Marriage & Family

Vatican Defends the Role of Parents in Education, Affirms Home Schooling

By Deacon Keith Fournier • Catholic Online • 5/16/2012

"For some time now, my delegation has noticed a disconcerting trend, namely, the desire on the part of some to downplay the role of parents in the upbringing of their children, as if to suggest somehow that it is not the role of parents, but that of the State. In this regard it is important that ...

The Social Security Administration has provided lists of baby names dating back to 1880 on its website.

Reality TV causes some of the most popular baby names

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/15/2012

Some of the most popular baby names are the cause of reality TV. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The traditional name, Sophia, is the new top name for girls, while Jacob is number one for boys for the 13th straight year in a row, according to the Social Security Administration list. Kourtney ...

According to the family, their 'ornery' disposition and self-sufficiency has bolstered the family's longevity. 'They're just all tough old birds,' Dan Goodman, husband of 70-year-old Bette Goodson, Mollie Wood's granddaughter says.

Move over ancestry.com. One Virginia home finds six generations of daughters living under the same roof

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/14/2012

Mother's Day has special meaning to one Virginia family. They can boast of a 111-year-old great-great-great-grandmother and a new 16-year-old mom. From the family's matriarch Mollie Wood, who celebrated her 111th birthday last month, to 7-week-old Braylin Higgins, the child of Wood's ...

Motherhood is a Life Given Up in Love

By Randy Sly • Catholic Online • 5/14/2012

Nothing speaks more highly to me of this self-sacrifice than the witness of a mother, who daily gives of herself for her own. Often depriving herself, she offers to others; often preferring others, she offers herself.Motherhood is a call to stay firm in the face of uncertainty, despair, sickness, ...

It's Good to be a Helicopter Parent: Peg Luksik on Mother's Day and Parenthood

By Peg Luksik • Catholic Online • 5/12/2012

If we truly valued our children, we would value those who care for them, just as we value the jewelers who care for diamonds. In the case of the jeweler, we don't tell him not to "hover". We listen to, respect, and follow his advice because we understand that he knows more about his ...

Staff Sgt. Jeremy Cooney thought that his son's cerebral palsy would keep him from being able to move without assistance for the rest of his life. Imagine his surprise when his six-year-old son Michael walked up to welcome him home.

U.S. Marine father gets WONDERFUL surprise at homecoming

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/11/2012

A U.S. Marine and proud father got a much more wonderful homecoming surprise when he returned to the states. Staff Sgt. Jeremy Cooney thought that his son's cerebral palsy would keep him from being able to move without assistance for the rest of his life. Imagine his surprise when his six-year-old ...

Birth control recommended for girls as young as 11

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/10/2012

Researchers are recommending that girls - mere children - be fitted with intrauterine devices (IUD) as opposed to being given the "morning after pill" abortifacient . Girls as young as 11 years old have been recommended for the procedure. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Researchers say the ...

This map published by the Pew Center on the States shows the erosion of marriage in the US.

Gay marriage taking over the coasts, threatens heartland

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 5/7/2012

The fringes of the nation are where gay marriage is most likely to gain legislative acceptance. However, middle America remains firmly against the erosion of the sacred institution. A new map published by the Pew Center on the States shows where gay marriage has been codified into law, and where it ...

Taking the matter into her own hands, Laxmi Sargara had her marriage annulled, in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in India.

Indian teenaged girl annuls her arranged marriage

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 4/26/2012

Eighteen-year-old Laxmi Sargara, who lives in northern Rajasthan state in India, recently received the shock of her young life. Unbeknownst to her, she had been married to a local boy when she was only one year old - and he was three. Taking the matter into her own hands, Sargara had her ...

A baby swaddled and held for vaccinations.

Swaddling Revisited

By Carolee Gifford, Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) • Catholic Online • 4/18/2012

Swaddling has long been known as a comforting measure to babies. Referred to in the Nativity narrative, Luke 2:7, finds Mary wrapping Jesus in swaddling clothes. The practice has continued to this day and is highlighted in "The Happiest Baby on the Block." a book by Dr. Harvey Karp.Swaddling is ...