Brandon McGinley: Hope for Catholic reconciliation and restoration

Respect Life Radio Podcast - Brandon McGinley: Hope for Catholic reconciliation and restoration | Free Listening on Podbean App: In the parable of the Prodigal Son, “I think about the triumphant return, not the living in the pigsty,” said Brandon McGinley, speaker and author of books, including ‘The Prodigal Church: Restoring Catholic Tradition in an Age of Deception,’ just published.

Can you guess which door the ball will hit in these machine puzzles?

New Advent: Look at these puzzles closely, and think: Which door will the ball hit?: I challenge you to these six machine puzzles. Guess which door the ball will go through by imagining how the machine will run. I bet no one can get all six correct!

The mysterious life of birds who never come down

The Mysterious Life of Birds Who Never Come Down - The New York Times: I found a dead common swift once, a husk of a bird under a bridge over the River Thames, where sunlight from the water cast bright scribbles on the arches above. I picked it up, held it in my palm, saw the dust in its feathers, its wings crossed like dull blades, its eyes tightly closed, and realized that I didn’t know what to do. This was a surprise...

How one Jehovah’s Witness came to see Catholic Church authority in God’s light

A Jehovah's Witness Rethinks Authority - Cary Dabney - The Coming Home NetworkSWAIM: As a Jehovah’s Witness, Cary Dabney was familiar with the idea of being obedient to a governing authority that determined truth and taught authoritatively. But because of the Jehovah’s Witness emphasis on end-times prophecy, Cary felt like the foundation of that authority kept shifting every time it got a prophecy wrong, and it left him unsettled.

This Sunday, the miracle God keeps doing every day

This Sunday, the Miracle God Keeps Doing Every Day | The Gregorian Institute at Benedictine CollegeHOOPES: This Sunday, the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we hear the “live-action version” of Jesus’s parables when he performs a miracle so significant that all four of the Gospel writers, including John, tell the tale. When you consider what the story entails about how Jesus acts in our lives — and how we act in his — it’s no wonder the memory of this historic day was so cherished. In one way the “multiplication” of the loaves is the wrong name for what Jesus does.

9 quotes on work from Saint Josemaría Escrivá

9 Quotes on Work from Saint Josemaria Escriva – TOM PERNAPERNA: This has to be one of the worst times in US history to be searching for a job. I am not trying to be overdramatic when I say that, however, trying to find work in this economy has been rough! Everyone I speak to says the same thing and feels for me as I have been searching for a new job. It’s been four months since I have worked a full-time job, however, job searching has kept me pretty busy. If you have ever sought out work before, you know that finding a job is a full-time job in and of itself.

The Vatican should not allow itself to be played by the communist Chinese

The Vatican and China: Lessons From John Paul II and CubaKENGOR: In October 1997, as Pope John Paul II prepared for a historic visit to Fidel Castro’s Cuba, a once devoutly Catholic country that communists had subjected to a nasty war on religion, Vatican aides found a hidden microphone in the parish house where the Pope was scheduled to stay. The Vatican team made the discovery once it had gone ahead to Havana to help plan for the pontiff’s Jan. 21-25, 1998, visit.

Return or go extinct: 5 things that must change now for Iraq’s Christians

Return or Go Extinct: 5 Things That Must Change Now for Iraq’s ChristiansPETERSMITH: A new report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is sounding the final warning bells for the world that Iraq’s Christians are continuing to leave in greater numbers than they are returning to their homeland on the Nineveh Plains in the aftermath of ISIS’ 2014 invasion and genocide. Unless critical changes are made, Iraq’s Christians are on the trajectory to extinction after 2,000 years of witness to Jesus Christ in Iraq.

Cardinal Dolan, Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop Gómez: Catholic schools are worth saving

Catholic Schools Are Worth Saving: Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court corrected an historic injustice, rooted in anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic bigotry, that, for more than 100 years, has denied students in religious schools the same opportunities as government-school students.

The landmark ruling in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue will greatly expand school-choice options, especially for low-income and minority families. It could not have come at a more crucial moment.

Loyola University Maryland renaming dorm that honored Flannery O’Connor

Loyola University Maryland renaming dorm that honored Flannery O'Connor: The president of Loyola University Maryland announced Friday that the Flannery O'Connor Residence Hall was being renamed, saying, “some of her personal writings reflected a racist perspective.” The hall is to be renamed for Sister Thea Bowman, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and an African-American.

Don’t drink bleach, even if a bishop says to

From an Autistic Catholic Priest: Don't Drink Bleach Even If Bishops Say ToSCHNEIDER: I imagine that some of you think this is satire. It is not. In Ecuador, a bishop wrote an open letter in the newspaper suggesting that clinical trials investigate bleach as a COVID-19 treatment. Afterward, he doubled-down on this stance, explicitly suggesting the consumption of bleach. Chlorine Dioxide, often marketed as MMS, is a form of bleach...

The race to be the next pope: New book details some possible candidates

The race to be the next pope: New book details the possible candidatesLISI: The speculation over who will be the next pope is often a preoccupation of the Italian press. Newspapers up and down the peninsula love to handicap the race for the cardinal who is thought to be the most likely candidate to be elected pope. Indeed, the Italian term papabile, coined by Vatican watchers, has become mainstream over the last few decades. Which man is “pope-able” is often debates in Rome and anywhere Catholics gather...

The mission of prayer is at the heart of hope

The mission of prayer is at the heart of hope - Our Sunday VisitorLOPEZ: One of the most powerful places in our nation’s capital has very little to do with government, or lobbyists, or military, or any kind of worldly power. I say “very little” because all of the people laboring under those categories fall under its prayer cover. St. Clare’s Convent, within walking distance of The Catholic University of America, is mission territory for the Sisters of Life.

The overlooked Marian apparitions at Zeitoun, Egypt

The Overlooked Marian Apparitions at Zeitoun, EgyptKRANICK: What is the most witnessed Marian apparition of the 20th century? Most would say Our Lady of Fatima in 1917, where approximately 70,000 people witnessed the Miracle of the Sun. However, most prolifically witnessed miracle of the Virgin Mary in the 20th century, and perhaps ever, was at Zeitoun, Egypt from 1968 to 1971. Zeitoun is one of the locations where the Holy Family supposedly stopped on their flight to Egypt...

On textbooks, the academic process, and things that last

On textbooks, the academic process, and things that last | Catholic CultureMIRUS: It was a dark and stormy night (but only in my mind). I was suddenly thirty years younger and working on a textbook project to be printed on demand from a PDF file for seventh grade reading, at the Catholic school where my wife chairs the English Department. The school needed the first batch of texts printed ASAP, and I am on call for whatever involves computers in our household. That explains why I was up until 5:30 am and then awake again three hours later...

As China tightens screws on religious believers, authorities make first arrests for ‘inciting secession’ under Hong Kong’s new security law

HONG KONG – CHINA First arrests for ‘inciting secession’ under Hong Kong’s new security law: Yesterday, four students from the pro-independence group Studentlocalism were arrested on charges of inciting secession. They are the first politically motivated arrests under Beijing's new security law, which criminalises acts of separatism, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

Scholars seek to establish ‘truth and reconciliation’ structures for clerical abuse

Scholars seek to establish 'truth and reconciliation' structures for clerical abuseSANMARTIN: Even though the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has seemingly put most of the world on hold, many scholars have continued with their research projects and are already planning ahead, thinking about the 2021 calendar to reschedule events postponed this year. One such event is a day-long consultation at the University of Notre Dame, set to bring together some 30 participants from the United States and Germany...

Chinese infiltration of Vatican computer networks was no surprise, says a priest who was one of their targets

Chinese Infiltration of Vatican Networks Was No Surprise, Says Father CervelleraPENTIN: Reports that Chinese hackers had infiltrated the computer networks of the Vatican, the diocese of Hong Kong, and those of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) in Milan over the past three months, came as no surprise to Father Bernardo Cervellera and his colleagues at AsiaNews. Father Cervellera, the director of the Rome-based AsiaNews which is the PIME’s official press agency, told the Register...

A visit with Blessed Solanus Casey

A Visit With Blessed Solanus CaseyTASSONE: In Huntington, Indiana, on 30 superbly landscaped acres, one can walk in the footsteps of Blessed Solanus Casey. This is where Solanus spent the last 10 years of his life as the doorkeeper (porter) at St. Felix Catholic Center. The Capuchins transferred Solanus to St. Felix Monastery in 1946; here, he has become legendary for his life and service. Everyone loved and admired him. He lived in poverty. His cell was bare, with no mementos and few books...

Pray for Msgr. Charles Pope, who has tested positive for COVID-19

Prayer request: For Msgr. Charles Pope, who has tested positive for COVID-19 - Deacon Greg KandraKANDRA: Many of you know Msgr. Charles Pope from his writings in the National Catholic Register and elsewhere. Thursday morning, a deacon friend in Washington alerted me to this news, reported on the website for Msgr. Pope’s parish in Washington, D.C. Three years ago, I stayed overnight at his rectory, when I visited Washington to speak at the diaconal convocation there. He was a gracious and generous host, and a cheerful traveling companion. Prayers for a swift recovery!

The chaos of 2020 has spawned an epidemic of conspiracy theories...

Chaos, Conspiracies, Courage and Common Sense – Fr. Dwight LongeneckerLONGENECKER: Why the sudden surge of conspiracy theories? It’s part of the curse of relativism. Relativism says there is no such thing as truth or if there is you can’t know it and state it clearly. The result of this is a widespread fuzziness about truth and even more widespread lies and half truths. The lies and half truths have been worming their way through our society for a long time now and we’ve been turning a blind eye to it...

The metaphysics of John F. Kennedy

The Metaphysics of JFK - Magis CenterCLARK: They asked to come in and speak with my wife and me, so I invited them in. (Unless I have an emergency or another serious obligation, I always try to speak with people who are sharing their religion—whatever that religion may be. After all, it is a chance for me to spread the Good News of the Gospel.) Though I didn’t know it at the time, this incident may have been the catalyst for my career in Catholic apologetics.

