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Pope Francis Thursday appointed Bishop Gregory Hartmayer of Savannah to be the next archbishop of Atlanta, Georgia. Hartmayer is a member of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual and has been bishop of Savannah since 2011. In Atlanta, Hartmayer follows Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who was appointed to head the Archdiocese of Washington in early 2019, after leading the Georgia archdiocese for almost 15 years. The Archdiocese of Atlanta covers 21,445 square miles in the northern half of Georgia. The archdiocese has over 100 parishes and serves around 1.2 million Catholics, according to 2018 stats. It is also the metropolitan see...

Our pastor is considering allowing the Neocatechumenal Way to start a mission in our parish. I have been perusing the internet for information on this group. Those who are not fans appear to be stridently opposed to them, and those associated with them say there is a lot of false accusations hurled at them.

I just received an email from a good friend of mine whose nephew is serving in Afghanistan. His Humvee was hit by an RPG today. He survived, but has shrapnel in his back, hip, and shoulder. He is being sent to Kuwait today for surgery. He was well enough to call his wife (who just gave birth to their first baby about a month ago) to warn her that military officials would be coming to their home to notify her. That's good news. I'm asking for prayers for a successful surgery, and for the safety of the other soldiers that...

I was hoping some of my fellow Catholic Freepers could provide me with some direction. I attend a small parish in NE GA. The RCIA director has announced that he is retiring from his post, and they have asked me to take his place. I have been scouring the Internet for RCIA lesson plans and course outlines, but haven't found anything all that stellar. Does anyone have any suggestions or resources that they could recommend to help me plan an orthodox Catholic RCIA curriculum?

Foreign Policy Research Institute WATCH ON THE WEST 50 Years of Ideas in Service to Our Nation 1955-2005 www.fpri.org IS EUROPE DYING? NOTES ON A CRISIS OF CIVILIZATIONAL MORALE By George Weigel Volume 6, Number 2 June 2005 A Roman Catholic theologian, George Weigel is a Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His book "Witness to Hope" The Biography of John Paul II" was published to international acclaim in 1999 in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. It has since been published in Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Czech, Slovenian, Russian, and German. This essay is reprinted with permission from...

BOSTON -- As family legend tells it, the morning after the Boston Tea Party, a teenage patriot named John Robinson was looking for souvenirs from the lively events of the evening before. He found an empty tea chest and plucked it from the shores of the harbor, hauled it home and hid the contraband away. More than two centuries later, city and museum officials showed off the tea chest on Wednesday on the site where colonists threw crates of tea into Boston Harbor on Dec. 16, 1773. "It gives the tea party that realness that actually ties you back to...

Ah, Christmastime. Joy to the world. God bless us, everyone. Through the rapturous din of carols and chimes, a stray condemnatory note can be heard, chastising the yuletide revelers for being too materialistic, too concerned with gifts that come wrapped in pretty paper and shiny bows. Who can help but sympathize with such concerns as the groaning hoards of shoppers appear like Huns outside the doors of Wal-Mart? That is why I am so grateful for a special Christmas present — holiday present if you must — for the whole world. No mere thing or shiny bauble, this present is...

Radio talk show hosts and their callers have been having great sport of late with the peevish comments from the left-wing media gurus and Hollywood-types about the “stupid people” in the “Red states” and “Jesus-land” who had the audacity to ignore the tub-thumping from their betters on Election Day. Nothing wrong with that: turnabout is fair play. People who think it appropriate to make snide comments about “red necks” and “ignorant Evangelicals” should not be surprised when those they have belittled gloat a little when they get the upper hand at the ballot box. I must admit that there are...

Radio talk show hosts and their callers have been having great sport of late with the peevish comments from the left-wing media gurus and Hollywood-types about the “stupid people” in the “Red states” and “Jesus-land” who had the audacity to ignore the tub-thumping from their betters on Election Day. Nothing wrong with that: turnabout is fair play. People who think it appropriate to make snide comments about “red necks” and “ignorant Evangelicals” should not be surprised when those they have belittled gloat a little when they get the upper hand at the ballot box. I must admit that there are...

I am up to my eyeballs in gently used children's and baby toys that my little girl and boy have outgrown. I need to purge some of them to make way for the wave of toys that will be coming this Christmas. I would hate to just throw them away if there is a charity out there that would welcome some used toys. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The visor is gone for good. Steve Spurrier on Thursday morning withdrew his name from consideration for the vacant Florida coaching job, Spurrier, the most successful coach in Florida history, phoned UF athletic director Jeremy Foley Thursday morning to deliver the news. He then phoned several close friends including former UF coach Ray Graves. As first reported by The Sun, Spurrier said he decided he want a new challenge. Sources close to Spurrier said the old ball coach still may coach again, either in the NFL or at another college. In a statement, Spurrier said, ?I have informed Jeremy Foley,...

Never have I seen a more shameless abuse and distortion of somebody's words than in the recent articles that some secular and Catholic publications have run regarding a memo written by Vatican Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger about abortion and voting. The Cardinal wrote, "Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia.... There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.... A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for...