House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), as the constitutional officer of Congress, made the formal invitation on behalf of House and Senate leaders, according to House and Senate aides. The House speaker is the officer who formally invites the president each year to give a State of the Union address. All joint sessions of Congress occur in the House Chamber because it is the larger of the two chambers.
Aides to Boehner said he sent the invitation Thursday to officials in Vatican City. If Francis accepts the invitation, he would be the first pontiff to ever address American lawmakers from the U.S. Capitol, according to Boehner aides.
For the complete story, go here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/13/pope-francis-invited-to-address-a-joint-session-of-congress/
It has been reported on a number of blogs, like the Deacon's Bench, of the protest against Speaker John Boehner. You see, he will be speaking at the Catholic University of American graduation and will receive an honorary law doctorate. It seems that the graduating social workers (among a number of professors), like Katy Jamison, protested this speech. Now, to her credit, did not jump up and down, bum rush the podium, or called in a bomb threat. She, like others, wore a sign protesting the visit and did not stand and clap. What was she and others protesting? Well, all of the horrible cuts he will make to programs which help the poor and "repressed". I guess Mrs./Miss (?) Jamison must be taking about the housing programs to help the poor, such as the ones run by HUD. In particular, she must be talking about the one in Prince George’s County, the nonprofit Kairos Development Corp. (PG County), who received $750,000 in 2005 to build dozens of homes and has still not built one house. Or if not that one, how about the one in Newark, NJ which the city paid a contractor $400,000 to build duplex houses but after a decade of delay, the developer folded and never finished the project. No? Could it be she is really worried that she will not be able to get a job paid for out of a government grant?Meethinks, she protests too much.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), in a meeting with President Obama and Congressional leaders at the White House today (June 10, 2010), asked President Obama to provide the American people with a progress report on the implementation of his Executive Order which purports to ban taxpayer-funding of abortions. Leader Boehner noted that in her recent “progress report” to Congress on the implementation of ObamaCare, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius did not make any mention of efforts by the administration to implement the president’s Executive Order (EO).Read more, go here. I guess that is right in line with the Most Merciful, Lord Barack Obama's other promises. WORTHLESS.
Well folks, this week's edition of the Catholic Standard is chock full of stories.First, those evil Republicans are at it again. It seems that Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Daniel Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA) are trying to save the DC Opportunity Scholarships. Don't they know that the NEA and other unions are just trying to stop this waste of money and ensure that everyone suffers equally. Fr. Peter Daly must be really mad about this latest development because he tells us how terrible those Republicans are, and how good the union bosses are, every chance he gets.Second, the DC Catholic Conference is supporting the DC Defense of Marriage Act (HR 2608) which states: "That in the District of Columbia, for all legal purposes, 'marriage' means the union of one man and one woman." Can you believe that this was sponsored by Rep. Dan Boren (R-OK), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and 30 others. And you know what the best part was, there was no mention in the Standard that all of the Catholic members of the DC Council voted to recognize same-sex marriages. All are Democrats. Fr. Daly must really be really spitting mad at those Republicans for supporting Catholic beliefs. Third, the Standard finally got around to printing almost a full page story on how the Bishops have reacted to the Notre Dame scandal. Of course, Fr. Reese supported the visite (what else is new). The Standard was a day late and a dollar short on this one. We have a number of stories on various graduating classes. We have a great story about Amanda Herndon, a former special education teacher at Our Lady of Mercy (Potomac MD), who founded the Girls Night Out club, so that young women with special needs can socialize in a relaxed setting with other girls her age. What a great pro-life story. And, Ms. Herndon probably did not even think of it in those terms. As usual, Trinity College really knows how to insult our faith by allowing Maggie Williams (Class of 77) to not only give the commencement address but also an honorary doctor of laws. Who is she? Well, she was the former chief of staff to Hillary Clinton. Please don't tell me she is not pro-abortion. Congratulations to Wesley Mann, a senior at St. Anselm's Abbey School, who was named the District's Poetry Out Loud champion. Word!The centerfold is dedicated to those who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Congratulations! Live your life by your Roman Catholic faith. A new Church is being built in Solomons. Wonderful.But, there are dark clouds ahead for all of us.Reps. James Sensenbrenner (R-WIS) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) has urged the Most Merciful, Lord High Barack Obama to forgo the rescinding of the conscience clause, which gives federal protection to the conscience rights of health care employees. I wonder how many of those health care employees, esp. Catholic ones, voted for the Most Merciful. Well, you wanted change. Now you got it. It is possible you may loose your job because of your beliefs. Nice. Reminds me of a Mao's China and Hitler's Germany. Finally, over 120 priests have convened to discuss the "best effort" to support Catholic education. This article probably would not have been written except for this blog, the posting of the Policy in 2009 paper and the efforts of a number of concerned Catholics (who got hell from their fellow Catholics).The writing is on the wall folks. I will discuss more on this later. But, as Mr. Thomas Burnford (Sec. for Education) said: "the goal is to finalize the policies this summer so some of them can begin to implemented in the schools, this fall."Have an enjoyable weekend. Oh, and since every parish is required to have a number of copies (whether they like it or not), pick up your copy on Sunday, if you don't subscribe.