Video: Did you know lava could move this fast? Neither did we...

New Advent: Did you know lava could move this fast? Neither did we...: Filmed during Kilauea’s eruption in 2018...

Should I ever have the privilege of hearing God’s orchestra play Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony, I will know I am in Heaven...

Jean Sibelius' Music of the Logos ~ The Imaginative ConservativeROBERTREILLY: The reputation of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) has waxed and waned over the course of this century. In the early part, he was thought by many to be the second most powerful symphonist next to Beethoven, and was certainly the most often performed contemporary composer of that time. In his famous book of 1934, Music Ho!, English composer Constant Lambert predicted that...

Are you weary of chatter about politics, pandemic and civil unrest? Then lift up your hearts, and listen to these young Catholics in the Colorado Rockies talk about prayer...

Talking to College Students about Prayer – Discalced Carmelite Friars: This summer Fr. Michael-Joseph of St. Thérèse and Deacon Br. Pier Giorgio of Christ the King spent some time in Estes Park, Colorado ministering to the college students attending FOCUS Summer Projects. While they were there, they had the opportunity to speak with some of the students about their personal experiences of prayer and the Carmelite saints.

Here’s an illustration of the jaw-dropping scale of the world’s largest dams

New Advent: Here’s an illustration of the jaw-dropping scale of the world’s largest dams: Narrated by Fred Mills. Additional footage and images courtesy of Shihan Shan, Google Earth, SkyscraperPage, Haroon Sadiq, Omeas Mumtaz Siddiqui, Ahsan Miana, Mott MacDonald, Le Grand Portage, Iran Water and Power Resources Development Co, State Power Dadu Hydropower Development Co and Li Donghui.

China accused of hacking Vatican computer network ahead of negotiations

China accused of hacking Vatican ahead of negotiations: State-sponsored hackers have reportedly targeted Vatican computer networks in an attempt to give China an advantage in negotiations to renew a provisional deal with the Holy See. A report, released July 28, said that hackers may have used a counterfeit condolence message from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, to gain access to Vatican communications.

The question is this: Which bishops and cardinals boosted Ted McCarrick’s career? And which bishops and cardinals were boosted by McCarrick?

What is a priest worth? Latest Ted McCarrick news says it depends on the lawsuit — GetReligionDUIN: After the news about McCarrick broke on June 20, 2018, it took the MSM a month to get all the major details together — and still they missed a few. This New York Times piece says the sexual activity that McCarrick carried on with his protégé Robert Ciolek stayed above the waist. The paper hinted in the next paragraph that another seminarian or young priest involved with McCarrick had endured far worse sexual abuse, but unless you knew how to read between the lines, you missed it.

Free speech prevails at Princeton

Free Speech Prevails at Princeton | Robert P. George | First ThingsROBERTGEORGE: This is a time of testing for our nation. We were already in the midst of dealing with a pandemic, trying to protect public health while respecting basic constitutional liberties, when the killing of George Floyd triggered outrage and intensified attention to our tragic legacy of racial injustice and questions of the persistence of racism and whether it is systemic...

The next pope and the crisis of the West

The Next Pope and the Crisis of the West - Denver CatholicWEIGEL: In February 1968, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła wrote Father Henri de Lubac, about a project in which the cardinal was engaged: a philosophical explanation of the uniqueness and nobility of the human person. The idea of the human, Wojtyla suggested, was being degraded, even pulverized, by ideologies that denied the deep truths built into us. The response could not be “sterile polemics.” Rather, the Church should counter-propose a higher, more compelling view of “the inviolable mystery of the person...”

Will our pets join us in eternity?

Will Our Pets Join Us in Eternity? - Community in MissionPOPE: Having rational souls distinguishes us dramatically from animals such as mammals and primates. Some today assert that we are not very different at all from the animals. But this is demonstrably untrue. Physically we have many similarities with other mammals: lungs, eyes, heart, limbs, etc. But the similarities stop there. You will know something by its fruits and it is clear that animals lack a rational soul while we have one...

Only 1950s kids will recognize this endangered fish

Only 1950s Kids Will Recognize This Endangered Fish | Hakai Magazine: New research conducted in Tanzania is providing a chilling example of shifting baselines: the idea that how much an ecosystem appears to have changed depends on when one starts paying attention. Through a series of interviews with Tanzanian fishers, people who spend nearly every day out on the water, scientists found a troubling trend: while all of the older fishers could recognize sawfish...

Controversial Dutch bill would allow assisted suicide for healthy people over 75

Controversial Dutch bill would allow assisted suicide for healthy people over 75: A proposal in the Netherlands to allow assisted suicide for healthy individuals over the age of 75 has drawn criticism for offering death rather than social support to people who are lonely and depressed.

What it’s like to board a U.S. Navy attack submarine in the Arctic

New Advent: What it’s like to board a U.S. Navy attack submarine in the Arctic: From Smarter Every Day...

Planned Parenthood cancels Margaret Sanger. Abortion itself should be next...

Planned Parenthood Cancels Margaret Sanger. Abortion Itself Should Be Next | National ReviewLOPEZ: Margaret Sanger is only a start. I’m no fan of this insidious cancel culture that currently seems to be suffocating our nation with a spirit of self-righteous unforgiving. At the same time, Planned Parenthood in New York is distancing itself from Margaret Sanger, the founder of America’s leading abortion provider...

16 random things that annoy everyone

New Advent: 16 random things that annoy everyone: From comedian Trey Kennedy...

Angels are real and among us, and we can detect their activity, even though we may never see them with our eyes...

Is the word Christian in the Bible?KOSLOSKI: The belief in the presence of mysterious spiritual beings is common to many religions of the world, including Christianity. For Catholics, belief in angels is a truth of faith, something revealed by God and confirmed by extraordinary experiences. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the basic Catholic view of angels. It is believed that these spiritual beings do not possess a material body, which is why we can not see them with our physical eyes.

5 ways the pandemic has been such an unexpected opportunity for family renewal

An Opportunity for Families - Opus Dei: There is so much woe visited upon the world by this COVID-19 pandemic that it seems almost churlish to recognize the occasional rays of light among the gloom. I set out to comment about one such ray here, a spark of enthusiasm at this time.

What is the hidden treasure buried in the field?

What Is the Hidden Treasure Buried in the Field? - Community in MissionPOPE: In Sunday’s Gospel we are told of a man who finds a hidden treasure buried in a field and that he goes and sells all he has to buy the filed in order to have that treasure. Why is it hidden and what does that mean for us? To say that the treasure, an image for the Kingdom of Heaven, is hidden is to indicate that the gift and glory that God has waiting for us is not something we can fathom...

Nowadays, the truth is that few people want to see the Church for what she is...

MondayVatican – Vatican Pope Francis, the awaited revolution | MondayVaticanGAGLIARDUCCI: The Congregation for the Clergy published last week the “Instruction for the pastoral conversion of the parish community in the service of the evangelizing mission of the Church.” It is not a revolutionary instruction, although many looked to that document for clues of a revolution. They were disappointed when they were not able to find any. This is the paradox of Pope Francis’ pontificate.

Cardinal Kasper defends Vatican instruction on parishes against German bishops who seek diminished role for priests

Cardinal Kasper Defends Vatican Instruction on Parishes: Cardinal Walter Kasper has defended a new Vatican instruction on parishes after it was criticized by several German bishops. In a July 27 guest commentary for Domradio, the radio station of Cologne archdiocese, Kasper said that critics missed the document’s central point. He said the German criticism completely misses the actual concern of the instruction: the pastoral conversion to a missionary footing....

The word “predestination” is found in the Bible — but does it mean what modern people tend to think it means?

Predestination in the Bible – Jimmy AkinAKIN: In the last 2,000 years, a lot of theological baggage has developed around the idea of predestination as theologians have discussed it. Today, people associate the idea of predestination with being inexorably fated to either heaven or hell. To many people, if something is predestined, then it not only will happen, it will happen in an unstoppable way.

J. R. R. Tolkien gives men the secret to marriage

J. R. R. Tolkien Gives Men the Secret to Marriage | The StreamMILLS: You’ll see the quote pop up on the web. It’s the marriage advice J.R.R. Tolkien gave his college-age son in 1941, when he was just about the join the army. The people sharing it often add a goopy description of the Tolkiens’ happy marriage. Here’s the secret to having a marriage just as happy as theirs! It’s the kittens and butterflies view of the Christian life, and it’s rubbish.

Nantes cathedral fire: Altar server charged with arson

Nantes cathedral fire: Altar server charged with arson: A church volunteer has admitted to starting the fire at Nantes Cathedral and was charged with arson on Saturday. The 39-year-old Rwandan refugee — who had been detained and released by the police immediately following the July 18 fire at the Gothic cathedral — was arrested again and indicted July 25 on “charges of destruction and damage by fire,” according to the Nantes public prosecutor.

Contemplative prayer stays lit in the heart, no matter the darkness of the moment

Beginning to Pray: Contemplative Prayer in CrisisLILLES: Worried eyes peer above a mask in a supermarket while customers attempt to dodge each other in the aisles. Someone does not see the floor stickers and back muscles tighten. The sharp condescending tones of a young and tired cashier remind me of a middle school teacher. In the chaotic wreckage of post-shelter-in-place America, childhood insecurities have reclaimed ground once lost to adulthood...

Batman versus modern art

Batman versus Modern ArtPEARCE: The secret’s out. My dual identity has been discovered. By day, I spend my time in the company of serious writers and thinkers, such as Homer, Dante, Shakespeare and Thomas Aquinas, but by night I sit down with my 11-year-old daughter to watch episodes of Batman, the 1960s television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward as the dynamic duo.

