US Bishops to Decide Whether to Affirm Opening Cause of Canonization for Marian Visionary Adele Brise

US bishops to decide whether to affirm opening the cause for Marian visionary Adele Brise - OSV News: The U.S. bishops will soon hold a consultation on a petition to open the cause for canonization of Adele Brise, to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared in northeast Wisconsin in 1859. Green Bay Bishop David L. Ricken, who declared in 2010 that the apparitions to Brise were worthy of belief...

Blood of the Covenant: Looking Ahead to This Sunday’s Celebration of Corpus Christi

Blood%20of%20the%20Covenant%3A%20Scott%20Hahn%20Reflects%20on%20Corpus%20Christi%20%u2013%20St.%20Paul%20CenterHAHN: All of today’s readings are set in the context of the Passover. The First Reading recalls the old covenant celebrated at Sinai following the first Passover and the Exodus. In sprinkling the blood of the covenant on the Israelites, Moses was symbolizing God’s desire in this covenant to make them His family, His “blood” relations.

Friendship in Marriage: What Really Makes a Home

Friendship in Marriage: What Really Makes a Home - LifeCraftCUDDEBACK: A key explanation of why happiness is so elusive is in the answer to this question: Why are some homes more a ‘home’ than others? This is no surprise, since the wise tell us that home is where our heart is at rest. Indeed, where else would our heart be at rest? Life experience brings to light what to the young might not be so clear. Real rest is elusive...

The Hallmark liturgical calendar

The Hallmark liturgical calendar | Catholic CultureLAWLER: Did you celebrate Trinity Sunday yesterday? At the Vatican, the same feast was on the liturgical calendar, but the focus was on the First World Children’s Day. On January 1 we celebrate the feast of Mary, Mother of God. But if you read the newspapers the next day, the stories from Rome will be about the World Day of Peace...

Mushrooms and other fungi — and our sins

Mushrooms%20and%20other%20fungi%u2014and%20our%20sins%20%7C%20Catholic%20CultureMIRUS: My wife and I have been battling mushrooms amid the fairly lush grass in one section of our front yard. We’ve had a few pop up here and there in recent years, but this Spring there have been scores of them (sometimes hundreds) popping up every few days, especially after significant rain, for they love moisture. According to the most knowledgeable authorities...

This Is GK Chesterton’s 150th Birthday — Here’s Why He Remains So Relevant Today

This%20Is%20GK%20Chesterton%u2019s%20150th%20Birthday%20%u2014%20Here%u2019s%20Why%20He%20Remains%20So%20Relevant%20Today%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterDESOUZA: Writing about the defiant and flamboyant G.K. Chesterton is fraught. It requires quoting him, and then one quotation piles upon another, and it seems a disservice to the reader for the author to interrupt Chesterton’s words with his own. So what results is a compendium of quotations, more a small anthology than an article...

Francis Faces Another Mess in Argentina

Francis Faces Another Mess in Argentina| National Catholic RegisterDESOUZA: Pope Francis is having serious trouble with the appointment of bishops in his native Argentina. It is quite likely that the latest calamity will kill off whatever slim chance existed of a papal visit home later this year. It was the disastrous papal visit to Chile in 2018, plagued by controversy over troublesome episcopal appointments, that led the Holy Father to cease visiting South America.

Lost Caravaggio Painting of Christ Goes on Display in the Prado: ‘One of the Greatest Discoveries in the History of Art’

Lost%20masterpiece%20of%20Christ%20now%20on%20display%3A%20%u2018One%20of%20the%20greatest%20discoveries%20in%20the%20history%20of%20art%u2019%20%7C%20Catholic%20News%20AgencyPINEDO: A lost masterpiece by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was recently rediscovered and is now on display in what experts are calling “one of the greatest discoveries in the history of art.” Titled “Ecce Homo” (“Behold the Man”), the painting was created between 1605 and 1609 and depicts the moment Pontius Pilate presented the scourged Jesus Christ to the crowds ahead of his crucifixion.

The processions, the news, and the papal apology

The processions, the news, and the papal apologyJDFLYNN: If you’re American, I hope you were able to celebrate Memorial Day yesterday with some time off from work or school, and looking forward to a good summer. Some of you, I suspect, went to a cemetery to pray for America’s war dead. Some of you went down the shore. I spent the day with my family...

Argentine archbishop resigns abruptly as former diocese reels

Argentine archbishop resigns abruptly as former diocese reelsCOPPEN: Archbishop Gabriel Antonio Mestre stood down as the Metropolitan Archbishop of La Plata May 27, at the age of 55, two decades ahead of the typical retirement age for diocesan bishops. Mestre had previously served as bishop of the similarly named Diocese of Mar del Plata from 2017 to 2023, when he was named Archbishop of La Plata, succeeding the now Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief.

Is the Pope’s PR safety net misrepresenting his use of slang?

Is%20Pope%u2019s%20PR%20safety%20net%20misrepresenting%20his%20use%20of%20slang%3F%20%7C%20CruxALLEN: One curious feature of the modern papacy is the informal, but very real, PR safety net which grows up almost spontaneously around every pontiff. It’s forged in part by the Vatican’s own official communications channels, but even more so by outside commentators and media platforms heavily invested in selling a given pope’s story to the world.

How You Can Get Plenary Indulgences This Summer

How You Can Get Plenary Indulgences This Summer| National Catholic RegisterPRONECHEN: Summer presents a spiritual surprise. Several plenary indulgences are possible for you, your family and friends to gain for yourself or to apply to any soul in purgatory. These indulgences are in addition to those particular ones the Church allows on a daily basis — and which so few people realize are available. We’ve discussed daily ones before and will review them later, but let’s begin with those falling during summer.

19 Points of Advice for Fighting the Devil

xARMSTRONG: The exorcists I consult occasionally for articles have personally seen a lot of the devil’s theatrics: levitation, room temperature suddenly and drastically dropping, people knowing foreign languages they never studied, foul odors, objects flying and other antics intended to intimidate the exorcist. Yet, we are told not to fear evil. The exorcists do, however, strongly warn us to stay away from it and use the protection God gives us.

The Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happiness - The Catholic ThingROYAL: Sociology is the softest of the sciences – according to sociological surveys – and its practitioners, with noteworthy exceptions, largely lean – and more than lean – Left. Which may explain why a recent New York Times essay seems puzzled and not a little irritated by the fact, noted by the sociologists, that conservatives are measurably happier...

Rome Today Isn’t What It Was

Rome%20Today%20Isn%u2019t%20What%20It%20Was%20-%20The%20Catholic%20ThingDESOUZA: Thirty years ago, St. John Paul the Great launched two new pontifical academies, the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences (PASS) and the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV). It was the heady days of the 1990s, when the papal magisterium offered a bold defense of life and liberty according to Gospel principles...

Who will hold the keys of St. Peter after Pope Francis? The ups and downs of expertise...

Who will hold the keys of St Peter next? The ups and downs of expertise - Catholic HeraldALLEN: While American journalist David von Drehle has enjoyed a highly distinguished career, including stints with both the Washington Post and Time, I doubt that he’ll look back at a piece he filed on me on March 14, 2013, the day after the election of Pope Francis, as one of his professional highlights.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims (80% under age 35) travel to Chartres to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass

Pilgrimage to Chartres: Tens of thousands travel to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass - Catholic Herald: Over the recent Whitsun weekend I, along with more than 20,000 other pilgrims, descended upon the city of Chartres, in a walking pilgrimage of about 100 kilometres from Paris to Chartres over two and a half days, to hear a Solemn High Pontifical Mass in the traditional Roman rite sung in Latin in the great cathedral of Chartres, a rite for which that cathedral was designed, I need hardly add.

Support and pray for those carrying the cross of infertility

Support, pray for those carrying the cross of infertility - The Leaven Catholic Newspaper: St. John Paul II calls children the crowning glory of a marriage — the crowning glory. So when they don’t come to be, it is a real frustration of marital love and causes deep suffering. This suffering drives the multibillion-dollar fertility industry. It is only from such a place that people would subject themselves to that level of manipulation...

7 Enchanting Islands That You Can Walk to at Low Tide

7%20Enchanting%20Islands%20That%20You%20Can%20Walk%20to%20at%20Low%20Tide%20%u2014%20Daily%20Passport: By definition, an island is a body of land that’s entirely surrounded by water. Islands are typically accessible by aircraft or boat, but around the world there are some islands that are technically only islands at high tide. When the water levels are low, they become connected to the mainland by sandbars, natural pathways, or causeways. So, lace up your favorite walking shoes, wait for low tide, and walk to these seven fascinating islands.

From Hinduism to Catholicism: How Soon-to-Be-Saint Carlo Acutis Inspired a Man to Convert

From Hinduism to Catholicism: How Soon-to-Be-Saint Carlo Acutis Inspired a Man to Convert| National Catholic RegisterMARES: In an interview, Rajesh Mohur shared the story of his spiritual journey and how he came to know Acutis, the computer-coding teen who was the first millennial beatified in the Catholic Church and a patron of the [August 2023] World Youth Day. Mohur grew up on a small island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, about 500 miles east of Madagascar...

Here’s the 2005 Vatican Document Central to the Pope’s Address to the Italian Bishops: ‘Criteria for the Discernment of Vocation for Persons with Homosexual Tendencies’

Criteria for the Discernment of Vocation for Persons with Homosexual Tendencies: In continuity with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and, in particular, with the Decree Optatam Totius on priestly formation, the Congregation for Catholic Education has published various Documents with the aim of promoting a suitable, integral formation of future priests, by offering guidelines and precise norms regarding its diverse aspects...

