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As the Bishops of the United States gather in Baltimore this week for their fall meeting, the family and the recent Synod on the Family are forefront in many bishops’ minds. Now more than ever, there is a need to focus people on the sanctification of the family.  Our culture is trying to push impurity as the accepted standard of moral behavior within families and purity is viewed as an unachievable standard for normal people.But we know that Our Lord calls us all to purity and fifty years ago he sent his mother, calling herself Our Lady of America, to...

One of Pope Francis' most vocal critics, who was demoted last week from his leadership of the Vatican's Supreme Court, has said he would refuse Holy Communion to any Catholic legislator who voted for same-sex marriage. Speaking before a Limerick conference on the Catholic family, Cardinal Raymond Burke declined to comment on the Government's planned referendum over gay and lesbian marriage.However, he said he would refuse Communion to pro-gay marriage Catholic legislators in the same way he did in the case of pro-choice legislators in his native United States. He also reiterated his call to the Pontiff, made during last...

“Return of the Prodigal Son” (detail) by Murillo Have You Been Saved? In Acts 4, St. Peter delivers a powerful sermon. He concludes by saying, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”I have written before in these pages of the time when I was growing up in the southern part of the United States and how I would from time to time encounter young, protestant teens and adults who would excitedly take to the streets to witness for Christ.Now...

Growing in the Fear of the Lord – A Homily for the 33rd Sunday of the Year By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe past two Sundays have featured feasts (All Souls, and the Feast of St John Lateran) that stepped out of the usual Sunday cycle, and thus, especially last week, we missed the  November theme of the the Last things: Death, judgment, Heaven and Hell. Nevertheless, here on the 33rd Sunday we are back to the last things and reminded that we will one day account for our use of the gifts and resources God has given us.But today’s readings...

The state’s response to this resurgence of faith is an escalating campaign of repression As he stood in the hot sun and watched a dozen earth movers smash through the walls of the Sanjiang church, Mr Dai felt a great sadness and also fear – for himself and for the future of his fellow Christians. “There were so many police blocking the road and surrounding mountains. They had cut off power to the whole area and blacked out mobile phone coverage and they were trying to stop anybody coming near,” he says. By pretending to be part of the demolition...

November 16, 2014Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 When one finds a worthy wife,her value is far beyond pearls.Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,has an unfailing prize.She brings him good, and not evil,all the days of her life.She obtains wool and flaxand works with loving hands.She puts her hands to the distaff,and her fingers ply the spindle.She reaches out her hands to the poor,and extends her arms to the needy.Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.Give her a reward for her labors,and let her...

VATICAN CITY — The secrecy of a confession is maintained so seriously and completely by the Catholic Church that a priest would be excommunicated for revealing the contents of a confession when ordered to testify by a court or even after the penitent dies, Vatican officials said.“No confessor can be dispensed from it, even if he would want to reveal the contents of a confession in order to prevent a serious and imminent evil,” said Msgr. Krzysztof Nykiel, regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court dealing with matters of conscience.The penitentiary sponsored a conference at the Vatican Nov. 12-13...

Bishops and cardinals participate in the 2014 Synod on the Family, Oct. 6, 2014. Credit: Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Baltimore, Md., Nov 14, 2014 / 10:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Meeting in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting, the U.S. bishops have selected their choices for delegates to next year’s Synod on the Family, sources have confirmed to CNA. The delegates, in order of election, are: Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference; Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, who is hosting the 2015 World Meeting of Families; Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the bishops’ conference vice president;...

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square during the Wednesday general audience May 28, 2014. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA. Vatican City, Nov 15, 2014 / 07:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has told a group of Catholic doctors that “playing with life” in ways like abortion and euthanasia is sinful, and he stressed that each human life, no matter the condition, is sacred. “We're are living in a time of experimentation with life. But a bad experiment… (we’re) playing with life,” the Pope told an audience of 4,000 Catholic doctors gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Nov. 15....

In his latest bid to ease the suffering of the poor — and upend the expectations of the papacy — Pope Francis plans to build showers for the homeless under the sweeping white colonnade of St. Peter’s Square. A homeless man sits close to where the showers are going to be built in St. Peter’s square. Photo via Josephine McKenna/RNS Related Reading VIDEO: Our Neighbors in the Pews by The Editors Left Behind by John A. Zukowski Compassion in the Stacks by Brittany Shoot Forty Shades of Green by Sean McDonagh The Rich Get Richer by Julie Polter Three showers...

Featured Term (selected at random:GERIZIM A mountain in Samaria. When Moses was passing on to the Israelites the instructions Yahweh had given him, he told them that, as soon as they had taken over the Promised Land, they must speak the words of blessing from Mount Gerizim (Deuteronomy 11:29). In the New Testament it was on this mountain that Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink of water (John 4). In the ensuing conversation she referred to the worship her people offered on Mount Gerizim to rival the Jerusalem temple. To this day certain Samaritans observe the Passover on...