St. James the Greater — Fisherman and Son of Thunder

St. James the Greater — Fisherman and Son of ThunderDOYLE: James the Greater was a fisherman from Galilee whom Jesus called to be an apostle. This James happened to be part of a trio of apostles who were with Jesus during three particular occasions. James, his brother John, and Peter made up this distinctive group. The first James-John-Peter event was the raising of the 12-year-old daughter of Jairus, a synagogue official who sought out Jesus for her healing...

The Catholic roots of Regis Philbin (1931-2020)

The Catholic roots of Regis Philbin: Game show and talk show host Regis Francis Xavier Philbin died July 25 at 88. Philbin was a Catholic, who attributed his success in show business to the lessons learned in Catholic schools. “I think it made a great difference. Solidified me….taught me an awful lot. Everything that I am right now I attribute to” Catholic education, Philbin said in a 2009 interview.

Video: President of Poland saves dropped Host from blowing away in the wind

Incredible: President of Poland Saves Dropped Eucharist From Blowing Away in the Wind: Poland re-elected President Andrzej Duda on July 13 for a second term. ChurchPOP reported last week that Duda entrusted Poland to Our Lady after his re-election. He thanked her and prayed Evening Prayer.

Joe Biden and the Catholic factor

Joe Biden and the Catholic Factor: Joe Biden will be only the fourth Catholic major-party presidential nominee in U.S. history, following John Kerry in 2004, John F. Kennedy in 1960 — the nation's only Catholic president — and New York Governor Al Smith, the Democratic nominee in 1928.

Give me Jesus – A sermon for the 17th Sunday of the Year

Give Me Jesus – A Sermon for the 17th Sunday of the Year - Community in MissionPOPE: The Gospel today asks a fundamental question: “What is it that you value most?” In other words, He’s asking us what we want most. We tend to answer questions like this the way we think we should, rather than genuinely. When we’re with the doctor (and Jesus is our doctor) our best bet is to answer honestly so that we can begin a true healing process...

The martyrdom of ‘the Most Beautiful Woman in Europe’

The Martyrdom of ‘the Most Beautiful Woman in Europe’TURLEY: Described as “the most beautiful woman in Europe,” she was to marry a prince. And yet that same woman was to end her last days in the service of the sick and the poor, wearing only the plain garb of a nun, eventually, to die in an industrial wasteland as a martyr for her Christian faith. A journey that started for her on the Mount of Olives, and continued with the Cross being laid on her shoulders...

The Archbishop of Paris is right: Humanae Vitae is prophetic

The Archbishop of Paris is Right: Humanae Vitae is PropheticGRONDELSKI: Archbishop Michel Aupetit is a voice to listen to, not just because he is a bishop but because he is a practicing physician who brings rich medical experience with him. July 25 marks the 52nd anniversary of St. Paul VI’s encyclical, Humanae vitae. As St. John Paul II noted even prior to his election to the papacy, the encyclical was a “sign of contradiction” for modern humanity...

How to outrun a dinosaur

How to Outrun a Dinosaur: If a mouse fell down a 1,000-foot mine shaft, the renowned evolutionary biologist JBS Haldane once proposed, the mouse would rise, shake the dust off itself, and scurry away. Maybe even right back up to do it again.

How does the size of the Moon compare with other moons in our solar system?

New Advent: How does the size of the Moon compare with other moons in our solar system?: From the smallest to the largest, compared to New York City and Earth.

A detail on St. James and dating the Gospels

A Detail on St James and Dating the Gospels – Fr. Dwight LongeneckerLONGENECKER: Today is the feast day of the Apostle St James, and it’s worth remembering this piece from the archives which undermines the modernist Biblical scholars’ attempts to put the dating of the New Testament as late as possible. Bible scholars piece together details of evidence to build up a full picture of the New Testament authorship and dates. Their work is like that of a detective—picking up a hint here and a scrap of evidence there.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Nevada church plea to allow larger religious gatherings, on par with restaurants and casinos

Supreme Court rejects Nevada church plea to allow larger congregation - POLITICO: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Nevada church's request to block the state's cap on attendees for religious services amid the coronavirus pandemic. The court voted 5 to 4 against the request, filed by Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the liberal-leaning justices. The decision keeps in place a limit of 50 people in houses of worship due to the pandemic.

Why do young people leave the Faith?

Why Do Young People Leave the Faith? - Crisis MagazineESOLEN: Why do young people leave the Faith? I was asked that question the other day, and I replied, off the cuff, that it was two things: Their imaginations had not been formed by the Faith and our magnificent heritage of arts and letters, and they wanted to have sex. Most of the reasons that people give are either variations of the first, or excuses for the second. The latter make no sense.

Photo of doctor praying the Rosary in COVID-19 hospital goes viral

Photo of doctor praying the Rosary in COVID-19 hospital goes viral: Faith and grace carry this doctor through the challenge of healing patients in an overwhelmed healthcare system.

The sound of Galician bagpipes from this Spanish cathedral will always commemorate COVID-19 victims

The sound of bagpipes from this cathedral will always commemorate COVID-19 victims: Bagpipes are often associated with Scotland, but they’re popular in other parts of the world as well: In the extreme northwest of Spain and Portugal, the sound of the Galician bagpipe has accompanied the life of the people for more than eight centuries. Its music provides the traditional soundtrack as they sing and dance, celebrate banquets, dance around brides, celebrate anniversaries, and bid farewell to their deceased...

Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, resigns from Trump campaign roles

Priests for Life Fr. Frank Pavone resigns from Trump campaign roles: Priests for Life national director Fr. Frank Pavone has resigned from advisory positions in the reelection campaign of President Donald Trump. The priest withdrew at the direction of Church authorities, he told CNA Friday.

Vatican sets October 31 for beatification of Fr. Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus

Vatican announce Knights of Columbus founder will be beatified in October: Fr. Michael McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus Catholic fraternal organization, will be beatified on October 31, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints announced this week.

Catholic bishops join Orthodox in marking Friday as ‘Day of Mourning’ for Hagia Sophia

Catholic bishops join Orthodox in 'Day of Mourning' for Hagia Sophia: Catholic bishops across the United States have issued joint statements with their Greek Orthodox counterparts expressing sorrow at the reopening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque on Friday. July 24, was declared a “Day of Mourning” as the former Byzantine cathedral opened for formal Islamic Friday prayers for the first time in more than 80 years on July 24.

Washington Post settles lawsuit with family of Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann

Washington Post settles lawsuit with family of Kentucky teenager - The Washington Post: The Washington Post has settled a lawsuit brought by the parents of a teenager who alleged that news coverage of the teen’s encounter with a Native American activist on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial last year was defamatory. The Post admitted no wrongdoing in settling with the family of Nicholas Sandmann, the Covington, Ky., high school student who was involved in the episode during a school trip to Washington in January 2019.

Video shows devastating impact if China’s Three Gorges Dam collapses, with a 300-foot-high wall of water racing at 60 miles per hour

Video shows devastating impact if China's Three Gorges Dam collapses | Taiwan News: A video showing the consequences of a catastrophic failure of the Three Gorges Dam has quickly gone viral on social media. According to Chinese government statistics, 45.2 million people have been affected by the floods that have ravaged 27 provinces along the Yangtze River, Huai River, and Yellow River, as well as southern China since the start of June. Many have cast doubt on the integrity of the Three Gorges Dam as it faces the greatest test in its history...

Honesty and courage: Cornel West and Robert George speak out

Honesty and Courage: Cornel West and Robert George Speak Out - Word on FireSCALIA: When we see friendships between people who seem to have little in common. those of us of a certain age will quickly think of Neil Simon’s classic play (and subsequent movie, and television series) The Odd Couple. For the uninitiated, the story presents the misadventures of two divorced men who, for economic reasons, share a Manhattan apartment. Sportswriter Oscar Madison is the grizzly sort of old-school, hard-living journalist who no longer exists except in movies...

National Catholic Register editorial: Eradicating the McCarrick Virus

Eradicating the McCarrick Virus: It has now been two years since Pope Francis accepted Theodore McCarrick’s resignation from the College of Cardinals, shortly after allegations of his sexual abuse of a minor and evidence of other sexual exploitations first detonated into public view. Yet after all this time, Catholics in the United States are still waiting for answers about which Church leaders, here and in Rome, knew about McCarrick’s scandalous situation but failed to take meaningful disciplinary and preventive actions — and possibly even facilitated and abetted his meteoric rise to prominence.

The lockdown was the longest period of quiet in recorded human history, seismologists say

Lockdown was the longest period of quiet in recorded human history | MIT Technology Review: When lockdown started in March, the world went instantly, strangely silent. City streets emptied. Joggers and families disappeared from parks. Construction projects froze. Stores closed. Now a network of seismic monitoring stations around the world has quantified this unprecedented period of quiet. The resulting research into “seismic silence,” published in Science today, has shown just how much noise we contribute to the environment.

The New York Times lets Planned Parenthood spin bad news about Margaret Sanger?

New podcast: New York Times lets Planned Parenthood spin bad news about Margaret Sanger? — GetReligionMATTINGLY: Soon after the founding of Amazon.com in 1995, I began offering the following research tip to my journalism students. When reporting about a person or a topic, especially when the subject is controversial, go to Amazon.com and type in two or perhaps three search terms — including a proper name or the keyword linked to the topic you are researching.

This Sunday, Jesus the storyteller tells our story

This Sunday, Jesus the Storyteller Tells Our Story | The Gregorian Institute at Benedictine CollegeHOOPES: “I can only answer the question ‘what am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?” That is what Scottish philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre says in his seminal work After Virtue, and it explains why in the Gospel this Sunday, the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) Jesus speaks in parables for the third and final week in a row.

The latest document from the Pontifical Academy of Life, on the COVID-19 pandemic, is an embarrassment to the Catholic faithful...

A shocking Vatican perspective on the pandemic | Catholic CultureLAWLER: The Pontifical Academy for Life, under the leadership of the controversial Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, produced the document, and the Vatican press office introduced it on July 22 with a title as prolix as the statement itself: “Useful information on the Document of the Pontifical Academy for Life: Humana Communitas in the age of pandemic: untimely meditations on life’s rebirth.”