Pope Uses Blunt Slang Word for Homosexuals While Saying There Are ‘Too Many’ of Them in Seminaries; Vatican Spokesman Offers ‘Apologies to Those Who Were Offended’

Pope apologizes after using vulgar term about gay men regarding church ban on gay priests | AP News: Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis’ comments, which were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20.

Pope Uses Blunt Slang Word for Homosexuals While Warning There Are ‘Too Many’ of Them in Seminaries, Italian Newspapers Report

Pope used vulgar Italian word to refer to LGBT people, Italian newspapers report: Pope Francis used a highly derogatory term towards the LGBT community as he reiterated in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops that gay people should not be allowed to become priests, Italian media reported on Monday.

Very few people realize the carnage and abandonment that’s part of the IVF process

IVF leaves hundreds of thousands of embryos abandoned - The Leaven Catholic NewspaperRZIHA: To determine the morality of IVF, we must ask the question: “What is the purpose of the sexual act?” The wisdom of the church teaches that the purposes of the sexual act are procreation (having and raising virtuous children) and unity (communion of the spouses from a complete gift of self). The sexual act must always be ordered to both of these purposes, which work together for the benefit of the couple and possible children.

News coverage in the whirlwind, or theater of the absurd?

News coverage in the whirlwind, or theater of the absurd? | Catholic CultureMIRUS: The range of news stories we cover is really quite remarkable. There are nearly always stories in all three Catholic news categories: Perhaps we should call them the good, the bad and the ugly. I’ll illustrate what I mean by selecting a few stories from the past three days. First, the good. I was very pleased to see Cardinal Fernández attempt to mend fences with the Coptic Orthodox Church...

An Introduction to St. Augustine’s “Confessions”

Saint Augustine's "Confessions": An Introduction ~ The Imaginative ConservativePEARCE: If any single book can claim to be the quintessential Christian classic it must be St. Augustine’s Confessions. There are other claimants to the accolade, to be sure. One thinks perhaps of Augustine’s other masterpiece, The City of God, or the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, or possibly, if one is seeking lighter fare...

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity: In Jesus We See the Whole Trinity — and Join In

This%20Sunday%2C%20In%20Jesus%20We%20See%20the%20Whole%20Trinity%20%u2014%20and%20Join%20In%20%u2013%20Benedictine%20College%20Media%20%26%20CultureHOOPES: God in his genius found a way for us to understand even something as mysterious as the Trinity, and we see it on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year B. It can be difficult to relate to God. He is invisible. He is outside time and space. The Trinity is a mystery beyond comprehension: the mystery of who God is in himself. As St. Augustine put it, “If you understood him, it would not be God.”

Was Abraham Reprehensible for Pretending that Sarah was His Sister?

Was%20Abraham%20Reprehensible%20for%20Pretending%20that%20Sarah%20was%20His%20Sister%3F%20%u2013%20St.%20Paul%20Center: St. Paul famously describes the Old Testament patriarch Abraham as our father in faith, yet this doesn’t seem to square well with Abraham’s treatment of his wife Sarah on not one but two separate occasions. On the first occasion, in Genesis 12, we’ve only just been introduced to the figure of Abram and his wife Sarai when the biblical narrator announces to us that due to a famine afflicting his native country...

‘All Gifts From God’: Crowds, Connection, Conversion Mark National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s First Week

%u2018All%20gifts%20from%20God%u2019%3A%20Crowds%2C%20connection%2C%20conversion%20mark%20national%20pilgrimage%u2019s%20first%20week%20-%20OSV%20News: In their first week, pilgrims on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage have faced blisters, a busted toe and thunderstorms, but those “hiccups” along the routes are “all gifts from God,” said Jack Krebs, a perpetual pilgrim on the pilgrimage’s St. Junipero Serra Route.

Carbon dating reveals true age of purported tunics of St. Peter and St. John

Carbon dating reveals true age of purported tunics of St. Peter and St. John | Catholic News Agency: The Vatican Museums on Thursday announced the new permanent exhibition of two relics purportedly belonging to St. Peter and St. John the Evangelist, shedding light on their origin and age.

Transgender Hermit Announcement Poses Questions About Church’s Teaching on Religious Life

Transgender%20Hermit%20Announcement%20Poses%20Questions%20About%20Church%u2019s%20Teaching%20on%20Religious%20Life%7C%20National%20Catholic%20Register: A hermit in Kentucky who publicly identified as transgender this past weekend has prompted questions about how the Catholic Church should deal with such cases in religious life given the Church’s opposition to what Pope Francis has called “gender ideology.”

Do You Ever Feel Envy? Me Too. This Is Why We Feel It — and How to Let It Go

%283%29%20Do%20You%20Ever%20Feel%20Envy%3F%20Me%20Too.%20This%20is%20Why%20We%20Feel%20It%u2014And%20How%20to%20Let%20it%20GoDANIELGORDON: Bertrand Russell, a philosopher of the twentieth century, wrote that envy is one of the most powerful causes of unhappiness. If we want to live well, we need to know the paths to follow and the paths to avoid. Envy can become a prison we create for ourselves. Why do we feel envy? And how can we break free from it? Or, better yet, escape it in the first place?

What did Harrison Butker get right? And what did he get wrong?

New Advent: What did Harrison Butker get right? And what did he get wrong?STEFANICK: I usually don’t jump into cultural commentary, but this one’s worth talking about. First of all because it’s probably the most talked about, specifically Catholic graduation speech in my lifetime. The things he gets right are spot on. The things he gets wrong are way off. Both provide a teaching moment that we need to pay attention to...

The Moral And Ethical Challenges Posed By Artificial Intelligence

The Moral And Ethical Challenges Posed By Artificial IntelligenceLISI: Machines all around us are becoming more intelligent. Like all technological tools, they can be used for good or evil. How can artificial intelligence change humanity for the better? Can we rely on companies like Meta, Amazon and Google to do the right thing and put society ahead of profits? Can politicians and extremist groups be stopped when it comes to online disinformation campaigns?

The FACE Act Is a Fiasco

The FACE Act Is a Fiasco| National Catholic RegisterWARSAW: Two years ago, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed that the Biden Justice Department would “use every tool at our disposal to protect reproductive freedom.” As tools go, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act — better known as the FACE Act — is more in the vein of a bulldozer than a screwdriver...

Is Vatican’s Arlington Carmel decree a win for due process?

Is%20Vatican%u2019s%20Arlington%20Carmel%20decree%20a%20win%20for%20due%20process%3FJDFLYNN: As the latest chapter of a saga that began one year ago, the Vatican made a ruling last month in the case of the Arlington, Texas, Carmelites locked in a dispute with Bishop Michael Olson over allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of Mother Theresa Gerlach, who has been replaced by the Vatican as the community’s superior, even while the nuns at the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity continue to recognize her as their superior.

Ordinary Holiness, Synodal Tides, and a Crisis of Confidence

Ordinary holiness, synodal tides, and a crisis of confidenceCONDON: As many of you probably know already, yesterday Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to Blessed Carlo Acutis, further clearing the way for his eventual canonization. This has made a lot of people I know very, very happy. Of course, we should all be happy at another sign that we know someone is alive in heaven. We — I — can tend to gloss over the article about believing in the communion of saints whenever we recite the creed...

Spanish Nun: Schismatic Monastery Has Become ‘a Cult’

Spanish%20nun%3A%20schismatic%20monastery%20has%20become%20%u2018a%20cult%u2019: A Poor Clare nun who left her monastery of Belorado, in Burgos, Spain, says she had to leave to avoid becoming part of a cult, after her community declared it was leaving the Catholic Church and placed itself under the jurisdiction of a sedevacantist self-proclaimed bishop.

Prominent Jesuit: The Society of Jesus Is in ‘Profound Decline;’ Leadership ‘Doesn’t Know It, or Doesn’t Want to Know It’

Prominent%20Jesuit%3A%20The%20Society%20of%20Jesus%20is%20in%20%u2018profound%20decline%u2019%20%7C%20Catholic%20News%20Agency: Father Julio Fernández Techera, a Jesuit priest and rector of the Catholic University of Uruguay, has written a widely circulated, critical essay about the Society of Jesus warning that the order, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1534, is in “deep decline.”

Vatican Reinstates Carmelite Nun After Bishop’s Dismissal in Texas Over Affair With Priest

Vatican%20reinstates%20Carmelite%20nun%20after%20bishop%u2019s%20dismissal%20in%20Texas%20over%20affair%20with%20priest%20%7C%20Catholic%20News%20Agency: The Holy See has reinstated a Carmelite mother superior nearly a year after the bishop of Fort Worth, Texas, dismissed her after alleged inappropriate conduct with a priest. Bishop Michael Olson issued a decree on June 1, 2023, dismissing Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach from religious life following a nearly six-week-long investigation into the affair.

Pope Francis and ‘60 Minutes’: 4 Clear Noes and 1 Clear Yes

Pope%20Francis%20and%20%u201860%20Minutes%u2019%3A%204%20Clear%20Noes%20and%201%20Clear%20Yes%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterDESOUZA: The interview Pope Francis granted to Norah O’Donnell of CBS for 60 Minutes, recorded in April and aired this week, was noteworthy for four clear “Noes,” one implied “No” and one “Yes.” The clear Noes were regarding: women in holy orders — including deacons, surrogacy, blessings of same-sex couples, and papal abdication. The implied No was regarding synodality...

