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"The greatest gift which America has received from the Lord is the faith which has forged its Christian identity," Pope John Paul II wrote in a document on the Church in America in 1999. Here at the end of 2012, the words might be the rallying cry of the season -- a reminder, a challenge, a warning -- and a gift to be pondered born of a grotto in Bethlehem. And it's not just something for Christians. As the pope wrote at the time: "The evangelization which accompanied the European migrations has shaped America's religious profile, marked by moral...

Monday, December 19, 2011 The apocalyptic prophecies of Hildegard of Bingen, the next Doctor of the ChurchBy Brian Kopp Earlier this fall, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Venerable Elena Aiello, bringing to light her little known prophecies, which have strong parallels to those of both Our Lady of Akita as well as statements Pope JPII and Cardinal Ratzinger made in the past regarding the Third Secret of Fatima. (See this earlier blog post for a summary of the parallels: For fourth anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, Pope draws attention to little known prophecies of Venerable Elena Aiello) Now, Pope Benedict XVI is...

Controversial John Paul statue looks set for makeover Artist ready to make some alterations 29 August, 16:02 (ANSA) - Rome, August 29 - A statue of the late Pope John Paul II at Rome's main train station looks set to be modified after causing a wave of disapproval. Its author, Italian sculptor and Pontifical Culture Commission member Oliviero Rainaldi, said he is willing to make small alterations to the statue's head and neck, amid reports that a city commission wants a makeover. Rising in the middle of a flowerbed outside the Termini station, the five-metre bronze monument, which has now...

LIMA — It was more than just an answer to prayer. A US military mission that cornered and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan was nothing short of a miracle, said Peru's President Alan Garcia, who attributed the divine intervention to newly beatified pontiff John Paul II. "His first miracle has been to rid the world of this incarnation of evil, this demon of hatred and criminality," the Peruvian leader said, referring to the Al-Qaeda leader. The late John Paul II showed uncanny timing, with his miracle falling on the very same day as a Rome ceremony beatifying him. Pope...

When the Vatican announced that World Youth Day would be held in Denver in 1993, many news experts predicted that the event would be a failure. The United States, they said, was different than countries like Poland and Argentina, where previous World Youth Days had met great success. The United States, they claimed, lacked an entrenched tradition of Catholic pilgrimage, the traveling distances required to assemble a large gathering from across the country were too large, and most importantly American young people would simply be uninterested in the pope or his message. On August 10, 1993, stunned reporters crumpled their...

On the 38th anniversary of the passage of Roe vs. Wade, a decision that has now meant the death of over 50,000,000 babies in the United States, we must remember: Abortion destroys lives. Abortion destroys women. Abortion destroys men. Abortion destroys families. Because of someone's choice, a baby does not have a chance at life, nor a choice. As the venerable John Paul II once said: "The Law of God is univocal and categorical ... 'You shall not kill.' No human lawgiver can therefore assert: it is permissible for you to kill, you have the right to kill, or you...

On April 2, 2005 at 9:37 p.m. the Venerable Pope John Paul II died. In April of 2009 his beloved successor, Pope Benedict XVI, told Pilgrims gathered in Rome "With you, I pray for the gift of beatification". That prayer has been answered. Friday, January 14, 2011 the Holy See released the "Decree for the Beatification of the Servant of God John Paul II". ...The choice of the Feast of Divine Mercy, May 1, 2011 is not accidental. He had a deep devotion to his fellow Pole Sr. Faustina Kowalska and to the Divine Mercy devotion identified with her. ...Pope...

With every passing day, the dispute over the planned Islamic Center near Ground Zero grows more acrimonious. These feelings will probably only get worse today, when the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission is expected to remove another hurdle by ruling against landmark status for the undistinguished old building the center will replace. So maybe it's time to look beyond the lawyers and landmark preservation commissions and regulatory agencies. When we do, it will be hard to find a better example than the grace and wisdom Pope John Paul II exhibited during a similar clash involving another hallowed site on...

Now One of Rome's Most Visited SitesVATICAN CITY, APRIL 2, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Since 2005 when Pope John Paul II passed away, the Vatican grottoes where his tomb is found has become one of the most frequented tourist sites in Rome. Officials at St. Peter's Basilica told ZENIT that an average of 12,000 people visit the tomb each day. It's open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 in the evening (6 in the summer). Many pontiffs rest near John Paul II, not least on the list, the first Pontiff ever: St. Peter. An announcer in several languages calls visitors...

I have spent much time during the past few evenings helping my son study for his History test later in the week. As I worked with him through his studies, I found that his class is presenting a new version of History, a version that never occurred. And while you can make a case for different interpretations of events that happened centuries ago, his text book and curriculum distorts events that I saw with my own eyes. The Book in question is published by McDougal Littell and is called World History Patterns of Interaction. The test covers much of the...