Now, more than ever, we need books. Real, tangible books...

COVID and the Screening Out of Christian CultureCRAIG: The famous phrase “the medium is the message” comes from Marshall McLuhan in his book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. McLuhan was a Catholic and really should be more widely read in our day. The quip means that the very way that you receive something is perhaps more important than what you receive. We can thank McLuhan for his prophetic message that new media doesn’t just provide new means of culture; they are a new culture. His thesis is now proven beyond any doubt.

An overstuffed bookcase says good things about your mind. That’s why you should surround yourself with more books than you’ll ever have time to read...

Why You Should Surround Yourself With More Books Than You'll Ever Have Time to Read | Inc.com: Lifelong learning will help you be happier, earn more, and even stay healthier, experts say. Plus, plenty of the smartest names in business, from Bill Gates to Elon Musk, insist that the best way to get smarter is to read. So what do you do? You go out and buy books, lots of them.

But life is busy, and intentions are one thing, actions another. Soon you find your shelves overflowing...

COVID-19 and the screening out of Christian culture

COVID and the Screening Out of Christian CultureCRAIG: The famous phrase “the medium is the message” comes from Marshall McLuhan in his book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. McLuhan was a Catholic and really should be more widely read in our day. The quip means that the very way that you receive something is perhaps more important than what you receive. We can thank McLuhan for his prophetic message that new media doesn’t just provide new means of culture; they are a new culture. His thesis is now proven beyond any doubt.

Liars go to Hell

Liars Go to Hell | Francis X. Maier | First ThingsMAIER: Writing in the Los Angeles Times three decades ago, the author S. J. Taylor claimed that “the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 remains the greatest man-made disaster ever recorded, exceeding in scale even the Jewish Holocaust of the next decade.” Though Ukraine was a fertile region, food simply disappeared during the famine. People waited for days in line for bread. Bodies rotted in the streets. Orphaned children cannibalized the dead...

Fear, faith, and forgiveness in “Batman: No Man’s Land”

Fear, faith, and forgiveness in “Batman: No Man’s Land” - Voyage Comics & PublishingSALERNO: I must confess I started reading comics at a somewhat later age than most. Although I loved DC and Marvel characters pretty much throughout my childhood and was a massive fan of superheroes on TV (particularly in the form of Batman: The Animated Series), I didn’t actually start reading comic books until my teenage years. I distinctly remember purchasing my first trade paperback collection of Batman comics...

OCD, therapy, and promises

OCD, Therapy, and Promises – Jimmy AkinAKIN: For those who may not be aware, one of the most promising treatments for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder involves cognitive behavior therapy and, specifically, exposure and response prevention therapy. In this treatment, a person with OCD is exposed to situations that can trigger his obsessive thoughts and then refrain from engaging in the compulsive behavior ritual that he normally uses to relieve the stress they cause.

Where is the national news coverage of the current surge of vandalism at Catholic churches?

Where is the national news coverage of current surge of vandalism at Catholic churches? — GetReligionLISI: What kind of year has it been for news? Consider this: At the start of 2020, Australian wildfires raged, President Donald Trump was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial, former basketball star Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash and disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape. None of these would likely make it into a top three list of the most-important news stories of the year.

Cardinal Bo: Hagia Sophia’s conversion into a mosque will ‘reopen wounds’

Cardinal Bo: Hagia Sophia’s conversion into a mosque will ‘reopen wounds’: As Hagia Sophia opened for Muslim prayers Friday for the first time in 86 years, a leading Asian cardinal said that the decision to turn the building back into a mosque will reopen wounds and intensify divisions.

In a statement sent via email July 24, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo said that he was grieved by Turkey’s decision to change the status of the sixth-century Byzantine cathedral.

Qantas just retired the iconic Boeing 747 with a last flight flown by the airline’s first female captain who drew a kangaroo in the sky

Qantas retires Boeing 747 fleet after 50 years of flight - Business Insider: The Australian Queen of the Skies has been dethroned. Qantas's final Boeing 747 departed from Australia for the last time on Wednesday en route to retirement, marking the end of a nearly 50-year chapter with the aircraft that started in 1971. An early adopter of the 747, the long-range jet was instrumental to Qantas connecting the remote continent with the world, helping link its main economic and tourist hub, Sydney, with cities as far as New York and London in a single stop faster than any aircraft before.

Churches burned, people beheaded in Mozambique’s escalating extremist violence

Churches burned, people beheaded in Mozambique’s escalating extremist violence: A Catholic bishop has deplored the world’s indifference to escalating extremist violence in northern Mozambique, where multiple churches have been burnt, people beheaded, young girls kidnapped, and hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the violence.

A remembrance of J.I. Packer (1926-2020) — an Evangelical patriarch, a good man, and my friend

In memoriam: J.I. Packer - Catholic HeraldMILLS: My friend had gone to get a beer in the middle of the game, and I checked my email for a message I was expecting, and found at the top of the inbox the headline that the Evangelical patriarch J. I. Packer had died. He was 93 and his death not a surprise, but a loss still. I crossed myself, which probably doesn’t happen much in the bleachers of Wild Things stadium, though some of the Hispanic men coming to the plate cross themselves.

The wheat and tares, saints and frauds, are so intertwined that sometimes it’s hard to recognize which is which

Wheat and Tares, Saints and Frauds | Fr. Raymond J. de Souza | First ThingsDESOUZA: I was ordained a priest in 2002, on the day before the Sixteenth Sunday of the Year. At my first parish Mass that Sunday, the homilist, the masterful preacher Father Paul Holmes of Seton Hall University, told the people that this new priest was sent to preach the gospel to “congregations that are filled with wheat and weeds, with saints and sinners.” Not a world full of good and evil, but “congregations,” that is, the Church...

Sleepless in Wisconsin: A La Crosse priest’s images of comet Neowise

Sleepless in Wisconsin: My Comet Neowise Images - Sacred Space AstronomyKURZYNSKI: Last week, I gave you some tips on how to image different objects in the night sky. This week, I'm going to give you a new tip, but first will force you to look at a slide show. Now, typically when "Father" tells you there's going to be a slide show, the eyes roll and mystery meetings emerge that call people away from the event. Thankfully, I find with my parishioners and friends, these slides are worth sticking around for instead of finding a spontaneous reason to leave the room...

The next pope and Vatican diplomacy

The Next Pope and Vatican Diplomacy - Denver CatholicWEIGEL: During a short papal flight from Boston to New York on October 2, 1979, Father Jan Schotte (later a cardinal but then a low-ranking curial official) discovered that Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, had done some serious editing of the speech Pope John Paul II would give at the United Nations later that day. Schotte, who had helped develop the text, found to his dismay that Cardinal Casaroli had cut just about everything...

Does God really harden human hearts?

Does God Harden Human Hearts? - Community in MissionPOPE: One of the more difficult biblical themes to understand is that of God hardening the hearts and minds of certain people. The most memorable case is that of Pharaoh. Before sending Moses to him, God said that He would “harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Ex 4:21). There are other instances in which biblical texts speak of God hardening the hearts of sinners, even from among His own people.

Chinese Christians told to replace pictures of Christ with Chairman Mao and Xi Jinping or lose government support

Chinese Christians told to replace Christ with Mao or lose government support: Government authorities in Shanxi, China, are ordering people who receive government assistance to replace religious symbols in their homes, including pictures of Jesus, with pictures of Chairman Mao and President Xi Jinping. Refusal to comply results in the assistance being taken away.

14 Felician Sisters die of COVID-19 — 13 in one Michigan convent

14 Felician Sisters Die of COVID-19SCHIFFER: Since Good Friday, 13 Felician sisters in one Michigan community and another Felician sister in New Jersey have died, all falling prey to the deadly Coronavirus. The Register talked with Suzanne Wilcox English, who serves as director of mission advancement for the Felician Sisters of North America, about the sisters who lost their lives during the pandemic. English reported that the departed sisters had brought many talents to God's service...

An answer to Catholic critics of the American Founding

An answer to Catholic critics of the American Founding | Catholic CultureLAWLER: We’re all reading quite a bit about epidemiology these days, aren’t we? Maybe our newfound interest in the field will spark the curiosity of a young scientific genius or two. Then in the long run, perhaps one happy result of this wretched pandemic will be the emergence of a new generation of brilliant researchers, and breakthroughs in our understanding of infectious diseases...

Hagia Sophia: Greek president appeals to Pope Francis to put pressure on Turkey

Hagia Sophia: Greek president appeals to Pope Francis to put pressure on Turkey: The president of Greece called Pope Francis Monday urging the pope to advocate for the preservation of the status quo regarding Hagia Sophia, which is due to be reverted to a mosque this week.

In a phone call July 20, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou told the pope that Turkey’s decision “deeply hurts those who consider this top symbol of Christianity to belong to humanity and the world’s cultural heritage,” according to a statement from the president’s office.

Planned Parenthood in New York disavows Margaret Sanger over eugenics

Planned Parenthood in N.Y. Disavows Margaret Sanger Over Eugenics - The New York Times: Planned Parenthood of Greater New York will remove the name of Margaret Sanger, a founder of the national organization, from its Manhattan health clinic because of her “harmful connections to the eugenics movement,” the group said on Tuesday. Ms. Sanger, a public health nurse who opened the first birth control clinic in the United States in Brooklyn in 1916, has long been lauded as a feminist icon and reproductive-rights pioneer.

How we beat Church-bashing rioters in St. Louis

How We Beat Church-Bashing Rioters in St. Louis | The StreamCAPET: As a St. Louis Catholic, I’ve been under attack for weeks. So has my whole community. The cancel mob set its sights on our history and our culture, and it seemed unstoppable. The radical left started by smearing the reputation of the saint after whom our city is named: King Louis IX of France. He reigned from 1226-1270. He was the only ruler of France so exemplary as a Christian that he won the title of “saint.”