Florida priest accused of biting woman who grabbed fistful of Hosts from ciborium during Holy Communion

%u2018Accepted%20by%20God%3A%u2019%20Florida%20priest%20accused%20of%20biting%20woman%20during%20Communion: A Florida priest could face charges after an argument over Communion resulted in allegations that he bit a woman, according to the St. Cloud Police Department. In a charging affidavit, police said the incident happened around 1:20 p.m. Sunday at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church along Brown Chapel Road. Upon arrival, police said they learned that a woman had attended Mass at the church to participate in her niece’s Communion.

We don't have a vocations crisis — we have a crisis of faith

We don't have a vocations crisis, we have a crisis of faithBRISCOE: Much has been made about the supposed vocations crisis within the Catholic Church in the United States in recent years. Concerned parties point to the declining number of priests and argue that we face a dire shortage that threatens the future of our parishes. However, a closer examination of the data reveals a different story — one that suggests the real crisis we face is not about vocations but about faith.

Learning How and Why to Be Still Every Day

Learning How and Why to be Still Every Day - LifeCraftCUDDEBACK: One of the most arresting lines in the Psalms is in 46:10, “Be still and see that I am God.” The verbs in Latin are memorable: vacate et videte. As these are plural imperatives it seems to be a command that applies to everyone. And it begins with a demanding prerequisite for vision: that we be still...

Maximizing the Mass

Upstream Podcast: Maximizing the Mass on Apple PodcastsLENCIONI: The power of the Mass is the Eucharist. Sometimes the efforts to elevate the beauty of the mass can actually detract from magnifying Christ. There are a few implementations that you as a priest can instill that enhances rather than detracts from the elevation of the Mass. Today Pat is joined with Chris Stefanick and Fr. Sean Conroy from the Archdiocese of Denver to discuss this topic.

What was the Harrison Butker Catholic-kicker-gate all about?

(3) What was Catholic-kicker-gate all about? - by tmattMATTINGLY: I was traveling, to say the least, during most of the Catholic-kicker-gate scandal — as in the online firestorm about the recent Benedictine College commencement address by Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs. Oh my. Yes, the superstar placekicker had a lot of conservative Catholic things to say about marriage, workaholism, careerism and homemakers...

Carlo Acutis to Be First Millennial Saint: Pope Francis Recognizes Miracle for Canonization

Carlo Acutis to be first millennial saint: Pope Francis recognizes miracle for canonization | Catholic News Agency: Pope Francis has recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, paving the way for him to become the first Millennial saint. The Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006 is known for his great devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

True and False Democracy in the Catholic Church

True and False Democracy in the Catholic Church| National Catholic RegisterCHAPP: One of the assumptions that seems to animate so many of the conversations surrounding a more synodal Church is that a more “democratized” Catholic Church is by definition a better Church. To that end, we saw in last year’s Synod on Synodality that there was a lot of chatter about a Church that listens to “the people of God.” And those two concepts...

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy | Catholic CultureMIRUS: I can remember, from my boyhood in the 1950s, when normal business was suspended on Sundays, the stores would close, and most people would (if only for the sake of a kind of cultural propriety) “go to Church”. And I can remember also when the stores began to be open on Sundays, and how over the years our family began to shop on Sundays, if not with complete comfort...

How to Adjust Your Car Mirrors to Eliminate Blind Spots Using the SAE Method

How to Adjust Your Car Mirrors to Eliminate Blind Spots | The Art of Manliness: A blind spot in terms of driving refers to an area where the traffic outside your vehicle cannot be seen in its mirrors. The first time you encounter the reality of blind spots as a new driver can be quite disturbing; you look in your side-view mirrors and see nothing, but as soon as you start to change lanes...

The United Nations headquarters was nearly built on a 100-square-mile campus near Greenwich, Connecticut...

The%20United%20Nations%20was%20nearly%20built%20near%20Greenwich%2C%20Connecticut.%20%u2014%20History%20Facts: The United Nations has called New York City its home since the 1950s, but the global peacekeeping organization once considered developing its headquarters in nearby Connecticut. In June 1945, a committee formed to determine where to build the offices of the newly chartered U.N., and the group conceived of a 100-square-mile campus...

Invoking John Paul the Great

Invoking John Paul the GreatWEIGEL: Age certainly accelerates one’s sense of the passage of time. Well do I remember high school classes that felt as long as Würm Glaciation, the minute hand circumambulating the clock’s perimeter at a glacial pace. Yet this past April 27, sitting in the south transept of the world’s greatest tombstone – the Papal Basilica of St. Peter’s in the Vatican...

Spain Archbishop on Schismatic Nuns: ‘I Don’t Know if They Realize the Profound Consequences’

Spain%20archbishop%20on%20schismatic%20nuns%3A%20%u2018I%20don%u2019t%20know%20if%20they%20realize%20the%20profound%20consequences%u2019%20%7C%20Catholic%20News%20Agency: Archbishop Mario Iceta of Burgos, Spain, in whose jurisdiction is located the convent of the Poor Clares of Belorado and Orduña, expressed his surprise and concern over the nuns there going into schism and noted: “I don’t know if they realize the profound consequences” of their decision.

Vatican’s New Apparitions Document May Lead to Quicker Pronouncements on Purported Marian Apparitions, Experts Say

Vatican%u2019s%20New%20Apparitions%20Document%20May%20Lead%20to%20Quicker%20Pronouncements%20on%20Purported%20Marian%20Apparitions%2C%20Experts%20Say%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterMATTMCDONALD: The new Vatican document on how to judge purported apparitions of Mary and other supernatural events tends toward caution but also offers more clarity and transparency, experts told the Register. Going forward, local bishops are not supposed to make a public pronouncement on a reported apparition until the statement is approved by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF)...

This ER doctor urges you to stop making this horrible mistake on the highway...

New Advent: This ER doctor urges you to stop making this horrible mistake on the highway: From drdarria on Instagram...

The Pilgrim Bridge, the News, and a Priest of Courage

The pilgrim bridge, the news, and a priest of courageJDFLYNN: Today is the feast of St. Roman Adame Rosales, and you’re reading The Tuesday Pillar Post. Roman Adame Rosales was born in 1859, in Jalisco, Mexico. In 1890 he became a priest — and during his priesthood, established associations of laity committed to nightly adoration of the Eucharist. Those associations continue to this day, actually...

German Priests Do Not Support Synodal Way, New Study Finds

German priests do not support Synodal Way, new study finds | Catholic News AgencyWIMMER: Priests in Germany are not supportive of the controversial German Synodal Way, according to a new study commissioned by the German Bishops’ Conference. The study, officially titled “Who Becomes a Priest?”, found that priests are “alienated from the concerns of Church reform,” lead author Matthias Sellmann said on May 17.

Family of Love: A Reflection on the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity

Family%20of%20Love%3A%20Scott%20Hahn%20Reflects%20on%20the%20Solemnity%20of%20the%20Holy%20Trinity%20%u2013%20St.%20Paul%20CenterHAHN: Last Sunday, we celebrated the sending of the Spirit, which sealed God’s new covenant and made a new creation. In this new creation, we live in the family of God, who has revealed himself as a Trinity of love. We share in His divine nature through His Body and Blood (see 2 Peter 1:4). This is the meaning of the three feasts that cap the Easter season...

Is God All Things? Are All Things Really One?

Is God All Things? Are All Things Really One? - Word on FireKACZOR: You may have heard of the idea that “we are all God” or “God is you, me, the tree, the rock, and all existence” or that “all is one.” This view that all reality is one, that the distinctions between things are mere illusions, is sometimes called “monism.” In the East, the Hindu philosopher Shankara represents this view. In the West, the Greek philosopher Parmenides holds that reality is one unchanging Being...

Here are 16 questions ‘60 Minutes’ should have asked Pope Francis

The%20Questions%2060%20Minutes%20should%20have%20asked%20Pope%20Francis%20%u2013%20Catholic%20World%20ReportWEIGEL: Whatever else it managed to accomplish, Norah O’Donnell’s 60 Minutes interview with Pope Francis, aired on May 19, obliterated that much-lauded program’s reputation for hard-hitting investigative journalism. The questions posed touched on none of the crucial issues raised by the pontificate over the past eleven years, even as they reinforced any number of mainstream media caricatures of the pope, his teaching, and his mode of governance.

Of Shopping Carts and Service: A Pinning Reflection

Clinging to Onions: Of Shopping Carts and Service: A Pinning ReflectionBECKER: Welcome honored guests, friends and family (moms and dads particularly), and, of course, you – Saint Mary’s College class of 2024 nursing graduates. Congratulations! You made it! Before I get rolling, a quick shout out to Torie Hardt’s mom. Thanks for teaching your kids to put away stray shopping carts in the grocery store parking lot. Hearing that from Torie last week was just the affirmation I needed as I prepared this address.

IVF in no way detracts from the precious dignity of persons created through it. So why is IVF wrong? Here are the reasons...

The morality of in vitro fertilization - The Leaven Catholic Newspaper: In the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth interpreted and announced her fetal child’s joy in the presence of his even-more-miniscule cousin. John the Baptist offered his first prophetic witness from within the womb of his mother. Beginning from conception, each new human retells the story of biological development experienced by Christ himself...

The Martyrs of Burrishoole, killed during the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland

New Advent: The Martyrs of Burrishoole, killed during the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland: Among the many Irish men and women who were cruelly killed during the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland were two female tertiaries of the Dominican Order, Honoria Bourke OP and Honoria Magaen OP, who were living out lives of prayer and charity in Burrishoole, Co. Mayo, on the shores of Clew Bay.