The controversial wartime pope accused of failing to openly condemn the Holocaust has moved a step closer to sainthood, the Vatican has confirmed. Pope Pius XII will be declared venerable after the current pontiff Pope Benedict XVI approved a "heroic virtues decree", the first of three stages before canonisation. To be declared venerable, a church investigation has to conclude that the person in question lived a life of exemplary holiness and heroic virtue. There must be nothing in the dead person’s writings that enables these characteristics to be challenged. Pope Benedict has also agreed to declare his predecessor Pope John...

Sister Sobodka said: "Several times he (Pope John Paul) would put himself through bodily penance. "We would hear it – we were in the next room at Castel Gandolfo. You could hear the sound of the blows when he flagellate himself. He did it when he was still capable of moving on his own." The flagellation is also confirmed by another bishop who has given testimony. Emery Kabongo was a secretary for Pope John Paul. "He would punish himself and in particular just before he ordained bishops and priests," he said. "I never actually saw it myself but several people...

President Reagan and Pope John Paul II June 25th, 2009 by George Weigel They were two of the giant figures of the last half of the 20th century — Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II — and they had many things in common. Both were trained actors whose craft had taught them the power of words to change minds and hearts. Both came to eminence through unconventional routes, and against the grain of a lot of the common wisdom. Both had a healthy skepticism about the conventions that surrounded their offices, and both intuited that diplomats, no matter how...

1. "The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name" (Is 49,1). Today we celebrate the birth of St John the Baptist. The words of the Prophet Isaiah are well-suited to describe this great biblical figure who stands between the Old and the New Testaments. In the long line of Israel's prophets and just men and women, John "the Baptist" was placed by God's providence immediately before the Messiah, in order to prepare the way before him by his preaching and by the witness of his life. Of all the saints, John...

Death Was the Seal of an Existence Totally Given to Christ VATICAN CITY, APRIL 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave today when he celebrated Mass on the third anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, The date of April 2 has been imprinted in the Church's memory as the day the Servant of God Pope John Paul II [said] good-bye to this world. Let us again live with emotion the hours of that Saturday afternoon, when the news of his passing away was received...

This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II making an appearance beyond the grave. The image, said by believers to show the Holy Father with his right hand raised in blessing, was spotted during a ceremony in Poland to mark the second anniversary of his death. Details appeared on the Vatican News Service, a TV station in Rome which specialises in religious news broadcasts. Scroll down for more Burned into the memory: The image that appeared in the bonfire, Tending his flock: Pope John Paul II at an audience in 2001 (right) Service director Jarek Cielecki, a...

The Gospel of Work 5/5/2004 - 8:13 AM PST © Third Millennium, LLC By Deacon Keith A. Fournier Pope John Paul II recently addressed an assembly of the leaders of the “Catholic Action” movement in Italy on the “gospel of work”. He proclaimed a theme that is one of the many profound contributions of his extraordinary pontificate, the true meaning and redemptive value of all human work. In 1981 he authored an encyclical letter titled “On Human Work” that has received little emphasis. We live in an age that has lost its understanding of the Christian meaning of work,...

Doctors assisting Pope John Paul II in his final days never suspended medical treatment and the pontiff did not ask them to do so, his personal physician said. Pro-euthanasia activists in Italy have said the pope refused medical treatment such as artificial respiration and feeding because he wanted to be allowed to die. The Catholic Church forbids euthanasia, which has been at the centre of a heated debate in Italy in recent months. However, the church's Catechism says medical procedures that are "burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary or disproportionate to the expected outcome" can be discontinued with the permission of the patient...

World's Last Chance, a group that takes reading the Bible to all-new-extremes, claims to be "exposing one of the last unfulfilled prophecies of the Bible. Specifically, World's Last Chance believes that they have found clues within scripture that suggest Pope John Paul II is coming back ... and will be the next pope after Benedict XVI. That's right, as crazy it sounds, they believe that Pope John Paul II is going to magically appear here on earth and make our lives hell. With folks like this, it's no wonder that Christians get a bum rap. "How will the next pope...

Pope John Paul II made more than 100 clandestine trips to ski or hike in the Italian mountains and was rarely recognized by others on the slopes, his former secretary said. Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz described the secret outings in a book of memoirs, "A Life With Karol," which was being published in late January. An excerpt appeared Jan. 23 in the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero. The cardinal, who was Pope John Paul's personal secretary for 38 years, wrote that the pope, an avid skier and hiker in his youth, often felt pent up inside the Vatican. In the winter...