The Archdiocese of San Francisco is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. The Archdiocese of San Francisco was erected on July 29, 1853, by Pope Pius IX and its cathedral is the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption.
The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic television network in America, but reportedly "the world's largest religious media network", reaching 425 million people in 160 countries, with 11 networks. It was founded by Mother Angelica, in 1980 and began broadcasting on August 15, 1981, from a garage studio at the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama, which Mother Angelica founded in 1962. She hosted her own show, Mother Angelica Live, until health issues led to her retirement in September 2001. As of 2017, Michael P. Warsaw, who is a consultant to the Vatican's Dicastery for Communications, leads EWTN.
Sr Jeannine Gramick, SL is an American Catholic religious sister and advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. She is also a co-founder of New Ways Ministry.
Catholic Democrats is an American not-for-profit organization of Catholics to support the Democratic Party, based in Boston, United States. The Catholic Democrats have more than 60,000 members in all 50 American states and Puerto Rico. It claims no authorization from the Catholic Church, or any Catholic bishop, Catholic diocese, candidate or candidate committee.
Robert Joseph Baker is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama from 2007 to 2019 and as bishop of the Diocese of Charleston in South Carolina from 1999 to 2007
Charles Edward Rice was an American legal scholar, Catholic apologist, and author of several books. He is best known for his career at the Notre Dame Law School at Notre Dame, Indiana. He began teaching there in 1969, and in 2000 earned professor emeritus status. During the time he was retired, he continued to teach classes at the University of Notre Dame until 2014.
Salvatore Joseph Cordileone is an American prelate of the Catholic Church and the Archbishop of San Francisco in California since 2012. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Oakland in California from 2009 to 2012 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San Diego in California from 2002 to 2009.
Catholic theology of sexuality, like Catholic theology in general, is drawn from "natural law", canonical scripture, divine revelation, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholic Church. Sexual morality evaluates sexual behavior according to standards laid out by Catholic moral theology, and often provides general principles by which Catholics can evaluate whether specific actions meet these standards.
Alfred Clifton Hughes, KCHS is a retired American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of New Orleans from 2002 to 2009.
Thomas James Olmsted is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix in Arizona from 2003 to 2022.
Canon 915, one of the canons in the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, forbids the administration of Holy Communion to those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, or who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin:
Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.
Thomas John Joseph Paprocki is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois since 2010. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois from 2003 to 2010.
Daniel Patrick Horan is an American Franciscan friar, Catholic priest, theologian, and author. He is currently the director of the Center for the Study of Spirituality and professor of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Theology at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana. He is also affiliated Professor of Spirituality at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. He previously held the Duns Scotus Chair of Spirituality at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and taught at several other academic institutions. He is a columnist for National Catholic Reporter.
The official teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy a zygote, blastocyst, embryo or fetus, since it holds that "human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life". However, the Church does recognize as morally legitimate certain acts which indirectly result in the death of the fetus, as when the direct purpose is removal of a cancerous womb. Canon 1397 §2 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law imposes automatic excommunication on Latin Catholics who actually procure an abortion, if they fulfill the conditions for being subject to such a sanction. Eastern Catholics are not subject to automatic excommunication, but by canon 1450 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches they are to be excommunicated by decree if found guilty of the same action, and they may be absolved of the sin only by the eparchial bishop. In addition to teaching that abortion is immoral, the Catholic Church also generally makes public statements and takes actions in opposition to its legality.
Thomas Anthony Daly is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Spokane in Washington State since May 20, 2015. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San José in California from 2011 to 2015.
Because the Catholic Church opposes abortion as a matter of doctrine, some Catholic bishops have refused or threatened to refuse communion, or threatened to declare excommunication upon Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. In some cases, officials have stated that ministers should refuse communion to such politicians per canon 915 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law; elsewhere, that the politicians should, on their own, refrain from receiving communion ad normam canon 916; and in other cases, excommunication has been suggested.
Borys Andrij Gudziak is an American prelate of the Catholic Church serving, since 2019, as the Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia. He founded the Institute of Church History and served as the rector and president of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Gudziak has authored and edited several books on church history, theology, modern church life, and higher education reforms.
Mary Shawn Copeland, known professionally as M. Shawn Copeland, is a retired American womanist and Black Catholic theologian, and a former religious sister. She is professor emerita of systematic theology at Boston College and is known for her work in theological anthropology, political theology, and African American Catholicism.
The Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life, also known simply as the O'Connor Conference (OCC), is the largest student-run pro-life conference in the United States. The conference was founded by Georgetown University undergraduate students in 2000 and subsequently named in honor of the late Archbishop of New York, Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor, who earned a PhD from Georgetown University and was an outspoken critic of abortion.
Dignitas Infinita is a 2024 declaration on Catholic doctrine that outlines the importance of human dignity, explains its connection to God, and condemns a variety of current violations of human dignity, including human rights violations, discrimination against women, abortion and gender theory. The document is dated 2 April 2024 and was released on 8 April 2024 after a press conference. Dignitas Infinita was issued by the Holy See's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved with a signature by Pope Francis. It follows Fiducia Supplicans, which was released in 2023. The declaration was generally well-received by Catholic clergy and laypeople, although it received criticism from those who argued against the Church's position on many of the issues covered.