Mentors and Apprentices in Catholic Ministry

Mentors and Apprentices in Catholic Ministry - Catholic Missionary Disciples - College Station, TXLEJEUNE: For many years we have had the same plumber (George). He is no longer a young man and we have had several conversations through the years about the lack of young plumbers (and young people taking on other trades). In one visit to our house, George had a new apprentice, who had recently graduated from High School. I told George that I was happy to see he had a new apprentice, but he responded by saying that the chances of him sticking around are slim...

Lexington Bishop John Stowe allows local woman to stage ‘coming out’ as male-appearing diocesan hermit

Catholic diocesan hermit approved by Kentucky bishop comes out as transgender: Diocesan hermits by nature don’t get much attention. A small subset of religious persons, hermits mostly spend their lives engaged in quiet prayer. Brother Christian Matson, a Catholic diocesan hermit in Kentucky, has spent years doing just that. His monk’s habit might catch his neighbors’ eye, but he is known in the town where he lives primarily through his work with the local theater.

How to dominate your friends and family in Monopoly, Tic-Tac-Toe, Settlers of Catan and Scrabble...

How to destroy your friends and family in four popular board games: Whether it’s bankrupting your family in Monopoly or securing the last victory point against your buddies in Settlers of Catan, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of board-game triumph. We’ve collected experts’ best tips and tricks of the best board games, so you can dominate every time.

Dale Ahlquist: Coming Home to the Catholic Social Teaching

RLR interview with Dale Ahlquist - Localism: Coming Home to the Catholic Social Teaching - kcknight@gmail.com - Gmail: "G.K. Chesterton wrote about everything. He defended God against a godless society, defended Christianity specifically against other religions and then ended up defending the Catholic faith against, well, everything else," said Dale Ahlquist, author of six books, editor of 16 more, public speaker, Evangelical convert to Catholicism and Catholic apologist...

Even in the city and suburbs, we can learn the liturgy of the land...

Back%20to%20the%20Land%3A%20Following%20the%20Land%u2019s%20LiturgySTAUDT: We shook on it. After too many moves, my wife and I committed to move once more into a small cabin on the land. After years of false starts, it finally happened, as I wrote back in January. More than any of the practical things we hope to do, it was a move for our family, seeking to root ourselves in a rhythm of daily prayer and work. We were seeking a liturgy of life rooted in the land’s own ordering to God.

Pope Francis Interview with Norah O’Donnell Airs on CBS News’ ‘60 Minutes’

New%20Advent%3A%20Pope%20Francis%20Interview%20with%20Norah%20O%u2019Donnell%20Airs%20on%20CBS%20News%u2019%20%u201860%20Minutes%u2019: In a rare interview, Pope Francis answers questions on global conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, migrants in the U.S., sexual abuse in the church, and more during a conversation with Norah O’Donnell...

Be prepared for another ‘long hot summer’

Be%20prepared%20for%20another%20%u2018long%20hot%20summer%u2019%20%7C%20Catholic%20CultureLAWLER: Do you remember the “long hot summer” of 1967, when racial violence broke out in the inner cities all across the US? Then the following year there melees in the streets of Chicago when the Democratic Party held its national convention there. One more year brought waves of campus unrest, with student agitators shutting down classes to protest the war in Vietnam.

Criticize Harrison Butker all you want. Homemaking is back...

Criticize Harrison Butker all you want. Homemaking is back - Washington ExaminerGRESS: Harrison Butker touched a live wire in his recent commencement address at Benedictine College. The place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs violated one of the strongest taboos in America. He used the H-word: homemaking. During the May 11 speech, Butker said he wanted to speak directly to the women “who have had the most diabolical lies told to you.”

Pope Francis on Pentecost: We Are Not Alone, but Helped and Empowered by the Holy Spirit

Pope on Pentecost: We are not alone, but helped and empowered by the Holy Spirit - Vatican News: Even at the most challenging of times or amid the day-to-day struggles, the Holy Spirit and His gifts enable us to persevere... Pope Francis gave this comforting reminder during his homily on the Solemnity of Pentecost on Sunday in the Vatican, marking the end of the Easter Season.

La Leche League goes woke and embraces ‘chestfeeding’

(4) Crossroads -- La Leche League goes woke and embraces 'chestfeeding'MATTINGLY: Is having children “liberal” or “conservative”? Obviously, that question is way too simplistic for the complicated age in which we live, so let’s be more specific. OK, is it “conservative” for a husband and wife to have, oh, four or more children? If you have followed birth-rate trends in American culture in recent decades, you would have to say this choice is “conservative” and almost certainly “faith-based.”

Pope Francis Appoints Cardinal Tagle as Special Envoy to National Eucharistic Congress

Pope Francis appoints Cardinal Tagle as special envoy to National Eucharistic Congress | Catholic News AgencyROMANOWSKY: Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, as his special envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress in the United States, which will be celebrated in Indianapolis July 17–21. The announcement was made Saturday by the Vatican.

Synod boss Cardinal Hollerich claims infallible Church teaching “can be changed” but it has to be done “one step at a time”

Cardinal Hollerich and synodal inevitabilityCONDON: The relator-general of the global synod on synodality, Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich, backed this week the incremental and “tactful” progress towards the ordination of women to the priesthood. The cardinal, who is also Archbishop of Luxembourg, was appointed by Pope Francis to oversee the collection and synthesis of discussion and responses during the multi-year synodal process, due to reconvene in Rome in October.

Vatican’s new norms will make it easier to decide on Medjugorje, says Cardinal Fernández

Cardinal Fernandez: With new norms it will be easier to decide on Medjugorje - Vatican News: “Regarding Medjugorje, no conclusion has been reached yet, but with these guidelines, we believe it will be easier to proceed and reach a conclusion,” said Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, during the press conference presenting the new norms for discerning presumed supernatural phenomena...

What You Need to Know About the New Vatican Norms on Marian Apparitions and Supernatural Phenomena

What You Need to Know About New Vatican Norms on Supernatural Phenomena| National Catholic RegisterAKIN: On Friday, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released a document titled Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena. Accompanying the document was a note by Cardinal Victor Fernández — the head of the DDF — introducing it and explaining the reasons why it was written. This document revised, replaced and expanded a previous document...

In 60 Minutes interview, Pope Francis says his ‘conservative critics’ are ‘closed up inside a dogmatic box’ with a ‘suicidal attitude’

Pope%20Francis%20Says%20Conservative%20Critics%20Have%20a%20%u2018Suicidal%20Attitude%u2019%7C%20National%20Catholic%20Register: In an interview with 60 Minutes airing this Sunday, Pope Francis takes aim at his “conservative critics” in the United States, reportedly saying a conservative is someone who “clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.” “It is a suicidal attitude,” the Pope said, as reported by 60 Minutes, which released a brief clip of the upcoming interview conducted by CBS’ Nora O’Donnell.

Vatican Issues New Norms for Investigating Apparitions, Supernatural Phenomena; Tightens Procedures and Introduces 6 New Possible Conclusions

Norme del Dicastero per la Dottrina della Fede per procedere nel discernimento di presunti fenomeni soprannaturali: God is present and active in our history. The Holy Spirit, who flows from the heart of the risen Christ, works in the Church with divine freedom and offers us many valuable gifts that aid us on the path of life and encourage our spiritual growth in fidelity to the Gospel. This action of the Holy Spirit can also reach our hearts through certain supernatural occurrences, such as apparitions or visions of Christ or the Blessed Virgin, and other phenomena.

Full Text: Harrison Butker’s Commencement Address at Benedictine College

Full Text: Harrison Butker of Kansas City Chiefs Graduation Speech| National Catholic Register: Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2024: I would like to start off by congratulating all of you for successfully making it to this achievement today. I'm sure your high school graduation was not what you had imagined, and most likely, neither was your first couple years of college. By making it to this moment through all the adversity thrown your way from COVID...

May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen our personal Pentecost to speak and live well in Jesus’ name

A Personal Pentecost | Knowing Is DoingTORRE: As he walked the earth after his resurrection for forty days, Jesus provided the gift of his presence to everyone who encountered him. This selfless Act of faith was part of Jesus’ post-resurrection mission to reassure His Apostles and disciples that they would not be alone after his ascension to heaven...

Changing How Our Children Do Dating

Changing How Our Children Do Dating - LifeCraftCUDDEBACK: How our young people date is problematic; and I’m not talking about the mainstream habits of a ‘hookup culture.’ I mean young people from families with traditional values, where preparing for marriage and waiting for marriage are implicit, accepted goods. It is not surprising that we have a problem...

Servant of God Chiara Corbella’s Beatification Cause to Take a Step Forward in June

Chiara%20Corbella%u2019s%20beatification%20cause%20to%20take%20a%20step%20forward%20in%20June%20%7C%20Catholic%20News%20Agency: Servant of God Chiara Corbella Petrillo, the joyful young mother who died of cancer in 2012, will be one step closer next month to being declared a saint. The Diocese of Rome announced Wednesday that it will hold the closing session of the diocesan phase of her cause for beatification on Friday, June 21, at noon in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.

Which ‘spirituality’ is for you? Here’s a good place to start...

Which%20%u201Cspirituality%u201D%20is%20for%20you%3F%20A%20place%20to%20start%20%7C%20Catholic%20CultureMIRUS: One of the confusing things about spiritual growth is how to figure out exactly what particular approaches or procedures we ought to follow to foster that growth. We may come across various particular devotions or spiritual exercises, some of which may...

