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Catholic Church: United States
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By the middle of the twentieth century... the Catholic church in the United States had changed considerably. Although new Catholic immigrants continued to flood in--particularly from the Caribbean and Latin America--most American Catholics were no longer immigrants in fact, in memory, or in outlook. By the criteria of wealth, education, and occupational status, they outdid, as a group, American Protestants. They no longer had to fear discrimination; the election of John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, as president in 1960 corroborated the growing conviction that American culture was not innately hostile; the church need not be preoccupied with sheltering Catholics from the age. And American Catholics found in the papacy of John xxiii and in many of the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council reason to believe that Rome would not disapprove of a more confident, more activist stance in the American church.
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In addition to the mass, the Catholic Church considers personal and communal prayer to be one of the most important elements of Christian life. In the Gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples to "pray always". The church considers personal prayer a Christian duty, one of the spiritual works of mercy and a principal way we nourish a relationship with God.[25] There are three ways of praying identified in the Catechism: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. Quoting from John Chrysostom, the Catechism states, "whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of our souls".[88] Meditation is prayer where the "mind seeks to understand the why and how of Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking".[88] Contemplative prayer is being with God, taking time to be close to and alone with him.[88] Two of the core prayers of the Catholic Church are the rosary and stations of the cross.[8] These prayers are sometimes vocal, but always meditative and contemplative. Adoration of the blessed sacrament is a common form of contemplative prayer. Benediction is vocal. Lectio divina which means "sacred reading" is a form of meditative prayer.
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The first leader of an American Roman Catholic church was John Carroll (1735-1815), a member of a prominent Maryland family. Carroll, chosen the first bishop of the American church in 1790, endorsed the separation of church and state because he believed it essential to Catholic freedom in a pluralist society like America and because he felt that established churches in Europe had suffered gravely from state control. He argued that the church in America should be headed by a bishop nominated by the American clergy. He wanted ... to avoid overclose supervision of the young American church by the Roman Curia.
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Newly elected Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann of Germany is calling for a re-evaluation of the office of the pope. In an interview with La Stampa, a newspaper in Italy, Lehmann called the papacy "the principal obstacle" to ecumenical progress. He was quick to state that he was not calling into question the role of the pope, but that "it is time to think about the manner in which the Church should make future decisions on fundamental pastoral questions." Some Protestant leaders, including a former Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, have said that they could accept the papacy if it were modified. The Catholic Church is in the process of metamorphizing itself to digest the vast ecumenical movement. The unscriptural office of the papacy has been in a process of change throughout its 1600-year history, and it will not be surprising to see it change once again to further Rome's agenda.
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After a series of events with pro-abortion speakers at Catholic colleges, a coalition of pro-life groups have issued a new statement calling on Catholic universities to stop inviting such speakers. They say the speakers violate the Catholic Church's pro-life views and an admonishment by the U.S. bishops not to give pro-abortion politicians a platform. Organized by the Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic college watchdog group, the statement urges Catholic institutions to "refrain from all activities that provide a public platform to" abortion advocates. It calls on the educational institutions to not "imply support or even neutrality toward, political leaders and candidates who advocate positions on serious moral issues that are clearly contrary to Catholic teaching."
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In that case, a Catholic church invoked RFRA in a challenge to its designation as a historic landmark, which prevented its expansion to meet the needs of its parishioners. The court ruled that Congress lacks the power to protect religious liberty from infringement by the states.
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