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CHRISTMAS BIBLE-ART EPISODE #1 of 33 JESUS' VERY INTERESTING GENEALOGY MATTHEW 1 & LUKE 3 Derived from LUKE, Chapter 3: Adam by MICHELANGELO "The Creation of Adam" Seth "Patriarch Seth" Enosh by ROBERT BARRETT "Enosh Praying" Methuselah "Methuselah" Noah by JAMES EDWIN MCCONNELL "Noah's Ark" Shem by JAMES TISSOT "Shem, Ham and Japheth" Quoted from MATTHEW, Chapter 1: A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, by WEYLON SMITH "Abraham and Stars" Isaac the father of Jacob, "Abraham & Isaac" Jacob the father of Judah...

Bishops in Germany, Switzerland are supplanting Church teaching with secular ideals: priestIn Germany and in Zurich, the bishops have rendered the observance of the Sixth Commandment optional by exempting Church employees from living according to Catholic teaching.Pope Leo the Great impressively told the faithful of his time: “Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning.” The current canon law says the same thing in CIC, can. 209: “The Christian faithful, even in their own manner of acting, are always obliged to maintain communion with the...

[Catholic Caucus] Fruit of the council: A Church no longer serious about salvationBy their fruits you shall know them (Mt 7:16). It was the hope of the council fathers, led by Pope John XXIII, that the Second Vatican Council would herald a “new Pentecost”. That has not happened. Sixty years on, it is time to consider why, and to look seriously at what has unfolded before our eyes.One enormous change that took place was in the everyday language and tone the Church’s clerical representatives frequently use. This is not to paint all priests and religious with the same brush, which...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian priest suggests ‘baby girl Jesus’ in Nativity scenes in call for women deacons, bishopsFr. Vitaliano Della Sala claims a female Christ Child would expose the apparent ‘injustice’ in Church teaching excluding women from the possibility of receiving Holy Orders.AVELLINO, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — An Italian priest has argued that a “baby girl Jesus” should be introduced into Nativity scenes because God could have incarnated as a woman as well.On December 3, Father Vitaliano Della Sala, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Capocastello, Italy, during an interview with a local television station, sparked widespread debate in the national...

[Catholic Caucus] Pro-LGBT German bishop says the Catholic Church does not ‘stand for an abstract truth’In a recent homily, Bishop Peter Kohlgraf rejected claims he is ‘not Catholic’ while arguing the faith should embrace the ‘opinion of others’ and move beyond ‘abstract truth.’German Bishop Peter Kohlgraf has responded to an allegation that he and other German bishops are “not Catholic” in light of their support for ideologies which oppose traditional Church teachings, and implied that the Catholic faith is not about truth.The bishop of Mainz delivered a homily on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, arguing that being Catholic must...

[Catholic Caucus] Beware the Trojan Horse in the Synodal ChurchA small work is now circulating in the Catholic world that is shrouded in mystery. Published this fall by Catholics for Catholics, it is titled: The Trojan Horse in the Catholic Church—Synod of Synodality: The Attempt to Invert the Bride of Christ’s Hierarchy and Moral Order. What makes the book so mysterious and controversial is that no one knows from whence it came. The author is listed as just Fr. Enoch. Nothing is known about this priest save that he fears retribution and therefore writes under an assumed name. His choice...

Leading Mariologists Publish Scathing Critique of Vatican Note on Mary’s TitlesIn a lengthy response, the International Marian Association Theological Commission highlights what it sees as significant errors and omissions in the Vatican’s controversial doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis.One of the Catholic Church’s foremost associations of Mariologists has issued a strongly critical response to Mater Populi Fidelis, a recently published Vatican doctrinal note that has been criticized for its diminution of some long-established devotional Marian titles.In a 23-page document published Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the International Marian Association Theological Commission (IMATC) points to various elements of Mater...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Eleganti: Vatican trying to play both sides of the women deacons question It is all too obvious that, despite the historical findings regarding female ordination, the aim is to keep the issue alive and the question open.The study commission on the question of women’s ordination concludes, on the one hand, that the possibility of admitting women to the diaconate (as part of the sacrament of ordination) must be ruled out, but at the same time that it is not possible to “make a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.”[1]This makes little sense. It is...

Just a thought for this Christmas season. One of the greatest myths in all of Christendom is that Mary (Miriam) - the young Jewish girl of king David's line - who gave birth to the Savior of the world was sinless. I myself was taught this as a boy in the Catholic church and it wasn't till I was born again and started reading the Holy Scriptures for myself that I saw the true folly of such a myth. My dear friends, no greater lie could ever be told or fantasy ever believed! When this lie is embraced it derails...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican II ended 60 years ago today - "The Smoke of Satan has entered the Temple of God - Doubt has entered through windows meant to be open to light - We believed it would be sunny: instead, darkness and clouds."The Second Vatican Council ended 60 years ago today, on December 7, 1965 (the official end came on the next day, with the publication of several documents and messages, but December 7th was the last day of official business). You may read the still optimistic closing address by Paul VI here.Seven years later, we can see through Paul...