‘Be grateful’ might sound like an overblown slogan. But it’s a simple truth: Gratitude leads to joy

(4) Gratitude: A Matter of Justice and Joy - Daniel GordonDANIELGORDON: Gratitude makes us happier and healthier. That said, I have some difficulty expressing gratitude, especially as a person who tends toward the melancholic and the critical. This trait can be useful when writing academic papers, but it is often less helpful in close relationships. And so, while scientific studies on gratitude often impress me, they do not always move me to practice gratitude more.

The Carrington Lights, the News, and Kendrick the Intercessor?

The Carrington lights, the news, and Kendrick the intercessor?JDFLYNN: I hope a lot of you enjoyed seeing the aurora borealis over the weekend, if the phenomenon could be seen where you live. Here in Colorado, we’ve had a lot of cloud cover for the past few nights, and despite the solar storm that put them in reach for much of the country, the Northern Lights were never going to be especially visible from here anyhow.

The appointment of Venerable Jérôme Lejeune was one of John Paul II’s signature moves

Venerable%20J%E9r%F4me%20Lejeune%20Remembered%20at%20Canada%u2019s%20March%20for%20Life%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterDESOUZA: Signature appointments capture the essence of a pope. As St. John Paul the Great had Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for doctrine and Cardinal Francis George in Chicago, Pope Francis has Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez for doctrine and Cardinal Blase Cupich in Chicago. Such signatures, which are good subjects for handwriting analysis, reveal a great deal about the authors.

What did St. Athanasius mean when he said, ‘God became man so that man might become God?’

Saint Athanasius on Divinization - AdoremusTSAKANIKAS: Athanasius is the one who almost single-handedly saved Christianity from abandoning the Apostolic understanding of the Trinity when Arius tried to sway bishops away from following the Council of Nicaea. The Athanasian kerygma (key proclamation of the Gospel) is a powerful statement that restores the real mystery of Christianity, a mystery that must be lived to be understood. But can he be trusted on this topic of divinization?

‘Never Be Afraid to Profess the Catholic Church’: KC Chiefs’ Harrison Butker Triggers Media Frenzy with Benedictine College Speech

Chiefs%u2019%20Harrison%20Butker%20Chides%20Catholic%20Leaders%20in%20Benedictine%20College%20Commencement%20Address%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterMCDONALD: Kansas City Chiefs’ placekicker Harrison Butker offered some pointed criticism of Catholic bishops and priests along with advice to college graduates in his commencement address at Benedictine College on Saturday. Catholic bishops should be more like St. Damien of Molokai and less concerned about what civil and cultural leaders think about them...

Pro-Life Activist Lauren Handy Sentenced to 57 Months in Federal Prison Under FACE Act

Pro-life activist Lauren Handy sentenced to over four years in prison under FACE Act | Catholic News Agency: Pro-life activist Lauren Handy was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison in a Washington, D.C., district court today for her role in organizing a “rescue” at a local abortion clinic. Attorneys from the Thomas More Society who are representing Handy said they will appeal her conviction.

Germany Now a ‘Mission Country,’ Bishop Bätzing Says Amid Declining Catholic Numbers

Germany%20now%20a%20%u2018mission%20country%2C%u2019%20Bishop%20Georg%20B%E4tzing%20says%20amid%20declining%20Catholic%20numbers%20%7C%20Catholic%20News%20Agency: The German Bishops’ Conference president has called Germany — a nation whose very history is entangled with the Catholic Church — a “mission country.” In an interview with the Society of the Divine Word’s German-language magazine, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg said: “We live in a missionary country when we realize that less than half of Germany’s citizens still belong to the Christian denominations.”

A Lesson in Kenosis from the Solar Eclipse

A Lesson in Kenosis from the Solar Eclipse - Word on FireFERENCE: The Feast of the Annunciation and the solar eclipse happened on the same day this year, April 8, and it was one of the most memorable days of my life. Part of the reason for me writing this essay is to get all my thoughts out, because I can’t stop thinking about it, and I can’t stop talking about it. Even when I haven’t planned to do so, I wind up mentioning the eclipse in homilies...

‘Be unapologetic in your masculinity,’ Super Bowl winning kicker Harrison Butker tells Benedictine College male students

%u2018Be%20unapologetic%20in%20your%20masculinity%2C%u2019%20Super%20Bowl%20winning%20kicker%20tells%20Benedictine%20College%20male%20students%20%7C%20The%20College%20Fix: Super Bowl winning kicker Harrison Butker ripped into COVID lockdowns and pro-abortion Catholics, like President Joe Biden, during his graduation speech at Benedictine College. But he also encouraged students to be open to marriage and having kids, particularly directing his comments towards female students.

Scrupulosity: When Piety Becomes an Affliction

New Advent: Scrupulosity: When Piety Becomes an Affliction: Do you know someone who is VERY strict with their spiritual and moral practices, to the point where you think it might be a problem? Or, do YOU sometimes struggle with feelings of unworthiness of our Heavenly Father’s love? If so, this episode is for you. Scrupulosity is a spiritual and psychological affliction that can sprout from a desire to be pious and virtuous...

Father Robert Spitzer’s 4 Levels of Happiness and Your Path to Personal Flourishing

Fr. Robert Spitzer - The Four Levels of Happiness: Your Path to Personal Flourishing | Respect Life Radio: "There is so much good scientific evidence for God, the soul and transcendence that I wanted to include in this book. There's so much to include that wasn't available to previous generations," said Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., the founder and president of the Spitzer Center. A scholar, teacher, author and seasoned leader, Fr. Spitzer is a pre-eminently a theologian and philosopher...

Crime novelist Agatha Christie is often seen as stodgy, but did you know she became a surfing pioneer in her 30s?

Agatha Christie, Surfing Pioneer: Think about surfing and you’ll likely come up with a mental image of tanned young men and women on California beaches, hair bleached by the sun and sporting ripped abs. But from a historical perspective, you might as well think of crime novelist Agatha Christie hanging 10 in a “skimpy” emerald-green wool bathing suit and leather booties. That’s because Christie was an early—if unlikely—English pioneer of the sport.

How We Got Concussions So Wrong

Concussion treatment: the insidious myth that even doctors still believe.: The first time Conor Gormally got a concussion, he felt as if he were standing on a ship at sea. A high school soccer player, he had decided to try out something new during his off-season: wrestling. His very first opponent caught him off guard, with a headbutt to the temple. “I stood up, then my horizon tilted to a 40-degree angle and I fell to the ground,” Gormally told me years later.

Pope Meets Head of Divided Syro-Malabar Church, Tells Kerala’s Faithful: ‘Unity Is a Duty’

Pope to Syro-Malabar faithful: Unity is a duty - Vatican News: Meeting with the head Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, which has been divided for a number of years by a fierce liturgical dispute, Pope Francis emphasises the importance of obedience to ecclesiastical authorities.

Pope Francis: ‘We Entrust Mothers to the Protection of Mary, Our Heavenly Mother’

Pope%20Francis%20on%20Mother%u2019s%20Day%3A%20Let%20us%20pray%20also%20for%20mothers%20in%20heaven%20%7C%20Catholic%20News%20Agency: On Mother’s Day, Pope Francis entrusted all mothers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking everyone to remember to also pray for all the mothers who have gone to heaven.

What is love? Love is to will the good of the other. But what does that mean?

What is Love? - Love means more.: “I love you.” Imagine sincerely saying this to someone for the first time, and getting the response, “what do you mean?” In that moment, the stakes would be too high to pause for a calm, honest exploration of this question. Maybe the answer is obvious, though. Think of the far-reaching impact of sayings like “love is love”, “love is all you need”, and “love conquers all”. They’re practically cliches at this point...

Bishop Thomas Paprocki: Biden mocked the Catholic faith by invoking the Blessed Trinity in his pro-abortion message

Bishop Thomas Paprocki: Biden mocks Catholic faith by invoking Christ in pro-abortion message | Catholic News Agency: Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, is accusing President Joe Biden of “making a mockery of our Catholic faith” after he made the sign of the cross while promoting abortion. Biden, who is the country’s second Catholic president, made the sign of the cross at an abortion rally in Tampa, Florida, more than two weeks ago. In his speech, the president criticized Catholic Gov. Ron DeSantis...

Beethoven, Garth Brooks and Tom Brady Converge at the Vatican

Beethoven, Garth Brooks and Tom Brady Converge at the Vatican| National Catholic RegisterDESOUZA: It was an inspired choice for the Vatican to hold its World Meeting on Human Fraternity in the same week as the bicentennial of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a sublime anthem and prayer for universal brotherhood. From the sublime to the ... well, less sublime; Garth Brooks and Tom Brady will be on hand, too.

10 Life-Changing Daily Rules of Life, From St. John XXIII

10 Life-Changing Daily Rules of Life, From St. John XXIII| National Catholic RegisterCINTORINO: In high school, I stumbled across The Journal of a Soul by Pope John XXIII. Besides the knowledge that he convened the Second Vatican Council, was affectionately known as “Good Pope John,” and had a sense of humor, I had not known much else about him. His journal — which he began as a young seminarian — provides a glimpse into John XXIII’s spirituality as he himself once admitted...

Archbishop Fulton Sheen traced abortion and today’s moral chaos to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was right. Here’s why...

The Bomb and the American Barbarian - Crisis MagazineIPPOLITO: To call the dropping of the atomic bomb evil does not mean that you hate America. Far from it; it is the most patriotic thing an American can do. American patriots should be able to be honest about their nation’s actions. Patriotism is an extension of charity, and any American patriot should build a nation filled with virtuous leaders rather than barbarians.