This effort to erase the memory of St. Junípero Serra is ridiculous — and more than a little frightening

Canceling Padre Serra - Word on FireBARRON: Let me address the ridiculous side first. To state it bluntly, Junípero Serra is being used as a convenient scapegoat and whipping boy for certain abuses inherent to eighteenth-century Spanish colonialism. Were such abuses real? Of course. But was Fr. Serra personally responsible for them? Of course not. I won’t deny for a moment that Serra probably engaged in certain disciplinary practices that we would rightfully regard as morally questionable...

Americanism and America

Americanism and America — FAITH & CULTURESHANNON: In 1899, Pope Leo XIII issued an apostolic letter, Testem benevolentiae, in which he expressed concern regarding the development of “those views which, in their collective sense, are called by some ‘Americanism.’” The issue was complicated, but at its root was Leo’s concern that certain American cultural norms—in particular the Protestant privileging of the authority of private judgment and of equality over hierarchy...

Deepfake video: The speech President Nixon would have given if Apollo 11’s lunar module had crashed on the Moon

Disaster: President Nixon announces that Apollo 11's lunar module has crashed on the moon: To cleanse the palate, via Scientific American, a phenomenal professionally done deepfake ... that’s not quite a deepfake. Deepfakes are when one person’s face is overlaid on another’s. What you’re about to see is called “video dialogue replacement.” If I understand it correctly, original footage of Nixon speaking was run through a computer, the computer learned the different ways that his face contorted as he spoke...

Michael Hickson’s black life matters. As all lives do...

Michael Hickson’s Black Life Matters | National ReviewLOPEZ: Michael Hickson should be a household name. From the best I can tell, he was a tender soul. Like many in our country, he contracted COVID-19. Also, like many in our country, he had the disadvantage of living in residential care at the time. He was transferred to a hospital and, by all indications — including a recording of a conversation a doctor had with his wife...

Jesus’ prophetic parables have been proven true. Whoever has ears ought to hear...

Prophetic Parables | Parishable ItemsFELTES: Why does Jesus speak in parables? Why does he use symbolic stories to teach about our salvation and the Kingdom of God? One reason Jesus employs parables is revealed by the story arc of Matthew’s Gospel. After being baptized by St. John the Baptist and spending forty days in the desert, Jesus begins preaching and calling his first disciples. Then he proclaims his famous Sermon on the Mount through chapters 5, 6, and 7...

The probability of you existing at all is almost NON-existent

The Probability of You Existing at All is Almost NON-Existent. A Brief Reflection on the Contingency of our Being and the Glory of God, Based on a Recent Math Article. - Community in MissionPOPE: I was alerted to a fascinating article by Ali Binazir who sets forth mathematically the odds of you or I existing, just as we are genetically. It turns out that, when taking into consideration the astonishing number of possibilities of parents meeting, grandparents before them and on and on going back the generations, and adding also the vast numbers of sperm and ova in possible combination over a the lifetime of the marital acts...

The key to Catholic renewal is a renewed methodology

The Key to Catholic Renewal: A Renewed Methodology - Catholic Missionary Disciples - College Station, TXLEJEUNE: During much of the 20th Century, in both Russia and China, Christians were viciously persecuted under Communism. But in the modern era, we see Russian Christianity stagnating (at best and declining in many ways), even though the government now officially advocates for Russian Orthodoxy. Yet, in China, the growth has been exponential. Why? What can we learn?

Catholic cathedral in Syria that survived missile attacks reopens after restoration

Catholic cathedral in Syria that survived missile attacks reopens after restoration: A Catholic cathedral that was repeatedly struck by missiles amid the Syrian civil war was due to reopen Monday following its restoration. The Maronite Cathedral of St. Elijah in Aleppo was bombarded with missiles on at least three occasions between 2012 and 2016, and suffered extensive damage when jihadists entered the Christian quarter of Al-Jdayde in 2013.

Why you should buy more books — even if you never intend to read them...

Buy more books (even if you never intend to read them).: Lifelong learning will help you be happier, earn more, and even stay healthier, experts say. Plus, plenty of the smartest names in business, from Bill Gates to Elon Musk, insist that the best way to get smarter is to read. So what do you do? You go out and buy books, lots of them.

Dare we go to Mass?

Beginning to Pray: Dare We Go to Mass?LILLES: Dare we go to Mass? We are told that somehow not going to Mass in times of crisis is the most responsible and heroic thing we can do. Patronizing authorities assure us that this prevailing premise should not be called into question or else we are labeled fideists. And no one wants to be considered simple minded or fanatical. A host of experts would have us forgo liturgy because the singing might kill us and partaking of the Bread of Life might spread death...

Pope Francis calls for peaceful resolution to clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Pope Francis calls for peaceful resolution to clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan: Pope Francis Sunday said he is praying for the families of victims of clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and hopes differences can be resolved peacefully. “I am following with concern the recovery in recent days of armed tensions in the Caucasus region, between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the pope said after leading the Angelus prayer July 19.

Saint or ain’t? A homily for the 16th Sunday of the Year

Saint or Ain’t? A Homily for the 16th Sunday of the Year - Community in MissionPOPE: We live in difficult times for the Church; from many sectors the very legitimate cry for reform goes up frequently. Beyond the sexual abuse scandal there are also deep concerns regarding the uncertain trumpet of Catholic preaching, lukewarm and nominal Catholics, an overall lack of self-discipline among Catholics, and a lack of disciplining by the bishops and clergy of those Catholics...

Pope Francis may start feeling some heat as Italy’s debate over ‘homotransphobia’ law grows

Pope may feel some heat as debate over "homotransphobia" law growsALLEN: A pope is a universal figure who usually tries to stay above the fray of national politics, but that’s always complicated in his own backyard by the fact he’s also the Primate of Italy and the Bishop of Rome, so he faces constant pressure to be drawn into whatever’s bubbling here. Right now, the best example is a new draft Italian law against “homotransphobia...”

Country singer Craig Morgan encounters the Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Country Singer Craig Morgan Encounters the Father, Son and Holy GhostTURLEY: In July 2016 Craig Morgan lost his son Jerry. On a family trip the 19-year-old drowned in a tubing accident on Kentucky Lake, Tennessee. On that July day the pain was more than Morgan had ever felt before and seemed greater than he could ever bear. Still, he cannot speak of what happened that day. Three years later, in July 2019, Morgan walked onto the stage at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.

This priest’s love of math and baseball has helped him develop new stat measures

Priest’s love of math, baseball helps him develop new stat measures: WAR, what is it good for?

For Edwin Starr, the answer was “absolutely nothin’” — although “somethin’” might be a better answer, since he had a No. 1 hit with the tune in 1970.

But for Dominican Father Humbert Kilanowski, he’s got a different answer, because he’s asking a different question.

What bird are you most like? A fun quiz from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

WHAT BIRD ARE YOU MOST LIKE? – Cornell Lab Publishing Group: Cornell Lab ornithologists and educators examined the personality and behavior characteristics of 22 North American birds, to help create this fun personality quiz. Now you can find out which bird you are most like (or is most like you) based on 15 simple questions.

Meet the company that sells your lost airplane luggage

Meet the company that sells your lost airplane luggage: If you’ve ever permanently lost a checked bag, your stuff probably ended up for sale at a store in Scottsboro, Alabama.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a pro-life Catholic Democrat, calls for prayer and fasting amid coronavirus

Louisiana Catholic Governor Edwards Calls for Prayer and Fasting Amid Coronavirus: Louisiana's governor will be skipping lunch next week, and is encouraging Louisianans of all faiths to do the same. The governor has called for three days of prayer and fasting for people affected by coronavirus. New Orleans' archbishop says he hopes Catholics of the state will join in. During a press conference on Thursday to discuss the state’s response to COVID-10, Gov. John Bel Edwards acknowledged that his latest attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus...

We are meant to rest, and we’re meant to enjoy our rest...

Learning to Rest ~ The Imaginative ConservativeBIRZER: For better or worse, I have been blessed with an abundance of energy and, more often than not, enthusiasm for the things I love. I love what I love, and I often ignore that which I don’t. But I really (yes, really) love what I love. I caution “for better or worse,” though, because such energy can be frankly off-putting to those who do not share such enthusiasms. I have been criticized more than once in my life for “being over the top”...

Father Ed Broom: 10 Bible verses that can help you fight discouragement

Fr. Ed Broom: Fighting discouragement with Bible verses: “If we don't know what to do, desolation can really wreak havoc in our lives,” said Fr. Ed Broom, OMV, whose recent article on Catholic Exchange described, “10 Bible Verses that Fight Discouragement.” Fr. Broom was previously on Respect Life Radio, discussing "How to resist the attacks of the devil."

“I am a Christian” — Say it often, and be prepared to say it when it counts the most...

I am a Christian — FAITH & CULTURESEHORN: Our earliest literary record of Christianity in North Africa is a court record. It is very short and straightforward. On July 17, 180, Publius Vigellius Saturninus, the proconsul of Africa, was saddled with the irksome duty of interrogating a group of seven men and five women from the obscure town of Scilli. They stood before him in Carthage accused of “living as Christians”—literally, “living by the Christian rite...”

Doctors issuing unlawful ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ orders for disabled COVID patients

Doctors Issuing Unlawful ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ Orders For Disabled Covid Patients ‘Outrageous’: A report due to be launched this week by disability advocacy organization Inclusion London affirms the fear many disabled people have experienced throughout the pandemic over being denied life-saving treatment, should they become seriously ill with coronavirus.

Coronavirus stalks in the darkness — but do not be afraid

Coronavirus Stalks in the Darkness, But Do Not Be AfraidPOPE: I write this from my perspective as a priest responsible for the care of souls; I do not claim to be a medical expert. My pastoral concern is that we as a nation and as a Church have succumbed to excessive fear, which bespeaks a spiritual problem. The medical concerns arising from the pandemic are not without merit, but they are not unprecedented. What is unique today is the collective paralysis brought on by this fear...

