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As many of you have read, the Diocese of Harrisburg has released information and policy changes regarding child sex abuse. I wanted to take this opportunity to express my great sadness at the horror that innocent children were the victims of egregious actions committed against them. Many of those victimized as children continue, as survivors, to suffer from the harm they experienced. In my own name, and in the name of the Diocesan Church of Harrisburg, I express our profound sorrow and apologize to the survivors of child sex abuse, the Catholic faithful and the general public for the abuses...

The culture wars we are fighting are indeed as deep as the Catholic Church, but it's not limited to the Catholic Church, and it's not just a gay thing. Corruption wears many disguises, including liturgical garments. Don't let the robes fool you The conspiracy of silence in the Catholic Church over scandals involving sex, homosexuality, cover-ups, payouts, betrayal, and corruption have left many Catholics disillusioned and even angry. Corruption wears many disguises, including liturgical garments. As Part l of “Conspiracy of Silence in Catholic Dioceses”, I addressed, Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto as one such cover-up agent, according to many area...

Strife and Betrayal in Sacramento Diocese The conspiracy of silence in the Catholic Church over scandals involving sex, homosexuality, cover-ups, payouts, betrayal, and corruption have left many Catholics disillusioned and even angry. Corruption wears many disguises, including liturgical garments. There is a cancer in the Catholic Church that needs to be eradicated. The cancer is not Catholicism, rather it is about the dangerous, corrupt behavior in too many of the Bishops. The traditional role of a bishop is as head of a diocese—the buck stops with the Bishop.

Love and Lament Alike: A Brief Reflection for All Who Care About the Church Msgr. Charles Pope • July 30, 2018 • As a priest and pastor I work very closely with others: clergy, religious, laity who work for the Church, and laity who volunteer. We all work for the Church because we love her and her people.At times, though, there is disappointment, hurt, or even disillusionment. Perhaps these feelings result from issues in the wider Church: sexual abuse by clergy, the lack of courage and leadership from some bishops and priests, the scandal of dissent at the highest...

The retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has conservative Christians excited about a huge opportunity to shift American laws on issues like religious freedom and abortion. President Donald Trump has noted he has a list of 25 names as possible Supreme Court candidates, but there's one name that pro-lifers seem to really love. CBN's Chief Political Correspondent David Brody says evangelical circles are buzzing about Amy Coney Barrett. "Many of my sources, evangelical in nature, love her. They believe that she is the one that if they had their dream pick that she would be the one," Brody said...

Peter as rock Question: A Protestant told me recently that Peter can’t be the rock since Jesus is described as the rock and cornerstone of the Church, and he showed me a couple of places where Jesus is described as the cornerstone and even a stumbling block to unbelievers. Is there an answer for this? — Allen Desome, Washington, D.C. Answer: Of course Jesus, Peter and others who are called “rock” or stone are not literally chunks of stone. What we have in such attestations is the application of a metaphor. Scripture, like any lengthy document uses many metaphors, similes...

Controversy has surrounded the Saint Anselm Chapter of the Knights of Columbus recently as former Grand Knight Andrew Keyes resigned over what he claims was unfair discrimination based on his sexuality. Members from the school and national chapters have all issued responses to the Saint Anselm Crier over the events which have transpired. Keyes, a double major in Criminal Justice and Politics in the Class of 2018, states that he was approached by the school’s chapter and told that he was formally asked to resign after he brought a member of the same sex to the Knights of Columbus Formal...

In Gaudete et Exsultate, Francis--who has abetted anti-life, betrayed the underground Church in China, sacked loyal priests, empowered homosexuals, rewarded abortionists, praised heretics, blessed adultery, profaned the Eucharist, and denied dogma In an apparent move to rebut conservative allegations that the pope has been denying tenets of the Faith—a crisis that culminated during Holy Week with the pope’s alleged denial of hell and the immortality of the soul—Pope Francis on April 8 issued his newest Apostolic Exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate” (Rejoice and Be Glad), in which he bewails the “defamation and slander” being spread online by traditional Roman Catholic journalists...

In a story distributed for Good Friday, the Associated Press claims Mary Magdalene was a biblical “Me Too” figure who was “long maligned” by the West.The story, filed from Israel with the headline “Long-maligned Mary Magdalene now seen as stalwart disciple,” asserts that Magdalene was not a reformed prostitute but rather a “strong, independent woman” who supported Jesus.The article also conflates the virtues of Magdalene’s figure with the “Me Too” movement. This latest iteration of U.S. feminism uses the hashtag #MeToo on Twitter and other social media to publicize the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in the wake of...