Did Egyptian monks pave the way for St. Patrick?

Did Egyptian monks pave the way for St. Patrick? | Catholic CultureLAWLER: The book opens like a mystery novel. The year is 2006. An Irish farmer, digging for peat, notices an odd shape in his bucket. Looking carefully, he discovers that it is a very old book. Bringing it to experts, he learns that it is a psalter, more than a thousand years old, written on papyrus, bound in leather...

Being a pilgrim is not easy, as Dorothy Day shows

Being a pilgrim is not easy, as Dorothy Day showsMILLS: We once had a pastor who often, almost in every homily, described the Christian life as a “journey.” The word’s a good go-to image for the Christian life, but it’s not the best one. The Christian life isn’t just a journey, though, it’s a particular type of journey. By itself, the image says that you’re moving but not where you’re going and why...

Priest Plunges School Into Darkness to Save Children From Marauding Gunmen

Priest plunges school into darkness to save children from marauding gunmen - Catholic HeraldBALOG: The quick thinking of a headteacher helped save the lives of sleeping students after armed extremists stormed a secondary school in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Father Emmanuel Ogwuche, principal at Father Angus Frazer Memorial High School in Makurdi, promptly switched off all the lights in the building after hearing gunshots outside, preventing the terrorists from finding their way inside the school...

Wise men listen when hypocrites speak. We’re all at least slightly hypocritical , but Christ still calls us to speak of his mercies...

The Necessary Testimony of Hypocrites ~ The Imaginative ConservativeDEAVEL: “I have a question,” my student said ominously as he sat in the chair in my office. I braced internally and probably externally—my heart is worn on my whole demeanor. When he asked it, I was relieved: “How can I be a theology major and keep sinning?” You can’t go for long in Christian life without discovering what St. John Henry Newman meant when he said, “To know is one thing, to do is another; the two things are altogether distinct.”

7 Suggestions for Becoming More Childlike

Want%20of%20Wonder%3A%20Seven%20Suggestions%20for%20Becoming%20More%20Childlike%20%u2013%20Hearth%20%26%20FieldMICHAELWARRENDAVIS: One day, I was sitting at our kitchen table watching a compilation of ads from the early 2000s. Like all Millennials, I’m a slave to nostalgia. One of them hit a little too hard, though: the commercial for York’s Wild Kingdom. For those who didn’t grow up in northern New England, York’s Wild Kingdom...

Did you know that this beautiful Irish island was once a concentration camp for Catholic priests under Cromwell?

New%20Advent%3A%20Did%20you%20know%20that%20Ireland%u2019s%20beautiful%20island%20of%20Inishbofin%20was%20once%20an%20open-air%20prison%20under%20Cromwell%3F: This video is presented by Dominican Father Conor McDonough and shot and edited by Patrick Grant.

Exploring little-known sites in the Holy Land: Stairway to the Sanhedrin, Chapel of the Ascension, St. Stephen’s Battleground, and the (Empty) Tomb of Our Lady

xBEAUDOIN: After taking a brief respite at Our Lady’s “Rest Stop,” (see my previous post), I continued on the ancient route from Bethlehem into the Holy City of Jerusalem. For many reasons, visiting Jerusalem is always an incredible blessing and honor. Our Lord Himself in Matthew 5:35 refers to Jerusalem as “the city of the great King.” Whenever I walk into the city, I think of the numerous...

The transitional diaconate is integral to the Catholic Church

The transitional diaconate is integral to the Catholic ChurchCERRATO: Is the transitional diaconate still necessary? In other words, is it necessary for a priest to first be ordained a deacon before being ordained to the priesthood? In the recent essay “The Catholic Church doesn’t need transitional deacons.” for America Magazine, Deacon William T. Ditewig argues a resounding no. According to him, the diaconal step on the path to the priesthood is no longer necessary or beneficial...

Cardiac Attest: How the Sacred Liturgy Can Ignite Souls with Sacred Heart of Christ

Cardiac Attest: How the Liturgy Can Ignite Souls with Sacred Heart of Christ: An Interview with Sacred Liturgy Conference Founder Lynne Bissonnette-Pitre - AdoremusBEATTIE: The Sacred Liturgy Conference has been graced by the guidance of several outstanding Church leaders over the years. Cardinals, archbishops, monsignors, priests, religious, and laity have helped to unfold the richness of liturgical life to hundreds of participants. Dr. Lynne Bissonnette-Pitre spoke with Adoremus correspondent Trent Beattie about this year’s conference in the Diocese of Santa Rosa, California, June 4-7.

A moveable feast, Twitter bishops, and too many whales

A moveable feast, Twitter bishops, and too many whalesCONDON: Depending on where you are, or were yesterday, you’ve either celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord or will do so this Sunday. There are three tiers of canon law at play here, and people often ask us what the deal is, what exactly their obligations are, and even how fast and loose you can play pilgrim across diocesan lines to celebrate it according to your day of preference.

A Museum Employee in Germany Was Fired for Putting Up His Own Art

A Pinakothek der Moderne Employee Hung His Own Painting at the Museum: Someone in Germany was so confident in their artistic abilities, they went ahead and installed one of their paintings in a museum—without anyone else knowing. A man in Munich is accused of illicitly hanging a painting in the Pinakothek der Moderne, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. The 51-year-old was an employee of the museum, and he hung his work on the modern-art floor while assisting in the installation of an exhibit on philanthropy.

Hidden Google Maps Features You Should Know About

Hidden Google Maps Features You Should Know About: I have always used Google Maps but never cared enough to look beyond the basic features. It wasn’t until today that I made an effort to explore the app and ended up going down a rabbit hole of all the cool things it’s capable of. You might already know some of these, but you might have missed a handful of interesting hidden features.

How Catholics Should Approach Media Heading Into Next Election

How Catholics Should Approach Media Heading Into Next ElectionOLOHAN: It is a truth universally acknowledged that pretty much no one trusts “the news” anymore. You can’t really blame the American public for not believing the stories that fill their news feeds when so many legacy newsrooms are filled with activist reporters masquerading as unbiased journalists. We live in a time when men claim to be women and get away with it, when the innocence of our children is flaunted...

In Echoes of Cardinal Pell Media Gag Order, Australian Judge Extends Ban Worldwide on X Sharing Video of Sydney Bishop’s Stabbing

Australian judge extends ban on X sharing video of Sydney bishop's stabbing | AP News: An Australian judge on Friday extended a ban on X allowing videos of the stabbing of a Sydney bishop in his church last month after government lawyers condemned the social media company’s free speech argument for keeping the graphic images circulating.

Company Fires Florida Catholic for Marking His Pronouns ‘Assigned by God’

Company%20Fires%20Florida%20Catholic%20for%20Marking%20His%20Pronouns%20%u2018Assigned%20by%20God%u2019%20-%20CatholicVote%20org: When a password management company asked its employees to share their preferred “gender” pronouns, software engineer Chad Scharf responded with “Assigned by God.” He was later fired. Scharf was vice president of software engineering at Bitwarden, a password management company with a location in Jacksonville, Florida...

The AP says orthodox Catholics are growing too fast

(4) Crossroads -- AP says conservative Catholics are growing too fastMATTINGLY: A recent Associated Press feature is framed with bad news — that progressive Catholics in the United States are experiencing pain because of the rising numbers of young priests and young adults (especially parents with, wink-wink, lots of children) seeking a more pro-Catholic Catechism approach to faith. But are the orthodox Catholics out of step with the growing churches of Africa, Asia and much of the Global South, or are they clashing with the shrinking churches of Europe and parts of North and South America?

Cor Ad Cor Loquitur: We Can Deepen Our Friendships by Deepening Our Conversations

(4) Friendship: When Heart Speaks to Heart - Daniel GordonDANIELGORDON: Aristotle famously wrote that no one would want to go on living without friends—even if he possessed all other goods. That is quite the claim! Is it really the case that if you had all of the pleasure, and influence, and beauty, and wealth, and leisure, and wisdom you could imagine—that you would still not want to live without friends?

San Antonio Archbishop García-Siller Deletes Social Media Posts About Gaza War, Says He ‘Deeply Regrets ... Misunderstanding’

San Antonio archbishop deletes some social media posts about Gaza war | Catholic News Agency: The Archdiocese of San Antonio says Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller “deeply regrets” that some recent social media posts on the war in Gaza, several of which were deleted Thursday, have “caused confusion and misunderstanding.”

No Church, no witness to the world. No Eucharist, no Church. And no priests, no Eucharist...

Faithful Laity, More Priests | Francis X. Maier | First ThingsMAIER: The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once described humans as “dependent, rational animals,” arguing in his text that, as creatures, we need the virtues. This makes sense, because none of us is really “independent” or “self-sufficient.” Each of us is imperfect. We need others to complete and support us. They need us for the same reason...

What Our Lord did is awfully strange. For starters: How, exactly, did Jesus ‘Ascend?’

This%20Sunday%2C%20When%20Jesus%20Does%20Something%20Strange%2C%20He%20Is%20Sending%20a%20Message%20%u2013%20Benedictine%20College%20Media%20%26%20CultureHOOPES: The Easter Season is drawing to a close after 40 days. Before he left the earth behind, Jesus went to great lengths to show us what he wants us to do after he is gone, and it’s on clear display on the Ascension of the Lord and the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Before we get to what he wants, though, let’s focus on what he did.

