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In coastal Maine, a youthful priest from Nigeria now tends to parishes long comprising millworker and fishing families, a stark reflection of how the Catholic Church is changing both here and across the globe.

Spy Wednesday and a Reflection on the Sins of the Clergy By: Msgr. Charles PopeWednesday of Holy Week is traditionally called “Spy Wednesday,” since it was on this day that Judas conspired with the Temple leadership to hand Jesus over. He would not accomplish his task until the evening of the next day, but this day he made the arrangements and was paid.One way to reflect on this terrible sin is to consider that Judas was among the first priests called by Jesus. We see in the call of the Apostles the establishment of the ministerial priesthood. Jesus called these men to...

Q: A Baptist friend asked me, “Why do we call priests ‘Father’ when Jesus told us not to call anyone on earth ‘father?'” How would you answer this question?This question refers to Jesus’s teaching found in the Gospel of St. Matthew, when He said, “Do not call anyone on earth your father. Only One is your Father, the One in heaven” (Mt 23:9). Taken literally, we would have to wonder why we do use this title “Father” when Jesus seems to forbid it. First, we must remember the context of the passage. Jesus is addressing the hypocrisy of the...

Is an American Catholic renaissance possible in our lifetime?Nine years ago I started writing as the “American Papist” because I was, and remain, proud to be both Catholic and an American.We as Christians understand that hope is a necessity of being Catholic because there is no better foundation for hope than the promises of Christ.Newly ordained priests. Copyright: The Catholic Spirit But what signs of hope can be gleaned for the future of the Catholic Church in America?This year, interspersed with my other writing, I’m launching a series of essays around the theme “Signs of Hope” to share and explain...

I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.(Romans 9:1-5)...

Father Peter West has been a priest for almost 25 years, but this week he became simply “Peter West” again. At least on Facebook. Father West, if we may call him that, said he went to log on to the social media site Tuesday and was blocked because his user name included the title “Father.” In truth, Facebook has long had a policy restricting members from using professional titles. “Facebook is a community where people use their authentic identities,” its policy explains. “We require people to provide the name they use in real life; that way, you always know...

Mining in Cornwall and Devon in the south west of England began as early as 2150 BC. The Ding Dong mine is one of the oldest mines in Cornwall. An old miner told A. K. Hamilton Jenkin in the early 1940's: "Why, they do say there's only one mine in Cornwall older than Dolcoath, and that's Ding Dong, which was worked before the time of Jesus Christ." (Hamilton Jenkin, A. K. Cornwall and its People. London: J. M. Dent; p. 347) Hawkins, Christopher Hawkins wrote a book titled Observations on the Tin Trade of the Ancients in Cornwall (1811) in...

In Part 1 we considered the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox accounts of the origins of the Church of England. The information provided in Part 1 was taken from official websites of each of these branches of the catholic Faith. There is only point on which all three accounts agree: Augustine was the official representative of Rome and was based in Canterbury. So it is that the Britons were claimed as a Roman franchise. That historical reality has had ramifications beyond Henry VIII and the Reformation. The Roman narrative has dominated the conversation for so long that the deficiencies...

When people speak of "Biblical equality" I am immediately suspicious of their interpretation of Scripture. Usually, on closer examination, I discover they are proponents of the complementarian doctrine, which imposes dualism on the Scriptures. The complementarian doctrine holds that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities in marriage, family life, and religious leadership. It is a soft form of the egalitarian doctrine held by feminists. In both views women are granted the role of priest. Neither of these views aligns with Biblical doctrine on gender distinctions. Not a single priest named in Scripture was a woman. Since...

Pope Gregory the Great: Advice to the Married By: Msgr. Charles PopeEvery now and again when I write on Holy Matrimony, especially the Church’s more staunch biblical teachings (indissolubility, no contraception, etc.), someone will inevitably write in with a kind of sneer and wonder at or even laugh at a celibate man advising married people about marriage. To be sure, inner experience of something has its place, but so does external observance. I remember as a youth that my swimming coach, who was out of the water, would often correct us if our form was wrong, and advise us...

Where in the New Testament are "priests" mentioned? Full QuestionThe New Testament mentions three categories of Church leaders: bishops, presbyters, and deacons. So how can the Catholic Church justify its office of "priest"? The New Testament writers seem to understand "bishop" and "presbyter" to be synonymous terms for the same office (Acts 20:17-38). AnswerThe English word "priest" is derived from the Greek word presbuteros, which is commonly rendered into Bible English as "elder" or "presbyter." The ministry of Catholic priests is that of the presbyters mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 15:6, 23). The Bible says little about the duties...

