New Cardinal Newman School Planned in Columbia

It is great to see authentically Catholic schools flourishing in South Carolina.  One New Jersey Archbishop we know of seems intent on eliminating Catholic education entirely in his diocese.  He publishes an annual list of all the schools that are to be closed  - there are eight on the list for 2012.  But here in South Carolina, concerned Catholics recognize Catholic schools as a necessary extension of the Catholic formation that occurs in the home.  They are also seedbeds for future vocations to religious life and the priesthood.  Finally, as the Holy Father has said, Catholic schools are faith communities proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ and ensure "that His name continues to resound throughout the world."

School leaders have just completed plans for a new and larger Cardinal Newman School to serve South Carolina's Midlands.  The Catholic Miscellany reports:

COLUMBIA—Cardinal Newman School is one step closer to the long-time dream of a new campus.

In early February, school leaders announced they had completed phase one of a long-term fundraising campaign for a new school located on about 50 acres the diocese has purchased off Alpine Road in Northeast Columbia.

The new location would provide more space for growth and parking than the school’s current one off Forest Drive in Columbia, where traffic has increased dramatically over the years. Cardinal Newman has occupied the property since 1961.

The school has raised $2.79 million so far, surpassing the project’s original phase one goal of $2.5 million.

The diocese gave permission for school officials to meet with county officials to plan tree clearing and other preliminary work, which could begin later this year. Plans for the new school and campus include expanded classroom space, a performing arts center, a chapel and expanded athletic facilities.

At an appreciation dinner for about 100 of the school’s supporters held in early February, Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone praised their commitment to Cardinal Newman and its of providing a good education grounded in church teachings and values.

He said plans for the new campus are important evidence of the growth and strength of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charleston, which stands in stark contrast to recent school closings and consolidations in many dioceses in the Northeast and Midwest.

“This is an exciting time for us because we’re not in a downsizing situation, instead we’re building,” the bishop said. “What you’re doing here is a sign of the future,” he said. “It’s wonderful to see people enthusiastically supporting your need for a new campus and supporting Catholic education because we offer something the best public schools can’t offer. It involves putting Jesus Christ at the center of all we do. I can’t wait until I can
walk through the front door of that new building on your new campus.”

The diocese has signed a contract with JHS Architects and Chao Engineering of Columbia who will soon begin plans for the project.

Cardinal Newman principal Jacqualine Kasprowski said the school will eventually start aggressively marketing the Forest Drive property to prospective buyers and research financing to cover costs for the rest of the project.

Rowan Williams to Step Down as Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has announced he is to step down after ten years as he admitted that the row over homosexuality in the Church has been a "major nuisance". 

Rowan Williams Photo: Tim Ireland/PA Wire

From The Telegraph

By John-Paul Ford Rojas

Dr Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December to take up a new role as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge next January. The Queen, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has been informed.

His reign has been plagued by bitter rows over gay clergy and women bishops that have left him struggling to prevent the Church from unravelling.

Explaining his reasons for leaving, Dr Williams admitted that "crisis management" was not his "favourite activity" but denied the rows over homosexuality had "overshadowed everything".

But he said: "It has certainly been a major nuisance. But in every job that you are in there are controversies and conflicts and this one isn't going to go away in a hurry. I can't say that it is a great sense of 'free at last'."

Dr Williams said his successor would need the "constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros". 

Read the rest of this entry at The Telegraph >>

More Evil Emanating from Chicago: Massive 'Porno Palace' Opens Next to Convent

From LifeSiteNews
By John-Henry Westen

On behalf of local residents and the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, Thomas More Society attorneys demanded that the Village of Stone Park, Illinois, put a halt to construction of a three-million dollar strip club, “Get It,” located several feet from the property line of the Sisters’ convent.

“For over 60 years, the Sisters of St. Charles have devoted their lives to teaching the children of Stone Park – service for which they’re now being repaid with a ‘porno palace’ towering over their convent,” said Peter Breen, executive director of the Thomas More Society. “This facility was located in clear violation of state law, and zoning permissions were given without notice to the Sisters, whose convent is located immediately next to this facility.”

In his address to the Village Board last night, Breen identified a state law imposing a one-mile “buffer zone” between adult entertainment facilities and “places of worship,” which he contends prohibits the placement of “Get It” next to the convent and its several chapels.

In April of 2010, the developer of “Get It” sued the Village of Stone Park, accusing its officials of shaking him down for cash and part ownership of the Club in exchange for permission to build the facility. The village settled the lawsuit in August of 2010. Even though the village’s ordinances were largely unchallenged by the lawsuit, the village agreed to repeal or amend numerous ordinances as part of the settlement agreement, ending that lawsuit. In particular, the village agreed to repeal a local ordinance – similar to the state statute – that imposed a 1,000-foot buffer zone between adult entertainment facilities and schools, parks, churches, and residential areas.

 

Stone Park Community Protests Strip Club Opening Next to Convent : MyFoxCHICAGO.com

“The local buffer zone ordinances were never challenged in the lawsuit brought by the developer, nor could those ordinances be challenged, because they were valid and constitutional,” said Peter Breen, who spoke at the town hall meeting. “There was no reason to agree to the repeal of the ordinances protecting the people of Stone Park from strip clubs coming into their residential and other child-heavy areas.”

According to the Mayor of Stone Park, the village chose not to defend the developer’s lawsuit because doing so would cost the village half a million dollars. Village officials have discouraged residents and the Sisters from protesting “Get It.” However, last night, the Thomas More Society offered free legal services to the village of Stone Park should it choose to join residents in taking action against “Get It.”

“Get It” personnel have claimed that the facility is set to have its first “dry run” on April 1, and will officially open its doors during Holy Week, the most hallowed week on the Christian calendar, leading up to Easter Sunday. 

Rush and the New Blacklist

By Patrick J. Buchanan

The original "Hollywood blacklist" dates back to 1947, when 10 members of the Communist Party, present or former, invoked the Fifth Amendment before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

The party was then a wholly owned subsidiary of the Comintern of Joseph Stalin, whose victims had surpassed in number those of Adolf Hitler.

In a 346-17 vote, the Hollywood Ten were charged with contempt of Congress and suspended or fired.

The Political Reality Behind the HHS Mandate

From American Thinker

By Janice Shaw Crouse

President Obama's policies and politics are focused like a laser on the so-called "women's rights" vote -- the feminist and the single women's vote.  According to Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQR), feminist voters in the 2008 presidential election created a "new American electorate."  The data support that conclusion.  Unmarried women supported Barack Obama by a 70-to-29 percent margin, and they voted for Democratic House candidates by a similar margin, 64-to-29 percent.  There was a 44-point difference in the voting patterns of married and unmarried women in 2008.  Unmarried women edged out both younger voters and Hispanic voters as the demographic with the strongest support for Obama.

Obama's Job-Approval Rating at All-Time Low

Bishops Pledge to Intensify Efforts Against Obama Administration's "Unjust and Illegal" Mandate

The Administrative Committee of the US Catholic bishops said yesterday that they will intensify their fight against the Obama administration’s “unjust and illegal” contraception mandate.  The full text of their statement follows: