http://www.thebostonpilot.comOfficial newspaper of the Archdiocese of BostonWASHINGTON (CNS) -- A week after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told individuals and institutions who oppose contraception "to hell with you," as one bishop put it, members of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy were mobilizing their followers to fight. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14266http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14266BRAINTREE -- James P. McDonough, widely credited with bringing financial stability to the archdiocese, has announced that he will be stepping down as chancellor of the Archdiocese of Boston. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14276http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14276INDIANAPOLIS -- When the NFL made tickets available to the public for Super Bowl media day Jan. 31, they inadvertently invited the attention of a Catholic bishop and all of his followers on social media site Twitter. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14275http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14275BRAINTREE -- As part of a three-phase consultation process, the Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Commission (APPC) began releasing lists of proposed groupings for parish collaboration on their website last month following meetings with priests in each of the five regions of the archdiocese. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14282http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14282BOSTON -- The word compassion is taken from the Latin compati, which means "to suffer with." Putting people "out of their misery" under the guise of helping them is not compassion, attested Wayne Cockfield. He urged those gathered at Massachusetts Citizens for Life's annual Assembly for Life, held at Faneuil Hall on Jan. 22, to oppose legislation that would legalize doctor prescribed death. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14277http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14277NEW BEDFORD -- As a Catholic, Andy LaVallee, founder and CEO of LaVallee's Bakery Distributors in Waltham, feels charitable work is his moral responsibility. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14273http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14273On Friday (1/20), I celebrated the funeral Mass of Sister Manuela Vencela at St. Anthony's Church, near Catholic University. Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Gonzalez was there along with many priests, religious and lay people who had known sister during the nearly four decades she had worked with the Hispanic community. I celebrated the Mass and preached. It was an honor to be able to do that for such a great religious, a real apostle to the people. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14274http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14274NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- It will be up to Catholic voters to convince the federal government to rescind a recent decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to go forward with a mandate that all health insurance plans cover contraceptives and sterilization free of charge, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14286http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14286WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The same-sex marriage issue will be facing lawmakers and voters in several states this year. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14269http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14269WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Employees of the New York and Philadelphia archdioceses are accused of stealing $1 million each in church funds over the past decade. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14270http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14270VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Only by fully following God's will can humanity find true freedom and the strength to bear the fear or suffering in one's life, Pope Benedict XVI said. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14283http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14283VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Insisting on the Holy See's continuing commitment to transparency and rectitude in economic affairs, the Vatican's spokesman downplayed references to "corruption" in a letter apparently sent to Pope Benedict XVI by a Vatican official who is now apostolic nuncio to the United States. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14246http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14246VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Fifty years ago this October, Blessed John XXIII and more than 2,500 bishops and heads of religious orders from around the world gathered in St. Peter's Basilica for the opening session of the Second Vatican Council. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14287http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14287PARIS (CNS) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy rejected calls for secular values to be enshrined into his country's constitution and urged religious leaders to do more to spread their message in the country. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14285http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14285Religious freedom is the lifeblood of the American people, the cornerstone of American government. When the Founding Fathers determined that the innate rights of men and women should be enshrined in our Constitution, they so esteemed religious liberty that they made it the first freedom in the Bill of Rights. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14278http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14278A frail old man lies in bed, with a nasal-gastric tube giving him liquid nourishment. He is surrounded by loved ones. He is dying. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14279http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14279You can interrupt a question at any time to answer it, but you'd better make sure you're answering the right question. If your team gives an incorrect answer, you lose five points. If the opposing team then answers it correctly, they get ten points. So how much does a wrong answer cost you? Fifteen points. If you think you know the answer, don't answer the question. Only answer the question if you know that you know the answer. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14281http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14281On the solemnity of the Epiphany, I heard a sermon -- a rather well-delivered one at that -- about the Magi as religious "seekers." The same note, I'll wager, was struck from pulpits and ambos across the country, perhaps across the world. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14280http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14280Have some slices of this and that and stray observations to share while waiting for the pen-ultimate meeting of your Patriots and their Giants. As ever, one is reminded of the cherished hope of the late, great Dick Schaap who -- while staring down at the massively excessive panoply of the half-time show at Soupey IX -- memorably uttered, "Someday somehow maybe we can have a nation worthy of the Super Bowl." Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14272http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14272NEW YORK (CNS) -- Reputed to be one of the most frightening ghost stories ever written, Susan Hill's 1983 novel "The Woman in Black" must certainly count as one of the sturdiest: It has been adapted both for British radio and U.K. television, while the 22-year-long -- and still ongoing -- run of its London stage version makes that property one of the longest-lived nonmusicals in West End history. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14291http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14291NEW YORK (CNS) -- "Free Willy," the 1993 whale rescue film, looks like child's play when compared to "Big Miracle" (Universal), in which not one but three giant mammals are trapped in Arctic ice, and it takes a whole lot more than a sleepy Alaskan town to save them. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14290http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14290NEW YORK (CNS) -- The title of the forgettable fish-out-of-water comedy "One for the Money" (Lionsgate) recalls Carl Perkins' seminal hit, "Blue Suede Shoes," a song covered most famously, of course, by Elvis Presley. While this lukewarm cinematic offering won't knock you down or step in your face, its surfeit of profane dialogue does slander God's name all over the place. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14289http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14289NEW YORK (CNS) -- When an ex-cop is falsely convicted of stealing a multimillion-dollar diamond and sentenced to 25 years in jail, there's just one course for him to follow: Break out of prison, check in to Manhattan's landmark Roosevelt Hotel, order lobster -- then clamber out onto a cornice hundreds of feet above street level. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14288http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14288ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- The Jan. 31 announcement by Susan G. Komen for the Cure that it will no longer give grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates for breast cancer screenings "shows we are making a difference and having an impact," said a coordinator of pro-life programs for the St. Louis Archdiocese. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14284http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14284Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley issued a letter to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Boston Jan. 31 urging action on the decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services not to modify a requirement that all health plans in the nation -- including those offered by most Catholic institutions -- provide coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-inducing drugs. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14271http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14271INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- A historic Indianapolis church is in the center of festivities surrounding the Feb. 5 Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14268http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14268BRAINTREE- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley announced Jan. 30 that James P. McDonough will be leaving his post as Chancellor effective March 2nd. Mr. McDonough has served as Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Boston for almost six years. During that time he has been responsible for reorganizing the financial management of the Archdiocese, including budget and financial reporting as well as the structure and functioning of the organization. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00 ESThttp://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14267http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14267