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Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - To commemorate the historic event of the encounter between St. Francis with the Sultan of Egypt, AL-Kamil in the year 1219, modernize it in today's Pakistan, launching a universal message of tolerance, friendship, dialogue, common commitment for peace: in this spirit the National Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism, within the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Pakistan, organized a meeting to inaugurate the activities that, in 2019, will commemorate the event in Pakistan 800 years ago, in the name of Islamic-Christian dialogue. As Agenzia Fides learns, Franciscan Sebastian Shaw, Archbishop of Lahore and President of the...

To avoid spread of fluThe following comes from a Jan. 10 notice on the Sacramento diocese website.The California Department of Public Health has reported that the incidence of flu and flu-like illnesses is widespread and has reached a level requiring that we enact preventive measures to mitigate the possibility of infection at Mass. In order to protect the health and well-being of everyone, Bishop Soto has issued the following directives: – The use of the Communion cup is suspended temporarily. – Receive the Body of Christ in the hand (although receiving on the tongue is permitted) – Do not shake...

NEW YORK - Members of Pope Francis’s study commission on women deacons spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday, saying the pope has their report and expressing confidence that when the moment comes, he’ll make the right call. “He will know the time to say something,” said Phyllis Zagano, a senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University, who served on the commission. In the meantime, Zagano suggested that rank and file Catholics also have a role to play in the discussions around the subject. “It’s up to the Church to make noise,” she said, while also...

The question remains: Can we believe our Bishops? January 17, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Two recent stories have shocked Catholics in the United States and around the world. First, on December 4, Msgr. Edward Weber, “director of priest personnel” (whatever that might be) in the Archdiocese of New York, wrote a formal letter of recommendation for a priest, Fr. Donald Timone, who wished to spend some time at a Catholic college in California. The letter affirmed (according to CNA) that Fr. Timone had “never been accused of any act of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct involving a minor,” and “manifested...

t was written that “L’Osservatore Romano” would be getting a facelift soon, after the abrupt change of director a few days before Christmas:> Earthquake in the Vatican Media. The Winter Campaign of Bergoglio’s StalwartsAnd in fact quite a bit is new in the first issues of this year.For starters, the official newspaper of the Holy See launched what is supposed to be in 2019 the Church’s “word of the year,” the word “fraternity,” taken from the latest Christmas message “urbi et orbi” from Pope Francis, in which it does in effect appear no fewer than twelve times, three more times...

Proverbs for Pro-Lifers Msgr. Charles Pope • January 17, 2019 • We who participate in the March for Life are always in need of the Lord’s strength and guidance, His grace and mercy, in order to see our goal of ending legalized abortion. To that end, I offer some lessons drawn from the 24th chapter of the Book of Proverbs: OUR SUMMONS TO TESTIMONY – If you remain indifferent in times of adversity, your strength will depart from you. Rescue those who are being dragged to death, and from those tottering to execution withdraw not. If you say, “I know...

DALLAS - Sources tell Banks of the Trinity that Kevin Cardinal Farrell is under investigation by the Keller Police Department regarding an allegation of abuse while he was bishop of Dallas.We will keep you updated as this story develops.

Update Jan. 18, 2019: St. Joan of Arc pulled the video this morning of the two homosexual men giving their pre-Mass presentation. We are now using a source for the video provided by Complicit Clergy.  MINNEAPOLIS, MN, January 17, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – A parish priest in Minnesota gave the pulpit to a same-sex “married” couple in a pre-Mass presentation last Sunday, allowing the two men to showcase their homosexual partnership, which included a child whom they said was conceived by IVF and carried to term via surrogacy.  Alan Nachtigal and Blake Wilson were legally “married” to each other in Minneapolis...

Those who want to understand how Democrats manage to scare the hell out of vast sections of the country need look no further than the story of Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and the Knights of Columbus. In considering the confirmation of Brian Buescher to a federal judgeship last month, Harris and Hirono submitted written questions that raised alarms about his membership in “an all-male society comprised primarily of Catholic men.” “Were you aware,” Harris asked, “that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization?” And: “Have you ever,...

January 18 2019 Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Heb 4:1-5, 11 Let us be on our guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed. For in fact we have received the Good News just as our ancestors did. But the word that they heard did not profit them, for they were not united in faith with those who listened. For we who believed enter into that rest, just as he has said: As I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter into my rest,"...

Post by Franciscan Media Image: The Temptation of Saint Anthony | Hieronymus Bosch Saint Anthony of Egypt (Saint Anthony the Abbot) Saint of the Day for January 17 (251 – 356) Saint Anthony of Egypt’s Story The life of Anthony will remind many people of Saint Francis of Assisi. At 20, Anthony was so moved by the Gospel message, “Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor” (Mark 10:21b), that he actually did just that with his large inheritance. He is different from Francis in that most of Anthony’s life was spent in solitude. He saw the world...