On toppling statues and reading the riot act

On toppling statues and reading the riot act | Catholic CultureMIRUS: I find myself ambivalent on the subject of tearing down statues erected to honor famous persons. But then I am ambivalent on the subject of erecting statues as well. I am not referring to religious statuary in churches and shrines, but I am sufficiently cynical not only to fear but to expect that the most famous of men and women only rarely deserve to be singled out among all others in the civil order...

These parishes took PPP loans. Here’s why...

These parishes took PPP loans. Here's why: When the coronavirus pandemic necessitated widespread shutdowns, Catholic parishes were among those to feel the financial pinch almost immediately. No people in the pews meant no money in the collection basket. Mass after Mass, weekend after weekend, that loss added up.

Arson suspected in major fire at Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral in Nantes, France

Nantes: Arson suspected in fire at Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral - BBC News: A fire at the cathedral in the French city of Nantes is believed to have been started deliberately, prosecutors say.

Actor Zac Efron visits ‘incredibly special and holy’ Lourdes sanctuary in Netflix series

Actor Zac Efron Visits Lourdes Sanctuary in Netflix Series: "Incredibly Special and Holy Place": Actor Zac Efron visited Lourdes in an surprisingly Catholic second episode of his new Netflix documentary Down to Earth with Zac Efron. The episode focuses on drinking water and its potential healing qualities. The episode begins with church bells ringing and images of Our Lady of Lourdes and the beautiful Lourdes sanctuary...

87-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’s being treated for liver cancer but working ‘full steam’

Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she's being treated for liver cancer but working 'full steam': Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday she is being treated for liver cancer but remains able to work “full steam.”

The 87-year-old justice said she began a course of chemotherapy in May to treat a recurrence of cancer after a February scan revealed lesions on her liver.

A paradox for the next pope [WSJ paywall]

A Paradox for the Next Pope - WSJWEIGEL: The past four papal elections haven’t been kind to prognosticators. The 1978 conclaves—which elected Albino Luciani as John Paul I, then Karol Wojtyła as John Paul II—confirmed the adage that “he who enters the conclave a pope leaves it a cardinal.” In August 1978, the putatively leading candidates didn’t get out of the starting blocks. John Paul I died in September after a 33-day pontificate, and two cardinals favored by the Great Mentioner deadlocked in the October conclave...

This is Pastor Aeternus’ real gem — and it’s not papal infallibility

Pastor Aeternus’ Real Gem — It’s Not Papal InfallibilityDESOUZA: One of the most routine things the Holy Father does is appoint bishops. Almost every day there are a few appointments, and the fact that he is doing so is wholly unremarkable. It wasn’t always that way, and it is that way because of what the First Vatican Council did 150 years ago. On July 18, 1870, the Council approved Pastor Aeternus, its dogmatic constitution on the Church. It is most well known for the definition of papal infallibility...

Filming Fátima — an interview with filmmaker Marco Pontecorvo

Filming Fatima: Interview With Filmmaker Marco PontecorvoGREYDANUS: While I’ve never seen a bad movie about the Marian apparitions at Fátima and the “Miracle of the Sun,” there’s certainly room to go beyond the films that have been made so far. The best-known telling, the 1952 Hollywood film The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, is still beloved by Catholic viewers, but highly fictionalized and dated. The most authentic, the Portuguese-language Apparitions at Fátima...

Shocking video: Parish in Archbishop Hebda’s archdiocese distributes Holy Communion via takeout envelopes

VIDEO: More Communion Disaster – “Pax Christi” @PaxChristiEP of the @ArchdioceseSPM | Fr. Z's BlogZUHLSDORF: It stuns me that this sacrilege would be allowed in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. After the dismissal, as people leave the “worship space”, they are to take little envelopes, “packets”, with a host inside. I suppose the Host in the packet was at some point validly consecrated – I won’t assume that, since it’s Pax Christi, after all.

Is Yahya Cholil Staquf a Muslim John Courtney Murray? Might there be a Dignitatis Humanae for Islam?

A Muslim John Courtney Murray? | arcoftheuniverse.infoPHILPOTT: A recent article in Public Discourse decries the persecution of Christians in the Middle East at the hands of Muslims – written by a Muslim. Not just any Muslim, but rather Yahya Cholil Staquf, General Secretary of the world’s largest movement of Muslims, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), whose ranks number 90 million. Staquf and the Nahdlatul Ulama are developing a doctrinal framework to produce changes in Islam much like those that took place in another religion – Catholicism.

Make no mistake about it — the Church is in terrible pain right now. This Sunday, Our Lord has something to tell us about this...

This Sunday, Jesus Tells a Church in Pain: Hold On | The Gregorian Institute at Benedictine CollegeHOOPES: Jesus in the Gospel this Sunday delivers good news to a Church that is badly wounded. Hold on, he says: The kingdom of God is coming, bringing untold blessings with it. Make no mistake about it, the Church is in terrible pain right now. In a vicious circle, bishops and priests hide in bureaucracy and ignore the worst of all possible sins, which is now the definitive sin of our times: the loss of the sense of the sin...

If you think you’re in a hurry, you have no idea of how fast you are getting there

If You Think You're in a Hurry, You Have No Idea of How Fast You Are Getting There. - Community in MissionPOPE: It’s dizzying to consider our speed and motion: a spinning earth, rotating around a sun, which is rotating around a galaxy, which is rotating around a spinning universe. So, if you think you’re standing still, think again; we are actually hurtling through space at mind-boggling speed.

Yes, you’re on the move. You’re moving so fast you met yourself coming back! Don’t let anyone tell you you’re loafing.

Satanic symbol painted at church in Connecticut parish where Knights of Columbus began

Satanic symbol painted at church in parish where Knights of Columbus began: A church in the New Haven, Connecticut parish at which the Knights of Columbus was founded was vandalized this week, with a satanic symbol painted on the door. Fr. Michael McGivney, who will soon be beatified, began his priestly ministry at St. Mary’s Parish in New Haven, the city’s first parish, in 1877. The priest founded the Knights of Columbus there in 1882.

How does ‘Hamilton,’ the nonstop, hip-hop Broadway sensation, tap rap’s master rhymes to blur musical lines?

How does ‘Hamilton,’ the non stop, hip-hop Broadway sensation tap rap’s master rhymes to blur musical lines? - WSJ.com: Behind the sensational success of "Hamilton" are some of the most densely packed, complex rhyming lyrics in the history of musicals. How exactly do they work?

Pope Francis names Bishop Edward Malesic of Greensburg to lead Diocese of Cleveland

Pope Francis Names Bishop Edward Malesic of Greensburg to Lead Cleveland Diocese: Pope Francis Thursday named Bishop Edward C. Malesic of Greensburg, Pa, to lead the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio.

In Cleveland, he fills the vacant see left by Archbishop Nelson Perez’s appointment to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in January.

Bishop Malesic, who will turn 60 in August, has led the Diocese of Greensburg since July 2015. He holds a licentiate in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Fertility rate: “Jaw-dropping” global crash in children being born

Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born - BBC News: The world is ill-prepared for the global crash in children being born which is set to have a "jaw-dropping" impact on societies, say researchers.

Falling fertility rates mean nearly every country could have shrinking populations by the end of the century.

And 23 nations - including Spain and Japan - are expected to see their populations halve by 2100.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the brown scapular devotion of Fatima

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the brown scapular devotion of Fatima - Our Lady's Blue Army - World Apostolate of Fatima U.S.A.FOLEY: We celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16, because, according to Carmelite traditions, this is the date in the year 1251 on which the Blessed Virgin originally gave the brown scapular to St. Simon Stock. This apparition took place in England, either at Cambridge or Aylesford, and came about after St. Simon, following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, became a Carmelite friar...

Hilaire Belloc: “Yet was Her face both great and kind, for Courtesy was in Her Mind...”

Courtesy — FAITH & CULTURE: With this lovely poem by Belloc in honor of Our Lady, Faith&Culture begins a series of reflections upon the nobility of the human face.

“The People” — Sheep and Feathers

“The People”: Sheep and Feathers ~ The Imaginative ConservativeKWASNIEWSKI: Without a doubt, the United States in 2020 is showing to the world what a “republic” looks like when it degenerates into democracy—understood in Plato’s derogatory sense of the term. I have found my thoughts wandering to one of Western civilization’s most brilliant European white males, William Shakespeare, who has a lot to tell us about how “government of the people, by the people, for the people” actually tends to operate. It’s not a pretty picture.

The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, explained by a Discalced Carmelite priest

The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel – El Escapulario de la Virgen del Carmen – Discalced Carmelite Friars: Today is the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Fr. Michael-Joseph of Saint Thérèse, OCD shares the history, spirituality, and the practice of being enrolled in the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in both English and Spanish.

Jude 3 and Sola Scriptura: The faith once for all delivered

Jude 3 and Sola Scriptura: The Faith Once for All Delivered – Jimmy AkinAKIN: Periodically, I’m asked to name a doctrine that is not found in Scripture. This comes up in discussions about the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura, which holds that we should use “Scripture alone” to form our doctrine. Knowing that Catholics base their teachings not only on Scripture but also on apostolic Tradition, supporters of sola scriptura ask Catholics to name a doctrine that we know by Tradition rather than Scripture.

Church closes after vandals paint Satanic symbols on exterior of Connecticut parish

Church Closes After Vandals Paint Satanic Symbols on Outside of Connecticut Parish: St. Joseph Church in New Haven, Conn. temporarily closed today after vandals painted satanic symbols on the parish’s front doors. The parish posted a note from their pastor on its instagram account that vandals painted “various symbols” “on the outside doors of the church.” The pastor requested prayers “to Our Lord in reparation for this sacrilege, and to St. Michael for protection against all the powers of hell,” as well as...

