://www.mocatholic.org/News/BishopsStatements/Immigration2008.pdf" target="_new">Read more.</a>]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/missouris_bishops_call_for_com.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/missouris_bishops_call_for_com.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:28:01 -0600</pubDate>
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         <title>Archbishop Burke speaks up following pilgrimage for Christians fleeing the Holy Land</title>
         <description><![CDATA["A most sad effect of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is the massive emigration of Palestinian Christians from the Holy Land, because they can no longer provide a decent and safe life for themselves and their families. It cannot escape us that the holy places will be reduced to lifeless monuments if there is not a resident Christian community to care for them and to celebrate the sacred mysteries in them on a daily basis. Having Christians come on pilgrimage is a great encouragement to our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land who daily care for the holy places of our salvation."  Read <a href="http://www.archstl.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=357&Itemid=150" target="_new">his account of his trip </a>with 14 priests in February to visit Nazareth, Cana, Capernaum, Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Philippi, Mount Tabor, Tiberias, Tabgha, and on to Jerusalem.

]]></description>
         <link>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/archbishop_burke_speaks_up_fol.php</link>
         <guid>http://www.catholicdemocrats.org/MO/2008/04/archbishop_burke_speaks_up_fol.php</guid>
        
        
         <pubDate>Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:04:51 -0600</pubDate>
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