Rome’s Failure to Correct Germany’s Bishops has Emboldened Their Pro-LGBT AgendaAs the country’s bishops issue a new document encouraging diversity of sexual identities in Catholic schools, German Catholic sociologist Gabriele Kuby explains the full extent of the crisis.A recently published document from the German bishops encouraging Catholic school pupils to self-identify according to their “sexual identity” is the latest significant departure of the bishops’ conference from the Church’s teaching, re-igniting talk of a possible new, German-born schism.The “orientation aid,” published on Oct. 30, states that Catholic schools should consider “diversity of sexual identities is a fact,” effectively normalizing any pupil...

SSPX Bishop Fellay calls Vatican’s latest Marian document ‘pitiful,’ ‘insult to God’‘If you pray and make sacrifices, you can really save souls. If that’s true for any souls, how much more for the Blessed Virgin Mary?’ Bishop Bernard Fellay said.Bishop Bernard Fellay of the traditional priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) denounced the Vatican’s rejection of Mary’s titles of Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces as an “insult to God.”Asked how the faithful should interpret the recently issued doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis, Bishop Fellay said in an interview with Kenya’s Immaculata TV, “I would dare to use the...

On December 6, we celebrate St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the fourth-century archbishop of Myra in Lycia (on the southern coast of modern-day Turkey). None of his writings is extant, but his examples of Christian generosity, virtue and love endure to this day. St. Nicholas is the living embodiment of the words "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). He is also the patron and protector of two cathedrals – Brooklyn and Los Angeles – in our Archdiocese. St. Nicholas of Myra, along with St. Patrick of Ireland, has the rare distinction of being one of the only saints in our...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis-instituted Vatican Commission says NO to Female Diaconate - English Translation of Full ReportAnnounced today -- report by Vatican News (followed by our translation of the full text of letter and report submitted to Pope Leo XIV):Petrocchi Commission says no to female diaconate, though judgment not definitiveA report presenting the results of the Commission’s work has been released. It rules out admitting women to the diaconate understood as a degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders, but says that it is not currently possible “to formulate a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.” [Vatican News]***Summary...

Bishop Eleganti: True ‘universal brotherhood’ is rooted in Jesus, not religious pluralismJesus died for all people. For Christians, this establishes a qualitatively different relationship than Islam has with all people, regardless of their faith and worldview.Editor’s Note: The following article is from a speech given by Bishop Marian Eleganti at the Rome Life Forum, December 4, 2025.On January 25, 1986, Pope John Paul II announced the first multi-religious World Day of Prayer for Peace, which took place on October 27 of the same year. It was attended by 150 representatives of various religious groups, including the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso,...

It’s Time to Reevaluate Interreligious DialogueI do not have a single problem in having interreligious dialogues and encounters if they are geared to drawing Muslims (and other non-Christians) to embracing the fullness of who God is as taught by the Catholic Church.Pope Leo XIV made his first official papal visit to Turkey last week, where he encouraged the small Catholic community to find strength in Christ. He also recited the original Creed promulgated by the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325—in an effort to bolster unity with representatives from the Apostolic Alexandrian, Antiochian, Armenian, and Chaldean Churches, which separated from...

[Catholic Caucus] Tucho's Marian Kerfuffle - by Roberto de MatteiThe Consequences of the Marian Note of Cardinal Fernandezby Roberto de Matteifor Corrispondenza RomanaOn November 4, 2025, the doctrinal note Mater Populi Fidelis was published, with which the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sought to clarify the meaning and limits of certain Marian titles referring to Mary's cooperation in the work of salvation. The statement caused dismay and consternation among the faithful, but also among Mariologists, because it represents an objective diminution of the privileges traditionally reserved for Our Lady by the Tradition of the Church. One wonders now...

Pope Leo lays wreath at grave of Turkish leader Atatürk despite links to anti-Christian genocidesUnder the leadership of Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, his forces committed widespread murder and persecution of Greek, Armenian, and other Christian minorities.Pope Leo XIV paid homage at Atatürk’s tomb on November 27, 2025, at Anıtkabir in Ankara, despite the Turkish leader’s links to genocides against Christian minorities.On November 27, 2025, in Ankara, Pope Leo XIV – arriving for his first apostolic visit to Turkey – paused at Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, where he laid a wreath and signed the Honor...

Fact-Checking Leo XIV’s Claim About the Achievements of the Ecumenical MovementIn his November 23 Apostolic Letter, Leo XIV stresses that we must leave behind the theological controversies that separate Catholics and non-Catholics. Apparently indifference is no longer optional. This is arguably the highest achievement to date of the ecumenical movement launched by Vatican II and nearly perfected by John Paul II.On November 23, 2025, Leo XIV released his apostolic letter on the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, In unitate fidei. In it, he praised various aspects of the Council of Nicea, including what he described as its ecumenical...

[Catholic Caucus] “Today's Modernism is more subtle, more camouflaged, more forceful and more hypocritical.”"[...] as time goes on, we need to realize more that the divergence between the two currents [one faithful to the Magisterium of the Church and the modernist one] is not of form, but of substance; it is not about the way the truth should be expressed and taught, but about the truth itself. We are in full-blown modernism. Not the naive, open, aggressive, and combative modernism at the time of Pius X. No. Today's Modernism is more subtle, more camouflaged, more forceful, and more hypocritical. It...