GOOD NEWS:
Key Court Ruling Affirms Link Between Marriage, Kids

(NCRegister.com) — Defense of marriage advocates lauded a major 2-1 decision last week by a federal appeals court, which noted the importance of children and sexual complementarity in upholding state laws defining marriage.

“We are particularly heartened by the court’s acknowledgment of the reasonable arguments for preserving the true definition of marriage and by the court’s respect for the self-determination of states on this issue,” said Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, in a Nov. 7 statement.

On Nov. 6, the 6th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals upheld state laws in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee that defined marriage as the unique relationship of a man and a woman.

The ruling is the first big victory for marriage defenders at the federal circuit-court level. It comes after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear cases involving marriage laws in five states early in October. MORE

Pope Francis: children have the right to be raised by a father and a mother

(Vatican Radio) On Monday, Pope Francis addressed a Colloquium being held on the theme “The Complementarity of Man and Woman in Marriage.” The Holy Father began his address by dwelling on the word “complementarity”: “a precious word, with multiple meanings.” Although complementarity can refer “situations where one of two things adds to, completes, or fulfills a lack in the other” it also means much more than that. Christians, he said, “find its deepest meaning in the first Letter to the Corinthians where Saint Paul tells us that the Spirit has endowed each of us with different gifts so that-just as the human body's members work together for the good of the whole-everyone's gifts can work together for the benefit of each.” Complementarity, the Pope said, “is at the root of marriage and family.” MORE

GOOD NEWS:
A Historic Gathering

(NOMblog.com) – This week I was in Rome attending an amazing conference on the truth about marriage: the International Colloquium on the Complementarity of Man and Woman, hosted by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and several other Vatican dicasteries. The greatest part about this event is the diverse coalition it brought together of scholars and religious leaders from every world religion: it really was an impressive and historical moment, the entire world coming together and speaking in unity the truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. I would urge everyone to take some time to watch the beautiful series of videos produced for the colloquium called Humanum, which are available on YouTube: It is also well worth the time to watch the many conference talks that were recorded. MORE

Chances are your teen is looking at porn. But it’s worse than that.

(LifeSiteNews.com) – I live in a quiet subdivision in rural Ontario. I mean very quiet—all summer long, I rarely saw any kids outside biking or playing street hockey or running flimsy lemonade stands or just roughhousing around. Then, the day school started, I was shocked when I left my house in the morning and I saw kids everywhere, backpacks in tow, heading to bus stops and walking to the nearby school. This many kids live in my neighborhood? I thought to myself. Where were they all summer? There are a number of possible answers, of course. Some were probably on vacation. Some were probably shipped off to camp by their parents. But many of them were likely inside the house, glued to screens. MORE

Catholic Bishops: Shut Down Government to Stop Obamacare’s Abortion Funding

(LifeNews.com) – The nation’s Catholic bishops are so upset about taxpayer funding of abortions in Obamacare they are urging a shutdown of the federal government so the issue can be addressed. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a letter to members of Congress advocating adding language to the “must-pass funding legislation” such as the continuing resolution Congress is expected to approve soon to fund the federal government until the next session of Congress that would stop abortion funding under Obamacare. If such language is not approve, the bishops say members of Congress should balk at approving the continuing resolution and just let the government shut down. MORE

Catholic-Secular Health-Care Partnerships Prompt Scrutiny

(NCRegister.com)— How should a Catholic health-care provider operate when it enters in partnership with a secular counterpart in contemporary America’s fraught moral climate with respect to sanctity of human life issues? There are no simple answers to this question, as shown by recent actions on this matter by Church leaders both in Rome and in the U.S. The Vatican has released a document provoked by the actions of a U.S. Catholic health-care network, and during their November 2014 annual meeting, the U.S. bishops approved a proposal to update the part of their "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care" (ERDs) that deals with such partnerships. MORE

GOOD NEWS:
New pro-life short film offers unique view into the reality of abortion

(Live Action) - “You have to do what’s best for you,” an interrogator says in a room that looks like a police station. With this opening, viewers are in for a surprise in this new pro-life short film, “The Appointment – a mother’s choice,” both directed and partly produced by filmmaker Brandon Rice. We see the prisoner, bound in cuffs, behind the screen, but the interrogator says, “What’s in that room is irrelevant… The only significance he has is what you decide to give him.” The words sound like a pro-abortion argument, but the film uses a twist that will cause viewers to see abortion in a new light. When it comes to controversial issues, it is often difficult to say something new which keeps people from tuning out. MORE

Women to be fined $1K as criminals for objecting to men in Cleveland restrooms?