The Moon, which seems pretty old, is actually much younger than we thought

How Old Is the Moon? - The True Age of Earth's Moon: The moon, it turns out, is much younger than scientists previously thought. Researchers from the German Aerospace Center and the University of Münster have released new estimates for the age of the moon. According to their modeling, it's 85 million years younger than current estimates suggest.

German archdiocese plans to cut parishes from 1,000 to 40

German Archdiocese Plans to Cut Parishes From 1,000 to 40: A German archdiocese is pressing ahead with plans to dramatically reduce the number of its parishes despite the Vatican’s decision to block a similar plan in another diocese.

CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German language news partner, reported July 15 that Archbishop Stephan Burger intends to turn the archdiocese’s 1,000 parishes into 40 mega parishes.  In a July 14 letter to archdiocesan staff, Archbishop Burger described the proposal as an “adequate response to the challenges facing our archdiocese.”

Look in the sky! Neowise, the brightest comet we’ve seen in 23 years, will be at its brightest this week

Spectacular Views of Comet Neowise - The Atlantic: For the next month, comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE), otherwise known simply as “Neowise,” will be visible in the night sky above much of the Northern Hemisphere. The comet will be at its brightest this week, dimming as it moves away from the sun. If you have clear skies, head outside about an hour after sunset and look near the horizon to the northwest. For the next week or so, if it’s dark enough, Neowise might be visible to the naked eye, but you may need binoculars to see it well. The images in these photos below are made with long exposures, so may appear stronger than what you’d see with your own eyes, but it’s still worth a look—this is the brightest comet we’ve seen in 23 years, and after this, Neowise won’t be back for another 6,800 years.

Texas pro-life Democrat wins run-off primary election marked by ethnic slurs from pro-abortion groups

Texas pro-life Democrat wins run-off primary election: A pro-life Texas state senator won his Democratic primary race on Tuesday, after being the target of aggressive negative campaigning - including ethnic slurs from pro-abortion groups.

Sen. Eddie Lucio (D) of Texas’ 27th district won his primary runoff against Sara Stapleton-Barrera on Tuesday, receiving 53.6% of the vote to Barrera’s 46.4%.

In surprise announcement, Pope declares Mission San Buenaventura first basilica in Archdiocese of Los Angeles

A saint's mission gets a papal upgrade | Angelus News: When Father Tom Elewaut saw the name on his phone’s caller ID the night of June 30, the pastor of Mission San Buenaventura guessed the call had something to do with the recent controversy over whether to remove the statue of St. Junípero Serra in front of Ventura’s City Hall.

Yet another statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been beheaded — this time at a parish in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Statue of Virgin Mary beheaded at Tennessee Catholic parish: A third statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been attacked. The statue, at a parish in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was the third reported incident against a statue of Mary over last weekend. “What a strange time [we live in],” Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville tweeted on July 13. “Over the weekend, an outdoor statue of the Blessed Mother was beheaded at St. Stephen Parish in Chattanooga.”

‘We live for Christ,’ says priest in viral photo bringing Last Rites in horrific wreck

‘We Live for Christ,’ Says Priest in Viral Photo Bringing Last Rites in Horrific WreckPJSMITH: A lone young priest in a cassock walked in a downpour toward the scene of a horrific wreck of tractor-trailers and cars on a Pennsylvania interstate and gave the last rites to a truck driver, the lone fatality of the crash. Unbeknownst to him, a bystander photographed the moment, which captured the imagination of social media and went viral. The priest, Father John Killackey, was identified as a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter at the Mater Dei Latin Mass community in Harrisburg.

The universe’s clock might have bigger ticks than we imagine

The Universe's Clock Might Have Bigger Ticks Than We Imagine - Scientific American: The smallest conceivable length of time might be no larger than a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second. That’s according to a new theory describing the implications of the universe having a fundamental clock-like property whose ticks would interact with our best atomic timepieces.

The Bad Beer Brawl: The St. Scholastica day riot of 1355

The Bad Beer Brawl: St. Scholastica Day Riot | Amusing Planet: On the southwest corner of Carfax, in Oxford, a small, inconspicuous inscription on the side of an old building marks the site of one of the bloodiest pub brawls in history. Before this building was sold to the Abbey National Building Society, it was occupied by the Swindlestock Tavern, a popular watering hole among Oxford University’s students and the townsfolk alike.

Ennio Morricone’s Mission Accomplished

Ennio Morricone’s Mission AccomplishedDESOUZA: The death last week of the great composer Ennio Morricone was timely. His greatest work, the score for The Mission, addresses current controversies about missionary activity and indigenous peoples. The Mission is not about Spanish Franciscans in California, Alta and Baja, but Spanish Jesuits in Paraguay. The issues, though, are the same. And Morricone attempted to resolve them nobly with his music.

Priest distributes Ziploc bags and “sacred vessels” to parishioners, tells people to hold hosts in their hands while he consecrates

Communion in the hand was bad enough. Priest tells people to hold hosts in their hands while he consecrates | Fr. Z's BlogZUHLSDORF: If only priests were as hard working to develop reverence in their parishes as they are to facilitate communion-no-matter-what and for-anyone-at-all. There is a piece at LifeSite, in which I am heavily quoted, about a priest who came up with wacky ideas – astonishingly tacky and irreverent – to facilitate Communion. It is hard to believe that anyone in this day and would do this...

Police seize Mincione’s phones in Vatican real estate corruption probe

Police seize Mincione’s phones in Vatican real estate corruption probe: Vatican prosecutors, working with Italian authorities, have executed a search and seizure warrant against the Italian businessman Raffaele Mincione, the man responsible for the controversial investment of hundreds of millions of euros on behalf of the Holy See Secretariat of State.

The Atlantic’s John McWhorter: “The dehumanizing condescension of ‘White Fragility’”

How 'White Fragility' Talks Down to Black People - The Atlantic: I must admit that I had not gotten around to actually reading Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility until recently. But it was time to jump in. DiAngelo is an education professor and—most prominently today—a diversity consultant who argues that whites in America must face the racist bias implanted in them by a racist society. Their resistance to acknowledging this, she maintains, constitutes a “white fragility” that they must overcome in order for meaningful progress on both interpersonal and societal racism to happen.

Texas COVID-19 patient Michael Hickson was black and paralyzed, so doctors decided his life wasn’t worth saving

Doctors didn't try to save black COVID-19 patient who was paralyzedCAMOSY: Last month, a disabled, 46-year-old African American man was euthanized without his consent or that of his wife. But rather than exploding amid our racial-justice moment, the story hardly yielded a peep from those who control our national discourse. In 2017, Michael Hickson suffered a brain injury that left him paralyzed. Still, he was able to enjoy many activities: having books read to him, listening to music, answering trivia questions.

NYTimes op-ed: “Pray for your poor uncle,” Theodore McCarrick told his victims

Opinion | Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the Catholic Church's Abuse Problem - The New York Times: Rain fell in New York City four days before Christmas of 2018. Francis M. had planned to be in the city that day for business, but he had dutifully put aside time when asked to answer questions at the Archdiocese of New York offices about his experiences with “Uncle Ted” — former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Federal judge places hold on Tennessee heartbeat-based abortion ban

Federal judge places hold on Tennessee heartbeat-based abortion ban: Citing the need to protect the unborn, the Tennessee governor has signed strong heartbeat-based abortion restrictions into law. However, a federal judge quickly placed a temporary injunction on the law. “We all have the responsibility to protect the most vulnerable in our community,” Governor Bill Lee said in a signing ceremony broadcast on Facebook Live July 14. “The most vulnerable in Tennessee includes the unborn.”

The next pope and Vatican II

The Next Pope and Vatican II - Denver CatholicWEIGEL: Polemics about the Second Vatican Council continue to bedevil the global Catholic conversation. Some Catholics, often found in the moribund local Churches of western Europe, claim that the Council’s “spirit” has never been implemented (although the Catholic Lite implementation they propose seems more akin to liberal Protestantism than Catholicism). Other voices claim that the Council was a terrible mistake and that its teaching should be quietly forgotten, consigned to the dustbin of history.

Unless your faith is strong you shall not be strong

Unless Your Faith Is Strong You Shall Not Be Strong - Community in MissionPOPE: The first reading at Tuesday’s daily Mass presents a complex picture, but its fundamental message is clear. Isaiah announces that there will be a period of political stability among the nations and enemies surrounding Israel. It is a time of favor during which Israel can repent of its injustice and infidelity. If they do not, however, Israel will be destroyed within 65 years...

Martin Luther King and the religious motivation for social change

Martin Luther King and the Religious Motivation for Social Change - Word on FireBARRON: A principal reason why the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was so successful both morally and practically was that it was led largely by people with a strong religious sensibility. The most notable of these leaders was, of course, Martin Luther King. To appreciate the subtle play between King’s religious commitment and his practical work, I would draw your attention to two texts...

Catholic sci-fi writer John C. Wright discusses his craft

Fictions and Faith: Catholic Sci-Fi Writer John C. Wright Discusses His CraftTURLEY: “No science fiction writer is imaginative enough to have pictured this combination of hysteria, incompetence, malice and affluence.” So says award-winning science fiction writer John C. Wright, down the line from his home in Virginia. In this time of pandemic, Wright was speaking to the Register June 20, just as the lockdown began to ease across the Western world. The obvious question to ask a writer of speculative fiction is how recent events...

Who made the crown for the statue of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal?

Who Made Our Lady of Fatima’s Crown?: For the last 74 years, one of the most recognizable royal crowns in the world is the one worn by Our Lady of Fatima at her shrine in Portugal. Pilgrims in Fatima can see this crown on the original image of Our Lady of Fatima during the anniversaries of the apparitions and other great celebrations. Her canonical coronation took place in Fatima on May 13, 1946, when Venerable Pope Pius XII sent Cardinal Benedetto Masella...