The conversation has become predictable. A friendly acquaintance — a neighbor, a fellow parent, our real estate agent — asks about my work. I say I’ve been writing a book about the pope, and the acquaintance smiles and nods and says “Isn’t he so wonderful?” or, “That must be an inspiring thing,” or, “I have a friend who would love to read it.” And then eventually I find myself saying, uncomfortably, “Well, they should know that it’s not entirely favorable.”

Tell me this isn’t coordinated.First, for a while now, some theologian friends and I have watched with a measure of distaste and concern a “queering of theology”.I see today via Corrispondenza Romana a story entitled: “Papa Francesco apre le porte alla “teologia queer”?  Is Pope Francis opening the doors to “queer theology”?A little bit of the initial part in my translation: Is Pope Francis opening the doors to “queer theology”?  The question rises spontaneously after having found out that the Portuguese priest and poet José Tolentino de Mendonça, a known fan of Sr Maria Teresa Forcades i Vila – a...

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Pope Francis accused victims of Chile’s most notorious pedophile of slander Thursday, an astonishing end to a visit meant to help heal the wounds of a sex abuse scandal that has cost the Catholic Church its credibility in the country. Francis said that until he sees proof that Bishop Juan Barros was complicit in covering up the sex crimes of the Rev. Fernando Karadimas, such accusations against Barros are “all calumny.”

A few weeks ago, when my husband returned home from work, his evening greeting struck a serious chord: “Did you hear what happened at Divine Child?” Divine Child is our Catholic parish church, located just a mile away.I hadn’t, so he quickly explained that a man had set off explosives in the Adoration Chapel nestled just west of the church. He added that the website for our local news “paper” included a video from the security system.That night after tucking our son into bed, I pulled up the story. More details had developed: The explosives were commercial-grade fireworks. Two women...

INTERVIEW WITH CRISTIANO LUGLI SPOKESPERSON OF THE COMMITTEES “RENOVATIO 21”, ITALY With Journalist from “Parents of N.O.” Cristiano Lugli, together with other Catholic parents worried about the cell lines of aborted fetuses. Stated Mr. Lugli, “Our association wants to defend Life as an unrepeatable and divine miracle, and defends Civilization as the earthly cradle of Life. We also support the research of Dr. Stefano Montanari and Dr. Antonietta Gatti, two scientists and researchers, the only ones in Italy to talk about the speech of aborted fetuses to produce vaccines.” Vaccines and aborted fetuses Q: Mr. Cristiano Lugli, today you will...

With all the controversy that surrounded the election of Pope Francis upon the resignation of Pope Benedict in 2013, it seems that Catholics may have lost sight of a key element in this episode, namely, that Benedict XVI never resigned his papal office, but only the active exercise thereof. On the eve of his resignation, he said: “Anyone who accepts the Petrine ministry no longer has any privacy. He belongs always and completely to everyone, to the whole Church… “The ‘always’ is also a “forever”—there can no longer be a return to the private sphere. My decision to resign the...

Italian journalist and scholar Fabrizio Grasso says that when Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, he changed the institution of the papacy forever. Among other things, Grasso says, "it’s not hard to imagine a possible near future with more than one emeritus pope and, consequentially, an exclusive papal club, which could be no other than a proto-parliament of the Vatican State."ROME - Catholics have had to get used to a lot lately. The secularized state in the West has been progressively pushing faith to the margins, and Christians have been victims of persecutions around the globe. What’s more, the Church...

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) -- Pope Francis acknowledged Saturday that the Vatican has a 2,000-case backlog in processing clerical sex abuse cases and says criticism of the slow pace was justified. But he says more staff are being added and insists the Vatican is "on the right path." Francis was making his first comments about the criticism leveled at the Vatican's handling of sex abuse cases by Marie Collins, an Irish abuse survivor who resigned from Francis' sex abuse advisory commission in March. Collins quit because of what she said was the "unacceptable" level of resistance within the Vatican...

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, a Roman Catholic, has strongly criticized the U.S. Catholic Church for what he described as its support for "unlimited illegal immigration" for economic reasons. Bannon, who is also executive chairman of Breitbart News, told Charlie Rose in an interview for CBS' "60 Minutes," part of which was released on Thursday, that there is internal debate on the conservative side over whether President Donald Trump is right to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump said Tuesday that ending DACA will be a gradual process over the next six months to two...

The chief of the Swiss Guards, the force that protects the Vatican, has said it is only “a matter of time” before an attack that is inspired or directed by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) against the home of the Catholic church. Commander Christoph Graf, speaking to Swiss Catholic news website cath.ch, said that the security force for Pope Francis is prepared for any act of extremism. “Perhaps it is only a matter of time before an attack like that happens in Rome. But we are ready also for this,” he said. Created in the 16th century, the force...