November 15, 2014Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 3 Jn 5-8 Beloved, you are faithful in all you do for the brothers and sisters,especially for strangers;they have testified to your love before the Church.Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey.For they have set out for the sake of the Nameand are accepting nothing from the pagans.Therefore, we ought to support such persons,so that we may be co-workers in the truth. Responsorial Psalm Ps 112:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 R. Blessed the man who fears the Lord.or:R. Alleluia.Blessed the man who...

To make the final cut of invitees to a soiree of this type, even if a purely fictionalized one, is a clear sign that the recipient has, in effect, made it amongst those others with similarly high profiles, and has qualities deemed important or considered fashionable in our nation's capital. In the world of Washington today, this type of dinner invitation, real or imagined, to members of the "smart set" is proof positive that one has reached the pinnacle of importance and acceptance. All Washington parties provide for a broad range of people with different personalities to stimulate conversation during...

IGUALA Mexico (Reuters) - The body of a Roman Catholic priest from Uganda who went missing in southwestern Mexico has been found in a mass grave as authorities search for the remains of 43 missing trainee teachers feared massacred, the local diocese said on Friday.The remains of the priest, identified as John Ssenyondo, were dug up about a week ago and identified by the recovered skull as well as dental records. He had been missing since May, the state attorney general's office said."It was found in a mass grave with six other bodies," said a spokesperson for the diocese of...

What is a Catholic to think?We are called to welcome the stranger, but also to respect the law. We are morally bound to respect the dignity of every human person, but cannot create civil disorder.Reports suggest that President Obama may soon act by Executive Order to expand ‘deferred action’ for parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. By doing so, the Obama administration would no longer enforce our immigration laws as applied to an estimated 4-5 million people living illegally in the United States.A good idea? Necessary? Legal?Unfortunately this constitutionally suspect move has the apparent support of Bishop Eusebio...

In an audio message released on November 13, a man identified as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, pledged that his group will continue its conquests and vowed to bring jihad to Rome. “The crusaders’ missiles will not stop our advance on Rome,” al-Baghdadi promised. He urged Muslims: “Make the volcanoes of jihad erupt everywhere.” The mention of “crusaders’ missiles” was evidently a reference to reports that al-Baghdadi had been killed or at least seriously wounded by an American cruise-missile strike. The message from the Islamic State appeared designed to belie those reports.

Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley has told the CBS television program “60 Minutes” that the status of Kansas City’s Bishop Robert Finn-- who has been convicted of endangering children because of his failure to report abuse charges—is “a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently.” Cardinal O’Malley, who heads a new Vatican commission on abuse, nodded silently when “60 Minutes” correspondent Norah O’Donnell remarked that Bishop Finn would not be allowed to teach religious-education classes under the rules of the Boston archdiocese. The cardinal said that Pope Francis is keenly aware of the problem. Speaking about the work of...

The term “fundamentalist” is a pejorative term today, used to label someone the speaker believes is an irrational religious extremist of some kind. But a hundred years ago, the term was taken as a badge of honor by theologically conservative Protestants to distinguish themselves from liberal Protestantism. While liberal Protestants in mainline denominations were denying basic Christian teachings like the authority of the Bible and the bodily resurrection of Jesus, conservative Protestants called for going back to the “fundamentals” of the faith – hence the term. There are obviously a lot of issues on which Catholics and fundamentalists disagree, but...

LAHORE, Pakistan — A young, married Pakistani Christian couple, including the pregnant mother of three children, were “brutally tortured and burned alive” at a brick kiln Nov. 4 in the Punjab province following “a false accusation of blasphemy,” according to the brother of the slain husband. The deaths of Shahzad Masih, 28, and his pregnant wife Shama Bibi, 24, were vociferously decried by Christians in the predominantly Muslim country. “They were brutally tortured and burnt alive,” Shabhaz Masih, elder brother of Shahzad, told the Register from the village of Chak 59, located near Kot Radha Kishan in the Kasur district...

From the Cleveland Traditional Latin Mass Blog: On Sunday, November 16, 2014, the Sacrament of Confirmation in the traditional form will be celebrated at Immaculate Conception's 12 noon High Mass by The Most Reverend Richard G. Lennon, Bishop of Cleveland. Please consider attending this very special occasion. ********** The thriving Traditional Latin Mass community in Cleveland is a sign of great hope.  May these twenty-six confirmandi be just the beginning of a great restoration of the Catholic faith in Cleveland.  Please pray for all involved this Sunday and if you are in the area, it would be a great...