Catholic Family News
 Recent typical front pages. | |
| Type | Monthly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Catholic Family Ministries, Inc. |
| Publisher | Rev. Nicholas Gruner |
| Editor | John Vennari |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Political alignment | Traditional Catholic |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters |
P.O. Box 694 Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6V5 |
| ISSN | 1054-5682 |
| Website | cfnews.org |
Catholic Family News (ISSN:1054-5682) is a Traditionalist Catholic monthly publication, edited by traditionalist Catholic journalist John Vennari, printed and published in the Western New York/Southern Ontario region. Catholic Family Ministries, which publishes the monthly Catholic Family News (CFN), is run by John Vennari.
Catholic Family News has no official affiliation with the various traditionalist groups, but is sympathetic regarding the Society of Saint Pius X. SSPX publishing house, Angelus Press, advertises in the newspaper.
Frequently critical of the post-Vatican II liturgical changes in the Church, CFN recognizes the validity of properly-celebrated New Rite sacraments, rejects the sedevacantist position, and promotes the proper collegial consecration of Russia, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima.
The paper also includes devotional materials, and articles on historic Roman Catholic teachings and persons. Inspirational articles have appeared on Sister Annella Zervas, O.S.B.,[1] Blessed Theodore Romzha,[2] Mother Agnes Hart,[3] and Father Leo Heinrichs, O.F.M..[4]
Regular monthly features include "The Popes Speak," reprints of encyclicals and other papal documents.
Controversies and Criticism
Catholic Family News is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The Southern Poverty Law Center listed the newspaper and its publisher/editor as a hate group[5] for supposed "anti-semitic" and "homophobic" material, and hiring Joe Sobran who was fired by the National Review for writing Anti-Zionist articles.
Criticism of the SPLC by conservatives
The SPLC's listing of hate groups has been a source of some controversy. The designation of "hate groups" has inspired criticism from conservative elected officials and non-profits. In 2010 it was reported that "22 Republican lawmakers, among them Speaker Boehner and Representative Bachmann, three governors, and a number of conservative organizations took out full-page ads in two Washington papers castigating the SPLC for 'character assassination' by listing the conservative Family Research Council as a hate group." Critics including journalist Ken Silverstein and political fringe movements researcher Laird Wilcox have accused the SPLC of an incautious approach to assigning the label. In the wake of an August 2012 shooting at the headquarters of the Family Research Council, some columnists criticized the SPLC's listing of the Family Research Council as an anti-gay hate group while others defended the categorization. The SPLC has defended its listing of anti-gay hate groups, stating that groups were selected not because of their stances on political issues such as gay marriage, but rather on their "propagation of known falsehoods about LGBT people ... that have been thoroughly discredited by scientific authorities". J.M. Berger of Foreign Policy disputes SPLC analysis in the Intelligence Report and Year in Hate and Extremism reports and believes the SPLC carries a political slant. He also questions the methodologies used by the SPLC and questions if they overstate the presence of extremists in the United States. Jesse Walker, writing in the libertarian magazine Reason, charges the SPLC with fear-mongering and over-reaching in its broad-brush portrayal of Patriot groups.
References
- ↑ Brendan D. King, The Apostle of Suffering; The Life and Death of Minnesota's Un-canonized Saint, December 2008. Pages 1, 23–26.
- ↑ Brendan D. King, To Die For Christ, April 2010.
- ↑ Rebecca Terrell, Mother Agnes Hart and the Sisters of Loreto, February 2010. Pages 3,4, 18.
- ↑ Archbishop Amelto Giovanni Cicognani, Colorado's Martyr of the Eucharist, September 2009. Pages 11, 25.
- ↑ http://www.thebulletin.us/articles/2009/03/12/news/nation/doc49b8fecfc7da3024206909.txt
Further reading
- Catholic Family News (masthead). Niagara Falls, NY: Catholic Family News. December 2006, p. 2.