How to Manage (and Even Embrace) Transition as a Priest

Upstream Podcast: Managing Transition as a Priest on Apple PodcastsLENCIONI: Transition is a challenge that every priest encounters but how do you not only navigate but embrace it. Oftentimes the challenge comes not singularly in the change but primarily in the loss. When these losses come it is absolutely necessary that our priests come to terms, respond, ceremonialize, and finally ask for a brother or member of Christ who reminds and encourages them of their purpose, picture, plan, and part to play in the midst of that loss.

Being 'Triggered' By Mother's Day Proves Our Need For Moms

Being 'Triggered' By Mother's Day Proves Our Need For MomsGRESS: Mother’s Day seems as American as apple pie. It used to be the biggest day of the year for telephone companies, with many calling their mom only to hear: “All circuits are busy. Try your call later.” Of late, however, it has become controversial to even talk about Mother’s Day. The cancel culture has come to call.

The Nature of the Moment

The Nature of the Moment - The Catholic ThingMAIER: I spent nearly three decades working in senior diocesan positions. I saw the failures, problems, and human sins of Church life in an intimate way. None of it diminished my faith or damaged my trust in the Church or her teachings. The reason is simple. The priests and bishops I worked with were overwhelmingly good men; men with vastly different personalities...

Who is Setting the Tone at Home? Here Are 3 Suggestions...

Who is Setting the Tone at Home? 3 Suggestions - LifeCraftCUDDEBACK: How I think about marriage and homelife is much affected by life with my wife. I must remind myself not to universalize too quickly or without nuance. Yet I think what I’ve seen with my eyes, and felt in my heart, does point to something that goes beyond the contingencies of my experience. Woman has a natural inclination, we could say ‘genius,’ in setting the tone of life in the home.

Midwest Catholicism Is Humble, Yet Powerful — Just Like Mary

Midwest%20Catholicism%20Is%20Humble%2C%20Yet%20Powerful%20%u2014%20Just%20Like%20Mary%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterLIEDL: Midwesterners are used to being overlooked. After all, this is the part of the U.S. known as “flyover country” by coastal denizens. Even the region’s most prominent metropolis, Chicago, is known as “The Second City,” a nickname that originated as a put-down, made by a visiting journalist from the nation’s “first city,” New York.

Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati Diagnosed With Cancer, Will Begin Chemotherapy Treatment

Cincinnati archbishop diagnosed with cancer, will begin chemotherapy treatment | Catholic News Agency: Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis Schnurr has been diagnosed with cancer, the archdiocese revealed this week, with the prelate set to begin preparing for chemotherapy treatment this week. An archdiocesan spokesman told CNA on Wednesday morning that on Friday the archbishop “received a post-operation diagnosis of stage 3 small bowel cancer.”

God will not just raise you from the dead someday — He will transform you in the body you have...

The Resurrection of the Bodies We Have | Church Life Journal | University of Notre Dame: I have a very distinct memory of my eldest daughter, whom we call Nonnie, and her younger sister, Bel; they were ages 4 and 2, respectively. It happened something like 22 years ago. I had some sort of gastrointestinal illness with all that goes with that, and I was lying on the couch writhing in abdominal pain and discomfort, not feeling well at all...

Hitting the Bricks, 750th Anniversary of Lyons II, and the News

Hitting the bricks, the news, and Lyons IIJDFLYNN: If the reference seems a bit obscure, I apologize. But Lyons II, which opened 750 years ago today, was attended by about 500 bishops, almost 100 abbots, and emissaries from governments and hierarchies across Eastern and Western Europe. It’s an important one, at which the Council Father resolved that the Church...

‘Veritatis Splendor’ priests expected to leave Tyler diocese

%u2018Veritatis%20Splendor%u2019%20priests%20expected%20to%20leave%20Tyler%20diocese: A group of priests associated with a controversial residential project in the Diocese of Tyler, Texas is expected to leave the diocese, as their efforts to reach a stable canonical status have faltered, according to sources close to the diocese. Bishop Joe Vásquez, apostolic administrator of the Tyler diocese...

Vatican to Publish New Document on Marian Apparitions ‘and Other Supernatural Phenomena’ Next Friday, May 17

Vatican to publish new document on Marian apparitions next week | Catholic News Agency: The Vatican’s doctrine office will publish a new document next week on discerning Marian apparitions and other supernatural events. The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), will unveil new norms for discernment regarding “apparitions and other supernatural phenomena” on Friday, May 17.

Strange Phenomena and Spiritual Warfare: A Catholic Convert’s Testimony

Strange%20Phenomena%20and%20Spiritual%20Warfare%3A%20A%20Catholic%20Convert%u2019s%20Testimony%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterCLUNE: After months of prayer, study and preparation, my husband and I joyfully received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Holy Eucharist at this year’s Easter Vigil. As a newly initiated Catholic, I am grateful to fully participate in the faith and experience God’s graces in a welcoming parish community. But the journey to the Easter Vigil Mass was also filled with spiritual challenges that I did not anticipate.

The Miraculous Medal Is Ireland’s Hope, and Ours

The%20Miraculous%20Medal%3A%20Ireland%27s%20Hope%20and%20Ours%20%u2013%20Theology%20of%20HomeGRESS: A story out of Ireland two months ago got little attention here across the pond, but it offers a rare ray of hope in the culture war. As The Guardian explained, back in March, on the International Day of Women, the Irish voted on a proposed referendum that would have changed language in the constitution, redefining the family...

The Communion Conundrum

The Communion Conundrum | Knowing Is DoingTORRE: The Easter season provides an opportunity to celebrate the life and death of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice on the Cross brought light to the world conquering sin and death, his destruction of the works of the Devil, and the opening of the gates of heaven...

‘Wildcat’ lacks O’Connor’s oddness, but brims with passion

xGREYDANUS: Ethan Hawke’s Wildcat opens, very nearly, with a familiar scenario: a dispiriting encounter between a young artist with an exacting creative vision and a conventional corporate gatekeeper with a checklist approach to what sells. The scene depicts a real-life exchange between 24-year-old Mary Flannery O’Connor (played by Maya Hawke, the director’s daughter) and her editor at Holt Rinehart regarding her unfinished novel Wise Blood...

As an Underwater Graveyard, the Great Lakes Have Claimed Close to 10,000 Ships

As an Underwater Graveyard, the Great Lakes Have Claimed Close to 10,000 Ships | Discover Magazine: The Great Lakes were a massive graveyard for ships lost at sea for centuries. Sailboats have slipped into storms, never to be seen again. Steamers have rocked in the waves. Even massive freighters have sunk to the sea floor.

No, the Resurrection is not a wonderful symbol of hope

No, the Resurrection is not a wonderful symbol of hopeMILLS: Last Epiphany, my wife and I had our annual debate over whether to take down the Christmas tree. She has a weird dislike of finding pine needles on the floor. I don’t understand it. She invokes the tradition of Christmas lasting through Epiphany. I argue that grace overflows the traditional rules, and that keeping up the Christmas tree beautifully symbolizes that truth...

Looking Ahead to the Ascension

Looking Ahead to the Ascension - AdoremusCARSTENS: The solemnity of the Ascension comes 40 days after the “main event” of Easter. This might be why it has the sense of being somewhat of an afterthought to the Paschal Mystery. In addition, in the Church’s post-Vatican II liturgical calendar, the Ascension has been reduced from its status of an octave to a single day, which might also have caused the faithful’s appreciation of it to wane a bit...

The story behind the hidden persecution of Christians in Nicaragua

New Advent: The story behind the hidden persecution of Christians in Nicaragua: Discover the untold story of Catholic Priests in Nicaragua, facing adversities and government opposition in their efforts to bring the Gospel to their people. Despite Nicaragua's deep-rooted Catholicism, priests and bishops find themselves targets of persecution and religious constraints. Through this interview, you can step into their world with Fr. Robert Havens from the CANELA Foundation as he unveils the struggles they face...

Jesus Is Always Your Friend

Jesus Is Always Your Friend | Parishable ItemsFELTES: At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles, “I have called you friends ...” He calls them friends and he does not lie; what Jesus speaks is true. And then he tells them, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” But what if we, or they, do not do what Christ commands? Does the Lord remain a friend towards us even when we are not being a friend towards him?

If 2 Plus 2 Equals 4, Then God Exists

If 2 2=4, Then God Exists - Word on FireKACZOR: Aristotle, Anselm, Aquinas, Liebniz, and William Lane Craig provide famous reasons to believe that God exists. Less well known is a way proposed by the African intellectual Augustine. In his fantastic book Five Proofs of the Existence of God, Edward Feser explains this argument at length. Inspired by Augustine, let’s begin with the reality that 2+2=4.

Pope Francis Appoints Msgr. John McDermott as New Bishop of Burlington, Vermont

Pope Francis appoints new bishop of Burlington, Vermont | Catholic News Agency: Pope Francis has appointed Vermont priest John McDermott as the bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in that state, the Vatican announced Monday. The Burlington bishopric was previously headed by Bishop Christopher Coyne, whom Pope Francis named as coadjutor archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut, last year and who on May 1 took over as archbishop there.

On the Paradoxical Connection Between Love, Law and Joy

On the Paradoxical Connection Between Love, Law and Joy - A Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter - Community in MissionPOPE: In the Sunday Gospel, Jesus cuts right through the modern Western tendency to place love in opposition with law, and law in opposition with joy. Jesus joins all three concepts and summons us to a new attitude. Note how the Lord joins the three concepts of love, law, and joy. This is precisely the opposite of what Western culture does. The best that Western culture will admit of law is that it is a necessary evil...

A Paradigm Shift from Veritatis Splendor to Amoris Laetitia?