A post Satan did not want published? But Here it is anyway: In These Dark Days, the Church Needs Her Men to be Men By: Msgr. Charles PopeThis is a post that Satan apparently did not like. When I posted it last Thursday, the Server of the Archdiocese (literally) burnt up within an hour or two of posting. And while things are slowly coming back online, the post you are about to read could not be found in the archive file, anywhere. Thanks be to God some intrepid readers (at dclatinmass.com) had saved the post which I had not had...

St. John Vianney, Priests, and God’s Armor Kathleen Beckman “When people want to destroy religion they begin by attacking the priest; for when there is no priest, there is no sacrifice: and when there is no sacrifice, there is no religion.”— St. John VianneySt. John Vianney exemplifies a life of sacrificial love, holy boldness and courageous perseverance. His example is absolutely relevant to our day and age. Twenty years ago on pilgrimage to Catholic shrines in France, our group visited the famous village of Ars. Our priest celebrated holy Mass in the same crypt that St. John Vianney offered Mass...

Pope Francis has been quoted as saying that reliable data indicates that "about 2%" of clergy in the Catholic Church are paedophiles. The Pope said that abuse of children was like "leprosy" infecting the Church, according to the Italian La Repubblica newspaper. He vowed to "confront it with the severity it demands". But a Vatican spokesman said the quotes in the newspaper did not correspond to Pope Francis's exact words. The BBC's David Willey in Rome says there is often a studied ambiguity in Pope Francis' off-the-cuff statements. He wants to show a more compassionate attitude towards Church teaching than...

Pope Francis on Sunday was quoted by an Italian newspaper saying that about two percent — or 1 in 50 — of Roman Catholic priests are pedophiles, but the Vatican quickly released a statement saying the pontiff had been misquoted. Church officials also said that the journalist who did the story for La Repubblica had a history of having long conversations with public figures without taking notes or taping them, and then reconstructing them from memory. ~snip~ "Many of my collaborators who fight with me (against pedophilia) reassure me with reliable statistics that say that the level of pedophilia in...

From the In My Backyard Desk, some sensational news, via The Brooklyn Eagle: The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, will ordain 13 men to the priesthood on Saturday, June 28. This group of men, who have served for the past year as transitional deacons, composes the largest class of new priests in the United States. The diocese is thus helping to reverse a long decline in vocations that has led to a shortage of priests within the Roman Catholic Church.The ordination liturgy will take place at the Brooklyn DioceseÂ’s newly renovated...

1.) Fight for the rights of the unborn. 2.) Think no less of a baby/infant/child brought to you without any parent, without any Godparents, as you do not know the future. Which to you is better: baptizing a baby brought to you by good RC parents,that God knows will grow up to deny your faith and be a hell-raiser, or one that asas no one there with him/her or born out ofof wedlock to lapsed parents that God knows will turn out to be righteous?. Who cares about then and there? God told Samuel that He can see what no...

1.) An infant is baptized, is raised by believing parents and later when older turns from the faith. 2.) An infant is baptized, has no believing parents to be raised by, and when older doesn't turn from the faith. Given that the antithesis exists for 1 & 2, wouldn't it be prudent for the priest to baptize the fortunate infant as well as the unfortunate, as either could remain faithful when older, show perseverance against high odds, and no priest knows the future - only God Almighty? Given that only God knows the future, perhaps withholding baptism isn't an option...

Where in the New Testament are "priests" mentioned? Full QuestionThe New Testament mentions three categories of Church leaders: bishops, presbyters, and deacons. So how can the Catholic Church justify its office of "priest"? The New Testament writers seem to understand "bishop" and "presbyter" to be synonymous terms for the same office (Acts 20:17-38).  AnswerThe English word "priest" is derived from the Greek word presbuteros, which is commonly rendered into Bible English as "elder" or "presbyter." The ministry of Catholic priests is that of the presbyters mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 15:6, 23). The Bible says little about the duties...

A group of women claiming to be the secret paramours of priests have written to Pope Francis to urge him to roll back the church’s celibacy requirements. A popular pontiff, Pope Francis receives hundreds of letters every day—but a recent one, signed by 26 women who would like his permission to have sex with their priest-boyfriends, was undoubtedly not like most of the others. The letter, published by La Stampa newspaper’s Vatican Insider website on Sunday, began with a plea for the pontiff to take heart and make celibacy optional for the signatories’ paramours, who happen to be priests. “Dear...