Home         About Us         Contact Us         FAQs         SP&P         Sexualty         Resources        
    This Month        Next Month        News        Map        Support         Members Only

NEWS

This is the NEWS page of this website. In reality, however, it serves not so much as a news page as an announcements page, for it is beyond the scope of this page to act as a newspaper or newsletter. Announcements found on this page will likely be of general interest but will often fall short of requiring official and/or assured promptness. Indeed, in some cases, they will be of interest even long after the date of the announcement or of what is announced; and when that is deemed to be so, they will eventually be moved to an News Archive page on this website: to go there, click here. Generally, an article will show (just below its headline) the following on two lines in the following order: when the article (even if revised to keep it up to date) was first posted to this page and the date (if any) of any main event, as being announced or reported on in the article. If and when an article is archived, it may retain these two lines of information, to assist the historians among us.

Lay Convocation of southern California

Event: March 29, 2008

A Lay Convocation will be held for southern California on March 29, 2008, at the St. Joseph Center in Orange, California 92868 (in northern Orange County). It is a Calling Together of the Laity. Its purpose is to focus attention on the participation and responsibilities of the laity in the Catholic Church, reflecting on the gifts received, the hurts endured, and the desire to respond to the needs of the Church. The objectives are to inspire hope for the future of the Church and a commitment to action. The oligations and rights of the laity, as articulated in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1963-65) and in Canon Law, will be addressed. All are welcome.

To read more about this Lay Convocation, click here to visit its website. To register for it, click here for a printable form; and click here for a map (with a zoom-in/out feature at the upper left of the map and with Directions from near or far available by just clicking for them) to the site of the Convocation. On pages (such as printable forms, etc.) that lack a chapter Banner at the top of the page, use your browser's Back Arrow (at upper left corner of your screen) to return to some prior page that does have a Banner, where you will find clickable Links to go to other parts of this website.

Back to Top

Pastoral Care of GLBTs

At inauguration of this webpage
July 2007

At its biennial national convention in July 2007 in Austin, Texas, Dignity/USA issued its Guidelines on Pastoral Care of GLBT People; click here to read the Guidelines.

Back to Top

New IRS Regulation on Deducting Charitable Contributions

At inauguration of this webpage
Indefinite, from 2007 on

The IRS has made a change in tax regulations governing deductions for contributions to charitable organizations, such as Dignity. Prior to 2007, only a contribution of more than $250 required that the taxpayer have in hand a receipt when he or she filed a tax return on which a charitable deduction was claimed for the contribution; but starting with tax year 2007 (with the tax returns that are due in April 2008), a receipt will be required regardless of the amount of the contribution. Although Dignity/Palm Springs each year gives a receipt for the total verified contributions made by a member, amounts given in a manner that is unverifiable (such as cash placed in the collection basket at liturgies) cannot be included. Those who want to deduct their total contributions may wish to consider using the annual pledge drive as their principal means of contributing to the chapter and then satisfying their pledges by check, so that a verifiable total can be computed and a receipt given to the member at the end of the year in time for the tax-return season.

Back to Top

Pope John Paul II on Evolution

At inauguration of this webpage
Indefinite

The englightened teachings of Pope John Paul II on evolution and faith are explained in an excellent article in the Jesuit America magazine of February 20, 2006. The Pope stated "the theory of evolution is no longer a mere hypothesis"; and the article refutes some attacks on him since his death for having adopted that position (and even questioning whether he actually adopted that position). Click here to read the article.

Back to Top



"We are not on Earth to guard
a museum, but to cultivate
  a flourishing garden of life."

                        Pope John XXIII

In 1958, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (he is pictured above) was, at age 78, elected as Pope John XXIII (after what was widely rumored to be a near miss by Giovanni Batista Montini, who at the time was not yet a Cardinal but would later be elected Pope Paul VI). Pope John was expected to be just a caretaker; but he was not. He spoke out for an "updating" of the Church, admitted it needed "some fresh air," and summoned the Second Vatican Council to help supply it. The Council enacted many reforms, of which many are still not fully implemented, partly because Pope John died in 1963 (and was succeeded by Pope Paul, a cautious, almost fearful person), while the Council was still just starting its deliberations.

Pope John is a candidate for sainthood.

Back To Top