A Paradigm Shift from Veritatis Splendor to Amoris Laetitia? - Veritas Amoris ProjectMELINA: What has happened in Catholic moral theology with the publication of Amoris Laetitia? Some claim that everything has changed. In particular, they argue that one can no longer refer to Veritatis Splendor, an encyclical that has supposedly become obsolete because there has allegedly been a shift from the rigorism of “moral absolutes”...

Pope’s Sunday Regina Coeli: Jesus ‘Wants Your Good and He Wants You to Share in His’

Pope at Regina Coeli encourages growing in friendship with the Lord - Vatican News: In his reflections on the Sunday Gospel during the Regina Coeli, Pope Francis recalls Jesus' words to the Apostles, “I do not call you servants any longer, but friends," and encourages us to grow in friendship with the Lord and sharing it with others. At the same time, he offers prayers for flood victims in Brazil and for dialogue and peace in Ukraine, Palestine, and Israel.

Meet Mother Marla Marie, who left the Washington Post (where she worked for Herblock) for the Maronite convent...

From the Washington Post to the Maronite convent: Meet Mother Marla Marie | Catholic News AgencyBUKURAS: It was 1983, in the last years of the Cold War, when 21-year-old Marla Lucas’ eyes filled with tears at the sight of a political cartoon prepared to be printed in the Washington Post criticizing then-Pope John Paul II during his activism against communism in Poland. Lucas, who is now known as Mother Marla, was fresh out of college at the time and had recently experienced a reversion to her Catholic faith and was “on fire” for Christ...

The AP offers an outsider's view of the Catholic Church

The AP offers an outsider's view of the Catholic ChurchPERLA: Sometimes when you are part of a subculture, it is really important to step out of it or to be shown what it looks like from the outside. In the United States, to be a Mass-attending Catholic is to be part of a religious subculture (please, spare me the discussion of whether Catholicism is the ‘real’ culture and thus America is the subculture). American Catholics were given the chance to see themselves from another point of view...

Ethan Hawke didn’t make ‘Wildcat’ to be a blockbuster. He made it to be good art. And he succeeded...

Capturing%20a%20Misfit%3A%20A%20Review%20of%20%u201CWildcat%u201D%20-%20Word%20on%20FireFERENCE: I am convinced the primary reason Flannery O’Connor was so serious about her Catholic faith is that it was the one place where she experienced being seen and understood and loved; it was the one place in which she felt that she fit—that she belonged, because at the center of Catholicism is a crucified misfit...

‘Wildcat’ sheds light on Flannery O'Connor's faith and fiction and leaves audience searching for grace...

%u2018Wildcat%u2019%3A%20Too%20Much%20Darkness%2C%20Too%20Little%20Grace%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterMURRAY: Flannery O’Connor spent most of her life living on Andalusia farm near Milledgeville, Georgia, with her mother. From her imagination emerged some of the most unforgettable characters in 20th-century American literature: Hulga, the one-legged intellectual who fancies herself better than the country bumpkins that surround her; Ruby Turpin, a proud farmer’s wife who categorizes people by race and class; a one-armed drifter who marries a dimwitted girl and abandons her at a truck stop.

‘Renew and Deepen ... Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,’ Says Pope Francis on 350th Anniversary of St. Margaret Mary Apparitions

Pope invites to rediscover the practice of reparation to the Sacred Heart - Vatican News: The meaning of reparation in the Church is the focus of an international conference organized in Rome to mark the 350th anniversary of the Apparitions of the Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary of Alacoque in Paray-le-Monial, a small town in the Bourgogne region of eastern France.

This Sunday, On the Way to the Cross, Jesus Shared ‘God’s Innermost Secret’

This%20Sunday%2C%20On%20the%20Way%20to%20the%20Cross%2C%20Jesus%20Shared%20%u2018God%u2019s%20Innermost%20Secret%u2019%20%u2013%20Benedictine%20College%20Media%20%26%20CultureHOOPES: On the night before he died, Jesus was thinking about our joy, not his pain — and he shared a secret that we only now may be ready to understand. The Church has been looking back on that night for weeks now, because what Jesus said in his Farewell Discourse on Holy Thursday reveals the deepest meaning of what he wants us to do now, on the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B.

Have you ever heard of this Navy tradition? Babies are baptized in the ship’s bell...

Navy Tradition: Baptizing Babies in the Ship's Bell - Neatorama: Today I learned that the US Navy traditionally allows the infant children of crew members to be baptized in the upturned ship's bell. A 2021 Navy press release about such a baptism onboard the USS Kearsarge says that this tradition was borrowed from the Royal Navy which permitted the such rites in foreign ports either in or under the bell.

Why does God try to kill Moses in Exodus 4?

Why%20does%20God%20try%20to%20kill%20Moses%20in%20Exodus%204%3F%20%u2013%20St.%20Paul%20CenterHARROLD: Chapter 4 of the Book of Exodus contains one of the strangest passages in all of Sacred Scripture. Verses 18-26 describe how Moses, living in exile in the land of Midian, goes to his father-in-law Jethro to request permission to return to his own people back in Egypt. Jethro consents, and so Moses sets off together with his wife, Zipporah, and their sons.

After years of snubs and sharp criticisms from Rome, parish priests will welcome the change of tone in the Pope’s new letter...

Pope%20Francis%u2019%20Letter%20to%20Parish%20Priests%3A%20Repairing%20Rifts%2C%20Grounding%20Vision%2C%20and%20Cultivating%20Fraternity%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterDESOUZA: Pope Francis has addressed a warm and affectionate letter to parish priests throughout the Church. The letter, written on the occasion of a meeting of parish priests in Rome as part of the synodal process, attempts three things — to repair the damage done by the exclusion of parish priests from the synodal assembly last October...

Opinion: Catholics Should Not Be Organ Donors When ‘Brain Death’ Is the Standard

Opinion%3A%20Catholics%20Should%20Not%20Be%20%u2018Brain%20Death%u2019%20Organ%20Donors%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterEBLE: Tremendous controversy surrounds the discussions surrounding brain death, which is the notion that when the brain is dead, the person is dead. In 1997 one of the world’s foremost brain death scholars published “Recovery from ‘Brain Death’: A Neurologist’s Apologia” (republished with updated endnotes in April 2024)...

Nagasaki’s Continuous Martyrdom: From the Hidden Church to the Atomic Bomb

Nagasaki%u2019s%20Continuous%20Martyrdom%3A%20From%20the%20Hidden%20Church%20to%20the%20Atomic%20Bomb%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterGAETAN: High above the city of Nagasaki, I walk a Way of the Cross in the steps of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who founded a monastery here in 1931. The lush mountainous area is marked by a grotto reminiscent of Lourdes, built by the Polish Franciscan saint to honor the Blessed Mother and sanctify the place where he lived for five years, until called back to Poland.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa: Peace in the Holy Land Is Built on Dialogue, Action

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa: Peace in Holy Land built on dialogue, action | Catholic News AgencySANTUCCI: The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem delivered an impassioned lecture on Thursday at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome detailing the process of peace in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, noting that it is an integral part of the Church’s universal mission and one that must not be conflated with overtly temporal or political aims.

What changed when parents gave their 10-year-old her first iPad?

(4) What changed when parents gave their 10-year-old her first iPad?MATTINGLY: I continue to work my way through the much-discussed book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt. It’s slow work, in part because I am taking lots of notes. I don’t know about you folks, but I am a slow, careful reader when dealing with subjects that I believe are unusually important.

Priest Shot Dead in South Africa; Catholic Bishops There Decry ‘Pandemic’ of Murder

Priest%20shot%20dead%20in%20South%20Africa%3B%20Catholic%20bishops%20there%20decry%20%u2018pandemic%u2019%20of%20murder%20%7C%20Catholic%20News%20Agency: Father Paul Tatu Mothobi, a member the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata (CSS/Stigmatines) and former media and communications officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), was reportedly murdered last weekend in South Africa. According to a notice from the congregation’s South Africa-based provincial secretary, Father Jeremia Thami Mkhwanazi, Tatu died on Saturday, April 27, “after sustaining a gunshot.”

The Return of the Canonized Popes

The Return of the Canonized Popes| National Catholic RegisterDESOUZA: For centuries after Pope St. Pius V, who died in 1572 and whose feast day was April 30, Catholics may well have thought that he was the last of a dwindling tribe, the canonized pope. That has changed dramatically in recent decades. Indeed, April 27 marked the 10th anniversary of the twin papal canonizations of St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II...

Thank You, Bill Maher, But Your Critique of Hollywood’s Depravity Didn’t Go Far Enough

Thank%20You%2C%20Bill%20Maher%2C%20But%20Your%20Critique%20of%20Hollywood%u2019s%20Depravity%20Didn%u2019t%20Go%20Far%20Enough%7C%20National%20Catholic%20RegisterMORSE: If you haven’t seen talk show host Bill Maher’s recent monologue calling out the pedophilia problem in Hollywood, you really should take the eight and a half minutes to do so. I’m glad someone finally said the sexual exploitation of children is wrong, and that Hollywood’s complicity and hypocrisy are appalling. However, the problem is deeper than Maher thinks...

Daddy, what bead are we on?

Daddy%2C%20what%20bead%20are%20we%20on%3F%20%u2013%20EpicPewPERNA: “Daddy, what bead are we on?” is a question I am asked frequently by my two oldest sons during our nighttime rosary. It is a question that at first perturbed me, but the more they asked the question, the more I fell in love with them asking the question. Their little souls are so precious. They seek to love God in their own way, and in their time. Although they lose their place on the rosary...