Washington D.C., Jan 17, 2019 / 10:45 am (CNA).- The Senate yesterday passed a resolution saying it would be "unconstitutional" to consider membership in the Knights of Columbus a disqualifying criteria for public office. The resolution passed by unanimous consent, meaning it went unopposed by senators of either party. The Jan. 16 resolution was drafted and introduced by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) in response to recent questions put to a judicial nominee, which suggested membership in the Knights could prevent someone serving impartially as a judge. Citing the protection of religious liberty in the Constitution, the resolution noted that past...

ROME - A German prelate widely considered to be one of Pope Francis’s closest allies has said the current clerical abuse crisis is being used by papal opponents as a platform to expel Francis from the papacy and to elect a new pontiff that suits their agenda. “There are people who simply don’t like this pontificate. They want it to end as soon as possible to then have, so to say, a new conclave. They also want it to go in their favor, so it will have a result that suits their ideas,” said German Cardinal Walter Kasper in a...

San Diego bishop publishes his 'pastoral reflections' on listening sessionsSAN DIEGO, Calif. (ChurchMilitant.com) - The bishop of San Diego is denying the existence of a gay subculture in his diocese, in spite of abundant evidence to the contrary. The conclusion comes after multiple "listening sessions" held by Bp. Robert McElroy throughout October and November, where a total of 2,000 Catholics showed up at various sessions to voice their concerns and air their grievances. Promoting Homosexual IdeologyA number of Catholics at these sessions challenged the bishop on the issue of homosexuality. In 2017, McElroy took part in an LGBT Mass celebrating...

And Persecution of Underground Catholics Continues Never mind a nearly four-month-old provisional agreement with the Vatican – one that was supposed to ease decades-long tensions regarding the appointing of bishops – the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, is upping its suppression and persecution of underground Catholic churches and believers.Under the Vatican-China deal of 2018, Pope Francis recognized the legitimacy of seven Chinese-government-appointed bishops, who, not having been selected by the Vatican, had been excommunicated. In turn, Beijing finally, and formally, recognized the pope’s authority.“China and the Vatican will continue to maintain communications and push forward the process of improving relations...

Francis: A Real "Schism" Is Under Way - But Only In Politics Humanity encounters "serious difficulties", writes Pope Francis in a letter to the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life (dated January 6). According to Francis, the cleavage between the "obsession for one's own wellbeing" and the "shared happiness of humanity" seems to become deeper to the point that one may think, "that between the individual and the human community a real schism is underway." The term "schism" has primarily a religious connotation, meaning a breakaway from the Church. By using it in a political context, Francis seems to...

Analyst: Pope’s Popularity Slump Marks Fading Trust in Globalism The approval rating of Pope Francis declined all over Europe during the course of 2018, a new analysis observed Wednesday, in large part because of his ever-less popular pro-immigration stance and other globalist positions. Among German Catholics, the pope’s popularity plummeted by a staggering 20 percentage points in one year, notes analyst Francesco Galietti, who runs the political risk consultancy Policy Sonar, and with Francis at its helm, the Catholic Church as a whole also suffered a drop of 9 percent in its approval rating among the same constituency.

Our Most Primal Fear and the Source of Our Bondage Msgr. Charles Pope • January 16, 2019 • At Mass for Wednesday of the first week of the year, we read a text from Hebrews that describes our most basic and primal fear. Our inordinate fear of what people think of us is rooted in an even deeper fear, one that is at the very core of our being. The Hebrews text both names it and describes it as being the source of our bondage. In order to unlock the secret of the text, I want to suggest to you...

Washington D.C., Jan 16, 2019 / 11:20 am (CNA).- Cardinal Donald Wuerl will not celebrate the Jan. 18 Mass for Life, to be held at a youth rally before the annual March for Life. Wuerl was until today scheduled to be the principal celebrant of the Mass.  In his stead will be Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, the Archdiocese of Washington announced on Wednesday.  Pierre will be joined by Washington auxiliary bishops Mario Dorsonville and Roy Campbell, who will represent the archdiocese. The Youth Rally and Mass for Life takes place the morning of the annual March...

January 17 2019 Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot Reading 1 Heb 3:7-14 The Holy Spirit says: Oh, that today you would hear his voice, "Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert, where your ancestors tested and tried me and saw my works for forty years. Because of this I was provoked with that generation and I said, 'They have always been of erring heart, and they do not know my ways.' As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter into my rest.'" Take care, brothers and sisters, that none...