Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe has criticised the bishops who publicly opposed President Barack Obama's appearance at the Catholic University of Notre Dame. The controversy arose because of Obama's position on abortion.
Mgr Sheehan told the National Catholic Reporter "the bishops don't want to have a battle in public with each other, but I think the majority of bishops in the country who didn't join in with that, would not to be in agreement with that approach."
Mgr Sheehan emphasised that Catholics have to be both strong in their believes but also to talk to "others that don't have our belief". Otherwise, he said "we'd be like the Amish, you know, kind of isolated from society, if we kept pulling back because of a single issue".
He added that withholding Communion from pro-abortion politicians is a "hysterical" reaction.
Number of new seminarians doubles
The number of new seminarians in Ireland has nearly doubled in the past year, from 20 to 38 - the highest number since 1999, when 46 entered seminaries.
'Change Church view on contraception'
Cherie Blair has once more called upon the Church to change its present position on contraception. She was speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
"If you look at what progress women have made in the world, one of the reasons they have been able to make progress is because they have been able to control their fertility," said the Catholic wife of the former British prime minister.
"I personally don't think there is anything wrong with that. I would prefer it if the Catholic Church took a more positive attitude towards contraception because there's a lot of difference between preventing a life coming about and actually extinguishing a life when it has come about."
Venezuela bans religion in schools
A clause in recently-passed Venezuelan education legislation backed by President Hugo Chávez has banned religious instruction in all private and public schools.
Cardinal Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino of Caracas described the manner in which the law was passed as unconstitutional, and urged Venezuelans to work for a national referendum to repeal the law.
Pope on families and vocations
Pope Benedict XVI said Catholic parents should seek to create a "fertile spiritual terrain" for priestly vocations as they educate their children in the faith. The Pope said he hoped for a vocations revival in the Year for Priests, which began in June.
"When couples dedicate themselves generously to the education of their children, guiding and orienting them toward the discovery of God's design of love, they prepare that fertile spiritual terrain where vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life arise and mature," the Pope said.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)