(OneNewsNow.com) - Cleveland’s recently proposed and reviewed “transgender-inclusion bathroom and locker room ordinance” is not the first of its kind, as Houston and numerous other cities have also visited or enforced measures that award local residents the special right to use whatever facility they choose, regardless of their natural gender. City officials behind the new law argue that those opposed to the ordinance need to wake up and adjust to the so-called going trend of society. MORE

How one bishop sees marriage as key to 'culture of encounter'

(CNA/EWTN News).- With marriage in crisis in the modern world, the faithful have a duty to work for its restoration, promoting the ‘culture of encounter’ called for by the Holy Father, said a leading U.S. bishop. “Pope Francis said recently, ‘There is a crisis in the family because it’s beat[en] up from all sides and left very wounded!’ We must help to pick it up, like the Good Samaritan, and care for it,” San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone explained. The archbishop chairs the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. MORE

A Picture is Worth countless Lives

By Mary McClusky

“The right to life is the first among human rights. To abort a child is to kill someone who cannot defend himself.” (Pope Francis)

“We can't speak today of a conservative notion of family or a progressive notion of family: Family is family! It can't be qualified by ideological notions. Family has a strength of its own.” (Pope Francis)

“That the family is hit, that the family is knocked and that the family is debased as a way of association … Can everything be called a family? …. What they are proposing is not marriage, it is an association, but it is not marriage! It is necessary to say things very clearly and we must say this!” (Pope Francis)

“Saints love true peace. They also hate false peace, peace based on lies. Saints hate violence and intolerance against sinners. But they also hate tolerance of sin. Saints love sinners more, and sins less, than anyone else does. Both of these eccentricities puzzle people and often offend them.” (Peter Kreeft)

Exploring the Truth and Beauty of Marriage!

The Complementarity of Man and Woman: An International Colloquium was an international gathering of scholars and religious leaders to explore the truth of marriage and to discover ways to promote the beauty of God’s plan for marriage. Check out the series of short videos that explore different dimensions of marriage.

Family Honor, Inc. 

Rooted in Saint John Paul II's Theology of the Body, Family Honor seeks to is the premiere ministry for empower and equipping parents to educate and guide their children according to God's plan. 

Family Honor offers a variety of programs and resources for parents, as well as programs for parents and teens together.  Learn more from their website. 

The Third Way is a powerful video that seeks to bring together the truth of the Church's doctrine regarding homosexuality and the command of Christ to love one another. 

Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia has stated: "'The Third Way' is an exceptional film: a brief, articulate, deeply moving portrait of faithful Catholics living with same sex attraction. Anyone seeking to understand the human realities involved in a very difficult issue needs to see it." See it for yourself here.

UNFILTERED: Equipping Parents for an Ongoing Conversation about Internet Pornography

Covenant Eyes offers a great resource kit to help parents to protect their children from ever-growing saturation of pornography. They also offer an excellent video introduction on their website.

My House Columbus is a non-profit lay apostolate working to promote sexual integrity through pornography prevention family protection, theology of the body information and resources, and accountability and healing networks. My House Columbus is a collaborative effort between Columbus Catholic Men’s Ministry, Columbus Catholic Women’s Ministry, and the Diocese of Columbus. My House offers three aspects: Protection, Healing, and Prevention. Learn more from their website.

Catholic Pulse is a service of the Knights of Columbus dedicated to bringing readers the top, daily headlines that Catholics need to know. We seek to present the news from the perspective of Catholics who want to know what’s happening in the Church, nation and world around them. From election coverage and breakthroughs in science, to breaking news and opinions around the globe, Catholic Pulse is the one-stop site that serves up those headlines quickly while providing further resources on social issues that are important to Catholics, such as the sanctity of life and marriage.  Learn more on their website.

 Looking for Catholic Bio-medical Ethics Information?  FREE consultations are available from the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC).  Established in 1972, NCBC conducts research, consultation, publishing and education to promote human dignity in health care and the life sciences, and derives its message directly from the teachings of the Catholic Church. According to their website, they guarantee that a credentialed ethicist will be available 24/7 to assist any person with those most difficult moral health care decisions one must make from the beginning to the end of life. In 2012 alone, the ethicists of the Center helped over 1500 individuals in their time of need; free of charge. Read more about them on their website.

The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding is a nonprofit organization committed to building strong families by serving to bridge the cultural-generational gap between parents and teenagers. At a time when an already confusing youth culture is changing quickly, CPYU helps parents, youth workers, educators, and others understand teenagers and their culture so that they will be better equipped to help children and teens navigate the challenging world of adolescence.  They offer a free e-Update and many other resources.  Read more on their website.