The divorced Catholic’s guide to parenting

The divorced Catholic’s guide to parenting | Catholic CultureMIRUS: Divorce is a horrific experience for everyone involved, and it is most horrific of all for those who are completely innocent: The children of a broken marriage. But I deliberately begin this commentary with strong negative statements only in order to become more effectively positive in the end. In our age of easy divorce, then, I think it must be acknowledged that the majority of divorces...

Man charged with assault after allegedly attacking man in Rosary prayer group at St. Louis statue

Man Charged With Assault After Allegedly Attacking Man In Rosary Prayer Group At St. Louis Statue | The Daily Caller: A Missouri man has been charged with assault after he allegedly attacked two people who say they were praying the rosary alongside a rally that was protesting a statue of St. Louis, KMOV reported.

AP explains why it thinks it was wrong for local-level Catholic employees to get coronavirus relief money

AP explains why it was wrong for local-level Catholic employees to get coronavirus relief money — GetReligionMATTINGLY: Let’s say that an unemployed Catholic kindergarten teacher in Brooklyn works for her local parish school and it has been crippled by coronavirus financial realities. Using the logic at the top of this AP report, this teacher actually works for the pope. Or, in the lede, she works for a mythical super-cardinal who leads a united “U.S. Roman Catholic Church” — the structure that landed this financial “haul.” Where to start?

6 things to keep in mind when (not if) the Church’s human element lets you down

6 Things to Keep in Mind When (Not If) the Church’s Human Element Lets You DownBROWDER: I know a devout Catholic so angry at her bishop for closing churches during the pandemic she can’t bring herself to go back to Mass. A friend of hers grumbles it’s no wonder we have a Eucharistic crisis in America when so many bishops seemed so willing to locked our church doors with barely a peep of protest. She thinks they should have kept the churches open and soothed COVID-terrified Americans by boldly proclaiming that Christ has defeated death and the Eucharist is the fountain of immortality.

Who would be King of America if George Washington had been made a monarch?

New Advent: Who would be King of America if George Washington had been made a monarch?: Drawn from The Washingtons: Seven Generations of the Presidential Branch.

The problems we’ve behaved ourselves into have no convenient escape clause. The devil will have his due. And he’s having it now...

Escape Clause - Ethics & Public Policy CenterMAIER: Rod Serling and Jesus of Nazareth had at least two things in common. Both were Jewish. And both were marvelous storytellers. Both men knew that we can talk about ideas and rules all day long, and these things can be important. But if we want people’s attention, the way to get it is through parables. Human beings love stories. One of humanity’s great skills, of course, is abstract thinking...

C.S. Lewis tells us what to do when the world seems to be falling apart

CS Lewis Knows How to Deal With Disaster | The StreamMILLS: What C. S. Lewis told the people gathered that evening in autumn 1939, at the main Anglican church in Oxford, he could tell us as we face a world falling apart. England had just declared war on Germany. Germany might kill European civilization and tens of millions of people to get what it wanted. In a year or two, barbarian Germany might conquer England, after half-destroying it first.

Michigan court panel says Detroit’s Father Eduard Perrone was defamed by false charges, recommends $125,000 in restitution

Court panel recommends $125,000 for priest it says was defamed by Macomb Sheriff's detective | Cops and Courts | macombdaily.com: A Macomb County Sheriff’s detective’s claim that a suspended Detroit Catholic priest sexually assaulted an altar boy when he served in Mount Clemens decades ago has been determined to be false and defamatory, according to a court-advisory panel. A three-person case evaluation panel Friday recommended that $125,000 be awarded to the Rev. Eduard Perrone for Detective Sgt. Nancy LePage's false report...

This NYTimes op-ed was an insult to the remarkable Little Sisters of the Poor

Little Sisters of the Poor & New York Times Op-Ed: They Deserve Better | National ReviewLOPEZ: Did you happen to see the Gail Collins op-ed in the New York Times this weekend? She painted a picture of the Little Sisters of the Poor Supreme Court case as being about Donald Trump. She presented a caricature of the Little Sisters of the Poor as easily used for ideological purposes. She continued the party line used since the beginning of the Affordable Care Act...

620 Nigerian Christians killed by Muslim Jihadists in first six months of 2020, says watchdog group

Christians dying in Nigeria 'in vast numbers': A recent report from the Nigeria-based International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) claims 620 Nigerian Christians were killed in the first six months of 2020. The society also said the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has not done enough to stop the attacks perpetrated by the terrorist group Boko Haram and jihadist Fulani herders.

6 saints who were ‘good’ and then found holiness

Saints who were ‘good’ and then found holiness: Though the stories of Saints who lived depraved lives and were converted at last may be thrilling, sometimes those of us with more mundane stories can wonder if holiness is possible for us. Neither immaculate from birth nor shockingly wicked, we’re decent people who show up to Mass on Sunday and yet we still struggle with ordinary sins.

Humility is an underrated commodity in our society

Against Self-Promotion | Hans Boersma | First ThingsBOERSMA: Politics, business, entertainment, the academy, and even the church—they seem to thrive on self-promotion. Our Facebook posts and Instagram pictures put on grand display our invariably glamorous lives. Our Twitter behavior (posting, sharing, retweeting, and liking) is typically antithetical to true communication; it enhances our ratings and advances our social standing. Social media provide the most glaring examples...

The destruction of Mission San Gabriel has diminished the cultural heritage and spiritual patrimony of California

Beginning to Pray: Mission San GabrielLILLES: On the Feast of Saint Benedict, Archbishop Jose Gomez stood among the remains of Mission San Gabriel. The embers of the old Californian mission present him with one more trial on top of many other hardships confronting Los Angeles and the Church from which it derives it name, Our Lady, Queen of the Angels. He thanked the fire fighters for their great work and thanked God that no one was hurt, but he also lamented the evil suffered by an active parish of wonderful people of faith.

The Holy See is still keeping quiet about Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò

The “Fake News” of Vigano and Company. Unmasked by a Cardinal - Settimo Cielo - Blog - L’EspressoMAGISTER: Not a word from the congregation appointed to watch over the "doctrine of the faith.” Not a word from Pope Francis, whose original mandate, as the successor of Peter, is to strengthen his brothers in the faith. The calculation underlying this silence is plausibly that of letting Viganò go adrift, alone or nearly so. In effect, since he has lashed out against Vatican II as a hotbed of heresies...

Catholic churches and statues burned, vandalized in string of targeted attacks

Catholic Churches And Statues Burned, Vandalized In String Of Targeted Attacks: Catholic churches and religious statues across the country were the target of vandalism, terrorism, and potential arson this last week as tensions concerning the removal of historical statues continue to rise.

The Fatima secret no one talks about...

The Fatima Secret No One Talks AboutPRONECHEN: Why do most people ignore the first and second of the three secrets given by Our Lady at Fatima on July 103 years ago? The first one is about hell. Do we really want to pay attention to that one? The answer seems to be ‘No.” The answer comes in the way the world has been heading, especially in the last few years. In July 1941, Sister Lucia revealed the first two secrets in her Memoirs written at the direction of her bishop...

The holy lives and passions of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin

The Holy Lives and Passions of Sts. Louis and Zelie MartinSPENCER: They passed each other on a bridge one spring day — a distinguished, reserved, hardworking watchmaker who had tried and failed to become a monk and a lovely, intelligent, productive lacemaker who had been turned away by the Vincentian sisters. When St. Zélie first laid eyes on St. Louis she heard an interior voice, one that she had learned to trust, say, This is he whom I have prepared for you.

Catholic churches burned, vandalized over weekend as police investigate — “Where’s the outrage?”

Catholic churches burned, vandalized over weekend as police investigate: 'Where's the outrage?' | Fox News: A slew of Catholic churches from Florida to California were burned and vandalized over the weekend as police continue to investigate whether or not they are connected to protests targeting symbols and statues. Following George Floyd's police-related death in May, Black Lives Matter leaders and protesters called for the toppling of statues, from Confederate symbols to former U.S. presidents and abolitionists.

Catholics hold pilgrimage to grave of Venerable Augustus Tolton, America’s first black priest

Catholics hold pilgrimage to grave of Venerable Augustus Tolton, first African American priest: The fourth annual Quincy pilgrimage honoring Venerable Augustus Tolton, the first African-American priest, took place Thursday with the intention of overcoming racism. Fr. Daren Zehnle, the founder of the Quincy pilgrimage and pastor of St. Augustine parish in Ashland, Ill., said Tolton pastored beyond racial barriers.

Retired Bishop Edward Kmiec, 13th bishop of Buffalo, dies

Retired Bishop Edward Kmiec, 13th bishop of Buffalo, dies | Obituaries | buffalonews.com: Retired Buffalo Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, who led a historic and tumultuous reorganization of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo and also had to confront allegations of abuse against some priests, died Saturday after a brief illness. Kmiec, who served as bishop of Buffalo from 2004 until his retirement in 2012, had been in declining health the past several months and died peacefully Saturday just before midnight, the diocese announced on Sunday.

Pope weaves ‘Tale of Two Cities’ on Hong Kong and Hagia Sophia

Pope weaves 'Tale of Two Cities' on Hong Kong and Hagia SophiaALLEN: Cue the soundtrack from film adaptations of the Dickens classic, because what Pope Francis has given us over the last week, ladies and gentlemen, is a Tale of Two Cities ... only the settings aren’t London and Paris, they’re Beijing and Ankara. We’re in the middle of July, which means most of Italy, including the Vatican, is down-shifting in preparation for the August holidays...

5 tips from St. Benedict on engaging online — because we’ll get nowhere by daily riding each other’s backs

Engaging Online: 5 Tips from St. Benedict - Word on FireSCALIA: Original sin has rendered our world an ever-contentious place, but for many who remember the late 1960s, the Year of Our Lord 2020 seems (largely thanks to the internet, social media, 24-hour news channels) like a banner year, a David Banner year, furious and destructive. Like 1968 on steroids. It’s brought us to a place were dialogue is strained, where people are reacting at each other, rather than responding to...