Being Catholics News Today

Visitors, crowds were out, you know, from before dawn. i mean, it was dark when they started to line up and come to those barricades. theres so many streets in washington that are closed off. theres, you know, some concern as to whether the metro, the underground service, will be able to handle everything. and so theres quite a lot of logistical sort of, you know, heavyweight being thrown at this to make sure it all goes off incredibly smoothly. and i think one of the things that we have not spo...

Catholic church or seen outside until recently. >> although, delia gallagher, critics of the president have said, you know, if the king of saudi arabia came, do they invite critics of the saudi regime to, you know, to a south lawn ceremony? >> well, i think, you know, the vatican is sensitive to the fact that somebody might try to use the pope. i mean, it just happened in italy before this trip that a woman who wrote childrens books about gender and so on sent them to the vatican, sent them to t...

Social issues that divide so many of the faithful in the catholic church, for instance, abortion. he said for the first time and this year priests will be able to hear a womans confession and to be able to absolve a woman. hes talked about speeding up annulments and taking the cumbersome bureaucracy and high cost of annulments. he also famously declared "who am i to judge?" about homosexuals. there is a shift. >> hes bringing catholicism back to the wide umbrella it was thought to be. we are all...

The moment welfabefore the poli? >> i think the moment is one that we can all embrace. whether a democrat, republican, agnostic or atheist. i think what hes been so special about this pope is that he hasnt seemed to differentiate. his message is for everyone because he leads with a message of humility. i think for catholics in particular, what has been so ground breaking and i think mold breaking about this pope is that he leads with what is positive about the catholic teaches. he leads with aff...

Also reveals how much all americans from every background and every faith value the role that the catholic church plays in strengthening america. for my time working in impoverished neighborhoods with the catholic church in chicago, to my travels as president, i have seen firsthand how every single day catholic communities, priests, nuns are feeding the hungry. healing the sick. sheltering the homeless. educating our children. and fortifying the faith that sustains so many. and what is true in a...

Junipero, a very controversial figure. on one side, hes revered because he is an 18th century franciscan missionary who came to the united states to california and started evangelizing along the coast. now, where does the controversy come? well, a lot of native americans and latino groups have said that, you know, its a bleeding wound that reminds them of a time when their culture, their language, was ripped from them. but the catholic church does defend this man. theyre cannonizing him. theyre ...

Reinvigora reinvigorating. -- and thats a big part of the story here. it doesnt mean that hes going to have a long-term impact on american electoral politics. popes usually dont. but the issues hes chosen to focus on have been issues that have in a sense reaffirmed the social justice wing of catholicism and made a lot of catholic democrats feel better about being catholics and democrats than they have in a while. >> again were awaiting pope franc franciss arrival. this is about as much pomp and ...

United states. i think that wurns he was made archbishop of buenos aires. he decided he was going to be the pastor of those people. and the only time he left was when he had to go to rome or other places for meetings that are mandatory. hes the first southern hemisphere pope. two-thirds of the catholics right now from from south america, central america. africa and southern asia. that is a major shift in terms of leadership of the church and as the good shift. it is really saying were a global c...

Past. i mean, some people have suggested, you know, hes a marxist reluctantly coming to the scenes of capitalism. >> at some stage it becomes -- you know, what is the doctrine anymore, you know? does that matter? if the approach is very open, then the question for the conservatives is, you know, well, then the doctrine -- what is it going to matter, you know? >> i mean, this man has been a pastor. as archbishop of buenos aires. hes been out in the barrios, out in the ghetto. he doesnt start with...